Matthew 15 verse 22 and behold
a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto
him saying Have mercy on me O Lord thou son of David my daughter
is grievously vexed with a devil Something that stood out to me
there was as she asked our Lord to have mercy on her But it was
her daughter who was antagonized by this devil. And when someone
we love is hurting, grievously afflicted, going through hard
times, we pray and we seek mercy for them as though we were seeking
mercy for ourselves. She said, have mercy on me. But
it was her daughter that needed the help. And oh, how I hope
that we can learn from this woman to seek mercy, to seek grace,
to seek salvation for those that we love. the same as we would
ourselves. It's not wrong but scriptural
to pray for our lost children, parents, siblings, even friends
that we love. To seek mercy for them as though
we ourselves might perish. That's what Paul said in Romans
10. He said, Brother, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. I wish I myself could
be accursed, that they might know Christ." And as we can see
in verse 23, our Lord, look at this, He answered, not a word. He answered her, not a word.
And then, on top of that, the disciples came and besought,
and that word in the original language means requested or even
begged, begged the Lord saying, send her away. She cried after
us. She is determined to be heard. And like old blind Bartimaeus,
she just cried out, have mercy on me. And the disciples didn't
like it one bit. They were very disturbed. Send
her away. She's bothering us. She's driving
us crazy. She's getting on our nerves.
You ever have anybody get on your nerves? I remember one time
our daughter, three or four years old, she didn't quite have the
language down yet. And she told Teresa one day,
she said, Mommy, you're stepping on my nerves. This woman was stepping on their
nerves. In verse 24, the Lord speaks
to His disciples, and He says, I'm not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. He's not speaking to the woman.
He didn't speak a word to her. Now, remember, this woman was
a Gentile. She was a Greek. Scripture says
it's Irophenician by nation. And the Lord told His disciples,
and we know she heard Him. He said, I'm sent unto the lost
sheep of Israel, which was God's chosen But friends, I want you
to pay close attention to this. She does that which always gets
the Lord of Glory's attention. Every time. every single time. I wish we could truly learn this.
But Brother David, I hear you say all the time that the Lord
has mercy on whom He'll have mercy. And He has compassion
on whom He'll have compassion. And whom He will, He harnessed.
That's exactly right. Don't ever forget that. But listen,
He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came into
the world to save sinners and He delights to show mercy. The
amazing truth. Now listen, if you want to hear
something amazing, the amazing truth of the Gospel is that He
would have mercy on anyone. That's the amazing thing. When
talking about Jacob and Esau and the Scriptures, the children
not yet being born, neither done any good or evil, the Lord says,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And the men go, well
that's not right. And they say, how could he hate
Esau? They hadn't done anything wrong.
Matter of fact, if you look back in the Old Testament, Esau is
the one that us men would have liked. He was a man's man. He
was a hunter. He was a macho-type fella. Jacob ever loved Esau, ever hated
him. The child of God won't say, how
could he hate Esau? The child of God says, how could
he love Jacob? How could He love me? How could
He love you? We know what we are. The amazing
thing of the Gospel is that He'd have mercy on anyone. But let
me tell you this, when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ the
way this woman did, you'll always get an ear from the Sovereign
Savior. Every time. every single time. Look at verse
25. Then came she, and worshipped
him, saying, Oh, if we could learn to just pray short little
prayers like this. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Now, remember again, our Lord
has yet to speak a single word unto her. And He's heard what
she said, no doubt that He had, and He's ignored her altogether,
and He's spoken only to His disciples. Now, I want us to think about
that for a moment. I did, and I want us to think
about that for a moment. I think that we would all agree
that to be ignored would be worse than someone even saying something
that might offend us. Now, I know this is not the best
illustration, but it's the only one I could think of. Let's say
we go down to a shopping center somewhere, leave our lights on,
we're in for a while, we come out, our battery's dead. That
happens often. And we ask someone for a jump
start and they say no. Well, I'm not going to speak
from you, but I'm going to tell you something, I wouldn't like
that very much. I want some help. I need some
help. No. But we'd have to consider that
maybe there was a good reason why they couldn't help. But if
we asked someone for help and they just ignored us, I believe
it upset us. I know it would mean. Have you
ever walked by someone and spoke to them, said hello, and they
didn't say nothing? They don't say hello, don't acknowledge
you or nothing? Can I make a confession to you? That makes me mad. What,
you can't say hello? Hi, how you doing? Walk by, no
expression whatsoever. How dare you not speak to me?
Who am I? This woman was in dire straits.
She was desperate. In her mind, there was no one
else that could grant her request. This was much more serious than
just a run-down battery. If somebody ignored us in a situation
like that, we'd just ask someone else. And sure enough, someone
would be kind enough to help us. But what does she do to the
very one who doesn't answer her word and completely ignores her?
