Well, in the reading that we
had just before, in verse 24 of Matthew 15, Jesus answered
and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. The lost sheep of the house of
Israel. That's the title of today's message.
The house of Israel's lost sheep. Now, two weeks ago, at the New
Focus conference. On the Saturday I was one of
the preachers there and my message was called The Whole House of
Israel, so very close to this. The theme of the conference was
what is sovereign grace? What is it? Because it's so ill
understood. Many people around the world
will have seen yesterday's royal wedding. And as part of the service,
you will have seen a rousing sermon by a preacher that shocked
the British establishment. Number one, he went on for 15
minutes. What a dreadful thing to preach for 15 minutes. Gosh,
how on earth can you dare keep people, especially royal people,
for as much as 15 minutes? But he preached with passion
and it was quite a stirring performance. But as much as what he said was
very nice, it was not the gospel of grace. It wasn't. It was not
the gospel of grace. The gospel of grace is not about
the love of God making the world a better place. It isn't. It
is about God saving the people he chose in Christ before the
foundation of the world from their sins in time and bringing
them to eternal glory. It's about sovereign grace. It's
about limited atonement. Oh, shocking. How can you say
such a thing? Christ didn't die for everybody that had ever lived.
Christ did not seek to pay the sin debt of everyone that's ever
lived. He died for his people. For the
transgression of my people was he stricken. He came and he was
called Jesus, for he shall save his people. Not everybody, his
people from their sins. In that theme of that conference,
We were thinking about election, and we were also being very honest
about that which the vast majority of the religious world, even
that which calls itself reform, doesn't like to talk about, which
is this, that if there is the election of God, then surely
there must also be the reprobation of God. For God says, I, God,
I, God, will be merciful, to whom I will be merciful. I will not be merciful to whoever
will have me. It doesn't say that anywhere
in the book. A man told me years ago that
he believed the doctrine of election, so long as you understood it
that way. God will elect. Who will he elect? He will elect
those that will have him in time. No, no, no, no, no. If it were
down to me, I never would have him. It's down to his sovereign
grace. His sovereign grace. We're talking
about righteousness. We're talking about the righteousness
of God. People glibly talk about God.
There was a lot of glib talk about God in that service of
that wedding yesterday. But who knows much about the
righteousness of God? The holiness of God? The sin
of mankind? The justice of God? The just
penalty that the sin of mankind demands? and the eternal salvation
that God, by grace in Christ, has accomplished for his people,
but only by the grace of God, and not by the personal choice
of the flesh. Now, does this seem to you, to
your ears, like a very harsh, blunt teaching? Does it? It does
to many. It does to most. Is it not off-putting
to fair-minded people? Is it not off-putting you talk
to fair-minded people and you tell them that God chose some
to salvation and others he chose to damnation? Shock! How can
you believe in such a horrible God that would do a thing like
that? Because his word declares it. It does. John 6, 65 and 66. Listen to this. Jesus speaking. Jesus, the preacher, speaking,
no man can come to me except it were given unto him of my
father. Who's going to come to God? Those
that were given that gift of faith to come to Christ by the
Father. And from that time, it says in
that text, many of his disciples, those who appeared to be his
disciples, went back and walked no more with him. Now, do we
drive people away by this harsh doctrine? A lot would say that
we do. A lot would say, oh, do you know, do you know why there's
only eight of you in this room this morning? Same number as
were with Noah in the ark, is it not? Exactly the same number.
Do you know why there are so few? There are so few because
we preach this doctrine, and the world hates it, and the flesh
hates it. Does our preaching of this doctrine
restrict our evangelism? Somebody else said to me, in
a reformed evangelical church, so-called, he said, no, I can't
go along with you because you don't do any evangelism. He said,
even if my doctrine is a bit flawed, I would sooner do some
evangelism than the evangelism that you don't do. That's what
somebody very, very close by to us said to me. Does it restrict
evangelism? Does our preaching of this doctrine
of sovereign grace and of election, does it cause us to disobey Christ's
command, which was in Mark 16 and then in Matthew 28, to go
into all the world and preach the gospel to all without distinction? Not practical to preach to all
without exception, but to all without distinction. Go and preach
to all without distinction. Does this doctrine not restrict
us in doing that? What does God's Word reveal?
