to be looking in our Bibles this
evening at a couple of different places, so you might want to
keep your Bible right next to you there, but we'll begin with
the handout if you'd like. In the beginning of page 1, I
put in there a scripture from 2 Samuel 23, verse 5. Our brother David King of Israel
at the time, although my house is be not so with God, yet he
hath made with me, writes David, an everlasting covenant. And
here, look at these words next. Ordered in all things and sure,
for this is all my salvation and all my desire. These are
the words of David, the great psalmist, the last words of David,
the great psalmist of God, a man after God's own heart. And I
bring your attention to the statement, though David's own house was
not all of God, did not walk in the ways of God. David's trust
was in the promises, the covenant God made concerning him, and
the word given in those promises was ordered and sure. Tonight, our text is an example
of that very thing. When the Lord tells us, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, as in all of his statements,
this will be orderly, as he has put in order and sure, for nothing
can turn the purpose of God. If so, we are wasting our time
calling him God. The fact that God's providence
is ordered and sure according to His great purpose of grace
toward His elect is undeniably evident in this text. This entire
story is a commentary upon an illustration of Romans 8, 28,
verse 30, where we read, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. Now that's important. We must
understand that God is addressing a certain people. This whole
book is a love letter about His Son saving His people. And we know that all things work
together for them that love God, to them that are called according
to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
we might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Now look with me, if you would,
at our text in Matthew chapter 15. Beginning at verse 21, Matthew
15, then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre
and Sodom. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he
answered and said, it is not neat to take the children's bread
and to cast it to dogs. And she said, truth, Lord, yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, Great is thy
faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt, and her daughter was
made whole from that very hour. Bottom paragraph of page one,
what prompted this woman to come to Christ? The answer is her
daughter was grievously vexed with the devil. No one else could
help her, page two. The Son of God must be manifested,
as it states to us in 1 John 3, verse 8, that He might destroy
the works of the devil. Love for her daughter, who was
grievously vexed with the devil, compelled this broken-hearted
woman to come to the Savior. bringing her daughter's need
to Him. What an encouraging picture for you and I to invite our loved
ones who walk in darkness to church. There's still hope as
long as there is breath in them that the Lord may do a work of
grace in them as He has done in us. This woman asked the Lord
Jesus to pity her daughter as an act of mercy to herself. Notice
that she said, have mercy on me, bowing to Christ as her Lord. Her desperate need brought her
to the Savior and taught her how to pray. Let every believing
mother and father follow this example. Yet notice first the
order in which the events transpired. First, the Lord left where He
was and came to the coast of Tyre and said, Oh, this woman
is no different than any other sinner that walked this earth.
It says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God, Romans 3.23. The Word of God applies to her
as it does to all. Search the scriptures, for in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that
ye might have life. Or how about, that's John 5,
verse 39 through 40. How about this one? And this
is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world, and men
love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh
to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. John 3, verse
19 through 20. Look with me, if you would, at
a section of Scripture over in John chapter 4. Turn over to
John chapter 4, if you would. You might mark your Bibles there
in chapter 15 of Matthew. We'll come back to that in a
moment. But I want to read an account
that our Lord gives us in John chapter 4, beginning at verse
1. And this is a familiar account.
Many of you may be able to read these words out of memory. But
let's read them anyway. Let's begin at verse 3. He left
Judea and departed again into Galilee. You see the similarities
already? And he must needs go through
Samaria. I can't tell you how often I
read that very verse right there and think to myself how thankful
I am that God must needs go through Rescue California. He had a man
there, a man in rescue who was going to show up one day and
needed to hear the gospel. just as this woman who was going
to come to the well. Let's go on. Verse 5, then cometh
he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well
was there. And Jesus, therefore being worried
of his journey, sat thus on the well. And it was about the sixth
hour. There cometh a woman. of Samaria
to draw water. Now, we see another similarity,
a woman who's outside the camp, a Samaritan, a dog, one who would
have the Israelites, the Jews, would have nothing to do with.
And Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. For his disciples
were gone away from the city to buy meat. Verse 9. Then saith
the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a
Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the
Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. See the similarities we see here?
