This morning we come to the Gospel of Mark, once again. Would you take your Bibles and turn to chapter seven, we're going to be examining verses 24 through 30. It's been a wonderful journey through Mark and we still have a ways to go. But this is magnificent display of authentic faith in the text that we have here before us. And that's why I've entitled, my discourse to you this morning, sincere faith rewarded, and I hope to make this passage come alive to you. I hope to help you understand it and most importantly, apply it to your life. Let me read it to you Mark seven, beginning of verse 24. "Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it. Yet He could not escape notice. But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a Gentile of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And He was saying to her, 'Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' But she answered and said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs.' And He said to her, 'Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.' Going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left."

Fascinating passage of Scripture with much instruction, much encouragement as you will see. Let me remind you of the context here. This is now the beginning of a new time of ministry for Jesus, his Galilean ministry is now over. And he is now seeking safety and solitude in the Northwest region of Tyre, which as you look at it today would be southern Lebanon. Matthew 15:21, says that "he went to the district of Tyre and Sidon." Now this was a predominantly pagan, Gentile territory. It was part of the land of the ancient Canaanites. The city of Tyre, in fact, existed some 2000 years before Christ. And for those of you that are familiar with the land, it's about 35 miles north of Mount Carmel. It's about 28 miles west of Mount Hermon, but it was a island stronghold, an ancient Phoenician sea port on the Mediterranean Sea. But now in Jesus time, it was under Roman rule. You might recall that this was the region, in fact, Tyre and Sidon are the regions where Solomon appealed for the lumber to build the temple, even used their sailors to fill up his navy. It was later defeated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, which by the way, I might add was prophesied in Isaiah 23, as well as Ezekiel 26 through 28. But I want you to know that this region was the one that introduced Baal worship to ancient Israel. It was notorious for its evil paganism, and even its opposition to the Jews. You might recall that Tyre and Sidon were known for the fertility goddess, Astarte, as Ashtaroth, which is really the plural of Astarte, that we see in the Old Testament. Astarte was a consort of Bale, the great Canaanite storm and a and fertility god, and their worship practices were utterly reprehensible. It included things like human sacrifice both adult and children, temple prostitution, mutilation of the human body, sorcery, divination, and among some of the surrounding nations there was the official religious sanction of bestiality, incomprehensible wickedness. In fact, the wicked Queen Jezebel, who incited Ahab to worship Baal and persecuted the prophet Elijah, was the daughter of the Sidonian king, you read about that in I King 16. Now, obviously, the Jews absolutely loathed these people. Fascinating footnote in Psalm 87, verse four, God predicted that they would one day share in the Messianic blessings of the Messianic Kingdom, along with other Gentile nations. And what we see in this text is kind of a preview of coming attractions, the first stage of this prophecy being fulfilled in Jesus earthly ministry. Now may I remind you in Mark three, eight, we read how the people from quote, "the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon" end quote, came to Galilee, to hear Jesus to be healed, and so forth. But now Jesus is coming to them. Something else that's important to understand in this context, the certainty of the cross is now looming. And the emphasis of Jesus ministry is shifting from dealing with the crowds to dealing more specifically with teaching his disciples, preparing them for what is to come in His death, and the persecution that they would inevitably endure. And so what we see here dear friends, is really an object lesson of the essence of sincere saving faith in this Gentile woman. And the Lord's gracious response to it. But we also see how the message of salvation is now being extended beyond the Jewish people and into the entire world. I think that we can best understand this passage of Scripture under three very simple headings, we're going to see, first of all, a desperate plea for mercy. Secondly, a deliberately delayed response and finally, a display of sincere faith rewarded.

