Thank you very much, Peter, for making the announcements and the word of welcome. We're going to worship God this morning, and we're singing Psalm 142. Psalm 142, it is to a familiar tune. I with my voice cry to the Lord, with it made my request, put out to him my plaint, to him my trouble I expressed. Psalm 142 on page 15, Psalm 131 of the hymn book and we'll stand together and sing God's praise. Psalm 142 on page 131. Let's all worship God. O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? I cried to thee, I said, the Lord, the refuge for me. The Lord, my portion given of those I love. Because I am from where we know, but can not hear thy cry, lead from thy mercy, hear her sin, push from her eye. ♪ Come, risen rain, my soul, come ♪ ♪ Cry in me, oh, reply ♪ ♪ Let your shower of bliss be welled up ♪ ♪ With me, dearest, my dearest dear one ♪ into the presence of God. Our Father, to be still and know that Thou art God. We do ask of Thee right now that as we Approach thy throne of grace in prayer, that thou wilt send thy gracious Holy Spirit to lead us in what we say. Lead us in the way we conduct our worship this day in the house of God, that our eyes will be anointed to see fresh and new things from the Holy Scriptures, that our ears will be unstopped to hear what the Lord would say unto us this day. and that their hearts will be warmed by the sweet sense of thy presence, the sweet sense of thy nearness in our congregation this day. We've come to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We've come to give God the praise for the great plan of redemption, for the gift of sending thy Son, who became the God-man, to dwell among us. so that at the appointed time he might die for us, that he might reconcile us to God, that he might justify us, that he might prepare us for the great eternity. And for those who trust in thee for salvation, how glad we are today that love found us even wandering in sin, found us in the miry clay and lifted us out and set our feet upon a rock establishing our way. We're thankful that the end is not yet and the best is before us. One of these days, we will say a farewell to our surroundings, to familiar things and familiar places and faces. And we will wend our way into the presence of the great King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And when we get home, we will know him by the needle prints in his hands. We've got a wonderful savior who loves us, who cares for us, who leads us by his gracious spirit, and he comforts us along the pathway of life. Sometimes those that fear the Lord have to walk in periods of darkness, and then it's hard to trust in the Lord. But thou hast told us, for those that fear the Lord who walk in darkness, we are to lean upon thee, we are to trust in thee. We've proved that so many times down through many years of living for Christ. that God never makes a mistake. His plans are perfect. While we, with our human minds, cannot really comprehend all that he does, he's working out everything according to his divine purpose. He keeps on working with his children through trials and tribulations and circumstances and sicknesses and everything else to make us into the people that he wants us to be. One of these days, if we can use that expression, We will be like Jesus, totally. We will be at rest in the Father's house, free at last from all of our afflictions, gathered around the throne of the Lamb to join in that great choir. Oh, to be there, to cry worthy, worthy is the Lamb. Remember us today for good in this congregation. Let us know the hearts of thy children. Let us know the circumstances of each one gathered here. No one cares for us like Jesus. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will lead and guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. And just the time we need him, he's always there. Not one minute too early, not one minute too late. He always appears on time. Just the way it was when that widow was about to marry her son at the gate of the city, just as they made their way to the cemetery. The Lord just came then at that crucial moment and did a wonderful thing. What a miracle that was of grace. And that's the way it is. We've proved that over and over again in our experience, just the very time we need him. We think, oh, the time is too late. but just at the right time, he will come and show himself strong on our behalf. For those unconverted among us or connected to the family here, the church family, we pray for them. Some of them have been warned and prayed for for years and years. Yet out of Christ, have mercy upon them. Have mercy upon the bereaved and the sad, this community. Go and visit Six Mile Cross in the Savior's name. Bless the upcoming ordination and installation service. Bless thy dear servant. Thank thee for the clear call given to him. And as he comes, may God be pleased to bless his ministry. And use him mightily in the corner of this vineyard for the praise of thy name. So we commend our ways unto thee. Have mercy upon us. Let us see him today. Let us worship him. Let us adore him. Let us lift up our hearts in true worship and adoration. We will give him all of the glory for he alone is worthy. