It's encouraging when you read
stuff like that because this healing pictures the salvation
of God's grace to ruin sinners. So let's look at chapter 9 of
Matthew starting in verse 1. And Christ entered into a ship
and passed over and came into His own city. And behold, they
brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith,
said unto the sick of the palsy, Be of good cheer, your sins be
forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes
said within themselves, this man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing
their thoughts, said, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For whither is it easier to say, thy sins be forgiven thee, or
to say, arise and walk? But that you may know that the
Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, Then saith He
to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto
thine house. And he arose, and departed to
his house. But when the multitude saw it,
they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto
men." Now, let's go to verse 32, and read this short section here.
This is going to be our text. As they went out, Christ and
His disciples, behold, they brought to Him, to Christ, a dumb man
possessed with the devil. And when the devil was cast out,
the dumb spake. And the multitudes marveled,
saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees
said, He casts out devils through the prince of the devils. And
Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing,
healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Now,
stay there and let me read to you out of Matthew 12, verse
22. Then was brought unto Christ
one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed
him insomuch that the blind and the dumb both spake, and saw."
And again in Matthew 15, verse 30 and 31, it says, And great
multitudes came unto Christ, 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, the maimed to be whole,
and the lame to walk, and the blind to see, and they glorified
the God of Israel. So in this whole chapter, in
chapter 9, the woman with the issue of blood, right before
this, we have the two blind men. So the Lord is doing many wonderful
works. Now this word, dumb, literally
means speechless. So we don't use this phrase. We've gotten politically correct
or whatever. But the Scriptures doesn't know
anything. The Scriptures doesn't, it doesn't change for our sensibility. And I'm thankful it doesn't. Sometimes people need to be offended.
Maybe awaken them. But this word, dumb, in the Greek
it means speechless. They can't talk. And this guy's
possessed of a devil. So he's got his tongue. He can't speak. But let me begin
this examination of our text with a quote to set the tone. Adam Clarke, born 1762, was a
theologian and a scholar. This is what he said about this
passage. A person, people, who does not acknowledge their sin
to God, who prays not for salvation,
who returns no praises for the mercies they are continually
receiving may well be said to be possessed with a dumb demon." So your friends, your neighbors,
children, all of us born in sin, we didn't always praise God. As a matter of fact, we cursed
Him more than we praised Him. But I like what Mr. Clark said,
this person, these people who do not acknowledge their sin,
pray for salvation, They don't even thank God for the mercy
that they are continually receiving. You got food on your table. You
got a roof over your head. It may be a one or two bedroom
home, but it's still sufficient. You don't give thanks. You don't
worry about those things. It could be said of you and of
me, we are possessed with a dumb demon, a devil. In this chapter, we look at all
the folks that our Lord healed. And yet He was unwearied. He
gets right after these two blind men in the previous verses, right
after that, He's walking, they bring out. As they went out from
healing those two, behold, they brought to Him. They brought
to Him. And in that first section in
chapter 9, they brought to Him. One was paralyzed, they brought
to Him. Yet Christ has another opportunity
to honor and glorify His Father and to help those who are in
such great need." Now, we aren't possessed with the devil. We
are, because the devil is our master. So we hear, well, I'm
not possessed, I can speak, I can look, I can talk, I can hear.
Physically you can, but spiritually, unless God has saved you, redeemed
you, and called you, You're not doing that. When was the last
time you prayed? Ask yourself. When was the last time I prayed?
When was the last time I gave thanks for, I mean, all of us? Let's just look at this verse
at a time. The first thought, verse 32. They went out, and
behold, they brought... Who's they? Apparently this person's
friend. Could have been his neighbor.
It could have been his acquaintance. It could have been his fellow
worker. This man's case is most serious.