So let's examine this historical narrative more closely. And I think this will help us understand even the immediate context, verse 24, "Jesus got up and went away from there." This is probably Capernaum. That's probably where he's leaving. And he leaves there to the region of Tyre. Now, this would have been about a 40 mile hike. And normally, especially in the terrain that is there, it would take about four days to get there, alright, traveling about 10 miles per day. Now, you might ask the question, and appropriately so, why would he travelled so far from Galilee? Well, there's several reasons. First of all, remember Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptist, that he come back to life. So he was terrified. But he also saw Jesus as a rival to His throne, a political rival, so he wanted to kill him. You read about that, in Luke 13, verse 31. And then also, most all of the people that had been following Jesus, even those that had participated in the feeding of all of the 1000s, most all of those people had left him when he started preaching the doctrines of sovereign grace, read about that in John six. We see people continuing to leave Christ because they simply have a rabid commitment to self-determination. And they don't like to hear that God is the one who is sovereignly in charge of salvation. And so you will recall in John 6:66 that most all of them left him but also the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. Remember Mark three, we read about that. So indeed he needed to travel north west to escape, you might say, an untimely arrest. Plus, he needed more time alone with his disciples to prepare them for what was to come. And what a great opportunity to be able to hike with them for some four days, and go someplace where he wouldn't be as well known. But as we will see, he was still known. So Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre, verse 24, "And when he had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it. Yet he could not escape notice." Obviously, some people recognized him. Some of them had undoubtedly gone to Galilee and heard him preach and teach, and maybe were even recipients of his miraculous powers. But indeed, they saw that. And so they had a version of Facebook there in the first century and word spread like wildfire, that he's here. Verse 25, "But after hearing of him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at his feet." I have to smile here so much for privacy, right, so much for getting away from it all. So you can kind of spend some time but the Lord knew all of that. And he's compassionate, as we will see. And I'm sure there were many other things that he did that aren't recorded here. Okay? Verse 26, "Now the woman was a Gentile of the Syrophoenician race." Now, you will recall that Mark is speaking primarily to a Gentile audience. So it's important for them to know this. And they would have understood that Rome had annexed Syria and Phoenicia, Matthew described this woman in Matthew 15:22 as a Canaanite woman. So she's clearly a non Jew. And then we read, "And she kept asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter."

So here we come to our first little point, and that is a desperate plea for mercy. Now, you must understand that this would have been absolutely shocking to the disciples, I can imagine their eyes are wide open, their mouth is hanging open, they cannot believe what is happening. For one thing, Jews and Gentiles would have nothing to do with one another. Jews wouldn't even go near a place like this. And here they are right in the middle of Tyre. Moreover, women would never approach a man, never, much less a Jewish rabbi, especially, and idol worshipping woman. I mean, this Gentile woman would have been like, toxic nuclear radiation to a Jewish rabbi. But Jesus knew that the disciples were still struggling with the Messianic blessing of salvation being extended to the Gentiles. So none of this caught him by surprise. In his sweet providence, he was orchestrating it all. He was going to teach them something. And you also have to understand that for this woman to do this, and mind you, there would have been a crowd all around. For her to keep asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter meant that she was abandoning her pagan idol worship and putting her faith in the Jewish Messiah, which would translate into becoming an outcast in her own family and society. Imagine if you did that, in Iran today. That's the idea. So she risked everything. Now we're going to see several other things here. We're going to see that she was well acquainted with who Jesus was. We're also going to see that God had already been at work in her heart, drawing her unto himself in repented faith and salvation. Because we know according to what Jesus said in John 6:44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them." There is an irresistible, compelling force that's at work, when God draws us unto himself. Often that's what's going on here. So none of this caught Jesus by surprise. I find it interesting as well as a little side note, to compare this scenario with Elijah's provision of food for a Syrophoenician woman, and her son at Zarephath, which was between Tyre and Sidon. And the resurrection of that son, you read about that in 1 King 17. Again, now back to verse 25. "But after hearing of him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at his feet."

