Transcription
[Music]
Now is preaching time. Glory to God. Go to the gospel, say Matthew chapter 15, verse 21 through 28. I'll be reading out of the NIV this morning, and I believe I have a word from the Lord.
[Music]
The gospel of Saint Matthew chapter 15, beginning at verse 21 and concluding at verse 28. When you have it, say "Amen." You watch it online. I want you to get your Bible too. Don't just watch us read out the Bible. Get your Bible too, or read the Bible as it is as it appears on the screen. I want you to listen at every word of this text as if it were vitally important, starting with the first verse, which is generally skimmed over. It is important.
"Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that from that vicinity came to him crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.'"
Jesus didn't say nothing. He did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
The woman ain't saying nothing about them. Ain't that funny how people like to be important because they're around somebody important? "Send her away because she's crying after us." She ain't saying nothing about no disciples. Peter, James, John, Luke, Mark, nobody. She said, "Jesus, now Son of David." Now they talking about she's crying after us.
He answered, watch this. "I was lo—I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me," she said.
He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs."
"Yes it is, Lord," she said. "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
[Applause]
Then Jesus said to her, "Woman, you have great faith." In the King James version, he says, "I have not found so great of faith in all of Israel. Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed at that moment. Can you say amen?
Father, sanctify the word in our hearts. I thank you for the privilege of having this opportunity to assemble not only with the believers in this room, but believers around the world and around the country in different time zones and circumstances, in different socioeconomic levels of life, different genders, different ideas, different backgrounds, different circumstances. We have all come to tabernacle under the cloud of Your glory. Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Open up our ears to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the church. I thank you in advance for what You're going to do. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Somebody shout amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.
Many, many times when you see this text, it's—it's Mother's Day, and we tend to take texts about women and apply them to women. But if we only see this woman from her gender alone, I think we miss some significant points for our consideration. But before I get too deep into this, I want to share a story with you.
So about three or four weeks ago, I had met a gentleman. We had corresponded by email a few times. He was from another country. He said, "I'm going to be in the U.S. on such and such a date. I want to meet you. I admire your work. I stream your broadcast." He makes me scream this morning. I'm not going to call his name, but he knows who he is. If he's streaming, he said, "I stream your broadcast all the time." He knew my messages better than I did. I mean, he knew that word by word, verse by verse, quote by quote. Even knew what I had on when I was preaching and all that kind of stuff. And I was amazed. And I was amazed in part because he was not a Christian. He was not a Christian. He was not a sinner either. He just was. He belonged to another—uh—faith, another faith tradition altogether. And I was amazed that somebody from a completely different faith tradition would pay that much attention to what I was preaching and to consume it and to value it in the way that he did.
So I agreed to meet with him. And I met with him because he is building, uh, incubate work incubators all around the country for job creation in underserved communities, and he's doing it very well. And I was excited about it. How he has this global impact on the world by building these business incubators that are largely STEM programs that enable people to start businesses from these incubators. And he had one, uh, in our area, and I went to see it. And I toured the facility. Then I was impressed by, and I was inspired by it, and I was moved by it. I got to meet his board. I got to address him for a few moments and talk to them. And to think that he was doing what I would be happy to do in a few places, he's literally doing it all over the world. I Googled it and done my homework, and he was a world-renowned individual who has more degrees than the thermometer and all these accomplishments and all these great things that he had done. And I enjoyed talking with him. I connected with being a person of vision. We were both people of vision and people of passion and people who went after what we saw and believed God to help the community and change the world around us and leave something behind in terms of legacy that really mattered. But he was another religion, and that was fine. That was why I work with all types of people. You can't be a broad person and only work with church people. Yeah. Uh, I grew up in a small church in a small town with small ideas and went small. I read scriptures, they pull out small things, and so they would teach us small ideas. "Come out from among them and be ye separated," say of the Lord, "and I shall be your God, and you shall be my people." And they may come out from among, come out from them worldly people. Well, I—I did come out, but I went to school with them, and I had to work with them, and I had to interact with them, and they lived across the street from me. And, and I understand what the Bible means when it says, "Come out from among them." It means have your own identity, not to you can associate without assimilating with those types of people. But in a broader sense, God says, "All souls are Mine." All souls are our mind. And understanding that all souls belong to God, that God cares about all people. I was just wrestling between my own traditions and my own philosophy. And the reason I was wrestling is because we got to the end of the tour. His executive staff is all standing out there. His CFO, his CEO, his COO, his CEE, his CAA, and his CKY, and all of this standing out there on the sidewalk. And they come to say goodbye to me. And of all times in the world, the anointing came on me. And I said, "This is not a good time. Jesus, there's not a good time." Jesus is not a part of that. "This is not a good time." The anointing of God came upon me. And worse still, God gave me a word of knowledge. I said, "I don't want to give him a word of knowledge, Lord. He already has plainly told me that he is of a different religion." And what do I look like giving him a word of knowledge? And the Lord said, "Do what I said." And I gave this guy the word of knowledge. And the next thing I knew, I had laid hands on him on the sidewalk. On the sidewalk in front of his board, in front of his staff. And Hattie has taught me better than to do that. I know I'm not supposed to be like speaking in tongues in a board meeting. But there I am, talking to this very important person. And I had grabbed him with both hands by the head, forgot about COVID, head and everything. I laid hands on him and gave him this word of knowledge. And it wasn't necessarily about salvation. It was a word of knowledge for him. And tears leaped out of his eyes. He leaped out of his eye. And he turned, he looked at me, and he turned and he walked away. And he went walking down the sidewalk, and he was crying. And I drove home confused because all of our different religious ideas was arguing with each other. One of us said, "That's not supposed to happen. He—he's not one of us. He's—he's not one of us." And you gave him a word, and it affected him like that. And, and the way you felt about it, it goes against your background, your traditional. And, and sometimes your tradition gets in the way of a revelation. And in that moment, we—we both talked about it later. That we learned something about God. That that God has a way of transcending what we have been taught and what our background was and what country we come from and what language we speak. That God will break all of those rules to accomplish what He's trying to accomplish in your life.
