Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I want to invite you to turn
with me this morning to Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7, we're
going to look at verses 24 through 30. And this is an account that I
have always thought was one of the sweetest accounts in the
Word of God. This story is precious. The title of this message is
The Master's Dog. And we'll see why here in just
a minute. The Master's Dog. We begin in verse 24 in Mark
7. It says, and from thence He arose
and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into
a house, and would have no man know it, but he could not be
hid. went into the borders of Tyre
and Sidon and he entered into a house and as our Lord was in
his humility, he did not come for the fame of himself, he came
to save sinners. And he did not want it to be
spread abroad, but it couldn't be hid. It could not be hid. And that's how it is with our
Lord. When he does something, it can't be hid. If he ever purposes
to enter into the house of this body, the tabernacle of this
body, if he ever purposes to enter into a heart, it can't
be hid. It just can't be. But he purposed to enter into
this house, verse 25 says, for a certain woman. And here's something that we
can always notice about the Word of God. It's certain. It's certain. Everything about
it is certain. Everything in this book is ordered
and sure. Everything in it is on purpose. It's particular. A certain woman,
not a random woman, a chosen woman. Verse 25 says, for a certain
woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him
and came and fell at His feet. She heard of Him. Somebody told
her about Him. Somebody told her who He was
and what He is able to do. Now, this account is recorded
in more than one Gospel. We're in the Gospel of Mark,
but it's also in the Gospel of Matthew. And if you're following
along with me in your Bible, you can turn over to Matthew
15, and we're going to put a marker in both places because we're
going to go back and forth between them. And in doing that, we're
going to see more of the story. We're going to get more details
of what happened to this woman. So in Matthew 15, verse 21 says,
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. This woman was from the same
coast that He went to. And it says, She came to Him. But it says He came to her first.
He came to the very place that she was. He came to her so she
could come to Him. And that's how it is with salvation.
That's how it is with everything concerning our Lord. We love
Him because He first loved us. We come to Him because He first
came to us. That's where this starts. It
starts with Him. Now back in Mark chapter 7 verse
24 says, From thence He arose and went into the borders of
Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house, and would have no man
know it, but he could not be hid. for a certain woman whose
young daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came
and fell at his feet. She fell at his feet. This woman had a need. This woman
deeply, deeply had a need. The only time sinners will come
to Christ is when they have a need. You know that? Truly, the only
time sinners will come to Christ and fall down at His feet is when they have a need. There are sinners all over this
world. Sinners who will acknowledge Jesus Christ. They will acknowledge
Him. And they will acknowledge that
He has written His word. He's written this book. But let me tell you what every
single one of us must acknowledge. And if we cannot acknowledge
this, then we ought to be very afraid. It ought to strike great
fear in us if we cannot acknowledge our need. Our need. Without that need,
if God does not reveal our need to us, we won't come. We won't fall down at his feet. You know that a person has only
seen religion when he says, I used to be a sinner. Oh, I used to
be a sinner. Not anymore, but I used to be. I'll tell you, when God reveals
himself, if God ever truly reveals himself, when a man or woman
sees the holiness of God Almighty, this is what he will cry. I am
a sinner. I'm the chief. Is that not what
the Apostle Paul cried? I am. I'm the chief. I right now have a need. This woman right here had a need.
She deeply had a need. Verse 26 says, this woman was
a Greek, a Gentile, a foreigner, a heathen. This woman was a Greek,
a Syrophoenician by nation. And she besought him that he
would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. Now this woman was not of the
house of Israel. He didn't owe her anything. And
he doesn't owe us anything. You know that? He does not owe
us anything. Over in Ephesians 2, verse 11
says, wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles
in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. Any person who's not a Jew is
a Gentile. I'm a Gentile and I would imagine
most of the people I'm preaching to this morning are Gentiles.
We're Gentiles. And it says right here, remember
that us being Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. And that was this
woman. And that's all of us by nature.
