Matthew chapter 15. Throughout his ministry, the
Lord Jesus Christ gave great encouragement to men and women
like you and like me to come to him, to gather around him,
to hear the things that he said. He spoke publicly, he spoke openly. and he would encourage those
who needed to hear him to gather to themselves to him. Perhaps
you remember how in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28, he said, come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. And in Mark chapter 10, I've
chosen an example from each of the gospel writers. He said,
suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them
not. He was open and receptive to
those who wanted to hear him. In Luke chapter 9, verse 11,
he says, And the people followed him, and he received them, and
spake unto them of the kingdom of God. And then in John chapter
6 verse 37, Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. There was a breadth, there was
an openness to the Lord. Whenever someone wanted to speak
to him, whenever someone wanted to be with him, he always made
himself available. He was always ready to declare
the truth. But there was also a reality. that the Lord would occasionally
distance himself from people who wanted something fleshy from
him, either to improve their own standing, to benefit in some
way for natural reasons, to promote themselves amongst the people,
to gain a certain notoriety or popularity. And we discover that
from those people, the Lord was happy to withdraw himself. So
that we read in John chapter 2 and verse 23. Now when he was
in Jerusalem at the Passover and the feast day, many believed
in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus
did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men. He knew that these people were
just curious. He knew that these people were
just looking for a spectacle, looking for something that they
could say, yeah, I was there. I saw that happen. And that there
wasn't any depth, there wasn't any reality. to the belief that
they expressed of the Lord. In John chapter 6 and verse 26,
the Lord again speaking, he answers the people and says, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles,
but because ye did eat the loaves and were filled. And so again,
here were people who, this wasn't even for the spectacle, these
people were just in because they had an appetite. And they sought
after the Lord because they were hoping to get something natural
from Him, something that would do them some physical good. And in Matthew 15 verse 8 he
says, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and
honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in Matthew 15 verse 9, But
in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men. The Lord Jesus Christ was happy
to receive those who came to him with a spiritual need in
faith. and he was happy to distance
himself from those who came for natural reasons and in order
to improve their physical condition. The Lord was able to discern
in the hearts of individuals those who came for a genuine
reason and those who came for frivolous reasons. There are men and women all over
this city today, men and women all over this country today,
throughout the world indeed, who are coming before the Lord,
who are coming to the Lord, coming to the Lord with worship, coming
to the Lord with praise, coming to the Lord with their hymns,
coming to hear the Bible read. And there are many of them whom
the Lord will simply close down. He will not receive them because
they are not coming in faith. They are not coming with a sincerity
and a genuineness seeking his face. The Lord is willing and
happy to receive those who come to him with a sense of need,
with a sense of sin, with a sense of unworthiness, with a sense
of awareness that only from him can help be found. but he is
also very happy to close those down who come to him with vain
worship, who come to him to worship him, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men and to have closed hearts towards the things
of God and the things of grace. They draw nigh to me with their
mouth and honour me with their lips, but their heart is far
from me. These are important things. We
must be careful never to become hypocritical in our approach
to God. Never to simply be approaching
him as a pattern of activity. Something that we've become habitually
called to do. Oh yes, we spend our Sundays
singing praises to God. We spend our Sunday mornings
going and hearing a sermon. But where are our hearts? Where
is our thoughts? Where is our spirit? Where is
our soul? Are we coming to the Lord as
those who labour and are heavy laden? Or are we coming as those
whose heart is far from Him? There's no value in simply being
here. No value in simply warming a
seat. but there is so much value in
coming before the Lord in sincerity and in truth. I've kind of wanted to open by
way of introduction by highlighting these two different aspects,
those who come in sincerity and with a spiritual need and desire
who will always find the Lord, to be a willing and gracious
receiver and those who come with formality, those who come with
ritual, those who come with religious desires only to serve themselves
and the Lord will have nothing to do with such hypocrisy. I wanted to show you those two
