in the Gospel of Matthew chapter
15 is the story of a true worshiper, a true seeker of the Lord. A woman with a great need. Matthew chapter 15, the story
of a woman in need of mercy. A woman in need of help that
only Christ could give her. And so she comes to Christ. And the way that this woman comes
to Christ is the way which all human beings must come in order
to receive mercy. Yea, this is the way in which
all true worshippers, true seekers, true believers, God's people,
this is the way they come to Christ to receive salvation and
mercy. And I begin with verse 15. It says, Behold, a woman of Canaan
a Syro-Phoenician woman, a woman of the country of Syria, Phoenicia
in Syria. She came and cried unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. She cried unto Him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David. Have mercy upon me. This woman came crying pleading
for mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ. Few today ask for mercy
from the Lord or from Jesus as most simply call Him. Few today ask for mercy at the
hands of the Sovereign Lord. Most make demands of the Lord. In fact, their preachers will
tell them to do so. They'll tell them to claim what
is yours, claim what God must give you. But no, a true seeker,
a true seeker like this woman, comes to the sovereign Lord asking
for mercy. Mercy meaning not getting what
we deserve. Mercy being asking the Lord to
spare us. Spare us what we deserve. The
wages of sin is death, the Lord said. That is what we deserve. Hell, death, judgment, condemnation. And one who comes aright One
who comes to the Lord asks for mercy, comes as a guilty, hell-deserving
sinner requiring and needing mercy. And that mercy is sovereign. It's of the Lord to show mercy
on whom He will. That's what He told Moses in
Exodus 33. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. And so the one who comes to the
Lord aright, to the Lord Jesus Christ, comes first calling,
asking, begging for mercy. Only the guilty require mercy. And that's why Christ said, I've
come to call sinners to repentant, to ask for mercy. Let me tell
you something. Let me give you something striking
to think about. Everyone in heaven has one thing
in common. This one thing, everyone in heaven
asked for mercy at the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
everyone in hell has something in common also. None of them
asked for mercy. And all of them, I am certain,
feel they are there wrongly accused. Well, this woman comes and says,
Lord. She calls him Lord. Oh, have
mercy on me, oh Lord. She didn't call him Jesus. She said, Lord, thou son of David. Lord meaning my sovereign master. Lord meaning the Christ. Lord
meaning God's only anointed mediator, Messiah, Redeemer, the only holy
one of God. the only mediator between God
and men, the man, the only one, the Lord, the Master, the Sovereign,
the King of kings and Lord of lords. Have mercy on me, O Lord,
my King. O Lord, thou Son of David, she
called him. Son of David being the Christ,
the anointed one of God, the only one whom God accepts, the
only one whom God will receive, the only one whom God will hear,
the only one whom God will speak to and speak through. That's
the Christ. That's what the word Christ means. A representative of men to God
is only one, and Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ. This woman says, O Lord, have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. Now, she first asks
for mercy for herself. Have mercy upon me. And then
she says, My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. We all
have this one need, both us and our children. We all need mercy
at the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. So she asked for mercy
for herself and her child. Well, look at the Lord's response
to this woman in verse 23. It says, But he answered her
not a word. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
speak to this woman. This woman comes crying. begging,
pleading with the Lord Jesus, but he answered her not a word. He seemed to be ignoring her. Well, how could he do this? How
could he ignore this woman who desperately pleads with him?
Why would he do such a thing? Why would he ignore her? Why
would he not answer her? Because, now listen carefully, A sovereign lord, a king on a
throne, is not obligated to even speak to his servants, let alone
answer them. A sovereign lord and king is
not under obligation to answer to his subjects. A king is not
answerable to the subjects, but vice versa. And we've got a world
out there who acts like God is at the beckoning call of men.
God doesn't have to answer man. The Lord did not have to answer
this woman. He's proving who He is. Kings
don't have to answer their subjects. They're not answerable to their
subjects. But the subjects are answerable
to the king. But he ignored her. Now, the
average preacher today would have jumped all over this woman.
