Faith, It Does A Body Good
Matthew 15:21-28
JESUS HEALS THE SYROPHOENICIAN WOMAN’S DAUGHTER
21 Jesus then left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
[Matt. 15:21].
Now our Lord leaves the land of Israel for the first time during His public ministry.
This is interesting because He came to Israel as her King.
When He sent His disciples out, He instructed them to go into the cities of Israel but not beyond her boundaries.
Then the Lord was rejected by Israel, and there arose conflict.
The breaking point between Jesus and the religious rulers came only a few verses ago.
What happens?
Jesus Himself steps over the boundaries of Israel and lays down another great principle.
He will now receive the Gentiles.
His invitation is, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest
(Matt. 11:28).
22 A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter has a demon in her, and it is severely tormenting her.”
23 But Jesus gave her no reply—not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to leave,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”
[Matt. 15:22–23].
The Syrophoenician woman was a mixture of several races and she was a true Gentile.
She had no claim on Jesus as the Son of David, and when she addressed Him as such, He answered her not a word.
The disciples said, “Send her away, for she crieth after us.”
She was causing a disturbance and probably a little embarrassment and they were getting worried.
24 Then he said to the woman, “I was sent only to help the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep—not the Gentiles.”
[Matt. 15:24].
This seems to be a harsh statement, but it was a statement of fact.
Jesus was offering Himself first as the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning the coming of the King in David’s line.
He was forcing this gentile woman to recognize that fact.
Jesus came as King of the Jews.
He died with this superscription written over Him on the Cross:
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Now listen to this gentile woman—
25 But she came and worshiped him and pleaded again, “Lord, help me!”
[Matt. 15:25].
When she addressed Him as the Son of David, He said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
She as a Gentile had no claim upon Him as the Son of David.
However, now she comes and worships Him, calling Him “Lord”, and asks for help.
Now she will get help, as we shall see.
26 “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs,” he said.
[Matt. 15:26].
That is a very strong statement!
Such a rebuff would have driven many of us away.
We would have turned on our heels and said, “You can’t talk to us like that!”
But you see, Jesus who is all knowing, all ready knew that this woman had strong faith!!
Now He was going to give those weak faithless disciples of His a lesson, now listen close!
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, I know that I am a dog, “but even dogs are permitted to eat crumbs that fall beneath their master’s table.”
[Matt. 15:27].
You remember that our Lord told of a poor man who ate of the crumbs that fell from a rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his sores.
The Israelites used the word dog in reference to the Gentiles.
This woman was willing to bear that reproach because she believed in the Lord Jesus.
She had Faith, real faith, desperate faith, the kind faith that gets Jesus attention!
28 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.
[Matt. 15:28].
Our Lord really marveled at the faith of this gentile woman.
He had said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden—I’ll help you; I’ll lift your burden,” and that is what He did even for a Canaanite.
Her answer had revealed a great faith, and to that our Lord responded.
But the good news is that our Lord will still respond to our cries today if we have the faith of this woman.
He is the same yesterday, today and forever!!!
Now I want to give an illustration.
A refrigerator is great for keeping food and drinks cold.
A refrigerator prevents early spoilage.
It keeps the food in an eatable condition for as long as possible.
A refrigerator, however, will not cook your food.
If you want your food cooked, your going to have to get an oven!
It is time for us, Children of God to get out of the refrigerator business and get into the oven business!
Its time to take some food out of the deep freeze and get it in the oven and have us a Holy Ghost, revival, miracle, working church!
Get your praise out of the refrigerator and put your praise on!
Get your faith out of the refrigerator and get your faith on!
It is time that you and I have to realize that we are called out to be more than just a sanctified occupant of a pew,
We are children of God,
We are the devil’s worst nightmare!!!!!!
It is time for us to act Christ Like as we never have before!!!!
It is time to heal the sick and cast out devils!!!!
It is time to stop talking about what we can do as children of God, and what others have done, and start doing it!!!!
The devil wants to kill your faith and derail your destiny,
but greater is He that lives in you right at this moment!!!!!!
Jesus is alive and real and you don’t have to doubt it because you know too much about it!!!!
Hell is trying to steal your joy…..
If the devil is after you, then you must be a child of God!!!
If you are fighting a spirit of fear, if you are fighting a spirit of confusion, then it must be that old spirit of satan that wants to bring discouragement to your life.
You can reprove that old devil in Jesus Name and send him right back to the lake of fire!
If the devil is messing with you, then that means that God is getting ready to follow up with a blessing for you.
God will not allow satan to just get by scott free, but you see,
God always makes it up to you, somehow or another!!!!!!!
There are 3 things that satan will try to do to you:
He will try to run you down!
The first thing the spirit of satan will try and to is to get you to doubt if you even are a child of God.
He will begin to run you down.
He will begin to talk behind your back.
