It's been one of the greatest
blessings of the Lord to me in this extended time that Robin
and I have been here with you. privilege of being allowed to
preach to you. And I have to say it's a special
privilege today to also be able to preach once again to the brethren
from New Caney. And I spent many weeks with you
and it was a great blessing to me then and it continues to be.
And it's such a joy to have you be part of us here. So this morning,
I would like us to consider this well-known story of this Syrophoenician
woman. And this is a story of a woman in
great need who comes to Christ in her distress. Have you ever been there? I hope
you have. And if you haven't, I hope you
will be at some point in time that you too might know the grace
of God in Christ. You know, this is a wonderful
story. It is a wonderful story, as is every story having to do
with Christ. So read with me here, beginning
in verse 21. Matthew 15, verse 21. And Jesus
went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried
out to him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely demon
possessed. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and urged him, saying, send her away, for
she cries out after us. But he answered and said, I was
not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
she came and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. But he answered
and said, it is not good to take the children's bread and throw
it to the little dogs. And she said, yes, Lord, yet
even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their
master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
to her, oh woman, Great is your faith. Let it be to you as you
desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Now, I've preached from this
passage many times in the 30 plus years of ministry in Papua
New Guinea. But each time I prepare, I find
something new. And that's always the case with
the word of God. Why is that? Because this isn't
the word of man, this is the God-breathed word of God. And I don't think it's an overstatement
to say there is an infinite level of layers in the word of God,
that we will never plumb the depths. The Lord has used this story
to draw many hearts to himself. And I pray that your heart and
my heart will be drawn to him today. You know, the last time I preached
on this was about a year and a half ago at the conference
at 13th Street. And it's interesting. The Lord brought to my mind that
I would love to preach this to you all. And it's kept returning
again and again. And naturally speaking, it would
seem that our time is It's getting shorter at least that we're going
to be with you. So now is the day, now is the
day I'm going to preach this to you. And why? The Lord has
given me a compulsion to do that. And I pray that he'll be honored
in it. Turn back just a page or two
to Matthew 13, 51. Matthew 13. And you know there,
Jesus says, 13, yeah, 51, we'll begin there.
Have you understood all these things he has said to them? And
they said to him, yes, Lord. Then he said to them, therefore,
every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like
a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and
old. Now, I find in preaching this
passage a particular delight. And so, again, I'm going to bring
this to you and allow me to bring out of the treasure of the gospel,
things old, things that you've heard no doubt many times, I
trust have stored up in your heart and things new that I trust
that the Spirit will reveal to us today. When you read about
Jesus Christ, you can't help but be enthralled and captivated
by him. He's glorious in everything that
he does. He's done all things well, the
people said of him and how true that is. Even here, we're on
the surface, it seems that Jesus is impatient and uncaring, even
insulting and hard-hearted toward this woman. But nothing could
be farther from the truth. Have you noticed, I've mentioned
this before, have you noticed how much of the life of our Lord
is given to us in the simple interactions he has with people
in terms of the universal experiences of life? This is one of the reasons
these stories resonate in our hearts because they find us in
the same place and speak to us in the same circumstances. They
tell us of Christ. They tell us he is all that matters. And they show us that when Christ
comes, he makes all the difference. Think of Zacchaeus. You know,
we read he went out, he wanted to see Jesus, who he was. Now that's a good desire. And
that day Jesus stood in his house and said, today salvation has
come to this house. Think of blind Bartimaeus, there
he is crying out, have mercy upon me, thou son of David. And what did they do? Shut up,
they told him to shut up. And he cried out the louder. And his eyes were opened and
he saw The first thing he saw before his face was Christ and
the glory of Christ. Or think too of the woman of
Samaria, that poor woman going out to the well in her sin and
in her misery. And Jesus opens her heart and that fountain
of living waters wells up in her soul. or Levi, tax collector, the chief of the
tax collectors, working away. What would we say? A greedy, corrupt bureaucrat. And Jesus comes and says, follow
me. And what does he do? He gets
up and he follows Christ. And it's his words we're reading
today. Think of that, his words, Matthew. It's his words we're
reading today. Well, what is this story about?
