Matthew chapter 15. Now here
in our text this morning, we're going to look at a familiar passage
of scripture. It's the account of the Canaanite
woman. And we'll begin reading in verse
21 down through verse 28. Then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan,
a cursed Gentile, came out of the same coast, and she 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 the disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away. 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 worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered
and said, it's not meat to take the children's bread and cast
it to dogs. And she said, truth. 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. And one of the first things we
see in this passage of Scripture, again, is God's sovereign hand. God's sovereign hand. In verse
21 we see that the Lord Jesus Christ, He had departed into
the coast of Tyre and Sidon, and at the same time, what a
coincidence, right? No. God's providence. At the
same time, she's coming out of that same coast and she cries
unto him. And she says, have mercy. Have
mercy upon me, O Lord, thou son of David. Hold your place there
and turn to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Look beginning with verse 37. Here we read the words of our
Lord himself. He says, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which has sent me, and of all which
he hath given me. I should lose nothing. I'm not
going to lose one, 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'll raise Him up at the
last day." She comes to Him, but it's He, it's He that has
drawn her to Himself. The scriptures declare this,
it shall come to pass that before they call, I'll answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I'll hear. It's also clear that she knows
something of the Lord Jesus Christ. This woman had a daughter, it
says it was grievously vexed with the devil and she cries
in her great distress and she says, oh Lord, oh Lord thou son
of David. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Son of David. He's God in human flesh. God and man in one person. The scriptures declare Him as
Immanuel, God with us. And she comes to Christ. She
comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I would have to imagine,
can you imagine In the time that our Lord walked this earth, that
brief time that our Lord walked this earth, there had to be thousands. There had to be, I can't even
imagine the number, that only knew Him as a man named Jesus. They only knew him as the carpenter's
son. And they said, that's Mary and
Joseph's son. We know him. We know who he is.
My friends, he's the son of God. God walked this earth in the
flesh. And how many just passed him
by? How many did he pass by? But not this one. This is one
of His. He's going to show, just like
Mephibosheth, this is another one He's going to show mercy
to. This is one of His lost sheep
that He's going to find. Oh Lord, Thou Son of David, have
mercy upon me. And she comes to Him. By faith,
asking by faith and revealing her faith in his power and dominion
over all things to do something that obviously no one else has
been able to do. All things, all people, all diseases
under his control. And knowing that the Lord, being
Lord of all, could heal her daughter, that he could save her daughter
at his pleasure. He worketh all things, we read
that, he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. And she comes to him for mercy. Now back in Matthew 15, look
at verse 23. But he answered her, not a word. God of Word. Here we see something
of faith being tested. And it would appear that for
a while she stopped asking Him. She stopped asking the Master
anything and went to the disciples because look at their response.
Look at the rest of verse 23. The disciples came to Him and
they besought Him and said, send her away. She crieth after us. Send her away. We must be taught. to wait on
the Lord. Whatever the circumstance, to
wait, to wait on Him. You know, we want, I don't think
I'm just talking about myself, we want everything right now,
don't we? We don't want to wait on, we
don't want to wait on anything. Listen, we're going to be taught
to wait on Him. Wait on the Lord. The psalmist wrote this, wait
on the Lord, be of good courage. He shall strengthen thy heart.
And since we usually don't hear things the first time, he says
it again, wait, I say, on the Lord. We have to be told over
and over to wait, to wait on Him. And we read, she continued
to cry after Him, like Jacob of old, I'll not let you go till
you bless me. Like that blind beggar over in
Luke 18. Remember that he cried out, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And the people rebuked him. They
said, be quiet, hold your peace. And what did he do? He cried
out the louder, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy, have mercy
upon me. Simon Peter, over in John 6,
our Lord said, Peter, will you go away? And Peter replied, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Who else would we go to? God's word declares this. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And here, look at verse 24. He answered his disciples. He
said, I'm not sent. I'm not sent but unto the lost
sheep of Israel. The lost sheep of Israel. What
did He come to say? He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. Lost. His church, His elect,
our Savior and Redeemer, He made satisfaction, He made atonement
for the sins of His elect, for His church, for His bride. He
came to obtain eternal redemption and salvation for His sheep,
for His people. In Adam, We're lost and strained
and never could recover ourselves. We've wandered far from the fold. Far from the fold. I can remember
growing up on a farm, we'd go out and when they were dropping
calves, you'd go out there and look for those calves. You never
found them in the barn. That cow would go as far away
from the barn as they could possibly go and they'd drop that calf. And when it was time to bring
it home, guess where that calf did not want to go? Back to the
barn. You'd throw it up on your shoulder,
you'd carry it a little ways, you'd set it down and think,
hey, we're close enough to the barn, it'll go its way now. No, it'd turn and just go right
back the other direction and flip and flop the whole time
you were carrying it. That's the way we are, isn't it? We
get as far away as we can. By nature, that's what we do.
