It's an honor for Robin and I
to be here. Just thinking of those thoughts
that Jim just mentioned in the song that we just heard sing,
I was thinking, we're not waiting for glory to praise our God,
are we? We're not waiting for glory to
bow down before our King and worship him. We have the great honor of doing
that tonight, and tomorrow, and on the Lord's Day, as we do every
week. And we come, what's our purpose
tonight? It's to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ, isn't it? It's to glorify our God, and
our Savior, and our Redeemer. And, you know, so often, preachers
too can lose sight of that simple fact. It's just refreshing to
hear again the emphasis that we have, that we desire to have,
that we seek. It's to have Christ glorified
in our midst. If you would, turn with me to
Matthew chapter 15. This is a passage that I am quite
certain every single one of you are familiar with. And the Lord
brought it to my mind this past week because our pastor, David
Pledger, preached a message, not from this portion, but from
another portion of Scripture, and referenced this story of
the woman, with a daughter who was severely demon-possessed.
And as he preached and mentioned a few thoughts, I thought, you
know, I'd like to preach again, prepare a message and preach
again from that passage. You can understand, as a missionary
in Papua New Guinea, that this is not an unfamiliar passage. I preached from this countless
times in those 30 plus years. It's a message that the Lord
has been pleased to greatly use in the ministry of the gospel.
And why wouldn't it be? Why wouldn't it be? Because it's
about Christ. Isn't it? That's what we find
so often with these stories we find in the Word of God. They're
stories that tell us about Christ. And so I'd like us to look at
this once again. And this is a story of a woman in
great need, and she comes to Christ in her distress. And it's
a wonderful story. Every story about Christ is a
wonderful story. So read with me, once again,
beginning in verse 21. Then Jesus went out from there
and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a
woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is
severely demon-possessed. And he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and urged him, saying, Send her away, for
she cries out after us. But he answered and said, I was
not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it
is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little
dogs. And she said, yes, Lord. Yet even the little dogs eat
the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then the woman
answered and said to her, oh woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire. and her daughter was healed from
that very hour." Now, I'm sure just in reading these words again
that the word of the Lord has touched your heart before I've
even said anything. And the reason is, is these words
direct your thoughts to Christ, to who he is, and something of
what he's done. to how glorious He is in everything
He does. You know, and having heard and
read this passage many, many times, I have no doubt each of
you are often enthralled with this story and ponder upon it
and are captivated by it because, really, The Word of God causes
us to do that when we see Christ, because He is someone that captivates
you. He has done all things well,
the people said of Him, and how true that is. Even here, where
it appears on the surface that Jesus is impatient and uncaring,
even insulting and hard-hearted towards this woman. but nothing
could be further from the truth. These circumstances here are
included in that statement that John makes when he says, we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And we see that, not just in
this story of Christ and His interaction with the woman, but
in all the stories that are revealed in the Gospel. Have you noticed how much of
the life of our Lord is given to us in these Gospels? And what
are really simple interactions with people in everyday life
situations? And really, this is the reason
these portions of Scripture resonate in our hearts. Because they find
us in the same place. And in the same circumstances
as these people that the Lord comes to, they tell us of Christ
and they show us that he's all that matters. And they show us that he makes
all the difference. Think of Zacchaeus and blind
Bartimaeus. and the woman of Samaria, and
the lame man beside the pool of Siloam. Think of just to mention
a few of all of these stories that are given to us of Christ
interacting with these people. Well, let's consider just some
of the things that the Lord reveals to us from this passage of Scripture. You know, the last statement
of Christ there, he says, O woman, in that last statement, O woman,
great is your faith. Well, what is the story about,
really? We're told a number of different
things in a number of different circumstances, but what is the
story about? Well, it's about Christ, isn't
it? Once again, it's about Christ. And it's about Christ's interaction
with this woman. And the emphasis is on faith.
So the story is really, it's about Christ. And it's about
the faith of those who come to him. Oh woman, great is your
faith. Well, the first thing is clear. Faith comes when Christ comes.
Beloved, Some of the most simple truths are the most profound
truths. Faith comes when Christ comes.
