I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read this morning, the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 7. And this evening we will look at verse 37. I'll read from verse 36.

And he charged them that they should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much more a great deal they published it. And we're beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well. He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.

As we looked at this morning, this miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he again enters into a Gentile region, a region that he had been before, where he met the Gadarene who lived in the tombs and who was possessed with many devils. And as Christ cast out those devils and the man was found sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, having that desire to follow him.

but Jesus tells him go home to your friends and tell them how great thing the Lord has done for you and he went and he published throughout the whole region how great great things the Lord had done for him how he had been delivered from his previous life how he had been transformed by the word of the Lord Jesus Christ and he was a new man

And so as he had experienced that transformation, that new birth, that healing, and that desire then to follow Christ, he went and told people all that Christ had done for him. And as the Lord Jesus then returns to that area, they bring to him others that were unwell, others that had various disabilities and sicknesses.

And we saw that the disabilities that are seen in this world, the sicknesses that are seen in this world are as a result of the fall. Adam and Eve did not experience in their innocency, did not experience any sickness, any disability, any defects in their bodies. They were perfect in body and soul. But as they sinned against God, so their spirit died, was separated from God, and their body was now corrupted by sin. They are cursed.

And so as they reproduced, And we see throughout the whole world the great need that there is of hospitals and aid to support those people who are unwell, who are disabled. And we saw that even in our own land, over, I think it's 260 billion pounds is spent or given to the NHS to look after. to look after the nation and what a privilege we have in this land for this free NHS service that we have and the wisdom that God has given and although we are recipients of this great the advancement in medication, and it can be very easy for us to look at the hand that gives, the person that gives that medication, and we're very thankful for that, but we go beyond the person, we go beyond the medication, we go beyond the person, beyond the doctors, the pharmaceuticalists, the the researchers and the chemists.

We go higher and higher and higher until we come to God. And we see it's God who hands down these gifts to men, this ability to be able to reach the research and understand a medication. And as we look at the medication that is given, how much of it even comes from nature itself, which is just refined and processed by man.

And as we looked then at this man that came to the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, he was deaf. He was unable to hear and perhaps because of his deafness he was unable to speak properly. He had an impediment and how often it is even with our own selves that one illness, one disability brings other problems. The Bible tells us that man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. It is our course of life that we are going to have problems, we're going to have difficulties, we're going to have sicknesses, we're going to have disabilities and not just us but also others around us.

and we may look at the lives of others and we may pass judgment upon them and we may say, well, I know why God has brought that into their life and I know why this and this is taking place and we stand there as a judge to interpret the dealings of God in the lives of others. but God himself is the revealer of his own purposes and he will reveal to individual people as to the reasons why they are passing through certain situations in their life. He will make them fully aware as to why he has brought something into their life and he will He will reveal to them why he has done it, what purpose, what his purpose is, what he is sculpting and sanctifying in their life.

And we know that everything, the end result of all of the Lord's dealings with the Lord's people is for their good and for their sanctification. Nowhere in the scripture can we find the Lord doing something wrong to one of his people. Nowhere does God lose control and strike one of his beloved children as it may happen in today's world. As a father or a mother may lose control, lose their temper and act rashly.

But nowhere do we find God. dealing with his people in a rash, uncalculated, unjust, unloving way. He always deals calculatedly and precisely for their good and benefit and for their sanctification and correction, that they may be conformed, as we read, into the likeness of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so as these people hear of Jesus again coming to their coast, they bring their friend. And we saw that that should be our desire. Instead of looking at the afflictions of others and trying to work out the reasons why God has done these things, it should draw out of us a compassion and a concern for them.

And whether we bring them physically to the Lord Jesus, or whether we bring them to the Lord Jesus, to the throne of grace, whether we actively involve ourselves in their lives, we leave that to the providential workings of God in our own individual lives. But when we see those in need, we should be moved with concern and compassion, just like Jesus Christ.

Look how he stepped outside of the cultural norm. And he dealt closely with the Gentile, even touching them. We saw how he touched the leper. And we see how he takes this man and he puts his fingers into his ears. And then he takes his spittle and puts it upon the man's tongue. And the man is immediately healed.

And he says those words be opened. The ears were opened and he heard Christ. He heard the people and he spoke. His tongue was loose and he spake plainly. He spake clearly. But Jesus tells them They should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much more, a great deal, they published it.