different groups as it were to have a third view today and to
think about a woman who I suspect that as far as the ministry of
the Lord is concerned was unique in the Gospels as to how she
came to the Lord and the reaction which she got from him. So we're
going to read Matthew chapter 15 and verse 21. We're told there that Jesus went
thence and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. That's what we would call Phoenicia
as well. It's down the coast of the Mediterranean. And behold, a woman of Canaan
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 a devil. And 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. And he answered and said, It
is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to 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. Amen. May God bless this reading. We find a parallel account of
this in Mark chapter 7 from verse 24. There's a couple of incidentals. The lady there is called certain
lady. She is called a Syrophoenician,
which speaks about her heritage, her nationality, and it speaks
about her daughter as being very young. She had a very young daughter,
and this was the girl, the little girl that she came seeking help
for. I think this lady's history in
the Gospels might well be regarded as special and worthy of special
attention because here is a lady whose heart was undoubtedly true
when she came to the Lord looking for help. A lady whose faith
was undoubtedly authentic whose need was genuine, whose approach
was sincere, and yet a woman who had set before her tremendous
and repeated discouragements from the Lord himself. The Lord,
who says, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest, said to this woman in the first instance,
nothing at all. Appears to have ignored her cries,
her cries for help. Contrast that with the woman
who came with that issue of blood and reached through the crowd
and just touched the hem of the Lord's garment and the Lord stopped
and said, who touched me? Not to let one of his little
ones pass him by, but here was a woman of faith crying out to
the Lord for help and he never spoke a word to her. He ignored
her. Repeated discouragements were
set before this lady, even from the lips of the Lord himself
for the help that she needed. Now I'm sure that as we open
up some of these verses in the next few minutes that there are
lessons for us here today with respect to this lady's perseverance
and her persistence for the sake of her child. She loved that
child, she loved that little girl and she saw the need that
that little girl was in and she was convinced that the only one
who could help that little child was the Lord Jesus Christ. And
she was not going to be put off, even as the Lord ignored her
and ultimately as the Lord rebuffed her in her appeals and her cries
for help. And I think that we'll discover,
if the Lord will enable us, that there is also pastoral wisdom
to be gleaned from this passage in the way in which the Lord
tried this woman's patience for the well-being of her daughter. And perhaps if the Lord will
give us eyes to see, we will see something of the nature and
the strength of true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as it was
evidenced in this lady. The first thing I want us to
notice when we come to this passage is important. And I want you
to hold this thought in your mind. The very first thing that we're
told in verse 21 is that, then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. The Tyre and Sidon were two sea
ports. They were right on the Mediterranean
coast. They would have been in what
we would have called the land of the Philistines. They were
in that area which was called Syria and Phoenicia. They were
outside of Israel, but they abutted onto the land of Israel. So the Lord had gone into the
coasts of the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And here's the point
that I want you to note from that. That the Lord had gone
to where the woman was. She was a Canaanite woman. She wasn't a Jew. She wasn't
a lady of Israel. She was a Canaanite. She was
a Syrophoenician. She was out of the coasts of
Tyre and Sidon. But the Lord went to where she
was, notwithstanding the fact that she was a Canaanite woman. The Lord Jesus Christ sought
her out. The Lord Jesus Christ went to
where she was. He went to the coasts of Tyre
and Sidon where she was and made himself available to her. This was no accident that this
lady discovered the Lord was close enough for her to reach
to, close enough for her to get to. It wasn't, as it were, a
lucky break that she had, that her daughter was unwell and suddenly
here was one, this Jesus of whom she had heard, had come to her
area, her neighbourhood. The Lord went to find her. Just
in the same way as we later hear about the time when the Lord
must, needs go through Samaria. Why? Because there was a woman
there at the well at Sychar that he had to speak to. Here is a
woman, a Syrophoenician, a Canaanitish woman in the areas of Tyre and
Sidon and the Lord went to where she was. Here's the point that I want
to make with you this morning. I suspect all of you here today
will have some history of Christian experience, some awareness of
the dealings of the Lord with you. It is always important for
us to trace the Lord's dealings with our soul to its first cause. It was the fact that the Lord
