WORSHIP HAS GONE TO THE DOGS.
Mt. 15:21-28
I have often wondered how Jesus felt with all the multitudes following Him everywhere. Constantly pressing in on Him. Always pushing to get closer to the Master. If only to…
“…touch the hem of His garment…”
At times, He even tried to take His disciples away to a private place. To get away and have more intament times with them.
Ill.- Church retreats.
Christ had just came from Gennesaret. He preached with such an anointing there that the Bible says that the…
“…whole region…carry about in beds…sick folk…”
His miracle working power was so prevalent that the religious crowd came from Jerusalem questioning His authority.
Q- Isn’t it just like the religious crowd to show up after the service and say “That’s not of God! Headquarters didn’t send Him. He’s not ordained in our denomination.”?
And now Jesus retreated to Tyre and Sidon, border regions of Israel.
Tyre; a rock
Sidon; hunted, hard work
Q- Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place?
Vs. 24 “…he entered into a house…”
Tell somebody “He’s come’n to your house!”
“…He would that no man know it…”
Here He was, the Lord of glory, try to hide away.
Sometimes it seems like God is hiding from us. That He can’t be found anywhere. No matter how hard we try, it seems as though God Himself is lost.
Ill.- A single mother had two sons that caused her nothing but grief. They were so bad that one day she took them to her Pastor, “Beat’m Preacher!”, He knew he couldn’t do that, called one in his office, the other waited in receptionist area, sat the boy down, leered over his glasses and said to the boy “Where is God?”, the boy said nothing. He asked again in a stronger tone “Where is God?!”. Still the boy sat there silent. Finally the Pastor stood up behind his desk, took his glasses off, lend over the desk, and with the sternest voice he dare used he demanded, “WHERE IS GOD!?!”. This time the boy ran out the office, grabbed his brother’s hand, and ran out the church. As they were running down the street, his brother asked him “What happened?”. To which the other brother answered “I don’t know. But somebody stole God, and they think we did it!”
Maybe you’ve never felt like this. I wont ask for a show of hands that have.
Ill.- Job asked God where here was.
Sometimes God seems to be everywhere but where we need Him to be.
He seems to be bless’n Sis Flapjack and Bro Mishmash, and passing you by.
You call on Him and still you have
· Sickness
· Bills
· Trouble
But God sent me here to tell you today that He’s coming to your house.
Tell somebody “He’s come’n to my house today!”
What you need to do is get in the house!
What you nee is in the house!
What you’ve waiting for is in the house!
What you’ve been pray’n for is in the house!
High five three people and tell’m “Gods in the house!”
“I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.”
His house is where His presents is.
And where He is there is
· Healing
· Salvation
· Deliverance
· Prosperity
· Victory
God isn’t hiding, He is just waiting for us to get to Him.
Ill.- The old Pentecostal mothers you to call it “stealing away”.
God is looking for us to come to Him, He longs for us to be with Him.
God is not moved by our needs, but He is moved by our faith.
Ill.-
· Many lepers during Christ’s ministry, only few healed
· Many blind, only a few received their sight
· At the pool of Bethesda, only one was healed of the crowd
God has given us an avenue by faith into His presence and in His presence is all we need.
Rom. 5:1 “…we have access by faith into this grace…”
Three Strikes Against This Woman.
1. She was a gentile, outside of the covenant with God, not of the seed of Abraham, bared from the promises.
Yet I have often seen the most unlikely people get a blessing, while others I thought were more deserving of one did not receive.
It’s not about your family tree, but it is about the One who on a tree for us.
It’s not fair, it’s favor!
Jesus is looking for those who will “…leaving those things which are behind…and pressing toward the mark…”
2. She was a Syrophoenician, an out-of-towner. She was not only out of the covenant, she didn’t even live in that town.
She wasn’t apart of the clique or the club, she wasn’t one of the girls.
I can hear the people saying “Bad enough you’re a gentile, but your not from around here. You don’t belong to this church. Why you sit’n in my pew!? I’ll have you know I’m a founding member of this church.”
Let me tell you something church. Once you found out where God is, don’t let nobody push you to the back of the bus! You’ve come too far to turn back now!
Tell somebody “It’s my time. For my thing. From my God!”