Jesus' work was not primarily to heal people of their bodily diseases, disabilities and sicknesses. We go to the doctor, that's his primary job. He's looking at the body. He's trying to find the reasons why we are feeling unwell, and he's there to deal with the body. But the Lord Jesus Christ was not there solely to deal with the body. Those signs and wonders that he did were to draw attention, to stamp the authority of God upon the word that he spoke. As he spoke, as he preached, as he told them that he was the Son of God that came into the world, as he expounded the Scriptures to them, he told them all about himself. The miracles that he did proved the reality of the world. And so he says, don't just tell everybody of the providential things that I am doing. I'm here for more than that. I'm here to deal with the souls of men, to bring people from spiritual sickness, spiritual poverty, spiritual death, spiritual blindness, spiritual deafness, spiritual dumbness. I'm here to loose the tongues. that they may sing the praises of God, but just because of the great benefits they've received for their bodies, but to rejoice in the great salvation that has been brought to men.

So he says, don't just tell them, publish everything about the works that I do. You can understand it. that seeing these things take place, people would be overwhelmed. They would be excited. They would be dragging multitudes of people to such a man who could heal their relatives and their loved one. And they were, it says, and they were beyond measure astonished, beyond measure. Beyond measure, the word in the Greek is super abundantly. There was a bridge in Kenya that was built by the Chinese, the railway bridge. And the sign next to the bridge is written in Chinese. And underneath is translated directly in English. And it was the super massive bridge. And we probably wouldn't use that sort of phraseology, especially next to a bridge that had been built. But it is something that is beyond comprehension. It's so vast that words truly can't be framed to put together the greatness of this structure, as they thought. And so it was with these people. What they were witnessing, they couldn't fully comprehend. They didn't have the vocabulary to be able to explain all that was going on before them. They were overwhelmed with wonder at the greatness of this man before them. They were beyond measure. They were super abundantly astonished at what was taking place. No word was able to describe what they were seeing.

If we look at Matthew 15, verse 30 and 31. Great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them, insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, and the maimed to behold, and the lame to walk, and the blind to see, and they glorified the God of Israel. It says they cast them down at the feet. And if you look at the Greek again, it just literally means they were throwing them down at the feet of Jesus. There was so much excitement, so much chaos, that they were just bringing these sick people to the Lord Jesus and throwing them down at his feet. And he was healing them. Healing them of their external bodily sicknesses and their disabilities. But where did it drive them? It drove them to glorify God. the God of Israel, Jehovah. They cast the people at the feet of Jesus. He healed them and they glorified the God of Israel. The God of Israel. Jehovah, who sent his son into the world, that he may live and die and rise again for the sins of his people, that he would be able to give to his apostles a wonderful gospel, a wonderful gospel.

If we turn to Acts chapter 2, and there we have the day of Pentecost, And we have the apostle Peter, after they had been filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance, everyone heard in their own language. In verse eight it says, now we hear every man in our own tongue wherein we were born. In verse 11 it says, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. the wonderful works of God.

So as Jesus is healing people, and they are astounded, they are super abundantly astonished at his sayings, as Jesus is healing them, they wonder at what is taking place, they are filled with amazement, and they glorify the God of Israel.

And then as this gospel goes forth, as the good news of salvation goes forth, other people begin to hear of this man who lived a perfect life, who went about doing good, who healed people of their bodily sicknesses and then died upon the cross and then rose again the third day, as he said.

As he said he would, he rose again on the third day. not for the bodily sicknesses of people, but for the sickness of the soul to bring about reconciliation of man to God. And when Peter is preaching this, they call it the wonderful works of God.

I wonder, How often do we think of the gospel as the wonderful works of God? How easy it is for us to come to church on a Sunday twice and then on a Wednesday and hear the word of God preached and maybe we listen throughout the week to various things and read our Bibles and read our daily meditations and we become gospel hardened. It just becomes like a message that runs off our backs, runs through our minds. It doesn't grip us anymore. We forget how wonderful it is.

This wonderful gospel, when these people were first pricked in their hearts as they heard that Jesus died and rose again, and they heard it in their own language, the wonderful works of God, they were amazed. They were amazed.

We sing, don't we? Amazing grace. We sang it this morning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Have we lost sight of that amazing grace? Have we lost sight of that amazing wonder, the wonder of God sending his son into the world to die for sinners as we see people are saved? Are we filled with the same super, super abundant amazement that these people were seen?

You know, someone being saved is far greater than somebody having their ears unstopped and their tongue loose. Someone being saved has an eternal consequence upon the soul of that person. An eternal consequence.

So you may be unwell, you may take some medication or undergo some treatment and that may fix your body, but your body will one day die and your soul will be released. And if you've got a healthy body and a sick soul, that's worse, for your soul will descend into hell under the wrath of God and your body will go into the ground. But if you have a sick body and a healthy soul, The body will go into the ground. The soul will go to be with Christ, which is far better.

And so it is a wonderful gospel because it deals with the salvation of the soul, the immortal part of man, the eternal part of man. We lost sight of that wonder, amazing grace.