It's about Christ. It's about faith in Christ. And the Lord makes this abundantly
clear, doesn't he? You know, sometimes we look at
portions of scripture, particularly if they're parables or stories,
and think, well, what is this really, what's the main point?
What is this really about? Well, in this case, it's clear,
isn't it? Because what does Christ say
of this woman at the end? Oh, woman, great is your faith. So we have no doubt that this
is the primary focus of this story. It's faith, God-given
faith in Christ. He, he and he alone is worthy
to be believed. Think about that. He can be fully
trusted in all that he says, in all that he does because of
who he is. Can that be said of anyone else? Then too, it's important to note
that this story is a story about the life of faith. We don't think
of that, but it's a story of the life of faith. Faith in Christ
and the life of faith are inextricably tied together. You can't have
one without the other. When a person believes God, he
responds to the circumstances of life in a very different way
than he ever did before. Faith in Christ brings forth
a peculiar life. Ken made reference to that this
morning when he spoke of the Lord's people being a peculiar
people. What does that mean? That we're
different. We're different. And we see that in the unusual
response of this woman. And there's no question her response
is an unusual response, isn't it? And we see it in the life of
every person saved by grace. So keep this in mind in each
of the points by God's grace we'll look at this morning. Keep
in mind that this is speaking also about the life of faith. Well, the first point is faith
comes with Christ. The first is so clear. Some of
the most profound truths of the word of God are that simple.
Where Christ is, there is life. Where Christ isn't, there is
no life. We've been hearing in the first
John where we read, he who has the son has life. He who does
not have the son of God does not have life. In verse 21, read there. Then
Jesus went out from there and departed from the region of Tyre
and Sidon. Now, it's important to consider
what just occurred prior to him coming to this region. Why did
he go out from there? Well, look back in verse eight
and we read something that is notable. He's speaking of the
scribes and the Pharisees who came to him. Now listen in verse
eight. He says, these people draw near
to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me, teaching
as doctrines the commandments of men." What does he say of these people?
They've come to him, but their heart is far from me, and in
vain they worship me. Why do they worship him in vain?
Because they did not believe. They did not believe in the only
begotten Son of God. And there are myriads of people
today, as there has been in every generation, on the mission field
here in the U.S., throughout the world, who are vainly worshiping. Vainly worshiping, doing all
the outward things of worship, saying all the right things.
Perhaps even come, Coming to a gospel church and yet never,
ever considering, is my heart near to Christ? Has Christ come
to me? Do I have the Son of God? When told by his disciples that
the Pharisees were offended by him, they were offended. Again, let's be reminded that
the gospel of God's grace will always offend. And as a preacher
or as a child of God, rejoice in that. Don't be ashamed. Rejoice in that. They were offended
by the words that Christ spoke to them. And here's his response. Look there in verse 13. Every
plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted.
Let them alone. Let them alone. Think of the
horror of that statement. That the one alone who is the
only hope of salvation would say, let him alone. Jesus went out from there. These
were ones not planted by his heavenly father. And he comes
to this region of Tyre and Sidon. Why? Because there is one there. There is one there who has been
planted by the Lord. And he will never leave her alone. Jesus comes to this region to
find this Gentile woman, Assyrian of Phoenicia. And Jesus comes
to her in her pain and in her sorrow and in her anguish and
suffering to help her. And when Christ comes, what does
this woman do? She comes to Christ. Well, secondly, I'd like us to
see that those who come to Christ know that they're in great need.
Verse 22, And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region
and cried out to him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, son
of David. My daughter is severely demon
possessed. This woman was in great trouble.
Her daughter was severely demon possessed, tormented, and completely
under the tyranny and malice of Satan. And we know that the
word of God gives us numerous examples of demon possession,
where we witness the terrible bondage that the evil spirit
places a person under, throwing them into the fire,
tormenting them, causing them even to live among the dead.
