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[0:00] Our scripture reading, if you will open your New Testament or your Bible to the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 7. We will be reading verses 6 through 12.

[0:17] Matthew's Gospel, chapter 7, verses 6 through 12. Remember, our Lord is speaking. This is the third chapter that we have considered.

[0:30] It all began in Matthew, chapter 5. And we read, Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

[0:50] Ask, and it shall be given you, and you shall find. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds.

[1:05] And to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone?

[1:17] Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him?

[1:34] Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the law and the prophets.

[1:45] A couple of things we need to be reminded about regarding the Sermon on the Mount is that it was given to set forth a contrast.

[1:59] A very special kind of contrast that these people would not appreciate until after our Lord had given it. And when he does, they are going to be absolutely awestruck by what he says.

[2:13] And the contrast is based on one verse. And if you keep this one verse in mind, which you should all throughout the Sermon on the Mount, it will help you to understand why Jesus gave this Sermon on the Mount.

[2:28] Why he included all these things. And for that, we have to go back to chapter 5 and verse 20. Because this is what precipitated the whole thing. Bear in mind, of course, that the Jewish community at this time, were very much given to the law of Moses.

[2:50] And this had been in force, of course, since Moses brought down the law in the tablets of God and all of that that accompanied it back in Exodus chapter 20.

[3:02] This is after the children of Israel were led out of the land of Egypt by Moses. They came to Mount Sinai. Moses went into the mount. He was there receiving instruction 40 days from God.

[3:13] And during this time, we take it that this is when he received what is commonly referred to as the law of Moses. And that was engraved on the tablets.

[3:24] We call it the Ten Commandments, etc. But as you examine all what was incorporated under the law of Moses, it was much, much more than just the Ten Commandments.

[3:35] In fact, the writings of Moses constitute the whole Pentateuch. That's the first five books of the Bible. And they are commonly referred to as the law of Moses or the words of Moses.

[3:47] And the Jewish community, from the time they came out of Egypt and received that law, had been living under the dictates of that law.

[3:58] But what had happened was a very unfortunate thing. They began dissecting the law and treating it in such a finely honed way, it became a nitpicking thing.

[4:14] Slicing and dicing, very detailed. They put all of the emphasis on details and minor things in the law. It was how precise you could be.

[4:25] And when it came to something like tithing, where you're supposed to give your 10%, they would give 10%, they would tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin.

[4:37] That's like dividing up the grains of salt you have and make sure that God gets his 10%. That's how ridiculous it became.

[4:50] So, the keeping of the law was reduced to nothing more than minutiae and detail and pettiness, with all of the emphasis on minor things, while they virtually ignored the major things.

[5:04] And that was never the purpose or intent of the law. Yet, those who prided themselves in experts of the law reduced it to that, and the people, the poor people who were under their authority, were just frustrated and disappointed and exhausted, trying to keep up with all of this stuff.

[5:26] And the law keepers and the so-called law experts, who were referred to as the scribes and Pharisees, were always coming down on the people for not doing this enough, not doing that enough.

[5:39] I remember when we were in Israel in 1990, we were in the marketplace. The ladies wanted to do some more shopping, so we were in the Jewish quarter of the old city.

[5:53] And it was almost time for the Sabbath to end. It was on Saturday. The Sabbath began on Friday at sunset, and it would end on Saturday at sunset.

[6:10] And as we were just kind of meandering around, looking at different things, waiting on the shops to open, and all at once we heard this commotion, this loud screaming and yelling down there.

[6:20] And we looked down there. It was down the alleyway a little bit. And there were a couple of Jewish businesses down there, across the street from each other.

[6:31] And one was shaking his fist at the other and yelling at him. And the other was going, like this. And they were speaking in Hebrew, and we didn't know what was going on.

[6:41] And they were just making an awful racket and commotion. And all of the other Jews who were in that area were just walking up and down the street, paying no attention, just like it was ordinary stuff.

[6:51] But we were kind of, we were perplexed and intrigued by it. And after a while, this guy kept yelling a word over and over again. And I turned to our guide, who was a Hebrew Christian.

[7:03] And I said, what's this all about? What's going on down there anyway? And he said, oh, he said, these guys are competitors for the tourist dollar. And he said, they're waiting on the Sabbath to open.

[7:14] And the guy, you see him on the left, he's already got his stuff out there on the table and everything. He's ready to sell it. And the guy across from him is yelling, transgressor, transgressor, transgressor, trying to humiliate him, make him feel bad.

