In Matthew's Gospel, Chapter
15, the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 15, I believe if the average
person would just read this story honestly, openly, read this story
of the Lord's dealings with this woman, it might shock them. And yet, this is how the Lord
deals with all of His people, all whom He saves, like this
woman. And this woman's response to
what the Lord does and says is the way every true child of God
responds to the truth. Responds to the truth, that is,
of who Christ is and why He came and for whom He came and what
we are by nature. Now this is the same old message.
that you've heard before. Yet, it is the only message there
is really to a lost and dying world. And it's still the Good
News or the Gospel which true sinners need to hear. And I have
but one message. I say with the Apostle Paul,
to write or to preach the same things to you again is not grievous
to me. I rejoice in these things. And
so do God's people. Verse 22 of Matthew 15, Behold,
a woman of Canaan, I'm sorry, Syrophoenicia, came out of the
same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord,
thou Son of David. Have mercy upon me. This is a
desperate and needy woman. She cried unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Mark's Gospel says she fell at
his feet. Now, I did not try emulate this
or imitate this woman the way she said did. Not at all, because
she was desperately crying, begging the Lord Jesus Christ to have
mercy upon her. Now, would that more people knew
their true and desperate condition, that is, their need of mercy
from a holy and sovereign God who is angry. Scripture says
God is angry with the wicked every day. Now would that folks
knew their true state before God and would call upon Him for
mercy. Mercy at the hands of an offended
holy God. Mercy means not getting what
we deserve. Scripture says The wages of sin
is death. That's what we have earned. The
wages we have earned. And a true person who comes to
understand their true need or who God is and their true need
before God is not a new job or a new house or a spouse or this
and that and the other, but mercy. David, who knew the Lord, who
knew the Lord well throughout the Psalms, speaks of mercy. throughout the psalm. You rarely
hear anybody even say the word today. Certainly don't hear people
crying out for mercy. That is, mercy from God because
of sin. A true person crying unto God
cries, don't give me what I deserve, Lord. Spare me from what I've
earned, the wages of my sin. Sinners against God. David said,
against thee and thee only have I sinned. Our great need is mercy
daily. Lamentation says it is of the
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Well, we need mercy. But people are not calling on
God for mercy. Well, she went on to say, have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. My daughter is vexed. Is anyone
out there listening to this who has a son or a daughter vexed
with the devil? Folks, if our sons and daughters,
husbands, wives, if we ourselves are not indwelled by the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit of God, we are indwelled by some spirit. And
don't think of the devil or a demon as just being something that
makes you look like a lunatic. The devil and the demon, their
sphere operation, their work is mostly in religion. Get people to think they are
something that they're not. Make them self-righteous before
God. At any rate, if we have a son or a daughter vexed with
the devil, or we ourselves, Satan is a roaring lion walking about
seeking whom he may devour, the Scripture says. But verse 22,
she cried unto the Lord. He's the only one that can do
anything for us. Not a son of Saba. Not these
false prophets. Only the Lord Himself. He is
the only one who is stronger than the adversary. We cry unto
Him. Don't cry to anybody else. Cry
unto Him. Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou
Son of David. That means, Thou Christ. In verse
23, He answered her, not a word. He did not answer her. She cried
unto Him. She begged Him. She fell at His
feet. She was sincere. She was distraught. And she cried unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is Jesus Christ. And she
cried unto Him with all her heart, but He did not answer her a word. Can you believe that? He did
not answer her. Now, folks, you listen to this
now. Listen to God's Word here. This
is the true Christ of Scripture. This is exactly what He did and
did not do. He did not answer her word because
He does not have to. He does not have to answer her
at all, or anyone for that matter. Is that right? Is that right
of the Lord, the King of glory? Does a king have to answer a
servant? Folks, I've got news for you,
and it's probably news to most who hear this. God Almighty is
not at man's beck and call. He's not just waiting around
hoping we'll call on Him. And if we do call, He is not
obligated to answer or acknowledge anyone at all. Why should He? Let me ask you now, why should
God answer one single son of Adam? Why? Most folks, yea all,
go many, many years without even acknowledging God exists, completely
willfully ignoring the Lord God. Scripture says God is not in
all their thoughts. They have many thoughts, but
God is not one of them. Until they get in trouble. Until they get in trouble. And
then men and women and young people start crying, Oh God. And well, then they get out of
trouble. They get out of trouble. The trouble passes. And then
they don't cry unto God again until they get into trouble again.
