Good evening. Turn with me to
Matthew chapter 15, if you would. Matthew chapter 15. And you know, Paul, in writing
to Philemon, wrote, refresh my heart in the Lord. And There
are times when we're just weighed down with a lot of things as
the Lord's people, and we can become discouraged, and our thoughts
are scattered all over the place, and we're thinking about a lot
of things. And in those times, we need to
have our hearts refreshed. And I think this passage is a
passage that that has blessed my heart many times over the
years. And the Lord just laid it upon
my heart recently to prepare a message and preach a message
from this passage. And it did that. It was just
such a joy to remember all the truths of the gospel that are
found in this passage. It's the story, of course, of
the Syrophoenician woman with her daughter, and how she comes
to Christ. And it's a portion of scripture
I think everyone of us is very familiar with. And it's a portion
of scripture that the Lord has used greatly on the field. I've
preached from it many times, many times. And it's a short
passage, but it's so full of the gospel that it really is
like that storehouse of treasures, which you bring out things new
and old every time you preach it. And so let's look at that
again tonight here in Matthew 15, beginning in verse 21. Let
me just read that again for us. Matthew 15 and verse 21. And
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. But 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 worshiped 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. And Jesus 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, as we read that, hasn't
the word of God already spoken to your heart? Before I've said
anything, these words direct our thoughts to Christ, don't
they? And to what a glorious person he is. You can't help when you read
passages like this, but be enthralled with Christ and captivated by
him. I think when even the first time
you read this story of Christ's interaction with this woman of
Canaan, that it struck you. And it strikes me yet today as
I read it. And there's good reason for that.
Why is that? Because he has done all things
well. That's what the people said of
him, didn't they? And how true that is. Even where it appears
in this circumstance on the surface that Jesus is impatient and uncaring,
even insulting and hard-hearted toward this woman. But nothing
could be farther from the truth. These circumstances of Christ
and his dealings with this woman are included in that statement
of John's at the beginning of the Gospel of John, where he
says of he and the rest of the disciples, we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Have you noticed how much of
the life of our Lord is given to us in simple actions with
people in the common circumstances of life that everyone faces.
And this is the reason these stories resonate in our hearts,
because they find us in the same place, and they speak to us in
the same circumstances, and they tell us of Christ. They show
us that he's all that matters, and that he's the only one that
makes all the difference. Think of Zacchaeus and blind
Bartimaeus, the woman of Samaria, the lame man behind the pool
of Siloam, Levi, the tax collector, and you know I could go on and
on. Each of these which reveal great
truths of Christ as he comes to these people, and like us,
people in circumstances like us. So let's just consider again
tonight just some of the things that we find here in this story. We could ask, what is this story
about? What's Christ's emphasis? And
it's not hard to find, is it? Because at the end there, he
himself says, oh woman, great is your faith. So we can say
what? This story is about Christ, isn't
it? It's about Christ, and it's about
simple faith in him. And the first is so clear, isn't
it? Faith comes when Christ comes. Beloved, some of the most wonderful
truths, the most profound truths are that simple. Where Christ
is, there is life. Where Christ isn't, there is
no life. That's what we read in 1 John,
isn't it? He writes, he who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son
of God does not have life. In verse 21, we read there, then
Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre
and Sidon. It doesn't just speak about him
coming into this region, as is normal. There's emphasis placed
upon the fact that he departed out of another region. He departed
from there and came to this region of Tyre and Sidon. Now, why? Why? Well, look back in verse
8 of the preceding chapter. Verse 8 of the preceding chapter,
and Christ is speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees there. It's just one of those many instances
where they've come to harass Christ and question him and look
for something to trap him by. And this is what Christ says
there in verse eight. He says, their heart is far from
me, and in vain they worship me. There are myriads of people today,
as there has been in every generation, vainly worshiping the Lord, doing
all the right things of religion, saying all the right things.
Even in a sovereign grace church, don't believe we're exempt from
this. Even in sovereign grace churches,
there are people who are confessing sovereign grace truth, being
baptized, never considering Is my heart
near to Christ? Has Christ come to me? Do I have
the Son of God? When told by his disciples that
the Pharisees were offended by him, here is his response. Look there in verse 13. every plant which my heavenly
father has not planted will be uprooted. Leave them alone. Leave them alone. Think of the
horror of that statement, that the one alone who is the only
hope of salvation would say, leave him alone. And Jesus went
out from there and departed. Why? These were ones, he says,
not planted by the Heavenly Father. He comes to the region of Tyre
and Sidon. Why? Because there is one here
who is planted by the Heavenly Father, and Christ won't leave
her alone. He'll never leave her alone.