So her little daughter, we don't know how old she was, was possessed by a demon. And certainly, this is not surprising, given the demonic culture in which they lived. And friends, we cannot imagine the level of wickedness, the cesspool of evil that they lived in. And there are pockets of this, even in many of our cities in the United States. But imagine the horror of such a thing. Imagine having a little girl that you love, that would sometimes speak with a hideous voice, and sometimes do violence to herself, to threaten perhaps her mother and other people. All of the bizarre behaviors, it would be heartbreaking, would it not? Of course, it would. Obviously, the mother knew that her idols were powerless to do anything. But she also knew that they were the cause of her problems. And she also knew that Jesus was the answer. Now remember, Jesus arrival on Earth at his incarnation ignited a firestorm of demonic activity, it's like going in and poking a hornet's nest. So there's a lot of demonic activity going on. And every encounter that Jesus had with these demons, we see that they were absolutely terrified of him. And he had complete power over them because he was their Creator. In fact, he ordained to allow Satan and his demons to wreak havoc upon the earth. While God is never the cause of sin, as we understand the Scripture, we see that he does bring it about indirectly through the willing and the voluntary actions of moral creatures. In fact, this is evident from God's own testimony of himself. When he said in Isaiah 45, verse seven, "I form the light and create darkness I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord, do all these things." Beloved, nothing happens to the Lord that he has not sovereignly ordained to allow. In God's permissive providence, we see that he operates through second causes, which includes not only the the evil propensity in Satan and the angelic beings, but also the actual decree that they would eventually rebel. And although all the angelic beings were created, originally, as very good, remember in Genesis one, even though that is true, the New Testament makes it clear that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. He was the father of lies. Jesus spoke about this in John eight, verse 44. And all through Scripture we see that he ordained to allow evil, to enter into his perfect universe, through the voluntary choices of moral creatures in order to dramatically display his glory, the glory that we see and his holiness and His wrath and His mercy in His grace, His love and His power, and we see all of these things working here, even in this passage of Scripture. So God allowed this woman's little daughter to be possessed by an unclean spirit. In verse 25, we read "and immediately she came and fell at his feet." Again, an amazing scene, something that was virtually unheard of, for a Gentile woman to do. In the original language, the word for falling at one's feet, is a term that means to prostrate oneself, to fall on your face, an act of humble submission, and reverent homage. In fact, we read the same word, remember the Samaritan leper that Jesus healed in Luke 17 Verse 15? We read he was the One who turned back glorifying God with a loud voice. And he fell on his face. "Pipto" in the original language, same term, he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him. But people you must understand that nobody does this unless the Spirit of God is at work in their heart. And that's what we see in this text. The Spirit of God is drawing this woman into Christ in genuine saving face.

So she falls at Jesus feet, verse 26. "Now, the woman was a Gentile of the Syrophoenician race." I've already talked about that. But remember, again, in His providence, the Lord is orchestrating all of this, drawing her unto himself, that he might save her, but also to show his disciples that the gospel of salvation was intended for all people, not just for the Jews. Remember, the Jews thought non Jews were eternally separated from God's Kingdom purposes. After all, according to Exodus 19, six, God says, "You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." But he also made this promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 in verse three, "And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed." And indeed, Israel was to be the custodians of God's truth. They were to be a witness nation to the world. Psalm 67 seven says, "God blesses us that all the ends of the earth may fear Him." But we also know that they failed miserably in giving God glory. We see that all through the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we see how they rejected their rightful king and the kingdom that he offered. Just read about that in Acts two, for example, if I can digress for a moment, because I find this so fascinating, because we see elements of this in this text,

Jesus, you will recall in Matthew 21, verse 43, said to the Jewish leaders of his day, "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit of it." Now, there there are some that believe this is a reference to the church permanently replacing Israel. I do not believe that is a viable biblical explanation, because in Matthew 19:28, and Matthew 23 and verse 29, Jesus affirmed a future for national Israel. Moreover, this would contradict the teaching of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Look at Deuteronomy 31 through eight, look at Zechariah 12 through 14, look at Luke 132 and 33. Look at Romans 11:26, and many other passages. So this promise that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit of it will be fulfilled literally when the Jewish people eventually embrace their King in saving faith. Romans 11, verse 25, and 26. That will be when, according to Matthew 23 and verse 39, just a few verses later, they will cry out, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." But until then, God's Kingdom purposes are being temporarily fulfilled in the church. And this will continue until a future nation of Israel cries out to him for salvation. So Mark makes it clear here that this was a Gentile woman of the Syrophoenician race, again, to demonstrate how salvation is now being offered to non Jews. And we cannot under emphasize how much the Jews hated the Gentiles, and how much the Gentiles hated them. By the way, we see a little of this today and the whole Iran/Israel thing, don't we? They want to wipe them off the face of the earth, and so forth. Paul addressed this in Ephesians two that we read earlier in our scripture reading, beginning of verse 11. He's says, Therefore remember that formerly you the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision, by the so called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands. Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus, You who formerly were or far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." And beloved, we're seeing an example of this here in this historical narrative, verse 26. Again, we read, "And she kept asking," the original is very clear, is the idea of she just kept asking over and over again and again, she would not shut up. She was absolutely persistent, "Asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter." Matthew explains it this way. In chapter 15, verse 22, there we read that, "she began to cry out saying, 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David, my daughter is cruelly demon possessed.'" What a remarkable statement. I mean, think about this, her theology was far superior to all of the Jewish leaders. And frankly, many evangelicals today. She addressed him as Lord, in other words, her master, the one in whom she was willing to submit. And she used his messianic title, the son of David. So she understood these things. Moreover, she's crying out for undeserved mercy. And we're going to see more of that as we look at the text. So clearly, she understood Jesus to be something more than some impersonal Miracle Worker, she understood the gospel. And the reason she understood the gospel is because God was doing a work in her heart, because that's what God does.

