well please turn with me in Matthew's gospel to Matthew chapter 15 verses 21 to 28 where we meet this desperate mother verse 25 then she came and worshipped him saying Lord help me what we'll do is we'll open up the passage and then we'll draw two points verse 21 then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon so Jesus travels beyond the borders of the Jewish world to the Gentile lands of Tyre and Sidon and behold a woman of Canaan came from that region cried out to him saying have mercy on me O Lord son of David my daughter is severely demon possessed Mrs. I should go home now don't waste your breath what do you thank God for every morning? in an ancient world the Jew would rise and thank God that A. he wasn't a gentile and B. he wasn't a woman well A. she's a gentile B. she's a woman and C. the one in need is her daughter no self-respecting rabbi is going to have anything to do with a gentile woman especially a Canaanite with all the overtures which that carries in the Jewish mind young clean filthy Canaanites madam I should go home now and you get the sense don't you that everything's telling her to pack it in before she makes a bigger fool of herself She's having, verse 22, to cry out to Jesus. She's having to work hard even just to get his attention. Maybe the disciples are shielding him from her. A little woman and all these big heavies, these fishermen. She's having to, as it were, send her words over their shoulders to Jesus. She's having to cry out. Well, why doesn't she pack it in? Because she's desperate. My daughter is severely demon possessed. Think of it. Mark tells us that she's a young daughter. So her little girl is captive to another, to an evil spiritual entity, a demon. This little girl's personality is being submerged beneath the demon. She's being dehumanized. A nightmare existence. Think of it. What was life like for this mother? To witness her daughter's distress and unable to do anything to help. To live in constant fear that her daughter might injure herself. And you go to embrace your daughter, but that embrace is rejected. You want to shield her and protect her, but your daughter seems a stranger to you. Do you think it must have pierced that poor woman's heart? Do you think her heart is breaking? She looks a little girl. What can she do? She's desperate. But, she's heard the reports. She's heard the reports of him. That the coming one has come. That the promised one is here. She's heard the reports how with a word he casts out demons. And though he's the Jewish Messiah, he's now stepped into the world of the Gentiles. So what will she do with this news? What would you do? Well, she goes seeking his help. And if it's hard getting his attention, then verse 22, she'll cry out all the louder, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. my daughter is severely demon possessed if he's Lord then surely he has the power to save if he's the son of David then surely he'll be willing to save have mercy on me verse 23 but he answered her not a word isn't that shocking thou art coming to a king, large petitions with thee bring." But the king apparently ignores her. Have you ever been ignored? We all have, haven't we? It's wretched. You think, well have they heard me? Have they seen me? I'm being ignored. Well if that's bad enough, what's it like to be ignored when you're pleading with someone for help? that wasn't bad enough, the heavies now move in, don't they, verse 23 and his disciples came and urged him saying send her away for she cries out after us we can't stand the noise of this woman anymore, send her away maybe they're saying Lord just do what she says, just help her out then we'll be shot of her so what does Jesus do, verse 24 but he answered and said I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel if from Jesus silence she suspected that he was unwilling to help he now makes that unwillingness abundantly plain I was sent to the Jews I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel what then have I to do with you a Gentile she's not even entitled to his help Go home. But does she? Does she? Why not? Because there's nowhere else to go. Jesus is her only hope. So she won't let go. So what does she do next? Verse 25. Then she came and worshipped him saying, Lord help me. She just casts herself at his feet and says, Lord, help me. There's no reasoning, no arguing. It's just sighs and please. When have you been so desperate to throw yourself at someone's feet and say, help me. We think, well, that's got to do it, hasn't it? Jesus has got to be moved now. is he? verse 26 but he answered and said it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs well that's it now you've had a good try don't waste your time anymore it's plain that Jesus is not going to help if there was any dying ember of hope Jesus has taken a large bucket of water and just thrown it over it He says, God's blessings are for his children. Will I rob the children to give to you? Will I take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs? I was sent to the sheep, not to little Gentile dogs like you. Whether Jesus' silence was indifference and his first reply seeming unwillingness to help, this reply seems openly hostile, doesn't it? It seems calculated to drive her away. But does it? No. She perseveres. She comes back. If she's going to perish, let it be at the feet of Jesus. But things are not quite what they seem. Because contrary to appearances, Jesus' reply actually leaves the door open and she catches hold of his words and she turns them round verse 27 and she said yes Lord yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. She may look like a little dog but she sounds like a sheep doesn't she? Whatever her pedigree She calls Jesus Master and Lord. Yes, Lord. Yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Do you see what she's saying? Today we had friends for lunch and we had some scraps of food and we opened the back door and we threw the scraps out for Mr. Chuffy the cat and his friend Clive, another cat. And