You know, we're not going to have a heated debate about this
amongst us. There's no point in that. That's
just what it says, hot air. That achieves nothing. No. What
does God's Word reveal? For his word says in Romans 3-4,
let God be true and every man a liar. You know, your best attempts
at truth are but lies compared with the truth of God. Don't
let fallen human reason try to judge God. Don't do it. Let's see what his word says.
Let's see what saith the scripture. So I've got two basic points
this morning. First of all, the whole house
of Israel. That was the title of my message
two weeks ago, and a lot of it will be very similar. And then
my second point is, a lost sheep found. The whole house of Israel
and a lost sheep found. First of all, the whole house
of Israel. Any of you that heard me two
weeks ago, I'll repeat some of that material to remind you what
the whole house of Israel means. It's Jacob made Israel. It's a whole... Race of Jacob's. Jacob's, cheats, swindlers, sinners,
corrupt, made Israel. God says you shall no longer
be called Jacob to Jacob. He says you'll be called Israel.
Prince with God. Jacob's, like you and me by nature,
made prince with God. And don't think we're only talking
about the male of the species. We're not. We're talking about
people. People. Jacob's made Israel. A people
that God calls my people. You read the book of God and
you cannot avoid the fact that God calls a specific people his
people. They shall be my people and I
will be their God. Think about Jesus called himself
the Good Shepherd. I am the Good Shepherd and the
Good Shepherd has a flock of sheep. He has his sheep. They're called the elect of God. They're the ones that, as Ephesians
1-4 says, were chosen in Christ when? When they decided to follow
him? No! Before the foundation of
the world. Let me underline some points.
All the sheep, the believers, that Christ owns in time, he
owned from eternity. He did. There are no new sheep
being made. He owned them from eternity.
You don't become sheep by personal choice. When we were in Arminianism
years ago, Christine and I, in our younger days, we used to
love to sing a chorus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus.
And so it went on. What arrogance. I have decided. I have decided to follow Jesus.
You haven't. I have decided to follow. No,
you haven't. Jesus said, You didn't choose
me! to his disciples, he said, I
chose you, you didn't choose me. You didn't decide to follow
Jesus any more than I decided to follow Jesus. No. If you believe
God, it's because you were one of his sheep from eternity, and
you were lost in the fall, and he called you out under the sound
of the gospel to show you what he's done for you. When he lay
down his life for his sheep, for what does Jesus say? I lay
down my life for whom? The whole world? Does he ever
in the scripture say he lays down his life for the whole world?
Never. He says, I lay down my life for the sheep, for his sheep. He lays down his life for them,
for his sheep. And they were already his by
divine election. They were lost through the fall,
but by regeneration, that's new life, new spiritual life, given
by the Holy Spirit in time, they, his sheep, hear the Good Shepherd's
voice. And what does he say they do?
My sheep hear my voice, and when they hear it, his sheep, they
follow him. Do they not? This is the whole
house of Israel. This is what he's talking about.
Those that are his sheep by eternal election. by the sovereign grace
of God. Then think about the parables.
There's the parable of the hundred sheep and one is lost. And he
goes out because he must get the one that was lost. And there's
the parable of the woman who loses one of her coins. And then
there's the parable of the father, the loving father, and one of
his sons goes and lives in a prodigal manner, a wasteful manner. Those
parables are about people looking. There's the seeker going out
for his lost sheep. There's the woman looking for
her lost coin. There's the father looking into
the distance for his lost son. But note this. Those who were
doing the looking, the seekers, sought that which was their own
already. It was theirs. It was theirs
from the beginning, but lost. Was it not? to Timothy 1 verse
9, God, who has saved us and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, not according to our choice, our
decision, or anything else, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. God didn't say, God didn't say,
I will search for my goats to make them my sheep, did he? He
never ever said that. He talks about dividing the sheep
from the goats, but he never ever said, I will search for
my goats to make them my sheep. I'm going to read to you from
Ezekiel 34. If you've got the Bible with you, turn to it. Ezekiel
34 and verse 11. Ezekiel 34 verse 11, For thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep
and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. and
I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from
the countries, and I will bring them to their own land, and feed
them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the
inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There
shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture, and shall
they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock,
and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. Is
that a picture of a shepherd, a good shepherd, seeking the
sheep that are already his, calling them out from their mixture in
the fallen world all around them, but bringing them together? Where
does he bring them to? Physical Israel in the Middle
East, not in the slightest. Prophecies like that were fulfilled
in the Old Testament in partial respects, but it's talking about,
it's talking about the Church in our day. He calls people out
of the different countries that are watching now with us. There
are people in different countries watching. He calls people out
from the materialistic, godless societies in which they live,
and they hear the Good Shepherd's voice, and they follow him, and
he brings them. Where to? He physically doesn't
move where they are. But he certainly brings them
into that good fold, which is his church, and he feeds them
with good pasture. What is the pasture he feeds
them on? His word. His word. His bread from heaven. The manna which came down from
heaven. Him himself. Salvation accomplished is what
that's about. Then, think about this. The whole
house of Israel, Jacob, Have I loved Esau? Have I hated? Why did God make such a stark
difference between Jacob and Esau? Twins, they were twins.