The way we are born into this world, in the flesh, we have
no hope because we're without God in the world. That's the
reason. We are separated from God by nature. God is holy. We are sinful. Those two cannot
mix. They cannot mix. The holy God
must punish sin. It cannot be in His presence.
The only hope we have is for that sin to be removed, cast
forth, cast out. And there's only one way that
can happen. It's by the power and the will and the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that's it. And this woman knows that
she doesn't deserve it. She knows that, but she comes
anyway. And watch how she comes. If you're
turning with me, look at Matthew 15, verse 22 says, and behold,
a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto
him saying, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. That's the
first thing a sinner must cry when he or she comes to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Have mercy on me. That's what David cried. Psalm
51, he said, have mercy on me, oh God. That's what the publican
in the temple cried. Luke 18, that publican would
not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but he smote upon
his breast, crying, God be merciful to me. That's what blind Bartimaeus
cried. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. I know what I am. I know what
I deserve. Please have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. Spare me. Save me. Don't put me in hell's fire.
Don't give me what I deserve. Have mercy on me. Then she said in verse 22, oh
Lord, have mercy on me, oh Lord. Lord means Jehovah, God. God, I'm a sinner. You're the
holy God. But then she said, thou son of
David, have mercy on me, oh Lord, thou son of David. I believe you're God manifest
in the flesh. That's what she was saying. I
believe you are the one who was sent to redeem sinners. I believe you were sent to pay
the debt of their sin in full. I believe you're the lamb slain.
I believe you are the only mediator between God and man. I'm coming
to you. because you're my only hope. That's the only way to approach
the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of heaven. We come humbly. We come lowly, begging for mercy,
acknowledging Him to be God. We come believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse 23 says, but He answered
her not a word. Isn't that something? That's
the first response she got. He answered her not a word. He doesn't have to. He does not
have to. God is not at our beck and call. We're at His. We are at His. Hold your place
and turn with me over to Daniel 4. Daniel 4 verse 35 says, and
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? No man can question God or command
God to do anything. Do you think this woman in our
text came to Him saying, I'm going to let Him help me? I tell
you what, I'm going to let you help me today. Is that how she
came? The Lord God said in Isaiah 43,
I will work and who shall let it? How many times have we called
on the Lord and not been given an answer immediately like we
wanted? We call wanting an answer, but how many times has he not
answered us? Not immediately. What do we do in that case? Well, what did she do? Back in
Matthew 15, verse 23 says, but he answered her not a word. And
his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. She kept crying, she kept crying,
she kept crying. She wouldn't stop. She wouldn't
stop. She would not go away. Our Lord said, you shall seek
me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart. All your heart. God wrestled
with Jacob all night long, didn't he? And when the morning came,
God said to Jacob, let me go. And Jacob said, I will not do
it. I can't do it. God broke his thigh. He said,
let me go. Jacob said, I will not let go
except you bless me. Did God bless Jacob? Oh, did he bless him? He made
a covenant with him. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. Jacob means sinner. Happy is
he that hath the God of sinners for his help. Our Lord answered
this woman not a word, so she kept crying. She wouldn't stop
crying. And the Lord answered her. He
finally answered her, but this is what He said. Verse 24, He
said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. He said, I did not come for every
soul on this earth. That's what He said. I did not
come to save every soul on this earth. I came for a particular
people. I came for those that my father
chose and gave to me. And you're not worthy of this.
What makes you think this is for you? Verse 25 says, then
came she and worshiped him, saying, Help me. God, help me. Please, Lord, help
me. Verse 26, But he answered and
said, It is not meat to take the children's bread and to cast
it to dogs. Not only are you not worthy of
this, You're a dog. You know what she said? Verse
27, and she said, truth, Lord. Truth. Truth. He said, you're not worthy. She
said, truth. He said, I didn't come to save
everybody. She said, truth. He said, you're
just a dog. She said, truth Lord, truth. Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. The dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. You know what she just said?
