January 19, 1966
By Dr. Tom Malone
"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,"
(MATTHEW 15:28)
I want to condense our text to just four words, tremendous words that fell from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ, the blessed Son of God: ". . .great is thy faith. . . ." I speak to you on "What Constitutes a great Faith." What does it mean for a Christian, a believer, young or old, new convert or mature Christian, to have a great faith? What constitutes a great faith? Jesus saw here a woman who had great faith.
It is interested to see a great contrast in the Bible, in this book of Matthew especially, between unbelief and faith, two opposites described in the in the Bible. It is interesting in the Bible to see the various types of unbelief. There is more unbelief than just the unsaved man or woman, boy or girl, who does not believe in Jesus Christ as his or her personal Saviour. In fact, Jesus talked more to Christians about unbelief than He did to unsaved people about unbelief. There are great verses in the Bible, such as Matthew 13:58, "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." You will see in the Bible that unbelief was one of the most damaging sins in the hearts and lives of the people of God in both the Old and New Testaments. Unbelief kept Israel out of Canaan for forty years. Unbelief is a damaging sin. And Jesus talked about it often.
Now in chapter 16 of Matthew, unbelief expresses itself in a strange way. Jesus said to these religious people, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas," or the sign or miracles of the resurrection (VERSE 4). Jesus is saying to these people , "It is wicked of you to ask Me to perform a miracle, something tangible, visible and physical, that you can see, in order to make you believe."
A type of unbelief found in the hearts and lives of many of God's people demands tangible evidence.
That is what Thomas wanted. He said to the other disciples after the resurrection, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe" (JOHN 20:25). But Jesus said to him, ". . . blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (VERSE 29). Wicked unbelief demands tangible evidence before trusting the promises of God. There are many other types of unbelief in the Bible. There is indifference to God's past blessing. It is so easy to forget what God has done for us before.
I read in chapter 16 of Matthew a strange thing. Jesus was talking to the disciples about some spiritual matters, but they didn't understand Him at all. They got in a boat and started across the sea and forgot to take bread. When Jesus said, ". . .beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees," they reasoned, "It is because we have taken no bread." But that was not what Jesus was talking about. When Jesus perceived their attitude, He said, "O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? "He said, 'Don't you remember how I performed one miracle by feeding five thousand men, beside women and children, with just a little bit of bread? 'Don't you remember another mircale where I fed four thousand and provided bread for everyone?' They had already forgotten about that. Isn't that strange?
Many times, when a Christian at a crucial moment ought to believe, he forgets all the past victories, all the answers to prayer, all the evidence of the reality of God in his life.
Many times unbelief lays hold on the heart of the Christian. Unbelief manifests itself in so many different ways. Unbelief manifests itself in indifference to the Person of Jesus Christ. Then there is unbelief in His atoning work. John 3:18 says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Keep this one picture in your mind for a moment.
Then there is this other wonderful contrast__faith, that faith that lays hold upon God against all odds and believes and trusts God to do miraculous. There is what I call the "scale of faith" in the Bible. It is very plain and evident.
In Mark 4:40 we read, ". . .how is it that ye have no faith?" Most people have "no faith"_that is, no real Bible saving faith. In Matthew 6:30 He said, "O ye of little faith." There is the scale. You start at the bottom_"no faith"; then move up just a little bit to "little faith." But of the woman I speak about, Jesus said, ". . .great is thy faith. . . ." That is what people need in this difficult hour_"great" faith.This woman had a great faith. Why? It was great for five reasons. It was great, in the first place,
BECAUSE OF WHO SHE WAS !!!!!!!!!!!
This woman was not religious. She was not one of the chosen ones, not of the elect of the house of Israel. She lived over in Tyre and Sidon. She is a Canaanite, a Syrophenician woman. She was outside the race of people to whom God had said would come the blessing, the word, the truth. She, a heathen, had absolutely no right__none whatsoever__to ask God for anything. God had declared in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the JEW FIRST, and also to the Greek." Here is this woman, even before Calvary, before the age of grace, demanding something of Jesus Christ. Oh, you don't realize what faith that took!! She had great faith because of who she was.