If you realise, if you look back, if you're a believer right now, if you look back to when you were saved, how the Lord altered the course of your life. Not only did he alter the course of your life, but he altered your eternal destiny, that he changed you from being separated from him for all eternity to being united with him for all eternity, for being in his kingdom, from being an orphan to becoming an heir with God himself. And so it is something to be astounded by. to be beyond measure astounded at the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the souls of believers, in the souls of ourselves. The Corinthians tells us there that it is an unspeakable gift, an unspeakable. 2nd Corinthians 9, right at the very end, verse 15. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift, his unspeakable gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the wonder. Angels behold him in wonder that he should condescend to put on flesh, to die upon a cross for the salvation of his people. The angels were not spared, were not given that privilege. The angels who sinned against God were rejected immediately, cast to earth, and wait for their judgment. There's no hope for them. But they stand in amazement that mankind has been offered a savior in Christ Jesus, and he is the unspeakable gift. Words cannot explain the vastness, the greatness, the wonder of this gift. And especially when we witness this gift being applied to the soul of a sinner and bringing them from the darkness to the light, we stand in amazement.

And they were beyond measure astounded, saying, He has done all things well. If you look at Mark chapter 3, you see there is a different response that the Pharisees had to the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus was doing the miracles and casting out demons there, They accused him of being Beelzebub, Mark 3, 22. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, he has Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils cast out devils. And he called unto them and said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan? That was, they were witnessing the same things. They were witnessing the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ, the power and authority that he had over the kingdom of darkness and over the sicknesses and disabilities of the people around about him. The conclusion that they had was that this man is the prince of devils. Look at the difference. face to face with the same things taking place. The mad gathering, having all the demons cast out of him. The deaf man now is able to hear and is able to speak. He has done all things well.

And even today, you know, when the gospel is preached, it falls on different types of soil, different types of ground, different types of hearts. Some reject it as foolishness. Some receive it as a wonderful message. Some receive it as the good news of salvation and are astounded beyond measure of the goodness of God as they see themselves in Christ Jesus.

He has done all things well. Not only had he done all things well on earth in the sight of men, but he had also done all things well in the sight of his father. For God was well pleased with his son.

In 1 Peter 1, it says, from verse 16, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables. when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, and there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. and this voice came from heaven. We heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount.

So Peter testifying of his eyewitness account, saw with his eyes, heard with his ears, and now is testifying with his mouth, writing it down in the scriptures, that he heard the voice from heaven This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. God the Father, well pleased with this son. He has done all things well.

You know, after he was baptised, also the same words came from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And so God the Father, stamping his approval on the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he has done all things well.

And also we can see that God demonstrated His love, God demonstrated His love to His Son and His favour upon His Son and the goodness of His Son, the perfection of His Son by raising Him up from the dead. That the work that God the Father had given the Son to do was complete. He cried, it is finished on the cross, it is laid in the grave. He has done all things well. It is a perfect salvation. The work of Christ was a work well done. It was a work that was finished. There was nothing more for the sinner to do other than to believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. Everything was perfect.

says he has done all things well, which shows that the work that he had performed at that time was finished and it was to their observation a good work. And so as the Lord Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, to the observation of God the Father, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ was finished upon earth and it was a good work. It was a work by which well pleased the father and all the things he has done well.

throughout the book of Romans we read of the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he was the fulfillment of so many types and shadows in the Old Testament, and how he completed the work that God gave him to do. And in Romans 8, 1, it says there, and we could add this, he has done all things well, Therefore, because he has done all things well, there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. There is no condemnation. Why? Because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has justified them by his blood, by his perfect sacrifice, as he finished the work that was given him to do and he was received then up into glory and there ever lives to intercede for for his dear people

and then there is a salvation he makes the dumb sorry he makes both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak as they witnessed this physical transformation of the man before them, they were able to say, he makes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. But through the perfect sacrifice of Christ, as we saw earlier on, that through our sin, that we are spiritually disabled, we are spiritually dead, we're unable to hear, we're not able to speak, We are unable to hear and to speak, but Christ through his Spirit is able to make the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.

In Mark 4 it tells us there, Mark 4 and verse 9, after Jesus had spoken about the seed falling on the ground, he says, and he said unto them, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And so as we're made aware of by the scriptures that we are spiritually, we're spiritually deaf. And so we are like the hard ground that cannot receive the word of God as truth. But Christ, by his spirit, gives us or heals our hearing, our spiritual hearing. And those, to those who hear, there are two types of hearing, isn't there? There's the hearing with the natural ear, which the word of God enters into the natural ear, into the natural brain. And it may stay there for a little while, but it has no real effect. It doesn't change that person. That person still is walking in the darkness. They're still carnally minded. They're still satisfied by the carnal things of life. They still love their sin. It brings no real change to that person.

