Just talk to you for a little
bit this evening. I'm not going to keep you long. I'm about preached
out. About the seventh chapter of the book of Mark. There's
three things here that will demand our notice and attention. Found in verses 31 through 37. Mark chapter 7. of verse 31 to 37. And let me just read this 35th verse and 36th. And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake
plain. And he charged them that they
should tell no man. But the more he charged them,
so much the more, a great deal they published it. And were beyond
measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well. He
maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. Let's
pray. Father, we come again here tonight almost the end of another Lord's
day. We've met to worship, and we've
met, Father, in truth, in spirit, and in sincerity. We've met,
Father, to exalt Thee. Our only desire is that You might
be exalted and honored and glorified. We're concerned, Father, about
Your glory. And that's our purpose, is to
worship you through the Lord Jesus Christ and to exalt your
name. We pray thee that our worship
might be accepted, that this that goes forth from our heart might be accepted at thy throne
as worship and praise. We realize that we are, Father, in this body
flesh, and our desires are not realized, partly because of our
unbelief, partly because of our nature. But yet, Father, Thou
who knows our hearts, who looks beyond the outward forms and
ceremonies and comes to the source of our intent. Thou dost know,
Father, that we love Thee, and we desire Thee, and we desire
that others might come to know Thee, whom to know is life eternal. Father, bless these few verses
in these few minutes unto your honor and to your glory bless
all that's gathered here remember the sick ones our dear sisters
and our dear brethren and we pray for them and ask mercy to
be shown to them one more time now we ask thy blessing to be
upon this service and we beseech thee and beg thee that thou wilt
be with us In His dear name we pray, Amen. Now, the first thing that demands
our notice here in these verses is the mighty miracle that is
here recorded of this individual, this man, that was brought unto
him, the Lord Jesus. They brought one unto him. It
says, And they bring unto him one that was deaf. and had an
impediment in his speech. And they beseeched him to put
his hand upon him. They brought him unto the Lord
Jesus, and their request was that our Lord put his hand on
him. They had been, I think, in his
audiences before. And there are many times that
our Lord did heal sick folks. the blind, and the halt, and
the maimed, and the deaf, simply by laying hands upon them. And sometimes just by speaking
a word, and they were healed. Sometimes by not doing anything.
As a matter of fact, the woman who touched his garment, he didn't
move in her direction. He said, virtue hath gone out
of me. But in another place, he said,
Thy faith hath made thee whole. It wasn't her touching of his
garment was not the means that brought it about, but the means
that God used then was her faith. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
So they brought this man who was deaf and with the impediment
of speech to the Lord Jesus, knowing that he could do something
for him. And so they said, they beseeched
him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the
multitude, that is, took him alone there, and put his finger
in his ears, and he spit, and he touched his tongue. Now, once
the petition is granted, And the cure is wrought right now.
There's no hemming and hawing around about that he did it.
Now, this is what I want to tell you. As we see the miracle here,
and it's a fact recorded here in the Scripture that it is a
miracle. A man was deaf, he couldn't hear, had a speech impediment,
and they brought him to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus instantaneously
relieved him of these difficulties. Give him his hearing back and
give him plainness of speech. Now, I think that we've got to
look deeper than just the miracle recorded here that displays the
power of the Lord Jesus. There's certainly something more
to it than that. More that He wants us to see
rather than just see the power of the Lord Jesus in healing
this man. I think that it's It's deeper. There's something behind it.
There must be a wealth of material behind that that He wants us
to see and share with us that will encourage us and strengthen
us and help us in this Christian path. For instance, there's Noah's
Ark. Now, we know that that certainly
was a That's a miraculous story there of one man and his sons
building an ark to hold all the representatives of human life
and animal life and the life of the fishes and the bugs and
the insects and all those things. Such an enormous boat with its
compartments all that's involved in the ark. And we've heard the
story, and we've read it, and we've been, you know, just kind
of staggered at all that was involved in the making of the
ark. And we've pictured in our minds,
tried to visualize the animals going into the ark, and Noah
and his sons and their wives going into the ark, and God shutting
the door. and the rains begin to fall down
from the heavens and break up from the earth and rain in forty
days and forty nights until it floods everything. And millions
of people, they tell me that at that time civilization was
about as populated then as it is now, that there was millions
and millions of people that was on the earth at that time, but
just a few that found grace and the Lord secured their safety
in this ark. And we visualize these folks
out here in this hot water trying to find some shore footing, trying
to get up on a mountain or get up on a building or up a tree
or something. Well, I think that the picture of the ark, it was
not just written in order that we might see the wrath of God
against the ungodliness of this world, and also to see a great
display of His power and might and long-suffering and grace.