Where Christ is, there is life. Where Christ isn't, there is
no life. We know what the Apostle John
said. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son
of God does not have life. We read here at the beginning
there in verse 21, it says that Jesus went out from there and
departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And there's an emphasis,
not of him departing from where he was previously, not just that
he entered into this region of Tyre and Sidon, but that he departed
from another region. Why? Look back in verse 8 of
the preceding chapter. And as you know, there in verse
8, he's in the midst of dealing with the Pharisees who came to
him. And how did they come? Did they come like this woman,
coming knowing their desperate need, crying to him for mercy
and help? No. No, they came to him as religious
people always come, questioning. deriding him, looking for an
opportunity to dishonor him. And listen to these words, verse
8, that Jesus says. He says, These people draw near
to me with their mouth, and they honor me with their lips, but
their heart is far from me. Their heart is far from me. and
in vain they worship me." There are myriads of people today,
as there have been in every generation, vainly worshipping the Lord,
doing all the right things of religion, saying all the right
things, practicing all the things that they've been taught, and
never, never, ever considering Is my heart near to Christ? Has Christ come to me? Do I have
the Son of God? Don't look out there, too, and
just at false religion, as we're so prone to do. You know, don't
trust in coming where the Gospel is preached. Believing that I
sit under the truth of the gospel and I profess all the things
that are right. I've been baptized by a gospel
ministry. But that's not the question,
is it? The question is, do I have Christ? Do I have Christ? Is he mine? Or do I worship him
in vain? and is my heart far from him?" When told by his disciples that
the Pharisees were offended by him, they were offended. Here's his response in verse
13. This is what he says. Every plant which my heavenly
Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. Let them alone. Think of the horror of that statement. That the one alone who is the
only hope of salvation would say, let him alone. Jesus went out from there and
departed. These were not those who were
planted by his heavenly father. And he comes to this region of
Tyre and Sidon. Why? Why? Because there is one
there who is the planting of the Lord. And he won't leave
her alone. No. No, he won't. No, he won't. Jesus comes to this region to
find this Gentile woman. Mark tells us she's a Syro-Phoenician,
Assyrian of Phoenicia. And Jesus comes to her in her
pain and in her anguish, her sorrow and her suffering. That's how he finds her. And
he comes to help her. And when Christ comes, what does
this woman do? She comes to Christ. Do you see
that? When Christ comes into the region,
she comes to Christ. She's heard of him. She's heard
of him. We'll hear about that. She's
heard of him. And verse 22, and behold, a woman of Canaan came
from that region and cried out to him saying, have mercy on
me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely demon
possessed. This woman was not having a few
trials, not having a bad day or a bad week. She was in deep
distress. Her daughter was in great trouble,
severely demon possessed, tormented, and completely under the tyranny
and malice of Satan. And you know, the word of God
gives us numerous examples of demon possession, doesn't it?
And in everyone, it's a horrible situation. We witness the complete bondage
to the evil spirit of ones who are thrown into the fire by the
evil spirit, tormented, live among tombs. And we're given
a glimpse of the terror of darkness. of the power of darkness. And no doubt this woman had exhausted
every means to find help for her daughter. You would, wouldn't
you? Perhaps at one time she thought
she could help her daughter, or that she could find help for
her daughter, but now she comes to a place knowing that She can
do nothing. Nothing. And that none could
help. And here is her daughter. She's
in this extreme condition of torments. A degree of misery. I think it's hard for us to comprehend. And you can imagine the anguish
and the pain of this mother. Every day. Every day. On and on, tormented by this
demon. She was in great need. But more
importantly, she knew she was in great need. You know, there's
so many, so many that are in great need, but completely
unaware of it. Isn't that the case of every
unregenerate sinner? Oh, and much, much worse need
than this woman with her daughter. Far greater need. Completely unaware. But this
woman, she knew. She knew she was in great need.
And that's the case with all who come to Christ, isn't it?
Everyone. Everyone that comes to Christ
knows not only that They are in great need, but also
know they're in great need. The scriptures know nothing of
a man coming to Christ who isn't lost, or a woman coming to Christ
who isn't perishing. If you're not lost, you don't
need to be found. If you're not perishing, you
don't need a Savior. But this woman, she knows. She knows she needs help. She
knows she's in dire straits. And every sinner, and you know
it, if you know Christ, if you've come to Him, you come knowing that you're a sinner,
that you're utterly lost, that you're hopelessly perishing.
