Badenoch Free Church

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Sunday Morning Service 27th Oct 2007
 
Mat 15v 21-28
Intro: imagine having Great faith!
In the gospels we only have two accounts of Great Faith!
Mat 8v10 - centurion has great faith! Roman occupying force!
Mat 15v28 - Canaanite woman! Another non-Jewish person.
More often than not the comment by Jesus is you have little faith!
 
Yet, even tiny faith can work miracles!
Mat 17v20: “ He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."”
 
However, to have great faith must be our aim!
So then how do we get great faith and what does it look like?
To answer that we will look at this passage and see 6 marks of great faith.
Great Faith Overcomes Identity: v22
Great Faith Overcomes Silence : v23
Great Faith Overcomes open Opposition v23
Great Faith Overcomes Ignorance and knows the truth v24-25
Great Faith Overcomes Impatience; which leads to doing things “my way” v26-27
Great Faith Overcomes Sin & Misery - it is rewarded v28.
Before we start we simply note that we know the end from the beginning! We know this woman has great faith from v28. So how is it revealed?
 1) Great faith overcomes identity, v22
Canaanite Woman - What right?!
Lived in Israel - an Incomer!
Therefore, would have known all about the division!
Yet : Does not all her identity to hold her back!
 
Application:
Great Faith requires confidence in going to Jesus!
Past history / heritage / identity / sinful failings …. Etc
None of it should hold us back!!
The first step on the road to great faith is simply seeing Jesus and going to Him.
This going to Jesus in great faith requires a child-like faith.
Like children who fully expect their parents to look after them and care for them.
They don’t worry about being rejected! The thought never crosses their minds!
Let nothing hold you back. Be bold, confident!! Go!!
 
2. Great Faith overcomes silence: v23 “Jesus did not answer a word.”
Being ignored is not easy
Tests the sincerity of her problem. Was she really in need?
If she gave up ……… would have shown her lack of faith
She wanted a word, but got nothing!
Nothing more challenging to faith than silence!
Note:
All of life, both physical and spiritual is based on the Word of God:
Creation - came into being by the Word of God.
Salvation - comes through the Living Word, Jesus Christ
Growth - come through receiving the written word and obedience to the Living Word!!
The woman comes to the Living Word, hoping for a spoken word of healing power and gets - deafening silence!
 
Application:
Silence is no sign of small faith!
Some people talk of great faith as if it means you are walking in the power of answered prayer all the time!
But not so! Here this woman of Great Faith is ignored!
Let that be an encouragement to us all!
 
 
3. Great Faith Overcomes open Opposition v23 “So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."”
Here the disciples are given a chance by the Lords silence to step in and show compassion! Care, concern, a little faith!
The disciples are tested here…. Can they help?
No they want rid of her! She is a bother to them!
The woman has gone to God to no avail. Now the people of God are showing open hostility!
Sometime people of great faith are put through the hardest trials! Why?
For the good of others! As to become great witnesses!
Staying full of faith in the face of adversity is a tremendous witness!
Application:
Great faith does not mean we will have easy time!
We are told that on this side of eternity following the Lord will be tough!
Faith requires hardness, grit and determination!
Has our faith become to soft, flabby?!
In our society pain is to be avoided at all cost!
We can’t allow that mentality seep into our life of faith.
 
Conclusion!
So far we have seen a woman of Great Faith who has overcome her identity and in boldness gone after God!
But all she has received is silence and opposition!
Often that is what Great Faith is up against! But that is not the full story.
Come again tonight for the second half.
 
Evening Service
 
Mat 15v21-28 Part two.
 
Intro:
We noted this morning the first three points of Great Faith.
Perhaps not what we would have expected! Maybe we have been shocked at the silence of Jesus and the coldness of the disciples.
Note: at times it is good to be shocked by Jesus! If he becomes too small and comfortable then we have lost sight of our great Lord! We must always remember Him as the Lion as well as the Lamb!
 
The seekers of this world are crying out for something awesome and mysterious, something holy and incomprehensible!
If our ‘religion’ becomes too cosy and familiar we have lost our way!
Indeed we will have nothing to offer those who know that there is more to life than this!
 
So back to the text and this woman of Great Faith. We left her in a rather sad state. She was being ignored and rejected! But she has great faith, what will she do next?
 
4. Great Faith Overcomes Ignorance and knows the truth v24-25
24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
 
Jesus responds after the disciples come to him to get him to do something about the woman!
He responds by noting who he is there for! His ministry at that time was for the Jewish nation in particular! Yet there were other lost sheep.
“John 10:14-16 14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
 
And that is where this woman of Great Faith comes in! she knows that, Faith is based on truth! She knew the truth. She knew Gods purposes were for the whole world!
That every tribe would be blessed through the seed of Abraham!
The Jews for the main part were ignorant of that truth!
As displayed by the disciples who felt the woman should really be sent away!
 
Yet the woman Knows!
Thus she comes and kneels before Jesus “Lord, help me!” She sees here self as one of the lost sheep. She knows her need! She knows Jesus is the Lord! Great Faith.
 
Application:
Great faith is always based upon revelation of Truth, in scripture and in Christ.
We don’t know what God is like apart from his revelation of himself.
We would be totally lost and blind if God did not show himself!
But God has shown himself!
That requires our humility and our dedication!
Humility to take God for who he is!
Dedication to diligently study Gods revelation and wholeheartedly put what we know of God into practice in our lives!
 
5. Great Faith Overcomes Impatience; which leads to doing things “my way” V26-27.
26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
 
These verse at first seem quite shocking! What is Jesus saying! So lets look at them a bit closer.
We note that Jesus is simply stating a fact. It is not right to treat pets better than our children! It is not right.
Jesus is not calling the woman a dog! The word that is used in the original is not the word for dog, that Paul uses when he does call certain people dogs e.g Phil3v2.
It is a different word that means “little dog” or house dog!
And we see too that the woman agrees with Jesus - “Yes, Lord.”
So what Jesus is saying is simply “first things first.”
Or another way to think of it is “all in good time!”
Jesus is saying yes your case will be dealt with but you must wait!
 
Note:
More problems are cased than are dealt with by taking matters into our own hands! Going our own way and doing our own thing can only lead to disaster!
 
So this woman of Great Faith is Patient. She admits that the Lord is right and continues to wait on him - “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table.”
She will wait for the scrap of food, she will wait for Gods timing!
 
Application:
Great faith waits determinedly but patiently.
Wait upon God, keep your eyes open, look to him!
Great faith knows that only God can help!
 
Finally:
6. Great Faith Overcomes Sin & Misery - it is rewarded v28.
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted."
And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
At last the commendation from the Lord comes.
Of course He saw her coming all along.
He used the situation to teach the disciples what great faith was.
Only a few verses before Peter is rebuked for being “so dull” v16, he did not understand Jesus or what he was doing.
But here is this Canaanite Woman! And she knows!
And so because of her great faith she overcomes the terrible suffering and misery of her daughters demon position! What a life it must have been, how terrible, how sad!
Her faith is rewarded, he prayer is answered!
 
Application
Great faith can overcome any trail because God is a great God!