was looking for us that enabled us to find the Lord. It was the
fact that the Lord came to where we were. Now I don't doubt that
this woman felt as if she had made the first move, that she
had taken the initiative. I don't doubt that a neighbour
spoke to her and said, here, you know that man Jesus that
everyone's been talking about? I hear he's along the road, just
10 miles down the road. What, she says? That's wonderful,
I'm going to go, I'm going to find him, I'm going to seek him
out. I don't doubt for a moment that she felt she had taken the
initiative. But what she didn't realise was
that the Lord had come to that house 10 miles down the road
in order to make himself available to her. And we must always trace
the Lord's dealings in our lives to its first cause. He came for
us before we ever came to him. The Lord's fame had reached far. It had gone beyond the borders
of Israel, the borders of the Jewish nation. And perhaps people
were gossiping about this power that had been manifested, how
other people had been helped, how he was able to heal the sick
and cure those who had need and supply the needs of people. Remember what Paul said to King
Agrippa. He said, these things, Agrippa,
they were not done in a corner. These things that the Lord did
were public acts. They were public works, public
manifestations. And that knowledge of the Lord's
power had gone beyond the bounds and the borders of Israel. And yet the Lord still sends
his gospel. He still targets his gospel. He still arranges events and
circumstances. He still directs preachers to
certain places. He carries that message whithersoever
he will. No matter what the circumstances
are of you encountering Christ, It was the Lord who took the
initiative in your life. Let me take that a little bit
further and say this, that nothing in our lives has ever been left
to chance. Nothing that has affected the
Lord's people, nothing that has contrived together to accomplish
this end in which we find ourselves today, happened randomly. or by chance. The Lord arranges
every detail. He combines all things together. Now that doesn't condone our
passivity. That doesn't mean that we can
say, well then, if God's in control of all the events and circumstances,
I'll just wait here, I'll just sit here, I'll just stand here
until the Lord does something. No, this woman was called to
go to Christ. but Christ had already come to
her. And when we hear the gospel,
we are called to come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, all you who feel a need, all you who have a sense of emptiness,
a sense of longing, come to Christ. because it was the Lord who gave
that sense of need. It was the Lord who initiated,
even in that lady's life, the illness of her daughter. It was
the Lord who brought those hardships into the experience of that little
girl and that family and laid that burden upon the heart of
the mother and caused her to hear that Jesus was near. and
encouraged her to go and to seek him out and to find him. The
Lord gives the felt need and he gives the opportunity and
he gives the occasion and he gives and implants the hope that
we might find help from him. Go to him for your problems. Go to him in your trials. Approach him in your need, but
know this, that as you find him and as he speaks to you, it's
because that he has laid upon you the desire for all of these
spiritual helps that he is willing and able to give. So that was
the first point, that the Lord went to her first. The second
point is this, that the Lord gave her faith. Faith isn't a
natural thing. Faith is not something that we
can contrive for ourselves, work up, initiate in our own life. This woman had faith. If this
woman had faith, it was because God had given it to her. And
obviously she did have faith because we see at the end that
that faith was recognised and acknowledged of the Lord. But
it was God, the Holy Spirit, it was God, the creator of faith
that had implanted that faith in this woman's heart. And I
think that's quite extraordinary. And I think we need to lay hold
on this this morning. This lady was a Canaanite. This
lady was as far away from the Jewish nation, the people of
Israel, the children of Israel, as was possible to imagine at
this time. Even the split between the Jews
and the Samaritans was a great cause for division. This woman
was a Canaanite. This was a woman who had been
raised in idolatry. This was a woman whose history
and heritage had come out of all of that paganism of the idolatrous
people of Canaan that the Jews were told to go in and rid the
land of, exterminate, cast out. These were the people who were
opposed to the Jews. And to all intents and purposes,
this is the last person that you would have expected. for
the Lord to have given faith to. Let us never be judgmental
about who the Lord will call to himself in this world. Listen,
if the Lord saved you, he can save anyone. And we might well
encounter people in this town, people in our experience, people
that we have to deal with, people that we have to minister to,
And we would think, I can't touch that person. I can't go near
that person. I can't have anything to do with
that person. That person is a Canaanite. Oh? The Lord is pleased to call men
and women from the depths of sin and the depths of trouble.