Now, now, if we only see this text through the lens of a desperate mother seeking help for her daughter, though that is what she is, if that's all we see about the text, we will do an injustice to the text. It's obvious that though she wasn't a follower of Jesus, she had been an observer of Him, like my friend was. She knew who He was. "Jesus, now Son of David." That's a messianic greeting that normally a Jew would give to the Messiah. She is not Jewish at all, and yet she is familiar enough with the lingo that she speaks Jesus' language. She'd been an observer of Him. She knew exactly who He was. She was desperate enough. Desperate enough to cross the line of her tradition. Desperate enough to cross the line of her tradition. And you know, some—God can't do anything with you until you get desperate. As long as you say, "I'm not going over to that inner denomination. I'm sure it's because I'm about this, so I'm not going over that. I'm a denominational chair. I was raised carefully. I'm not going because I'm white. I'm not going because I'm black. I'm not going because I'm Asian. I'm not going because I'm Indian." Let me tell you something. When you get in enough trouble, you will go anywhere to get anything from anybody that will help you to get through. It's like dialing 9-1-1. I don't call 9-1-1 and say, "Please send a black paramedic." No, send a paramedic that can help me right now. I don't care if I can't pronounce their name. I want them to be able to help me right now. I don't ask them when they pull up, "Are you a Christian?" I have got some oxygen. I need some help right now. You have to understand that desperate situations require a desperate response. And this morning, I want to talk to you about desperate faith. I want to talk to you about desperate faith. Desperate faith, not passive, religious, superficial, traditional, self-righteous Pharisee faith. I want to talk to you about desperate faith. The kind of faith that will cross lines, break rules, make you reach out, cross generations, break down barriers, whatever you got to do to get a breakthrough. You have to have that level of desperate faith.
Now, you have to be radical. And you may even have had to live a while to know what desperate faith is because sometimes if you haven't lived a while, you haven't been desperate. See, when my kids were little, they weren't desperate because they were discipled. They had everything they needed. I—it was our job to make sure that they weren't desperate. Maybe when they grew up and got out on their own, they got a little desperate because even those bills start coming in your name. That house payment comes in your name. And all of a sudden, you get a revelation that milk doesn't just appear in the refrigerator by magic. And so you stop leaving it out on the counter for three days. Come on, talk to me, somebody. Let's be real. Are there any desperate people listening at me today? You've gone through some things. You understand some things. You've endured some things. And you need God to help you get through some things. And you're going through some critical things right now. You didn't come to church this Sunday because you got a cute dress. You didn't come to church this Sunday because you got a new suit and you want to show it off. You didn't come to church this morning just to see what's going on. You're not logged onto this broadcast because you don't need to wash your clothes and you don't have nothing else to do and the kids ain't pulling at you. But you're desperate enough to be engaged in God in, in a way that's different from other people. Some of your other family members may be playing in the house. Some of them may have went out to play golf. Some of them might be shooting hoops. Somebody might be doing something else. But as for you, you're stuck in front of this screen because you are looking for a word from God. You're looking for a word from God. Somebody shout, "Desperate faith!"
Desperate faith isn't passively blaming God for our own choices and mistakes. A lot of times we blame God for things that we did to ourselves. "I've been believing God for three years to get out of debt, and He hadn't come through for me yet." He didn't get you in debt. Let's first assume responsibility that your behavior brought you to the place that you're in, and stop blaming God like God failed you for not being codependent in your cycle of dysfunction. Because sometimes we use faith because we want God to enable us to remain dysfunctional, and He doesn't answer us a word because until you fix your habits, He's not going to pour more of resources into a dysfunctional system. I—I know I lost a few people on that, but I'm just sick and tired of people saying, "I tithed, and it didn't work. I gave a couple of Sundays. I threw a $20 bill on the altar, and I was expecting my million-dollar breakthrough." Why would God give you a million dollars when you ran through a thousand dollars? God wants you to be faithful over a few things before He makes you ruler over many. I know I wouldn't get much shouting today, but that's okay.