# 8 _She had great faith because of who she was. The Samaritan woman at the well even said to Jesus, "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans" (JOHN 4:9). In the thinking of the people, it could not be reconciled that one other than a Jew would ever come to God for anything.
# 9 _But here comes a mother, a heathen Syrophenician woman, saying, "Jesus, I want something from You." Not one who stood around that day ever believed she would get it.
Because of who she was, it took great faith. Jesus talked so plainly to her. "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs [ the Gentiles]." This woman readily admitted she was a dog, so to speak: "Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters table." She was saying, "I am going to believe that I can get the mercy of God until I get it."
It was a great faith because of who she was.
# 10 _One great thing has to happen before God honors faith, and that is an absolute unbelief and distrust in one's self. You can't believe in yourself and believe in God and have faith at the same time. You have to believe that it is "not I, but Christ." There must be an absolute resignation from self. This woman admitted she was just a dog, but 'yet dogs get the crumbs.
I read a little story years ago of a German prince who visited the prison of Toulon. When he came to the outer gate, he said to the keepers, "I am going to release one prisoner today." "Prince, whom will you release?" they asked. "I do not know yet," he replied.
# 11 _It is said that the German prince walked up and down and talked to the prisoners as they came up to the bars. He asked one, "Why are you here? He answered, "I have been wronged and mistreated. I didn't do anything wrong, and I don't deserve this punishment." He waked on. He asked another prisoner, "Why are you here?" "The trial was rigged. There were false witnesses, and I don't deserve this. He walked on. He asked another prisoner, "Why are you here?"
"I am here because I deserve to be here. I am guilty. I am far more wicked than any of them know. And I am here because I deserve to be here."
# 12 _The German prince called the keepers and sais, "Unlock this door. Here is the man who is fit to go free." No one can have his faith honored until there is an absolute distrust in self, and a trust and faith in the power of God alone. And so, her faith was great because of who she was.
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."
Notice a little further. Her faith was great.
# 13 _BECAUSE IT CAME FROM THE RIGHT SOURCE !!!!
Faith is not something you work up. There is only one definition of faith that I know of in all the Bible. In Hebrews, chapter 11, "faith" is mentioned exactly two dozen times. The chapter begins with a definition: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Mrs. Malone said to me the other day, "I believe we need faith to help some of our seminary students who are going throug trials and whose faith is weak and who sometimes surrender to situations and circumstances." Like one Christian asked another, "How are you?" "Fairly well, under the circumstances," he answered. I say, no Christian ought ever be under the circumstances. Faith does not live under circumstance. Faith lives on a higher plane. And faith can come from only one source__from the Word of God. We see it right here. Her faith was great because it came from the right source.
# 14 _Not in this account in Matthew, but in the account of the same thing in Mark 7:25 we read, "For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, HEARD of him, and came and fell at his feet." She "heard of him." That goes right along with Romans 10:17: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
# 15 _You will never have a strong faith apart from this Sermon. Make light of it, leave it out of your life, disregared it, do not emphasize it__and you will be weak in faith. But you meditate on it and, like Mary of old, sit at His feet and hear His Word__and you will have a strong faith. It won't come any other way. I know by experience. WhenI needed a strong faith and didn't have it, I knew I could come to the Bible. As I read the promises of God, everything became brighter. Yes, "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." JOHN 5:24 says that, too: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed fromdeath unto life."
Her faith was great because it came from the right source. In the third instance, her faith was great.
BECAUSE IT DEMANDED THE SALVATION OF ONE OF HER CHILDREN !!!!!!
# 16 _Here is a woman who came asking for something for one of her children. I am amazed at the emphasis in the Bible placed on what I call "household salvation." I hear a lot in this day about various types of evamgelism: mass evangelism, personal evangelism, child evangelism, church evangelism, etc. But the Bible metions household evangelism more than any other kind. When the Philippian jailor said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, AND THY HOUSE" (ACTS 16:30, 31).
A man said to me only a few days ago, "I don't believe that promise that your family is going to be saved." I do. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, AND THY HOUSE." There is a faith that not only leads to your salvation but a faith that reaches out and embraces every member of your household.
# 17 _What a sweet and mighty heavenly revival would come to our churches if our families would become burdened about the members of their own household who are lost!!
