Here in Matthew chapter 15, I'm
going to read verses 21 through 28, and then we'll delve into
this. Matthew chapter 15, we'll start
in verse 21. Then Jesus went thence and departed
unto the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan,
that's a Gentile, came out of the same coasts and cried unto
Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it
is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. And she said, truth, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and
said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Now there's a lot going on here,
multiple things as far as a lesson, yet there's really only one main
topic and that is salvation is brought to this Gentile woman.
Salvation is brought in type to this Gentile woman and her
daughter and the healing thereof. It's a picture of salvation.
It's a lovely picture of salvation. And I said specifically brought.
For salvation is a gift of divine revelation of God. It cannot
be earned or bought or merited. I know we say this all the time.
That's what salvation is. It cannot be earned, bought or
merited. But let's back up a little bit.
I've got a few questions. First of all, why did she come
to Christ? Why did this woman come to Christ?
You say, well, there may have been others. We don't know that.
She came to Christ. Why was she brought? Why was
she brought? Thirdly, how come she came to
the Christ? Why did she come, but how? How did she come to Christ? Turn
with me to Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter 49. And verse 10, now the dying words
of Jacob, he calls his sons together, gathers them together that he
may tell them, verse 1, you that which shall befall you in the
last days. Genesis 49. And he gets to Judah
in verse 8. Thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise. Verse 9, Judah is a lion's welt.
My son, thou art gone up, he stooped down, he counts as a
lion, as an old lion, who shall rouse him up. And look at verse
10. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come. In this passage in Matthew, in
this passage in Genesis, Shiloh is Messiah. We know that. Until Shiloh come. And look at
the next phrase. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Jacob's dying words in prophecy
of the Messiah this one this Shiloh this Messiah this anointed
of God this Christ to him Shall the gathering of the people be
to him? If anyone is to be saved They
will be gathered to Christ not to Muhammad Not to Buddha Not
to Joseph Smith, not to a Pope, not to any religious affiliation,
but to a person. You remember Simeon, when the
Lord was born, he's holding up a person and looking at this
person and he says, let me die in peace. I've seen your salvation. He's speaking about a person
and he says this is God's salvation. In short, this is what salvation
is, to come to or to be brought to the Christ by faith and that
by revelation of His truth, His Word, it's all freely done without
any cause in us or bias. Turn to Isaiah 45. We could go to more passages,
but these are just two to briefly say, why did she come to Christ? Isaiah
45, starting in verse 21, Isaiah 45, starting verse 21, and bring them near, yea, let
them take counsel together, who hath declared this from ancient
time, who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God beside me,
a just God and a Savior, there is none beside me. Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God,
and there is none else. There is none else. I have sworn
by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness
and shall not return. That unto me every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say in the Lord
have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. To him,
even to him shall Men come. Shall sinners come unto Him? Shall sinners come? And you're
saying, well, all men. Well, no. If you look at it in
context, in verse 25, in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel
be justified and shall glory. All the elect. That's who that
is. So you keep it in context. It's not just a blanket statement. However, the blanket statement
is, if anyone is to be saved, they will come to Christ. They
will be drawn to Christ. They will be brought to Christ.
Back to our text in Matthew. So, we must needs come to the
right person in the appropriate manner to receive the rich blessings
found only in the Christ. Peter said it this way in John
6, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. Christ is coined in the scripture,
the hope of Israel, Jeremiah 14, and the balm in Gilead. Jeremiah 8. People, friends,
family may do as these disciples. They may try to prevent you to
come to Christ. They may try to put stumbling blocks in your
way. They might try to entice you with jobs and positions and
titles and different things. They may even do as the disciples
said, which is amazing, in verse 23, They said, send her away. She's
bothering us. Send her away. Send her away. But thanks be
to God, our great God, who sends, if He sends for you, He will
have you. If He sends for you, He will
have you. Job says, though He slay me, Yet will I trust Him."
And this is what he says. She says something to him. He
doesn't even answer her. He says, I'm sent to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. And then she comes and worships
him. And he says, it's not meat for me to take the children's
bread and cast it to dogs. He calls her a dog. Though He
slay me, and He's going to slay the flesh. He's going to slay
the old man. He's going to crucify, mortify
the deeds of the flesh. He is going to put us down that He may bring
us up. Job said, though He slay me,
Christ called her a dog. Though He slay me, yet will I
trust Him. He will slay our flesh, our pride,
our self-sufficiency. As I said, in verse 23, 24, and
26, He was silent and didn't even answer her. He said He wasn't
sent to the Gentiles. He calls her a dog. True and God-produced faith will
be tried. It will be tried. We come to
Christ and no other. We may be, if we come some other
way or to some other person, we will be stiff-armed, we will
be sent packing, we will be turned away because in Acts we know
in chapter 4, there's no other name given among men whereby
we must be saved. Christ. Now let's look at how
she came or how she was brought to Christ. She came. She has a daughter who is grievously
vexed with the devil. Turn to John chapter 6. How do
I know she was brought? John chapter 6 verse 44. John chapter 6 and verse 44.
