Go with me now to the book of
Mark, the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7. I hope everyone, young and
old, has a Bible to look at. Mark, chapter 7. This is a familiar story to most
of you. It's found in the Gospel of Matthew,
chapter 15. Same story, but a few different
words. I chose this text for these words. This is the story of that Syrophoenician
or Canaanite woman who came to the Lord pleading for her daughter. In past messages, we have looked
at this and we've dwelt on the woman primarily, and we've forgotten
the daughter. But this story is a true story
of how our Lord saved an unclean girl, a young girl, a daughter, this
woman's daughter, that was full of sin and unclean. And the Lord Jesus Christ had
mercy upon her, washed her, and in doing so, he had great mercy
upon the young girl's mother as well. In verse 24, the Lord
had just spoken of all the evil, verse 23, things that come from
within defile a man, make him dirty, unclean. It says in verse
24, and from thence he arose and went into the borders of
Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon were notoriously
wicked cities, known for their wickedness, full of homosexuality
and promiscuousness and lewdness and so forth, just like Sodom
and Gomorrah. It says the Lord Jesus Christ,
God our Savior, arose and went there. He went there. He came into the world to save
the sinner, the chief, the worst, the most unclean. Look at verse
24. It says, and he entered into
a house. Oh my, how blessed that house
was. Many houses there, weren't there,
in this sinful place. You know, this little town, this
little Rocky Mountain, it's no better than Tyre and Sidon. Rocky
Mountain, Roanoke. And says he entered into a house. A certain plate and it says he
would have no man know it, but he could not be here. When the Lord's in the house.
You can't be here. Can't be here by the Lord when
he's in. A place when he's in a person
that can't be it. You make himself known. May the
Lord come in this place this morning and may we all know it
when we leave here. And since he could not be here
there was a woman that was looking for him. He hid these things from the
wise and the prudent but he revealed it unto his people, sinners. This woman found him or rather
He found her. Verse twenty-five, a certain
woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him
and came and fell at his feet. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said, All that the Father giveth
me shall come unto me. That's not just a doctrine, that's
our salvation. If not for God's sovereign grace,
electing grace in choosing us, we would not choose him. Had
not God sovereignly brought us to hear this gospel, we would
not have heard it. We would not have received it.
Had he not drawn us, he said, oh, no man can come unto me except
the Father which has sent me draw them. Had he not sovereignly
drawn us, we would not come unto Him that we might have not. If you come this morning, if
you're here, it's not by accident. And if you come truly seeking
the Lord Jesus Christ, it's because He drew you. And
He may have great grace in store for you. Mercy. Now, this woman
heard of Him, it says. She heard of him, and if you
and I hear of Christ, faith cometh by hearing. Faith is calling
on Christ, looking to Christ, asking him for mercy. If we hear
of him, hear of Christ, only Savior, the only hope, only one who can save us and
our daughters, our sons. You will come to him like this
woman did. For yourself and for her, it
says she fell on her face, she fell at his feet, she heard of
him. Verse 25, whose young daughter
had an unclean spirit and heard of him and came and fell at his
feet. And verse 26 said she besought
him, means she begged him, she pleaded with him that he would
have mercy. upon her and cast forth the devil
out of her daughter. And I'm sure that this woman
was a believer because she came. She heard, she came, she called. And the Lord had mercy on her.
Our Lord said, all who hear his voice will come. And all who
call, he'll answer. But her daughter was not. Her daughter didn't come to him.
Her daughter didn't see any need of him. Her daughter's at home
doing who knows what. God knows what. Her daughter was unclean. It says, verse twenty-five, a
certain woman whose young daughter, young daughter, this young female
daughter was probably in her teens, probably sixteen, seventeen,
maybe eighteen years old, young daughter. She was a daughter. She was this
woman's daughter. That's pretty special, isn't
it? Daddy's little girl. I don't
know where the father was. Daddy's little girl. Mama's baby. Years before. True story. This is true. Years before. Seventeen or eighteen years previously,
there were two young parents. expectant parents, and the mother
gave birth to this little baby girl. And they looked at her, they
looked on her as a gift from God. They looked on her with
such love as can only be known by those who have. They were so full of love for
that baby girl, they were full of fear. worry, hopes, dreams. If they were believers at this
time, the mother, father, if they were believers when that
child was born, they prayed for that child. Oh, how they prayed
for that child. They would wake up at night worrying about that baby. Grandparents
did too. They hear a sound. And they'd run in there to see
if she's still breathing. And tend to her every need without
thoughts, without concern for themselves. Run in there, if she's still
breathing, they'd thank God that she was. Well, this went on for years.
