You know, the Lord knows how
to humble his people. I wonder how many people I've
told since I've gone through this session of having this stroke,
seizure, broken back. We think we're 10 feet tall and
bulletproof. We're not. or not. I appreciate so much Lord willing,
I'm gonna make reference to the passage that you spoke, read
just a moment ago was so timely. And I, I got up thinking that
I was going to be in Genesis chapter 47, that I planned to
be there. And I feel so, and Lord willing,
I'm gonna be, if you'd like to turn to, I'm gonna be in Matthew
chapter 15, but this passage of scripture came to my heart
out of Jude, and Jude was moved to say in Jude 1, 1,
Jude the servant, of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them
that are sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Christ Jesus,
and called mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation It was needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
It made me think of that passage of scripture as I was resolved
that I would be one place in chapter 47 of Genesis. That's where I'm gonna be, that's
where I'll be. But the longer this day went on, I was truly
felt in my heart that I was to be in Matthew chapter 15. So I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter 15. I want us to look at a passage of scripture that
we've looked at time and time and time again. It was the story
of the Syrophoenician woman whose daughter was grievously vexed.
with a devil, and so I wanna look at that passage of scripture
again. This is where my heart is. I
wanna read Matthew 15. I'll read verses 21, 28. Now,
what had happened up until this point, the Lord Jesus had reprimanded
some people in the area that were hearing him, reprimanded
them, because of their holding to traditions. They held to the
traditions of the fathers, and he reprimanded them. And then
he even reprimanded his apostles for their ignorance of that.
This is in chapter 15, verses 1 through verse 20. But he even got on to his apostles
because of their ignorance of what He had said, and the scripture
says, after he had reprimanded these Pharisees and corrected
his apostles, it says in verse 21, then Jesus went thence and
departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman
of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying,
On me, O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. But he answered her not a word. I'll pause here for just a moment
to say the wonder of this passage of scripture. The Lord said,
coming to me, all ye that labor heavy laden, I will give you
rest. I will. He that cometh unto me,
I will in no wise cast out. That's a fact. But here in the
indescribable mercy of God, wisdom of God, this woman comes to the
Lord and you know the story. But the more we know of this
story, the deeper it gets, the more wonderful it gets. This
woman came to him and she was grievously vexed. Her daughter
had a devil, and the scripture says in 23, and 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. Now you remember, he that cometh
unto me, I will know I was cast out. That's absolute truth. The
Lord said that. I will not turn him away. But
I want you to notice how the Lord in his infinite mercy dealt
with this woman. Verse 25, then she came and worshiped
him, saying, Lord, help me. And he answered and said, it's
not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. 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
of that very hour. Now, the scripture says, and
I'm gonna just look at 21, 28. The scripture says in verse 21,
after those things that we had considered happened prior to
this verse, then Jesus went to Thames and departed into the
coast of Tyre and Sidon. The Spirit of God was pleased
to reveal the place where the Lord Jesus Christ had come. And he was about his father's
business, you know that. He was where the father had sent
him. And the scripture says there
was a certain woman there that must have her path to cross with
the path of the Lord Jesus Christ, a woman who, but for the grace
of God, would have never been there. But according to sovereign
grace, God's elect in grace, mercy and grace, here she is. And the scripture says that this
woman was there in that place where the Lord had departed into
the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And that word caught my attention. He had departed into the coast.
She was in the coast. And I'll tell you why. It stopped
me for a minute. I looked it up. to see where
he was. He was in the vicinity of tired
sight. He was in the outer parts where
wasn't in the city. He was in the coast of the city. Look it up, look it up, you'll
see. He wasn't in that actual city. The scriptures hold your place
right there. Just turn back to Matthew chapter 11, 22. Matthew 11, 22. He was in the
coast. He was in the coast, the outer
parts, the outskirts. It was a place that belonged
to this city, but he wasn't in the city itself. He was in the
coast of. Look in Matthew 11, 20, 21. Then he began to upbraid the
cities where most of his mighty works were done because they
repented not. And he said, woe unto thee, Chorazin,
woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were
done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And I'll read 22,
but I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and
Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. If the mighty works
which were done in your city had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they weren't. This woman was the scripture.