He's called us, Paul called himself the greatest of sinners, chief
of sinners. but the Lord is pleased to call
whomsoever he will. And he sent his gospel to find
out all his people. And I think there's something
interesting as well about this lady. She was from Tyre, Sidon,
or the area between those two port towns. She was out of the
coasts of that area. But we don't hear of very many
of these people coming to the Lord at all. Here was one woman,
one woman from a city, one woman from a whole region, but the
Lord went to get her. what a blessing it was to be
that Canaanitish woman. I think of Rehab back in the
city of Jericho, the whole city laid waste but one woman, one
woman preserved, one woman saved as it were from the jaws of destruction,
from the teeth of hell. And here this woman is. Let us be wise Let us be wise. Let us look back
in our own experience and say, thank you, Lord, for calling
me. Thank you, Lord, for bringing
me, one Canaanitish woman, one Canaanitish man, one idolatrous
man or woman out from this. I wonder how many from your town
when you were growing up are sitting under the gospel this
morning. I wonder how many people from your school are hearing
the gospel preached to them today. I wonder how many from those
past years where you ran with your friends, you made your life
in this world, have been plucked as a brand from the fire and
brought into this relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
Canaanitish woman, blessed Canaanitish man, blessed are those who have
found entrance into a relationship with the Lord God. Why? Because
you were smarter? Because you were better? Because you were more holy? Because
you saw more than everybody else? No, because God was merciful
to you and he was to this woman. She bears an extraordinary testimony
when she comes into the presence of the Lord, this lady. She says,
have mercy. She confesses her need before
the Lord. She has a very young daughter
and she believed that the Lord had power to save that young
daughter from the evil possession that the daughter was under.
And she confesses her need. She doesn't come and say, I'm
wondering if you could maybe do something for me here. She
says, have mercy on me. It's almost as if she's aware
of her separateness from the people of Israel, the people
of Judah, from the Lord himself. She's aware how far she is. She's
aware of the distance between her and the Lord. And she comes
and she says, mercy is all I can ask. I can't approach you as
an equal. I can't come into your presence
and hope to negotiate, do a deal with you. I need mercy. And I think it's extraordinary
that that was the woman's first approach to the Lord. But if
that is extraordinary, the next thing she says is amazing. She says, oh Lord, she asked
the right one for the right thing. She acknowledged his authority
and she said, thou son of David. And that I think is a tremendous
giveaway in this story. This lady knows who the Lord
Jesus Christ is. I don't know how. I don't know
how she knows this. I don't know whether it was that
someone had preached to her or that she had been somewhere else
and heard this message. This lady knew. that Jesus Christ
was the Messiah. That's what the Son of David
meant. That's what it means when she says, Thou Son of David,
have mercy on me. That's what blind Bartimaeus
cried out, do you remember? This woman knew that the son
of David was the anointed one, the one who would be sent, the
one whom David testified of in these Psalms that we have been
reading, in these testimonies that David, as king, as the beloved
of the Lord, made. Maybe she had familiarity with
the Old Testament scriptures in some way, but she knew Jesus
was the Messiah, and she called after him, have mercy on me,
Lord, thou son of David. Where did the knowledge come
from? Where did that understanding find its root? That's what we
call revealed truth. When Peter was able to testify,
he said, that Jesus was the Son of God, whom do men say that
I am? Thou art the Christ. It's the same word, the Son of
David, the Messiah. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. The Lord Jesus Christ said to
him, blessed art thou, for flesh and blood has not revealed that
unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. This lady had been
spoken to by God the Father. A Canaanitish woman had been
spoken to by God the Father. Now let me ask you a question. Do you believe that Christ is
the Messiah? Do you believe that Christ is
the Anointed One of God? Because that's the only hope
that you have of mercy in this world. That's the only way of
escape. That is the only way of salvation. If you have that knowledge of
Christ as the Son of God, if you have a belief in Him as the
only way of salvation, that is faith. Where did that faith come
from? It can only come from God. It isn't natural. It's a spiritual
gift. It's a revelation that comes
from God Himself. It is indeed the gift of God. The Lord went to this lady. The
Lord gave her faith. And thirdly, the Lord proved
her faith. What do I mean by the word prove?