It's not just words to you, is it? It's not just words you heard
the preacher say. It's words that that tore at
your heart, giving you an understanding of the pit that you're in, this
great need that you have, and knowing there's nothing you can
do. Nothing. Nothing. Not one thing
that you can do to help yourself. And you also know there's nothing
anyone else can do to help you. Every sinner saved by grace comes
knowing something, something of the depths of his own sin. And we'll never know the true
depths of our sin. We never will. A glimpse of the
horror of the depths of our sin would be too much for us. It
would destroy us. How can we comprehend the depths
of our own iniquity, depths which are measured by the infinite
suffering of our Savior? I don't think even in glory we'll
be able to comprehend what Christ did for us. We come to Christ seeing our
sin, helpless and without strength, hardly believing that this gospel
could be true, that there could be such good news, that he loved
me and gave himself for me. Well, we see too with this woman
that everyone who comes to Christ cries out for mercy. What else
could she do? She knows she's in great trouble
and has great need, but she's powerless to help her daughter. Some of you have experienced
that, haven't you? It's a horrible feeling. It's
a horrible feeling. Helpless to help her daughter,
her child. She cries out, have mercy on
me, oh Lord. What is she going to appeal to
him for? She knows she's not deserving
of anything. She has nothing to offer, no
right to claim, do this because... So often we think like that,
don't we? Do this because, well, no, there is no merit, no right. But she can cry out for mercy.
She cried out to Him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord. She cried out to him, the only
one that matters, the only one that could help her. And she
pleads an irresistible plea, have mercy upon me. And every
poor sinner comes to Christ in this way, conscious of his guilt, conscious of his guilt, knowing
his utter, unworthiness before a holy God. And he comes, pleading
for mercy. What else can we do? In one way
or another, whether it's in words, or whether it's in moans, or
whether it's over, even over time, where one comes to an understanding
of this, but everyone comes to a point where they say, God,
Be merciful to me, the sinner." Well, this woman doesn't just
cry out to him, have mercy upon me, O Lord. She cried out to
him saying, have mercy upon me, O Lord, son of David. If there ever was a cry of faith,
this is it. She knows that Jesus is the promised
Messiah. the anointed one of God, and
she cries out to him on that basis. This woman clearly had
a knowledge of the truth, a knowledge of the scriptures. She's a Gentile,
but somehow, in God's good providence, she'd been brought into the realm
of having a knowledge. And most importantly, a knowledge
of the promises of God respecting the Messiah. In Matthew 22, we read another
encounter of Jesus with the Pharisees, where they're again harassing
him. And in that account, we read
that while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked
them, saying, what do you think about the Christ? Whose son is
he? And they said to him, the son
of David. You see, the scriptures were
abundantly clear that the coming Messiah would be of the seed
of David. The gospel is referred to as
the sure mercies of David. Did you know that? For this reason
alone. And it was well known. Well,
this woman knew this too. Well, what do the Old Testament
scriptures reveal to us about this Messiah, this son of David,
the sure mercies of God? Well, many wonderful things,
as we know, many wonderful things. Let's just turn to Isaiah 61
and look at just one passage. One passage where we read of
this, Isaiah 61. And here is this woman, poor
and brokenhearted, Her daughter's in captivity, and she clearly
has a knowledge of the prophecies respecting the Lord's Christ,
like the one that we find here in Isaiah 61. The spirit of the
Lord God is upon me. Who's speaking? It's Christ speaking
in prophecy, isn't it? This is what's so wonderful about
these Old Testament scriptures. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings
to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison
to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." Well, here
she is, the planting of the Lord. And the Anointed One of God has
come to do what? what he promised to do, to heal
her broken heart, to comfort her, to give her beauty for ashes
and the oil of joy in place of her mourning. For what reason? That he may
be glorified. Turn back to Matthew 15. The woman of Canaan heard about
Jesus, and she knows he's the promised Messiah, the son of
David. And she, listen now, she believes the promises of God,
like those we just read. How many countless people have
read gospel proclamations like that and heard them preached
and never believed? But she does. She believes with
her whole heart. She knows that he can help her. And she makes this simple, powerful,
irresistible entreaty for mercy. Verse 23. But he answered her,
not a word. Not a word. She receives no encouragement. Christ answers her, not a word. What will she do? Turn back? Many do. Give up? Many do. But not this woman. No, no. She continues to cry. Cry out. And in that passage
in Mark, we get the picture that she'd been following along. And
then they come to this house, and Christ and the disciples
go in, but does she give up? No, no. She keeps crying out
until the disciples, weary of her perseverance and frustration,
urge Jesus to send her away. And his disciples came and urged
him, saying, send her away, for she cries out after us. But he
answered and said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. Now, the disciples, I believe,
are uncaring and unsympathetic to the plight of this poor woman. There are many faithful, faithful
men down through the ages who believe the disciples want the
Lord to help her and then send her away, but we're not really
given any indication of that. Send her away, for she cries
out after us. They're unsympathetic and uncaring. And there are times when even
ministers of the gospel are a hindrance to herding sheep and a hindrance
to the lost sheep coming to Christ. I know that In the work of the
ministry in New Guinea, I've been that many times. It's a grief. It's a grief. But
it's true. It's true. But does that hinder Christ?