Jesus answered in verse 10 and said unto her, if thou knewest
the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to
drink, thou wouldest have asked him, and he would have given
thee living water. Folks, here's that similarity
again. It must be Christ who reveals
himself to his people, otherwise we would never ask. If we knew
who he was, we would ask, but we don't. until he reveals himself
to us. Let's go on, verse 11. The woman
saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep. From whence then hast thou that
living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto
her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him,
Sir, give me this water that I may thirst not, neither come
hither to draw. And Jesus saith, go and call
thy husband, and come hither. Now he's setting her up for something,
to show her something. The woman answered and said,
I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, thou hast
well said. He knew it. He was setting her
up to answer in this very way, knowing that she was going to
answer, leading her to answer in this way. Thou hast well said,
I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands. He just met
her at the well. This is God Almighty in the flesh,
folks. He has all the power of God standing
right there in front of her next to this well. All the power of
knowledge, all the power of sight, all the power of being everywhere
at once. Jesus Christ is God Almighty in the flesh. For thou
hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy
husband, and thou sayest thou truly. And the woman said unto
him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our father is
worshiped in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is a
place where men ought to worship. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me. The hour cometh when ye shall
neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the
Father. Ye worship ye know not what.
We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshiper shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him. in spirit and in truth. Verse
25, the woman saith unto him, I know the Messiah is cometh,
which is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell
us all things. And Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee am he. Let's go back to our handouts
now, if you would, the bottom of page two, last paragraph.
The ground upon which the mother of the vexed child cried for
mercy was her need. The Lord sent her a need. The
ground upon which she hoped for and expected, it was that the
man Christ Jesus is the son of David, the very Messiah that
this woman was just talking about, that the Lord said, I that speak
unto thee am he. She knew that he was the son
of David, God incarnate, Emmanuel, meaning God with us, interpreted
God with us. God and man in one person. The multitudes who saw him most
had no idea who he was, and neither did they trust him, this woman
being taught of God. And that's important. And we
read that here in John 645. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto him. She knew him. and trusted him. Page three. And when she was
in great need, she came to him for mercy. The order is right. God must teach us of our need. And affliction is often the means
of grace to teach God's elect their need and proves a great
blessing to a person's soul. Our brother Norm Wells brought
out in his last study how the most unlikely people go through
great trials and are used to picture the process of regeneration. Brother Don Fortner wrote this,
he said, adversity will never produce faith, but God often
uses adversity to bring chosen sinners to the Savior. Look over
at the 107th Psalm with me. Turn over to Psalms 107. This
is a lengthy psalm. We're only going to read 15 verses. I highly recommend you read the
remainder of this psalm in your own time. But as we will see
in these few verses that we read, the ways of our Lord is so good
in teaching us through our trials and tribulations. Look at verse
1 of Psalm 107. Give thanks unto the Lord, for
he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of
the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the
enemy, and gathered them out of the lands from the east and
from the west and from the north and from the south. They wandered
in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell
in. You see the adversity that the
Lord has brought them through? Verse 5, hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord. This is only one. We could spend the next couple of
days in all the different places our Lord gives us an example
of this very thing. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distress. And
He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a
city of habitation. Oh, that man would praise the
Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. For he satisfies the longing
soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness, such as sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction
and iron. Because they rebelled against
the words of God and contemned the counsel of the Most High,
therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down
and they were as none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of the darkness
and the shadow of death and break their bands in asunder. Verse
15, oh, that man would praise the Lord for his goodness and
for his wonderful works to the children of men. Back in our
handout now, mid-page three. As we see throughout scriptures,
God's elect are usually those we think are the most unlikely
to be saved. I thought about this also in
our brother Norm's lesson the other night. Who would have thought
John Reeves, who would have thought John Reeves would love the Lord
Jesus Christ? Who would have thought John Reeves
would have left the world behind and began to follow his Lord
and Savior? I was probably the most unlikely
person of all of my group in high school. Lay that to heart,
folks. It's a lesson that must never
be forgotten. God's elect are often found where
we least expect them. Again, Brother Don Fortner writes
this. He says, it is grace. not place
that determines who shall be saved. It is grace, not race,
that determines who shall obtain faith. Remember, this was a Canaanite
woman, a Syrophoenician from the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
She was a woman of a cursed race of idolaters, but she was a chosen
vessel of mercy. For ye see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring
to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his
presence." 1 Corinthians 1, 26-29. Or how about this one, for who
maketh thee to differ? from another? And what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? 1 Corinthians
4, verse 7, page 4. This poor woman had been put
through the wringer. Her heart was crushed. Her precious daughter was grievously
vexed with the devil. She was utterly helpless. There
was nothing she could do to help her daughter. Yet, it was the
very thing that caused her great pain, great heartache, great
sorrow that brought her to Christ and taught her to pray. If she
could speak to us right now from heaven, might she say these words? It is good for me that I have
been afflicted. that I might learn thy statutes."