So we've seen a desperate plea for mercy. Now we're going to see a deliberately delayed response. This is really interesting. Verse 27, "And Jesus was saying to her, let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Matthew puts it this way, Matthew 15, beginning of verse 23, "But he did not answer her a word," like can you imagine that? She's hounding him here, publicly. He's not answering her. "And his disciples came and implored him saying, Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us. But he answered and said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Why, can't you just see how there is an object lesson that's growing here with all of this? Now, mind you, if you just look at the text here, in both Mark and Matthew, this sounds really rude, maybe condescending, especially in light of her persistent pleading, ah, the dear friends, Scripture always interpret Scripture, right? And we know what Jesus said in John six and verse 37, "All that the Father gives Me will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not what I'm going to cast her out." So what's going on? Well, one thing for sure is he is testing her faith to prove its authenticity to his disciples. And she is going to pass that test with flying colors, because of the Spirit of grace in her heart. But also you must remember, once again, the context, you must remember what Jesus has been dealing with. And that is Israel's fickle, superficial faith, combined with utter rejection. And now we're going to see just the opposite of all of this. He obviously knew she was part of the bridal church that God hadn't given him in eternity past. And notice what he says in verse 27. "Let the children," and what you must understand the children is a reference to the Jews. "Let the children be satisfied first." In other words, let Israel be the first to partake of this food of spiritual blessing that I offer. Now remember, the first stage of the gospel witness was to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16. Remember? In fact, in Acts 13, verse 46, Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life behold, we are turning to the Gentiles." And he said that in the context of the Jews being furious, that somehow they were presenting the kingdom purposes of God and salvation to Gentiles.

So back to verse 27, "let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Now dogs here in the original language is the diminutive form of dog, and it means little dog, it's referring to a tame, domesticated house dog. And although the Jews refer to Gentiles as dogs, what Jesus is saying here is not meant to be some kind of a racial slur. What Jesus point is, is very clear. He is simply saying, You don't feed the little dogs that are begging under the table before you feed the children. But this lady would not relent. Because true, saving faith is not going to give up because it's Spirit empowered. She is undaunted, and undaunted in her pleadings. Now, I would imagine even though the text doesn't say this, I think, I mean, we know that she's fallen on her face. She's probably now raising up maybe to her knees, with tears streaming down her face. She's been crying out to the Lord, to help her and her little daughter oblivious to the watching crowd, can you imagine the scene? It would be heart wrenching. And again, I imagine the disciples are standing back. I mean, they're speechless. They're utterly flabbergasted at what's going on. Verse 28, "But she answered and said to him, 'Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs.'" Matthew puts it this way, Matthew 15, verse 25, "But she came and began to bow down before Him saying, Lord help me!" Not just her daughter, but help me. "And he answered and said, 'It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' But she said, 'Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs, which fall from their masters table.'"

