Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Lost people. Matter to Jesus and should matter to us, particularly those from other cultures.
So at the end of Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus commissions the disciples, he commands them to go. And to do what? Make disciples Of all The nations. Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. How do you view the different people you meet?
Do you tend to focus on how they look, their background, or perhaps their political beliefs? Today, on the verdict, we see Jesus go to foreign soil, where he has a fascinating exchange with a woman from that region. You'll be challenged to see others as Jesus sees them.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with today's lesson. How do we who are followers of Jesus Christ interact with unbelievers? It's so easy for Christians to form their own Christian bubble. whereby they go to church, have Christian friends, and try to keep away from the big bad world. On the other hand, there are those who profess to be followers of Jesus, but who are so immersed with the surrounding culture.
that their faith in Christ appears to be largely irrelevant.
Now, churches can become like this as well. Instead of being countercultural, They are simply mirrors of the surrounding culture. I love the Gospel of Matthew. And in our passage today, we see the Lord Jesus leaving Jewish territory and visiting foreign soil. There he meets an interesting woman.
and we see a fascinating dialogue between them. Let's learn about reaching the lost. I've called this message reaching The loss. Yes, people. Without Jesus Christ are lost.
I believe that. I believe that they're lost now and apart from Jesus Christ, they will be eternally lost. I also realize that most people who are lost don't realize that they're lost. And this is our responsibility as followers of Jesus: to take this message to the lost, to reach the lost. I think most of you will agree with me that certainly here in the United States, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
is increasingly on a collision course with our world. The opposition to the Word of God. The disregard to the word of God. The Disregard to the gospel of Jesus Christ is becoming sharper and sharper. This is true even in many of our churches.
Many of our churches deny the truths of Scripture. Many are selling out to the culture. Other churches, while saying they believe the Bible, in their practice, in their preaching, if you can call it that. In how they conduct themselves as a church, marginalize the word of God. And what is substituted rather than a proclamation of the Word of God, it's inspirational stories.
its how-to techniques, its political commentary, its social justice, its prosperity platitudes, whereby the church has become a mirror of the culture. It seems to me that more and more the world is setting the agenda for the church. That's tragic, isn't it? The gospel of Jesus Christ has always been countercultural. that our Desire for the truth is based not on the consensus of our culture, not with the media.
Our universities or our politicians are saying, but rather is based on scripture. And today We're going to look at three important principles Which I think will help us as we share Christ in a difficult culture. Lessons which the disciples had to be taught by the Lord, as we shall see. And we will understand as we reach the lost, we cannot compromise the gospel. We are to display Jesus and we're also to proclaim Jesus.
We will not allow our world, our culture, our Our politicians, our educators, our media to tell us what we believe. And we will never ever compromise the truth. Of the word of God. We're going to learn. A very important lesson.
And it's a lesson we need to be reminded of. As we turn in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 15, that people of all nations, And people of all cultures need Jesus. We're continuing in our study of Matthew. If you're new, we're going through the book of Matthew. And we come this morning to Matthew chapter 15, and we're going to read from verse 21.
I encourage you to come with your Bible. I think you'll learn the Bible much better if you have one in front of you and as you and you look at it as I read. Read. Matthew chapter 15, verse 21. Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
And 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. But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she's crying out after us. He answered.
I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and knelt before him saying, Lord, help me. And he answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. She said, yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.
Then Jesus answered her, Or woman. Great. is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire. and her daughter was healed.
Instantly. What a wonderful passage of scripture, isn't it? Reminding us that people of all nations, of all cultures, need Jesus.
Now, here, as we look at Matthew chapter 15, verse 21 and following, Jesus withdraws to Gentile territory. He's been in Jewish territory, and perhaps Jesus and his disciples move north. Out of Galilee because of the mounting opposition from the religious leaders. We've seen that there is conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And this happened earlier in Matthew chapter 15, and now he moves north.
This journey into the district of Tyron Sidon is in Gentile territory. It's in present-day Lebanon. According to one commentator, Tyre at the time represented the most extreme expression of paganism. And so here are Jesus and his followers, disciples, going into Gentile territory.
Now you've got to remember, this is difficult for us in the 21st century. The Jews at that time looked on Gentiles as outcasts, as defiled, as unclean. They wouldn't eat with them, they wouldn't even touch them, they would have nothing to do with them. I remember during one visit in. When we were in Israel, we were in Galilee, and I was talking to this man who was an Orthodox Jew.
And we had an interesting conversation about spiritual things. And as I was going, I shook his hand. And there's a way to shake his wife's hand, and he said, no, no, you can't touch. Uh my wife. That's the picture, isn't it?
The Gentiles and the Jews. And the Jews have no dealings with the Gentiles.
