The Lord's Crumb.

By the late JOHN GRAY of Pickering & Inglis. A Relic found among his papers. We gladly insert this article by our late beloved partner, feeling assured that many will be reminded by it of the sweetness of his ministry.

THE Lord’s ministry differed from that of the Scribes and Pharisees 
(read Mark 7. 24-29). Their object ever was to be seen of men, and the Lord says, "they have their reward" (Matt. 6. 2). We sometimes hear it said that we get what we go in for, and there is truth in the remark. The Pharisees went in for the praise of men, and they got their reward.
Should the believer at any time get so far out of line with the Spirit of his beloved Master as to do or give, in order that he might receive the praise of man, he also, like the Pharisees, will get what he has gone in for. In other words, he will be seen of men, but that is all the reward he will ever get. What a poor object in life or service!
In His ministry down here,
The Lord Never Courted the Praise of Men.
Indeed, He discouraged it. In John 6, we read of Him feeding five thousand people with five barley loaves and two small fishes. The people, recognising that a miracle had been wrought in their midst, would have made Him King by force, but the Lord retires to the mountain alone. He would take glory from no hand but His Father's, nor would He accept it before the time.
Although the Lord endeavoured to hide Himself, we read that
"He Could Not be Hid"
(v. 24). If the Lord is in the heart or the home, the people outside will soon know about it.
Moses' face shone when he came down from the mount, and the comment of Scripture that he "wist it not"  (Exod. 34. 29) adds beautifully to the illumination.
This Syrophenician woman, spoken of in the narrative, had a grief; but she wisely did what every Christian should do, she
Took her Burden to the Lord.
She believed there was one Person, and only one, could cast the evil spirit out of her daughter, and that was the Lord Jesus.
By means of His Gospel, He is doing the same gracious work to-day, and, praise God, there are multitudes in this and other lands
"In their Right Mind"
as the result of the reception of that blessed message.
One difficulty—and apparently an insuperable one—stood in the way of this woman's approach to the Saviour; she was a Greek (v. 26), and being a complete outsider, she had absolutely no claim on the bounty of the Lord.
Our position was exactly the same as hers. We also were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, sinners of the Gentiles, "far off"; but through the mercy of God, and the Blood of Christ have been "brought nigh" (Eph. 2. 13).
Where there is a will, there is generally a way, and a mother will, as a rule, find out the way, especially if the welfare of her child is in question. This Syrophenician woman found out the right way, for in Matthew's account of the narrative, we read that she approached with these words:
"Have Mercy on Me, O Lord,
Thou Son of David" (Matt. 15. 22). She did not make her appeal on the ground of merit; she cast herself on the mercy of the Lord.
It is only a guilty person that needs mercy, and hers was really the prayer of the publican: "God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18. 13).
If Charlotte Elliott's beautiful hymn had been in existence, she might have approached the Saviour, as some of us did long ago, with these words on her lips:
“Just as I am without one plea,
But that Thy Blood was shed for me.”
The mercy of the Lord, which at conversion saved our souls, has been present with us every day since, and we have the blessed assurance that we will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psa. 23. 6).
The writer recently parted for the last time with a godly old Christian of gift and experience, who used to ably and profitably contribute to these pages, and the dying saint in bidding good-bye, said: "If we never meet again, remember, it has been mercy from first to last."
The Lord Invariably Tests our Faith,
for in this way is faith strengthened and increased. He will never, however, try us beyond the breaking point. "A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench" (Isa. 42. 3).
The way in which the Lord answered and treated this woman might lead us to think that He wanted to discourage her, whereas His real purpose was to prove the reality of her faith and the humility of her spirit. "Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled" (v. 27). The children were the Jews, and being a Greek, she was outside the family circle altogether. The humility displayed by this poor heathen woman is indeed beautiful, for the language of her heart might have been expressed thus: "Lord, I am willing that the children first be filled, but oh, may there be a bite for me afterwards. I am not out for a first place;
Any Place will Do for Me,
provided I get a small portion."
Again, the Lord replied: "It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it unto the dogs" (v. 27). By these words it appeared as if the Lord not only closed the door but locked it against her. But this was not the case. Such was her unbounded faith not only in the Lord's ability, but in His willingness to help her, that she rose beautifully above every difficulty. The word which seemed to exclude her, was really the word that brought her into the blessing.
She Fastened on the word "Dogs."
There were two kinds of dogs in Jerusalem—the common street dogs, which were the scavengers of the city, and the little pet or house dog which ran about the home and picked up the crumbs from the floor. The latter was the word used by the Lord. The woman replied: "Truth, Lord," or in other words, "Lord, I take my true place. I am an outsider. I have no claim whatever to Thy bounty. I am just a Gentile dog; but, Lord, I would reverently remind Thee that even the little dogs now and again get a crumb from their master's table. And Lord, I am out for Thy crumb, for I recognise that
The Lord's Crumb is a Big Blessing."
Did she get her crumb? The Lord replied: “O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt" (v. 29).
She got the Lord's crumb that day, which to her was indeed a great blessing.
May we emulate this heathen woman in her faith and humility, and we also will get the Lord's blessing, which in this life is the only thing worth striving for. 
“The Witness” 1939