How do I know that she was brought? She came, but she was brought.
How do I know that? John 6, verse 44. Christ says,
No man can come to Me, no person born of Adam can come to Me except
the Father which has sent Me draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. No man can come. Can't do it. Because the natural man, the
things of the Spirit of God are foolishness. John 6, the same
chapter, verse 65, And Christ said, Therefore say I unto you,
that no man can come unto Me, except it were given to him of
My Father. No man can. No man will. There is no ability
nor inclination to come for life or salvation. Well, I thought
I chose Him. I thought I, of my own free will,
sought Him. I thought, I thought, I thought.
No. You thought. You thought there was a way that
seemed right unto you, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
No, absolutely not. Not even once did any person
who is or was dead in trespasses and sins make one movement towards
Christ. Can't be done. We're dead in
sin. We're spiritually, that's how
dead we are. And this woman is no different.
And yet, here we are. Here we are. He drew her. We,
if we have genuinely come to Christ, have been drawn by the
sweet beckonings of the Holy Spirit. He makes His people willing
in the day of His power. Psalms 110 verse 3. This is how
we all come to the new birth, new life, and that more abundantly. And also, how did she come? Verse 25, she came, she worshipped,
saying, Lord, help me. Not a long prayer. She wasn't
concerned about the length of her prayers. Through much speaking,
she would be heard. No. Turn to Job chapter 13. I've
never seen this before. Job 13, this is Job speaking. This is the language of a sheep. This is the language of a true
child of God. Job 13, verse 23, this is what Job says,
How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my
transgression and my sin." Make me to know. This is the prayer
enabled by the Holy Spirit of grace and supplication. This
is what the believer cries. How many are my iniquities and
sins? Make me to know my transgressions
and my sins. This is what all who are godly
in Christ Jesus, this is what they'll say. that I'd never seen
this particular passage before. She owns up to the truth that
she is a dead dog sinner saved by grace. Or as Thomas More would
say, she owns up to her sinnership. And the beautiful thing is, is when we step back, after it's
all over, we step back and we look at how gracious He's been,
we realize He's only going to prune the tree. He's not going
to dig it up. Turn to Judges chapter 13. This
is what we realize. Judges chapter 13. Manoah and his wife. Judges 13, verse 21, But the
angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and his wife.
Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto his wife,
We shall surely die because we have seen God. But his wife said
unto him, Grace through a substitute. But his wife said unto him, If
the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have received
a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would He
have shown us all these things, nor would as at this time have
told us such things as this." Such wonderful news of the Gospel. And that's what the believer
knows. He knows. He's just going to prune this
tree. He's not going to dig it up. You look at yourself, good or
bad, and you just don't see much. We try to talk to people, and
our tongue gets stammered, or we can't talk right, or we don't
feel like we honor the Lord. After we leave, we say, oh, we're
really big. I thought this, and I thought, well, we didn't say
anything. Give us grace to speak the truth
in love to others. You know, we're constantly failing
all the time. You know, I'm ready for this
sin, and then it comes up and just wipes us out. But remember,
remember, if you know the Gospel, if you know Christ, if you understand
what He is and what you are, you can say the same thing as
Manoah's wife. He wouldn't have received Christ as my substitute. And He wouldn't have shown me
all these blessings all these years later. It's the same thing
as the prodigal. You could look at it, and I'd
never really seen this. He just says, just make me like one of
your hired servants. He's sitting there, and oh, He
would fain be full with the husk that the swine did eat. And then
He remembered. Then the Holy Spirit brings to
His remembrance. He has a Father. And in the Father,
the fatherless find mercy. in all covenant blessings. Or it could be simply, Lord,
help me, and we just realize we need help. But the believer
doesn't stand up and say, I'm going back, taking everything
that was... No, the believer says, I don't even need to sleep
in the house, I forfeited my room, I forfeited my place, I
just want to eat like my servants. Little do we know that we're
going to get the best ring, we're going to get the robe, this is
my son who was dead is now alive. That's the prodigal. Blessed
are the poor in spirit, they shall see the Kingdom of God,
Matthew 5. And lastly, not everyone is brought
or comes to the Son of God. Not everyone. Christ, when He
was preaching, He says there was a widow woman And there was
a lot of Jewish widow women, but the Lord revealed Himself
to them. He revealed Himself to this one
woman. Just like He's revealed Himself to this Gentile woman
here. She acknowledges, truth Lord, yet the dogs eat of the
crumbs which fall at the Master's table. Not everyone comes to
see the Son of God for salvation. Many will go elsewhere for supposed
life. They'll look at the leaders.