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing the hymn 456. 456 in the hymn book. Children of the heavenly king, As you journey, sweetly sing. Sing your Savior's worthy praise, glorious in his works and ways. The hymn number 456. Everyone stand and sing your very best as we worship God, please. Children of the heavenly king, As he journeys sweetly sing, Sing a saviour's worthy praise. We are traveling home to God, In the way the fathers taught. Lift your eyes, ye sons of God, fly and see the eagles in the sky. ♪ Where our endless hope shall be ♪ ♪ Where our dark reason shall see ♪ ♪ Hear the breath and joyful sound ♪ ♪ Of the martyrs of your land ♪ ♪ Jesus, the church of God ♪ ♪ Is it not this way for us? ♪ ♪ Lord of wisdom, here we go ♪ ♪ Gladly lead me, God, we go ♪ ♪ Hold me now, Lord, lead me now ♪ Amen. Will you please find in your Bibles the Gospel of Matthew chapter 15. Matthew's Gospel chapter 15. And we break into the chapter at verse 21. And we will read down to the end of verse 28. Matthew chapter 15, verse 21. And when you find the place, then we will read together the word of God. Let us now hear God's word. Then Jesus went thence and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thy son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, "'Lord, help me.' But he answered and said, "'It is not meet to take the children's bread "'and to cast it to dogs.' "'And she said, "'Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs "'which fall from their master's table.' "'Then Jesus answered and said unto her, "'O woman, great is thy faith, "'be it unto thee even as thou wilt, and her daughter was made whole from that very hour. And may the Lord be pleased to bless his word to all of our hearts today for Christ's sake. Amen. Do we take up an offering? We do have. Okay, we'll have the offering hymn. And the offering hymn is 426. 426. And your offering for the Lord's work will be received. It's always good for a man to know that an offering will be received in the meeting, so we're glad that you're keeping on that good tradition. 426, and we'll keep our seats for the opening part of the hymn. Listen to the words. There's a word even in the hymn for us. Listen to it now. Does Jesus care when my heart was pained, too deeply for mirth or song, as the burdens press and the cares distress? and the day grows weary and long. Listen to it now, the chorus. Oh yes, he cares. I know he cares. His heart is touched with my grief. When the days are weary, the long nights dreary. Some of us at times have long nights and they can be very dreary. Listen to it, I know. I know my savior cares. So think about the words. as we remain seated for the opening part, please. And it's a beautiful hymn. Think about it, dwell upon it. He cares. Does Jesus care when my heart is pained? Oh, yes, he cares, I know he cares. When my way is done, let me go. I know my Savior cares. For the rest of my life. Oh, Jesus, dear, where I try and fear, there is wisdom and patience strong. And I need grace. Oh, yes, he cares. I know he cares. His heart is touched with my grief. When the days are weary, well-nigh, Was Jesus here when I said goodbye to the dearest mother to me? I have myself, our race, and a fleeting place. This is our home, too. Oh yes he cares, I know he cares, his heart is touched with my grief. When days are weary, the long nights weary, I know It's hard to believe that a length of time has passed but it's good to see and some of you have stuck it very well down through the years. I would still recognize you even in the dark night. It's good to be back with friends and to know that god has been good to you and merciful to you. We trust that god will bless you. In the days to come with us, you pastor, you're going to get. Uh I had him quite often in Coleraine and the people enjoyed his ministry And we have been praying that God will visit the congregation here and give a gracious in-gathering in the days to come. Open your Bible again at Matthew chapter 15. And there are three words that I want to leave with you this morning, found there in verse 25. And I'm giving the message, the title, it's very simple, a short, specific, successful prayer. So if you look there at verse 25, you'll find the words, I'll read the whole verse, and then I'll highlight the words that I want to focus your attention on this morning. Verse 25, then came she, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. Now, some of you, no doubt, have used these words down through the years at different times. I certainly have used these words in times of fear, times of sickness, times of bereavement, times with health issues, at different times and various circumstances. We have been compelled on occasions, maybe even forced on occasions, to pray, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. These are very precious words. So with that in mind, let's bow again for a brief word of prayer. Father, we're here