[7:27] And all this guy was doing, of course, was, but it wasn't time for the Sabbath to be over. That was two minutes away for the official time.

[7:39] And this guy was just trying to get the jump on. And that kind of pettiness is what prevailed with the law. And that guy was part of the problem, really. And what Christ is doing here is taking the law and interpreting the law as it was meant to be, not in the nitpicky way that they had reduced it to.

[8:01] And that's the essence of verse 20 in chapter 5, when Jesus said, For I say to you, and this is really important, I say unto you.

[8:19] Our Lord here is assuming an unheard of kind of authority that they were not accustomed to.

[8:30] And the first thing that would rise in the minds of these people when Jesus said that, I say unto you, is, who does this guy think he is?

[8:43] I mean, the scribes and the Pharisees, they have a corner on the law of Moses. I mean, they are the experts, unchallenged.

[8:54] They've got it all together. If anybody has an end with God when it comes to the law, it's the scribes and Pharisees. Not so. And if you look at verse 20, Christ makes this significant statement, I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

[9:24] And the natural response to that would be, what? Hey, we can't outdo those guys. I mean, they, they're, they're the pros. We, you can't be any better than a scribe and Pharisee.

[9:39] Just ask them. Well, they completely missed the boat. In fact, one of the things that Jesus is going to say about them is, you are the kind of people that will strain out a gnat.

[9:58] A G-N-A-T. A little, tiny, tiny insect. And if it gets in your drink, you'll strain it out so you won't be contaminated.

[10:09] Of course, that would be unclean food. And you would, you'll strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. In other words, you put all of the emphasis on the minors and you ignore the majors.

[10:23] That's the main thing that is evident as you go through this whole Sermon on the Mount. It is contrasting. And Christ continually makes this statement. You have heard.

[10:35] It has been said. But, I say unto you. And in each case, he is countermanding that. And what he is doing, he is establishing and setting himself up as the authority.

[10:50] And they never had anybody do that before. Now, to make my point even stronger, I want to follow along to the end of the Sermon on the Mount and notice, if you will, at the very end of chapter 7 and the beginning of chapter 8.

[11:03] Turn a page over. And we read in verse 28 of chapter 7, the result was, and he is talking about the result of all that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at his teaching.

[11:26] keep in mind, these multitudes, this multitude is all Jews. There aren't any Gentiles here. These are all Jewish people. They are all countrymen of Jesus.

[11:38] They are all probably pretty much familiar with each other. They've come from surrounding areas, little villages. And when they heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming, people just started flocking to him because they had been hearing something about miracles which were absolutely unheard of.

[11:54] They had been hearing things like lepers being cleansed and lepers were never cleansed. So it was only natural for this huge crowd to develop. And we are told that the multitudes were amazed at his teaching.

[12:06] Why were they so amazed? Because, for, he was teaching them as having authority or as one having authority and not as their scribes.

[12:20] And the difference between that is this. The scribes never put forth themselves as the authority. They would always quote other rabbis, some of whom had been dead for two, three, four hundred years.

[12:34] A rabbi so-and-so, a rabbi Akeemah, a rabbi this, a rabbi that. And they would quote from the Mishnah and the Gemara and those are commentaries on the law that were written by Jews. But they were not the law.

[12:46] And they certainly did not have the authority of the law. So all they would do is quote what these different rabbis had said. But Jesus puts himself in the position as being the authority.

[12:58] And the reason he did was because he was. As simple as that. Most of them did not recognize that at this time.

[13:09] They did not know that. So for him to say, but I say unto you, that was monumental. And these people are saying, what is he saying? Who does he think he is?

[13:22] Did you hear what he said? He said, I say unto you, this is just as if the authority is coming from him.

[13:33] How can that be? Well, we know how it can be. But they, back then, certainly did not. This sermon began with just the 12 apostles.

[13:45] It wasn't a huge crowd. And, let me set the stage on that and let's go back again a couple of more pages. Back to chapter 5. At the beginning of chapter 5. Remember, the Sermon on the Mount is Matthew 5, 6, and 7.

[13:59] Portions of it are repeated in Luke chapter 6. And in chapter 5 it says, And when he, Jesus, saw the multitudes.

[14:10] There is just a huge crowd of people and they are congregating. And when he looked out there and saw the multitudes, he went up on the mountain.