I think we're talking about the ears of faith, the spiritual understanding is opened. That's the work of God. As Jesus Christ touched this man and gave him the ability to hear, so he does with his Holy Spirit. He touches the soul. He makes that a living soul, that that person can receive the truth of the word of God.

And so Jesus says, he that has ears to hear the true hearing. A hearing that takes place within the Spirit. Let him hear. Continue to hear. Act upon what you are hearing. Respond to what you are hearing. As it says in Revelations, hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.

to say that he has done all things well. In Luke, it tells us there of Luke chapter 1, we have John the Baptist's father Zacharias after he hears the message of God about his son that would be born, and he doesn't believe the message, he's immediately, he's unable to speak. We saw this morning with Moses, the Lord makes it done. And the Lord gives the ability to speak. And in the life of Zacharias, he's immediately given, his tongue is held and restrained until the prophecy is fulfilled.

Luke chapter 1 verse 63 and he asked for a writing table and wrote saying his name is John and they marveled all his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue loosed and he spake and praised God. That is the effect of the spiritual work of God in a person. We see it manifested in the life of Zacharias immediately as he obeys or he witnesses all the prophecy regarding his son and he obeys and says his name is John. Immediately he confesses that his name is John.

We could say immediately as a sinner confesses Christ. They're loosed from the chains of darkness, from the bonds of Satan and they're given gospel liberty and what do they do? What do they do? They say, like those who we have been looking at, they say they are beyond measure astonished that all that Christ has done for them, they see what Christ has done, that he has lived and died for them, that their sin is forgiven. They're beyond measure astonished. And they say, he has done all things well. He has given me a perfect sacrifice. And what do they do? They praise God. They speak, they testify of the salvation that they have received and they give all the glory to God. Their tongue is loose.

Has your tongue been loosed today? Have you anything to say of the goodness of God? Have you any testimony to tell of the Lord's salvation, the goodness of God to you in Christ Jesus? Or do you just have the testimony to tell of the physical things that you have received? You might say, yes, you know, God has given me a nice house. God has given me a nice car. But do you have anything deeper than that? What will it matter in a hundred years from now if you've got a nice house, a nice car or loads of money in the bank? Nothing. or health, it won't matter at all. All that will matter is the salvation of your soul.

Have you got a testimony to tell of the goodness of God that he has saved you from the wrath to come? Are you able to say he has done all things well? He's given me a perfect salvation. Are you able to praise him like Zacharias? to speak plainly of the Lord Jesus Christ and his salvation for you? Has your tongue been loose? Are you like the man from Gadara? Want to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus? You had your dwellings in the tombs. the darkness of this world but now you want to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Well Jesus says don't just sit there, go and tell all that the Lord has done for your soul. Declare what the Lord has done

They were beyond measure astonished, saying, he has done all things well. Why? He makes both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. And we've seen them this evening. Yes, there is that visible work of Jesus upon the body, but there is that greater work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the soul. He makes the dead soul live. He makes the deaf soul hear. He makes the dumb soul speak. He makes the blind soul see. And then that person, that soul desires to sing the praises of God.

If you remember The Apostle Paul, as he is taken up into the seventh heaven, what does he say? He says, I saw things that were unspeakable, things that were not lawful for a man to utter. And so those that have experienced, received the unspeakable gift and they're astonished beyond measure in this world. How much more are they going to be astonished when they see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face in glory for all eternity? Paul had a glimpse and he says, I can't speak about it. It's not lawful for me to utter the things that I saw. There are no words that can describe the glory of Christ in glory. But he says, one day we will be there, we will behold him face to face without a veil between and then we will be super abundantly astonished beyond measure for we will see him as he is.

May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.

Let's sing together our final hymn of the day from Hymns for Worship, number 20.

Glory to thee, my God, this night,
for all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
beneath thine own almighty wings.

Hymns for Worship, number 20, tune 422.

To thee, my God, this night,
All the blessings of the night.
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath thine humble light.

Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear son,
the ill that I this day have done.
But with the world, myself, and thee,
I am, I sleep, and these may be.

Teach me to live that I may dream
the grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die that so I may rise
to earth My soul, God, they will know
that they sweet sleep and I fit close.
Sleep that shall be more vigorous, thick,
to serve my cause.

Night by sleepless night, my soul will heav'nly thoughts supply.
Let no ill-dreams disturb my rest, no powers of darkness befall me.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise him, all creatures here below.
Praise him above the heav'nly host.

Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you each now and for evermore. Amen.