before thee. We're here to be taught of God. We're here to listen. We want to know what the Lord has got to say to us. Even now in the stillness, in the quietness, may we hear the voice of the Lord. May it be loud, may it be clear, may it be sure, may it be certain, and may it just be the very word that we need on this Sunday morning. this October Sunday morning in the year 2024. I am trusting thee for power thine can never feel. Words that thou thyself shall give me must and shall prevail. Blessed Holy Spirit, gather up our wandering thoughts. Fall afresh upon us this day. that we might be still and know that thou art God. In Jesus' name, amen. In verse 21, we read that Jesus went thence and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Now, these cities were not far from present-day Beirut and Lebanon. And these two places have been in the news quite often in recent times. So we have an idea of the location of this particular place where we find the Lord here, Matthew chapter 15. The mercy extended there to a Gentile. Now the Lord is reaching out to the Gentiles. And aren't we thankful that the Lord has reached out to the Gentile nations with the gospel And we have certainly reaped the benefit of the gospel coming to us Gentiles. So the mercy extended here to this Gentile woman points to the wide diffusion of the gospel beyond the Jewish race. And if you know anything about this 15th chapter, you will discover that some delegates from Jerusalem have approached the Lord Jesus Christ And they had locked horns with Jesus and had doubtless gone home filled with indignation because they thought they could outwit the Lord Jesus, but sadly they were not able to do that. So he sought out a Gentile to manifest his grace to. So we could say the Jews were hardened, but this Gentile was helped. And the point I want to emphasize here is when people have privileges, and they don't avail themselves of the opportunities and privileges given, well, the Lord will just leave them and go on and share his blessing with others. The people of Gadara, for example, the Lord arrived there and they should have treated him as a hero because of what they did. They healed the wild man of Gadara, a man who was demon-possessed. So they should have received him and give him a gracious welcome, but what did they do? They said, depart from us, go away. So the Lord got into the little vessel and the boat steered away from the shore. But the Bible does tell us that there are people waiting on the other side who received blessing from the Savior. So you've got a gospel privilege. You've heard the word, you've heard the truth. God has been here on many occasions. It's very easy to neglect the callings of God, to harden your heart. And the Lord has been gracious to you, but sometimes the last time comes when he ceases to speak, when he ceases to call, and just lets the person continue on in their sin. And the ultimate end, of course, is a lost eternity. So on his arrival at this particular region, he entered into a house. We're not told who the owner of the house was. He didn't want anyone to know that he was there. Yet in the parallel gospel in Mark 7, 24 says he could not be hid. The presence of Christ can never be hidden, whether in a church or a home or an individual's life. Go back to that man of Gadara. When the Lord healed him, everybody could see the difference. Everybody knew that Christ had healed him. Everybody knew that something radical had taken place, and they gave Christ the glory, some of them, for what they'd done. They could see the change. They could see the difference. In Mark chapter two, it was noise that he was in the house in Capernaum. He could not be hid, you see. If Christ is in the life, Christ will manifest himself in that life. and reveal something of the beauty and the glory of gospel liberty and freedom and the knowledge of sin is forgiven. Now one person who came to him at this time is known in scripture as a Greek, a Syrophoenician woman. According to Mark chapter seven, Matthew describes her here as a woman of Canaan in verse 22. So we can conclude that her language was Greek, her nationality was Syrophoenician. But above all, she was a woman with a serious family problem. And you know, from time to time, families do have serious family problems, serious family issues. I don't think any one of us here can escape these things. The first thing I noticed about the woman, she was a desperate woman. According to verse 22, her daughter had an unclean spirit, and in desperation she sought out Christ, and in agony she fell at his feet. Now if you've got a problem today, there's one place you can go to. That's the feet of Jesus. You'll always find a ready welcome there. You'll always find sympathy there. You'll always find one who truly cares and loves and understands. So she was a desperate woman, but then she was a determined woman because if you read Verses 25 through 27, in spite of the seeming indifferent response she received, she persisted until she got what she sought. She didn't give up. She kept on