Mark chapter 7. Verse 31 says, and again. I read those two words and I just had to put a sylla
right there for a minute. And again. And again. The word gospel means
good news. And that's the gospel. And again. How sad would the news be? How
sad would it be to find out that Adam fell? Adam sinned in the
garden. Adam fell and God redeemed Adam
and that was it. How sad would that be? How sad would it be to find out
that Israel fell into bondage and God sent Moses and God delivered
Israel out of Egypt. He delivered His people and that
was it. How sad would that be? After King David, after Elijah, after Malachi,
last book in the Old Testament, that was it. That was it. How sad would it be to find out
after our Lord died and arose and ascended back to his father. After he ascended, that was it. He came down, he did the work,
and he ascended back up, and then that was it. No more mercy.
No more salvation. That was it. Do you know what the good news
for sinners is? Do you know what the good news
for sinners is? And again. And again. Right here. And again. And again. And again. Isn't that wonderful? And again. Verse 31, and again,
departing from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the Sea
of Galilee through the midst of the coast of Decapolis. And
they bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment
in his speech. And they beseech him to put his
hand upon him. And he took him aside from the
multitude and put his fingers into his ears. And he spit and
touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he
sighed and saith unto him, Ephetha, that is, be opened. 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." They said it's amazing. That's
all they could say. It's amazing. It's amazing. What he has done is amazing.
Turn with me over to Matthew 11. Matthew 11 verse 2 says, and said unto him, Art thou he
that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and
said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you
do hear and see. The blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Did you know that he's still doing that to this day? He went around doing these things
and everybody who saw these things said, this is amazing. This is
amazing. It's a miracle. Did you know
he is still doing those things to this day? And again. Still to this day, He's causing
blind men and women to see. You know that? Still to this
day. He's causing lame men and women
to walk. Still to this day. He is opening the ears of men
and women. He is cleansing men and women. He is still giving life to the
dead. He is still doing every bit of that. That's what our
text is telling us. Now go with me back to Mark 7. Mark 7 verse 31 says, And again,
departing from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the Sea
of Galilee through the midst of the coast of Decapolis, And
they bring unto him one that was deaf." They brought a man to the Lord
who was deaf. Now let me ask you a question. If a deaf man was not told that
he was deaf, would he know it? Would he know it? If at some
point in his life, if at some point someone did not come up
to him and explain to him, there is something called sound. And you can't hear it because
you're deaf. You have ears, but you can't
hear. You have ears, but you can't hear. If someone
did not tell him that, would he know it? If he never heard a sound, if
that was totally normal to him, if that was his world, would
he know it? Every man and woman on this earth
Every man and woman on this earth came into this world spiritually
deaf and they don't know it. They do not know it. They cannot
hear God. They cannot hear his word. They cannot hear his gospel. They're deaf. They're deaf. I was born into this world deaf. Deaf. Now can you hear my voice
right now? Can you hear what I'm saying?
That's not what I'm talking about. A human being can hear the voice
of another human being. And he can even hear the truth
of the gospel as it's preached. But the soul that's inside that
man is totally deaf to those words. Totally deaf to that message
until God does something to that man and for that man. Totally deaf. Until God intervenes. He cannot hear God. He cannot
hear his word and he cannot hear his gospel. Verse 32 says, And
they bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment
in his speech. Not only could he not hear, his
speech wasn't right. And it wouldn't take much at
all for me to convince every soul in this room that what comes
out of this mouth is not right. It's just not right. Don't turn,
but over in Matthew 12, our Lord said, Out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh. Whatever's in the heart, that's
what's going to come out of the mouth. And right here in this
chapter, right here in Mark chapter 7, our Lord told us what comes
out of this heart. Look at Mark 7 verse 21. The
Lord said, For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil
thoughts, and we could all try to deny it, but God is right,
adulteries. Well, I've never committed adultery.
we have in this heart. He's talking about what's coming
up out of this heart. Fornications, murders, he said you hate a man,
you've killed him. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. Whether we know it or not, that's
us in the flesh. whether we know it or not. That's
us in the flesh. Turn with me over to Romans 3. Romans 3, look at verse 10. As it is written, there is none
righteous. You mean none? He said no, not
one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. are in the word none. What's
the number of none? Verse 12, they are all. How many
is in all? All. Gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. Wait a minute, you're telling
me there's nobody on this earth that naturally does good? He
said no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of asp is under their
lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. And the way of peace have they
not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. People hear that and they think,
that has to be talking about somebody else. That has to be. I know that there are people
like that on the earth. That has to be talking about somebody
else. That can't be me. That has to be talking about
somebody else. Well, let me ask you this. If
a deaf man was never told he was deaf, would he know it? What? I'm the deaf one? You're telling me there's something
called sound that I can't hear? If he has no idea what that is.