Desperate faith isn't sitting idly by in despair, waiting for a divine miracle to replace human effort. I believe in God for a job. [Applause] With my remote control in my hand, I'm believing God. I prayed three times for a job, and the Lord ain't answering me. I don't understand what's wrong. God ain't gonna never answer you because faith without works is dead. Being alone, you got to get out there and get your hustle on, sister girl. You got to get your hustle on. You got to get out there and make it happen. You got to make it do what it do. And if don't nobody hire you, you got to make T-shirts, candied apples, hot dogs. I don't care what you got to do. Rib dinners. You got to be about your Father's business, and then ask God to bless the works of your hands. The Bible said, "Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." And if you're not doing anything, you're not giving God anything to prosper. No, He's not coming in your living room. Boaz is never gonna ring the doorbell while you're sitting in the house in your housecoat and your hair isn't rolled. My Boaz is coming. You better hope he don't. If he come, he's gonna leave. He gonna get up out of there as quickly as you can because you're not ready for Boaz. You ain't Ruth. Don't expect Boaz.
Desperate faith is not us manipulating God to serve our agenda. "I want you to help me do this. I want you to help me do this. I want you to help me do this." It's not about getting God to serve your agenda. It's about getting you to serve God's agenda. When you get on God's agenda, you'll already be blessed. Instead of creating something separate over here and asking God to bless something that He didn't create, what you really want God to do is find out what He's doing. Do what God is doing because the blessing is already on the purpose of God. Come on, talk to me, somebody.
Desperate faith is not rejecting God's decision because of personal pain. To say, "I got desperate for it. I'm just believing God that that mama's gonna live." I'm believing God. I understand that. I've been there. I understand that. But God is still God. And you have to pray a kind of prayer that says, "Lord, I want my mother to live as long as she possibly can. But if You decide that You're going to take her, I have to trust You. I have to trust You. It hurts, but I trust You. I don't understand it, but I trust You. I'm in pain, but I trust You. You know what's best for me. Just give me the strength to stand what hurts in my life." I told the Lord, I told you this last Sunday. I told the Lord, I said, "Listen, I want my mother to keep on living. But if you give me 90, I'm gonna ask for a hundred. And if you give me a hundred, I'm gonna ask for 110. And if you ask me for 110, I say, 'How about 112?'" I'm going to be like, 112, 112, 110. If God was going twice, go and try to. When can I hear 115? Can he get 150? Can I get 115? 115? Anybody have 115? 150? 120? 120? I'm going for 120. 120, 120 over there. God, I believe because I'm greedy. [Music] I got a greedy love. When I love you, I love you. I really love you. I sometimes I wish I wouldn't like it. When I love you, I love you like crazy. And I want you to stay forever and ever and ever and ever. I had to learn that keeping people when they're in pain and when they're suffering and when they're hurting, it's not a matter of great faith. It's great cruelty. It took me a while to finally say, "I would rather be in pain and her be in peace." You have to grow a while to get to that, then for her to be in pain so I can be in peace. It takes a while to grow to that. And I just want to tell you what desperate faith is not because a lot of people come to church because they really think that faith is like witchcraft. That you can make it do what it do. You can make it do whatever you want it to do. You can just kind of believe God until you believe somebody else's husband away from them. "I believe in God. I know he's married, but I believe in God. He's not supposed to be married to her. He's not happy." I'm believing God that God, they said, "God, real being God, God, God." I believe in God. I don't care how much you believe God for my wife. You can't have her. Yeah, that's—that's a lying spirit from the pits of hell. That's a demon spirit, and we gotta cast that out. Cause she's already taken. So ain't no need that you believe in God for those. Serena and Jakes. [Applause] Believe God for your wife. Go out there and do the hard work. Get your own. Leave mine alone.