Now, this woman that we're meeting in verse 22 is a Gentile. She's a pagan. Matthew says in verse 22, she is a Canaanite. These were the enemies of Israel. Mark, in his commentary on the incident, says she was a Syro-Phoenician by birth.
You get the picture? Here is A woman? Her people, the Canaanites, are enemies of the Jews. She's defiled. She's unclean.
She's unholy. Ceremonially unclean. A woman who's lost, a Gentile, an enemy. of Israel.
Now what are the reaction of the disciples? Verse 23, send her away, for she's crying out after us. The disciples don't want anything to do with her. To the disciples, this woman, and she's a woman, Yeah. And she's a Gentile, and she's a Canaanite, and she's a Syro-Phoenician by birth.
How bad can you be? Have nothing to do with her, send her away. She's the most unlikely candidate for salvation. But she hears about Jesus. We don't know how she has heard, but she knows about Jesus.
And she falls down at his feet. Fate. Isn't that beautiful? Previous passage, here are the religious men, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and they have seen the miracles of Jesus, they've heard his marvelous teaching. And what did they do?
They conspire to kill Jesus, but here is this woman who's an outcast. Outside of the Commonwealth of Israel, And she acknowledges about Jesus, and when she sees Jesus, she falls down at his feet. What a contrast. between religion and a woman who desires Salvation. What does she do?
She asks for Mercy. She begs Jesus To cast the demon out of her daughter. Mark makes that very, very express. Her daughter is oppressed by a demon.
So, this woman, this outcast, there's no word of the father, living in a pagan country is begging. Jesus to perform a miracle. She realizes her need of Jesus and she believes that Jesus has the power to cast out the demon. And as I say, she must have known something about Jesus. Notice what she says in her prayer, verse 22: Have mercy on me, O Lord.
Verse 25, Lord help. Maybe. When she comes to Jesus, she doesn't address Jesus as Jesus. Incidentally, the disciples don't either. She calls Jesus Lord.
Lord.
Son of David. Here is a woman. who not only must have heard about Jesus, but understood something That he was different, that he was Lord, that he was the Son of God. David, but Jesus first doesn't answer her a word. And then in answering The woman.
Jesus uses a household sin. Children And they're pet dogs. The dogs referred to here are not wild scavenger dogs, these are pet dogs. But the dogs are not going to be fed at the expense of children. No.
I notice So as Jesus says this, It's not right. Verse 26. To take the children's bread, we're going to explain that in a minute, and throw it to the dogs. Do you get the picture? You wouldn't do that.
I'm not taking my children's food and throwing it to the dogs. Uh that's That would be scandalous. But here's this woman. Beautiful woman. Think of her response.
She said, Yes, Lord, I agree. I agree that you don't take. uh the the the children's food and throw it to the dogs. Yes, Lord. Yea, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.
That's true. What's the woman saying? This woman is saying, I understand that. I understand I belong to a pagan nation. But she's looking for grace.
She's looking for mercy. She's looking for that which she does not deserve. And this Canaanite woman is saying to her, Lord Jesus, just give me a crumb. of mercy. Just give me a little leftover part of grace.
Just give me a scrap. That's enough for me. I believe that just a leftover of your blessing. Just that which is insignificant, just a little crumb of mercy will heal my daughter. That's enough.
That's all I'm asking for. What does Jesus say? Verse twenty eight, Jesus answered her, O woman, Great is your faith. Faith. Very unusual for Jesus to say that by anyone, great is your faith.
Though he had said to the centurion earlier in Matthew that all of Israel haven't met anyone who's got that faith, here is a pagan, here is a Gentile, and Jesus is commending her not only for her faith, but for her. Great. Faith. Be it done for you as you deserve. What's your melody?
What faith he has great Faith. The Bible says, Hebrews 11 verse 6, that without faith it's impossible to please God.
So as you sit here, as you listen, Uh to this message, you have to ask each of you Do you have Great faith. If you don't have faith, you don't please God. You can do things for God. You can go through religious rituals. You can even serve God.
But if you don't have faith, you are not pleasing God. The very entrance into the kingdom of God is what, by faith, is by believing. By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, by receiving Him as my Savior, as my Lord, as an act of faith, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved. The just shall live by faith. It's the message of the book of Romans.
Ah, but this is more. That, as those of us who are in the kingdom of heaven, We are to live by faith. The just shall live by faith. I ask you, those of you who are followers of Jesus Christ, If I were to bring you up here, and say to you, can you give me an example? Of your faith, with your trust in God.
Could you do that? Over the last year, has there been an example where you have trusted God? in a difficult situation. Think of this woman, think of her courage. Think of her love for her daughter.
Think of our spiritual discernment. You've got twelve men trying to get rid of the woman. And she's persistent. And she falls at the feet of the Lord and says, Have mercy on me. Just give me a crumb of.