That right there, what we just read, that is me. All that wickedness,
all that sin, that's you and that's me. What? I am the one who is eaten up
with sin. What? The truth must be told. If a remedy is going to be sought,
if we are going to seek a remedy, the truth must be told. It must be told. Romans 10 says,
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But
how shall they call if they do not believe? And how shall they
believe if they don't hear. How? Back in Mark 7 verse 32 says, And they bring
unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech,
and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. They loved this
man. They loved this man. They knew
that this man had a need, and they knew there was one who could
heal him. And they brought him to the Lord,
and they begged the Lord, Would you touch him? Would you reach
out and touch this man? Verse 33 says, And the Lord took
him aside from the multitude. Do you know what mercy it is?
Man, what mercy it is when God lays hold on a sinner and sets
that sinner apart. Do you know what mercy that is?
When God reaches out and grabs His own and says, ìCome out from
among them. Youíre just like them. We are
all dug from the same lump.î The book of Ephesians chapter
2 talks about us like everybody else, running straight into hell. And he reaches out, and he lays
hold of his own, and he says, you come here. I'm going to pull
you out. I'm going to set you apart. Come
out from among them. Verse 33, and he took him aside
from the multitude and put his fingers into his ears. I love
that. He's trying to make this man
hear. Is that how you do it, by stopping
up somebody's ears? This world has fed us nothing
but lies. Solomon wrote a whole book. It's
all vanity. It's all proven to just be vanity. It's lies upon lies upon lies.
And religion has fed us nothing but lies. Lies upon lies. This world has lied to us on
what will bring a true sinner happiness. It keeps reaching,
this will do it. No, that didn't do it. This will
do it. That didn't do it. Religion has
lied to us on what will bring a sinner true salvation. True salvation. It's been nothing
but lies. And when the Lord Jesus Christ,
in mercy, in grace, in love, when he comes to his own, he
says, you don't have to listen to that anymore. You're not going
to listen to it anymore. You heard it, you believed it,
you followed it. No more. You are done with that. Isn't that wonderful? You are
done with that. Verse 33, He took him aside from
the multitude and put his fingers into his ears and he spit and
touched his tongue. Something that was in Christ
went into that man. Something that was directly from
the mouth of Christ Himself went into that man. Verse 34 says, And looking up
to heaven, he sighed. That means he groaned with grief. That's what the word means. He
sighed. When he did that, he stuck his fingers in his ears
and then he touched his tongue and he looked up to God and he
sighed. He groaned with grief. Verse 34, And he said unto him,
Ethetha, that is, be opened. And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake
plain. This man right here was healed
because he received something from the hand of God and from
the mouth of God. And because Jesus Christ sighed
on his behalf. That's why this man was healed.
He received his work. He received his word. And he
received it all because the Lord Jesus Christ groaned with grief
on his behalf. Now turn with me to Mark 14. We've looked at this many times,
so many times, and I pray this never becomes common to us. I pray this never becomes common
to us. Mark 14, look at verse 32. And they came to a place which
was named Gethsemane. And he saith to his disciples,
sit ye here while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter,
and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be
very heavy." Now this is God. I read this and think, how is
this even possible? And I'll tell you how it's possible. God
became a man for us. A true substitute for us. He
was sore amazed. He began to be very heavy. Verse
34, And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death. Tarry ye here and watch. And
he went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed
that if it were possible the hour might pass from him. And
he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. Take
away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will,
but what thou wilt. If it's possible, could you spare
me from this? Thank God it was not possible. Mark 15 verse 33
says, And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And
at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani, which is being interpreted, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood
by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And
one ran, and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on
a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone, let us see
whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with
a loud voice, and he gave up the ghost." He died. He died. He groaned. He died. Now look at chapter 16 verse
2 says, And very early in the morning, the first day of the
week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun, and
they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone
from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw
that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. And entering
into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right
side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted.