They'll put their trust in leaders, or their trust in friends, or
family, or jobs, or money, or false religion, and ultimately
it all comes down to the same thing, to self. I can save myself. I can do this. I've done it before. No, you don't see yourself as
a dead dog sinner, as Maurice would always say. Yet those who
are truly graciously found, those who are redeemed, those who have
been conquered, what do they find in Christ?
Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is thy faith,
be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made
whole from that very hour." That was her concern. The love of her daughter. Upon God-given faith, God-given
repentance, public baptism, and following the Lord in a local
gospel assembly, we find in Him more than we could wish for.
There's a passage I think I preached not too long ago, and I read, I think it was William Jay. He
just was writing different morning and evening thoughts. And I know
I preached on it. I looked at it and I go, man,
I didn't say anything on my word in Psalms. The Lord is your God. Open your mouth wide and I will
fill it. I remember, because that blessed
me then, but when I read that a couple of weeks ago, I'm like,
I need to re-preach it. He says, open wide. That's what she was doing. She
was acknowledging that she deserved nothing. And Christ didn't answer
her. He said, I'm not sent to you,
and you're a dog. Though He slay me, yet will I
trust Him. You have the words of eternal
life. Where else can we go? Where else should we go? Where
will we go? The believer, there's no options.
He has us hemmed up in a corner through trial, tribulation, persecution,
a sick daughter, a disease, cancer, monetary problems, problems with
home. Every situation you bring up,
I can find you something in the Scriptures. Lynn and I talked
about this. Oh, my house isn't right. My children don't know
the Lord. David, same thing. Although my house be not so with
God. My children hate me. I've run from my son Absalom.
He's dead. Yet, yet, yet, there's that blessed but, like in Ephesians,
but God. There's that blessed. But God
had made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all and
sure. This is all my hope and all my
salvation. We have the Word and His promise
right in front of us. And we fail to go to it. We go to our friends, we go to
our families, we go to some false priest. Whatever we do here,
we do everything. But He'll bring us to the point. He'll give us faith and repentance
and all these things. And He gives us more than we
could ever wish. He gives us peace that passes all understanding,
Philippians 4. He gives us contentment in all
things, Philippians 4 and verse 10. He gives us sweet communion
with God and with God's people, 1 John chapter 1. He is a refuge
from life's storms, Psalm 46. Promises for everyday living
and to live upon for all eternity. And I've got in parentheses,
it's too numerous to say. I was talking to a pastor the
other day and I just said, oh, we have too many fears to be
a people to whom God has said, I will never leave you nor forsake
you. And I said, there's promises laid out in the Bible. And God is the same yesterday,
today and forever. But I'm going to fear because
I know we fear. But part of my responsibility
is to get you off of these fears, to quit looking horizontal and
look Vertical. And I get discouraged with what
I see out here, I get discouraged with what I see in here. Because
I'm just like you. And Nathan made a comment in
Bible class, and I almost said something, but I didn't. He said,
I don't know about you, but yeah, you know, we're the same way.
Satan, nobody's ever defeated Satan. Nobody, other than Christ. As I said jokingly the other
day, we are a group of people, we are the island of misfit toys. That's what we are. We are pathetic
and miserable and that's why I like reading John Newton. He
does not spare any tongue lashing on himself. He just says I'm
vile and he's a pastor. So we have many promises for
everyday living and to live upon from all eternity. And we have
protection from anything which may hinder the dear children
of God. Romans 8. Nothing shall separate
us. Nothing. High, low, east, west,
broad, near, angels, principalities, nothing can separate us from
the love of God in Christ. So I close and I tell you this
and I tell myself this. Come unto me, says Christ, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. That's
opening your mouth wide. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden
light." That is the result of God-given faith. Be it unto you
according to your faith is what Christ said. And from that time,
her daughter was healed. May we, I, I, limit God by the
things I do and say and how I act. May we be a people who believe
God is on the throne. May we be a people who believe
that if God had not shown us mercy, We would be worse than
anyone. Worse than the worst. In Paul's
life, he says, I'm less than the least. And he said that,
you know, somebody wrote the chronological dates that he said
these things. He said, I'm less than the least,
and to me this grace has been given. He made these comments
later in life. He was a believer. But remember, God wouldn't have witnessed with
your heart, with His Spirit, that we were the children of
God. He wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't have shown you that
great thing. He wouldn't have shown you the free and full substitution
by Christ and Christ alone, not earned, not merited, not worked
for, not because you walked an aisle, none of these things.
He wouldn't have shown you this if He was not going to bless
you, if He was not going to keep you. Unto God be the glory. Great things He has done, and
I believe He will do. I believe He will do great things
for us.