The thing that made this woman desperate is that she had a devil to fight. Is there anybody in here that has a devil to fight? I mean, a nasty, old, relentless, vicious, wicked, tenacious devil to fight. You got a devil to fight, and you can't afford to have no cute religion. You got a devil to fight. You can't afford to be steeped in tradition. You got a devil to fight. And whatever it takes to beat that devil out of your house, out of your life, out of your body, out of your mind, out of your emotions, out of your family, out of your children, out of your circumstances, you got a devil to fight. That's why you come to church when you're dressed up. You come to church when you're dressed down. You come to church when your nails are done. You come to church where your nails are broken off because you're a desperate woman. You are a desperate man. You got a desperate fight. If they don't tell you to praise the Lord, you gonna praise the Lord anyway because you're desperate. If they don't tell you to clap your hands, you're gonna clap your hands anyway because you're desperate. Ain't no need to sit beside somebody that's not desperate because they ain't gonna like you. You're gonna get on their nerves. You keep jumping up. You keep making noise. You keep crying out. You keep seeking the Master. You keep calling on His name because you're desperate. I want some desperate people. I want some desperate people. Type it on the line. Let hell know I'm desperate. I'm desperate. I'll use unusual tactics. I'll fight across the line. I'll do stuff you didn't expect me to do because I'm desperate. I'm getting too old to be playing games. I'm desperate now. I'll fight you now. I'll roll around on the floor. I'll do something bad to you now because I'm desperate. I want some desperate believers in this house to make some noise. [Music] Look at somebody, tell them, "I'm desperate now. I'm desperate." You might want to sit by somebody else because I'm desperate. I'm desperate. I may fall out on the floor. I may be slain in the spirit. I may start talking in tongues. I may run up to the altar and fall flat out on my face. I'm desperate. I got a devil to fight. He's after my daughter. He's after my son. He's after my granddaughter. He's after my finances. He's after my children. I got a devil to fight. This means war, devil. I'm rolling up my sleeves. I'm desperate. And whatever I gotta do to get a breakthrough, I'm gonna get a breakthrough. I'll mess up my hair. I'll cry up my makeup. I'll shake down my curls. I'll sweat out my clothes. I'm desperate for a breakthrough from the Lord. I need about 20 seconds of a sound of a sound of a sound of a desperate break. [Applause]
So sit down. So this woman. [Applause] [Music] This woman, she was not a Jew. She was not a Jew. She was not even a Christian. She was a desperate mother who had run out of options. None of her idols or her pagan deities had had relieved the suffering of her daughter. If they had, she wouldn't have come. The day-to-day suffering of her daughter, she obviously loved, had brought her to a place of breaking past her traditions and seeking deliverance from Jesus, a God she had never met. She'd heard about it. It had been noise abroad. There had been some history between her ancestors and Jehovah God, but they had never really fully embraced Jehovah, not then, not now, and not in the days of Jesus Christ.
Before we get too wrapped up in the peril that this woman besought and what she went through and what happened in her life, let's take a look at the historical context of the region itself. It's no accident that the text starts off that Jesus was in the region of Tyre and Sidon. It's no accident. It is the modern-day Lebanon. Tyre and Sidon are ancient cities that were originally Phoenician. They're mentioned several times both in the Old and the New Testament. Over and over again, they have a history with God. Jesus mentions Tyre and Sidon in Luke 10 in the context of judgment. He was pronouncing against cities. Of course, in and Bethsaida, he said they would rise up and condemn you. That's their Tyre and Sidon would have repented had the right miracles been done in their city, and they would rise up against you because I gave you so much more and I got so much less. Tyre and Sidon are port cities, still existing to this day. One of them, a primary city, the modern Lebanon on the Mediterranean coast. Sidon is believed to have existed prior to 2000 BC. They've been around a long time, with Tyre being just a little bit younger. The Old Testament mentions Israel's dealing with these cities, including the Israelites' failure to conquer Sidon in the conquest of the promised land. Them Phoenicians could fight. They were known for their ability to fight on the water. They were warriors, and they were wealthy, and they were a port city. And in all of Joshua's might, he could not whip those Phoenicians. Those Phoenicians were bad. They could throw down. They would go to war. They couldn't conquer Sidon in the conquest of the promised land. In Judges 13:1, their worship of Sidonian gods on several occasions is mentioned in Judges and other places. And they're obtaining materials from Sidon and Tyre for the building of the temple. They donated the materials that built the temple in Jerusalem, but would not worship there. King Hiram of Tyre is a prominent figure in the Bible, provided many of the temple furnishings for Solomon. Tyrians and Sidonians are also mentioned in helping rebuild the temple in Ezra's time. And so they had a close association, but they had their own identity and their own deities and their own libations and their own ceremonies and their own rituals. Queen Jezebel was a Sidonian. Yeah, she was a Sidonian. And when she summoned all of her, uh, prophets to come, they were from Sidon. That they came to take up their residence over there. So that gives you a feeling of the temperament of what's going on with this woman in, in, in Sidon. The Sidonian city of Zarephath was where a widow took care of Elijah, and the Lord provided oil and flour for her through the famine. Remember how Elijah ministered to the widow of Zarephath, but never converted her. It is important to understand that God cares about people who don't always care about Him. They—that that God helps people who don't always help Him. That God does not give you a theological test before He gives you a blessing. And yet, we live in a world that if you are even seen with somebody of a different faith or a different theology or a different idea, you get all kinds of crit. At least I do. Get all kinds of criticism, as if we should be segregated off to ourselves, only talk to, walk with, interact with, interview, do anything with anybody who has different ideas. And my question always becomes, how can you convert people you don't talk to? How can you win people you're not nice to? You mean to tell me that we can have a flood like Ida or Katrina, and I'm supposed to knock on the door and say, "Are you saved?" And if you're saved, I'll save you. And if you're not saved, shame on you. Do you mean to tell me that we're supposed to feed people in the street and only feed people that we agree with and interview them and interrogate them before we feed them? When God feeds everybody, God loves everybody, God helps everybody, God has mercy on everybody, God heals everybody, God opens doors for everybody. [Applause]
Later, the widow's son became ill and died, and Elijah came and raised him from the dead. God does not just reserve miracles for people who meet a certain criteria. You will remember that the woman who prepared Jesus' body for burial, they called her a sinner and said, "If He knew who she was, He would not let her anoint His feet with oil." Do you really think that Jesus didn't know who and what that woman was? And yet He suffered it to be so because that woman honored Him and treasured Him, even though she did not fully embrace His ideas. That had not yet been converted. Oh, I'm a mess with your theology today.