No. Hinder Christ from helping his
people? No. No. And two, This is no reason ever
to turn away. Turn away from hearing the gospel. No reason to turn away from Christ. I'm sure that in that last day,
there'll be many that'll say, well, I was offended. He didn't
do what he... He didn't understand how my situation,
didn't know how hurtful Do you think any of those things
will cut it in the last day? No, no. Your help is not found
in me. It's not found in your minister,
your pastor. Your help is found in Christ
and Christ alone. That's all you need to know.
That's all you need to remember. And this woman, she knows this.
Notice, no response, no interaction with the disciples. Have you
ever noticed that? She's interested in one person,
and that's Christ. Her only thought is Christ. And
what does Jesus do? He answers that he was not sent
except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It seems from
this that Christ dashes any hope that she may have because she's
a Gentile. Obstacle after obstacle, discouragement
after discouragement seemed to come in the way of her receiving
help for her daughter. But she never wavers. She never
gives up. Will never let go. You know, I couldn't help but
think of Jacob wrestling with that man in the dark of the night. And you remember what he said.
I will not let you go unless you bless me." And that's this
woman. Those who come to Christ will
never let him go. Why? Because Christ won't ever
let you go. Verse 25, Then she came and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me." There are times of suffering
when the Lord causes his people to wait upon him, to wait upon him, crying out
to him until you can cry no more. And all you can say is, Lord,
help me. It's remarkable. how often we
find this truth revealed in the Word of God. Wait, wait. Just turn over to Psalm 27. Keep
your place here. Psalm 27. Let's just look at
one, just one of these passages. But now that I brought it to
your mind, if you didn't know it, you'll find when you read
the Word, you'll be amazed. You'll be amazed at how often
the Word of God brings this before our eyes, before our minds. upon
the Lord." Psalm 27, let's just look there in verse 7, where
we read, Here, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy upon
me and answer me. When you said, Seek my face,
my heart said to you, Your face, Lord, I will seek. And then look
down to the last two verses. Verse 13, I would have lost heart
unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. Now listen. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, upon the Lord. Wait. I think most of you know that
several years ago, our daughter Claire suffered that terrible
fall in the mountains of Colorado on one of their 14,000-foot peaks
while she was hiking. Robin and I were on the field
at that time, and we flew out of Papua New Guinea through Australia
on what was the last flight before Australia locked down completely
during all the COVID insanity. And during that time, as we were
traveling, Claire underwent massive surgeries in an attempt to save
her life. And within days of our return
here, here to the States and our return or arrival in Denver,
we were told that the infection from abscesses in Claire's abdomen
were life-threatening and would require a fourth surgery. This
was after she just underwent a set of two massive surgeries
totaling more than 11 hours of surgery. And we poured out our
hearts like water before the face of the Lord for the life
of our daughter. And a few days later, she developed
pneumonia, double pneumonia. In grief and pain, we cried,
Lord, help our daughter, for she is severely distressed. The woman of Canaan cried those
words, didn't she? And I cried those words. The
Lord brought her to my mind. And I knew something more, something
more of what she suffered. Lord, Lord, help our daughter. And a day later, Claire developed
acute respiratory distress syndrome. And she suffered total respiratory
failure. The only thing keeping her breathing
was the was the ventilator. Wait. Wait. Wait upon the Lord. You see, we cry out and we think, if he's going to help us, he'll
help us now. Isn't that how we think? But
then he doesn't. Wait. Wait. And then he doesn't
help. Wait, wait. It seemed then that she wouldn't
survive. And I understood a little more, and I'm thankful, thankful
to the Lord. I understood a little more of
his word in Psalm 42, where it says, all your waves and billows
have gone over me. Yes, sorrows like sea billows
rolled. And I cried until I couldn't
cry anymore. Lord, help. Lord, help. I'm sure many of you have faced
similar circumstances. And we might not put it into
words, but we feel at times that the Lord has shut out our prayers. We cry. We cry. with rivers of tears, and he
answers not a word. Have you experienced that? He
answers not a word. And we feel that he's made us
desolate. He's moved our souls far from
peace. And it would seem that we're
forgotten and forsaken of the Lord. And like Jeremiah, we think
by strength and my hope have perished from the Lord." But
that can never be. That can never be. No, no, Jeremiah
remembers the promises of God further down in that passage.
