I've entitled this message, He
Could Not Be Hid. I never noticed this before the
preparation of this message. As many times as I've tried to
preach from this passage, mostly out of Matthew's account, I had
never noticed this, verse 24. Mark chapter 7, and from thence
he arose and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered
into an house, and would have no man know it.
He wanted privacy. He didn't want to deal with people
at this time. And he could not be hid. It appears he wanted privacy,
He would have no man know he was there, but he could not be
hid. Now, what's that mean? Do you remember after that he
said before, Abraham was, I am, do you remember what happened?
They took up stones to stone him, but he hid. himself. Where'd he go? When that angry lynch mob in
Luke chapter four brought him up to the brow of the hill to
cast him down headlong, he went his way. What happened? Somehow he was hidden. And then in John's conclusion,
in John chapter 12, of the Lord's public ministry. And after that,
he just spake privately with his disciples. But the conclusion
of his public ministry went like this. These things spake Jesus
and departed and did hide himself from them. Oh, if the Lord hides himself
from me, I'll surely not find him. But here, he could not be hid. Now, this is not a denial of
his omnipotence. It's not like he lacked the ability
to be hid, he's all powerful. He could not be hid because he
willed not to be hid from this woman or any woman or man or
boy or girl like this. The reason he could not be hid
is because he willed not to be hid. Now turn back to Matthew's
account in Matthew chapter 15 for just a moment. As a matter
of fact, it would be good if you'd keep your finger there
also in Matthew's account. And I want to read the conclusion
of this story. Verse 28. Then Jesus answered after this
transaction took place, Then Jesus answered and said unto
her, O woman, great is thy faith. And that's the Lord's summary
of this woman's faith. And he's the only one who really
knows what great faith is. O woman, great is thy faith. You know, we don't read where
he said anything like that to any of the 12, do we? He said,
oh, ye of little faith. He said, where is your faith? He said, how is it that you have
no faith? I don't read where he ever said
to any of the 12, oh, John, oh, Peter, oh, Thomas, oh, Philip,
great is thy faith. We read nothing of the kind.
But to this woman, this Gentile woman, this Syrophoenician woman,
he says, oh, woman, great is thy faith. You see, the Lord
cannot be hid from this kind of faith. I say this with, I hope, reverence. He cannot be hid from this kind
of faith because he wills not to be hid from this kind of faith. He loves this faith because he
is the author of it and because it puts such infinite glory and
greatness on his sacred person. That's why he says to this woman,
oh woman, great is thy faith. Now, look back in Mark's account,
verse 24. And from Vince, he arose and
went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. Now, why was he going
to Tyre and Sidon. Same reason it says he must need
to go through Samaria. One of his elect were there.
Somebody that he was going to make himself known to, and he's
coming after one of his sheep. Aren't you thankful the Lord
came after you? Oh, aren't you thankful the Lord
came after you? This woman we read of was there
and he's coming after her. And I love to think about what
this woman said. And from thence he rose and went
into the borders of Tyre and Sidon and entered into a house
and would have no man know it, but he could not be hid for a
certain woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard of
him. and came and fell at his feet. Now, before we get into the greatness
of this woman's faith, and we know it was great because the
Lord deemed it as great. If you would have asked any of
Christ's disciples to find great faith, I dare say none of them
would say that this woman's faith was great faith. As a matter
of fact, she irritated him. Send her away. She crieth after
us. She's getting on our nerves. But the Lord deemed this faith
that they brushed off and dismissed as great faith. And let me also say this, there
is no reason as to why you and I should not have this woman's
great faith. Somebody says, well, I could
never have great faith. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let's listen and see what it
was she said. Now, the first thing I would
have us notice in verse 25, for a certain woman whose young daughter
had an unclean spirit, heard of him. And this is where faith
begins. She heard, faith cometh by hearing. What's going on right now, faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. What did she hear? She heard
of Him. You know, isn't that what true
preaching is? The declaration of Him. Let me repeat that. True preaching
is the declaration of Him, who He is. He's God the Son. He's the second person of the
blessed Trinity, the eternal Son of God, the creator of the
universe. It was He who said, let us make
man in our own image. He's God the Son. What did He
do? He became flesh. In the flesh. He kept God's holy law perfectly
and worked out a perfect righteousness. And He did it for somebody. He did this for somebody. In the flesh, He was made sin. This One who created the universe
was made sin. His Father made Him sin. That's
why He died on the cross. And you know what He did by that?