Here is a woman whose faith was great because it demanded the salvation of her child. How many times household salvation is taught in the Scriptures! In Acts 16:15 we read about Lydia, a seller of purple, who was holding a prayer meeting down by the riverside. But she was untaught in pure salvation. The Lord opened her heart as she heard Paul. "And when she was baptized, AND HER HOUSEHOLD. . ." Not a thing is said about her husband. Whether he was dead or alive, we don't know. But one thing we do know: another woman got every member of her household saved and baptized.
# 18 _Think about Cornelius. One who chapter (ACTS 10) is about the salvation of a man's family. I took the Bible today and underscored some things it said about Cornelius, this man who sent for Simon Peter to come to his home and preach to his family and get them saved. "A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house . . . ."
If you have the kind of religion that makes you happy and lets you come to church while your family is going to HELL, you do not have the kind that I have. The Bible says, ". . . with all his house."
# 19 _Notice again. When the messenger came to Peter, they said, "Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee INTO HIS HOUSE, and to hear words of thee." If you do not press your Christianty across the threshold of your home, you haven't gone far enough.
Notice again. "Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen. . . . "He wanted his kinfolk saved. Some folks say, "I can't be bothered with the kinfolks. "Bible converts didn't say that. "Corelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends. " He said, 'I want my kinfolks and close associates saved.'
Now notice verse 30: "I pray in my house. . . ." What do you do in yours??? A house without prayer is apt to be a home where some of the children lose their souls.
# 20 _I will never forget hearing a preacher friend tell about a man who was a sot drunkard in his town. His name was often mentioned. People had said, "If we can get So-and-so saved, we will have done the greatest piece of work we could have ever done." One day while he was preaching, this alcoholic rose to his feet, marched down that aisle like a soldier, fell on that alter, wept, opened his heart and took Jesus as his Saviour. A few days later when the preacher was arranging baptism and church membership for him, he asked him, "Fred, what is it about this church, its ministry and its preaching that brought you to the Lord?"
# 21 _Fred Hall replied, "I don't want to hurt your feelings, preacher. You are a great preacher, and you preach the truth. I have confidence in you and love you. But I'll tell you. The other morning about three o' clock, I rose from a gambling table and staggered on my way home. As I walked across the living room, I heard a groan. I stumbled around in the darkness until I found on the floor my sobbing, brokenhearted, gray-haired mother." He sais to that preacher these exact words: "I could have gone to Hell over your church, I could have gone to Hell over your preaching__but I couldn't go to Hell over a praying mother!" The kind of faith that this woman had is household salvation. She came to God saying, "O God, my child is being destroyed. Help him to turn from his wicked way."
"O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."
# 22 _HER FAITH DID NOT LEAVE HER IN THE FACE OF DIFFICULTIES !!!!!!!
It is very easy to trust God right now, isn't it? We are sitting in church, we are in good health, our needs are supplied, the sun shines in our life. But wait until the tempestuous winds blow, wait until the trials come__then where is your faith?? The faith of the Syrophenician woman did not waver in the face of difficulties. Let's look at some of the difficulties. First, one statement would have thrown most of us: "But he answered her not a word" (Verse 23). He didn't even speak to her when she spoke to Him. That would have sent most of us on the run. Not this woman. She just kept hanging on. Something else, and we will always have it. The disciples said, "Send her away . . . ." That would have been it for most of us. But if you keep your eyes on people, you will not have any faith, and you don't deserve any. There will always be people who will not encourage your faith. These disciples said, "Send her away."
They didn't care what she wanted__"get rid of her."
# 23 _The silence of Christ, the attitude of the disciples; now notice the Lord's words: "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs." Even these words of the Lord sounded discouraging.
Three things discouraged her faith: (1) _the silence of Christ; (2) _the stoicism of the disciples; (3) ) _the selection of the Jews to be blessed before the Gentiles.
# 24 _My faith is not what I wish it were. People have said to me, "Preacher, I wish I had the faith you do." My wife has said, "I wish I could have the faith that you have." I would give anything if it were ten thousand times more than it is. But here is a woman with great faith. Here is a woman that, in spite of all obstacles, said, "I'll not quit believing." Right at the very time when most would have quit, she hung on. She said, "Lord, help me" (Verse 25). Not very oratorical, is it? But it got results. Try it yourself sometime!!!!!!