The Old Testament, there are also several prophecies against Tyre and Sidon that predicted a complete overthrow. In Isaiah 23, Jeremiah 25, if you're writing them down, Jeremiah 25 and 27, Ezekiel 28 through 26 through 28, Joel, Amos, Zacharias, and on and on and on. There are all kinds of. And they were overthrown over and over again. They were taken into captivity over and over again. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre from 585 to 572 BC. They were overtaken over and over again. Later, later, after Jesus' time comes along, Alexander the Great, or before rather, Alexander the Great besieged Tyre in 322 BC. So they had been free and bound and free and bound and back and forth. But no matter what state they were in, they held on to their idolatry. Alexander the Great almost completely destroyed the city, left it in shambles and pieces. The Persian kings, our taxidermics, conquered Sidon. In short, God's prophesied judgment came to pass. Later, both cities became prosperous provinces of Rome. It was while they were provinces of Rome that Jesus comes to Tyre and Sidon. But it's important that you understand the historicity of what was going on at the time because they had had a casual relationship with God, but not have been converted by the casual. It is while they were up under Roman colonization that Jesus moves freely into an area where Israel and His theology is not the preeminent influence of the people. The woman is one of the last persons you would expect to see fighting through His minions and His disciples to get an audience with Israel's Messiah. She is the last person. She is the last person. And when she asked Jesus and referred to Him as the Son of David and asked Him to—that her daughter was grievously vexed with the devil, there was a reason for His silence. He was quiet because He didn't come to her. He wasn't seeking her. He wasn't after her. And He knew that she was an idolatress. And yet she was desperate. She was desperate. And so Jesus heard her when she came to Him. "Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil." But He answered her not a word. Because sometimes our requests contradict our behavior. Oh, y'all ain't gonna talk to me. Sometimes we want God to do stuff for us that we don't do for Him. And we want God to open doors for us, and we have not surrendered to Him. And we want God to bless us out of our predicament, but we have a sometimes on again, off again relationship with God. And it's just like some of your friends that only call you when they want something. I got some folks that only call me when they want something. And I look down at the caller, I think, "Oh, Lord, here we go again." I don't hear about—I don't hear from them on a birthday or Christmas or holiday or Father's Day. I don't hear from them on the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day, any other day. They don't ask me, "Am I okay? Am I breathing? Am I alive? Have I survived? Can I make it? Am I starving to death? Did the ice age get me? Did the flood get me? Have—am I floating around in my living room?" But the moment they want something, they get on the phone and say, "Hey, man, how you doing? I've been having you on my mind." That's a lie. You ain't thought about me since the last trouble you was in. Last time, and you used me like I'm a bellhop, like I'm a waiter. You use me when you need me, and you throw me in the back of your car like I'm a spare tire until the next trip goes along. Because we don't value relationships. We don't value relationships. We don't give reciprocity to relationships. We only want people when we want them, and we want them. We want them to stop everything they do and turn around and see about us. But your emergency does not constitute my emergency. And I might be doing something, and I might not be able to be there. And there's no need and you pinning, sticking pins in a witch doll just 'cause I didn't answer the phone. 'Cause sometimes I'm busy. Y'all didn't shout me down, but I know I'm telling the truth.