No, no, Christ comes to this region to find this Gentile woman. Mark tells us a Syrophoenician
by birth from Syria. And Jesus comes to her in her
pain and in her anguish, her sorrow and her suffering to help
her as only he can. And when Christ comes, what are
we told? What does this woman do? She
comes to Christ. Isn't that the way it always
is? Look there in 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. Here is this woman. She's in
great trouble. Her daughter is severely demon
possessed, tormented, and completely under the tyranny and malice
of Satan. And you know that the word of
God gives us numerous examples of demon possession, where we
see the person in complete bondage to the evil spirit, where the
person can be thrown into the fire and live among the dead,
among tombs, cutting themselves in total captivity, to this evil,
and in that we're just given a glimpse of the terror of the
power of darkness. This woman's daughter is in a
terrible state, and no doubt this mother had exhausted every
means to find help for her daughter. Wouldn't you? Perhaps at one time she thought
she could help her daughter. No doubt she did, and had tried
everything. Like that woman with the issue
of blood, perhaps she'd expended all that she had. But now she's come to a place
and she knows she can do nothing and that none can help. And here
is her daughter in this extreme condition, a degree of misery
I think it's hard for you and I to comprehend. You can imagine
this mother, the anguish and the pain that she would have
seeing her daughter in this condition every day, without end. She's in great need. There's no question. She's in
great need. But more importantly, this woman
knew she was in great need. And this is the case with all
who come to Christ in faith. The scriptures know nothing of
a man coming to Christ who isn't lost, or a woman coming to Christ
who is not perishing. If you're not lost, you don't
need to be found, do you? If you're not perishing, you
don't need a savior. Every sinner who, by grace, who
comes to Christ, comes knowing he's a sinner, knowing she's
a sinner, knowing he's utterly lost, knowing he's hopelessly
perishing, knowing he's in great need, and knowing there's nothing
he can do or anyone else can do to help him. We come knowing
something of the depths of our sin. And we'll never know the depths
of our true sin. Have you thought about that?
It would crush us. It would destroy us. How can
we comprehend the depths of our own iniquity when it's measured
by the infinite suffering of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? That's the depths of our sin.
How can we comprehend that? But 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 Christ died for sinners. To believe that he loved me and
gave himself for me. Everyone, too, who comes to Christ
comes crying out for mercy. What else could she do? She knows
she's in great trouble and has great need, but is powerless
to help. She cries out, have mercy upon
me, oh Lord. She doesn't claim any right.
She knows she has nothing to give, no rights to claim, but
she can cry out for mercy, and she does. She cried out to him
saying, have mercy upon me, oh Lord. She cried out to him, to
the only one that matters, to the only one who could help her,
and she pleads this irresistible plea, have mercy upon me. Every sinner who comes to Christ
comes in this way, conscious of his guilt, knowing his utter
unworthiness before a holy God. He comes pleading for mercy. In one way or another, the Lord
brings each of us to this place where we cry out, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Well, this woman doesn't just
cry out to him, have mercy upon me, oh Lord. She cried out to
him saying, have mercy upon me, oh 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
as the Messiah, the son of David. Clearly, from this, we know that
this Gentile woman had a knowledge of the truth, a knowledge of
the scriptures, and most importantly, she had a knowledge of the promises
of the scripture respecting the Messiah. There was, in that time, a general
knowledge among the people of Israel. that the promised Messiah,
the Christ, would be of the seed of David. This was revealed throughout
the Old Testament revelation in many, many different ways.
And we know that the gospel is even referred to as the sure
mercies of David. Why? Because it had been revealed
to the people of Israel that the Messiah, the anointed of
God, would be a son of David, of the seed of David. And, you
know, in Matthew 22, in another instance where the Pharisees
had gathered together, we read there to harass Christ, we read,
while the Pharisees were gathered together, not to cry out for
help, Jesus asked them, saying, what do you think about the Christ?
Whose son is he? And they said to him, the son
of David. See, this was common knowledge.