Esau was the older one, Jacob the younger. And God said to
Rebekah, the older will serve the younger. Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated? Was that based on their decision
to follow God or not follow God? It doesn't say that, does it?
It says in Romans 9, before the children were born, before they'd
done any good or bad. No, it's because of the sovereign
electing purposes of God. God loved Jacob from eternity. He loved him, he loved all his
people, Jeremiah 31 verse 3 says, with an everlasting love. In
other words, was there ever a time? It's odd, we can't talk about
time in relation to eternity, can we? Because eternity is outside
of time. But there was never a time when
God did not love his people. He didn't love his people when
they started to follow him, no. Jesus said to praying to his father in John
17 about the disciples that were around him, but not just about
them, we can imply it, we can transpose it to everyone that
ever believes him. He says, I have manifested thy
name, God's name, unto the men which thou gavest me out of the
world. Thine they were, they were already his from eternity,
and you gave them to me. In John 10, 16, Jesus says this,
Other sheep I have, He doesn't say, other sheep I will have,
or I haven't got them yet, or I'm hoping that they'll decide
to follow. He says, other sheep I have, I already have, not will
have if they accept me, which are not of this fold. Them also
must I bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall
be one fold and one shepherd. All together. No distinction
of race. My people. My sheep, he calls
them. My people. Isaiah 53, verse 8,
for the transgressions of my people was he stricken. I lay
down my life for the sheep, John 10, 15. The sheep alone out of
all mankind. Hear the truth of the gospel
of grace and believe it. John 18, 37, everyone that is
of the truth heareth my voice. Those that do, follow him. They
believe him. Everyone that is of the... How
do you become of the truth? By the divine election of God
from before the beginning of time. John 8, 47. Listen to this. He that is of God... How do you
know that you're of God? I'll tell you. He that is of
God, heareth God's words. And he said to the Pharisees
who were opposing him and unbelieving and seeking his downfall, Ye
Pharisees, therefore, hear them not, hear not the words of God,
because you're not of God, you're not his sheep. You don't hear
his voice because you're not his sheep. In John 6, when those
disciples left the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, we read about
it, no man can come, from that time many of his disciples went
back, they were goats, they weren't sheep. From eternity they were
goats, they left. But the sheep, as Peter said,
had nowhere else to go. Where else can we go? You have
the words of eternal life. It's not Jews, I'm not talking
about Jews, the whole house of Israel, no, we're not talking
about Jews. though there are Jews amongst them. Listen to
these scriptures. Romans 9, verse 6. They are not
all Israel, which are of Israel. In other words, let me paraphrase
that. They are not the true people
of God, the true Israel of God, who are born Jews. That's what
that is saying. They are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Verse eight. They which are the
children of the flesh, they which can trace their ancestry to a
Jewish heritage, they which are the children of the flesh, though
very few of them, strictly speaking, can these days. You know, the
northern tribes of Israel were destroyed. They were intermingled.
They became Samaritans. They were intermingled with the
Syrians. There's a lot of kind of pride in Jewishness, but the
actual tracing of the ancestry is not that easy. But they which
are the children of the flesh, even if they can say, yes, I
am a Jew, I am a child of the... I can trace my ancestry all the
way back to Abraham. Look what the scripture says.