What would make this woman from Tyre and Sidon, Jesus's in the region, as she goes out searching for Jesus? What would make her do it? I want to tell you what made her do it. The devil made her do it. You know why? Because when the devil gets on your trail tough enough, it will make you call on the name of the Lord. You might be in prison. You might be in the hospital. You might have a needle in your arm. You may have tracks in your legs. You might be shooting up in your toenails. You might be shooting up in your eyelids. You might be shooting up under your fingernail. But when the devil gets through with you, he will make you call on the name of the Lord. He will make you reach out and call on Him. He will make you drop down on your knees and say yes to God. Everybody in the church ain't in the church just because they wanted to be in the church. They're not in the church because they never smoked dope. They're not in the church because they never got a high. They ain't in the church because they ain't been in no strip club. They ain't in the church because they ain't been in the street. They ain't been to church because they have a hoard around. They ain't in the church because they ain't never messing around with a boy. They ain't in the church because they ain't been bisexual. They ain't in the church. Oh, y'all ain't gonna bother me. Y'all ain't gonna bother me, church folk. Y'all ain't gonna bother me with your phoniness. Y'all not gonna bother me today. They ain't in the church because they had rendezvous in the middle of the night. Booty calls at one o'clock in the morning. Done all kinds of crazy mess. They're in the church because when the devil got through whooping their behind, they had to come out of them streets. They had to come out of their mileage. They had to come out of their corner. When suicide got through chasing them, when afflictions got through chasing them, when sickness got through chasing them, it brought them down to their knees. I wish I had some real people. I'm sick of phony folks. I'm sick of phony church folk. I'm sick of phony transfer. You ain't never had an affair. You ain't never slept around. You ain't never messed with nobody. You ain't never done that. The devil is alive. You didn't done all kind of mess. If your life came on screen right now, you put your finger up and tip out a church right now. But when hell got hot enough, and life got tough enough, and storms got deep enough, and trials got hard enough, you came looking for Jesus. I want 60 seconds of praise if I'm telling the truth. [Applause] [Applause]
And all your problems ain't over. Some of y'all still got some problems. Some of y'all still living the double life. Some of y'all still got some issues. But you have learned, come what may, from day to day, "I'm gonna be in the house of the Lord. You're just gonna have to work on me. You're gonna have to fix me. You're gonna have to put band-aids on me. You're gonna have to give me chemo. You're gonna have to do whatever you're gonna have to do and treat me because I ain't never leaving You no more. I'm not leaving You no more. I'm not going nowhere else. I'm not serving no other God. I'm not bound to no idol. I will have no other God before You. If I'm broke, I'm broken in You. If I'm torn, I'm torn in You. If I'm hurt, I'm hurting You. If I'm talking to You, make some noise. I need some real noise." [Applause]
So look at somebody, tell them, "The devil made me do it." I've always said that whenever you see somebody who moves forward exceedingly, it is not always what they're going to that drove them. It's what they're running from. Sometimes the hell you're running from will make you run to Jesus with a power and a passion that will blow your mind. And the exceptional people who do exceptional things, who are exceptional in school, exceptional in business, exceptionally in life, stop being a hater. They're not there because they're greedy. They're there because they're needy. They're there because all hell broke loose. Some of them have been raped. Some of them have been battered. Some of them have been tattered. Some of them have been torn. And they had to run to Jesus. They had to be exceptional. They had to get up because they never dared be vulnerable ever again. And they're like, "I want to talk to somebody. I want to talk to somebody. I want to talk to somebody that you got up because you had to get up. You fought hard because you had to fight hard. You got that job because you had to have a job. You got tired of being hit upside your head. You got tired of being hit with skillets. You had to go back and get a degree so you could take care of yourself, your kids, your children." I want to talk to some people that were driven to Jesus, pulled to Jesus, yanked to Jesus, turned to Jesus, told to Jesus. I want to talk to the people in this room that you didn't come because you was a nicey-nice person. You came because you were desperate. You knew it. Desperate for God. You needed a desperate miracle. You needed a desperate touch. You needed a desperate move of the Holy Ghost. And that's why you praise Him like your praiser because you're a desperate woman. And frankly, you don't care what none of these church people think because you got to praise Him anyway. You don't care how they look at you. You don't care what they say about you. You don't care what you got on 'cause you're desperate. I'm gonna allow a Melvin for some desperate people to teach these nice people how to praise the Lord. Some desperate people who got problems right now. Some desperate people. Open up your mouth and give God some praise. Open up your mouth and shout unto God. Open up your mouth way up in the balcony. I want to hear you holler. Yes! Make some noise. You saved and everything still ain't right at home. You're still dealing with some stuff. It's not that her daughter was grievously vexed. She said, "My daughter is grievously vexed with." Forever, you'll be shocked at what we shout over. You'll be shouted and shocked at what we dance over. You'll be shocked at what we're dealing with right now. You'll be shocked at how the enemy tries to destroy your house. I know you're standing there with your cute dress on and then big old shoes you can't walk in. But I want some people that got a devil in your house to open up your mouth and give God the prayer. I want you to open your mouth and give God some prayers. [Applause] Elbow somebody, said, "I want him out of my house." Type it on the line. "I want him out of my house. I want him out of my children. I want him out of my son. I want him out of my daughter. I want him out of my finances. I want him out of my body. I want him out of my spouse. I got a devil in my house, and that's why I'm in church right now. That's why I'm desperate. That's why I'm shouting. That's why I'm hollering. That's why I'm praying. That's why I'm fasting." Oh, stop being cute and let's be real this morning. I want some real people to hold it up your mouth and shout out to God. [Applause] [Applause] [Music]
