Having Faith That Will Never Die

(inspired from notes from fromhisheart.org Sermon aired 2/1/09)

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
Matthew 15:21-28
21And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." 23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." 24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26And he answered, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." 27She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." 28Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.

Know that your faith will be tested.
Jesus walked amongst pagans, the Syro-Phoenicians, the Canaanite woman who cried out to Him.

Matthew 15:22-23
22And behold, a Canaanite woman from [the district of Tyre and Sidon] came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." 23But he did not answer her a word.

Sometimes the Lord gives us the silence treatment.
God wants to see if we are serious. Will we keep asking for it in prayer? How many times do we let His phone ring? He wants to see if we are persistent (remember in the past I decided "either I make it this way or I'll make it that way, but either way, I'm gonna make it!")

The teacher never talks during the test. The world will stop talking to each other when they are mad at each other. GOD IS NOT MAD AT YOU!

Matthew 7:7-8 -- Continual process of seeking.
7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

God wants us to draw near to Him, which is one reason why He doesn't always answer right away.

Then the Canaanite woman bows in front of the Lord and asks for His help.

Sometimes the Lord gives us the indifference test.
The disciples ask that the woman be sent away.

Matthew 15:24
24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Who is He answering? The woman or the disciples? Jesus said what the disciples were thinking. Jews thought of gentiles as dogs, even in front of the people they were looking down upon.

The Lord is NOT indifferent to your pain.
James 5:11
11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

The Lord is full of compassion and merciful.
The Lord suffers with my pain.
The Lord is NOT prejudiced.
The Lord has made us ALL.
Acts 10:34-35
34So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him."

God is no respecter of persons, and did not love his disciples more than the Canaanite woman.

The Caananite woman heard what the Lord said, and that was another test for her. Is she going to quit because of what He said? Earlier, the Lord cast a demon out of a gentile.

Sometimes the Lord gives us the endurance test.
Matthew 15:26-27
26And He answered, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs."

Are you still going to come to Him even if we interpret something He says as hurtful?

mangy dog -- how the disciples viewed gentiles as 'dogs'
puppy dog -- how Jesus described gentiles as 'dogs', in order to soften it for the woman (but to still voice the disciples' thoughts)

27She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
She said, "Yes Lord, but even the puppies feed on the crumbs that fall from the Master's table."

Matthew 15:28
28Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.

The Lord wants you to receive like this woman did.
Hebrews 12:1-2
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

We are to run the course with endurance. Can you endure if you must wait for a long time?

Genesis 32:24-26
24And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

The Lord wants you to hold on like Jacob did.
Jesus said 2 people had "great faith", and they were both gentiles -- the Caananite woman above, and the Roman Centurian in Matthew 8.

The Faith of a Centurion
Matthew 8:5-13
5 When He entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, 6"Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." 7And He said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

What do you need from the Lord? What test are you going through? Never give up! Trust Him, and you'll see Him do a great work in you!

Placing a Demand on the Covenant

God will never break His Covenant with me.

Whatever we need in life, we can go to God and redeem our covenant rights. He is expecting us to do this.

The Woman With the Issue of blood
Mark 5:25-34
25And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" 31And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" 32And he looked around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

Matthew 9:20-22
20And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well." 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well.

Luke 8:43-48
43And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!" 46But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me." 47And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."

Why didn't she touch his feet or his arm? She put a demand on the convenant.

Newborns understand that there a supply of milk somewhere, but it must place a demand for it.

Matthew 9:21
21for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well."

What is the significance of the fringe of His garment and the Covenant with God?

Jesus said, somebody placed a demand on me; who was it? The woman took the initiative to place the demand. Why the fringe? Because:
1. She said it within herself, specifically the fringe, will make her whole.
2. Fringe = tassle of twisted wool (from Greek). She was reaching for the tassle of the prayer shawl, worn on Jesus as he walked by.


Numbers 15:37-41
37The LORD said to Moses, 38"Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 39And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. 40So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God."

The fringe or tassle intends to remind people of the God's Commandments. Verse 38: tassle called wings, the corner of the prayer shawl is often called "wings". 5 double knots + 8 strands + 600 (number of the Hebrew word for hem [tzitzit]) = 613 old testament commandments. On Jesus, the hem [tzitzit] represents the fulfillment of the law because He obeyed all of the Commandments and did not sin. He is the Holy One. In a sense, the woman thought, If I take His obedience for my sins, I can exchange my sickness for His healing, my weakness for His strength.


Healing in His wings
Malachi 4:2
2 But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.

Jesus possesses the Convenant. He who knew no sin was made sin so that we would know the righteousness of God. He took upon all the curse so that we would be made blessed. It is our faith in His obedience that is honorable to God. Jesus is the Sabbath, how we receive rest. He took all of the sins and the curses and the consequences of the disobedience of Adam and Eve upon Him so that I can have His understanding, His love, His compassion, His patience, etc.

And if I touch the hem of His garment, and He will call me Daughter, and my faith will make me well.

[The woman who had the "issue" or "discharge" of blood for 12 years appeared while Jesus was on His way to heal Jairus' daughter, who was dying. After the woman was healed, Jesus raised Jairus' daughter, who had died but was described by Jesus as "not dead but sleeping". (Luke 8:52) God is capable all the time! It doesn't even matter when He shows up!]

Jesus is standing there

This evening, I stopped to pray with TD Jakes at the end of his TV program, which was a simple prayer asking Jesus to come into my heart, wash away my sins, and I am sorry and repent. I have already said many versions of this Sinner's Prayer, but I say it again and again to remind me of my decision for Jesus. With my eyes closed, I suddenly saw the figure of a man with a broad chest, in white robes with a trim of gold (but not shiny, like a spicy mustard like Grey Poupon). His arms were by His sides, and His hands were cupped as if to take a hand on either side of His body. There was light all around Him, seemingly coming from above but not casting a shadow anywhere on Him. I did not think to put my hand in His. Instead, I looked up to see His face. I saw a beard, a long nose, and then it kind of faded from there.

It wasn't my imagination, or me trying to imagine because there was no mental effort on my part to see what I was seeing while my eyes were closed. I think it started to fade because I started to focus on something that was unimportant (such as, the physical appearance of Jesus) instead of focusing on the saving grace of His hands. I could have given Him one hand, or I could have given Him two. First I was awed and taken in by what I saw, then started focusing on something that took my eyes and thoughts off what was actually important.

Jesus is standing there, His hands cupped, and He waits, whether I need to take one hand or two.