I mean he tested it. I mean that he dinged it to make
sure that it was real, to make sure that it was genuine. It's
like the old man that used to take, or the old lady that would
take the coin and she would bite it to see whether or not it was
the real gold. He tested, he proved her faith. He wanted to show the evidence
for a genuine faith. And I want you to just look at
these verses. Verse 24. Because this testimony that we
have in verse 24 is a statement of particular grace that perhaps
is amongst the finest in Scripture that we have. The disciples had
come in verse 23 and asked for help for this lady that she might
be sent away because she was crying after them. Verse 24 says,
but he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. You see what the Lord is saying
there? The Lord is saying there that he only came for certain
people. This isn't a universal thing.
This isn't a worldwide thing. This lady is a Canaanite. What
interest does she have in this matter? I've only come for the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. People say Jesus died for everyone.
No, Jesus only died for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus loves everyone. No, Jesus only loves the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Jesus came for everyone. The
words came from his own lips. No, Jesus only came for the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Do you realize what that means?
That this lady was of the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Regardless of her genealogy, regardless of her geography,
regardless of the fact that she was a Syrophoenician, that she
was a Canaanite, this woman was of the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. and everyone for whom the Lord died was the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. Everyone, as that message has
gone out into the Gentile world, as it has been taken around the
world by the apostles and by ministers and preachers of the
gospel who come and who have this faith given to them as a
gift from God, are the very lost sheep of the house of Israel
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ came. It wasn't anything to do
with her nationality. It wasn't anything to do with
the idolatrous background from which she came. She was one of
the lost sheep that Christ had come to gather in as the good
shepherd. She was an elect child of God. One of God's little ones whom
Christ had come to save. And how do I know that? Because
she came to him. because she worshipped him and
because she asked him for mercy and for help. How can I know
if I am one of the Lord's lost sheep? How do I know if I am
one of the lost sheep of Israel? Well, the Lord Himself tells
us in John 6, verse 37, He says, and him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Not the heartless people who
come with their praises and their worship, teaching for doctrines
the commandments of men. No, not that, but those who come
with their hearts softened, those who come with a sense of need,
those who come acknowledging and recognising the Lord Jesus
Christ as the only way of salvation. They are those who come and they
are those who are truly the lost sheep of the house of Israel. You come pleading mercy. You come seeking grace. You come and you worship Christ
for who he is. Is everything good then for this
lady? Is everything resolved? Is everything received? Is everything
that she wants granted? Look at verse 26. But he answered and said, it
is not meat to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. Wow. Could ever there have been
a more crushing statement fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus
Christ than that? No, you're not getting it because
it's not appropriate that what I've got for the children should
be fed to a dog. What gives you any right? What
gives you any hope? What gives you any eligibility
for God's grace? This is a children's bread. This is only for the children.
It's not for dogs. What a statement. See what the lady said. Verse
27. Truth, Lord. That's true. I've no rights. I've nothing to offer. I've nothing
to give. I've nothing to trade. That's
true. What you've said is absolutely
true. I don't deserve anything. I am just a poor Canaanitish
woman. I am just a lady that has come
from a long tradition and heritage of sinful men and women. I've got nothing. But will you be merciful enough
to just give me a crumb from the table? That's all I want.
That's all I need. I know who you are. I know what
you've done. I know what you can do. And even
if I'm not eligible, is there just a crumb from the table that
I could have for my little girl? Oh, that was faith. That was
beautiful. That showed the true nature of
that woman's heart. She was there before the Lord
fully recognising and understanding who he was. And faith is the only thing that
the Lord Jesus Christ is looking for. That's the only thing he
seeks. You can come with your fancy
clothes in your big house and all of your education and your
strength and your natural abilities and qualities and it don't amount
to a heap of beans. All he's looking for is faith.
Just faith the size of a mustard seed. But with faith all things
are possible. And that's what the woman had.