Night after night, year after year, and the little baby began
to grow. Take her first steps. Her mother thought, this is the
most adorable, wonderful child ever born. Oh, how I love this
daughter of mine. And the dad did too. It's in
her first words. sweetest words known to man and
when they speak in our daddy. Are. She began to grow up. Now her parents. were new at
this. True story. Their parents were
new at this. Their parents didn't know anything
about parenting. They'd never been parents before. So they
were new at this, and they'd made plenty of mistakes. They did what they knew to do,
or did not know to do. In spite of all that, the love,
in spite of the child, something began to happen to this little
girl. This sweet little girl, now a
teenager, began to act differently. It was already there, but it
began to come out. The Lord God said in Genesis
chapter eight that man's heart is evil from his youth. David said, I was. In sin did
my mother conceive me, I was Ray born in sin. And it began to come out in a
bad way. She began to act like something
or someone had control of her. She began to have unclean thoughts,
unclean desires, unclean wicked thoughts. She began to resent
her parents, everything they said and everything
they did. She began to resent all authority. She hated their
God. She hated their religion, calling
them hypocrites. She began to run around with
other unclean children just like her, feed off of their filthiness, until finally she gave herself
completely to anything and everything in uncleanness. probably doing
drugs, whatever opiates there were available at that time,
probably having indiscriminate sex with anyone and everyone,
thinking nothing about it, giving herself completely, laughing
about it, bragging about it, no guilt, no shame whatsoever,
unclean, filthy, vile, naked, and nauseating. She may have looked good to the
average person on the outside. She had some people fooled. Not
God. Not her parents. Not those who
knew her. She was unclean. She was unclean. She was dirty. Filthy. That once cute little girl, she's
now unclean. There's nothing cute about her. So, this poor woman came to the only one who could
do anything. The same one that did something
for her. See, this mother knew, this mother
was, if that, whatever that child had done, the mother, if she
hadn't done it, she'd thought it and she wanted to do it. And
if she hadn't done it, the sovereign restraining grace of God had
kept her from it. But yet the Lord had mercy on
her. And now she comes to him pleading with him that he will
have the same mercy on her daughter as he did for her. And she's lying at his feet and
she said over Matthew's gospel, have mercy on me. The way you'll have mercy on
me is if you show mercy to my daughter. And she's pleaded this with,
O Lord, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Sound familiar? Now, I'm quite sure that this
woman probably blamed herself for the way this daughter was
acting. Anybody reckon that's so? I'm
quite sure she blamed herself for this daughter's uncleanness,
thinking about her own past, thinking about her poor example
as a parent, thinking that I'm getting what I deserve, thinking
that the Lord is doing this to my child because that's what
I did to him. That's not so. That's not so. God doesn't hold people rancid.
God's not a terrorist. God deals with people individually
for their own sins. God doesn't punish your children
for your sins. Remember when they asked the
Lord, who's sinned that this man was born blind? Him or his
parents? He said, neither. Look at the purpose of God. He
was born that way. And like that blind man, the
Lord is going to get great glory. And this girl, oh my. The Lord is not unrighteous.