That's what moved me to go back. She was in the coast. She was
in an outlying area. of Tyre and Sidon. She wasn't
in that city. If he'd been in that city and
he'd healed her, that scripture gave great significance to where
this woman was. She was in the outskirts. She
was in a place that the Lord was pleased to cross her path.
The scripture says back in 1522, 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. Here's what she said.
You're the Messiah. You're the Son of David. I know
who you are. Have mercy on me. Lord, please have mercy on me.
My daughter is grievously vexed devil. Now this woman in the
coast, in the outlying areas, in the outskirts, in the suburbs,
in a place where the Lord was pleased to cross her path, the
time of love had arrived for this woman. Time of mercy had
arrived. And there was a woman there Though
this woman, the scripture says this woman was a woman of Canaan. That's very significant. A woman of Canaan that had crossed
the path of the Lord. This woman was not from a place that was of the commonwealth
of Israel. She was the Canaanite. She was
a woman that was of that place that was an outcast. But the Lord had been pleased
to cross her path. And she came to him and she said,
Lord, scripture says in 1 Corinthians 12, three, no man can say that
Jesus is the Lord in heart, in reality. Nobody can see him as
the Lord, Messiah, the King, sovereign God, except by the
Holy Spirit. And this woman was powerfully
drawn by the Holy Ghost to come to Christ. Here was a woman,
an outcast from an outcast country. She's in a suburb. The Lord is
in that place. Psalm 65, for blessed is the
man whom thou choosest, and causeth to approach unto thee, that he
may dwell in thy courts. Oh, what a glorious display of
sovereign grace. Here's the merciful God who calls
his people out of spiritual darkness and unbelief. And this woman,
is a Canaanite. Hold your place there. Turn to
Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy 7, 1 and 2. Deuteronomy 7, 1 and
2. When the Lord thy God shall bring
thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath
cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, the Girgashites,
the Ammonites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, seven nations
greater and mightier than thou. And when the Lord thy God shall
deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly
destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with
them nor show mercy unto any of them. What a God. What a God we have. Here the Lord comes to a woman
that he had declared to his people were outcast from the commonwealth
of Israel. Don't have anything to do with
them. And here comes a woman and she's a Canaanite. She's
a Canaanite. This woman is unclean. But here was a woman that was
a beautiful picture of the earnest, the earnest of God's mercy to
Gentiles. Did she deserve it? Nope. Did
she earn it? Nope. Almighty God has mercy on whomsoever
he will. Whomsoever he will, he passes
by. Here was a Canaanite. But this
woman right here was part of the remnant of God's mercy. You
want to know a good picture of all of us? Here it is right here. We were not from the Commonwealth
of Israel either. But God was pleased to show mercy
and compassion, amazing grace. Israel was told to smite all
the Canaanites. But here the Lord Himself, God
Almighty, has mercy upon this woman who is from a cursed nation. A woman born in a place that
was not of God's choosing nationally,
but there was one. The scripture says in 1 Corinthians
6, 26, 27, you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God has chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise. Doesn't that confound us? I could say, well, wait a minute
now, wait a minute. I can read back here where, you know, the
Canaanites were, no, no, no, no. This is a contradiction of
scripture, no sir. God Almighty has mercy on whomsoever
he will. God has chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and
the base things of the world, things which are despised God
chosen, yea, the things which are not, to bring to naught the
things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Let me ask you something. Who
makes any of us to differ? The Lord. If he'd left us to
ourselves, we'd have had no hope. This woman right here left herself
She was from a cursed nation, Canaanite. This woman came and
fell down before the Lord. Thou son of David, have mercy
on me. Well, you're not from the right country. My daughter's sick. You're not
from the right race. You're a Canaanite. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. You're the only way, you're the
only hope I got. I don't have anything, I don't
have anything else. Lord have mercy on me. My daughter's sick. This woman, her daughter being
vexed with this devil, moved her. I unto the Lord. What else but the Lord knows? What else would have moved a
mother? She's got one of her children
and she's vexed with a demon. She has no hope. But almighty
God knew how to draw this woman to himself. How many times have
we quoted Romans 8, 28? And we know that all things,
how many times have you heard me say, now do you think this
would fall under the category of all things? I think it would. All things work together for
good. You mean to tell me that God
would permit this little girl to be vexed with the devil, to
use that to draw this woman to himself? The Lord does whatsoever
he will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and no man can say unto him, what doest thou? Who
art thou, O man, that replies against God? The Lord is as he
says he is. The Lord does as he says he is.