That's from Psalm 119 as well, verse 71. Again, and I'm not
ashamed to quote Brother Don, again I quote from him, he says,
Every providential adversity, every difficulty of life is a
message from God. Our troubles in this world are
sent by our Heavenly Father and are intended to draw us to Christ,
to wean us from the world. to send us to the Scriptures
and to teach us to pray. As trials are used of God to
bring us to Christ and cause us to trust Him, so our trials
are designed to keep us clinging to Christ and to strengthen our
faith in Him. Listen to these words from Hebrews
12, 5-13, And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh
unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth. and scourges every son whom he
receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not?" You know, I find this interesting that I was just
talking to my grandson. Michael a little bit ago about
the difference in the way we discipline our children today
than they did when in my day. We've gotten more lax about it,
and this is what the Lord is talking about here. Chastening,
correcting the children. But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers
of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure, but he He, the Father
of all spirits, He, for our profit, that we might be partakers of
His holiness. Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless afterward it yielded
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby. Wherefore, because of all that
we just read, Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble
knees, and make straight the paths of your feet, lest that
which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be
healed. Last paragraph of page four.
Listen to the commenting of this passage from J.C. Ryle. He writes,
health is a good thing, but sickness is far better if it leads us
to God. Prosperity is a great mercy,
but adversity is a greater one if it brings us to Christ. Anything,
anything. is better than living in carelessness
and dying in sin. Page 5. He goes on to say, better a thousand
times to be afflicted like the Canaanite mother and like her
to flee to Christ and to live in ease like the rich fool and
die at last without Christ and without hope. Folks, the Lord
of glory is the first cause of all things. And he shows us in
this Canaanite woman a marvelous display of His sovereignty, of
His sovereign, free grace in Christ Jesus. Here is a chosen
vessel of God's mercy taken from the coast of Tyre and Sidon. He shows us that the church in
the kingdom of Christ is made up of God's elect gathered by
Him from all nations into which He has scattered them and they
shall come. Listen to these words, from the
East, and from the West, and from the North, and from the
South, and their coming is a matter of absolute surety. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down, writes, says
the Lord from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise Him up at the last day." John 6, verse
37-41. Or how about this? Thy people,
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Psalm 110 verse 3. He scattered them that he might
gather them. Therefore, say thus saith the
Lord God, although I have cast them far off among the heathen,
and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet
will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where
they shall come. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you
out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, and I
will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither,
and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof,
and all the abominations thereof from thence. will take the stony
heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh,
that they may walk in my statues, and keep my ordinances, and do
them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God." Ezekiel
11, 16-20. Last statement on page 5, she
was a woman of Canaan, it said. She was a Gentile. Mark tells
us in chapter 7, verse 26, that she was a Syrophoenician. Turn
to page 6, please. She was from that part of Phoenicia
near Syria. She came seeking the Lord Jesus
and His mercy, believing Him to be the Christ, the Son of
David. How did she know Christ? How
did she come to trust Him the same way all of God's people
come to trust Him? Flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. Matthew 16, 17,
a partial part of 17. That's the scripture where the
Lord's talking to Peter, and he said, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee.
It's the same way. The same way the Lord revealed
himself unto me. The same way the Lord revealed
himself unto you through the preaching of his gospel. 2nd
paragraph, page 6, God revealed His Son in her and gave her faith
in Him by His omnipotent grace. Listen to Psalm 65, verse 4.
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and catch this, and
causes. He doesn't just choose us, He
causes us to approach unto Him, unto Thee, that He may dwell
in Thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Romans, or how
about Romans 9 verse 16? So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. The Lord Jesus came into the
coast of Tyronside on first, and on an errand of mercy to
meet this woman. Just as he came to the well to see this Samaritan woman,
and as she was coming out of the coast to meet him, he was
coming to her. It is written, it shall come
to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they
are yet speaking, I will hear." Isaiah 65, verse 24. Another
point that is made in our text is that at best, all men are
still but sinners. Go back to our text in Matthew
chapter 15, if you would. They're still sinners. That's
at our best, folks. Religious people want to teach
others that you can get better. As you go along, the longer you're
saved, you'll get progressively better and better and better.