These are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise accounted for the seed. because God made to Abraham a
promise concerning eternal life and salvation. And in Isaac,
the line that would come from Isaac, not Ishmael, Isaac, shall
your people be blessed. Verse 24, so who are you talking
about, Paul? Romans 9, 24, even us, says Paul,
speaking to believers. Even us, whom he, God, has called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. And so, Galatians
6.16, we have the Israel of God. The whole Israel of God. Hosea
called a people which were not a people. It says there in Romans
9. A people which were not a people. Her beloved which was not beloved. Those children of Hosea and Goma
were symbolical of the people. The physical Israel that he cast
off as his people. and those that he would call
from all around the world, Gentiles as well. And here we see the
culmination of it in Revelation 5 and verse 9. They sung a new
song saying, Thou art worthy, Christ is worthy, to take the
book and to open the seals thereof. Why? For thou were slain and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. Who are they? Who is he
talking about? Out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation. They were, as Acts 13, 48 says,
those that were ordained to eternal life, who when they heard the
gospel call of grace, they believed it. That's what it says. Are
these hard sayings? Are they? Are these sayings that
cause us to want to go away like those disciples in John 6? Does
this contradict the Great Commission to go into all the world and
preach the gospel So then I want you to look at a lost sheep found
in these verses that we read earlier in Matthew 15 verse 21
to 28. Because here we are in the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says, Jesus went from
where he was and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Now then, a bit of geography.
Where was Tyre and Sidon? You know the eastern end of the
Mediterranean, where the island of Cyprus is, and then you go
to the coast that runs north-south, roughly. That's the coast, the
majority of it, is the coast of Israel and the coast of Syria
in the north, and bits of Beirut and that sort of area in the
middle. And Tyre and Sidon is very much to the northwest. It's
well out of... Jerusalem's way down in the south.
I don't have a map here, but just imagine. We're talking somewhere
that is a long way even from Galilee. This is a long way. Tyre and Sidon is a long way
even from Nazareth. When you've got a Bible with
maps in front of you, look at the map on the ministry of Jesus
and you'll see how far away it is. Way up in the northwest,
way out of Israel. Who lived there? Canaanite pagans
lived there. Down in Judea, in Jerusalem,
lived the tribe of Judah and Benjamin on the whole, and they
were the ones who were riddled with infidelity, but nothing
compared with the Israel tribes in the north, in Samaria, who
were totally unfaithful to the living God. But these people
up in the north in Tyre and Sidon were Canaanite pagans. Canaanite
pagans. Very unlikely place to find people
to believe the gospel, don't you think? Would you imagine
that there'd be anybody there that would believe the gospel?
Jesus went there seeking one of his lost sheep. Do you remember
the account in John 4 of Jesus going from Jerusalem in the south
up to Galilee in the north and it says He must needs go through
Samaria. Well, yes, it's sort of on the
way, but you have to do a bit of a detour to where he went
at Sychar, to Jacob's well at Sychar. And Jews on the whole
from Judea, if they were traveling to the north, to Galilee, to
the bits that were not quite so bad, where Jesus grew up at
Nazareth, if they were going there, they would avoid the Samaritans,
because as the woman said to him, the Samaritans have nothing
to do with the Jews. But there was a Samaritan woman
there. and he must needs go there. Why? Because he's a seeking Saviour. He's like that woman looking
for her lost coin. He's like that shepherd looking
for his lost sheep. And here, in Tyre and Sidon,
amongst all of that crowd, specifically, there is one woman pleading mercy. There might be many others that
he went to call, but we don't read of them. The Scriptures
are not like that. The Scriptures The scriptures
leave other things to be revealed in the fullness of time or in
eternity. But we read of some to show what
things were like, and here is one. This woman pleading mercy
from the one who alone has power and authority to grant mercy. Look what she says. 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. What was it she saw? It was just a man. You know,
it says in Isaiah 53, there is no comeliness that we should
desire him. When he was speaking to the unbelieving
Pharisees, they said to him, you are not yet 50 years old
and you say you've seen Abraham. And he was only 30 years old. There was nothing physically
alluring and attractive about the person of Jesus in the flesh,
other than the words he spoke and the things that he did. But
here she'd seen something. She'd seen that he was the Lord
of glory. She'd seen that he was the son
of David. What does that mean? She'd seen
that he was the Messiah. She'd seen that he was David's
greatest son, of which the scriptures spoke. She saw that he alone
was God come in the flesh. And to whom shall we go? To whom
shall we plead? Where can you go? You go to the
only one that can get things done for you. There's no point
wasting your time on the others. If you've got a critical illness,
you want to be seen by the one specialist you know can sort
your problem. You don't want to waste your
time with the other doctors, the other quack doctors if you
like, the other not the proper specialists for the job. You
go to the one who can do the job. And she came to him, David's
greater son. And she came in a state of adversity. Her adversity concerned her daughter,
who was grievously vexed with the devil, but I'm sure because
of the context and because of what we read here, it was much
more in her own heart. and soul was the issue. The issues
of life were there. In a state of adversity she came
to him. And there's a great lesson here.