What a picture, what a glimpse of the horror of the power of
darkness. And that's all it is. It's just
a glimpse. No doubt this woman had exhausted
every means to find help for her daughter. You would, wouldn't
you? Perhaps at one time she thought
she could help her daughter. or that she could find help for
her daughter, but now she's in this place of knowing that she
could do nothing and that none could help her. Here was her daughter in an extreme
condition, a degree of misery hard to comprehend. And you can
imagine the anguish, the pain, the deep distress that this mother
feels for her daughter. Every day. Every day. Without end. This woman was in great need,
but more importantly, she knew she was in great need. This is
the case of all who come to Christ by faith. The scriptures know
nothing of a man coming to Christ who is not lost. or of a woman
coming to Christ who is not perishing. If you're not lost, you don't
need to be found. If you're not perishing, you
don't need a savior. Every sinner saved by grace comes
to Christ knowing that he's a sinner, knowing he's utterly lost, knowing
he is hopelessly perishing, knowing that he's in great need. and
knowing there is nothing, nothing that he can do or anyone else
can do to help him. We come knowing something of
the depths of our own sin, but we'll never know the true depths
of sin. No, we won't. A glimpse of the
true horror of the nature of sin would destroy us. How can we comprehend the depths
of our iniquity, depths measured by the infinite suffering of
our Savior? We come to Christ seeing our
sin, helpless and without strength, hardly believing that this gospel
could be true, that he loved me and gave himself for me. hardly
believing there could be such good news. Well, thirdly, those who come
to Christ cry out for mercy. Look at everyone who comes to
Christ cries out for mercy. What else could she do? She knows
she's in great trouble. She has great need, but is powerless
to help. She cries out to the Lord, have
mercy on me, oh Lord. Mercy, because she knows she's
not deserving of anything. Has nothing to offer. Has no
rights to claim. No rights. But she can cry out for mercy.
Yes, she can. She cried out to him saying,
have mercy upon me, oh Lord. She cried out to him. to the
only one that matters, to the only one that could help her.
She pleads what to Christ is an irresistible plea. Lord, help
me. Every sinner who comes to Christ
comes in this way. Conscious of his guilt, knowing
of his utter unworthiness before God, pleading for mercy. In one way
or another, in his heart, in her heart, he cries, have mercy upon me,
a sinner, the sinner. Well, fourthly, let's see that
those who come to Christ come to Christ revealed in the scriptures,
how important this is. You know, the Word of God speaks
about how there are those who believe in another Jesus, Jesus
of their own imagination. And oh, if there's anything true
today, that's it. This woman, she comes to the
Christ revealed in the Word of God. She doesn't just cry out
to him, have mercy upon me, oh Lord. She cried out to him saying,
have mercy upon me, oh Lord, son of David. Now, if there ever
was a cry of faith, this is it. She knows that Jesus is the promised
Messiah, the anointed one of God, and she cries out to him
as the Messiah. Clearly, she had a knowledge
of the truth, a knowledge of scriptures somewhere in her background,
and she knew the promises of God respecting the Messiah. And it was this that caused her
to cry out to him for help. Now, as you know, there was a
general knowledge among the people of Israel that the promised Messiah,
the Christ of God, would be of the seed of David. You know,
in Matthew, later on in Matthew 22, the Lord asked the Pharisees,
he says, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus
asked them saying, what do you think about the Christ? Whose
son is he? And they said to him, the son
of David. Well, what did the scriptures,
what did the scriptures reveal about the Christ, the son of
David? Well, many wonderful things because
all the scriptures speak of him. But just turn to Isaiah 61 for
a moment, where we read, of some of the glorious promises
which fell from the spirit-inspired lips of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 61, and here is this woman. Here's this woman, poor and brokenhearted. Her daughter's in captivity,
and she clearly has a knowledge of the prophecies respecting
the Lord's Christ, the Messiah. Here are some of those promises.
These are the words of Jesus, as we know, falling from the
mouth of Isaiah the prophet. In verse one, the spirit of the
Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach
good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of prison to
those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
and the day of vengeance of our God. Now listen, to comfort all
who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees
of righteousness. Now listen, the planting of the
Lord, that he may be glorified. And here she is, here she is,
the planting of the Lord. And the Christ, the anointed
one of God, has come to heal her broken heart, to comfort
her, to give her beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
and the garment of praise in place of the spirit of heaviness. Isn't that wonderful? Turn back
to Matthew 15. Now the woman of Canaan heard
about Jesus. She knows he's the promised Messiah,
the son of David, and she believes the promises of God. Now that's
what matters. She believes these promises.