[14:21] He just walked away from where the multitude was gathering, distanced himself from, went up part way on the mountain. And this is a, this is a beautiful scene and it just kind of does something to you when you, when you walk up on that mountain.

[14:39] Actually, it was more of a large hill. I'm not sure mountain is the correct term, but I guess it was a mountain compared to what was right around there. And you walk up on that slope and tradition says that it was here on this slope that Jesus delivered this Sermon on the Mount.

[14:59] And you don't know if it was right there where you were standing or over there 50 yards or over that way 50 yards, but it was there in that area. And as he walked up and gained elevation, he sat down and we are told that his disciples came to him.

[15:20] And he opened his mouth and began to teach them. Now, these are people who are already attached to Jesus. We're not told that they were limited to apostles.

[15:33] It may have been more than 12 because you remember there were 12 apostles, but there were thousands of disciples because all apostles are disciples but not all disciples are apostles.

[15:46] And the apostles he specifically chose. So, it was a much smaller group that he separated, that he built when he started teaching. And as he was teaching, more and more people kept coming up.

[16:00] And why were they? They saw him up there. They wanted to get in on this. They wanted to hear what he was saying. So, the crowd just kept building and building and building. And by the time he finishes the Sermon on the Mount, as we read earlier, in chapter 8, when he had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

[16:25] And the reason they followed him, of course, is because they were there and they heard the Sermon on the Mount. And you can be sure that the conversation of the day was all built around the contrasting teaching that Jesus gave in opposition to what they had always been taught by the so-called religious authorities.

[16:48] And these people are shaking their heads and saying, I don't know about this. This is really something. Did you ever hear anything like that? No. Did you hear what he said? He said, our righteousness has to exceed, has to be more than the scribe.

[17:03] And everybody is abuzz. They're all talking about this man and his reputation continues to build. Now let's come back to our text where we are working for today.

[17:19] And in verse 6, keeping these things in mind, Jesus says, do not give what is holy to dogs. What does that mean?

[17:34] Well, let me tell you first of all what it does not mean. He's not talking about four-legged varieties. He's not talking about those little critters that wag their tails.

[17:45] He's not talking about Lassa Opsos. When he uses the term dogs, he's thinking in terms of what was referred to as a dog back then. And it was, of course, a four-legged variety.

[17:56] But it wasn't your cute little lap dog. It was a vicious cur that traveled around in packs.

[18:07] And they would attack anything that they wanted to in order to eat it. These were mangy curs. And sometimes these mangy curs were used were used as an illustration of people.

[18:24] And when Jesus says, don't don't give what is holy to dogs, he's not talking about those mangy curs, but he's talking about people.

[18:41] What people would he possibly characterize as dogs? That's not very complimentary, is it? Well, it isn't intended to be. So, I would have you look at Matthew chapter 10.

[18:55] We can do most of this right here in the context of this gospel. Matthew chapter 10, and we'll see who the dogs are. I'm going to skip the first few verses because it names all of the apostles and it isn't germane to our study.

[19:14] But in verse 5 of Matthew 10, Jesus said, the text says, these 12, earlier named as the apostles, Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, do not go in the way of the Gentiles.

[19:31] there's your dogs. But it doesn't say dogs, it says Gentiles. Well, trust me, they are one and the same. And when Jesus says, do not give what is holy to the dogs, he is talking about, don't give Jewish prophetic spiritual truth to those who are not Jews.

[19:58] They are not of the seed of Abraham. they are the dogs. Now, we look askance at that and we say, well, now, we're just not real sure that we like to have Jesus calling people dogs.

[20:13] Well, it was the common vernacular of the day. Every Jew regarded Gentiles as dogs. It's not intended to be a compliment.

[20:24] One of the reasons they called them dogs was because dogs would eat anything. and so would swine. Do you know what one of the favorite designations today is for Arabs talking about Jews?

[20:40] Do you know what they call them in their publications? They call them dogs, apes, and monkeys. That's how the militant factor of Islam refers to the Jews.

[20:57] Apes, monkeys, and pigs. I've read that a number of times in their writings, and you can get online and see it everywhere. These are not intended to be complimentary words. And the reason Jesus is using this and calling these dogs is because that was a common accepted vernacular of the day.

[21:16] We have difficulty with that because our culture is different, and we would consider it insulting. But I'm sure that the Gentiles didn't consider it a compliment either. they were considered to be far removed from God.