There was common understanding. And this woman, in saying, oh
Lord, son of David, have mercy upon me, she was acknowledging
that he is the Christ of God. And this is who she cries out
to. Well, what did the Old Testament
scriptures reveal about the Christ, the son of David? Well, many
wonderful things. Isn't that true? Many wonderful
things. Let's just look at one of those in Isaiah 61. Turn there
for a moment, but keep your place here. Isaiah chapter 61. And here, as you know, we have
these words of the prophet Isaiah, but what else do we know? That these
are the words of Christ, aren't they? These are the words of
Christ breathed out into the heart and mind of the prophet
Isaiah by the Holy Spirit. And so yes, these are words given
to the prophet, but they're Christ's words. Now listen, listen. 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, 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. And here she is, here's this
woman, the planting of the Lord. And the anointed one of God has
come to heal her broken heart, to comfort her, to give her beauty
for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. and the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Isn't that wonderful? We'll turn
back to Matthew 15. Here's this woman of Canaan,
and she's heard about Jesus, and she knows he's the promised
Messiah, the son of David. And she believes the promises
of God, promises like we just read. And in her heart, she knows he
can help her, doesn't she? And she makes this simple, powerful,
irresistible entreaty for mercy. Lord, be merciful to me. And verse 23, but he answered
her, not a word. She received 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 out until
the disciples, weary, weary of her, weary of her perseverance,
in frustration, urged Jesus, send her away. With the parallel
passage in Mark, we're given this picture that they're coming
along the way, and this woman is crying out after them. But
in Mark, we're told that he went into the house with the disciples,
but the woman doesn't cease there. She continues to cry out until
the disciples urge Jesus, send her away, 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. The disciples
are uncaring and unsympathetic to the plight of this poor woman. Send her away. not help her and send her away.
I know there's interpretations along those lines, not help her
and send her away, send her away. And there are times that even
ministers of the gospel are a hindrance to the lost sheep, a hindrance
to the herding sheep. And I know I've been many times
in the ministry in Papua New Guinea, And it's a grief to me. I wish I could do things over,
in many cases. But you know, if I did, I'd do
all the same things. Because there's only one who
does all things well. And the wonder of it is that
it doesn't matter what we do, he's still going to find his
sheep, and he's still going to help them, isn't he? He's the only Savior of God's
elect. And your help is not found in
me. Your help is not found in any
gospel minister. Your help is found in Christ,
in Christ alone. And this woman knows this. You
notice she doesn't respond to the disciples at all. She's not
interested in them. Her only thought is Christ. But
what does Christ do? He answers her, not a word. He answers then that he was not
sent except to the lost sheep of Israel. And with that, it
seems that he dashes any hope that she may have had because
why? She's a Gentile. She's not of
the house of Israel. Obstacle after obstacle, discouragement
after discouragement seemed to come in the way of this poor
woman receiving help for her young daughter. But she never
wavers. She never gives up. She'll never
let go. I couldn't help but think of
Jacob wrestling with the Lord in the dark of the night. What
did he say? I will not let you go unless
you bless me. And this is this woman. She will
not let Christ go. Those who come to Christ in faith
will never let him go, will they? Would you let Christ go? They'll
never let him go. Why? Because Christ will never
let her go until he blesses her. This is what he's come for, isn't
it? Then she came to him and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
help me. You know, there are times of
suffering when the Lord causes his people to wait upon him,
crying out to him, until you can cry out no more, until all
you can cry out is, Lord, help me. You know, in the scripture
reading tonight, I don't know if the men that were there noticed
it, even in that psalm, it calls out for us to wait, to wait. It's remarkable how often that's
revealed to us in the word of God. Keep that in mind as you
read through the scriptures, and you'll see it again and again
and again. Psalm 27, just turn to Psalm
27, just for a moment. Let's just look at one example.
Psalm 27. Keep your place here. And in
Psalm 27, in verse 7, we read, Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice. Have mercy also upon me, and
answer me. When you said, seek my face,
my heart said to you, your face, Lord, I will seek. Now look down
to 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. Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, upon
the Lord. I think you all know that several
years ago, our daughter Claire suffered a terrible fall hiking
in the icy mountains of Colorado on one of the 14,000 foot peaks
there. And Robin and I were on the field at the time and we
flew out of Papua New Guinea through Australia on what was
literally the last flight before Australia shut down entirely
during COVID. And during that time when we
were in the process of coming back, Claire underwent massive
surgeries in an attempt to save her life. And Within days of
our return here to the States, we were told that the infection
from abscesses in Claire's abdomen were life-threatening and that
she would require a fourth surgery. And we poured out our hearts
to the Lord like water before the face of the Lord for the
life of our daughter. And a few days later, Claire developed double pneumonia.