In fact, the Jesus most claimed today, most preached today, the
Jesus that men are preaching today would have been begging
this woman to let him have mercy on her. But not the true Christ
of Scripture, not the sovereign Lord of glory. He answered her,
not a word. He didn't have to. Folks, this
is the Jesus Christ of Scripture. I'm reading straight from his
word. Well, so this woman went to the disciples. She went to Peter, James, John,
Bartholomew, Matthew, and the others. She went seeking their
help. The Lord ignored her. But she
went to the disciples. And the disciples, being Christ's
true preachers, handpicked by Him, called by Him, equipped
by Him, sent by Him, as are all of His true preachers, the disciples,
they, after the woman came to them for help, they appealed
back to the Lord. as do all of his true preachers. They couldn't help this woman,
and what they did was call upon the Lord to help her. That's
the mark of a true preacher, a true disciple of Christ. Men can't help other men, only
the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord, not
the soul winner. Not the preacher, not the priest.
Incidentally, there are no more priests to that. Christ is the
only great high priest. The only one whom God accepts
and hears. Well, the Lord, the disciple
said, Lord, send her away. She cries after us. She's seeking
our help. Verse 24, But he answered and
said, Verse 24, he said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. This woman was a Gentile of Canaan,
Syrophoenicia. And the Lord said, I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He said something
very similar to a woman at a well in John's Gospel, chapter 4. John's Gospel, chapter 4, he
said to a woman whom he was talking to, he said, you worship you
know not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. Salvation is of the Jews. In other words, God chose a people,
a particular people out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue
under the heaven. God has chosen a people and elect
the Jews. That's what they're called in
Romans. true Jew, true Israel, Romans 2, those who have been
circumcised in the heart, operated on by God's Holy Spirit, chosen
by God, redeemed by Christ, separated, sanctified, marked by the Holy
Spirit. true Jews, the Israel which Paul
said in Romans 11, all will be saved, all Israel, all true Jews. He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly, Paul said in Romans 2, but inwardly. God's true chosen
people. He said, I'm not sent but to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They're lost. And the
Great Shepherd comes to find every single one given to him
by the Father. They are lost. They can't save
themselves. Only the Shepherd must find them,
and does find them. There are sheep. There are not
goats. There are sheep and goats. All men are not God's children,
but there are sheep and goats. And they are of Israel, a particular
tribe. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. And so he says to this woman,
I, the Christ, am only sent to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel, the elect given to me by the Father. They are all Jews.
Now, this woman heard him. All sheep do hear his voice.
All sheep hear of the Lord God's sovereignty, his sovereign right
to have mercy on whom he will. and to save whom he will. In
verse 25, so she came. What was her reaction to what
he said? Verse 25 says, Then came she, and worshipped him. She heard what he said. She heard
what he didn't say. She saw how the Lord ignored
her. That didn't upset her or offend
her. Why, he's the Lord. He doesn't
have to answer. And then she heard what he said about being
sent only to his elect sheep. And what was her reaction? The
same reaction all of God's true sheep have upon hearing the truth
of who Christ is and who he came to save. She worshipped him.
She didn't argue. She didn't say, but, but, but,
but, but, but, whosoever will. No goats but sheep bow. This was one of his sheep. And
she bowed to what he said. Now, few would have come back
to him after he ignored them. Fewer would have worshipped him.
Most would be mad at him by now, as some probably are upon hearing
this. But she worshipped him. And listen
to what she said. Lord, help me. Lord, help me.
And he answered and said, It's not meat. It's not fit to take
the children's bread and cast it to dogs. He calls her a dog,
people. He calls her a dog. First he
ignores her, then he says, I'm only sent to the elect, and then
he calls her a dog. What was her reaction? Well,
she's going to get mad now. She's not going to take this.
This is humiliating. It certainly is. Only the humble
shall be exalted. Pride shall be abased. Well,
the Lord, she said, here's her reaction and the reaction of
all God's true people. She said, truth, Lord, truth. God is sovereign. Truth. God
chooses whom he will. Truth. Christ saves only his
elect sheep. Truth. None worthy. All are dogs. Truth, she said. Yet the dogs
eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table. profession
here, her confession of who she is and who he was, Christ said
in verse 28, O woman, great is thy faith. Great faith. Here is a woman of great faith.
What is great faith? Acknowledging who Christ is,
the truth of who Christ is, his sovereign rights, his sovereign
person, his sovereign electing mercy and grace, and what we
are by nature, unworthy to receive anything from Him in need of
mere crumbs. Well, she got more than crumbs.
She got all that she asked for and more. Such is the sovereign,
merciful Lord to all who come to Him for this kind of mercy. Until next Sunday, good day. you