until the Lord answered her prayer. And then thirdly, she was a delighted woman because in verse 28, Christ commended her faith, gave her a promise, and healed her daughter. God is faithful. And at the heart of this story is a short prayer of this desperate, determined woman in verse 25, when she prayed, Lord, help me. Her prayer was short, it was specific, and it was successful. And her whole situation immediately changed, causing her to become a delighted woman. Does Jesus care? Has he changed? Is he not still the same as he was when he first saved you? Is he not the same as he was when he dealt with this woman, with her issue, with her problem, with her need? He never changes. The unchanging Christ is here with us today. Get to his feet. Unburden your heart in his presence. Lord, help me. I don't know what to do. I haven't the solution. Help me this day. Three simple things I want to highlight from this portion before us. First of all, how the Lord's silence tested her. This is a surprise in the story. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. According to verse 22, she traversed the dark valley. And Isaiah chapter 50 verse 10, I think it is, talks about those who fear the Lord. Now that's good, but they're walking in darkness. And for those who fear the Lord and who may be walking in darkness at this point of time, there is good advice from the prophet Isaiah, trust in the Lord. Now it's hard to trust in the Lord when the lights go out. It's hard to trust in the Lord when we enter that dark tunnel and we can't see the end of the tunnel, we can't see a way out. It's hard to trust in the Lord then. But that's exactly what God expects us to do, to prove Him, to trust in the Lord. What was the problem with this woman? The devil was in her home. Not good company. She was in deep distress, deep distress engulfed her soul. How great was the need for encouragement. And yet when she comes to the feet of Jesus initially, the Lord had a purpose and plan in the whole thing of course. When she initially came and fell at his feet, brought the need, he answered her not a word. No encouragement, the darkness was there, She was in the right place. She was there before the Savior and she didn't give up. It says in Mark, she besought him and the verb implies that the request was made with dignity. She showed great reverence and fear and the tense of the verb indicates that she continued to oppress her situation. She cried again and again, be merciful unto me, be merciful unto me, help me, help me. She's in desperation. That's the sense. So she's wanting to get to the Lord. She's at his feet now. And she's praying, she's seeking him with all of her heart. So she has prayed, have mercy. She has prayed, help me. And then we're surprised by what we read in verse 23. But he answered her not a word. There was no immediate response. There was no immediate answer. Christ was silent. Why? Why on earth should this be the case? She's a devil in her home. Her daughter's possessed. She has come to fall at his feet. She's crying for mercy. Why is Christ silent at this time? How much darker her trial became in the light of the Lord's dealings with her. A silent heaven is not easy to bear. It can be very, very testing. You read sometimes, and it's not easy to read through the book of Job. It's a hard book to read. It's a hard book to understand and grasp. We may take the first couple of chapters, maybe the last couple of chapters, and much in between, we leave out. And all the way through, Job's asking questions. He's been opposed by his friends. His wife is against him and everything else. They're saying, you're such a vile man that God has allowed these things to happen to you. Now had he listened to them, he would have ended up completely in despair. He cried, though he slay me, yet will I trust him? You come to near the end of the book and there's still no answers given to Job. The way at the chapter 38, then the Lord answered Job. And really, when you read that chapter, He didn't really get an answer to all the questions he was bringing. The Lord was just saying, Job, I'm God, I can do as I please. I don't need to extend myself to you. I don't need to give you answers. Because I have a perfect plan for you and what I've been doing in your life has been for the glory of God, for your benefit. And the Bible does tell us in Job and James, you've heard of the patience of Job. Think Dr. Cook. preached five years from the book of Job. And I think the last Sunday he preached, he preached on the patience of Job. The people found that very amusing. But that was the lesson. Patience. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. So it seems strange that the Lord would hold us peace at this particular point of time, and there's got to be a reason for it. By his refusal at that moment to respond, he tried her faith that he might deepen it. Her request must be gained by earnest prayer. And one author says, he was testing her in order to improve her, not seeking to destroy her faith, but he was seeking to develop her faith. You've read in John 11 about Lazarus The one that Jesus loved, he loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. He took sick. Okay, that was bad. The Lord wasn't in the location at that particular time and then he grew worse. And the news came. And Jesus said to his disciples, behold, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. So they thought to himself, well, that's a good thing. He's sick. He's unwell. It's good that he's able to take his rest. He's sleeping. Jesus says, you don't understand what I'm talking about. And sometimes that's the way it is with us. He speaks to us. We don't understand what he's saying to us. And then the Lord made it very clear. He says, Lazarus is dead. So the point is this, Lazarus was sick. He grew worse, and then he died, and Jesus didn't turn up. He didn't turn up when they wanted him to turn up. Now, if he could have turned up and prevented Lazarus from dying, that would have been a great thing. But he stayed until Lazarus died, and then when he did return and called him forth from the grave, that was a greater miracle, and brought more glory to God, because he brought forth a man from the grave. So he was sick, he grew worse, things got worse still, and he died. But God had a purpose, God had a plan, and all the same situation in the story of Jairus. He had a little daughter, only daughter, and when he came to Jesus, he said, she's at the point of death. And so Jesus turned and he was going with Jairus down to his home, and then friends from home came up and said, bother not the master any longer, your daughter's dead. So the situation was bad, she's at the point of death, she grew worse. And then, don't bother the master, it's too late. Things can get worse, but we've got to trust his divine purpose. and his divine plan. The silence of Christ led to heart searching. That's a hard thing for God's people to do, search their own hearts. When he did answer, he said, I'm not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel, verse 24. That wasn't very encouraging because she wasn't of the people of Israel. She was an outsider. She was a Gentile. And as a Gentile, she had no claim on him as the son of David. So she was knocking at the closed door, in a sense. There seemed to be no blessing for her. The first plea was, verse 22, came on Jewi's right, son of David. The second plea was found in verse 25, Lord help me. Because she came as a sinner to Christ. Not to the king of the Jews, but to the Savior's sinners. She came to Christ for help. Have you got a burden today? Have you got to care? Are you weighed down? Bring that burden to Jesus. He cares. We sang that at the very start. He understands. But at the same time, he gave her a word to hope in. Let me explain what I'm saying here. He said it does not meet or it's not good to take the children's bread, the Jews' bread, if you like, and cast it to dogs, the reference there is to the Gentiles. You've got to understand that, what it's all about here. So in a sense, Jesus did not shut the door on her face. She may have thought so, Mark 7 verse 27 says, this is what he said. Let the children first be fed. Now think about that word first. So if the Jews are going to be fed first, the children are going to be fed first. Then the Gentiles can be fed after that. The gospel was for the Jews first. But then the gospel according to grace flowed out to the Gentiles. That's the point. that Jesus is emphasizing here. So he gave her a word to hope in. It's always good to get a word to hope in, child of God, something to stand on in the dark days. He talks here about dogs. Now, the term dog in those days was commonly a symbol of dishonor. To the Greeks, the word meant a shameless and audacious woman. Audacious woman. Now, it's the word that would be used today of a female dog. I'm not going to use that word from the pulpit. That's the same idea, the same connotation here. Not very favorable, not very nice at all. To the Jews, it was a term of contempt, given that it was wholly unto the dogs. Now, the dog was a term that the Jews often used of the Gentiles. The term really was an insult. The word Jesus used was not the usual word. The word dogs does not refer to the wild street dogs, the wild scavengers, right from the street, but the little pet dogs, the one you would have there in the home. And she picked up on this. And this is what she says, she says, yes, Lord, yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs, verse 28. So she stated that the little dogs, little pet dogs could eat the fallen crumbs while the children are being fed. So the Jews first are getting the meat, getting the foot on the table. Christ came to the Jews first of all. And then the crumbs that fall from the table. Well, she was happy with those things. Now, in those times, they didn't have knives and forks. They didn't have napkins. So they ate with their hands. Oh, here's rice going in, here's meat going in here. It's all covered in gravy, whatever. Oh, your hands are a mess. What am I going to do with it? No napkins, no knives and