He doesn't take vengeance. But feeling her own guilt, this
woman, oh my, she felt responsible. She felt her own guilt, and she
felt utterly helpless and in despair over herself. And not
only her daughter, and she comes and falls at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ, only one. Is there anyone who can help
us? She thought. Somebody said, yes, there's one. Is there anyone who can do anything
for my daughter? I've spoken to her time and time
again, and somebody said, yes, there's one. Only one. She heard of him, and
she came. And you know, over in Matthew's
account, it says the first thing she did when she fell at his
feet, she worshipped him. Before she asked him anything,
she worshipped him. Before he answered her word,
she worshipped him. Before she received anything
from him, she worshipped him. Like that leper, remember? Came
down and worshipped him. Oh my, the Father seeketh such. But she'd come to the right person,
hadn't she? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is the only one that can bring a clean thing out of an uncle. He's the only one that can make
someone clean that's born of He's the only one that can cleanse
a sinner that's born of sinners. Make a son of God out of a son
of Adam. He can do anything for our sons and daughters who are
born of us, shaped in iniquity, like the come forth from the
womb, speaking lies. There's only one. And so she pleads with him. But
over in Matthew's gospel, It says he didn't answer her when
she first. She's begging, she's crying,
she's pleading with him, you've done it. It says he didn't answer, he
answered her not a word. You remember that? Why? Because he doesn't have to. And I ask you, I ask myself, why
should he? Why should he do anything for
me? When I like, you remember over
there in the Ezekiel 36, he said, I don't do this for your sake. Why should he do anything for
my daughter who who doesn't care about him at all? Why? She thought. Why should he do anything, give
me one good reason why the Lord of Glory should have mercy upon
me, should show grace upon my daughter, should be kind and
forgive me and forgive my daughter and clean my unclean child. Give me one good reason why he
should do that. I'll give you a good reason. Because he's good. That's why. That's the only reason you can
find. Because he's good. Because he's merciful. I'll give
you more than one because he's merciful, because Scripture says
he delights to show mercy because that's who he is. He said, I'll
make my goodness pass before you. I'm going to proclaim my
name. That's my name. The Lord is good because he takes
pleasure in them that fear him and them that hope in his mercy.
He loves it because he delights to show mercy. Because he's ready
to pardon. He waits to be gracious. Give
me one good reason, I'll give you a dozen. Because he's kind.
Because he's done it for others. Because that's his name. I'll
give you a good scripture. Let me give you not only a good
reason, but a good scripture. And it's worthy of all acceptation.
He came into this world. He arose and went to Tyre and
Sidon, the worst of the worst, to save sinners, even the chief,
the most unclean. That's why. That's a good reason. To the praise of the glory of
his grace. And that's what this woman pleaded,
O son of David, O Christ, for your name's sake, have mercy. The Lord washed her
throughly from her iniquity, cleansed her from her sins. For
thy great name's sake, pardon her iniquity, for it is great." The Lord didn't answer her at
first. Does that mean He's not going
to? He didn't answer her at first. Does that mean He's not going
to? She's pleading with Him. Surely He'll answer. He didn't
answer her at first. Does that mean she should give up? No,
don't ever. ever give up. She kept asking. And our Lord
said this. Look at this. He said, remember
He said, it's not fit to give the children's bread to dogs.
Verse 27, it's not me to cast it unto dogs. What'd she say? That's true. Over in Matthew,
she said, truth, Lord, truth. Everything you say about me is
true. Everything you say is truth. But, she says, Lord, yet the
dogs under the table eat of the children's crown. You see, and the Lord marveled
at this faith. But she's not asking for great
riches. She's not asking for a job. She's not asking for this
and all of that. She's asking for mercy upon her
daughter. She's just asking for mercy.
She's not asking for great riches, but just a few crumbs of mercy. Crumbs. Crumbs, John. This is a greater than Solomon.
You remember Solomon's table? Nobody got crumbs. You reckon his dogs got my dogs
don't get from. But she feels like an unworthy
dog. If you're the Lord is my shepherd. He doesn't give out. Scriptures
talks about an abundant interest shall be ministered on the abundant
pardon. Remember Joseph is sorry brothers
came to him with sacks. What do you send him home with?
No, wagon loads, mercy. Oh, Lord, if you'll just spare
my, spare her. Oh, my, when this is all over,
you're going to sing of the praise of the glory of my abundant grace.