She begs. She begs. That's what dogs do. They beg. Falling at his feet
in worship, she begs, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Verse 26, but he answered and
said, It's not meat, it's not fit to take the children's bread
and cast it to dogs. Now, do you know what we would
call that where I'm from? We'd call that adding insult
to injury. You've already ignored me and
now you call me a dog? She's begging for help. She worships
him knowing that he is Lord. And he says it's not right to
take bread out of the children's mouth and throw it to the dogs.
But she will not be offended. She will not be repulsed. She
will not be distracted. She has come for a blessing from
the only one that can bless her. A blessing she will have and
she's going to plead for it until she receives it. What a lesson
to be learned there. So I want to quickly give you
three things that every true mercy-seeking beggar can learn
from this needy sinner. Three quick things. The first
is always agree with the Lord. Always agree with the Lord. The
sinner who receives mercy is always the sinner that takes
sides with God against themselves. You've heard me say that many
times. That's the first thing God will teach a sinner. God
says, you're a dog. You're a no-good, dead-dog sinner. And you'll sit there and go,
that's right, Lord. That's exactly what I am. That takes a work
of grace in the heart. Teresa and I have a couple of
old dogs over there. And I'm going to tell you something,
I can go over there after church and I can look at either one
of those two dogs. One of them big, one of them
little. And I can say, you know what? You're just a rotten, good-for-nothing
dog. And you know what? Neither one
of them will be offended. You know why? Because they're
dogs. They're dogs. So let me repeat
it again. A dead dog sinner will always,
always, always take sides with God against himself. Look at
verse 27. And she said, truth Lord. In Mark's account, it's translated,
yes Lord, I'm a dog. Whatever Jesus said, she didn't
contradict him in the least. She didn't go on the defensive
and say, well, I might not be the best person in the world,
but I'm no dog. I've heard people all my life,
or my adult life anyway, say things like, well, I'm not perfect. But I sure ain't as bad as so-and-so."
Yes, you are. Yes, you are. And so am I. She agrees with the Lord. That's
my first point. She agrees with the Lord. She
takes sides with Him against herself. What she's saying here
is what you're saying, Lord, is right and it's true. And I
agree with you. I'm a dog. It's not right to
take the children's bread and give it to a dog like me. Isn't
that amazing? You tell me that don't take a
work of grace. Those of you that have experienced
that grace know that to be so. You take sides with God and you
say, yeah, Lord, you're exactly right. That's what I am. Now,
I want to speak to believers just for a moment. Do you remember
when God brought you to the end of yourself? Do you remember
when you said, He's talking about me. He's talking about me right
there. Know you're capable of doing
the most hideous and horrible things if God would leave you
to yourself. God revealed to your heart that
you're a dead dog sinner deserving only death. I heard a wonderful
illustration recently from Paul Mahan. I'm going to try the best
I can to tell it to you. And I may get a few little things
wrong, but it won't change the illustration. Paul decided one
day that he was going to adopt a dog. It came out in the local
paper that they had several dogs that were going to be put to
sleep the next day. So Paul goes to the shelter and
he explained it like this. He said, you know, they had a
roll of cages. down both sides of a room and
he began to walk down the little hallway between the cages and
he looked here and he looked there and he said, there were
some fine looking dogs. Some full-blooded, pedigree-type
dogs, all of them wagging their tail. And he said, but I just
kept walking. He said, finally I got to the
last cage. And he said, there was the ugliest
little dog you ever saw in your life. And Paul fell in love with
her. So he picked that dog, the least
attracted, the least desirable, was the one that he was drawn
to. So Paul picked the dog and said,
I want that one right there. And they said, OK, now you need
to sign some papers. He said, sign some papers? They
said, yeah, we kind of have a rule here that you have to sign some
papers promising to treat the dog well, that you're going to
keep the dog. You're not going to just go right
out here and give the dog to someone else that won't take
care of her. So he signed the papers and picked up the dog
and fixed the head out. And they said, oh, by the way,
that's $75. He said, $75? You're going to euthanize this
dog tomorrow? Well, nevertheless, it's $75. I don't know if that paid for
the shots and being spayed or if it was just a fee, but Paul
said he reached in his pocket and he paid the $75. And when
he left with that dog, he said, that's my dog. That's my dog. I chose her. She was the least
attractive of all, less desirable. I signed papers stating that
I'd take care of her. I paid good money for her. That's
my dog. And that dog loved him. I said
that to say this. It seems to me that God seems
to choose the least attractive, the least desirable. He did when
he chose me. I know that. I'm sure you feel
the same. And our Lord, He signed with
blood, the blood of His precious Son, an everlasting covenant
that promises to always do good to those He adopts into His kingdom. Doesn't He? And God the Son paid
the ultimate price for good-for-nothing, dead dog sinners. They're bought
with a price. That's what Paul said. He said,
you're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God. We're dogs. But we're His dogs. And I'd rather
be His dog than anything else. The second thing is always plead
with the Lord. That's what this woman did. This
woman took sides with God against herself. She said, yes Lord,
true Lord, I'm a dog. But notice that one little word
there, yet. Yet. She begins to plead. Yet. She adds that word. She wisely sets one truth against
another. One old writer said, do not contradict
a frowning truth, but bring up a smiling one to meet it. I like
that. I hear people whom the Lord saves
say things like, my sin is awful. It's an awful thing. It is. I
say that. My sin is an awful thing. It
condemns me. I feel as though God cannot forgive
me for this and forgive me for that. The things that I've done,
oh my, how could He? I could never answer the Lord
for the things that I've done. You can't. You're exactly right.