You see, our God uses... People don't like this. There's
a great health, wealth and prosperity false gospel doing the rounds.
It has been for years. But this is the truth of Scripture.
God uses and God sends adversity to the objects of his love to
teach them truth. That's what he does. He sends
them adversity to wean them from worldly reliance. We're so naturally
determined to rely on the things of the world, our money, our
friends, our situation. Oh, we'll be all right because
we've got this, that and the other. No, he sends adversity. to get
us to separate from that. Psalm 119 verse 71 says, it is
good for me that I have been afflicted. People don't think
that, do they? They think I've had a terrible
time. Oh, what a shocking, horrible time I've had. No, it is good
for me that I have been afflicted. Why? That I might learn thy statutes. J.C. Ryle, Bishop of Liverpool
in the 1800s said, health is good. You don't wish anybody ill health,
do you? We lament when we hear of people
who are unwell. Health is good, but Ryle said,
but sickness is better if it drives you to Christ. Prosperity
is good, but adversity is better if it teaches you to lay up heavenly
treasure. Isn't that what Jesus said? Don't lay up treasure on earth
where moth and rust corrupt, but lay up treasure in heaven.
It is better to have the trouble this woman experienced than the
comfort of the rich fool. Do you remember that other parable
of the rich fool? Soul, you have much goods. Eat,
drink, and be merry, and make the most of it. And God said,
you fool, this night your soul shall be required of you. What
good will those things be to you then? No, better to have
the trouble this woman experienced than the comfort of the rich
fool who died without any hope. But look how Jesus answered her.
She comes, oh now, How would our modern evangelists, how would
our churches that are seeking to grow answer? Here comes a
woman, I mean we get so few people, don't we? But here comes a woman
saying, oh Lord help me, help me, and he says to her, what
does he say? Verse 23, what's his answer to
her? Can you see it there? a deafening
silence. He answered her not a word. And
not only that, his disciples said, send her away. She cries
after her. What a killing response that
must have seemed. What a killing response. And
Job said this, Job 13 verse 15, though he God, though he slay
me, Yet will I trust in him. His wife had said to him, look
at the state you're in, Joe. Curse God and die. And he said,
though he slay me, yet will I trust him. There's that harsh response
of the disciples. And then Jesus answers this.
He then does speak. Verse 24, he answered and said,
I'm not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He says, I only came to save
my people. I only came to save from sins
those who are my sheep from eternity, who were lost in the fall. They
were mine. I've only come for them. Do you
know there will be people today who are in respected positions
who, had they been there, they would have rebuked the Lord Jesus
Christ for saying that. I remember nearly 20 years ago
now preaching as clearly as I think I could have done on John 17
verse 2, which is all about the electing grace of God. And it
was at a church that we used to be in, and there was an Arminian
pastor in the congregation that night, and a respected elder Definitely. He rebuked me for
preaching election when an Arminian pastor was in the congregation.
He would have rebuked Jesus Christ for preaching to this, for saying
to this woman, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. But look, look at her reaction. Does she turn and run away? No,
she's a sheep from eternity. She's not a goat who's going
to go away like the John 6 disciples did. Look at her reaction, verse
25. She came and he put her down
so brutally, so it seems. She came and she worshipped him. She said, Lord, help me. That's
her worship. She's assigning to him the only
power and ability to help her situation. She is saying, you
alone are God who controls all things. You alone have the power
of this devil that is tormenting my daughter in your hands. You
can do whatever you will. Even the Heart of the King is
in the hands of God. This I believe. She comes and
she worships Him. This is worship, true worship.
Do we worship God when we gather together? Surely this was Holy
Spirit quickening, making her alive, enlightening her concerning
the person of Christ. Is that not it? Is that not what
it is? To hear and to believe the gospel?
To be enlightened concerning the person of Christ? and to
see that in him alone are unsearchable riches from God. In him alone,
he alone. Where do we see the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God? We don't see it on a retreat
at some Anglican thing that you go away for a weekend with your
friends and think you're getting closer to God. No, you see it
in the face of Jesus Christ as his word is preached. He says
to this woman, I have only come to save my elect people. But
to whom else shall she go? Because she's one of his sheep.