This woman had a daughter and she was vexed and she cried unto
the Lord, cried with a shriek, shriek her need was the Lord. Lord, have mercy on me. You know, affliction doesn't
necessarily mean that someone will be brought. I know that
a lot of times whenever somebody gets sick or something like that,
it may appear for a while that they get religious and stuff
like that. Things get better, they forget about it. But it
may be that the Lord might be pleased, and He was in this case,
to draw this woman to Himself, to show mercy to this woman,
to her daughter. Affliction was the means here
for the Lord to draw her to Him. David said in Psalm 119, 71,
it's good for me that I've been afflicted. It's good. Affliction blessed by the Spirit
of God to a vessel of God's mercy is good. It's so good. Would you have it any other way?
No. This is the lot for the Lord
to send you affliction. So good. It's so comforting. It's so assuring that the Lord
will keep you in the midst of him. Verse 23, back in 15. And he answered her not a word,
and his disciples besought him, saying, Send her away, for she
crieth after us. The Lord didn't say anything. He answered her not a word, not
because of a lack of his caring, his compassion for this woman,
but according to his mercy and grace and wisdom, he knew, he
knew, he knew what it was going to take to move this woman. He could have done it any way
he wanted to, but it was his good pleasure to move this woman
to have a daughter that was vexed by an evil spirit. And he calls
this woman to come to him. and just stripped her of pride
and arrogance. She had nothing else but him.
He doesn't help. I'm gone, I'm gone. My girl's
gone, I'm gone. This girl is my baby. She's vexed. And the Lord chooses
to at first say nothing to her. And it draws this woman to cry
out more fervently. The Lord was pleased to empty
her of any hope. She knew who he was. Jesus, thou
son of David, I know who you are. You're the Messiah. You're God. I know who you are. And my daughter's sick. She's
grievously vexed. The Lord was pleased. I want
you to turn to this passage I referred to, Brother Bryant read a while
ago. I want you to turn to 1 Peter
1. 1 Peter 1, verse 6 and 7. 1 Peter 1, verse 6 and 7. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than that of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. This woman was being tried in
the fire. This woman was brought down to,
apart from the grace of God, hopelessness. I'm gonna tell
you something. We don't really know. We don't
know the depth of what the Lord might bring us to. We don't know
what he will. But if the Lord's pleased to
bring us down to this point of just seemingly utter despair,
I ain't gonna make it. Lord, if you don't do something,
I'm not gonna make it. I'm not gonna make it. At that
point, It's where he brought her. He gonna show her something. This woman was brought down,
way down. And she cried unto his disciples,
send her away. She crieth after us. She's shrieking like a crow. It's just almost unbearable to
hear her like this. But this woman was being prepared. He was preparing her for a great
blessing. Verse 24, he says, but he answered
and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. I read that again today. We know that's so. The Lord was
sent, came into this world to save his people from their sins. He's coming to this world to
save the sheep. The Father had given Him a sheep.