ate the scraps. Did we starve because they were eating the scraps? Did we go without because the cats ate? Of course not. Do you see what she's saying? She's saying, Lord, your blessings are so rich and free, will the children really miss the crumbs that fall from the table? And a few crumbs is all I ask for. The least of your mercies will be enough to heal my daughter. Look what happens now, verse 28. Jesus can bear it no longer. He breaks. The hand that apparently pushes her away is the hand onto which she now holds. And he says, O woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire. And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Someone's put it like this, if Jesus was seemingly pushing her away with his left hand, he was drawing her with his right. And every refusal is calculated to draw her on, to draw her nearer, to bring out that naked trust in himself. Real faith, great faith. Oh woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire. Can you hear the pleasure in his voice? as he yields to her cry. Oh, he's been longing to answer all along. He's been holding back for her sake. He's been holding back to draw her on, to deepen her faith, until all is turned towards him, independence. So, he can stand it no more. He says, Oh, I surrender. You've conquered me. Let it be as you desire. Well, two points as we look at these things. Point number one, Christian friends. Praying for our children. Now this woman's daughter was severely demon-possessed. What could she do? She was helpless. So she went to the only one who could help. Verse 25, she came and worshipped him saying, Lord, help me. She prays to Jesus on behalf of her daughter. If her daughter can't speak, then she'll speak for her. If her daughter is unwilling, well, she is willing. And she won't let the matter rest until Jesus answers. Now, Christian friends, our children bring great joys, don't they? But they also, at times, sadly, bring great sorrows. And if they're not filled with the Spirit of God, they're filled with another spirit. What then am I to do? Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. I must go to the King on their behalf. I must intercede in their cause. If they won't plead for themselves, then I will plead for them. I won't let the matter rest until he has answered. And Christian friend, don't wait until your children are half grown. Don't wait until they're knocking on the door of their teenage years before you start getting serious about praying for them. Pray while they're still babies. As babies, they're not innocent, unneedful of the grace of God. They're sinners. Pray for them. Maybe Christian friend, they're growing up fast. Maybe like this woman, you feel that your child is no longer your own. They're no longer under your control. You're afraid of what they might do to themselves. And there's a sense in which you long to hug them, but your overtures are rejected. And you want to shield your child, as you always have done, but they behave as though they're a stranger towards you. And one mother saying to me of her rebellious teenage boy, she said, oh, and he used to be so lovely. They grow up, don't they? Sadly, they grow up in the grip of sin. It's not the Spirit of God that rules their lives. What am I to do? Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. my daughter is severely demon-possessed I must go to Jesus they may be out of my reach but with a word he can heal them this very hour next week's our prayer week and I hope that together at those prayer meetings we can plead with God for our unconverted children have mercy oh Lord But Christian friend, maybe you've done all of that. When you first prayed for your child, you were full of hope. But heaven's been silent. And you wonder, well, does God care? But you persevered in prayer. You've kept on. And there's still no answer. And you'd be wondering, well, is God unwilling? He can help, but he doesn't seem to want to help. But you've kept on and still no answer and now for all the world it looks like that heaven is hostile to your prayer. It seems as though God doesn't want to know, as though he's saying to you, well go away, drop it, leave it. Is that how it feels? Maybe all you have left is sighs and tears we do is fall before him and say Lord help me I run out of arguments I've got nothing more to say other than help me have mercy on me and your child's far from God and is breaking your heart what shall we say look at this woman why did she keep going because there's nowhere else to go there's no one else to help A Christian friend, you can't give up. There's no other God to go to. And maybe there's more here. When we pray, not only do we spread our helplessness before God, but as we pray, God fills us. He fills us with His fullness. He fills us with His Spirit. As although we have no answer, we find that supernaturally we have the strength to go on asking. And though in one sense everything is saying, give up, don't bother, stop. We have an inner resolution that's not ours, that's been given to us, to keep on praying. It's coming from Him, isn't it? by his spirit. There's a sense in which he's apparently not answering our prayers. And yet the fact that we can't let go, the fact that we can't give up, the fact that we keep on pressing the points, is because secretly he's giving us the grace to pray on. And at once it does look like he's pushing us away. But actually he's drawing us on. strengthening our faith. He's stripping away those unholy motives so that all that's left is naked trust in Him. So we fall to His feet and say, Lord help me! You see, even when He appears against us, He's been on our side all the time. A Christian friend, never forget Jesus loves to be caught in his words. Verse 27, she said, yes Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. She's responding to his words, he's thrown out the words and she's caught hold of them and she's come back at him. So keep your Bible open and pray on. While Jesus lives, no cause is hopeless, is it? Augustine of Hippo had a