Dear friends, don't miss this powerful truth. The Lord has arranged all of this. He's orchestrated all of this, so that she would declare these things with such passion. Now, yes, indeed, it's true that all the biblical covenants were given to Israel, were given to the Prophets, the scriptures were given to them, the Messiah, were all given to Israel. Paul speaks of this in Romans nine, beginning of verse three, he says, "my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to Whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises who are the fathers." Yes, all of that's true. But that didn't mean that the Gentiles received nothing. And that's what Jesus is showing. In fact, we know that God literally, and continually, uses the salvation of Gentiles, to make Jews jealous so that they will be saved. It's an amazing thought. Paul reminded the Gentiles that Moses prophesied of this very thing in Romans 10, beginning of verse 19. He says, "I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you." And in Romans 11, beginning of verse 11, "I say, then" they referring to Jews, "did not stumble, stumble so as to fall," which means to be destroyed beyond salvage. "They did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous." There it is, in one sentence, God is using Israel's failure to bring salvation to the Gentiles. He uses the Gentiles to cause elect Jews to become envious, to arouse Israel to yearn for salvation to yearn for their Messiah, that they might be reconciled to God. The very God that is blessing the Gentiles. Romans 11:12. Paul continues, he says, "Now, if their transgression," referring to the Jews, "if their transgression be riches for the world, and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be1" In other words, if those wild olive branches, those Gentiles, that have Been engrafted into the Abrahamic covenantal blessing, the root of that blessing, with all of its millennial consequences, how much more will their fulfillment be referring to Israel's restoration. And he goes on in verses 25 and 26, to describe it when all Israel will be saved and so forth. Oh, dear Christian, we see these promises being fulfilled to the Gentiles right here in this text before us. And what an amazing thing it is for all of us. Again, verse 28, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs." In other words, what she's saying is, I will gladly, I will gladly be compared to those unworthy little house dogs for that I am. But I plead with you that I might at least eat of the children scraps. My how Jesus tested her faith. And whenever God tests true saving faith, it always proves it. Think of Job. Moreover, the testing of our faith strengthens our faith. That's what's going on here.

So we see a desperate plea for mercy, a deliberately delayed response. And then finally, a display of sincere faith rewarded, verse 29, "And he said to her, 'Because of this answer,'" in other words, because of the great faith that I see in your heart, that I have implanted in your heart, because of your great hope, in me and love for me, "'go, the demon has gone out of your daughter.'" Matthew 15, verse 23, Matthew says, "Then Jesus said to her old woman, 'Your faith is great.'" Don't you love that? Don't you want to have great faith? Not some weak, mealy mouth, phony faith. You want to have great faith, oh, woman, Your faith is great. It shall be done for you as you wish. Then we read "and her daughter was healed at once." Oh, the omnipotent power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I was reading this I was thinking how this was the exact opposite of "Little Faith." Remember in Pilgrims Progress, who took a nap in Dead Man's Lane, a place that was frequented by murderers and so forth? This lady had great faith. Where does she get that great faith? Does she just come up with it on her own? No faith is a free gift from God. And then I love this next verse, "And going back to her home."

Now let's think about that. She trusted him enough to say, Okay, I'm gonna go back home. Little Faith would say, Oh, you need to come with me here. You know, in case it didn't work? No, all she needed was for him to say what he did. "And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left." What faith and what compassion? What compassion Jesus showed time and time again, to women, right? That's another amazing thought. This scenario reminds me of First Thessalonians one. Paul addressed the idol worshipers there in Thessalonica, who had come to Christ, beginning of verse nine, he said, "For they themselves, report about us what kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come." Oh dear friends, I pray that each of you have placed your faith in Christ. And I would ask you to ask yourself, How would you compare your faith with this dear woman? And I must say that it is the great burden of my heart to see such shallow faith among so many people that profess faith in the Lord Jesus. Those who profess faith in Christ but live on the outer boundaries of the church, on the periphery. Those who just kind of come occasionally, who aren't really involved. For people who really don't see Christ as central to their life, he only exists in the periphery of their thoughts and their affections. He exists only in the margins of their priorities, not at the sanctifying center, worshipping Christ corporately with other believing believers and fellowshipping with them. This is kind of an option. Frankly, it's kind of the duty it's not really a desire. And of course, private worship is non existence. No real desire to know Christ, no real love for Christ.

