AIN'T TO PROUD TO BEG: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FAITH FOUND IN A PHOENICIAN FEMALE

The brightest jewels are often found in the darkest places. Christ took his “disciples of little faith” 20 miles outside of Israel to a Gentile city to teach them about the fundamentals of great faith.

What was the Genesis of her faith?

Mark 3:7–11 ESV

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

Matthew 11:20–21 ESV

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

THE MOUTH OF TRUE FAITH CANNOT BE CLOSED

If ever the faith of a woman was tried so as to make her cease from prayer, it was that of this daughter of Tyre. She had difficulty after difficulty to encounter, and yet she could not be put off from pleading for her little daughter, because she believed in Jesus as the great Messiah, able to heal all manner of diseases, and she meant to pray to him until he yielded to her importunity, for she was confident that he could chase the demon from her child.

The mouth of faith cannot be closed even on account of the closed ear and the closed mouth of Christ.

He answered her never a word. She spoke very piteously, she came and threw herself at his feet, her child’s case was very urgent, her motherly heart was very tender, and her cries were very piercing, and yet he answered her never a word: as if he were deaf and dumb, he passed her by; yet was she not staggered; she believed in him, and even he himself could not make her doubt him, let him try silence even if he would. It is hard to believe when prayer seems to be a failure.

“Though he slay me,” said Job, “yet will I trust in him.” That was splendid faith. It would be a great deal for some if they could say, “Though he smite me, yet will I trust him,” but Job said, “Though he slay me.” If he put on the garb of an executioner, and come out against me as though he would destroy me, yet will I believe him to be full of love: he is good and gracious still, I cannot doubt it, and therefore at his feet I will lie down and look up, expecting grace at his hands. Oh for such faith as this! O soul, if you have it, you are a saved man, as sure as you are alive. If even the Lord’s apparent refusal to bless you cannot close your mouth, your faith is of a noble sort, and salvation is yours.

Her faith could not be silenced by the conduct of the disciples

They did not treat her well. They were not like their Master, but frequently repulsed those who would come to him. Her noise annoyed them, she kept to them with boundless perseverance, and therefore they said, “Send her away, for she crieth after us.” Poor soul, she never cried after them, it was after their Master. Sometimes disciples become very important in their own eyes, and think that the pushing and crowding to hear the gospel is caused by the people’s eagerness to hear them, whereas nobody would care for their poor talk if it were not for the gospel message which they are charged to deliver.

Though they did not treat her as men should treat a woman, as disciples should treat a seeker, as Christians should treat everybody, yet for all that, her mouth was not stopped. Peter, I have no doubt, looked in a very scowling manner, and perhaps even John became a little impatient, for he had a quick temper by nature; Andrew and Philip and the rest of them considered her very impertinent and presumptuous; but she thought of her little daughter at home, and of the horrible miseries to which the demon subjected her, and so she pressed up to the Saviour’s feet and said, “Lord, help me.” Cold, hard words and unkind, unsympathetic behaviour could not prevent her pleading with him in whom she believed. Dear friend, this is very trying, but if you have true faith in the Master you will not mind his disciples, whether it be the gentlest of us, or the most rude of us, but just urge on your case with your Lord till he deigns to give you an answer of peace.

Her mouth, again, was not closed by exclusive doctrine, which appeared to confine the blessing to a favoured few.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and though properly understood there is nothing very severe in it, yet the sentence must have fallen on the woman’s heart like lead. “Woe is me” she might have thought, “then he is not sent to me; vainly do I seek for that which he reserves for the Jews.” Now, the doctrine of election or predestination, which is assuredly found in Scripture, ought not to hinder any soul from coming to Christ, for, if properly understood, it would rather encourage than discourage.

The mouth of faith cannot be closed by a sense of admitted unworthiness.

Christ spoke of dogs: he meant that the Gentiles were to Israel as the dogs: she did not at all dispute it, but yielded the point by saying, “Truth, Lord.” She felt she was only worthy to be compared to a dog. I have no doubt her sense of unworthiness was very deep. She did not expect to win the boon she sought for on account of any merit of her own; she depended upon the goodness of Christ’s heart, not on the goodness of her cause, and upon the excellence of his power rather than upon the prevalence of her plea; yet conscious as she was that she was only a poor Gentile dog, her prayers were not hindered; she cried, notwithstanding all, “Lord, help me.”