Blessing. What did she do? She asked for mercy. You ever asked God for mercy? Have you ever prayed?
God be merciful to me the sinner. That's the entrance into the kingdom of God, a humble spirit, asking God not for what you deserve, but for His mercy. And then she prays, Lord, help. Me. You you you pray that?
Do you live your Christian life? Lord Help me. You ever ask God for help? And you really believe him, you really trust him. This is the faith of this woman.
And Jesus says, it is great. I wonder if I have great faith. It's a penetrating question, I ask myself. I don't answer it too quickly. It's rather convicting, isn't it?
So easy to get in a rut spiritually. But here is what it means to be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ, that day by day I'm living by Faith.
Now, as we think of the Lord dealing with this woman in these verses. You think of his compassion. Think of the Lord's compassion for all natures. and all cultures. I wonder if we're like that.
I wonder how you would have dealt with this woman. I I think many of us would have been like the disciples. Yeah. Get away, I mean. You're a woman, you're an outcast, you're a Canaanite.
I mean, go away. You don't belong to us. You're an outsider. You're not going to be part of following Jesus Christ.
Now, the gospel of Jesus Christ and the progress of God's purposes does come first to the Jews. Mark, when he tells the incident, says that the children are fed first. Yes, if you've got a pet dog. And you have to feed the dog, that's true. But your first responsibility, you first feed your children, and then.
Your pet dogs. And the gospel does come first to the Jews. Our Lord Jesus is a Jew. The gospel comes first to the Jew, but it also comes to the Gentiles. It comes to people of all nations, of all cultures, of Jews.
of Samaritans, of Canaanites. Because all people did Jesus. And now the whole world It's going to be impacted by the kingdom of heaven. by these apostles that Jesus is training.
So historically, the gospel does come first to the Jews. Notice verse 24. The Lord Jesus says, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Yes, there are lost sheep in Israel, and Jesus is saying, I was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and he comes to his own people, he comes to his own land. He spends almost all of his time in our little country of Israel, but on this occasion, he's venturing north.
And then the progress of salvation and the progress of the gospel. The gospel, the good news, does come to all nations and all cultures.
So at the end of Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus commissions the disciples, he's about to return to heaven, he commands them to go. And to do what? Make disciples Of just Jews? No, of all. the nations.
Acts 1.8, you're to stay into Jerusalem. And the Spirit's going to come. And then you're going to take this message first in Jerusalem where you are. then in Judea, then in Samaria, and then to the remote part of the world. And so Paul says in Romans 1:16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
Writing to Romans, For it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile, also to the Greek. The fact is, Jesus is teaching his disciples that everyone needs salvation. Don't write people off. Don't limit God. Don't say this Canaanite woman should go away.
Don't say she's intruding. I mean, who would have thought? That this pagan side of Phoenician woman. We trust in Jesus Christ. Men who had the Old Testament scriptures, who knew.
The law much, much better than this woman. They're rejecting Jesus. They will have nothing to do with him. They're conspiring, in fact, to kill him. And this very, very unlikely woman is now brought into the kingdom of heaven.
How wonderful. Do you notice in the Gospels that the disciples want to send people away? Chapter 14. There's Fifteen in the feeding of the five thousand. Matthew 14:15, when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, This is a desolate place.
In other words, what are we doing here? Time to go home. and the day is now over. Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves. I mean, let's get rid of them.
We're tired of them. Send them away. Chapter 15. As we read verse twenty-three. His disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she's crying out after us.
D.L. Moody says, Jesus sent no one away empty except those who are full of themselves. Do you want to send away people? Do you keep your own little group? Do you ignore people?
Who are different from you? I'm saying to you today, don't see people. in terms of ethnicity. Colour. political or sexual identity or social status.
See them in terms of their need for a Saviour. What do you need to put on your spiritual glasses when you look at people. You know Our world, in fact our country, more and more wants to divide us all up, doesn't it? We now have identity politics and all of that. And I understand it.
But from a Christian perspective. We see people differently, don't we? We see people in need. of a Saviour, whoever they are. People of all races, all religions and cultures and lifestyles.
Abundant opportunities all around us. I'm gonna ask you. To reach out to someone. It's different from there. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity.
Get your copy today by visiting our website at the verdict. org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam.
It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, we invite you to join us for our Sunday services.
For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Are you the kind of Christian who loves your own little Christian bubble? but has no unbelieving friends, Are you the kind of Christian who hides the fact that you are a Christian and just simply blend into the unbelieving culture? Neither of these approaches is the right one. God calls us to be light and salt.
People around us need Christ. Therefore, we are to display and proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask God to give you a heart of love. as you tell people of your wonderful Saviour. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict.
I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