He put away that sin. My sin, if he died for me, is
gone. I don't have any sin. He was raised from the dead for
our justification. Everybody he died for, he justified. True faith is in him. I could go on and on about that,
couldn't I? True faith is in him. True preaching is the preaching
of Him, who He is, what He did, what He accomplished, and where
He is now, seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling and
reigning. True faith is in Him. Now somebody
says, I could never have great faith. Now wait a minute, wait
a minute. Faith has nothing to do with what you believe about
yourself. Let me repeat that. I want this to sink into everybody's
ears and heart. Faith has nothing to do with
what you believe about yourself. Somebody says, well, I think
I'm saved. That doesn't mean you are. That's all that faith
is. Well, I'm afraid I'm not saved. Well, that doesn't mean
you're not. Because that's not what faith is. Faith has wholly
to do with what you believe concerning the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I love what the Ethiopian eunuch,
here's water, what hinders me from being baptized? If you believe
with all your heart, you may. I love his answer. I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe he is who he
says he is. Now that's faith. Now let me
give you something of my own experience, and I bet every believer
in here will know exactly what I'm saying. There's not a day
that goes by where at some point I say to myself in my own heart,
I could not possibly be saved. How could I commit sins repetitively
like that if I really were saved? How could I think the things
I think if I really were saved? I don't see how I could possibly
be saved. Does that ever go through your
mind? Well, let me ask you a question.
I'm asking myself a question. Same question. If I didn't do those things and
think those things, could I think, well, then I am saved. You see, all that is is another
form of self-righteousness. That's all it is. If I didn't
do those things, if I didn't think those things, then I'm
saved. You know what that's called?
Looking to yourself. That's all that is. Looking to
yourself. Now we still have the flesh and
we're going to do that. I can't wait till it no longer
happens, but that's called looking to yourself. That's not faith.
Faith has wholly to do with what you think concerning him. I love what the Lord said to
those blind men. Do you believe? that I am able to do this. Yay, Lord! That's what faith is. It's what
you believe concerning him. Now, what did she do? Look in
verse 25, for a certain woman whose young daughter had an unclean
spirit heard of him and came and fell at his feet. Now that's
the posture of worship. And if you or I ever hear of
him, that is precisely what we will do. We will fall at his
feet in worship. Somebody says, well, I've not
done that. Then you haven't heard. Because
everybody without exception who hears him falls at his feet in
worship. Look back once again to Matthew's
account. Verse 22, Matthew 15, verse 22. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying, have mercy
on me. Oh Lord, thou son of David, my
daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. Three things
this woman demonstrated in her speech. First, have mercy. on me. No plea based on merit or desert,
just mercy. And let me tell you this, the
only time you truly ask for mercy is when your sin is all your
fault. You're not a victim. Your sin is all your fault. You can't justify yourself. You
can't vindicate yourself. You can't blame other people.
If they weren't this way, this wouldn't have happened to me.
It's their fault. Like Adam in the garden, the woman you gave
me, she gave me the fruit and I did eat. If you wouldn't have
given me this woman, this would have never taken place. That's
not the confession of sin. That's not asking for mercy.
This woman came for mercy. Why? Because her sin was all
her fault. You only ask for mercy when you
are guilty. Have mercy upon me. Here's the
second thing. Oh Lord, thou son of David. Now, she came for the right thing,
mercy, and she came knowing who He is. He's the Lord. Do you know that? He's the Lord! He's the Lord
of creation. He spake the universe into existence. He's the Lord of Providence.
That means He controls everybody and everything and every event. Are you taking that too far?
No. He's the first, that's what His Lordship means. He's the
first cause of everything. I wouldn't want it to be any other way,
would you? He's the Lord of salvation. That means your salvation is
utterly up to Him. You are in His hand, and He can
do with you whatsoever He is pleased to do. He's the Lord,
and He's the Son of David. She knew that. Lord, thou Son
of David, God's promised Messiah, the Christ, God's prophet. repeating this. I've said this
I know a lot in the last probably six months and I like it even
more every time I say it. He never said, thus saith the
Lord. He said, I say it to you. He is the very Word of God. He's God's priest and he's not
one of these Levitical priests who brings the blood of an animal
sacrifice. He brings his own blood into
the Father's presence. He's the King of kings. He's
the one whose will is always done. Jesus, thou son of David,
he's the Lord. He's the son of David. And she
had a great need. She said, my daughter, my daughter is completely possessed
with the devil. She's demon possessed. Now, somebody
says, well, that was something that happened way back when.