She might not be fully aware of it, but for what she's seeing
of him, she knows there's nowhere else to go. And however much
he put her down, where else could she go? He alone has the words
of eternal life. So she worships him. She worships
him as God, manifest in the flesh. For we read in Colossians that
in him, in Christ, dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
She was doing what the disciples, what John said. He said, we beheld
his glory. We disciples who spent three
years with him and more, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. She
beheld his glory. And she expresses her worship
by pleading, help me, Lord. Oh, now surely he's going to
be sympathetic to this woman now, isn't he? Isn't he going
to put his arm around her and say, yes, of course, come on,
you know, I know. Look what he says in verse 26,
but he answered and said, it is not meet, it's not right to
take bread that's intended for the children and to throw it
to the dogs. And what's he saying in that?
You're just a Gentile dog. You're just a sinner. You've
got no claim. on what I've got. I've got the
children's bread, for I am only come to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. Should I throw it? Should I cast
my pearls before Gentile swine? They'll trample them underfoot."
So another seeming put-down. You're a non-Israelite dog, is
what it seems to say on the surface. You're unbelieving heathen. In
the psalm of Christ on the cross, Psalm 22, verse 16, there, prophetically,
Christ is saying, dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked
have enclosed me. Unbelievers, Gentile unbelievers,
the Romans all around him, putting him to death. So why is he answering
so harshly, this woman? Yes, I've got bread, but it's
only for the children, it's not for you. He is trying her faith. It's not for him to see whether
it's genuine, because he knows all things, but to prove it to
her in her experience, because she keeps going. Look, true faith
keeps going. True faith, which is the gift
of God, keeps going. Verse 27, look at her humble
response. She doesn't say, oh, that's a
horribly nasty thing that you've just said to me. She says, truth,
Lord, you're right. I know you're right. I know absolutely
that you're right. Yet, look at this humble reply,
the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table.
Even the dogs are able to lick up the crumbs that are intended
for the children. Oh, surely there is something
for me. Truth, Lord, I'm a Gentile dog
with no rights, but is it not true that even the dogs can eat
the children's crumbs? Here I am, just as I am without
one plea, says that old hymn, but that thy blood was shed for
such as me. Just as I am, I come. Have you
heard God's grace to his elect being preached? Do you know yourself
to be a sinner, justly condemned by the holy God, whom on that
day of judgment, if you're outside of Christ, you will not charge
God of injustice. You will know that what he has
done and what he is, is absolutely right. Do you fear that you are
not among the number that Christ redeemed by his precious blood?
Do you desire eternal peace? Do you not learn from this woman's
persistence? The hymn that we're going to
sing in closing says this. Hark! How the gospel trumpet
sounds! Christ and free grace therein
abounds! Free grace to such as sinners
be! And I'm a sinner, so if free
grace, why not for me? The Saviour died, and by His
blood brought rebel sinners near to God. He died to set the captives
free. And why, why, my soul, why not
for thee? The blood of Christ, how sweet
it sounds, to cleanse and heal the sinners' wounds. The streams
thereof are rich and free. And why, my soul, why not for
thee? Why not for me? This was a woman
of great faith. Jesus answered, verse 28, and
said unto her, Oh woman, great is thy faith. Oh, you've done
really well in working up such good faith. No, no, no. We know
that faith is the gift of God. Is it not? Ephesians 2 verse
8. You're saved by grace, by the grace of God. What means? What is the means by which you
apprehend it? What is the means by which you see the plants outside
through your eyes? Well, it's through faith that
you apprehend the salvation of God. In that way, you apprehend
it through faith. But that is not of yourselves.
You haven't worked it up. It is the gift of God. Oh woman,
what great faith! Because you are an elect sheep
from before the beginning of time. Yes, you're a Gentile dog
by nature in the flesh, but you're an elect sheep. and hearing my
voice you will come, a true sheep indeed who heard and followed,
one from the most unlikely background. Now, does that not show you what
the Scriptures teach concerning the electing grace of God and
the evangelistic purpose of God, that he calls out those sheep
by the true gospel of his grace, not the false gospel, not the
distorted gospel, not the hidden gospel, not the keep it under
wraps because we'll scare people away gospel. That gospel is the
gospel that he calls his true sheep out of this fallen world. You see, The Lord's arm is not
shortened, says the scripture, that it cannot save even such
as you, whoever you are listening to this, either live now or on
the recording, answer me this question. Is that anti-evangelical
or is that biblical truth unashamedly declared? Amen.