But I think that it was given that we might see the picture
of the gospel as well. that the Lord Jesus Christ is
representative of that ark. He represents that ark, and that
ark represents Him. And all that went in the ark,
went into a place of safety, all that come to the Lord Jesus
Christ are safe and secure and completely at rest. been reconciled to God through
the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He's their
refuge. So that's the reason I say that
in all probability there's something deeper here for us to see rather
than just to see a display of the power of the Lord Jesus in
the healing of this fellow. Well, I think that we're meant
to see His power in the restoration or the healing of the spiritually
deaf. Now, all men outside of the Lord
Jesus cannot hear the gospel. They must have an operation upon
the ears of faith that they might hear. Over and over in the Bible
it says, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Let him hear
what the Spirit has to say. Let him hear what the Bible has
to say, if he has ears to hear. But there's not many that have
ears to hear. By nature, this faculty of our
spiritual being has been affected by sin, and we cannot hear. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. But if a man can't hear, what
if he can't hear? And all men outside, all men
by nature in their unregenerate state cannot hear. And until
God affects his spiritual hearing and gives him the capacity to
hear, he cannot hear. So I think that this is one thing
that he wants us to see. That not only are we to see the
power of the Lord Jesus in healing the physical deaf hearing of
this fellow, but also the spiritually deaf, such as you and I. He gives
a hearing ear and he makes the individual that he gives the
hearing ear to, he makes him to delight in listening to the
very gospel that he once despised. He not only gives him the ability
to hear through the ears of faith, but he also gives him the nature
and the attitude and the appetite to delight in that which he once
despised. He rejoices in that which he
once was indifferent to and just wouldn't give a nickel for it.
In fact, he wouldn't give a penny for it. He wouldn't go here and
nowhere. But now, the Lord has Unstop this deaf ear. And he's
heard. He's heard something. The news
of the gospel has fell upon his ear. And now he can hear. So the Lord Jesus Christ does
that. Now, the Lord's power also is
evident here to heal the spiritually dumb. The spiritually dumb. Not only are we deaf, but we're
spiritually dumb. You see, this fellow was, he
was kind of deaf and dumb in the sense that, maybe not dumb
in the sense that he lacked some brain power, but he was dumb
in the sense that he couldn't talk. You can have all the brain power
you want, but if you can't communicate, it doesn't do you much good,
does it? I mean, if you can't bring it out here, I know a lot
of preachers. I know a lot of preachers who
have a lot of brain power. They've got 10,000 times more brain power
than I have. But their brain power doesn't
do them much good if they can't get it out there. If they can't
get it down there to where the fellow's at. If they can't present
it in such a way that a man can't understand it, what good does
it do him? A man's got to understand it. So in this sense, this man
here was spiritually dumb as well as deaf because he had an
impediment of speech. And there was no way for him
to communicate. He didn't have the talking on the fingers then
and all the things that they have now. But our Lord here,
not only does He heal the spiritually deaf, but He heals the spiritually
dumb too. And He can teach the worst transgressor
to call upon God. It doesn't make any difference
how bad the man is. I think we can see that here.
Man is spiritually deaf and spiritually dumb. It doesn't make any difference
how hopeless and helpless his case is. God can make the spiritually
dumb to call upon Him, call upon His name. He can do it. He can
put a new song in his mouth, a new song in his heart. He can
make the vilest of men speak of spiritual things and testify
of the grace of God. All right, this demands our notice
here in these verses. Number one, the mighty miracle
that's here recorded. A man brought to him, one that
was deaf, had an impediment of speech, and immediately our Lord
healed him. You see, nothing is impossible,
and we need not despair of how bad we are, or neither despair
of how bad others are. No case hopeless, nor are there
any cases that are incurable in the spiritual realm, regardless
if the man is spiritually deaf and he is spiritually dumb, and
you sum it all up and say that Godward, Godward, he is spiritually
deaf, he is spiritually dumb, And the end result is that he's
totally incapacitated in the spiritual realm, and he can do
nothing whatsoever acceptable to God Almighty. He is totally,
completely dead, helpless, hopeless. He can't do anything for himself. He's without strength. He's devoid
of strength. But his case is not hopeless,
as long as God is alive. His case is not hopeless. His
case is that there's that leper, that leper that the fellow preached
about here, that leper that came down off of the mountain. He
came into the presence of the Lord Jesus. And as far as society
was concerned, it was an incurable, incurable case. It was hopeless. He was helpless. He was without
strength to do anything about it himself. And everybody around
him was without strength to help him. He was hopeless and helpless.