# 25 _What did Simon Peter say when he was about to go down? He didn't say, 'Oh, Thou great God, who sitteth upon the realm of the universe. . . .' He just said, "Lord, save me," coming right to the point and coming to the right place. Such gets results. "Lord, help me" will always move the Master. I read of a woman some years ago, a Mrs. Carter. She had a boy named Tom. She was saved but had an unsaved husband. The boy went the way of the father for years. He finally wound up in prison. (I preached a week in Jackson Prison. You wouldn't believe the type people who are there. I met every kind you could think of. Some came to me and said, "Preacher, I'm a member of suchand-such a foundamental church." Some said, "I'm saved and know it." One young man came to me and said, "I was saved in Emmanuel Baptist Church [our church] and baptized. I'm a member there. I'm ashamed for you to find me in prison.")
# 26 _Tom Carter wound up in prison. The aged mother would take the Bible every day and go yonder to the secret place__like godly mothers will do when their children are on their way to HELL__and stain it with her tears. She stayed upon her face before God and prayed, "O God, somehow or another, in that prison bring my boy to Christ."
One day she got a telegram. It was not good news:
TOM CARTER WAS FOUND DEAD IN HIS BUNK THIS MORNING.
# 27 _She took that telegram, went back to the secret place, took this good old Book filled with promise after promise, and again prayed: "Lord, I don't believe it. I have prayed, believe Your Word and stained it with ny tears. I have waited upon You. I wanted my boy saved. This telegram say's he's dead. I don't believe it. I am still going to claim Your Word and still believe You will answer my prayer. I will never waver in my faith." In about twenty-four hours she got another telegram, which read:
WE MADE A TRAGIC ERROR. ANOTHER TOM CARTER IN THE PRISON WAS FOUND DEAD IN HIS BUNK. YOUR TOM IS ALIVE AND WELL.
# 28 _Not long after that, the story in the Sunday School Times magazine said that Tom Carter had been gloiously saved. Now, listen! That is faith. Faith cries, "It shall be done." Jesus sais to this woman, "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Jesus told her, 'It will be just like you want it. Write your own ticket.' That kind of faith God wants us to have__a faith that laughs at impossibilities and cries out, "It shall be done."
The faith of the Syrophenician was great because it did not waver in the face of difficulties. "And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." There is always a good "quitting place" for Christians. Perhaps God made it that way. He wants us to have some trials that will make us believe. Her faith was great in the fifth place,
# 29 _BECAUSE IT WAS REWARDED !!!!!!
Jesus walked fifty miles from the early part of this chapter to where He met that woman. And can you show me any other reason why He went there? He knew what was going to happen all the time. When He said, 'I can't give the bread to the dogs, ' I think Jesus said, "I hope she won't take Me at face value right now. I've come fifty miles to meet this poor soul." And He rewarded her. He complimented her. Compliments may not mean much, and they are as passing as time itself. But Jesus said, "O woman, great is thy faith . . . " She was rewarded by Him because she got her girl saved and cured. That is reward enough, isn't it?
I would like to have seen that mother and that little girl going home!! No doubt that child walked, maybe for the first time, normally. Mother kept looking at her and squeezing her hands as they both wept. I think they vowed, "When we get home we'll get on our knees and thank Jesus." As the mother walked along, surely her thought was, I got what I went after. It takes faith to get what you go after.
# 30 _Years ago I knew a great man of faith and prayer, but he still had two unsaved brothers. For many years he prayed for God to save them. One was saved before he died, and one was not. When he died and left an unsaved brother, the old Devil might have said, "See, God does not honor his faith." But shortly after he went to Heaven, the other brother was gloriously saved. Let me encourage you with two verses. Hebrews 10:35: "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward." Don't quit believing, dear people. And then Hebrews 11:6: "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Sometimes your faith will be tried, just as surely as you are sitting here right now. Sorrow comes to everyone. Remember the story of the man whose son had died. He said to the preacher, this unblieving man, "You talk so much about God. Where was He when my son died?" The preacher wisely answered, "The same place He was when His Son died."
God loves you. Let that encourage your faith. You are in the hollow of His hand.
"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." __MATTHEW 15:28.
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