We're going to run as far away as we can. Oh, but he comes. He comes and he picks us up.
And then what description? Throws us on his shoulder, carries
us home. This is my sheep that was lost.
And he calls the neighbors and tells them, come and look. Come,
trophies of his grace. In Adam, lost, strayed. But He
came. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. Isn't that a description of every
one of us? Huh? It's a description of His
sheep. It's a description of His bride. And then look at verse 25. What
did she do? He just said, I'm not come but
to the lost house of Israel. And what did she do? You know,
men bow up when they hear that. How can God do that? What did
she do? And she worshipped him. Job said,
though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Consider her condition. Consider our condition. She couldn't
help herself. No man could help her. Her daughter
was grievously victim. Only one could, and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. No hope. No hope apart from Christ. No hope apart from His mercy.
No hope apart from His love. No hope apart from His grace.
Turn to Acts chapter 27. Acts chapter 27. But begin in verse 20. Here we read of this perilous
voyage that Paul was on, going to Rome. And in verse 20, it
says here, when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared and
no small tempest lay on us, all hope. All hope that we should
be saved was taken away. They were brought to the point
where they had no hope. No hope. But after long abstinence,
Paul stood forth in the midst of them and he said, sir, you
should have hearkened unto me. You should not have loosed from
Crete to have gained this harm and loss. But listen, I exhort
you. Now listen, remember where they're
at now. They're to the point where they said all hope's lost.
It's darkness, it's just all hope is gone. And Paul says,
I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of
any man's life among you but the ship. For there stood by
me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve.
Who could that be? That could only be one, that
could only be the Lord Jesus Christ, whose I am and whom I
serve, saying, fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar,
and, lo, God hath given thee, all them that sail with thee.
Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Why? I believe God that it shall be
even, even, as he has told me. All hope, all hope that we should
be saved was taken away. All earthly hope that is. But
be of good cheer. He said, be of good cheer. I
believe God. I believe God. And this woman who'd heard of
Christ, this woman who had been brought to Christ, this woman
that had cried out for mercy, she believed God and she comes
to Him and she worships Him. And listen to her cry. Listen
to her petition. Look at verse 25. She came and
worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me. Help me. It wasn't a big dialogue, was
it? It just got right to the point. Who's she talking to?
She's talking to the Lord. What does she need? She needs
help. Who does she need? She says, help me. Lord, help
me. Think about this. Our Lord had
said, I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of Israel. I came
to save the elect. And how do men respond to that
statement? In our day and time, how do men respond to that statement?
The natural man's response to that is anger. It's the same
response today as it was when our Lord walked this earth. They
get angry. How do I know that? Well, if
you turn to Luke 4, look back at Luke chapter 4. It cuts at man's pride, it cuts
at man's self-righteousness. Look at Luke 4, beginning with
verse 25. He says, I tell you of a truth.
Luke 4, verse 25. I tell you a truth. Many widows
were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut
up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout
the land, but unto none of them. None of them was he sent save
unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto that little widow woman. One. Out of all those people,
he sent his servant to one. And he said there were many lepers
in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. And none of them
was cleansed. All those lepers floating around.
None of them was cleansed save one. naming the Syrian. And you know, aren't we pleased, aren't we
thankful when God's pleased to save just one? Just one. Don't we rejoice when
we think about our sin, when we think about who God is, and
He's just and right to condemn every last one of us. Don't our
hearts rejoice when He saves just one? But what's the natural
man's response to this? There were a couple, he told
about a couple people that the Lord showed mercy to. And all
they in the synagogue, now these were the religious people at
the time. All they in the synagogue, when they heard these things,
they were filled with wrath. They were filled with wrath,
and they rose up and thrust him out of the city, and they led
him under the brow of the hill whereon their city was built,
that they might cast him down headlong." The Lord Jesus Christ,
when he tells of particular redemption, they wanted to cast him over
the hill. And it wasn't good enough to just throw him over
the hill. They wanted to throw him over the hill headfirst. and make sure and
get the job done. God's right to save whom he will. They won't hear it. Again, they
were filled with wrath. Turn to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Start reading in verse 25. It says, Jesus answered them.