And this is what we read there. Through the Lord's mercies, through
the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Because his compassions
fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness." Isn't that wonderful? And we sing that hymn. Wait upon
the Lord. Wait upon the Lord because He
loves you. Wait upon the Lord because He
works all things well. Wait upon the Lord because He
alone can help you. See, the woman's waiting. She
knows all this. Wait upon the Lord because He's
merciful. His compassions fail not. The woman believed like I've
never believed. This woman believes that Christ
can and will help her. She has no other thought. She
comes and says simply to Him, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, verse
26, it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it
to the little dogs. And she said, yes, Lord, yet
even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their
master's table. Now, I know all of you have heard,
pretty much all of you have heard this message and this portion
many times because I was told that Henry preached a message
that only Dogs go to heaven. I don't know if any of you remember
that. I hope you do. But Christ speaks to her in this
figure. And the children spoken of are,
of course, Israel, national Israel. This is the nation and the people
whom God had chosen above all peoples, all nations, revealed
himself to them. He'd given them this great privilege
of speaking to them through the prophets. And through this nation,
above all, he sent Christ. Christ was sent first to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. Well, who are the little dogs? All others who are not of Israel.
This woman, she knows that. The natural response would be
what? Outrage, indignation, offense. I'm a dog, am I? Here I come
for help and my great need, and what do I receive? You call me
a dog." She'll give up now, won't she?
No, no. No, she won't. You know she won't. Listen to her remarkable response. True Lord. True Lord. Isn't that the response of every
saved sinner who comes to Christ in faith? He says, you're a sinner,
totally lost and helpless and hopeless, alienated from me,
full of all vileness, a heart wicked. And what do we say? True Lord, true Lord. She humbles
herself before the Savior. She knows she's nothing. She
knows she doesn't deserve any good thing from his hand. True
Lord, I'm but a little dog." And she's like that prodigal
son who returns to the father and says, I'm not worthy to be
called your son. True faith humbles the soul before
the Lord Jesus Christ. And she too responds in a figure. She responds in
faith with a figure. She greatly humbles herself before
the Lord and she says, true Lord, I am not worthy to be at the
table with the sons and daughters. I'm not. I'm not. Yet even the
little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
That's all she wants. Just a few crumbs. That's all
she desires. That's all she needs. She knows
that. just a few crumbs of the bread
of life, just a few crumbs of grace, and her soul will be satisfied. Well, then finally, those who
come to Christ receive more than they desire. Look at there, verse
28, Then Jesus answered her and said, O woman, Great is your
faith. Let it be to you as you desire."
And her daughter was healed from that very hour. True faith receives
more than it desires. Of all the people present at
that time, think of this. All those that may have been
on the way, on the road, the disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ,
this woman, There were two people that knew Christ was going to
help this woman. They were absolutely sure of
it. Who are those two people? Christ and this woman. Christ
knew he was going to help her. He'd given her this faith. He
was being glorified through this great faith of this woman. And what did that great faith
given by God to this woman cause her to do? To know that Christ
will help me. I know He will. And that's true
of you and me, isn't it? When the Lord opens our eyes
to see the gospel of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, we know
He's going to help us. We believe. Isn't that true? And this is a faith which is
more precious than gold that perishes. And the Lord's purpose,
we know, was to bring forth this faith, just as Peter wrote to
those saints, that it might be found to the
praise, honor, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the
faith that's wrought by God, and it's beautiful, isn't it?
It's a gift of God. Christ says to her, oh woman,
great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire.
What a wonderful statement. What wonderful grace. All her
desires and more fulfilled. And she departs not with crumbs,
but with a whole feast. Well, what are the desires of
the believer? What are the desires of faith?
Let's finish there. To be found in him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. Be it to you as you desire. What are the desires? of the
believer that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith.
Well, be it to you as you desire. That you have an inheritance
with the saints in light. Be it to you as you desire. Do you desire forgiveness of
sins? We desire that, don't we? Forgiveness
of sins. Be it to you as you desire. And we could go on and on. All
the promises of the gospel fulfilled and given to us in Christ Jesus.
All the blessings. All the blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Everyone. And above all, what's
our desire? What do we want? Well, we want
Him, don't we? We want Him. We desire Christ. And He's more than we can ever
imagine. Be it to you as you desire. Amen. I love that story.