In grief and pain, we cried out, Lord, help our daughter. She
is severely distressed. At that time, I thought of this
woman of Canaan crying out to the Lord for help. And her words
were my words, and I cried, Lord, Have mercy, help my daughter,
if it's your will. Wait, wait. A day later, Claire
developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and suffered total respiratory
failure. The only thing keeping her alive
was the ventilator at that point in time. Wait, wait. It seemed then that
she wouldn't survive. And I understood a little more
of what the psalmist says in Psalm 42 when he writes, all
your waves and billows have gone over me. Yes, sorrows like sea
billows rolled. And I cried until I could cry
no more. Lord, help me. Wait, wait, wait upon the Lord. And we might not put into words,
but we feel as if the Lord has shut out our prayers. Doesn't say a word. We cry out,
and it's like He doesn't say a word. He's made us desolate, and 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,
my strength and my hope have perished from the Lord. But that
can never be, can it? It can never be. No, no, no. It can never be. Just a little
bit farther down, Jeremiah remembers that, doesn't he? In that passage,
this is what we read, listen. Through the Lord's mercies, we
are not consumed. Because his compassions failed
on. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. This is the passage where we
have that wonderful hymn that we sing comes from. Think of
that. And this is true. His compassions
failed on. His mercies, it's through the
Lord's mercies, were not consumed. And it wouldn't have mattered
whether, listen, whether the Lord had taken my daughter to
be with him at that time, or if he preserved her life as he
did. It wouldn't have mattered. This
would still have been true, wouldn't it? Through the Lord's mercies we
are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. 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. Wait upon the Lord because He
is merciful. We'll turn there back to Matthew
15. And here is this woman, and she
believed like I have never believed. This woman believes that Christ
can and will help her, doesn't she? She has no other thought,
no other thought. She comes and she worships him
saying simply, Lord, help me. Verse 26, 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 little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's
table. Now, this is one of the reasons we remember this story,
isn't it? It seems so shocking, and the first time we read it,
that Christ would answer in this way. And Christ speaks to her
in a figure. And the children spoken of here
are, of course, the children of Israel. This is the nation
and people whom God had chosen above all nations in the world.
not for anything in them, they were the smallest of all, least
significant of all nations, but God, in a natural sense, had
chosen this people to himself, revealed himself to them, he'd
spoken to them by the prophets, the covenants were given to them,
and through, above all, this nation, Christ was sent. Christ
was sent first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Well,
who are the little dogs? The woman, anyone who's not an
Israelite. All those who are not the people
of Israel, and specifically this woman, and she knows it. And
the natural response of this woman, of course, would have
been outrage. You'd think for sure at this point in time with
all of this, she's gonna turn back, wouldn't you, naturally
speaking? Outrage, I'm a dog, is that the kind of help that
I receive from the Messiah? Surely she'll give up and go
away, but we know she won't. She never will. Listen to her
remarkable response. I'm amazed at it every time I
read this. True Lord, true Lord. She humbles herself before her
savior. She knows she is nothing. She
knows she doesn't deserve anything good from his hand. True Lord,
I am nothing but a little dog. She's so like the prodigal son
who returned to his father, humbling himself, declaring, I'm not worthy
to be thy son. True faith, true faith humbles
the soul before the Lord Jesus Christ every time. And she too
responds in a figure, doesn't she? She greatly humbles herself
before the Lord. And she says, true Lord, I am
not worthy, as it were, to sit at the table with the children,
with the sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. I'm not worthy.
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. She knows that. Just a few crumbs of the bread
of life. Just a few crumbs of grace, and
her soul will be satisfied. Verse 28, then Jesus 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. True faith receives more than
it desires. Always, always. Now, think of
this. Of all the people present at
that time, the people on the way and at the house, that she
entered the woman, the disciples, the Lord Jesus. Of all these
people, there were two people who knew that this woman would
receive help from the Lord. Two people, who were they? Christ
and the woman. Why? Jesus knew she had faith,
didn't he? He knew he was gonna help her.
This is why he's come. He knew her before, as we could
say, he ever saw her. And this is why he's come. He
knew he was gonna help this woman, didn't he? And he knew that she
had faith. Not only that, he knew she had
great faith. Why is that? Because he'd given
it to her. He knew he was gonna help her,
and she knew, with a certainty, that the Lord Jesus It was her
help and her hope. This is the faith which the word
speaks of, which is much more precious than gold that perishes.
And the Lord's purpose was to bring forth this faith, this
faith that he'd given to this woman, that it would be, as he
says in that, as the word of God says in that, first epistle
of Peter, that it might be to the praise and 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. And 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 feast. A feast. Well, in conclusion, let's just
consider just a few things. What are the desires of the believer?
What are your desires? What are the desires of faith?
Let me just give you a few. 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. Isn't that the desire of faith?
Let it be to you as you desire. That's what the word of God tells
us. What about redemption? Do you
desire that? Redemption through His blood?
Let it be to you as you desire. Forgiveness of sins. Oh, isn't
that the desire of every sinner who comes to Christ? That we
would find in Him forgiveness of sins. Let it be to you as
you desire. that Christ may dwell in our
hearts. The wonder of that, isn't it?
That he would dwell in our hearts through faith. Let it be to you
as you desire. And we could go on and on, couldn't
we? All the promises of the gospel
fulfilled and given to us in Christ Jesus. All the blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Everyone, everyone, And above all, what do we desire? We desire Him, don't we? We desire
Christ. And He's more than we can ever
imagine, isn't He? Let it be to you as you desire. The wonder of the Gospel, isn't
it? The wonder of the Gospel. Amen.