He cannot speak for himself as all those who are lost and undone
in sins and corruptions. They can't speak for the glory
of God. This man can't speak at all. They cannot praise their Maker. They have not the capacity, this
man did not have the capacity or the ability or the desire
to speak or to know truth. He couldn't speak. I say, this
is what I say, this man simply will not speak because he cannot. We cannot worship God, we will
not worship God because we cannot, from birth. because of Adam's
transgression. One man's sin centered into the
whole human race. Look how far we have fallen in
Adam. When Adam fell, this is how far
we fell. The tongue, as James says, it's
a little member, but boy, it can set the world on fire. It's
like a little rudder, a little bitty rudder steers a ship, just
a little bitty rudder. That's our tongue. That's our
tongue. This tongue is used more to dishonor,
to blaspheme, to discourage. That's just human nature. That's
just human nature. Romans chapter 3 says, there's
none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open
sepulcher. My thought is, can we who say
we know the truth, whose tongues have been loosed, By the grace
of God, can we not bring our friends or our loved ones to
the Redeemer for cleansing and soul washing? This is what they
did. They brought Him. Now, He could walk, He could
see, He could hear, but they brought Him. Your friends, neighbors,
cohorts, co-workers, they can talk, they can see, they can
walk, Why can't we speak for them at
the throne of grace? Every night. Every day. Anytime. Anywhere. God's ears are open
to us. To those who believe. Like Job
did his children. Remember he brought, Job brought
sacrifices and he says it could be that my children have sinned
and gone. So he, that's intercession. Like those who uncovered in the
New Testament, uncovered the roof, they tore up the roof to
let down their friend to have communion with Christ and Christ
to do something for them. That's Mark chapter 2 starting
in verse 4. Can we not cry on the behalf
of those who cannot cry for themselves? They are possessed, they are
stricken with evil, Sin, lust, hatred for God, and hatred for
His beloved Son. That's what we are outside of
Christ. And the sooner we admit that, the better we'll be. What's the remedy? The remedy
is always the same in these stories, this lesson in this book. Look
with me at verse 33. In verse 32, they went out and
they brought to him, to Christ, a dumb man, a speechless man,
possessed with the devil. And when the devil was cast out,
that's what Christ does. He doesn't beat around the bush.
He doesn't go for the symptoms. He doesn't go for the second
cause. And that's what true gospel preaching does. It gets right
to the heart of the issue. We're lost. We're undone. We're
born in sin, as Adam was, as David says, I'm shaped in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me, is what David said, a man
after God's own heart. Christ must come in sovereign
power and sovereign revelation or we will still be speechless
regarding the gift and grace of God. Christ does not deal
with the symptoms of our disorder, but He goes right to the source,
right to the root of the matter, to the heart and soul. That's
our problem. That's our problem. That's always
our problem. And then we see in Luke 11, the
stronger one than the devil must defeat and conquer him. And that's
what that parable is about. Christ easily overcomes the demon. And now this person can give
glory to God in speech. In speech. What about our case
personally, those of us who know Christ spiritually? When we hear
the Word of Truth, the Gospel, He uses the Gospel of our salvation. Sin is acknowledged and owned. He has graced us and granted
us life and liberty of soul. We repent. We confess unto Him.
We're united by faith to our Savior. And then we publicly
show what's happened. That's not salvation. Baptism's
not salvation. It just shows what God has done.
Actually, that passage that I thought to myself, that'd be a good passage
to read, instead of necessarily talking about Christ and His
baptism, dead in sins, baptized, raised in newness of life, that
passage in Galatians that Bruce looked at in verse 20, I am crucified
with Christ. We're crucified with Christ,
buried with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live, I'm
confessing Christ in baptism, now I'm going to live in the
flesh. I'm going to live by the faith
of the Son of God, who incidentally loved me and gave himself for
me. That's what we do. That's what
we do. From henceforth we walk in newness
of life. Now three areas. When he loosens
our tongue, I think he does so in three areas. We speak of God. We speak for God. And we speak
to God. Just a simple outline. Now we
speak of God. We speak of his perfections.