Think of the contrast of what Jesus describes in Matthew 13, verse 44, and following, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field." And beloved, what we see throughout Scripture is this treasure is Christ himself. "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and hid again, and from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. And upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Beloved, is this how you see Christ? As your greatest treasure? This priceless Pearl, that which is deserving of you, forsaking everything you have for him alone. Paul says, "For God, who said, light shall shine out of darkness," Second Corinthians four six, 'Light shall shine out of darkness is the One who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." This is utterly astounding, dear friends. We have the treasure of Christ in all of his glory, and grandeur living within us. He's the crown jewel of our soul. Nothing compares to him. If we've truly been granted, saving faith Ephesians 3:17, "He dwells in our hearts through faith." Ephesians two verse 20, "Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God." Romans eight verses nine and following," Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Colossians 1:27 "Christ in you the hope of glory." Colossians two beginning in verse six, "Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him, and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude." When I see a Christian that's not overflowing with gratitude, I'm sorry, I have to question the genuineness of your faith. Sadly, these types of things are often foreign to many people that profess faith in Christ. Ask yourself, is he the center of gravity around which my life orbits or do I expect him to orbit around me? And my needs? Is Christ, my greatest treasure? Is he the soul satisfying, Soul transforming, soul exhilarating savior and Lord of my life? Can you truly say that? Or have I placed my faith in Him to merely forgive my sins and make my life go smoothly? I fear for many professing Christians. It is the latter not the former. I asked you when you came to faith in Christ, did you come like this idol worshiper in desperation, but convinced that Jesus was your only hope. And there was nothing that could stop you from coming to him. That he was your omnipotent creator. That he was God very God, the Promised Messiah? Did you bow down before Him and would like her say, Lord, help me. Like the Publican that wouldn't lift up his head and beat on his chest and said, Lord, have mercy upon me a sinner? Is that how you came to Christ? Willing to forsake all of your idols, all of your family and social ties? And willing to abandon your pride and cast yourself solely upon him? Because nothing else is worth what he is. Or did you come to him like you would, an airplane pilot, you know, how it is you get on a plane a lot of times and the pilot is right there at the door, especially on smaller flight. We get on the plane and we put our trust in that pilot, right? We trust him to get us to point A to point B, but we don't really know him. We certainly don't love him. We don't treasure him, we just kind of use him. Of course, the analogy breaks down as all analogies do, but I think you get the point. We can become so selfish and manipulative in our faith.

Dear friends, Christ is not merely an airline pilot. Christ is not merely a means to something more prized, and more satisfying than Christ Himself. Christ is not merely a means to a more glorious end. You must understand that Christ is the all sufficient, all glorious end in himself. He is the great treasure. He is the Pearl of Great Price. Folks, this is the stuff of genuine saving faith. John seven, verse 38, "He who believes in me as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water." Psalm 63, beginning in verse one, "Oh God, you are my God, I shall seek you earnestly. My soul thirst for you by flesh yearns for you in a dry and a weary land where there is no water." Then in verse three, "Your loving kindness is better than life. My lips will praise you so I will bless you as long as I live, I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips." Psalm 107 in verse nine, "He satisfies the longing of my soul." Dear friends, is he the longing of your soul? If he is you will find your greatest satisfaction in him. Nothing else will do. Therefore, we love Christ, we desire Him above all else. And in Him, we find our greatest joy and satisfaction. And beloved, you must understand that it is this sincere love and treasuring of Christ that we receive when we receive the gift of saving faith. When God gives us that miraculous gift, Ephesians two, eight.

I remember when I was nine years old, God saved me on the first row of Edgewood Baptist church, but I had been under conviction for some time before that. Now, all I knew is that I was a sinner, that I was guilty before a holy God, I knew that Jesus was God, that he gave his life for my sins, and that I needed to trust in him. I knew that he was crucified and raised the third day. And I knew that I'd go to hell if I didn't do that. I knew the basics of the gospel. And with that God saved me. Did I see him as my greatest treasure? My greatest joy? Did I cherish him and adore him more than all else that I find in him? The satisfaction of my deepest desires? No. My greatest treasure were probably my horses, my 22 rifle, my shotgun and my bird dogs. Right? But you must understand that when he saved me even as when he saves you, he gives you the gift of faith and in the embryo of that faith, we have all have the spiritual DNA to be able to grow in such a way as to become a mighty oak that treasures Christ more than all else. Because what happened to me and what happened to all of you who truly know Christ, just like this woman is in God's sovereign election. He took this person, this little boy, that he set his love upon and he brought conviction to his heart. And he called me unto himself. And he caused me to be born again, the great miracle of regeneration, the impartation, that supernatural, instantaneous impartation, of spiritual life to the spiritually dead. And he granted me repentance, which is more than just changing behaviors, it means a changing of the mind. In repentance, there is a renovation of the hearts desires. Moreover, he gave me the gift of faith. And in that faith, it's not just a mental assent to an airline pilot, no, no, no, no. Within the DNA, of that embryo, existed, everything that I needed for life and godliness, and over time, through the various means of grace that God gave me, like he gave you, the indwelling Spirit, the Word of God, fellowship, preaching all of those things. Over time, he caused me to see more and more of who Christ really was, who he really is.