[21:28] And when he tells his disciples here, the apostles, do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

[21:41] And as you go, preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. If you give that message to those people who do not have a background or facility or ability to understand it or receive it, it's just like giving something holy to the dogs.

[21:59] It's over their head, they won't be able to absorb it, and that's why Jesus zeroed this message in to Israel exclusively. You would be surprised how many people do not understand this very common concept, and yet it is critical to understanding not only the Sermon on the Mount, but for that matter, all of the Gospels.

[22:21] this is Jewish. We need to understand that. It is exclusively Jewish. The kingdom of heaven was promised to the seed of Abraham.

[22:36] It goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 12. And when Abraham and his seed occupy that kingdom of heaven, heaven, then those who are not Jews, but believing Gentiles, will all be brought into that as well, and be a part of it.

[22:54] But never lose sight of the fact that this is Jewish, and if you ignore that in your interpretation, you're not going to have any success in making sense of much of this. When Jesus was talking to the woman at the well in John chapter 4, he said something that too is kind of startling.

[23:12] The woman says, well, we know you worship in Jerusalem and we worship in Samaria here, and Jesus says, you know not what you worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

[23:27] Doesn't that sound narrow? Well, it was, and it was also true. Salvation is of the Jews. How is it of the Jews? Because the Savior is a Jew.

[23:41] He's born of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He comes through that kingly line, David, and then a thousand years later, he is born, and guess what he's born?

[23:52] He's born king of the Jews. And it was even put on his cross. This is Jesus, king of the Jews.

[24:03] Now that was intended to be derisive and slanderous, but it was also true. until we understand the intense Jewishness of the Bible, you'll never be able to understand it.

[24:17] And this is the principal reason that there are so many differences among Christians when it comes to faiths, beliefs, traditions, denominations, procedure, etc.

[24:29] Because they do not give the Jew his due. And it's a shame. Back to Miles Coverdale. That will help explain that. Let's take a look at another passage while we're here in the area.

[24:45] And we'll stay in Matthew and come to Matthew 15. Matthew 15 and verse 21. A passage that we've considered in the past.

[24:57] Matthew 15 21. Jesus went away from there and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. Now, Tyre and Sidon, is outside the borders of Israel.

[25:14] Tyre and Sidon are sea coast villages that are not part of Israel. They are right next to it. But they don't belong to Israel. And we are told that he is in the district of Tyre and Sidon.

[25:27] And behold, a Canaanite woman. Who is this Canaanite woman? This Canaanite woman is a descendant of the Canaanites who were here in the land when Joshua brought the children of Israel across the Jordan River and into the land, into the promised land.

[25:47] The Canaanite was dwelling in the land. It was called the land of Canaan. This Canaanite woman. Now, if she's a Canaanite woman, what does that mean?

[25:58] She's not a Jew. She's a pagan. Probably worships many gods, many idols, like Temos and Dagon, the fish god, and other gods.

[26:11] She came out from that region and began to cry out, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. Where did she get that? How did this non-Jewish woman, how was she able to identify Jesus, a Jew, as the son of David?

[26:34] Well, he was. But where did she get that idea? Where did she get that information? We're not told. But if I may hazard a guess, I would just say, somebody told her that.

[26:46] There are a number of people who believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of David. Well, he was. A direct descendant of David.

[26:58] A thousand years removed from David, but still, look at the lines. In Matthew chapter 1, and in Luke chapter 4, you'll find the genealogy of Mary in Luke 4, the genealogy of Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, and they are both direct descendants of David the king, a thousand years later.

[27:21] And remember, when Christ came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and people lined the streets, and they were crying out and shouting, Hosanna to the son of David!

[27:31] Hosanna to the son! They knew what the claim was. And those who were shouting those things believed it. He was the son of David. This woman, who is not even a Jew, recognizes him and acknowledges him as the son of David.

[27:47] Now, David, when this took place, David had been dead and buried for a thousand years. He's long off the scene. But he left behind a progeny. He left behind multiple descendants.

[28:02] And Jesus is one of them. Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is cruelly demon possessed, but he did not answer her a word.

[28:15] Can you believe that? He ignored her? That is not polite, is it? He ignored her. Why would he do that?

[28:26] Jesus, gentle, kind, considerate, loving, why would he do that? Don't you have any problem with something like that? Boy, I do.

[28:38] I do. Because this doesn't fit my estimation of Jesus. And I have to know, why did he behave like that? Why did he do that? That's not like him, is it?

[28:52] Or is it? He did not answer her a word. His disciples came to him and kept asking him, saying, send her away.

[29:02] Get rid of this woman. She's making a scene. She's pestering her. She's bothering her. Send her away. But he answered and said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

[29:24] Now, that doesn't help a thing. That makes Jesus seem even more narrow and more unloving and more unkind. Doesn't it?

[29:35] Sure it does. Well, I wasn't sent there. I was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Israel. You know, the people who are really big and into political correctives today would have a real problem with this, wouldn't they?

[29:49] I mean, this just doesn't. It smacks of exclusivity, doesn't it? Why would he make a statement like that?

[30:02] Why would he say, I'm only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Is Jesus saying, I don't care about anybody else. I'm only interested in the Jew.

[30:13] I don't give a flip for anybody else. Well, it kind of looks that way, doesn't it? But the truth of the matter is, understand this and you'll understand a whole lot of this whole content.

[30:27] It was Israel. Israel alone. Descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those descendants, those twelve tribes to whom God, promised, they would be the spearhead nation for all the rest of the world.

[30:49] When Israel embraces the kingdom of heaven, and the Son of God who came to bring it, when Israel embraces the kingdom of heaven, all the world will then benefit.

[31:05] it. We are not benefiting now. Do you understand that?

[31:16] Can you buy that? you need only take a peek at all of the world's hot spots. And they've done nothing more but move around all over the globe, one hot spot after another, one war after another, one conflict after another.

[31:37] all over. This isn't the peace that the Messiah has come to bring. What's going on here? What's happened? What's happened is this. Christ came to bring this kingdom of heaven to earth, and it would be predicated upon his death, burial, and resurrection, whereby God would have a legal basis for removing the curse and making the kingdom of heaven, call it Edenic, call it utopia, call it whatever wonderful thing you want to call it, it will be as good as God can make it, but this isn't it.

[32:18] What's the hold up? What's the problem? Israel. Israel. They have been a disobedient people.

[32:30] they rejected their Messiah. We don't want this man to rule over us, crucify him. As a result, that kingdom never did come.

[32:45] It's still in abeyance. It never happened. This is not utopia. That's why he came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

[33:03] And when Israel gets on board with the program that God has for them, then the millennial kingdom will come, Christ will return, everything will be as it ought to be.

[33:17] The earth will be restored, righteousness will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, everything is going to be fixed, everything that's broken now is going to be fixed, and there will be peace, and the lion and the lamb will lie down together.

[33:31] But we're not there now. If you don't see that, there is no way to make sense of what is happening, and there's no way to make sense of these passages. Let's go on and see what it says here.

[33:41] Jesus answered and said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and began to bow down before him saying, Lord, help me.

[33:56] Now this is obviously a woman, and I don't want to read into the white spaces here, but I'm reading from what I think had to have been the situation, had to have been what was the case, and that is this.

[34:09] Probably some Jewish people who had heard Jesus teach before were telling this Canaanite woman, and they often didn't have many dealings together, but there were crossovers, there were occasions where Jews and non-Jews got together, sometimes they did business together, sometimes there was even intermarriage, even though it was generally forbidden, but they had no doubt had conversations with this Canaanite woman, and they had told her about Jesus of Nazareth, what was reported to have been done by him, what they heard them say themselves, and this woman started connecting dots in her head, and she came to the conclusion, if this is true, if what I've been hearing about Jesus of Nazareth is true, he may be able to do something that nobody else can do.

[35:03] This woman is desperate. I mean, if you look at this, she has a daughter cruelly demon possessed.

[35:15] Now, if you want to tangle with somebody who will really go to whatever end is necessary to help her daughter, you look at a mother, you look at the mother of that daughter, she's ready to fight bears, attack this or that or whomever, she's ready to try anything.

[35:37] She's desperate. She has a daughter whom she loves dearly, and she no doubt sees Jesus, maybe he's just a slight possibility, but a slight possibility is better than none, and she appeals to him, and she says, help me, and Jesus answered and said to this poor desperate woman, Jesus answered and said, it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

[36:13] What? What is he calling this woman? A dog. And you know what? She's used to be calling a dog.

[36:24] She's probably been called a dog who knows how many times by any Jew who had anything to do with her, because all of the Jews referred to all of the Gentiles as dogs. Do you realize that all of the Muslims today refer to you and me as an infidel, but they're usually not satisfied with just calling you an infidel.

[36:47] Do you know what they'll call you? An infidel dog. That's an official designation. That's how they regard us. And that's how they regard Jews, as apes, monkeys, pigs, dogs.

[37:02] And one reason that they use the term pig is because the pig pork is anathema. Not only to the Jew, but as well to the Arab.

[37:13] They will not have anything to do with the pig. So one of the worst things that you can call somebody is a dog or a pig. So, what is the children's bread?

[37:30] bread? Well, it's not bread. It's not the kind you bake in an oven and eat and make a sandwich of. That's not the bread that Jesus is talking about.

[37:42] The bread he's talking about is truth, information. He is not going to give truth that is designed and intended strictly for a Jewish audience to non-Jewish people.

[37:58] That is the same as casting your pearls before swine. They have no appreciation for it at all. In fact, what they will do, the text says, if you would take pearls, I mean, use this analogy.

[38:13] Jesus is talking about real pearls here. Real pearls. If you take real pearls and give them to the swine, they will start munching on them, and when they decide, and it comes to them, that they are really not edible and not food, do you know what they'll do?

[38:31] They'll resent you for giving it to them, and they'll turn on you. Now, bring this over. What Jesus is talking about is taking spiritual truth, in this case, which has to do with the kingdom of heaven, coming to earth, taking the spiritual truth in connection with that, and giving that information to people who have no background, no understanding, no reference, and no interest in it.

[38:57] It's just like taking valuable, priceless pearls, which is what truth is, priceless, and throwing it before those who have no appreciation, no understanding, no value of it at all.

[39:13] And when they decide they can't handle it, then they'll turn on you. That's precisely what happens. And you can bring that analogy over. don't waste your time trying to talk to unsaved people and tell them anything about some of the precious truths that you have found as a believer.

[39:35] There's only one message that will do them any good, and that's the message of salvation. But we all know as a believer that after you come to Christ, after you have been saved, after you have been redeemed through the finished work of Christ, you go on and you start learning, and you start appreciating and developing all kinds of rich truths that you didn't even know existed before.

[40:03] Keep them to yourself or share them with other believers. Don't try to give that kind of high power of spiritual information to unsaved people. They have no reference for it, they can't appreciate it.

[40:14] Don't waste your time talking to unbelievers about the hope we have in Christ, the blessed hope, and the possibility of the rapture at any moment.

[40:24] They'll poo-poo it, they'll deny it, they'll laugh at it, they'll mock it, they have no reference for that, no appreciation, no interest. Don't expect them to. That's the same principle as what Jesus is talking about here, only in this case it's to Jew and non-Jew.

[40:42] And this poor woman, she says, yes Lord, she doesn't agree with him, she doesn't say, how dare you call me a dog. It's just common parlance.

[40:54] Today, you see, our problem is we insist on interpreting scripture in light of our standards and our culture. And that's all wrong. You've got to find out what their culture was, what it meant to them, not what it means to you.

[41:09] We have to get back, we have to cross 2,000 years of a historical bridge, and then a cultural bridge, and then a language bridge to find out what these things meant to them.

[41:20] And when you try to update it and say what it means to you and apply that to that, it just won't work. They've got a different culture entirely. And this woman, I have to admire because she was one mama that wouldn't quit when it came to her little girl.

[41:36] And she is hanging in there, and she says, Jesus said, it is not good to take the children's bread. This is spiritual truth for Israel, and the children here are Jews, and throw it to the dogs.

[41:51] And you're a dog, and that would be the equivalent of taking food that was intended for your babies, and giving that food to dogs, where you are preferring them above your own.

[42:07] It's unthinkable, isn't it? And that's the point. That's what Jesus is getting at. And she agrees, and she says, yes, Lord. In other words, I understand that.

[42:19] I hear what you're saying. I don't deny that. And then she says, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their master's table.

[42:36] Wow. this is one innovative woman. She is pressing this thing as far as she can. She is desperate, and she won't let go of the situation.

[42:49] And she says, I hear what you're saying. I even agree with you. But if you would be so kind as to just let this dog have a crumb, just a crumb for my daughter.

[43:12] The heart of the Savior melted. This is compassion first class.

[43:26] He is actually stepping outside his designated role to meet this deep personal need. She had no right to it.

[43:37] He would have been well within his rights if he had just said nothing doing. I'm going to stick with the program. But he didn't.