Christian mother, Monica. A very godly mother. In spite of her influence, Augustine went far from God. A young man with a strong body and a brilliant mind, he gave himself to sex, pleasure, gambling, and all sorts of philosophical and intellectual games. His mother prayed on. God alone witnessed all her sighs and tears for her son. But her son went from bad to worse. If the Lord was indifferent, was he now unwilling? But she prayed on. Augustine later wrote, my mother, your faithful one, wept to you for me more than mothers weep for the bodily deaths of their children. She wept more for her son than if her son had died. But she cried her tears in God's lap. She pressed the point. And then the thing that Monica feared most was the thing that happened. Brilliant Augustine moved from Carthage to Rome. Rome, where now nothing would be denied him. Rome, where there would now be nothing to stop him running headlong into hell. Was this God's response to all her tears? Was this his hostile, give up, go home? Was this his rejection? But she prayed on with renewed urgency. God was driving her on to pursue her son with her prayers until the hour came when God yielded to her. Oh woman, great is your faith, let it be to you as you desire. And it was in Italy that Augustine was wonderfully saved. He became one of the greatest minds and leaders in the Christian Church. Pursued relentlessly by the prayers of his mother until God was conquered until God said let it be to you as you desire. Is Jesus willing to help you? Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. Point number two as we put all these things together is praying for ourselves I want to talk to those of you who aren't Christians. Are you seeking to know God? Have you been praying to God, have mercy on me, O Lord? You've been asking, look, I want to be a real Christian, I want the real thing. I want you to save me. You really are serious about it, you really have been asking. And nothing's happened, as far as you're aware. And you're wondering, well, has God heard me? He will tell me, you know, just pray to the Lord and you'll be saved. Well, I've been praying to the Lord and I haven't been saved. And you're wondering, well, is God ignoring me? And you're thinking, well, should I stop praying? Well, let this episode put new heart into you to seek the Lord, for the Lord is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So, God's yet to answer you. Why? Maybe the Lord is bringing you to see the greatness of what you're asking for. How big do you think this salvation is? Now maybe you've grown up in a Christian home. The gospel, all these things, they're so familiar to you. But you don't realize what you've got. It was like that vase in the corner that's always been there. Belonged to Granny. It's been passed down. It's actually like a Ming vase. You didn't realise the value of it. It's always been there. And maybe that's the way that it is. There are some people here who long to know the truth. They thought it must be out there. When they heard it, they said, that's it! But you've always had the truth. So it doesn't seem as valuable to you. You don't realise what you've got. Because you've never had to search for it, it's always been there. You don't realise the wonder of this gospel. Well, maybe that's why God's making you search for it now. He says, I'm not answering you yet. Do you realise what you're asking for? That were you to gain the whole world, it would be as rubbish to be thrown away compared to knowing Christ. God is sifting you. How much does this matter to you? It's always been there in your home, surrounding you, people speak to you about it, but how much does it matter to you? How much do you really want it? How far will a man go on death row to secure a pardon? He won't give up, will he? Until the final moment. How willing would a cancer patient be to discover a remedy? How persevering is a young man to secure the girl of his dreams? He doesn't give up the first time, second time, third time, does he? He keeps coming back. Well, how far would you go to find a pardon for your sin and to lay hold of eternal life? If it matters, if it really matters, we'll stop at nothing, will we? A friend of mine once told me, he said, speaking about these things, he said, I prayed that God would save me but he didn't I got no answer, so I didn't bother anymore but what did he think he was asking for? Do you think he was down at Argos, you know, sort of flicking through the catalogue and saying, I'll have that one I've got to wait, I've got to wait for it to be ordered, I'm not prepared to wait, forget about that, I'll go somewhere else and find something else I'll leave it Can't be bothered waiting. Do you see? God's silence exposed his shallowness. He wasn't fleeing from the wrath to come. He was on a shopping trip. I'll try this. Does that work? Oh, it doesn't work. I'll try something else. Are you going to give up like him? If it matters to us, we won't let go. We persevere. If we value it, we won't let it go. life itself is a state we can't rest can we you have to force his face you have to die at his feet Lord help me may the Lord's sciences to humble you the 24 I was not sent except the lost sheep of the house of Israel is saying so why should I help you My friends, why should God help you? Why should he help you? Why should he give you this salvation? Why? You've broken his commands. You've spent your life saying, I don't want to know anything about you. You've gone your own way. You've played where God has forbidden. You've rebelled against him. You've lived for yourself. Why should God do anything for you? If you want to talk about what's right and just, well, go to hell. That's what's right and just. What right have you to ask for help? Verse 26, it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. You're no better than a dog. And I don't mean a pampered pooch sitting on a sort of velvet cushion. I mean the sort of dogs that we met in Sri Lanka. Unclean, filthy, outcasts. I remember preaching