And if there's any case in the Bible that depicts the helplessness
of the creature, it's that leper. Because there's no known cure
for the disease. He's hopeless. Men won't even
speak to him. Men won't even touch him with
a ten-foot pole. If he's sitting on a rock someplace,
men can't even, if he leaves, you can't even sit down on the
rock. The disease is so terrible and so offensive. But he came to the Lord Jesus.
And the thing that impressed me about that was, not so much
that he said, you can if you will. He came to him and said,
now you can do it. You can heal me if you will. Which he was saying was, I'm
in your hands. And you can do with me as it
pleases you. You're not obligated to do anything
for me. I forfeited every right that
I ever had in my first father Adam. I have no right. You're not obligated. And I know
that's what that says. But the thing that I see in it
that strikes me, that just like a sword into my heart, is that
our Lord Jesus Christ reached out and touched him. Nobody else
would touch him. Nobody else would touch him.
Everywhere he went, he had to put his hand over his mouth,
unclean, unclean, unclean. He couldn't stay in his home
with his family. He couldn't do that. He couldn't go home
at night and hug and kiss his children and his wife. He couldn't
sit at his own table and eat the food from his own house.
He couldn't do that. He had to go outside the camp. He had to go into the death camp,
where all the lepers dwelt, outside in the dirt and the dust and
the slime, in the muck and the mire, where nobody cared. And nobody could do anything
for him. His children couldn't even come out and see him. But the Bible says that our Lord
Jesus Christ reached out and touched that old leper. He touched
him. And He healed him. Well, no case is hopeless. That's what I'm trying to say.
No case is hopeless or incurable. Here's how bad the situation
is. The thief on the cross was nailed to that cross. No earthly
way for him to come down. I mean, he was finished. He was
slowly dying. No hope, no help for that fellow.
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Lord, I know your King. Remember
me. Remember me. Our Lord said today,
right now, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Well, the second
thing that I want you to notice is this. I think this kind of demands
our attention. It is the peculiar, the unusual
manner in which our Lord fought good to work this miracle. Notice
He put His fingers, or put His finger into this deaf man's ear. And He spit and touched his tongue. Wasn't that an unusual way to... Look at that. 33rd verse. They took him aside. They took
him alone. He got away from the multitude
of people there. And he got this fellow right by himself. He couldn't
communicate to him. He couldn't talk. And he put
his fingers into his ears. He must have been deaf in both
ears. And he spit. Now, did he spit
on him? I don't think he spit on him.
But he spit. And he touched his tongue. He
must have spit on his fingers and then touched his tongue with
his spit. I don't know. Now, that's just my observation. I don't know what he did. But
you just read it for yourself. I say it's an unusual way, it's
an unusual manner, a peculiar manner, which our Lord thought
good to work this miracle. Anyhow, another thing that I
noticed there in verse 34, after he did that, After he put his
finger into his ears, he spit, he touched his tongue, and looking
up to heaven, he sighed. He sighed, and he saith unto
him," somebody else will pronounce that word, and he saith unto
him, that is, be open. That's what he said. Be open!
He sighed. What do you reckon he, I wonder
why he done that? He looked up into heaven, and
he sighed, and he said, Be open! And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake
plain. I'll tell you, when God performs
a miracle on a man, like He did here, the end result is, he's
going to speak plain. You don't speak with a forked
tongue, you don't speak plain, you don't speak the truth. But
that's not what I started out to say. Why he healed him in
this matter, I don't know. I don't know. He could, as he
did in former times, just speak a word and it'd be done. But
the lesson is that, the lesson for you and I to learn anyhow,
is this. that our Lord Jesus Christ is not to be tied to the
use or bound to the use of any one means in order to bring about
His purpose. We cannot put Him in a box and
say, this is the way God works. He must work this way or He cannot
work at all. Now, if He would have confined
Himself to one means in all probability, his enemies would have been able
to say that unless he does it a certain way, he cannot do it.