[43:49] This is so powerful. This is class A compassion. God said, God said, God said, God said, God your faith is great.

[44:05] You know what he was really saying there? He was really saying, I am amazed that you have this much confidence in me.

[44:20] and I'm not going to disappoint you. Wow. And her daughter was healed at once.

[44:35] So back to our text in Matthew chapter 7. We'll try to wrap this up. I'd like to have some time for Q&A. ask and it shall be given you.

[44:56] Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. Now let me ask you another question. To whom does that apply? Well everyone, everyone in the whole world, well of course not.

[45:12] It applies to those to whom he's speaking. Don't try to take the promises that God gave to somebody else for another time and place and make them fit in your situation and then try to authenticate it by saying that's what it says in the Bible.

[45:29] But you've got to take into consideration what was said, to whom it was said, why it was said, all of those things. You just can't jump in there and say here's a promise and this is obviously for everyone in the world.

[45:41] So I'm claiming it. Well, you're going to let yourself in for a huge disappointment. He is talking about this against that backdrop of the same kingdom situation that we talked about before.

[45:53] Everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it shall be opened. And when was that really in vogue and how did that work? It was primarily in the apostolic age.

[46:06] It was in connection with those people, those he gave them authority to work miracles, to perform healings, to cleanse lepers.

[46:18] He gave them that authority and later he sent out 70 to do the same thing and they went all throughout the countryside and they were doing these miracles, they were replicating the miracles that Christ was performing even among the people by the thousands and this is building an enormous an enormous publicity event.

[46:42] Keep in mind no TV no newspapers no everything was for the mouth and it spread like wildfire all over the place. Jesus of Nazareth and probably some were exaggerating when they shouldn't have been probably some were lying.

[46:55] The question that everybody was asking is could this be the Messiah? Is this the one? Is this the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets? could it be Jesus even John the Baptist who announced him and introduced him as the Messiah of Israel later had some second thoughts and he sent his disciples that is John's disciples go find Jesus and when you find him ask him are you the one that was promised to come or should we be looking for somebody else and the reason John was asking that question was because he was in jail John the Baptist who introduced Jesus was in jail and he's saying I preached repent for the kingdom of heaven is coming repent for the kingdom of heaven is coming and

[47:59] I introduced Jesus as being the king and here I am in jail this is not the way the program is supposed to work maybe we've got the wrong guy go find him and ask him are you really the one who's supposed to come or should we be looking for someone else and Jesus said you go back and tell John that lepers are cleansed the dead are raised and the sick are healed and they did that and it sufficed for John and can you imagine the perplexity that John was having he said he was going to have his head severed from him and put on a platter taken in and presented to Herod's wife what's going on anyway this doesn't look like a kingdom to me no it's because Israel was in a rejection mode a lot of the people a lot of the common people heard him gladly they couldn't help but believe that he was the

[49:02] Messiah but it was the intelligentsia it was the academia it was the religious establishment they were the leaders of the nation and they were thumbs down and they carried the day we have no king but Caesar crucify him well we are obviously not going to get to the loaf and the stone and the fish and the snake sorry about that so what else is new he said okay have you a Q&A anybody question comments okay in the back

[50:05] I would like to think that the Canaanite woman may have saw the miracles of Jesus and maybe from a far off listen to some of the teachings and says wow possible entirely possible she may have seen him in action the text just doesn't tell us but we know she either saw something or heard something that she had a great deal of confidence in and that's what caused her to press Jesus as she did I also wonder do you suppose the multitudes kind of inched back up the hill there to where he was talking to his disciples oh I'm sure they did oh yeah yeah they obviously wanted to get in on this because you could not hear the things of Jesus of Nazareth that they were hearing without wanting to hear them yourself and get as close as you could and that's that's only human nature and nothing has changed it's that way today too other comments yeah

[51:14] Joe when you started out you talked about this nitpicking that the scribes they were doing with the law you know how they brought the law down the little bitty bitty things trying to say what it meant is this kind of what's happening as analogy with our constitution today that they're kind of nitpicking picking it and not all intended is that kind of the same thing that's happening we see today I'm afraid that's probably that's probably a pretty fair analogy you know sad to say you know it's any time any time you have a document in question and if you think of the law of Moses as a document because it is or our constitution as a document any time you have a document it is always subject to interpretation how is it going to be interpreted and you know the men who drafted our constitution and even the declaration of independence