Don't get me wrong. I'll pray about you. I'll pray for you. I'll pray for your marriage. I pray for your children. I really will. I'll intercede. I'll lay on my face and go before God. But it's one thing to pray for the devil in your house, and it's a whole other thing to pray for the devil in mine. I want him out of my house. I want him out of my body. I want him out of my children. I want him out of my finances. I want him out of my mind. It's one thing to have a devil on your job, and it's another thing to have a devil in your house. Get out of my house. Get out of my. Get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get out. Get out. Get out. Somebody take him in and tell him, "Get out of here. Get out of my. Get out of here. Get out of my house. Get out of my knee. Get out of my joints. Get out of my leg. Get out of my lungs. Get out of my tissue. Get out of my children. Get out. Spirit of suicide, get out of my house. Mental illness, get out of my house. I don't want it in my children. I don't want it in my son. I don't want it in my daughter. Get out." [Applause] Oh, you ain't desperate. Oh, you ain't desperate if the praise stops when the music stops. You ain't desperate. But when you really get desperate, you don't need no organ to make you praise. And when you really get desperate, His praise shall continually be in your mouth. When you really get desperate, oh God, oh God, oh my God. Give us some desperate people this morning. Give us some desperate people online. I want to preach to somebody who's sick and tired of the enemy working in your house. Make some noise and let me hear you. [Applause]
The problem is, and I'm almost finished. The problem is. [Applause] Hallelujah to God. I feel the Holy Ghost in this place. I feel the power of the living God in this place. I feel God breaking yolks, tearing down walls, moving barriers. Hallelujah. He's after your house, your house, your house, your house, your house. You're out your house. [Applause] Who can you tell? Who can you talk to when it's your child? [Applause] Who can you talk to when it's your child? Who can you talk to when it's your spouse? Who can you talk to when it's your mama? Who can you talk to when it's about your dad? So there you are, wrestling between secrets and deliverance. I want deliverance, but it's a secret. I want deliverance, but it's a secret. And the woman decided, "The only one I can trust with what's going on in my house is Jesus." I'm not going after the disciples. I'm going out to Jesus. "Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter." I feel like preaching now, y'all. My God, "my daughter, my daughter, my flesh, my bones, my blood, my DNA, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil." I'm sick of this. [Applause] My daughter. [Applause] [Music] is previously matched with the devil. I don't know what to do about it. I pulled out libations, and she didn't get better. I prayed to our deities, and she didn't get better. I called on our idols, and they didn't get better. And I know I'm not one of your favorites. And I know I don't belong to your church. And I know I'm not one of y'all. But I came all the way over here because the devil drove me over here to you. If anybody can do it, you care. I heard about your power. I heard what you did for the centurion. I heard what you did for the woman with your blood. I heard what you did for life. My daughter needs a touch from God. [Music] [Applause] And He. [Applause] [Music] I feel the Holy Ghost working on something. I feel the Holy Ghost working on something. I feel the Holy Ghost getting behind walls. I feel the Holy Ghost getting behind doors. I feel the Holy Ghost doing some surgery right now. I feel the Holy Ghost doing some operations right now. I feel the Holy Ghost dealing with marriages right now. I feel the Holy Ghost dealing with minds and emotions right now. I feel the Holy Ghost uncovering some secrets right now. I feel the Holy Ghost touching some areas where you've been traumatized and in pain and that you're with sin and don't know what to do. But God, I got news for you. God's gonna get some victory out of what you're going through. Can I tell you again? God's gonna get some victory out of what you're going through. If I'm talking to you, praise Him like it's already done. You may be online, but praise Him like it's already done. Praise it like it's already done. I know He ain't said nothing. I know He ain't done nothing yet. But praise Him. Lying is. I done. Watch this. [Applause] To all of her desperation, to all of her fearing and frustration and stress and pain and tear them all and scream it out in Him. [Applause] He said. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Nothing. What do you do when you have articulated the problem clearly to the only one who can fix it? [Music] And He says nothing. Respectfully, I'm sick.
Of preachers, and I'm sick of the preaching we get half the time because y'all always preaching about when he answers. And I don't need you to tell me how to react when he answers. I ain't stupid; I know how to praise him when he answers. I know how to dance when he answers. But what do you know when you're down 9-1-1 and God don't say nothing? What do you know [Applause] when the enemies break in your back door and the police don't answer the phone? What do you do when you call on Jesus and he acts deaf? [Music] He kept on walking. [Applause]
We don't sing about the silence of God. We sing about what he said and what he'll do and what he's promised. But we don't write no songs about the silence of God. I'm not struggling with his promises; I'm struggling with his silence. Don't you see me bleeding? Don't you see me in pain? [Music] Do you know what it's like to see your child suffer? I'd rather suffer myself [Applause] in the hospital on a respirator, and your child can't breathe. [Music] Unhook them and give it to me. At least I'm old enough to have experienced enough. He said nothing. What do you do when God says nothing? I'll tell you what she did. [Music] She drew closer.