The mouth of faith cannot be closed by the darkest and most depressing influences.

“It is not right, said the Lord Jesus, “ to take children’s bread and throw it to dogs.” Perhaps she did not quite see all that he might have meant, but what she did see was enough to pour cold water upon the flame of her hope, yet her faith was not quenched. It was a faith of that immortal kind which nothing can kill; for her mind was made up that whatever Jesus meant, or did not mean, she would not cease to trust him, and urge her suit with him.

Faith worships. You notice how Matthew says, “Then came she and worshipped him.” Faith also begs and prays. You observe how Mark says, “She begged him.” She cried, “Lord, help me,” after having said, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David.” Faith pleads, but never disputes, not even against the hardest thing that Jesus says. If faith disputed it would not be faith, but unbelief.

Faith in God implies agreement with what God says. Genuine faith believes anything and everything the Lord says whether discouraging or encouraging. She never has a “but” or an “if,” or even a “yet” to put in, but she stands to it, “You have said it, Lord, and therefore it is true: you have ordained it Lord, and therefore it is right.” She never goes beyond that.

TRUE FAITH NEVER DISPUTES WITH GOD

Faith agrees to all the Lord says

She said, “Truth, Lord.” I am a dog!” “Truth, Lord; truth, Lord; so I am.” “It would not be right that the children should be robbed of bread in order to feed dogs.” “Truth Lord, it would not be fitting, and I would not have one of your children deprived of grace for me.” “It is not your time yet,” said Jesus; “the children must first be fed; children at the meal times and dogs after dinner; this is Israel’s time, and the Gentiles may follow after. But not yet.” She virtually replies, “I know it, Lord, and I agree.”

She does not raise a question or dispute the justice of the Lord’s dispensing his own grace according to his sovereign good pleasure. She fails not, as some do who cavil at divine sovereignty. It would have proved that she had little or no faith if she had done that. She disputes not as to the Lord’s set time and order. She entered into no argument against its being improper to take the covenant bread from the children and give it to the uncircumcised heathen: she never wished Israel to be robbed for her. Dog as she was she would not have any purpose of God nor any propriety of the divine household shifted and changed for her.

She agreed to all the Lord’s appointments and this is a portrait of true faith. True faith agrees with the mind of God, even if it seem adverse to oneself, it believes the revealed declarations of God whether they appear to be pleasant or terrible, it agrees with God’s word whether it be like a balm to its wound or like a sword to cut and slay. If the word of God be true, do not fight against it, but bow before it. It is not the way to a living faith in Jesus Christ, nor to obtain peace with God, to take up arms against anything which God declares. In yielding lies safety. Say “Truth, Lord,” and you shall find salvation.

Faith worships all the Lord says

She not only agreed to all that the Lord said, but she worshipped him in it. “You call me ‘dog,’ but you are my Lord: you count me unworthy to receive you blessings, but you are my Lord, and I still own you as such.” She is of the mind of Job: “Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?” She is willing to take the evil and say, “Whether the Lord gives, or whether he refuses, blessed be his name; he is my Lord still.” This is grand faith, which has thrown aside its arguments, and not only agrees to the Lord’s will, but worships him in it. Let it be what it may, O Lord, even if the truth condemns me, yet still you are Lord, and submit myself to you: do with me what you will.”

TRUE FAITH ARGUES MIGHTILY

Though it does not dispute. “Truth, Lord,” said she, “yet the dogs eat the crumbs.” This woman’s argument was correct, and strictly logical throughout. It was an argument based upon the Lord’s own truth, and you know if you are reasoning with a man you cannot do better than take his own statements and argue upon them. She does not proceed to lay down new truth, or dispute the old ones by saying “I am no dog;” but she says, “Yes, I am a dog.” She accepts that statement of the Lord, and uses it as the basis of a blessed argument.