Now, wait a minute. Turn with me for a moment. I'd like you
to look at this, Ephesians chapter two. Verse two. Ephesians chapter two, verse
two. Wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature the children of
wrath, even like everybody else. Sounds to me like me and you
have been grievously vexed, possessed, controlled by the devil himself. Verse 23 of Matthew 15, But he answered her, not a word. It appeared that he was ignoring
her, that she was unworthy of a response. She comes with this
great need. She comes seemingly the right
way. And he answered her, not a word. He ignored her. He did not respond. Now, he would one day deal with
the silence of the father, when he would cry out, my God, my
God, why have you forsaken me? And there would be nothing but
the awful silence from heaven. But at this time, he gives her
the silent treatment. He answered her, A word. Have you ever had the silent
treatment? Where you know anything you say is not getting past the
ceiling. He answered her, not a word. Now the first thing that can
be seen about great faith, and listen to me, the first thing
that can be seen about great faith is it cannot be silenced. Verse 23, And his disciples came
and besought him, and begged him, saying, Send her away! Get
rid of this woman! She crieth after us. She won't
stop crying. She's driving us crazy. Send
her away. When you have nowhere else to
go and no other options, you will continue to cry. That's
just so. You won't stop. Will you also
go away? To whom shall we go? It's not
like we have any other options. There's no other place to go.
If you don't have mercy on me, I'm toast. There's no hope for
me. I'm totally dependent upon you
doing something for me. She continued to cry. I like to think of that man that
came at midnight for the three loaves and the fella said, leave
me alone. I'm in bed. I'm not getting up. My children are in bed with me.
Go away. What happened? I said I'm in
bed. No! Well, that fellow figured
out he wasn't gonna get any sleep unless he got up and gave the
fellow the loaves. What about the widow woman and
the unjust judge said, I'm not, by her continual coming, that's
the word used, by her continual coming, she's gonna wear me.
I'm gonna go ahead and give her what she wants. Now that doesn't
mean that the Lord is waiting to see how earnest you are, but
I know this, You're not earnest enough. I'm not earnest enough.
But I know this too. I got nowhere else to go and
I'm going to continue to cry for mercy. Great faith is not
stopped by the conduct of Christ's disciples. How hard-hearted they
seem. Send her away. And these are
Christ's disciples. Send her away. She crieth after
us. What an inflated view of yourselves,
fellas. She wasn't crying after you. She was crying after him. Sometimes, oftentimes people
balk at the poor conduct of Christ's disciples and even use it as
an excuse. Look at them, what's the point?
Not great faith. Great faith goes beyond the poor
conduct of Christ's disciples and continues to cry For him, I think of Bartimaeus. Shut up, Bartimaeus! Hold your
peace! You know what the scripture says
Bartimaeus did? He cried the more a great deal. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Verse 24, but he answered. Now he says something now. He
had been giving her silence, Now he says something. But he
answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Her faith could not be stopped. by the sovereignty of God in
salvation. Now, I want you to consider exactly
what the Lord says to this woman. I'm not sent to save everybody. I am only sent for the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. I have only come to save the
elect. I didn't come to save all men.
with that exception, I came to save the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. Now he's telling this woman in
no uncertain terms, I was not sent by my father to save all
men. I've only come for the elect. Now, let me tell you this. If
he was sent to save all men, one of two things are true. All
men are saved or he failed in his intentions. But he came only for the lost
sheep of the house of Israel, the elect, those the father gave
him. Now, does your heart object to
this? How could that be fair? How could
it be fair for Him to only come to save a certain number of people? And maybe I'm not one of them.
Does your heart object to this? Well, let me translate that for
you. When you say, how can that be
fair? You say, is not fair. You say, I am more righteous
than God. You say, I am sitting in judgment
upon God. You've become God's judge. I
love the way Paul responded to that. Nay, but old man, Who are
you to reply against God? And this woman didn't think that
way. She didn't say, how could this be fair? I'm being treated
wrongly. Look how she responded to this. But he answered and
said unto her, I'm not sent, but into the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. Then came she, and worshiped
him. Now let me say in no uncertain
terms, you cannot preach the gospel and not say that Christ
came only for the elect. It is impossible to preach the
gospel and not preach that. Somebody that doesn't preach
that is a false prophet. a preacher of works, someone
who that does not know the living God. Now, what's your response to
him coming for the elect? I know what her response was.