That's not true. My sanctification, my holiness,
is perfect in my Savior, the Lord Jesus. It's in Him that
we are sanctified. It's in Him that we're justified. And He says in Hebrews chapter
10, we are perfected. He is perfected forever by His
one offering. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified. You don't get any better in this
flesh. You're perfect already in Him. And it is a sad lesson
that we have to learn. But it's one that we need to
keep, and we need to keep it in mind always. God's saints
in this world are all sinners still. Justified and sanctified
in Christ, but sinners still. You know, if we would remember
that about each other, we could be so much more forgiving. If
we could remember that about all those folks who God brings
into our life, we could be so much more forgiving. Sometimes
we act as if we didn't know it at all. Here is a woman, a poor,
broken-hearted woman crying out for mercy. And here, a band of
blood-washed sinners who had themselves obtained mercy, looking
down their noses upon this Canaanite woman of Tyre Sidon as though
she was not worthy of being identified with them. What a pity. Notice what they said. Send her
away, for she crieth after us. Are you sure about that? Are
you sure that's who she was crying after? After them? She was not
crying after them. She was crying after Him, the
Lord. She said, have mercy upon me. Our Master is far more gracious
than we are. How thankful we ought to be.
Let us ever beware of and guard against our natural prejudices,
our natural pride, the hardness of our heart towards those who
are around us. Do not try to determine who is
and who is not sincere and true. Remember the wheat and the tares?
We just looked at this recently. Our Lord is so clear about that. He clearly states, do not try
to pull up the tares. will damage the wheat. We don't
know what we're doing. Leave that to the one who reads
hearts, the one who can see hearts. You and I can't do that. Do not
try to determine who is and who is not sincere and true, who
is and who is not a believer. We have no way of knowing. We
cannot look upon the heart. You and I should never be doubtful
of those who profess faith in Christ. Look at this example
recorded for us in Acts 9, verse 26. And this is an account of
Paul. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem,
he has said to join himself to the disciples. Look at page 7.
But they were all afraid of him. This is Paul. when He wanted
to come to Jerusalem, but all of the other apostles were afraid
of Him and believed not that He was a disciple. Or how about
Romans 14, verse 1, Him that is weak in the faith, receive
ye, but not to doubtful disputations. There it is. That's as clear
as a bell. We are not to try to read parts. Because we put everything in
God's hands, because we give God all the glory for everything,
and we speak out against those who do not, we are called judgmental. They're confusing something.
They're right about being judgmental, but it's not against the person.
It's against the person's belief of who God is. That's what it
is. It's against the person's belief.
I don't know if you're saved. I don't know if you're going
to be called a God at some day, or whether you'll go through
that doormark death into Hades, into the pit of fire. But I do
know this, that if you're worshipping a God who is just wanting, a
God who is waiting for you to do something about your part
to salvation, then you are not worshipping the God of Scripture.
And that I can be discerning about. You want to call it judgment,
you go ahead and do whatever you want. But I call it discernment,
discernment of the Spirit. Let's go on, second paragraph,
page 7. Sorry about getting away from it there a little bit. The
Lord stood before all that in that place, and He said this,
O woman, great is thy faith. That's verse 28 of our text.
Would it not seem there are varying degrees of faith? Our Lord calls
this woman's faith great faith. He called the centurion's faith
great faith as well. But He spoke of His disciples'
faith, and even Peter's at one point, as little faith. O ye of little faith, He said.
Would the Lord have us to understand that even little faith, if it
is fixed upon Him, is saving faith? Yet he holds this woman
who is newly converted before us as an example of great faith
so that we might seek to imitate her. When I read these words,
O woman, great is thy faith, I want to know what this faith
is, what this great faith is. What does the Word of God teach
us about great faith? First, how about Hebrews 12,
2? Great faith looks to Christ alone,
trusting Him alone for all mercy and grace. Listen to what it
says in Hebrews 12, 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith. That's a good sign of great faith
right there, looking unto Jesus. Great faith is based upon the
naked word of God. She believed Christ Jesus to
be the Christ because he met the prophecy of the Old Testament
and fulfilled it. Listen to Matthew 11, verses
3-6. And though art thou he that should
come, or do we look for another? This is the disciples that were
sent of John to the Lord Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go ye and show John again those things which ye do hear
and see. Now remember, they had come and
watched the Lord heal the blind. The blind received their sight,
He says, in the lame walk. and the lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have
the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he whomsoever
shall not be offended in me." Great faith involves great repentance. Repentance and faith always go
hand in hand. This woman turned from her sin,
from her religion, and her gods to the Lord Jesus Christ. Great
faith bows to the Word of God. When Christ spoke of His chosen
people election in verse 24, she worshipped Him. When He called
her a dog in verse 26, she acknowledged it and used it as an argument
for mercy. She said in verse 27, and she
said, truth Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from their master's table. Great faith cannot be driven
from Christ. It never gives up. It never quits.