And folks wonder. why God is not answering all
the supposed prayers that are going out to Him today. You've
got people by the thousands, yay millions, pretending to cry
and pray unto God, but it's obvious He is not answering. Well, this woman, she cried unto
Him and He did not answer her. He does not have to. But it's
not that He is ignoring her. God does not ignore anyone. He cannot. He sees all. Thou, Lord, seest me, Scripture
says. The eyes of the Lord, His eyelids
try the sons of men. He knows all, sees all. Well, He's testing this woman.
He's trying this woman. This is one of His elect. This
is one of His sheep whom He came to save. He's trying this woman. He's showing her who He is and
what she is. And he's going to tell her in
a moment who she is, what she is. And she's going to believe
him. That's the way it is with all of God's people. When God
begins to operate on one of His own, they realize, God doesn't
have to answer me. Why should He? I've rejected
Him, sinned against Him all my days, not acknowledged Him. Why
should He answer me? Well, this woman went to his
disciples. And his disciples could not do
anything for her. Now she did the right thing in
going to them. These were true men of God. Men
whom the Lord had greatly blessed as under-shepherds of him. Men
whom the Lord had gifted to lead, guide and instruct the sheep.
And often they were able to cast out devils, but not this time.
Because this is the story here. Because the Lord is going to
do and say something to her personally that we need to hear. Well, the
disciples came right back to the Lord. And if someone goes
to a true preacher of God, what he'll do is go right back to
the Lord with their problems. Go to him. Verse 24. So he answered
and said to them, now he said this to them and I believe they
in turn told it to her. In verse 24, he answered and
said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. In another place or throughout
the book of John he says, I am sent. The Father has sent me.
God of heaven sent Christ to earth. That means he had a particular
purpose in mind. A job to do sent by God. Why? To do what? To save His
people. To save His people from their
sin. His people. Not to try to save all people,
but to save His people. All that the Father giveth me,
Christ said. The sheep whom the Father hath
given me, of all He hath given me, Christ said in His prayer
in John 17, I have lost nothing. He was sent to save them and
He saved every one of them. His elect, yes, the chosen seed,
He said, of the house of Israel. Well, He declares here man's
lost condition. He said, man is lost. I am sent
to the lost sheep, those who cannot save themselves, who can't
find the way. Not those who can take the first
step and God meet them halfway. No, the lost sheep. Not goats. He didn't come to call goats
which kick and butt. You've heard God's but, haven't
you? When you say things like this, when you preach this message,
they say, but, but, but, but. No. Sheep, meek, mild, submissive,
humble sheep, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Who is
Israel? Jacob. What did He say of Jacob?
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What do you say
to these things? That's what He told her, and
that's what they told her. They came back to her and told
her the truth. In verse 25, then she came and
worshipped Him. Before she got an answer from
Him. Before He did one thing for her, she worshipped Him. Why? This is a true child of God right
here. She's worshipping Him because
He's worthy. Because He's the Lord. She said,
Lord! She worshipped Him. Fell at His
feet. That's why people come The true people of God come to
church to worship. She came and worshiped Him and
He answered and said, it's not me to take the children's bread
and to cast it to dogs. He called her a dog. Oh, my. When we finally realize
who Christ is, He's the great Master, and what we are. What
are we? Well, we're just like a whole race of people just like
us. Worthless. Worthless. Yes, worthless. What
good are dogs? Honestly now, what good are dogs?
You've got dogs with ribbons and bows and pedigree, but they're
all dogs. Well, she said, truth, verse
27, truth, Lord, if the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from the Master's table. Truth, Lord, everything you say
is truth. Truth of who you are, of what I am. Truth that you
don't have to answer me. Truth that you came to save your
elect. Truth, Lord, but dogs need crumb. Did he answer her now? Oh, woman,
he said, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee. And her daughter
was made whole. What about you? What's your response
to this message? God's people, they say truth,
Lord. May it be so with you who hear
it this morning. Amen.