forks. What did they do? They took some portions of bread, pulled some off there, and they used this as the napkin, all greasy, whatever was on it, and then they threw it to the pet dogs under the table, so the pet dogs were being fed. The children are being fed with the gospel on the table, but the Gentiles are happy to receive the very things that fall from the table, the things that fall under the table for the little pet dogs. She was content to have the crumbs while Christ ministered to the Jews. She's saying, that's true, Lord. Thou canst give me also what I need. And no wonder Jesus said, O woman, great is thy faith. She laid hold upon his character, not as a son of David, but as son of God. So she thought the door was opened, and maybe the Jews thought the door was closed. But the Lord left the doorjar. and gave her a word to hope in. So we have this thought, how the Lord's silence tested her. Maybe you're going through a testing time. You're asking why. Think about the story. In the second place, how the Lord's servants treated her. How did they treat her? Verse 23, they said, send her away. So the Lord's servant had really no time for this particular woman on her plate. Oh, they're very hard-hearted disciples. Sometimes we can be very hard-hearted, lacking in sympathy and compassion for those who may be going through difficult times, whatever. Similar thing happened in Matthew chapter 14, verse 15, when the Lord fed the 5,000, plus men, plus women or children. It could have been 10, 15,000, who knows? But they'd been with the Lord all day. The evening came, desert place. and send them away that they might buy food in these villages and so on. Send them away. They couldn't be bothered. They were tired. They had been busy all day. They'd been helping the Lord all day. They're tired. Send them away. We need time to ourselves. quiet and rest and refreshment, that was their solution. But Jesus says, this may surprise you, this is what he said, they need not depart. They need not depart. It's not about you, disciples, it's not about you. It's about getting God's work done and they fed the crowd to teach the disciples the need. that they had to get the gospel out to evangelize, to get the message out to the lost. The conduct of some of God's people is more likely to turn people away than undo them to the gospel. That ought not to be the case. It's happened. It does happen and will continue to happen. May God forgive us. Peter. The mob's coming to arrest Jesus. Peter's the forward disciple. He loved the Lord, there's no doubt about that. And so when he realized what was going to happen, what did he do? When they saw the mob ready to arrest Jesus, he took out the sword he had, and he reached out and he cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. I'm sure that hurt. I'm sure it was painful. Oh, the blood's flying now. Why did he cut the ear off? I don't know. I think he probably was aiming for his head, but he cut the ear off. So the blood's pouring out. And the Lord performed a miracle. Had he not performed a miracle, Peter may have joined the Lord on Calvary's cross, on Calvary's hill, but he would have been nailed to the cross himself. So here he's working in the flesh. He draws the sword. It's hurtful, it's painful. He cuts off the right ear of this man. But on the day of Pentecost, working as a spiritual man, he uses another spirit, another sword, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and he preached powerfully on the day of Pentecost, with the result that about 3,000 souls were saved. So you see the contrast? He's walking in the flesh. He's hurting people. He's cutting. The sword's cutting, so when we're not walking with God, sometimes the words we use can be very cutting and hurtful. But now he's a man filled with the spirit of God on the day of Pentecost. And he's preaching the word with power, and God is blessing the word, and people are getting converted and saved. Now there's a difference, do you see that? There's a difference. Remember when Saul was converted on Damascus Road? And when he first came to Jerusalem, the disciples there didn't believe that he was a disciple. That was very hurtful. After his conversion, he went away to Aruba and studied the word, the scriptures. And then when he came to Jerusalem for the first time, the disciples there wouldn't believe until Barnabas arrived on the scene, the son of consolation. Oh, here's a good man. That's the way he's described in the Bible. A good man, a gracious man, a giving man, a Christ-like man. And at the time when the rest of the disciples believed not, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he testified that he saw the Lord in the way and he's preached boldly to Damascus. Oh, we need good men and women like that. Who will love the church and the word of God and the people of God. Love to serve the Lord. how the Lord's servants treated her. The Bible says, behold, a woman, there's no mention made of a husband here. Was she a widow? I don't know for sure. Maybe she heard of the miracle in that area