I'm a dog. but I'm your dog. You're my master. I'm a dog. Truth, Lord, but I'm
your dog. You are my master. I bow to you. I acknowledge you
to be my owner, my creator, my master, my Lord, my King. The one who holds my life. My life is in your hands. Truth. I'm a dog. But even the dogs
eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. You're
my master. Job said, though he slay me,
yet will I trust him. She couldn't be run off. She
could not be run off. Let me ask you this question.
How about us? How about you and me? You know what he's saying to
us through this word? Do you know why he recorded this
story for us to read right now today in this word? He's speaking
something to us. And you know what he's saying?
You're not worthy. He's telling me and you both
We're not worthy. Is that running us off? No. He's saying to us right now
through this word, I didn't come to save everybody, only my elect. Is that running us off? No. Through this word, he's looking
us right in the eye and saying, You're a dog. We open up this word together
and this word looks us right in the eye and says, you are
a sinner. You're nothing but a dead dog,
worthless sinner. Is that running us off? No. I love how it's worded back in
Mark's account. Look at it again in Mark's account.
Mark 7 verse 27 says, but Jesus said unto her, let the children
first be filled, for it is not me to take the children's bread
and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto
him, yes. That means amen. So be it. I wholeheartedly agree. You're unworthy. Amen. You're
a dog. Amen. But I'm your dog. So I come to you. I'm coming
to you. Verse 29, and he said unto her,
for this saying, go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy
daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil
gone out and her daughter laid upon the bed. In Matthew's account,
he said, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. Faith is the gift of God, isn't
it? Isn't that what Ephesians 2 says? It's the gift of God. So what he was saying to her
was, God has been gracious to you. That's what he was saying.
God has been gracious to you, dear sinner. If you have come
and begged, then it means God has been gracious to you. Psalm
34 18 says, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart. God has to break the heart. We
can't break it, it's too hard. The heart of every man and woman
by nature is just too hard. But if God has broken our heart,
and if He has caused us to say truth, Lord, yes, I'm a dog. but I'm your dog, then it means
he's near to us. It means we belong to him, that's
what it means. One man made the statement years
ago, he said, when God saves a sinner, even his dog will know
it. It can't be hid, even his dog
will know it. The reason is because that sinner
will see himself to be a dog. The master's dog. And he'll see
the kindness that the master has shown to him. He'll see that the master has
allowed him to lay at his feet. He'll see not just the crumbs
the master has swept off the table, he'll see how the Heavenly
bread of Christ was broken for him, freely given to him. And in turn, that sinner will
treat his own dog like the master has treated him. When God saves
a sinner, even his dog will know it. You can't hide grace. You just can't do it. You cannot
hide the mercy and the grace of Christ, especially in a bunch
of dogs like us. A sinner hears the truth when
he finds out he's a dog. That's a shocking revelation. That's a shocking revelation.
When men and women are confronted by the fact that they're sinners,
and that's what it means to say any person is a dog. He's saying
that we're sinners. We're sinners. And we preach the truth. This
word plainly declares the truth to us. That's what we hear when we find
out by nature we're all dogs. But a sinner hears the gospel.
Oh, a sinner hears the good news of the gospel when he finds out
he's the master's dog. Oh, the goodness and the kindness,
the happiness, the peace, the comfort of belonging to the master. And I tell you this, every dog
that the master owns, when you ask them, how did you become
the master's dog? He won't say, I did this and
I did that. That's what people do in religion.
You know, I got saved. I accepted him. I decided I this. No, the master's dogs don't say
that. You know what the master's dog
will say? He'll say, I was in the pound.
I was locked up. I was bound. ready for euthanization. I was on death row. And He came
to me. He sought me. And then He bought
me. And then He brought me home. And now I just belong to Him.
He did it. He did it all. And now He feeds
me. He houses me. And He loves me. And He draws me near to Himself.
And I love Him, and I'm thankful for it. Oh, may God cause us all. May
He have mercy on us and cause every single one of us to become
dogs of the Master, the Master's dog. Until next Sunday morning,
may the Lord bless this Word to our hearts. You have been
listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like
a copy of this message or to hear other messages of Sovereign
Grace, you can write to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin
Street, Kingsport, Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website
at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace. you