They're there for all to hear, all to read, but she believes
them. With her whole heart, she knows
he can help her. In verse, fifth, let's say that
those who come to Christ come to Christ. Now that seems repetitive. Those who come to Christ come
to Christ. Why do I say that? Because false
religion is all about getting you to come to anything or anyone
other than Christ. Those who come to Christ don't
come to religion. Those who come to Christ don't
come to obedience to the law. Those who come to Christ don't
come to good works. Those who come to Christ don't
come to baptism. They don't come to the priest.
No. Those who come to Christ come
to Christ. The woman comes to Christ and
she makes a simple, powerful, irresistible entreaty for mercy. Verse 23, what happened? Verse 23, but he answered her,
not a word. She receives no encouragement.
Jesus answers her, not a word. Well, what will she do? Turn
back? Many do. Give up? Many do. But not this
woman, no, no. She continues to cry out like
blind Bartimaeus until the disciples, weary of her perseverance and
frustration, urge Jesus to send her away. Verse 23, and his disciples
came and urged him saying, send her away for she cries out after
us. But he answered and said, I was
not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In this response of the disciples,
what do we see? We see that they're uncaring
and unsympathetic to the plight of the woman. They're wearied
by her. Send her away. Now, there are
times when even faithful ministers of the gospel are a hindrance
to herding sheep, a hindrance to the lost sheep coming to Christ. I say that with grief. I know
I have been many times in the work of the gospel in Papua New
Guinea. But is this a reason to turn
away from Christ, the only Savior of God's elect? Your help is not found in me.
Your help is not found in your pastor or in anyone else. Your help is found in Christ. Never forget that. She knows this. You see this
woman? She knows this. She knows something
that is so important. She doesn't even respond to the
disciples. Her only thought is Christ. Her entire being, when
we read through this portion, we see that her entire being
is focused on Christ, on Him alone. Those who come to Christ
come to Christ and to no one else. Well, sixthly, let's see,
those who come to Christ will never let Him go. What does Jesus
do? He answers that he wasn't sent
except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And I know this
caused many confusion over time. How could Jesus respond in this
way? Well, we'll see. But it seems
that he dashes any hope she may have. Why? Because she's a Gentile. Obstacle after obstacle, discouragement
after discouragement seemed to come in the way of her receiving
help for her daughter. But she never wavers, never gives
up, will never let go. She's like Jacob, wrestling with
the Lord into the darkness of that long night, you remember?
And what did he say? I will not let you go until you
bless me. Here's this woman. Those who come to Christ will
never let him go. Isn't that true? Why? Because, and he'll never let
us go. He'll never let this woman go
until he blesses her. 25, then she came to him and
worshiped, saying, Lord, help me. Now, let me say here, there are
times of suffering when the Lord causes his people to wait upon
him, crying out to him. until you can cry no more. And
all you can cry is what this woman cried, Lord help me. It's
remarkable how often we find this revealed in the word of
God. Turn for a moment, keep your place here, turn for a moment
to Psalm 27. Let me just show you one instance
of this. And I encourage you that in the
time ahead, as you read the Word of God, just note how often the
Word of God urges us, exhorts us to wait upon Him. It's remarkable. You know, we're in an age of
instant gratification, aren't we? Well, this will teach us
something, if nothing else. Well, here, look, Psalm 27, read
there in verse seven, where the psalmist says, Hear, O Lord,
When I cry with my voice, have mercy upon me and answer me. When you said, seek my face,
my heart said to you, your face, Lord, will I seek. Now look down
to the last two verses in verse 13. I would have lost heart unless
I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the
land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the
Lord. We do, we do find ourselves at
times in the place where we feel that all the waves and billows
have gone over us. And we might not put into words But we feel as if the Lord has
shut out our prayers. We cry like this woman, Lord,
help me, help me. And it seems there's no answer. He's made us desolate. He has
moved our souls far from peace. And it would seem that we're
forgotten and forsaken of the Lord. And you remember those
words of Jeremiah in his lamentations. In his grief, he says, my strength
and my hope have perished from the Lord. Can that be? No, no, no. Wait upon the Lord. Wait upon
the Lord. And Jeremiah remembers, doesn't
he? He remembers who God is and says,
through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Through his
mercies, we are not consumed. Because his compassions fail
not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Isn't it wonderful that that
great hymn that we sing comes out of the lamentations of Jeremiah? Wait upon the Lord. Why? Wait upon the Lord because He
is gracious. I can give you lots of reasons.