So he was showing here that he will not be bound to any one
particular way in the bringing about of a miracle for those
that he desires it for. Well, lastly, let me call your
attention to part of this 37th verse. And these people were astonished
here. And they said they were beyond
measure astonished. That is, they just amazed at
what had taken place. And this is what they said. This
is their public testimony of what took place. And they said,
He hath done all things well. The reason why they said that
was, is because of what He done. He make us both the deaf to hear
and the dumb to speak. So they said He hath done all
things well. Well, I believe that you and
I can say that. I believe that you and I can
say that He hath done all things well from the first. If you remember
back at the first, when he brought us out of darkness into light,
when we were wandering as it were, going our own way, every
man to his own way, when we were committing spiritual suicide,
doing what we wanted to do. From that time, when he came,
made his entrance into our lives and crossed our paths, created
an interest in our hearts and brought us unto repentance and
brought us unto Himself. Brought us unto Himself that
we might literally bow down our hearts and our knees before Him
and cry out for mercy. Brought us to light. Brought
us from the darkness of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of
God's dear Son, the kingdom of light. Why, when He taught us
of our guilt and of our shame and our weakness and so forth,
and when He stripped us of our idols and our ideals and brought
us to the end of self, we can truly say right now, if anyone
asks us, in that opportunity, we can say, He hath done all
things well. He hath done all things well
in bringing us from darkness into light. God did it, and He
did it completely. He did it perfectly, and He did
all things well. He left nothing to be desired. He did it all. Well, He hath
done all things well as far as choosing even all our portions
right now. In placing us where we are, God
hath done all things well. In giving us what we have, putting
us where we are, giving us what we have, can we say, He hath
done all things well? Can we say, I have learned in
whatsoever state I am wherewith to be content? He hath done all
things well. What great mercy, brethren and
sisters, what great mercy that we have that we did not have
our own way. Isn't that a great mercy that
you didn't have your own way? He has done all things well.
Our God has done all things well. Get it for us. Remember, you
remember this, as you look forward to the days yet to come, and
some of you here, yeah, Humanly speaking, you have many days
yet to come. As you look forward to it, you
remember this, you don't know what they might be. You don't
know whether they will be bright days or dark days. But we know
this, we know that we are in the hands of Him who doeth all
things well. If you remember that, it will
be of help to you. It will be an encouragement to you. When the
heavens appear to be blessed, And when the sun refuses to shine,
and when there's misunderstandings, and when there's heartbreak,
and when you can't see any farther than your hand, if you can remember,
He doeth all things well. He did it from the start when
He brought you from darkness into light, when He gave you
your portion. And when He brought you where
you are, and when He gave you what He gave you, and even now
when the heavens are brass, you remember, you're in His hands.
You're in His hands. Not hopeless, not helpless, you're
in His hands. And you too, you too can be astonished
and you can say, He hath done. Not will do, but He already has
done. As far as our salvation goes,
we can say that. He hath done. It's already done. Our sins were paid for in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He paid for them perfectly and
completely, and He paid all the debt that we owe. And He raised
us together to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And we
sit in Him right now on God's right hand. And as far as God
is concerned, the battle is over and the victory is won. That's
right. The victory is won. He has done all things well.
Ah, brethren, He may take away in the future. He may take away,
and He may give, and He may afflict, and He may cause some bereavement
to come upon us. But we'll remember, He hath done
all things well. See, they've helped us. That's
a good verse right there. You can preach from that verse
right there. And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He
hath done all things well. He make us both the deaf to hear
and the dumb to speak. He done all things well. He makes you to speak. He makes
you to hear. He makes you to hear the gospel.
He's got to do it. You see, He hath done all things
well. He make us. He make us. You can't
do it yourself. You're without strength. You
can't do it yourself. You can't turn something on and
say, well, right now I'm going to be a Christian. I'm going
to see some things. It's not that way. It's not that
way. Make it so simple that I can understand it. I can't do it.
Only God can make you understand, see. Only God can unstop the
ears of faith, see, and give you hearing that you might hear,
and open your mouth that you might testify of that which you've
heard and that which you've received. And when that happens, when that
happens, And he says, he hath done all things well. He maketh
the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. Deaf, Glenn, that's
the way you was, wasn't dumb, but he made you to speak. He
made you to hear. You say, well, he's done all things well. That's
my testimony. That's it. Well, remember that. That'll be of a help to you in
the days ahead. He hath done all things well.
Three things there says America. A miracle, fact recorded, is
a miracle. It's there in the book. Secondly,
the peculiar manner in which he did it, and the fact that
nobody's hopeless and helpless as long as he's around. See,
God hasn't died. He's still on the throne. The
case is not hopeless. He has done all things well.