She took the words out of his own mouth, and vanquished him with them, even as Jacob overcame the angel. There is so much force in the woman’s argument, that I quite despair this morning of being able to set it all forth to you. Jesus said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs. “No,” said she, “it would not be right to do this, because the dogs are provided for, for the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. It would be very improper to give them the children’s bread, because they have bread of their own. Truth, Lord, I admit it would be improper to give the dogs the children’s bread, because they have already their share when they eat the crumbs which fall from the children’s table. That is all they want, and all I desire. I do not ask thee to give me the children’s bread, I only ask for the dog’s crumbs.”

She argued with Christ from her hopeful position.

“I am a dog,” said she, “but, Lord, you have come all the way to Sidon; here you are close on the borders of my country, and therefore I am not like a dog out in the street; I am a dog under the table.” Mark tells us that she said, “The dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” She as good as says, “Lord, you see my position: I was a dog in the street, far away from you, but now you have come and preached in our borders, and I have been privileged to listen to thee. Others have been healed, and you are in this very house doing deeds of grace while I look on, and therefore, though I am a dog, I am a dog under the table; therefore, Lord, let me have the crumbs.”

Do you hear what she is saying? I am a dog. I do not deserve any grace only justice. I possess no merits to purchase your mercy. I know who I am but I know who you are! I do not present my request based on my goodness but on your goodness. My hope is not based on my ability to please you but that you are pleased to do good to those who do not deserve it. I am a dog, but I am under the table, deal with me as such.

She argued with Christ from her relationship.

“Truth, Lord,” she says, “I am a dog, but the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” See the stress laid there by Matthew: “From their master’s table.” “I cannot say that you are my Father, I cannot look up and claim the privilege of a child, but you are my Master, and masters feed their dogs; they give at least the crumbs to those dogs which own them as their lord.” The plea is very similar to the one composed by the returning prodigal. He thought to say to his father, “Make me as one of thy hired servants”: only his faith was far weaker than hers. “Lord, if I do not stand in relation to you as a child, yet I am your creature; you have made me, and I look up to you and beg you not to let me perish: if I have no other hold upon you I have at least this, that I ought to have served you, and therefore I am your servant though I am a runaway. I do belong to you at least under the covenant of works if I do not under the covenant of grace, and since I am your servant, do not utterly reject me. You have some property in me by creation,so look upon me, and bless me. The dogs eat what falls from their master’s table, let me do the same.” She spies out a dog’s relation to its master, and makes the most of it with blessed ingenuity, which we will do well to imitate.

She looked at things from Christ’s point of view.

She said to the Lord, “you look at me as a dog, then I humbly take you at your word, and plead that if I be a dog to you then the cure I ask for my daughter is but a crumb of your great power and goodness to given to me.” What bold faith this was! She valued the mercy she sought beyond all price, yet to the Son of God she knew it to be a mere crumb, for he is rich in power to heal and so full of goodness and blessing. If a man give a crumb to a dog he has a little less, but if Jesus gives mercy to the greatest of sinners he has lost nothing, he is just as rich in mercy and power to forgive as he was before. The woman’s argument was most potent. She was as wise as she was earnest, and best of all, she believed greatly.

This woman was arguing from a foundational truth of the Christian faith. The eternal purpose of God was to give the bread first to the children by sending a divine revelation to Israel. Israel was not the end of this divine revelation but the means by which it would be distributed to the dogs. Isreal received the bread first and then was to distribute it to all, this included Gentile dogs. It had always been his plan to bless his own heritage that his way might be known upon earth. This woman through divine enablement new this secret and used it in her forceful argument. In other words, it ran thus—“It is through the children that the dogs have to be fed: Lord, I do not ask thee to cease giving the children their bread; nor do I even ask thee to hurry on the children’s meal; let them be fed first, but even while they are eating let me have the crumbs which drop from their well-filled hands, and I will be content.” There is a brave argument for you.

TRUE FAITH WINS

True faith won because it passed the test.

All who claim faith will be put to the test. An untested faith is not real faith. As long as you live the life of faith you will be tested. We will not graduate until we die. Why must faith be tested?

Earthly Purposes

Acts 14:21–22 ESV

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 1:7 NLT

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Eternal Purposes

Matthew 24:3–14 ESV

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.