[52:27] Thomas Jefferson was the main contributor to the declaration of independence and they labored for hours and hours and hours trying to say what they wanted to say in such a way that it could not be misunderstood make it as plain as possible and that is not a small task because how many things have you read that says well you can take it this way or you can take it this way and you can you know it's subject to interpretation and our constitution today has probably been in the limelight more than it has ever been for the last several years it's just what's been happening over the last few months has caused a lot of people to say wait a minute now what is this constitutional and of course we have we have our three branches of government executive and the legislative and the judicial and all of them were brought into being for the sole purpose of making sure that that all of the power was not invested in any one element and each one was designed to be a check and a balance on the other and they are supposed to be equal in authority it's just that when it comes to the presidency the authority of the executive office is just one person and that's whoever happens to be the president but when you're talking about the authority of congress that's 535 people a hundred of which are senators and 435 which are from the house of representatives and then when you're talking about the judicial we've got nine people on that court

[54:22] Scott okay just one comment from myself here when Jesus told them not to go to the Gentiles the Jews never did have anything to do really with the Gentiles it's like why would he tell them to you know don't do that when I don't think they had any indication to do that anyway or would they have taken that straight to the Gentiles had he told them not to I don't know that's a very good question he told them not to go to the Samaritans not to go to the Gentiles and there was a sense of urgency to the message too he wanted them to get that message out and get it out as quickly as they could and I think that's why there were multiple groups who were proclaiming that message because you see absolutely everything centered around Israel as a nation being able willing to embrace this Yeshua HaMashiach Jesus the Messiah as the one promised and some have asked the question well what if they had done that rather than crucify him well in the first place that

[55:34] God obviously knew that that was not going to be a reality and the crucifixion was a necessity understand if you will that apart from Jesus Christ dying on that cross there is your salvation Christ died for your sin and for my sin and had there been no crucifixion and no death of Christ then there would not have been any basis for the coming and the setting up of that kingdom because this world is a fallen world this world we live in now that is so filled with violence and crime and corruption and all the rest this is not the world God created this is the world that man recreated after God created it man took it and there are probably those who would like to think that we improved it how's that for naivete what we did was we really messed it up we messed up the world and we messed up ourselves our lives and Christ died for our messing up and it is his death on the cross that enables

[56:52] God in a righteous way not look the other way and pretend that it didn't happen but in the death of Christ God exacted a payment from him that balanced the scales the moral scales of the universe Christ because of who he was and without sin had the ability to die as a substitute for the sins of the whole world this is the gospel message it's been around 2,000 years and it still isn't appreciated or known and in that in that death that's what made our redemption possible and then after the crucifixion and after the resurrection Peter as the designated head of the twelve Peter continues preaching that message with Jesus now gone

[57:57] Acts chapter 1 he ascended went back to heaven and Peter is preaching in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost and guess who his audience is Jews nobody but Jews read the list in Acts 2 they're all Jews there's not a Gentile among them and Peter preaches you Israel you crucified the Lord of glory and then in chapter 3 he says you crucified him God sent him you crucified him rather than receive him you put him to death but let me tell you something if you will now change your mind and embrace Jesus as the Messiah God will send him back and he will finish what he started and Israel said no and they are still to this day set aside as a nation in unbelief wow what a so what are we waiting for what are we waiting for well we're waiting for the return of our Lord for his body the church to remove us from the earth and when he does he's got unfinished business to settle with Israel but you know something this time this time

[59:27] Israel will welcome him with open arms their unbelief will turn to belief and they will recognize their ancestors 2000 years ago rejected him but we're not going to do that and they will embrace their Messiah they will look upon him whom they pierced Zechariah tells us when Christ returns Israel will look upon him Jesus whom they pierced and they will mourn in repentance and regret and it's going to be oh how could we how could we have done that we did it and now it's all going to get turned around wow well this is so much more you got a lot more this morning than I intended to give you but I appreciate your patience would you stand please father we are so grateful for what you've revealed here in your word and we recognize that our understanding of it is critical and at the same time we recognize that our understanding is not infallible and we may have erred or strayed in our estimation of these things somewhere we don't know where we wouldn't have done it but anything that has been uttered that is not in accordance with your will we want it to pass away and come to naught and what is what is of the spirit of

[61:05]  God may you use it and seal it to our hearts and use this as a bridge for building and connecting further truths to we bless you and thank you for it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen Amen