It is not meet to caft childrens bread to DOGS.] The word in the original is, a Whelp. A Dog grown, or a Mafiff, may be,& is good for fomething, of great ufe; but what is a Whelp good for, (for the prefent) of what ufe? It is not meet to caft childrens bread unto Whelps.

To CAST childrens bread] It intimates thus much, That God does caft fome Outward bleflings upon Wicked men, that are even Dogs: but the bread of Children is fo dif penfed, Gofpel-bread is fo difpenfed, as nothing fhall be loft.

Here was a very great temptation, and greater than the other. Dog is moft unworthy. When the Scripture would fet out the unworthiness of a man, and the the abject condition of any, he is called a Dog. Goliab could understand this, Amla Dog? that thou comeft out thus against me. Am I 1 Sam. fo bafe,vile, and unworthy? am I a Dog? And fo Mephi. 17.43. bofbeth, when he would acknowledg his own Unworthynefa to David, he cals himself, a Dog, and a dead Dog. So Hafael, Am I a Dog? Yet faies our Savior here, It is not meet to caft childrens bread unte Dogs. This woman now, her heart might have rifen, and the might have faid thus, (one would think) I am no Dog; I am a Woman, though a finful Woman, but I am no Dog: I have now come & fpread my condition, and mifery before ye; if ye will not relieve me, do not mifcal me; if ye will not help me, yet do not abufe me; if ye will not help me, yet pity me, do not call me Dog, I am no Dog. The Jews, that you call the children of the Kingdom, they indeed are Dogs, they turn a gain and rend you, but I do not turn again and rend you, I am no Dog. Her heart might have rife at this phrafe: Here was a great Temptation now, a mighty Tryal here in this Third thing.

Obferve: It is no new thing for true Belcevers, Gods Obferv. own people, to have their unworthiness objected to them. It is an ordinary thing among ft men and women, I am unclean, I am unworthy of Communion with the Saints, Communion with Gods people,with Chrift, I am a Dog, I

am

I Cor.15.

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am molt anworthy,it is no new thing for true Believers to have their own unworthiness objected to them.

But mark, how this womans faith works through this Temptation. Saies the, True, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table.

True] The word is the fame that in the Corinthians ye tranflate, Proteft. I proteft by our rejoycing, that I die dayly. And it should rather be tranflated to; Ye, by our rejaycing, we die dayly: rather than in the form of an Oath, (as it is there) it is the fame word that is here for, True.

Ye cannot charge a Beleever fo deeply, or speak so meanly of him, but he does think and fpeak as meanly of himfelf: Lord, thou doeft call me Dog, and one that is mo unworthy; True, Lord, I am mott unworthy. Some, they will difpraife themselves; but if you difpraise them too, then they will be angry: if you fall in with their own dilpraifes, and fay, 'Tis true; then they will be angry. But a true beleever, you cannot (peak or think to meanly of him, but he will fay, True, bord, true.

Lord] Obierve here, the cals Chrift Lord, when Chrift cals her Dog. Lord, (faies fhe) though thou speakeft dif honourably of me, yet I will fpeak honourably of thee: though I am a Dog in thy mouth, thou art a Lord in my mouth. A gracious heart, and a true beleever, will speak and think honourably of Jefus Chrift, even then, at that time, when the Lord Jefus Chrift shall fuffer the greateft dirt and reproach to be thrown upon him: True, Lord.

But the Dogs eat the crumbs] Thirdly. True faith find, out a promise in the very retufal, in Chrifts refufal: finds out Encouragement in the bowels of Discouragment. True Lord, Bread is for Children; that is, the Loaf, the piece that is cut off The Loaf; but the Crumbs does as well be long to the Dog, as the Loaf belongs to the Child. And Lord, thou faieft I am a Dog, therefore a Crumb does belong to me. True faith, it gathers in upon Jesus Christ, and gathers in upon him by that very hand that feeds to

put the foul away from him: it makes advantage of a difcouragement, and gathers it upon Jefus Christ, even by chat hand that does thruft it away. The dogs eat the crumbs.

Again. You may obferve here, That the leaft of Chrift, is highly prized with a true Beleever: a gracious heart, a touc Belcever, does highly prize and value the least of Christ. A crumb, a crumb, Oh! if I may have but a crumb, a crumb fhall be welcome, Lord, a crumb of mercy is welcome: the loaves are for children, but it I can get a crumb, I will praife God for it, I will be contented. The leaft, the worst of Chrift in the eye of a beleever is highly valued, and be fets a great price upon it.