Now, I say all of this because if none of this resonates with you, I would plead with you to examine your heart. And I think I could put it this way, because of my love for Christ, that He has granted me and because I see him as my greatest treasure and delight, because I adore him, as so many of you do, wild horses couldn't keep me away from coming to church on Sunday morning. Why? Because I love him, I want to worship Him. I want to be with my brothers and sisters in Christ. There is nothing that can keep me from worshiping Him privately, from studying his Word, from interacting with Him in prayer. And the point is, so many people that name the name of Christ will hear these things and think, oh, that's just foreign to me. Well, with Christ, He becomes our greatest treasure. And therefore we can say with Paul, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be rubbish. That I may gain Christ. The apostle Paul explained how unbelievers are perishing in second, Thessalonians two. He said, in verse 10, "Because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved." Not that they did not believe the truth, they did not receive the love of the truth. Speaking of the love for Christ, they had no real love for Christ. So they did not have the gift of faith. Matthew 10 Verse 37, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of man, he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me." First Corinthians 6:22. If anyone does not love the Lord, he has to be accursed. Now, please understand our love for Christ is not a prerequisite for saving faith. No, no, no, no, that's Roman Catholic doctrine. That's faith plus works, Faith plus our virtue. No, that's not at all what we see in Scripture. Christ's righteousness alone is the grounds for our justification, but our love for Christ, our joy in Christ, our delight and satisfaction in his infinite perfections, our treasuring and adoring and thankfulness for who Christ is, are all affections that make up the essential elements of saving faith. They are part of the nature of genuine saving faith. First, John five beginning in verse one, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And whoever loves the Father loves the child born of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and His commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God," now catch this, "whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Beloved, what this text is saying is that if you have no real love for Christ, if you have no desire for his commandments, in fact, if you find them burdensome, if you are unable to overcome all of the things that the world has to offer you, that are in opposition to God, and in fact, you enjoy those things. What he's saying here is you've never been born of God, you've never received the gift of faith. You have never been miraculously united to Christ.

I close with these thoughts. This is at the heart of Paul's doxology. Remember, in Ephesians, one three, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." And I would submit to you that on the basis of what we witnessed here, in this pagan, Gentile woman, as she cast herself on the mercy of Christ, and as we see his response to her, the Lord Jesus blessed her with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Oh, what sincere, authentic faith. One day we will meet Him in glory, right? And we will meet her in glory. May I challenge you to examine your heart? Don't look at your heart and say, well, once upon a time, I made a decision to follow Christ. Judas did the same thing, but he's in hell. The question is, do you really know him? Do you really love him? Do you cherish him above all else? For all of us, who can hardily say amen to that, you can express with me the words of an old hymn that I sang as a child. Although once again, it did not mean as much to me then, as it does now. I'll just read the first verse in the chorus, "Who can cheer the heart like Jesus? By His presence all divine, true and tender, pure and precious, oh how blessed to call him mine. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me. And the fairest of 10,000, in my blessed Lord, I see. Let's pray together. Father, Your Word, by the power of Your Spirit causes our hearts to soar into the heavens as we contemplate the glories of Christ, all that that means to us. We thank you for the gift of saving faith. We thank you for the example of this that we've read about here today. And, Lord, may You help us all to grow in the faith and if there be one that's really not in the faith, I pray that you will bring conviction that they will truly repent and be born again. But Lord, use us mightily as we endeavor to live out our faith, as other people see in us, what Christ truly means to us. We ask you to bless us to these ends, in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen.