This post is much longer than normal. It is a sermon I preached on 6SEP09 and will take 10 minutes to read. If you just read the bold print it will take about 4 minutes of time.
All scripture marked ESV: The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S.
This morning, I ask you to open your Bibles to Mark 7:24-30.
24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (Mark 7:24-30, ESV)
    In this passage we see a woman.
        We see a woman who is determined to receive healing from the Lord.
        The healing is for her little daughter that she would do anything to save.
        The healing is for her precious child that no one else could help.
        The healing is beyond the scope of human understanding and even the most modern of medical care.
She comes to Jesus.
        The famous Rabi, teacher, and healer for help. She comes to Jesus because—in verse 25—she had heard of him.
        Have you heard of Jesus?
            Have you heard that he is the great teacher, the great healer—the Son of God?
            You may have heard of him in a string of profanities.
            But, this Woman heard about Jesus and trusted him with the very life of her child.
And you can trust him with yours.
1. This morning I want us to consider the Wisdom of the Woman.
In verse 25, we read that;
25 …immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. (Mark 7:25, ESV)
Who was this woman?
        She was a gentile woman. Not a Jew. Not born into the line of Abraham—not within the social realm of the Jewish people. And outcast in the area.
        She was a mother.
A mother with deep love for her child; willing to do what it takes to find healing.
This is not unfamiliar to us.
We hear of parents going out of their way to find treatments for their children, traveling across the United States to visit the nation’s Heart Expert, Orthopedic Surgeon, or Repertory Specialist—to hopefully find and heal their precious child.
        And she recognized that her problem could not be solved by Medical Attention, but the problem was a Spiritual One.
        She was Wise.
This woman recognizes that there is a spiritual problem to be solved.
There are so many ways that we try to explain away our actions. In our modern society we don’t ever talk about demon possession. We don’t consider that as a plausible cause—but she did.
        Do I believe in demon possession?
Yes, I do—because the Bible speaks about it.
I don’t understand it.
But I can’t simply explain it away; when we see that the scriptures speak about demon possession as fact.
Nor can we explain it away when we see that Jesus cured more people possessed by demons than any other ailment.
We don’t look at our problems through spiritual eyes.
We try to find a plausible solution to our plight. Sometimes we need to look at the spiritual question.
Many times we need to not look so much at our medical conditions but our sin.
We are all sinners—we were born in rebellion against God.
Jesus is the answer to our spiritual problem.
        I do believe that the medical field to perform some wondrous miracles.
        I do believe that counseling and treatment from psychologists is necessary in many different cases. And I send many people to receive help.
But, I also believe that much of the mess that we find ourselves in is as a result of a spiritual problem—rooted in sin.
The person to bring our spiritual problems to in Christ.
This woman was wise because she saw that her daughter had a spiritual problem.
        Are you encountering a spiritual problem today?
Bring it to Christ.
Are you dealing with the effects of sin in your life?
Bring it to Christ.
Are you constantly in combat with the temptations of this world?
Bring it to Christ.
This woman was wise because she saw that her daughter had a spiritual problem.
2. As we focus on this woman, we also need to consider the attitude of the woman.
She had an attitude of desperation.
She begged Christ for healing in verse 26.
26Â Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ((Mark 7:26, ESV)
She had no problem asking,
Pleading,
Begging for Christ to cast the demon out of her daughter.
She understood that she was dealing with a spiritual problem and went straight to the master of the Spiritual.
She also took these spiritual problems seriously.
Are you taking your spiritual problems seriously? Are you begging for Christ to remove them from you?
In 2 Corinthians 12:7 we see Paul had what he called a thorn in the flesh;
…to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (2 Cor. 12:7, ESV)
Paul took this seriously.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, ”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Cor. 12:8, ESV)
Paul took his spiritual problem seriously, do you?
Do you plead that they be taken away?
And if the answer is no—do you then use it for the glory of God as his grace allows you to overcome it?
    I didn’t say that you continue a lifestyle of sin, but as God rescues you from temptation—you give credit to a Holy God—who gives you victory.
The woman in this passage took her problem seriously by begging for the Lord to take away the spiritual problem.
She also had a persistent attitude.
Verse 27:
27Â And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28Â But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” (Mark 7:27-8, ESV)
She would not take “no” for an answer.
        There are times that we must stop and follow orders and accept what God has allowed, as Paul showed us with his “thorn in the flesh”. But, this woman had an attitude of persistence when begging her case before the Lord.
        When Jesus brought forward a objection, she quickly countered with a response—that is faith.
Why did he treat her this way? Why did he equate her to a dog?
    First, because that was what you would expect from a Jew speaking to a Gentile. We don’t see Jesus doing this in other place of scripture. He did this to show her faith.
We must have a persistent faith. When we come before the Lord, we must be persistent. We must come with the expectation that he will do something for us.
The Bible says:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of     things not seen.” (Heb 11:1, ESV)
This woman had the assurance that Jesus could solve her spiritual problem and she was persistent.
When faced with a spiritual problem, are you persistent?
How long is persistent? Is persistence only until we get tired of asking? Persistence exists until we get an answer.
The Woman was wise in seeing a spiritual problem.
The woman was had an attitude of begging and persistence.
3. Which all brings us to the satisfaction of the woman.
Verse 29 reads:
29Â And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30Â And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (Mark 7:24-30, ESV)
This woman who pleaded for Christ to remove the demon from her daughter,
who answered his objections with faith,
was satisfied with the blessed and miraculous healing of her daughter.
We again see that the Bible did not dispute that there was a demon—it was a spiritual problem—satisfied only be the words of Christ.
We see through this that we can have assurance of satisfaction, by the power of the word of Christ.
We see that we too will be satisfied.
This woman was told that her begging was not in vain, but to go home and see the daughter that was healed.
She was satisfied—as a grandmother who finally sees her grandson come to Christ.
as an alcoholic who completes one year without a drink.
as a young man forgives his abusive father.
as a once struggling married couple looks back and realizes that it was right to stay committed whatever the cost.
Have you found this satisfaction today?
        In the ever present spiritual problems that come our way—do you find satisfaction? You can find this satisfaction in Christ.
Not all satisfaction is instantiations. Most take persistence and discipline. Much of the satisfaction and victory over our spiritual problems come daily
when you were able to read the Bible for that morning.
when you were able to say “no” to pressure of the group and stay home from a trip to the strip club.
when you are able to take a step back from the heat of battle with a young child over breakfast.
When we learn how to apply the wisdom of the woman,
and learn the attitude of the woman,
will we then receive satisfaction.
This morning you may be going through a true spiritual crisis.
            You may have thought it was simply a tough time. But, you have realized that the problem is rooted in your personal rebellion against a holy God.
            You may have been in active rebellion against God for years. You know what you are supposed to do—but you have deliberately gone the other way.
            You also may simply be in a state of denial and laziness toward your spiritual condition.
            These spiritual problems that we encounter are all rooted in sin.
Sin—is anything you think, anything you say, or anything you do—that makes God unhappy.
The Bible says that “All have sinned” (Ro. 3:23, ESV)
            Every one of us.
This sin must be punished. And the only punishment for sin is death.
The Bible says that “the wages of sin are death.” (Ro. 6:23, ESV) This death is a physical and eternal separation from God in hell.
“but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 6:23, ESV)
Jesus paid this penalty—of our death—on his cross. He died in our place. He alone was the substitution for our sin.
We must repent of our sin and turn to Christ—that is turn from our sin and our lifestyle of rebellion against God—and submit ourselves to Christ and allow him to take charge over our lives and to handle the spiritual problems that come our way.
This morning, if you are in the midst of spiritual trouble you can turn to Christ today.
        Even where you sit. You can repent of your sin and turn to Christ.
        If you are ready to repent of your sin—you need to tell somebody.
        Ask that you would come to me and tell me—and I will be happy to help you through the next steps of living for Christ and dealing with the spiritual problems in life.
Let us pray.
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concerned_soldier says
I remember that one. All to often I fail to bring my problems to Christ!!