Truth Lord. Oh, grace is particular, it's
distinguishing, it's limited, but I shall seek it at the hand
of Christ. She was testifying to sovereign
grace, that lady. She said, yes, I know that you've
only come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I know that
this is only for the children, but where else am I going to
find it? Where else am I going to get it? Just a crumb. Be it ever so small. Be it ever
so little. I've nowhere else to go. You're
my only hope. Will you help me? Oh, blessed
woman that she was. Oh, child of God that she was. She had faith sufficient to move
a mountain. And I think the Lord's words
to this lady are just beautiful. He says to her in verse 28, Then
Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. He says to his disciples, O ye
of little faith. And he says to a Syrophoenician
Canaanitish idolatress, O woman, great is thy faith. And look
at this, look at this. Be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt. Have whatever you want. Do it
however you want. Take whatever you want. That's
what the Lord said. He said, you decide what you
want, because you can have it all. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful interview, a
beautiful conversation. between this poor soul and her
loving Saviour. Take whatever you want, be it
unto thee, even as thou wilt." And what did she will for? What
did she want? She wanted her little girl to
be well, her little daughter, and her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Here's the last thing I want
to say and then we're done. I think that the Lord taught his disciples
a valuable lesson here. This transaction, this interaction
didn't just happen between the Lord and the lady. It is quite
clear that the disciples were present at this time. The Lord's
silence as he was approached by this lady in the first instance
must have intrigued the disciples. Because we're told that in verse
23, that he answered her not a word, and his disciples came
and besought him saying, send her away for she crieth after
us. Now, let me say this, the disciples were not asking that
she be sent away empty. Right, because it's very obvious
from the Lord's answer in verse 24, that they were saying to
the Lord, Lord, just do what she asks. We've seen you doing
this a hundred times. We've seen you curing multitudes. We've seen you speaking to the
wind and the waves. We've seen you turning bread
to feed a multitude. We know you can do this. All
this woman is asking for is that you cure her little girl of some
demon possession. Will you just do it, Lord, and
get her away so that we can have some peace? That was what the disciples said
to the Lord. Sent her away, for she crieth after us. Well, the Lord had to teach the
disciples a lesson, but here's one lesson, perhaps, that came
out of this. That no pastor, no preacher,
no minister, no apostle, no disciple of the Lord, no Peter, James,
or John, can hurry the Lord along or compel him to do what is not
in his will and his timing to do. The Lord chose not to speak a
word to this lady. And if the Lord won't speak to
you, I can't get him to speak to you. No one can get him to
speak to you. You will experience some things
in your lives which cause you real hardship and trial and pain. And I will say to you, take it
to the Lord. And you will say to me, do you
think I haven't done that? Do you think I haven't done that
a hundred times? and I'm not getting any answer.
He's not speaking to me. He's not listening to me. The
Lord speak to her, not a word. You're looking at a man who is
deficient in these matters. I can't make the Lord hurry up
for you. I can't bring you the answer
that you need. This is the pastoral lesson in
this portion for us. We need to have that persistence
and that patience that the woman had. We need to have that intimate,
personal relationship with the Lord. And if he won't speak to
us, we have to wait and we have to bide our time patiently. What pastor is there that would
not resolve a problem in his congregation's life had he the
power to do it? But we're his workmanship. That
means that he is working in our lives to accomplish and to achieve
the things that he wants in the time that suits his purpose best. And your pastor, will help you
where he can. But spiritual blessings, spiritual
help is the work of the Lord in his time and in his way. Psalm 118 verse 23 says, this
is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. One final thought, this lady
came in faith on behalf of her daughter. And how we long to
see our children saved. How we long to see our sons and
our daughters freed from the grievous vexations of the devil
in their souls. Made whole and knowing the peace
and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives. That was
the lady's request. That was the lady's position.
That was the origin of her plea for mercy from Christ, a request
for help. And no doubt it was the Lord
who laid upon this woman's heart this request in order that it
might show forth His glory. but let her be our example too. We may take our sons and our
daughters to the Lord, that we might hear him say, be it unto
thee even as thou wilt. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to our hearts. Amen.