You can fold your arm, cross your legs, and roll your eyes at me if you want. You can act like I don’t belong here if you want. But I’ve come for my miracle!
Raise your hands and give Him some praise!
3. She had a daughter with an unclean spirit.
Don’t be look’n down you nose at people and their problems.
Ill.- Skeletons in everyone’s closet. Things we don’t want anyone to know about.
“…but for the grace of God, there go I…”
Thank God for the “…sea of forgetfulness…”
But when there is a problem, nobody knows how to get a prayer through like Momma! Especially when it comes to her kids.
We need more mothers in Zion, crying out revival and a move of God in the church.
Never come between a Momma and her children. You’ll pull back a bloody stub!
1, 2, 3 strikes against her, yet she still kept pushing her way into the covenant promises.
Q- How bad do you want a miracle?
Tell the devil “I’ve come for my stuff!”
This woman called Jesus Lord- Jehovah the…
· Omnipotent
· Omnipresent
· Omniscient
· True and Living God
She didn’t call on
· Mohomide
· Buddha
· Moon
· DHS
· Federal government
· Denominational headquarters
She said “…thou son of David…”
She acknowledged Hi as the Messiah
“…wonderfull, councilor, mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace…”
You gotta know who to call on when you got three strikes against you.
But the disciples were embarrassed by her. They thought she would be a blemish on their ministry.
“What will people think of us with a woman like that in our church?” “She has no right here.”
And they were right. She had no right there. But aren’t you glad the Bible says…
“…For God so loved the world…that whosoever…”
Not the right…
· Race
· Creed
· Color
· Social status
· Economic class
Sometimes, even in the mists of the Lords presence, the devil will use people (in the church), to try and keep you from your miracle.
Tell three people “Excuse me while I get my stuff!”
Don’t let anyone keep you from the blessing God has for you.
But Jesus was forced to agree with the disciples. She had no right to ask anything of Him. She was outside the covenant.
But Jesus did a very interesting thing. He simply stated the facts.
“…I was not sent but to the lost sheep of Israel…”
He didn’t say He wouldn’t meet her needs, He simply stated facts.
Sometimes the Lord will bring us to a place in life where the situations (the facts, problems, and trials) we face leave us with only one option.
She…”…fell down at His feet…came and worshipped Him…”
This is where I want to hang my hat.
We’re too quick to call…
· Blue Cross, not look to the Cross
· Lawyer, not our Advocate with the Father
· Bank of America, not Bright and Morning Star
In His sovereignty He does allow things to take place in our lives that will ultimately bring us to His feet.
“…all things work together for the good…”
She worshipped Him.
Worship; Greek word “Pros-koo-neh’-o”
To kiss the hand in a token of reverence, to kiss like a dog licking his masters hand.
Ill.- Our pet dog, five year old miniature long-haired duechound, first thing in the morning, will whine for food, when I’m pouring it in the bowl he reaches up and licks my hand. Get home from work, let him inside, he rolls on his back at my feet with his paws in the air and DEMANDS attention.
Gods desire church is for us to worship Him. To cast off our cares and worries, and lay at His feet. To put aside our own plans and ideas that do nothing but get us into more of a mess, and praise Him.
John 4:23,24 “But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.”
Her worship stopped Him, arrested His attention.
Vs. 26 “…it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.”
Christ gave her an example, a word pitcher, she could understand. He was not calling her a dog, but one who has no right to the table.
Q- What was the bread she was seeking for?
Bread; root meaning, to bare away, carry off anything attached, cause to cease.
Healing is the children’s bread in every area of our lives.
But this bread seemed out of reach, beyond her grasp. Yet she took the Lord at His Word and took a promise out of that Word.
She said “Yes Jesus, I don’t have the right to the table. But even the dogs under the table have a right to the crumbs that fall.”
I believe the Lord comes to every service with miracles for His people, and when we leave, far too many of them are still in His hands unclaimed.
Ill.- Lost-and-found, if the item is not picked up, then the person who brought it in can claim the unclaimed.
Tell your neighbor “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it!”
She refused to be re4fused. She denied to be denied. No was not an option.
Through her faith, her worship, and her believing the Word of God, she received her miracle.
Alter call;
· Lost
· Backslider
· Saint needing a miracle