Sometimes God doesn't answer [Applause] to draw you closer. Sometimes he doesn't respond to draw you closer.
She draws closer to Jesus and says, "Lord, help me, help me! I'm through with titles, I'm through with honor, I'm through with protocol, protocol. I just want some help, Lord." And she put Jesus in a dilemma.
I never was driving home after praying for that guy, and I said, "Lord, that ain't supposed to happen like that. They know they're not supposed to follow me and give me a word of knowledge for somebody from a whole different religion." And the glory moved, and I, I was confused. She put Jesus in a, in a dilemma.
He says, almost as if he wasn't even talking to her, "It's not right what you're asking me to do. It's not, it's my protocol. It's not, it's not, it's not the way I planned it. It's not the way it's supposed to happen. It's, it's not supposed to be like that. It's not, it's not appropriate. It's not my assignment. Now, that's not what he told me to do. He told me to come to my own, and I'm not through dealing with my own." [Applause]
"You dealing with your daughter, and I'm dealing with my children. Your daughter is grievously vexed with the devil, and my children are vexed with unbelief. Oh, y'all didn't hear what I said? Both of us got child problems. And how am I supposed to deal with your child, and I can't hardly fix my own? It's not meat, it's not meat, it's not me to give the children's bread to the dogs. I'm still trying to get them to eat the bread. I'm trying to get my child to eat the bread. You telling me about your child? My child in trouble too. For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched by the feeling of our infirmity, tempted in all points like as we are. You got a troubled child," he said, "I knew too. It's not me to give the children's bread to the dogs."
And the woman blew his mind. She said, "Yeah, I'm a dog. I'm a dog." In the Bible, a dog meant without covenant. "I'm a Gentile, I'm an idolater, I'm a dog. But even the dogs, even the dogs can eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table." She says, "I will settle for what your church wastes." [Applause] "Your children waste enough glory to heal my daughter."
Listen at them at the bargaining table. It's like the woman and Jesus are at the bargaining table, at a good conference table where they're arguing their positions. And, and she says, "You know, my daughter's grievously vexed with a devil." He said, "I can't do nothing. My children crazy too. I'm trying to deal with my own children. It's not me to give the children bread to the dog." She said, "Yeah, I may be a dog, but even the dogs can eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table." And with that, she broke him. Her humility broke him. Her inability to be insulted broke him.
Sometimes you can't get your miracle because you too proud. I'm talking to somebody, I don't know who I'm talking to, but God has you online for a reason. Your pride is killing you. That woman didn't argue with Jesus about calling her. She said, "Truth, I'm a hope." [Applause] [Music] "True, I'd have done some mess, Lord." [Applause] "True, I have not been the picture of morality and integrity and honor, but I'm desperate. I'd be a dog, but can I have a crumb?"
Her indictment is as much against our waste as it is his power. She says, "We waste sermons that would save the world, messages that would stop guns from going off. We waste them." She said, "I could get healed from the crumbs. I could get healed from what your children don't even pay attention to. Leave the bread on the table for your kids. I sit in your lap and catch the crumbs."
In the days of Jesus, they had what was called, in the days of Jesus, they had what was called light dogs, and they would sit in the lap of the master and look up and catch the crumbs. She said, "I'll be your laptop if I can get a crumb of what falls from the master's table. My daughter will be healed."
And the decision says, "Away!" She cries out to us, it was never about them because she knew that what she needed only God could be. And the Lord told me if I would preach this, he would minister to some people who were going through something that only God can fix. And the Lord said he's seen your desperate faith, your radical tenacity, your relentless pursuit of him, and your refusal to let anybody run you out of church. Your refusal! You came if you had to get a ride, you came. You came, you came when you had money, you came when you didn't have money. If you had to wear a mask, if you had to take a shot, if you had to get a test, whatever it took, 'cause you too desperate to be cute. [Applause] [Music] [Applause]
And God said, "I've not, have not found it." I will shout, "I've not found this kind of faith amongst my own." Her faith, [Music] not her feelings, not her emotions, not her attitude, not her beauty, not her intellect, not her sensuality. Her faith! He said, "I cannot deny you because you have so much confidence. Then I'm able to do it. Woman, you have desperate faith."
And I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but to get out of what you're into, it's gonna take [Applause] desperate faith. And that selfsame hour, [Applause] that self save hour, not late, or not when she got back home, not when she took an anointed rag and put it in the bed, that selfsame hour, [Applause] [Music] [Applause] her daughter was made whole. [Music]
I want some folks to stand who ain't even asking for you. [Music] You're asking for somebody else. [Music] You.