[0:00] to be in Matthew chapter 15. I'm going to say a few things before Brother George's comes and finishes out the night for us, but I'm grateful to be here. And in Matthew chapter 15, we're going to jump in kind of the middle of the chapter here, but I'm going to ask a couple of questions before we read, because I'm convinced that it's important in how we approach God.
[0:30] It's important. And it seems like, and I would think that when we do come to God, that we come with certain expectations in mind. Now, it's interesting as we come to God and we have these expectations, when we have certain questions or certain wants, not too many times have I ever asked God for something that I wanted an answer in the affirmative, that I wanted really the opposite. You know what I mean? I mean, if I didn't want something or need something, I wouldn't have asked if I would have thought he would have said no. But there are times when God says no. When we come to Matthew chapter 15, we find a very interesting passage of scripture of something that's going on here from a woman that had certain expectations and came to Jesus in a certain manner. And we'll pick up reading in verse number 21, if you will. And the Bible says, Then Jesus went thence and departed into the coast of Tyre and Salmon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.
[1:45] My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. And she saith, or she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith.
[2:41] Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. I want you to notice in verse number 27 where the woman says to the Lord, Truth, you've spoken truth.
[2:57] She said, Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. By way of titling the sermon this evening, very briefly, as a question, Are the crumbs enough for you?
[3:12] Are they enough? Let's pray together and we'll expound upon this thought a little bit more. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your word.
[3:25] And Father, we thank you for the gospel witness of Vision Baptist Church and for bringing us here tonight. And God, as we go through this time, Father, we don't seek to just go through the motions of having a church service or preaching or singing. But Father, we need to hear from you.
[3:45] We long to hear from you. And so, Father, we beg of you tonight that the crumbs would be enough for us. May we not be so prideful.
[3:58] May we not be so haughty. May we not be so caught up in who we are. But Father, may we be more caught up in who you are. Help us in this.
[4:09] We pray these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. And amen. So that is the question. Are the crumbs enough for you?
[4:21] I'm going to give you four things very quickly by way of thought here. And I want you to see, number one, the cry of her fear. When this woman approached Jesus, there was a fear that came upon her.
[4:33] There was a fear that had been on her for a long time. As she says in verse number 22, that her daughter, the Bible says, has grievously vexed with a devil.
[4:48] But I want you to notice where she came from. She came from Canaan. She came from a land that was not in there. And of course, we see something here that honestly, at first glance, I remember years ago reading this passage probably for the first time.
[5:02] Or maybe, you know, sometimes you read a passage and it's like the first time, but it's not the first time when you see something you've never seen before. And it troubled me a little bit, honestly, if I'm being open here.
[5:18] She says, O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But in verse number 23, the Bible says, He answered her not a word.
[5:32] This is our Lord and Savior. This is Jesus. And she's coming and she's fearful for her daughter. And she's crying out. Only to be ignored.
[5:46] As a matter of fact, it gets, maybe in some opinions, a little bit worse. And I'm going to show you where within this. Because while he answers her not a word, his disciples in, unfortunately, true disciple fashion come and they say, Lord, send her away.
[6:02] She's crying after us. They were embarrassed. And all she has is a fear for her daughter.
[6:13] And then we see the complaint of his followers were, send her away. Send her away. And it was only then that Jesus spoke to her. And he sent her away.
[6:25] As he answered and said, I'm not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now hold on a second.
[6:38] She came. Oh Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. She needed help. But I want you to notice, as a woman from Canaan in this particular day and time and culture, she was approaching Jesus on grounds that she didn't have.
[7:03] She wasn't a Jew. She comes to Jesus as the son of David. He says, I can't hear you.
[7:16] But then she said, Lord, as she worshipped him, help me.
[7:29] Another cry. Lord, help me. And he says, I don't think it would be appropriate.
[7:41] It's not meat. That word is appropriate here or suitable to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. This is truth, Lord.
[7:55] Now again, we're talking from a mother's perspective who's only here trying to get something from Jesus for her daughter. It's not even her own need.
[8:06] She says truth. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. She had to compose her feelings here, didn't she?
[8:21] She had feelings. She had emotions. They're stirred up inside of her. Can I have just a little? Can I have just a little?
[8:35] A crumbs enough? In that we see the capacity of her faith. Because Jesus answered and said, Oh woman, great is thy faith.
[8:49] I think too often we come to God when we have needs. And again, we come with certain expectations. We expect him to say yes.
[9:05] Now we know sometimes there's a possibility that he could say no. I'm reminded when Moses wanted to go to the promised land.
[9:18] Remember God had told him, You can't go. And Moses comes to God and says, Would you reconsider? Can I please go? It was at that time when God told Moses, Moses, No.
[9:38] And don't ask again. There are times in our lives when God says no. It doesn't matter how much faith we might have.
[9:51] In this particular case, sure, faith was great. But we must remember that without faith, it's impossible to please God, isn't it? It's impossible. Faith was the key in this particular thing, but it was also her willingness to accept less.
[10:12] I'm convinced that sometimes we come to God and we come with this idea or this attitude of, Don't you know who I am? We have several pastors here tonight, missionaries.
[10:25] Sometimes, Don't you know where I pastor? Only to be met with deaf ears. Don't you know I go to Vision Baptist Church?
[10:40] Yeah, he knows. Remember, God resists the proud. He resists the proud.
[10:54] Gives grace to the humble. God, I want a steak. Okay.
[11:05] But are you willing to eat the crumbs? See, sometimes it's not even, God, I want a steak. A lot of times we come to God thinking we deserve a steak.
[11:22] But until we're willing to eat the crumbs, God resists. Are the crumbs enough for you? Are they enough for you?
[11:35] When we come to him, we must come to him in faith, believing that he knows what's best for us. When she said, Yea, Lord, truth.
[11:47] Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Jesus said, Great is thy faith. Be it unto you.
[12:00] What did you need? And from that very hour, her daughter was made whole. Know this tonight, church. The crumbs that fall from the master's table is more than sufficient to fill any longing and any hungering that you might have in this life.
[12:22] But it starts with an attitude. That you must be willing to take less than what you think you deserve.
[12:36] Because the crumbs really are more than what we would ever deserve. So here's the question tonight. Are the crumbs enough for you? It's really a prayer pattern of sort.
[12:52] You say, But you don't understand my need, preacher. You're right. I have no idea what your need is. But the Father does.
[13:05] The Father does. Are the crumbs enough for you? Are they enough? You say, I don't know.
[13:17] I don't get filled on crumbs too much. When the crumbs are enough for you, it will change your life.
[13:27] Let's bow for prayer, shall we? Heavenly Father, we're so grateful that as only you can bring us to a place of humbleness, of true brokenness, of true brokenness, that we might have faith believing that you will move and work in our lives as only you can.
[14:03] Father, may we quickly and readily get past ourselves that we might get to you as a kind and wonderful, gracious, loving Father that even if we were to eat of your crumbs, it would be more than enough.
[14:29] May we be willing to have a faith in you that would surpass any doubts that we might have.
[14:41] Continue to move in this service tonight, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Brother Smith. We should desire the things of God so much and not being satisfied with the things of this world that we would desire.