But remember another truth. The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. We set the truth of the sin bearing
work of substitution of our Lord over against the guilt and curse
of our sin. The wages of sin is death. Justice
demands death. But remember, yet, That God commended
His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. That's what she did. She said,
true Lord, I'm a dog. Yet. Even the dogs get the crumbs
from the master's table. Oh my. There's many today who
stumble at the sovereignty of God. He'll have mercy on whom
he'll have mercy. And our Lord can justly say,
shall I not do as I will with my own? Beloved, don't dispute
the rights of the eternal God. It is the Lord. Let him do as
he seemeth good. Don't quarrel with the king,
but come humbly to him and plead, O Lord, you alone have the right
to pardon. But your word declares that if
we confess our sins, you're faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We don't argue with God, we just
live on the Scriptures. We say, Oh Lord, I know that
you are angry with the wicked every day. But Christ paid for
my sin. Lord, you said in your word that
whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.
I know I'm a wretch. I know I'm a dog. I know I deserve
death and condemnation. But I believe on your beloved
Son who gave himself for me. That's what she did. True Lord,
I'm a dog. Yet, Even dogs, even dogs get
the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Third thing,
and I'm done. Have faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ no matter what He says. No matter what He says. However
He tries you, always believe in Him with unstaggering faith
and know of a surety that He deserves your utmost confidence
in His love and power. Whatever the Lord says or does,
have faith in Him alone. He's too wise to err. He's too
holy to deal unjustly. He's the Lord of mercy. She cried,
have mercy on me. Have faith enough dear here to
believe that you need mercy. That's where it starts. Do you
have enough faith to see that you need mercy? Only the guilty need and seek
mercy. Believe that God delights to
give mercy. God delights to give grace where
it cannot be deserved. God likes to forgive where there
is no reason for forgiveness except for His own goodness. Faith has an object and that
object is Christ. He's the friend of men and women
who are ruined by their guilt and sin. This man receives sinners. He eats with them. He drinks
with them. He's the willing Savior of a people sinful and defiled. The friend of sinners. That's
the kind of friend I need. Because that's what I am. True
Lord. Yes, Lord, you're right. I'm
a dog. I'm a dead dog. I'm unworthy. But even a dog gets those little
crumbs that fall from the Master's tail. Let me tell you something.
A crumb from the Lord of Glory will fill you up. It will fill
you up. Oh, will you not trust such a
Savior as this? Our Lord didn't come into the
world to save superior people, did He? No. He didn't come into
the world to save those who think that they're saints already.
He didn't come to save those that are whole. He came to save
those that are sick. Those that are whole have no
need. Do you hear that? This woman
had need. Sinners have need. They need
grace and mercy. from the Lord of Glory. He came
to save the lost, the ruined, the guilty, the unworthy, true
Lord. Yet dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from the Master's table. I close my Bible. If yours is
still open, look at verse 28 in closing. Then Jesus answered
and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. I give you what you came for.
And the scripture says, and her daughter was made whole from
that very hour. Can you hear him say, look unto
me and be ye saved? All the ends of the earth, for
I'm God and there's none else. Do you hear the master say that?
Look. Look to Him now. Look to Him
alone. And as you look to Him, look to Him in faith, and He'll
look on you with loving acceptance and say, Great is thy faith,
being unto thee even as thou wilt. And the center of God grants
you this grace. And there's no reason that He
won't if you come to Him the way this woman did. You'll be
saved this very hour. And though one comes who grievously
decks with the devil, they shall go out at peace with God. Oh, may the Lord add His blessings
to the preaching of His Word. What a story. What a story. That
woman pictures me. Doesn't she picture you?