performed years before by alleged the prophet and that same general location. First Kings chapter 17 of how the Lord came and raised the son of that widow. Maybe that was how she heard, I didn't know for sure. Whose young daughter, Mark 7, 25 says, little daughter, term of endearment. But it does not really establish her age. She could have been old enough to be married. You know, our kids grew up, our daughters grew up and they get married, we still look upon them our little girls, whatever. So we don't really know just what age she was, but the Bible says she had an unclean spirit, and that will suggest moral, in a moral sense, whatever that entails. Morally, she was unclean. She was grievously vexed. Listen, many young people are grievously vexed these days. The colleges of the world are full of this kind of activity. Brainwashed by the world, Destroyed by the world, deceived by the world. These gender issues, homosexuality, lesbianism. These people are out to make more lesbians and more homosexuals. And these are found quite often in the training, the education center of the world, how to destroy. Ah, she was grievously vexed, badly vexed she was. Vex means to have or act as a demon. Can you imagine what it was like for that woman in the home where she lived? The mother's need was great, but I want to tell you something, the mother's need drove her to defeat of Jesus. Blessed is the thirst that draws to such a fountain. At my burden, At my concern that I have, if it draws me to Christ, it's good for me. It's good for me. If it makes me more like Jesus. Now that may be hard to say. Yes, we need grace to be able to say it and grace to experience it. But if my burden is drawing me to Christ, thank God for it. Our poverty, like the prodigals, is often the means to driving us home to the Father's house, the house of Plantae. It says she heard of him and came, Mark 7, and the word heard, the tense of that means that at some specific report she had heard, it was a message about Christ and his power to expel demons. And so she was in the right ground. and at once she ran off to bring the burden to Jesus. She's at his feet now, her heart's breaking. Lord, help me. I am poor, I need thy mercy and thy grace. So how the Lord's silence tested her, how the Lord's servants treated her, and then have come quickly to a close. how the Lord's solution thrilled her. Verse 28, then Jesus answered and said unto her, the story hinges on the thrice repeated words, but he answered, verse 23, 24, and 26, and the word then in verse 28. And it was then that Jesus said, O woman, great is thy faith. Now between the silence of Jesus and the surliness of the servants, her faith was severely tested. But her faith eventually triumphed. And Jesus said unto her, be it unto thee even as I will, verse 28. Faith may be tested, but I want to tell you something. Faith will always be triumphant. She was not disappointed. Oh, she may have come at the start. She may have been wondering, what's happening here? But you can see the great smile coming to her countenance. Oh, she's dark. She's black, or dark below the eye. She's troubled. She's a mess. She's been going through this in the home for I don't know how long. But now we can see a smile in her countenance. The joy is beginning to bubble up within. Be it unto thee, even as I wilt. This is good news. Her despair is gone. Her determination is paid off. She's now a delighted woman. The Lord has answered prayer. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Though it tarry, wait for it. It will surely come. Her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Now, this is one of two cases of Gentile healings in the Gospels. The other is Matthew chapter 8, and they're healings from a distance. The Lord wasn't there in the house beside the girl. He spoke the word, and at a distance, the word traveled with power. It's the same thing here. This young woman wasn't with Christ at this time, or Christ wasn't in her house. You've loved ones far away from you, loving maybe in a different country, maybe even somewhere in Northern Ireland, the distance from you. Keep on praying. Distance makes no difference to Him. Makes no difference to Him. Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us away from this old sin-cursed world, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees. Someone said, and I quote, is a good thing, but sickness is far better if it leads us to God. Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one if it brings us to Christ. Coming to an end. Dr. Giler used to come over to the convention maybe over 15 or 20 times, years gone by, and he told a story. And I was listening to the tape just there a while back, It was the story about his mother. His mother loved him. Well, he loved his mother too. And there came a time when the country fair was coming to their location. They were a poor family and they didn't have a lot of money, but the mother had saved up a lot of money in those times to buy a dress. She went down to the store and it was a nice green dress for the occasion. And she admired it, and she brought it home. Myron could see it, held it up. Oh, beautiful mum, so on. But she wanted to press it. She wanted to iron it before the fair itself. She wanted to look her best. Oh, wait, those ladies, you only look your very best. Everything's got to be really iron-pressed, whatever. The menfolk, they're not just as caring about those things. So she wanted just to have it. But you see, there was no electricity where they lived. There wasn't any water coming in. If they wanted running water, had to get a bucket and run with it to the home and all that kind of stuff. So he's got this, the old iron, an iron, the iron. Yes, it was an iron. That's why it's called that. And it was set on the stove, you see, and then it heated it up there. And so his mother got this all set up. There's a couple of these irons sitting over. You set one on the fire, or on the stove, and then use it, and then tip it off, and so on. And so she was doing something, the ironing. It was looking very well. Now it came to the door, and she set it over to the stove again. So Myron thought he would help his mother, so he over-lifted it. And he saw his mother, what she was doing, you know, doing very well. It looks good. And then he heard the door close, and he knew that mother was coming back in again. He didn't want to be caught out, so he decided that he would just leave there where it was. He forgot all about leaving back in the stove again. So when mother came in, she smelled something burning. She couldn't believe it. She lifted up her nice green dress, and there was the shape of the iron. And Myron said that his mother loved him dearly. But she didn't say anything. She just took the dress, went down to the room, came out and closed the door. Then she flew past him, out past him, out to the back, out to the yard, and she cut off a switch. And she brought it in. And she began to really love around to him. It was painful. Oh, Muller loves me, he was thinking all the time. She's really beating him hard. And then he discovered something. If I can only get close to my mother and put my arms around her waist, she'll not have the same liberty to get at me. Do you see that picture? I can see King smiling up there. Maybe Mrs. Amershaw had to do that, maybe with him. I don't know. He's smiling anyway, looks guilty. And so he's holding on to his mother's waist. He's getting close to his mother who loves him, but she's chastening him. And so because of that, she can't really get a good belt at the young son. He's clinging on to her. And when we go through periods of chastening, whatever it may be, The only solution is, get close to Him. Get close to Him. And He will give you the grace and the help that you need. And that's exactly what this dear woman did. She came and she fell at the sea. In other words, she put her arms around the Savior. And the Lord answered her prayer. And the Lord comforted her soul. There were three simple things. how the Lord's silence tested her, how the Lord's servants treated her, and how the Lord's solution thrilled her. Days are filled with sorrow and care. Hearts are lonely and drear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus. is very near, the great lover of our souls, the altogether lovely one, the one who came from heaven's glory, became man and dwelt among us to sympathize with us. He went through the darkness of nights himself, so he knows how to comfort us. He knows how to bind broken hearts. He knows how to dry up fallen tears. He knows how to give us joy in times of sadness. I am the Lord, I change not. He's man's best friend. He's the sinner's best friend. Are you trusting in him? Do you love him? You know now that he does care. He never fails. He's the Lord of righteousness. If you're not converted, but you look to him by faith. trust in the work that he accomplished on Calvary's cross, repent of your sin, believe the gospel, trust in him, be reconciled to God, and enjoy the fellowship of walking with him. Then when the going gets difficult, there's always a place you'll find him, down at the feet of Jesus. Lord, help me. May God bless his word this day. We'll close now with prayer. Father, we're thankful for the one who cares for us, the one who sympathizes with us, the one who's always near, whose eye is upon the righteous, whose ears open unto their cry. As our faces differ, so do our needs. My need may not be the same as my brother or my sister gathered here today, but the Lord knows about it. And thank God, he will draw near and give the grace we need, whatever the circumstances may be. O God, dismiss us with thy blessing in thy fear. Keep thy good hand upon us. Bless our young brother tonight who comes to bring the word. Encourage him greatly in the ministry this evening. Bless him in his studies. And in the days to come, bless the congregation here. And may it prove to be a fruitful ministry that our brother will enter into here in this corner of the Lord's Vineyard. Dismiss us with thy blessing in thy fear, for we ask these things in Jesus' name. you