A people. A people of His choosing. A people
of His eternal love and affection. A people He loved. A people He
died for. Shed His blood. People that He
would impute righteousness. A people that He would not let
perish. That's what he told her. I'm
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We know, we behold, the work
of Christ is right here shown to be saving his people from
their sins. People that had been given him
by the Father in electing grace. I'm not sent, but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. This woman was put in a place
to where she didn't know. Am I one of
them? People hear often that God has
a people. He gonna save, gonna save the
elect. Well, what if I'm not one of the elect? What if I'm,
what are you gonna do, argue with God? This woman was brought
to despair. And it was one thing that she
needed. One thing. She needed God to have mercy
on her. And the Lord brought her to this place to see. I have
not come but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Here's what this woman did. Verse
25. She came and she worshipped him,
saying, Help me. Not come, but for the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. What if I'm one of them? What
if I'm one of them? I don't know, but my daughter's
grievously vexed. And you're the Lord, you're the
Messiah. And I'm crying out for mercy to you. And people debate. who's an elect, who's not elect.
Let me ask you this. Do you need Christ to save you? Do you need him? Do you need
the Lord? Notice the effect. When he told
her, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Here's what she did. She bowed. I'm not sent but to
the elect. She bowed. I'm not sent but to
the chosen. She bowed. If he slays me, I'm gonna trust
him. Lord, if you kill me right now,
I'm gonna trust you. I'm gonna trust you. If I die,
I'm gonna die right here. I'm not leaving. Lord, have mercy. She worshiped him, help me. Here
was a cry of somebody that was in trouble. One that had no place
else to go. This woman was not going to leave. Not going to leave. She's going
to worship Him. She gave reverence to Him. I know who you are. She fell on
her knees and kissed the hand, fell prostrate and worshipped. Oh, but notice the wisdom of
the Lord set forth in verse 26. Here's this woman is begging. She's begging. And the Lord is
doing something for this woman that could only be done by him. He answered and said, it is not
made. It's not fit. It's not right. It's not the right thing to do.
To take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. And this woman is going to agree
with him. I agree with you. I agree with
you. But she said, verse 27, truth,
Lord, but the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's
table. Lord, you're right. Lord, you're right. And you're
God. If my daughter dies, you're God.
If you spare her, you're God. If she dies, you're God. But
I'm not leaving you. I'm not leaving. Oh, my heart
as I read that again today, I thought, you know, there's only one way
that man or woman gonna worship God this way, right here, is
for God to bring them through the fire. Some through the water,
some through the fire, all through the blood. She wasn't going anywhere. When the Lord told this woman
the preciousness and the value of the children's bread. He is
the children's bread. He's the bread. He's the bread
of life. He said, Lord, if I could just
eat just the crumbs concerning you, if I can have just the crumbs
of the children's table, if I can taste of you, Lord, it's enough. It's enough for me to be able
to feast on you, you, your work, your presence. And the Lord said in verse 28,
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. Oh, the blessed trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ and the humbling of this woman. Many times we'll say, I want
to walk. I want to walk closer with the
Lord. I want the Lord to teach me. I want the Lord to teach
me. But be advised what you're asking. Be advised. The Lord can do it. He can bring you down. He can teach you. He can humble
you. And this is the way that he was
pleased. Teach this woman. He's gonna teach her something
of himself. Oh, she came to the Lord. She fell down and she worshiped
him. She was in trouble. Great trouble. and she flew to him for relief
and confessed him. I know who you are. You're the
Lord. Lord, and if you will, you can
make my daughter whole. Remember that leper came to the
Lord? Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. And the Lord said, I will be thou clean. Oh, the
blessing of being brought down, the blessing of being humbled,
the blessing of being taught, Here's our problem. We're all
too proud. We're too high. We're too mighty. We think we know something. We
think we're capable. We think we're able. Well, I
can tell you this, before the Lord would lift one up, I promise
you, he gonna teach him something of himself and of himself. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for Christ's sake.