He said, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I
do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe
not. Why is that? Why don't they believe?
Because you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow
me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my hand. I and my Father are one." And what did the Jews do?
Look at verse 31. They took up stones to stone
him. My sheep, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, they follow me. Let's read on here. He said,
I'm not sent, back to our text, I'm not sent but unto the lost
sheep of Israel. And this Canaanite woman's response,
this woman with no hope, this poor sinner, what's her response? Then she came and she worshipped
him. saying, again, Lord, help me. Again, the self-righteous man,
that offends him. That offends him. He's resting
in his works. He's resting in his deeds, in
his keeping of the law. Despite the fact that they mean
so much to him, in the sight of God, they're filthy rags. Our best in the sight of God
are filthy rags. But this sinner She cries, help
me, help me. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
seek and to save that which was lost. Look at verse 26, and he
answered. He said, it's not me to take
the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. How long will faith be tested? How long will a trial last? God's people are tried people,
tested people. And the answer is this, until
His purpose is accomplished. Until He accomplishes the purpose,
whereunto He sinneth. 1 Peter 1, 7, we read that the
trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, Though it be tried with fire, might be found under
the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. It's not meat to take the children's
bread and cast it to dogs." What's he saying? You're a dog. You're
a dog. You're not worthy. You're a sinner. And how do we reply to that? Remember when Naaman the leper
went to be healed of that leprosy? Remember that little servant
girl said, this is the one you need to go to. And he went to
the prophet Elisha and he came with his horses and his chariot,
dressed in his best apparel, no doubt, to try to cover his
leprosy. And he stood at the door of Elisha
and Elisha sent out a messenger, sent a servant to him and told
him, he said, you go dip. in the River Jordan, seven times. What was Naaman's initial reaction
to that? He's furious, wasn't he? He said,
I thought he would have come out there and stood before me
and called on the name of his Lord and his God and put his
hand over the place and just recovered the leprosy. Naaman had to be brought low,
didn't he, before the Lord was pleased to heal him. And this
Canaanite woman, she was brought low. Shall I take the children's
bread and give it to a dog? And look at her reply, verse
27, she said, truth Lord, what you're saying is the truth. Folks in our time would say this.
They would say, I just don't understand why bad things happen
to good people. Part of the problem there is
we always look at ourselves as the good people, right? They'd say this. They'd say,
I'm a good person. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of everything
I own. Why is this happening? Now, she says, truth, Lord, truth. You know, that response can't
be attributed to anything other than God's grace in the heart. Everything, everything, all that
you've said, Lord, is true. It's true. I'm not worthy. He was sent to the lost sheep
of Israel. She was a dog, a sinner, unworthy
of any favor. It's not right to take the children's
bread and give it to dogs. She didn't argue, did she? She
just said, that's the truth. But listen to this, yet, yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table.
I'm a dog. Oh, but if I could just have
a crumb. If I could just have a crumb from the master's table. Just a few crumbs will do. Verse
28. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as
thou will. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. That word whole means to be cured. It means to be healed. But it
also means this. It means to be free from sin. To be free from sin. It means
this. To bring about salvation. To bring about salvation. She
was made free from sin. She was made made to be free
from sin. This Canaanite woman desired
her daughter to be healed and we read that she was made free
from sin. Isn't that what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for his people? He was made sin. Why? That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. I want to close by reading a
passage of scripture from Ephesians chapter 3. Turn to Ephesians
3. Ephesians chapter 3. Look at verse 20. Think about what this woman was
asking. She was asking for something
that would have seemed absolutely impossible. With anyone else
it would have been impossible, wouldn't it? With man, impossible. With God, all things are possible.
Look at verse 20. Now unto him, unto him that is
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us, unto him. Unto him be the glory in the
church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Amen. Let's go to our Lord
in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this thy word. We thank you for the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thankful that you would see fit to show mercy. Mercy
to a sinner. Lord, cause us to be mindful
of this, that we are sinners. Lord, cause us to be thankful
knowing that thou art the Savior. Lord, be merciful unto this day. Lord, we pray that you would
continue to call out your sheep. Lord, to be merciful. We pray you might see fit to
save our children. Pray you bless us in days to
come. Lord bless us this afternoon. Be with us as we return here
this evening. Bless your word for Christ's
sake we pray. Amen. Daddy, are we done? Yes. Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, do
you know if there were any more single vowels at all? I don't know. Okay, are we done? No. You guys are doing it.