And he said unto them, Be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of
Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid
him. I'm going to tell you, if God
will ever open a sinner's heart, If God will ever open a sinner's
heart to hear that, if he'll ever open this ear to hear that,
from that moment on, if a sinner ever realizes God became what
I am, and he took that straight to God Almighty, was judged for
it, and put it away. If a sinner ever gets a hold
of that, his speech from that moment on will be plain. It'll
be plain. He won't stand up and tell men
about everything he has done for Jesus. He'll stand up and tell about
everything God has done for him. It'll be plain. It'll be so plain. That thief on the cross, he was
railing on the Lord just like the other thief. They both were. They both were saying, if thou
be the Christ, save thyself and us. Cursing him, both of them. Mocking him, both of them. But all of a sudden, Jesus Christ,
in mercy, chose one of them. They were the same. But he chose
one of them. And he looked at his heart, he
looked straight into that man's heart, and he said, Ephetha,
be opened. That's what he said. And as soon
as he opened that sinner's eyes and his ears and his heart, do
you know what that sinner started to say? Wait a minute. He said to that other thief,
does not thou fear God? He wasn't saying that before.
Seeing thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly For we received
the due reward of our deeds. He said, but this man hath done
nothing amiss. And this is what he said, Lord,
Lord, Lord. Everybody talks about Jesus.
They all talk about Jesus. Jesus this and Jesus that. And
once the fear of God is struck into a sinner and he goes to
his knees, he cries Lord. That's what the Apostle Paul
did. He said, who are you? He said, I'm Jesus. And he said,
Lord, Lord, would you remember me when you come into your kingdom?
His tongue was loosed. And he spoke plain. And I'm going
to tell you this, this little illustration, we're going to
wrap this up, but I want to give you this. Charles Spurgeon, gave an illustration of a man
that he called the Huckster. His name was Jack. And this is from one of Charles
Spurgeon's messages. He said, this Huckster Jack was
a poor, wicked fellow who had gone about from village to village
swearing, drinking, huckstering, and perhaps pilfering. People
didn't like him. Some thought him half-witted,
but the story would show his wind to be sound enough. This
man Jack heard a poor woman sing somewhere, and this was her song. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. He remembered the
words, and what was better, he felt their sins. Men, you know,
first hear the truth come and say, you're a sinner. And man
says, don't you call me that. I'm the deacon over there. But
after a while, they start to realize, maybe I am a sinner. What was better, he felt the
sins. And he kept on humming those words to himself till God's
good spirit engraved them on his heart. So he assayed to join
himself unto the church. But the brethren looked suspiciously
at him and inquired, What is your experience? He said he had no experience
but this, I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ
is my all in all." The good elders very properly asked, are you
converted? Have you been born again? And
Jack replied, I don't know much about these things, but I do
know and am sure of I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but
Jesus Christ is my all in all. They put him back for a while
to try if he would grow in his knowledge, but he never went
an inch beyond the first standard. He knew what he did know, and
to that he held fast. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all." Well, they must
take him into the church. They could not well refuse a
man with such a confession of faith. And when he was in the
church walking with his brethren, he was happier than the rest
of them, at which they greatly marveled. And one said to him,
Brother Jack, don't you sometimes feel doubts and fears? Doubts,
he said. What do you mean? I never doubt
that I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all. I have daily proofs of
it. And why should I doubt that Jesus
Christ is my all in all? For he says he is, and I must
believe him. Ah well, said one, sometimes
I enjoy good frames and feelings and feel very happy, and then
I lose them and sink in spirit. Jack answered, I never get lower
than I am, for I am down at the bottom. I'm a poor sinner and
nothing at all. I cannot get lower than that,
can I? But I am also at the top. For Jesus Christ is my all in
all. I cannot get higher than that,
can I? They tried him many ways with their blessed experience,
of which you and I have cartloads, perhaps wagonloads, but he could
not be drawn out of his one firm position. They tried him with
their various attainments, depressions, anxieties, quibbles, and questions,
but still the huckster would not budge. He had bought the
truth and would not sell it. So he stuck to, I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. That right there is plain speech. That's what it is. That right
there is plain speech. That's an ear that God has opened. That's what it is. Back in Mark 7, we'll close.
Mark 7 verse 35 says, 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. They just
couldn't help themselves. They could not help themselves.
They had to go tell everybody. And they were beyond measure
astonished. You could not measure their astonishment. They were beyond measure astonished,
saying, He hath done all things well. That's plain speech. He hath done all things well. He maketh both the deaf to hear
and the dumb to speak. That right there is plain speech.
When God gets a hold of a sinner and performs this operation on
him, not a one of them will go around saying, I made my decision. Not one of them. I gave my heart
to Jesus. I got saved. I goes out the window. He saved me. That's what happened. He saved me. He grabbed me. He pulled me out. He stopped
all that mess. Sent life into me. And He's amazed, and we're amazed,
aren't we? We're just amazed. The mercy and the grace He has
shown is amazing. That's our cry. He has done all
things well. It is well with our souls. I
want to sing that. Let's all stand together.