Then came she and worshiped him. You know, you'll only worship
Somebody said, well, we had a worship service. Well, I don't know whether
you did or not, but I do know this. You'll only worship an
absolute sovereign. You're in his hand and he can
do with you whatsoever he's pleased to do. Then came she and worshiped
him, saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. If you don't help me, I'm destroyed. I got nowhere else to go. This didn't keep her from coming
to the Lord. Lord, help me. Verse 26, but he answered and said, it's
not meet. It's not appropriate. It's not
right. to take the children's bread
and cast it to dogs. Now, what would you think of
someone who fed the dogs over their kids? That'd be bad, wouldn't
it? Take the food and give it to
the dogs instead of the children. He said, it's not right to take
the children's bread and to cast it to the dogs. Wow. My help is for my children
and not for dogs. Now in the scripture, dogs are
not man's best friend. There was a man in the Old Testament
named Hazel and Elijah told him all these bad things he was gonna
do. He said, am I a dog that I'd
do such things? I mean, the dogs were as low
as you could get, not man's best friend. What did Mephibosheth
say to David? Who am I that you'd look upon
such a dead dog as me? My help is for my children, not
for dogs. The Lord is casting her in a
very unworthy light. But that was no hindrance to
her faith. I'm not coming in my own worthiness,
but for your great mercy. I need to be saved from myself,
not by myself. I'm coming for mercy. Now, great
faith never, it continues to cry, and here's the second thing
about great faith. Great faith never disputes what
Christ says. There's no objections at all
concerning this statement. Not only Are there no objections? There's complete agreement. Yes, Lord. Truth, Lord. If I ever heard
the truth, that is it. There is full agreement. I'm a dog. And not only did she
assent, or give her full agreement, she did so worshiping him. Yes, Lord. Truth, Lord. Nor did she try to alter anything
he said. You say I'm a dog. Well, I'll
take the ground you give me. I'm not coming as a child. I'm
coming as a dog. I may not be your child. I wouldn't
presume on that. You see, when the Lord does something
for somebody, He brings them down. That's that He might raise
them up. I think of the prodigal. You
remember when he finally came to himself and he comes to the
father and says to his father, I'm not coming on the ground
of being a son. I've sinned against heaven and
in thy sight and I forfeited all rights. I'm not coming as
your son. Just make me as one of your hired servants. This
woman had the same attitude. I confess, I'm a dog. I'm not coming as a child. I'm
coming as a dog. But I'm your creature. I'm your
dog. And even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. That's all I'm asking for as
a dog, having the crumbs of your mercy that fall my way. Now,
I really believe that the world would be critical of this woman. Has she no self-respect? Has
she no self-esteem? Can't she bring anything? No.
No. Verse 28, verse 27. And she said, truth
Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master's
table. And Mark's account says, the
Lord said, for this saying, for this saying, go that way. And
here in Matthew's account, he says, oh woman, great is thy
faith. Now hear the words of the only
one who can make an accurate assessment. If you ask me what
great faith is, I wouldn't come up with the right answer, neither
would you. But here our Lord tells us what great faith is. Oh woman, great is thy faith. And where did the greatness of
her faith lie? Now, before I go on, there's
no reason why everybody in this room should not have this great
a faith. You say, I could never have great
faith. Now let me remind you, faith doesn't have anything to
do with what you think about yourself. Nothing. It has with what you
think concerning Him. This woman had a high and exalted
view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there any reason for you not
to? He's the Lord. He's the son of David. He is
the one who came to successfully save the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. He's the successful savior. He
cannot fail. There won't be anybody in hell
that he died for. He came to save the lost sheep
of the house of Israel and saved they must be. He is the object
of worship. Do you believe that? Do you fall
at his feet? He's the only one who can help
me. He's the one who whatever he says, I don't dispute it. I'm in complete agreement with
whatever he says because of who he is. I'm not trying to alter
it or change it. I don't presume to be a child,
but I come on the ground you give as a dog. Seeking the crumbs
of your mercy, oh woman. Great is thy faith. Turn back to Mark's account.
Mark chapter seven. Verse 28, and she answered and
said unto him, yes, Lord, Do you say that to anything the
Lord says? Yes, Lord. You're a dog. Yes, Lord. Yes,
Lord. You don't deserve the place of
a child. Yes, Lord. Yet the dogs under the table
eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, for this
saying, Go thy way. The devil is gone out of your
daughter. Now listen to me. Your sin is
gone. If you're in Christ, your sin
is gone. It's not. It's not. Verse 30, and when she was come
to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon her
bed. That's what she came home to.
Now, the only thing that would prevent me and you from having
the exact same great faith as this woman is what? P-R-I-D-E. Pride. That's all. May the Lord give us the grace
to throw that pride away and come to the Lord like this woman
did, who the Lord said, O woman, great is thy faith. Let's pray
together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name,
that name that's above every name, that you would deal with
us as you did with this woman. and give us the faith of this
woman. For Christ's sake, in His name
we pray, amen.