Laftly. All this is faid by a Woman. Women ufually are not of that boldness, but more eafily dafh'd out of countenance,¿ Faith rifes above our Nature, and above our natural difpofition. Faith had gotten into this Womans heart, and the forgets her own difpofition, the comes like any Man, with boldnefs upon Jefus Chrift, follows bim, and will never let him alone. Faith rifes above our own Difpofitions, and above our Natures.

From all this, you may obferve here. If you be tempted with confideration of your own unworthiness, how you fhould give an answer unto thofe temptations. Do as this woman did, if I be a Dog, Lord, yet I am thy Dog; and if I be a Dog, Lord, yet crumbs belong to me; and if I be never fo great a finner, mercy and grace is for fin ners, and I come to mercy. Oh! fill, ftill hang upon Je fusChrift, ftill hang upon Jefus Chrift, and never let him go. Ab negando promittit, he does promife in denying. There was honey combs found in the body of the Lyon. Do but hang upon Jefus Chrift, hang upon him by faith, and you will find hony-combs in the midft of all thofe temptations, and difcouragements that you do meet withall. And though for the prefent he does feem to give a denyal unto all your prayers, yet at the laft he will own your prayers, he will own your faith, and he will fay un

to

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to thee, Man or Woman, Great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.

I come to the Vi&ory after this Combate. Then Jesus onfwered and faid unto her, [O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.] Here now the Lord does give a Testimony of her faith, and he does give her the mercy defired. First, he commends her faith and fecondly, he commends the greatness of her faith, O woman great is thy faith.

Why does be rather commend ber faith than other graces? fee bad other graces: Here is Humility in this woman to be feen; bere is a great deal of Wisdom in this woman to be feen; bere is Prayer; bere is Perfeverance in prayer; Chrift commends none of thefe, but commends ber Faith: why does be rather commend her faith, than any other grace?

Faith does commend Chrift above all the other, and therefore Chrift will commend Faith above all other Duties or Graces. Faith honors Chrift, and Chrift will honor Faith It is faith that gives a being to, and is the root of all other graces. He commends that: It is only faith that brings Chrift and the foul together; and therefore he does commend faith above all other graces.

If the Lord Jefus Chrift does commend faith fo, why fhould we not all labor efpecially to ftrengthen our faith. Get faith, you that have it not; and ftrengthen it, you that have it.. Get Humility, Patience, Wifdom; be much in Prayer, and continue in prayer; but above all things get Faith Faith is the grace commended by Jefus Chrift a bove all other graces; therefore we fhould labor above all for to get faith, and to ftrengthen faith. It is obferved from this place, that Chrift commends none bat the Gen tiles, the faith of the Gentiles: He faies concerning the Centurion, I have not found fo great faith, no not in Ifrael: he was a Gentile. And here he faies concerning this woman, O woman, great is thy faith: and fhe was a Gentile. What ever therefore thou haft been; though a Canaanite,though a Sinner, though a great Sinner; get faith, labor to ftreng

then

then thy faith, and the Lord Jefus Chrift will own thy faith at laft: though for the prefent he feems to hide himself from thee, yet he will own it at the laff, and he will commend it at the laft.

Secondly. He commends here the Greatness of her faith. Wherein was the Greatnefs of her faith? Faith confifts in the knowledge of Chrift, affent unto the truth, a relying upon God in Chrift in time of temptation, it's a Coming to Jefus Chrift; an Adherence to him. But the greatnefs of her faith lay in this, That in the midst of all thefe temptions, yet she did hang on Chrift, and would not be bea ten off by any of thefe difcouragements, or temptations. Here was the greatness of her faith.

The ftrength of faith does not lie in the affurance of our Salvation, or of Gods love, or of the mercy that we defice in prayer; one may have ftrong faith, and yet no affurance: I fay, not only faith but strong faith. This woman had no Affurance (that we reade of)not affurance of the thing that she begged, that the Lord would hear her prayer; he had no affurance of it, only the hung upon Chrift, and would not away. And when he put her away, the gathered in upon him: in the midst of all temp. tation and oppofition, ftill fhe did hang upon him. So then, a man may have faith,and ftrong faith, although he have no affurance.

And upon this account, How many are there that have Atrong faith, that think they bave no faith at all. Some think they have no faith, because they cannot fay, Chrift is mine, Mercy is mine, Heaven is mine: but yet, if in the time of your temptation ye can hang upon Chrift, and will not away from Chrift, but will ftill hang upon him, ftill wait upon him; you have not only faith, but you may have ftrong faith, a great faith as this woman had. And let me tell you this for your comfort: at the laft the Lord will make a report of your faith unto your own heart: Yea, he will make a report answerable to your temptation: for you may obferve here, That as the wound Z 2

was

Obferv.