I love that song. Matthew chapter 15. I want to
make a few comments before I begin. Scripture tells us, by grace
are you saved through faith. And that, not of yourselves. We know grace is not of ourselves.
Grace is free. Grace is unmerited. Grace is
not based on the object. The faith is not of ourselves. It is the gift of God. The gift of God. not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, God's
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained, that we shall walk in them. Now, when the Lord has truly
saved a sinner, He creates in them a pure heart, a right spirit. And he creates a true willingness
to bow to Christ, to his gospel. True faith, unfeigned faith,
is confessing I'm absolutely unable to save myself. I need Christ the Lord, who alone
is able to save to the uttermost, to make me right with God, to
make me holy with God, to work through His Spirit in me that
which is well pleasing in His sight, The Lord had been confronted,
questioned by the Pharisees because His disciples didn't keep the
traditions of men and wash their hands before they ate. These were men who were very
zealous and very straight in all that they said and did. And
when the Lord proclaimed the gospel to them and set forth
the truth to them, they would not bow to Christ and they would
not submit to His Word. They wouldn't do that. And therefore
the Lord declared that their pretensions of faith, all the
works that they were doing, Their pretensions of having a pure
heart was only hypocrisy. Look at verse 7, Matthew 15,
7. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah
prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with
their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me. Your heart is far from Me." Our
Lord told His disciples to leave them alone. He said they be blind
leaders of the blind. And then the Lord ended His discourse
with His disciples, speaking about the heart. Look now there
at verse 18. He says, but those things which
proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart. That's
where they come from. They come from the heart. And
they defile the man. The Pharisees' questions and
their disputing was coming from their heart. That's where it
was coming from. And this is what was proceeding
from their heart. Verse 19. And everything they
said to the Lord out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These
are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashing hands
defileth not a man. Verse 21, Then Jesus went thence
and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Now why did
he go there? Why did he go to that place?
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and
cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son
of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil." Now, we're going to see the evidence of one who
has truly been given faith and given a pure heart. We're going
to see a complete contrast from those Pharisees. Christ Jesus
went into these coasts because there was a certain woman there.
That's what Mark says. There was a certain woman whose
young daughter had an unclean spirit and she heard of Christ.
And she came and she fell at His feet. This woman was a Greek. She was a Syrophoenician by nation. Christ drew near to where she
was for a specific purpose. And He worked all this together
at the time this came together for a purpose. Scripture says in Isaiah, it
shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. Be sure you get this. This is
always the case with those to whom our Lord shows mercy. There's
no doubt that this woman came to Christ seeking Him. But before
she ever came, before she ever called, Christ had answered.
He'd answered. Our Lord answers before the believer
calls by coming to where his children are. That's what he
did. He came to where she was. Our
Lord answers before we ever call by giving us a dire need to make
us call. And He works everything together
in providence to cause His children to hear of Him. She heard of
Him. She heard of Him. And He makes
us to know that only Christ is able to meet our need. The Lord
said, No man can come to Me except the Father which has sent Me
to draw him. She came to Him, didn't she? How did she do that? He said, no man can come to Me
except the Father which has sent Me drawing. And I'll raise him
up at the last day. It's written in the Prophets,
they shall be taught, all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard, she had heard of Him, and hath learned of the
Father, been taught by the Father, about the Father, of the Father,
cometh unto Me, to Christ. Because that's who the Father
has His people go to. And thus He brings His children
to come and fall at His feet and cry unto Him. But you see,
He's already answered them before they ever cried to Him. The Scripture
says we love Him because He first loved us. Do you have a dire
need? Have you heard of Him? The first thing I want you to
see here is a pure heart of faith. This gift of God, a pure heart
of faith, comes to Christ. It comes to Christ. Verse 22 says, 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. She came to Christ. And she came to Christ begging
for mercy. The Gospel of Mark says she came
and fell at His feet. That's the place. That's the
posture for mercy beggars. The place is at the feet of Christ. The posture is no strength falling
at His feet. and begging mercy from Him. Her
daughter was grievously vexed with a devil. Grievously vexed
with a devil, with an unclean spirit. She's weeping. She's desperate. Her only hope
is that Christ Jesus will have mercy on her. If you truly need mercy, if you
truly need mercy, it means you have been brought to the place
where you realize you are totally, absolutely, completely unable
to help yourself. You need mercy. You need mercy. when we ask for mercy. When we
ask God for mercy, we're asking Him to withhold from us that
which we deserve. She's asking the Lord not to
deal with her according to her iniquities. Not some thing she
had done and now the Lord's getting back at her. Not that at all.
She's asking Him to withhold from her what she does because
of what she is. She's sin and she needs mercy. She needs mercy. Some of you
have had sick children. Do you remember when those children
were sick? Do you remember your desperation? You remember how desperate you
were for God to have mercy on you? You knew there was nothing you
could do. There's nothing you could do. You have to have mercy. Many have unbelieving children
here. Do you children, sons and daughters,
do you know how vexed your parents are with your vexation? As your pastor, I can tell you
it vexes me when I behold the vexation with which the Lord's
people are vexed. I woke up Saturday morning, really
early, and I was awakened. I woke up with this thought just
penetrating into my heart of how much time I spend directly
and indirectly teaching my children that which is of absolutely no
value to them whatsoever. And how little time I really
spend teaching them about Christ. And all I could do was ask God,
Lord have mercy on me. Please have mercy. Don't deal
with me according to what I deserve. Have mercy on me. Notice how she addresses him.
Oh Lord, thou son of David, She's confessing that Jesus of Nazareth
is Immanuel. He's God with us. She's confessing
that He's God in human flesh. That this is the Christ of God.
This is mercy personified. She's come to the fountain. She's
come to the fountain. And she's acknowledging that
He's the only one that can. She's acknowledging that He's
able. and that he's the only one who can have mercy on her.
Vexation, unclean spirit, sickness, vain imagination, unbelief, death. You know, these are the result
of sin. That's what it's the result of. Sin. And sin's the
only power that the devil has. But these are the works of the
devil. sin, unbelief, unclean spirit,
vexation, sickness, these things. But Christ came, Scripture tells
us, to destroy the works of the devil. That's why He came. He
bore the sin of His elect because God would deliver them from the
power of the devil and make us one with our God. Isaiah said,
surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He has. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And with His stripes
we're healed. When our Lord went about and
He healed sickness on this earth, He healed sickness to show that
because He's bearing the sin of His people, He has power to
forgive sin. And folks weren't much impressed
with Him saying, thy sins be forgiven. We're so dull and so
backwards, it took Him saying, pick up your bed and walk. To
somebody that never walked before for us to go, now man, that's
something. No. That's the least of the matter. If He heals me or you of our
sickness today, we're going to die tomorrow. But if He forgives
us of our sins, we're going to live forever. We're going to
live forever. Coming to Christ and begging
mercy from Him. This woman is declaring that
she believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. She believes He's got
all power, all dominion and government, and that all persons and all
things, even sin and diseases are under His command and control,
and that because He's Lord of all, He can remove them at His
pleasure. You get all that from her coming
to Him and saying, Lord, Thou Son of David. I sure do. I sure
do. Yep. She believes He's the Christ
of God. Do you believe Him? Do you believe Christ to be who
God says He is? Who He says He is in His Word?
You believe Him. Well, the first thing faith does,
it comes to Christ. A pure heart, pure faith comes
to Christ begging mercy. Here's the second thing. A pure
heart, true faith, stands up when it's tried. Verse 23 says, But He answered
her not a word. Now, let's just be honest. If you came to me and you were
begging and crying and talking to me and saying, Clay, pray
for me. I need mercy. And I didn't answer
you a word. He didn't answer her a word. If we're going to truly seek
mercy, this is truly seeking mercy. We're going to come to
Christ not commanding Him to do anything. That's not seeking
mercy. We're going to come to Him, falling
at His feet and begging Him to show us mercy. And we're going
to do it, submitting to Him to do it in His time and not ours. When He's willing to do it. And
our Lord did this, not only for this woman, He did this for His
disciples as well. You know, His disciples had a
little misunderstanding. They were having trouble understanding
what He had just said to those Pharisees about this pure heart
and those things that proceed out of the heart. They're the
things that defile a man. And this One who upholds all
things by the Word of His power has worked all this together,
answered this woman before she ever called, given her a need,
causing her to hear of Him, causing her to come to Him and ask Him
to have mercy on her, and He doesn't answer her a word. And
He does it not just for her, He does it for His disciples
too. Because watch what happens next. Alright, the first thing,
pure heart comes to Christ begging mercy. Secondly, a pure heart
of faith comes waiting on Christ to do what He will in His time.
Now you will see some wisdom here of our Lord. We don't know
why He waits. We don't know. It's His business.
It's not our business. Our business is to patiently
endure until the end and wait. Alright, let's see the third
thing. A pure heart of faith receives, believes, and submits
to the Word of God's grace concerning who Christ is and what Christ
has finished. When those Pharisees had a problem
in Christ, He began to declare the truth to them. They got mad
and disputed Him. They wanted to strive with Him
and brawl with Him over questions and arguments. Now watch this,
verse 23. He answered her not a word, and his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she
crieth after us. Now you think about this. Mark
talks about what he says to her in a moment, but Mark leaves
this part out. Matthew includes this part. When she got no answer
from the Lord, she went to His disciples. The Lord intended it for that
very reason, that very purpose. When she got no answer from the
Lord, she went to His disciples. They then went to the Lord and
asked Him to send her away. And the Lord tells His disciples
to go and to declare this to her. Verse 24. But he answered
and said, he's talking to the disciples. They've come to him
and said, send her away from us. Not them, they have. And he answers them this. But
he answered and said, I'm not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. That's the gospel. He gives them the gospel to give
to her. This is the gospel. The Lord declares he was sent
for a particular purpose. Christ came to do the will of
God who sent Him, the will of His Father. The God of heaven
and earth sent Christ Jesus for a particular purpose. Jesus said,
my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish
His work. He said, I came down from heaven
not to do mine own will. Oh, that we could hear this when
we start boasting about our will. The Lord of heaven and earth
said, I came down not to do mine own will, but the will of Him
that sent me. The Lord declares here He was
sent to save a particular people. He said, I am not sent but unto
sheep. And He describes those sheep,
lost sheep. Lost in Adam, lost in sin, lost
in ignorance, lost in unbelief. Lost sheep. of the house of Israel. He said, I came to seek and to
save that which was lost. He came to save God's chosen
elect sheep, the house of Israel. And if He didn't come, they wouldn't
be saved. They're lost. He came to save
them. I want you to look at some scripture
with me. John 17, verse 2. John 17, verse 2. Verse 1, He says, Father, the
hour has come, this is the Lord speaking, glorify Thy Son that
Thy Son also may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given Him. This is what He declares to His
disciples to declare to this woman. Look back at John. Chapter 10,
in verse 14. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. He said, I was sent not to any
but the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I come to save my
sheep. And I came to lay down my life
for that sheep, for a particular people given to Him before the
world began. And other sheep I have which
are not of this foe, not just of that national Israel, of that
nation, but also among the Gentiles. This woman is one of those. She's
one of those sheep. The other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. If He doesn't,
God's not glorified, God's not honored, His holy name is defiled. And not only that, but if He
doesn't do it, they can't be saved. They can't be brought.
He's got to justify them. He's got to sanctify them. He's
got to call them. He's got to save them, keep them,
bring them to the Father, present them faultless, unblameable,
without spot or blemish to God because of what He's accomplished.
He's got to do this. Them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice. and there shall be one foal and
one shepherd." He spoke this. And whether she was close enough
to hear him say this or not, I don't know. But I know he spoke
this and said to his disciples, the answer is not for you to
come to me and ask me to send this woman away. They were looking
at her being a Syrophoenician by nation. They were looking
at her being a Canaanite. They were looking at her being
a Gentile, a Greek. And they were thinking, ah, this
can't be one of the sheep. And he said, You don't come to
me and ask me to send her away. Do this. Go tell her the Gospel. Go tell her the Gospel. Go tell
her the truth. He said, I can't come to appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion. Not just everywhere, in Zion.
And to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, that they
might be called trees of righteousness, planted, established by grace. The planting of the Lord, that
He might be glorified. He said, go tell her this. Now He told the Word of Truth
to those Pharisees, and when He did, boy, they got mad. They got mad. They got mad. A pure heart, a heart of faith
is made one with God. By God's grace, by His creating
that pure heart, it's made one with God, agrees with God, submits
to God, submits to God's Word, submits to Christ. Here's the
Gospel, it says, that glorifies my Redeemer and it abases man. It's true. It's the truth. What was her response when she
heard that God sent Christ to save a particular people who
were lost unless He performed this work and redeemed them unto
God? What was her response? Verse 25. Then came she. Now she comes back to it. Then
came she. Look at those next words. And
worshipped Him. Saying, Lord, I want you to get this and understand
this, brethren. True faith doesn't rebel against
God's Word. True faith hears the Word of
God's sovereign elect in grace. Here's the word of His predestinating
grace. Here's the word that He redeemed
a particular people and finished that work for them. Laid down
His life for the sheep. Here's this word that He must
bring them and they shall hear His voice by His quickening and
His irresistible work of grace through the Holy Spirit. They
hear the word that He must keep and preserve His people. And
true faith doesn't rebel against God. But this truth of our God
is what gives us boldness and confidence to approach Him and
bow at His feet and worship Him. That's what it does. She heard
it and she came to it. Now look back at John 10, 25. Her response to the Gospel was
altogether different than the Pharisees' response. Look at
John 25. Jesus answered them and said,
I told you. He told them the gospel. I told
you and you believed not. The works I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not because you
are not of my sheep. He didn't say you're not my sheep
because you don't believe. He said you do not believe because
you're not of my sheep. Here's the difference between
them and God's sheep. Verse 27, My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal
life. See, you can't look on the outward
appearance of things and tell anything about a person. The
touchstone the Lord is teaching his disciples and teaching us
is this, speak the word of truth. We're dealing with a pure heart.
He just got through talking about a defiled heart and the words
that come out of that heart, the words that come from that
defiled heart. He said in another place, he
said, He said that the words that you speak are going to justify
you. They're going to tell whether
that heart's been made new, whether that heart's been made pure.
This gospel will separate the wheat from the chaff. This gospel
will. It will. This is what makes us willing. Do you know how much is said
about the voice, the word, the spirit of His breath? This is
the weapon that brings down the stronghold of unbelief and the
stronghold of that stony heart and the stronghold of that vexation
of spirit. This is what does it, it's the
gospel. And He's proving to His disciples, He's showing His disciples
what a true heart of faith is, what a true, pure heart of faith
is, and He's showing us. First, one comes to Christ and
begs mercy. Doesn't command, begs mercy.
And when He doesn't answer, this pure heart of faith waits on
Him. Waits on Him for His time. And a pure heart of faith hears
His Word, and receives His Word, and submits to His Word, and
comes and worships Him, and says, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. What's the fourth thing? A pure
heart of faith confesses, there is no good in me. No good in
me. Now she's come back to him. And
he says this directly to her. Matthew 15, 26. But he answered
and said, this is the part that Mark includes. Matthew 15, 26.
But he answered and said, It is not meat to take the children's
bread and to cast it to dogs. He's trying this faith. He's
trying this faith. Every child of God that's given
a heart of faith, a true heart of faith, is going to confess
absolutely that there is no good in me, no good in this flesh. What I am in Adam, what I am
by my first birth, what I am in my flesh right now as a believer
is absolutely nothing good whatsoever. I don't have a will to boast
in. There was not any foreseen merit that I can boast in that
caused God to choose me. There's not any works of righteousness
which we've done that would cause God to shed His favor on us. True faith makes a sinner honest
about himself. It makes a sinner honest about
what God says about him. She doesn't defend herself. When we defend ourselves, it
says a whole lot about what's going on in our heart. She doesn't defend herself. She doesn't say, but I've done
a lot of wonderful works. She don't even say, but I've
tried since I heard of you to walk in a way that honors this
doctrine that I believe and trust as you've promised I said I should
and declared that I should do. She doesn't even say that. She
don't even say, but I've believed you. She don't even boast of her faith.
She said, truth Lord. Truth Lord. Yet, the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their master's table." Again, she submits to His Word,
this Word of Truth. Christ the Word Himself. Mercy
personified. And she says, Lord, I'm a dog.
I am a dog. But Lord, you're my master. And I'm your dog. And I'll just take a crow. That's
a pure heart. That's true faith. That's true
faith. She was really seeking not a
debt that she felt like he owed her. She was seeking mercy. Mercy. That's what she came seeking. Do you see in this what a great
contrast there is between this woman in whom God had given a
pure heart and those Pharisees who did so many great things
outwardly but couldn't shut their mouths from disputing with the
Lord? See the difference? It's a big difference. It's a
difference grace makes. He said they're blind leaders
of the blind. He said they're hypocrites. He said they draw
near on the outside. They do everything they're supposed
to do on the outside. But what manifests that they didn't bow
to God on the inside? They wouldn't bow to His Word.
They wouldn't bow to Christ and they wouldn't submit to the truth
that He spoke to them. disputed with him. What does he say of this Canaanite
Syrophoenician woman? This woman who everybody would
look at and say, she can't possibly have a pure heart. Surely not.
This is what he said about her. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Great faith comes to Christ seeking
mercy, owning Him to be God with us, to be able to save to the
uttermost. Great faith waits on Christ for
His time. It can't be driven from Him.
Great faith bows to the Gospel of Christ as He's revealed Himself
in His Word. Great faith repents from any
pretended goodness in us and takes our place as dogs underneath
the master's table just asking for a crumb. And great faith
always gets what it asks for, mercy. Verse 28, he said, be
it unto thee even as thou wilt. You know what she willed? For his will to be done. That's
what she proved here, that she desired was for his will to be
done. And he said, that's how it will
be. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Amen.