and every now and then as I preached you'd hear this yelping going on. It's because one of these mangy dogs was sort of trying to get in through the doors of the church and someone with a stick was banging it and off it went again. Drive them away! That's what you do with dogs! Remember we were driving down one street and one of these mangy dogs, it didn't belong to anyone, ran out on the road and got run over. No one batted an eyelid, no one turned, no one even looked. It's just a dog. I'm a dog. With the seed of every known sin in my heart, I am unclean. I am an outcast to be driven away. God owes me nothing. You have no right to the least of God's favours. Not even a crumb. And maybe God is not answering you because you've got such a big view of yourself. And you want God to accept you on your terms. You want God to accept you on your own estimation of yourself. No. You're a dog. Your only hope is mercy. Your only hope is not that I can offer anything or I'm worth anything. Your only hope is that he is one who is kind and loving and loves worthless dogs. your only hope is to fall upon his kind arms and say all have mercy on me oh lord oh lord help me yes lord but even little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters table this little dog is really a sheep isn't she she's humble she's broken she's submissive she surrendered those are the prayers that God hears Maybe the Lord silences so that you'll hold on to his word. It's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. But what seems like a final rejection is in fact an open door, isn't it? It's that which he snaps hold, snatches hold of. Yes Lord, even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. And Christ has been caught in his own words, which is exactly what he wants. A woman, great is your faith, let it be to you as you desire. And my friend, Jesus hasn't changed. He says, take my words, take even my hard words and turn them round. Turn them into requests and send them back to me. Draw arguments out of my words and use my words against me. Overcome me, conquer me, press your advantage with me. So he says, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's his word. Well, I turn it round and send it back. Lord, I'm a sinner. I'm one of those to save me. He says, and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Well, Lord, I'm going to take that word and I'm going to come running towards you with it because I come. So how can you turn me away? My friend, you'll find the Bible full of promises, full of open doors waiting to be pushed at. Maybe the Lord's silence is to get you to think great thoughts of Him. If your mind is, you have a little Jesus, a little Savior, who maybe is a sort of Savior, maybe He can do it, maybe He can't. He would have you to think that He's the Jesus who is mighty to save. Look again at verse 26. It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. Can you hear the cogs in her mind turning? She's saying, but the Lord is the Lord. And the Lord is so generous and His love is so rich and free that even when He lays a table for the children, it's a banquet. Who could ever want for more when He lays His table? The children have more than enough. So they won't miss a few crumbs. And Lord, a crumb is all I need. The least of your mercies is enough to save my daughter. It's nothing for you to save. Is that why God's delaying his answer? Till you get great thoughts of Christ. It's as though he's saying, all my sins. But a word from Jesus can take them all away. Can take them all away tonight. I can leave here a real Christian, knowing, loving, walking with Christ. His blood's enough to wash away all my sins. Am I doing the right thing, giving up all for Jesus? Well, if he's only a little Christ in your mind, you may think, well no, maybe it's not a good deal I've got, maybe I'll go somewhere else. But if you see who Christ really is, show me thy face, one transient gleam of loveliness divine. And I shall never think or dream of other love save thine. Will I be able to keep it up? Well, if he's a little Christ, I won't be able to keep it up because he won't be able to help me. But if I see who he really is, the great Lord Jesus Christ who saves to the uttermost, then the least of his mercies will get me safely to heaven. He doesn't want us to live on crumbs. He wants us to come and take of His abundance. My friend, His silence. You prayed, you said, Lord make me a Christian and it hasn't happened yet. And maybe you've prayed and things have happened which seem to you like a rejection. Things have happened, you thought, well I prayed about that I'd become a Christian, now look what's happened. And you felt rejected, you felt pushed away. You thought, well at least I was keen, I was asking, but he doesn't seem to want to know. Well his silence, perhaps his seeming rejection, is to test how serious are you? Do you really want Jesus Christ? Are you willing to give up all for him? And to love him? And to live for him? And therefore his silences aren't to send you away. They're to draw you on. until you wrap yourself around him hold on to him and say I'm not letting go have mercy on me oh lord can you doubt his willingness to save? soon the son of David will go to a cross he'll be surrounded by dogs worse than that the sins of many dogs are going to be put to his account. And he'll have no rights. And he'll be shown no mercy. And when he prays, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Heaven really will be silent. And God won't be drawing him with one hand. God will be pushing him away with two hands. Indeed, God robed in vengeance will meet him in his wrath. He'll punish his son for the sinner's crime. Guilty sinners can be saved. You go to Calvary. Can you have any doubt about his willingness to save? Is he seemingly pushing you away? How much do you want this? How much do you really want to be saved? seemingly pushing you away, it's only to draw you on until you believe in Him and soon you will find His answer let it be to you as you desire