Look how this poor soul hangs on to Christ. She had nowhere
else to go. Remember this over in John 6,
verse 66-68. And from that time, many of the
disciples went back and walked no more with Him. The words that
the Lord spoke were hard to hear. They no more walked with Him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the
words of eternal life. Or how about these words from
Hebrews 11, 13? These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them. Speaking of all the Old Testament
saints that was listed in chapter 11 of Hebrews, the great cloud
of witnesses. They were persuaded of them and
embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on earth. Great Faith always gets what
it wants, mercy. Faith wants, needs, and seeks
nothing else but mercy at the throne of grace. Listen to these
words. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore, because
of that, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy." That's what she was doing. She was coming
boldly, boldly to obtain mercy and find grace in the help of
time of need. Great faith must endure, and
great faith must endure great trials. Let's look at this in
closing. Our brother Don points this out,
he says, nowhere else in the book of God do we find a sinner
coming to the Savior discouraged by Him. But this woman met with
great discouragement. At first the Master didn't even
answer her. Then he who calls every poor,
weary, heavy-laden, broken-hearted soul to come unto him, assuring
that all who come, that they shall find rest, said to one
coming to him, I am not sent, but under the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. It is not meat to take the children's
bread and to cast it to dogs." Page 9. Brother, sister. Does it sometimes appear that
the Savior refuses to hear our hearts' cries? It surely does. When that is the case, stand
still before the throne of grace and see His mighty works. He sees you. He hears your cries. He knows all your sorrows. Remember, it was He who brought
the boisterous waves against the ship, causing them that He
loves to cry out, Master, do you love us? Do you care for
us? Why do you sleep? Being touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, He is infinitely more wise to
give you mercy than you are to ask for it. but he waits. He waits to be gracious at the
best time, at the time that is best to fulfill his purpose and
best to for you. Still the trial of her faith
is not finished. When the Lord finally spoke to
her, his words must have cut her heart He said, I am not sent,
but under the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is not meat
to take the children's bread and cast it into dogs. Who can
imagine how she must have felt when she heard those words? Yet
those are the first words the Savior spoke to her. He who loved
her with an everlasting love was determined to do more for
her than she asked or thought. He made the trial of her faith
even greater because he desired to make her an everlasting monument,
an example of faith among his people, teaching us by her example
to hope against hope, trusting him, ordered and sure. By all this, the Lord sweetly
and graciously forced her to publicly take her place, her
proper place, before Him, saying, Truth, Lord. Yet the dogs eat
of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Just in
proportion as we see Christ's glory, we will see and acknowledge
our unworthiness of His grace. I heard a man just recently say
this, the people of God are not offended of being called a dog,
for that is what we are before a thrice holy God. I remember
a woman grabbing her granddaughter's arm and getting up in the middle
of a Moonsday night service here at Rescue and walking out and
we could hear her muttering under her breath, I am not that kind
of sinner. God's people know we are. We
know exactly what we are. Then Jesus answered, last paragraph,
page 9, and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto
thee, even as thou wilt, and her daughter was made whole from
that very hour. That's verse 28. Robert Hawker
wrote this. He said, it is as if Jesus threw
the reins of government into her hand, saying, as by the prophet,
concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands, command
ye me. Isaiah 4511. And he goes on to say this, and
was there ever a more finished instance of grace and mercy,
not only in following up this daughter of Abraham's petition,
but planting such faith in her heart as might sustain so long
and a painful trial. Page 10. In closing, let us remember
this woman when we try to witness to sinners. God's elect may be
found anywhere. Let us remember this woman when
we pray the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much, James 5 verse 16, because our great God and Savior waits
to be gracious. Let us remember this woman when
our faith is tried. The more greatly our God intends
to bless us, the more greatly He tries our faith. I know there are many here with
us tonight and on this internet with us this evening that are
in great trials of their faith. Those who wonder, Lord, why am
I left here alone? Are there any other like me around? And there may not be where you
are. But God has given us this gracious thing we call electronic
media. that we can reach out to each
other no matter where we are. What a blessing for the folks
in San Diego to have the ability to listen to messages, whether
it be on Zoom or recordings of them. What a blessing for all
of these things that the Lord has got us in. I pray the Lord will bless you
and teach you through your trial, whatever it might be. to look
to our Savior, the Lord Jesus.