Wait upon the Lord because he is gracious. Wait upon the Lord
because he loves you. Wait upon the Lord because he
works all things well. Wait upon the Lord because he
is merciful. And wait upon the Lord because
he's the only one that can help you. Turn back to Matthew 15. This woman, she believed like
I've never believed. This woman believes that Christ
can, not only can help her, but that he will help her. She waits
upon the Lord. She has no other thought, and
she comes and she worships him and says, Lord, help me. And
then seventhly, let's see, let's see that those who come to Christ
come in humility of soul. Verse 26, but he answered and
said, it is not good to take the children's
bread and throw it to the little dogs. And she said, yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat
the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Now Christ speaks
to her in a figure, doesn't he? The children spoken of are, of
course, the children of Israel. This is the nation and the people
whom God, out of all the nations of the world, had chosen to himself,
revealed himself to them, spoken to them by the prophets, given
them his word, and it's through this nation that he sent the
promised Savior and Redeemer. Christ was sent first to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. Well, who are the little dogs?
Well, they're anyone else. Everyone else, all those who
are not of the people of Israel, and in this case, this woman,
the natural response would have been what? Outrage, indignation,
offense. She would have been offended.
I'm a dog, am I? Here I am coming, pleading for
mercy, and he calls me a dog. Surely, she'll give up. She'll go away. You know she
won't. Listen to her response again.
True Lord. True Lord. She humbles herself
before the Savior. Why? Because she knows she's
nothing. She's nothing. how hard it is
for us to conceive of ourselves in that way. The only way we
can is through the grace of God. She knows she does not deserve
anything good from his hand. True Lord, I am nothing but a
little dog. And she's like that prodigal
son who comes home to the father, humbly declaring, I am not worthy,
not worthy to be called your son." True faith humbles the
soul before God. And now this woman too, she responds
in a figure. She greatly humbles herself before
the Lord. She says, true Lord, I am not
worthy to sit at the table with the sons and daughters. Yet even
the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's
table. That's all she wants. Just a
few crumbs. That's all she desires. That's
all she needs. She knows that. This is all the
help she needs. Just a few crumbs of grace. Just
a few crumbs of the bread of life. and she and her soul will
be satisfied. Well, in conclusion, we see that those who come to
Christ receive all that they desire and more.
Verse 28, then Jesus answered and said to her, Oh woman, great
is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire.
And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Have you thought of this? That
God given faith stirs the desires of the soul. and every one of
those desires are met. Isn't that true? They're met
in Christ. Now, think of this. Of all the people present at
that time, the people on the way, when you read the story,
the people on the way, the people in the house that they'd entered,
the woman, Jesus, and his disciples, of all of these people, there
were two people who knew this woman was going to receive help. Who were they? Who were they? Jesus and the woman. That's always the case. Why? Jesus knew she had faith because
he'd given it to her. And that woman, because of that
faith, what did that cause her to do? Have an absolute certainty
that Christ was going to help her. That's faith. That's faith. That's God-given faith. This
is a faith wrought by God, and it's beautiful, isn't it? And
it's glorious, and it glorifies God. This is a gift of God. Christ says to her, oh woman,
great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire.
What a wonderful statement. What a wonderful grace. All her
desires and more fulfilled. And she departs, not with crumbs,
but with an entire feast. Well, what are the desires of
the believer? What are the desires of faith?
Well, we could spend the rest of the day here speaking of those
things, but forgiveness of sins, isn't that the desire of those
who believe? The forgiveness of sins. Let
it be to you as you desire. What are the desires of faith
that I might be found in him? Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. Isn't that our desire? Let it
be to you as you desire. And I could go on and on. All
the blessings, all the spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ given to us. Everyone, everyone. But above all, what do we desire? We desire Christ, don't we? We
desire Him. We want Him. And in being given
Him, we receive more than we can ever imagine. Amen.