You don’t perform like you ought to: but we have news for satan:
Satan, you didn’t call me, and you didn’t send me!
I come against the spirit of satan that has been trying to run some of you down and to make you feel like dirt.
It must go away in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
I’ll do whatever it takes to get my miracle.
You’ve got to step out and proclaim:
This is my day!!!
Next, the spirit of satan will try and drive you out.
There is a spirit of satan that will try to get you to just give up and quit everything that God has called you to do.
We cannot afford to give the devil one ounce of glory:
We must not allow ourselves to focus on the problems by talking about problems.
Sometimes it seems that the more we talk about problems, the bigger problems get.
How about leaving the problems of the past behind under the precious blood!
If you have a test, that means you are going to have a testimony!
Don’t ever quit on your walk with Jesus!
Don’t let satan run you down, and don’t let satan run you out!!
You are very close to a miracle, but Hell will do everything within its power to convince you that a miracle is very far away.
Your miracle is closer than you think!
If satan can’t run us down, and if satan can’t run us out, then he will try and run us crazy.
Somebody needs to become desperate before God and say,
I’m tired of losing my mind, I’m tired of losing my faith, and I’m tired of being intimidated by satan.
Its time to turn the curse back on satan and come out victorious!
Its time to claim back the sound mind that God gave us in the first place, the joy unspeakable, the victory that overcomes the world!
You must claim back your anointing this morning!
Do whatever you have to do to get your miracle.
Holler, shout, run the isles, dance, forgive somebody.
Let go of hard feelings, give unto God, witness,
Pray through,
Cling to a promise in scripture, find that secret place where it’s just you and Jesus and cry out from the depths of your soul,
Listen to that still small voice!
There are 3 dimensions of faith:
Saving faith,
healing faith,
but then there is desperate faith.
When you are desperate for a miracle:
You don’t have time for run of the mill faith,
You don’t have time for the small denominational faith that comes from reading a book from somebody who doesn’t even have the Holy Ghost:
You need the kind of faith that comes from way down on the inside:
It may be gut-wrenching, but it’s the only kind of faith that will help you when you are desperate!!!!!!!
This is the kind of faith that says,
“I must touch the hem of His garment.”
I’ll do whatever I have to do to touch Jesus!!
We have faith to get saved,
We have faith to get healed,
But we need the kind of faith that helps us push through
the crud that messes with our marriages and families, and finances.
We need a desperate faith!
Desperate faith pushes past your trouble,
It pushes past your failure,
It pushes past your withdrawal symptoms,
Desperate faith pushes past sorrow, fear, and heartache.
Its time to get desperate in the Holy Ghost.
I’m not talking about begging God, but I am talking about wanting the things of God bad enough in our lives that we won’t allow anything to deter us from our mission!!!!!!!
We are on a mission and this mission belongs to the One who created us:
He, Jesus Christ is the captain of our Salvation and we must trust Him in the course that He chooses for us!!
This woman of Canaan who came to Jesus began to cry out to Jesus:
“Have mercy on me, O Lord!”
The Syrophoenician woman shouted out to Jesus!
The disciples came up to Jesus and said, “Get rid of this woman because we are tired of hearing this woman shout.”
But Jesus told them to get back, because it is not her position that I am listening to, but it is her desperation!!
She is not worthy, but she is ready!
She is not worthy, but she is desires my presence!
You may not be worthy, you may have made mistakes, but you will stretch forth your faith until Jesus answers!!
You may not be worthy, but you will shout if you have to!!
You will dance if you have to, you will run if you have to!!
You’ll do whatever God says to get your miracle!!
This woman was more desperate than she was concerned about her position.
I may be a dog Lord but I want a miracle and I want it now!!!!!!!!
What we need is a revelation of His mercy!!
Your level of faith must be based upon your level of need and the greater your need, the greater your desperation.
The greater your need, the greater a revelation of how great He is: the Great I AM!!!!!!!
How desperate are you???????
Is anybody desperate right now?
Desperate faith trusts God for the miracle right now!!
Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered.
Jesus….have mercy on my family,
Have mercy on my finances,
Have mercy on my body,
Have mercy on my spirit,
Have mercy on my attitude,
Have mercy on all that I do!!!!!!!!!
Blind Bartimaeus is sitting as a begger, but he hears that Jesus is coming.
His infirmity has become his identity.
If you are tired of just being in the same old situation, then perhaps its time to exercise some desperate faith.
I’ll shout, and I’ll holler if I have to:
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!!
Then somebody says, just be quiet: but something has gotten a hold of you and you can’t go back!!!!!
You will never be the same:
I can’t stop, I can’t stop,
I can’t stop because my faith is desperate!!!!!!!
Open you mouth and cry out to Him.
Call on the Lord while He is near!
He is here this morning, just waiting for us to call on Him!
The gift of faith is rising up in us even as we worship Him together!
Let’s bow our heads.