Well, look at this. It said in verse 28, Lord, the
dogs eat the crumb from the children's table. And he said unto her,
with a word, verse 29, he said unto her, for this slave go thy
way, the devil is gone out of thy door. with a word. The Lord Jesus Christ pronounced
her claim. Our Lord said to his disciples,
now are you clean through the word? If the Lord just speaks
the word, see, this is why she came to him. I can't do anything. Nobody can do anything with her. You can just speak the word.
The word is his power. This is why We have our children
under the sound of his word, hoping, praying, beseeching the
Lord. Lord, you did this to me. Would
you please do it to him? Speak! Please speak the word. Pronounce him clean. Make him
clean. Through the blood of the lamb. Through the soul-cleansing blood
of the lamb. Only one. Only one. And he did. He did. He did. Now, if he did it for one. He did. When she went home, verse
30. She came home to her house. She
found a new daughter. A new daughter. The devil gone
out of her. Her daughter was laying on the
bed. Laying on that bed that she once committed all sorts
of uncleanness on. Now, she's lying there, I'm quite
sure, praying. Calling on a God she'd never
called on. Broken. But no, really, she's
been healed. Feeling unclean. No, really,
now she's clean. You know what I'm talking about.
Weeping. And her mother came in, started
rejoicing. Because she's weeping. Brother Barnard, this is a true
story. Some of you have heard it. Years ago, he was holding
a meeting somewhere, and a mother and father had a daughter, a
teenage daughter like this one, who was Nothing but a heartache
and trouble on drugs and all that sort of thing and they couldn't
do a thing with her and they brought her to the services though.
Against her will but they came and she came and they brought
her to the services to hear Brother Barnard and they spoke to him
afterwards and said Brother Barnard would you please speak to our
daughter please. And like me you know he knew
the only thing that would do any good for that child is if
God spoke to him. He agreed, and he spoke to that
young girl afterward, impudent, looking at him, didn't want to
talk to him. And he said to her, young lady, he said, I want you
to do something for me. What? He said, I want you to
go home and get in your closets, and you ask the Lord God to show
you to yourself. Show you what you are. And he left. Came back sometime later. And the parents came to him and
said, Brother Barton, since you were here last time, our daughter
did something wrong. He said, what? She said, Jesus, she's miserable.
She's miserable. We can't seem to give her any
peace, anything. She's just torn all to pieces. Would you talk to her? He said,
OK. Knowing that's the only one that
could do her any good is if the Lord would speak to her through
his word. But he did. And he said, young lady, he said,
what? He said, now I want you to go home. And ask the Lord to show you
himself. He came back as a new creature. The Lord had brought a clean
thing out of an unclean. The devil gone. I say you fathers and mothers. As long as Christ lives there's
hope. Right as long as this gospel
is being preached there's hope. That's why Peter said to whom
coming keep coming. When the Son of Man comes will
he find faith like this on the earth like the importunate widow.
Yeah he will. And he'll answer that cry. Yes
he will. Young girls and boys, Elizabeth, Davis, Blair, Anna,
Laura, Philip, Lauren, go home. And you ask the Lord to have
mercy upon yourself. Do you hear me? Do you hear me? Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And maybe who can tell. Who can tell? Who can tell? The Lord just might give us a
new dollar. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't that be wonderful? Men
and women. Not just young people. Go home. Keep calling. Keep calling. There
is a hymn in our book, we know well, number one hundred. Jerry, we can sing this without
the piano. Number one eighty-eight, one
hundred eighty-eight. You know it well. It's taken
from Zechariah thirteen, which says, In that day there shall
be a fountain the house of David, for the inhabitants of Israel,
for all sin, and unclaimless. There is a fountain. Stand with
me. You know this hymn? There is
a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains. And sinners plunge beneath that
flood, lose all their guilty stains. But I indeed rejoice
to see that fountain in his name. And there may I, though vile
as he, washed all my sins away. Washed all my sins away. Washed all my sins away. And there have Last verse. Dear dying lamb,
thy precious blood shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed church
of God to sin no more, be safe to sin no more.