We speak of his purpose of grace. of His ways and His works. We
speak of His Word of Truth. We speak of His attributes and
His promise. Not self. Self is not in there. We speak for God. What do I mean
by that? Well, in Job 36, you don't have
to turn there, Elihu, the only one who was the proper friend
of Job because he told him what Job you're sinning, He says,
and I'd never seen this, I knew it was kind of here, but as Elihu
said in Job 36, verse 2, he says, I will speak on God's behalf.
And don't be ashamed. It doesn't sound haughty. If
you know the truth, He has revealed to you certain things. Speak on His behalf. I'll speak
on his behalf, and it's wise to just stay pretty close to
what the Bible says and don't go out on our own. Or as Paul
said in 2 Corinthians 5, God did beseech you by us, be ye
reconciled to God. We're ambassadors. We're all
ambassadors for God. And we will not be speechless
any longer. We will justify God. Regarding
His free grace, regarding His electing love, regarding His
unalterable purpose. We speak regarding His divine
decree, His holy character, and we speak of damnation to all
who will not bow to Christ's rightful claims. Proverbs 25, verse 11-13. A word fitly spoken is like apples
of gold and pitchers of silvers. As an earring of gold, an ornament
of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. As the
cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to
them that send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters." That's
our tongue. It ought to be used for edification,
admonition, rebuke sometimes, But as he says, and I believe
it's Isaiah, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. There's no comfort
in this world. Those of us who have experienced
the grace of God, we know that. Listen to us. Listen to those
who the Lord brings by. We can now speak and are not
dumb concerning Him who our souls love and adore. We love Him because
He first loved us. So this is what the loosened
tongue does. It speaks of God. It speaks for
God. And thirdly, perhaps the most
beautiful result of Him loosening our tongues, we speak to God. That's communion. That's communion. Perhaps this is the best result
of our God being gracious towards His sheep. The truth of His kind
actions towards us will bring us to make frequent visits of
communion and talk with Him. Anywhere, school, work, job,
before you go to sleep, when you wake up, we can talk with
Him. Why? The devil was cast out. The dumb spake. The speechless
spake. What a wonderful, just that right
there, what a wonderful thought. We will pour out our hearts before
Him and often make petitions of Him and from Him. Prayer,
said one, is the lifeblood of the believer in Jesus. And I
guess, you know, speaking from a little experience, the older
you get, I think the more you do, because you realize you can't
do what you used to do. And a lot of things you don't
want to mess with anymore. Confession, intercession, and
prayer is what we now speak. But look at the difference in
these two. There's always two results of the preaching of the
gospel, the believing of the gospel, or rejecting the gospel.
It's a saver of life unto life or death unto death. Look within
our text here. When the dumb was cast out, verse
33, the dumb spake, and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never
so seen in Israel. But, who's the other group? The Pharisees. These are those
who are religious without the truth. The Pharisees said, He
casteth out devils through the prince of devils. Now, who blasphemed? They accused Christ of blaspheming.
They blasphemed. A couple of writers, commentators
said what they did was very, very close to the unpardonable
sin. Accusing the Lord of glory of blasphemy. I do like what
one guy said at the end of this section. What did Jesus do? Well,
he does answer them one time. If I cast out Beelzebub by the
finger, you know, he said a house divided against itself can't
stand. But this and other times he got accused, he just walked
on. Jesus went about all the cities
and villages. He didn't even answer them. Now
this brings to one of my favorite Scriptures. Answer a fool according
to his folly, or answer not a fool according to his folly. Sometimes
people's words, they don't warrant you to answer them. And they
know by the fact that you're not answering them that you don't
agree. One writer said, I wish I had
it memorized. Some things people say are so
foolish and stink, it doesn't call for a response. And that's
what Christ Jesus kept on going. You don't have to answer everybody.
Well, I close. We'll look at a few
passages of Scripture. I ask myself and I ask us, are
we recipients of the grace of God in Christ Jesus? Has He loosened
our possessed tongue, which is attached to the heart, which
is the soul? May we use it. May we proclaim it. May we announce
His grace. And may we be ever grateful and
thankful, we who were dumbed towards our Creator, Let us not
return to our old ways. Let us not return to the flesh,
as we heard in Bible class, and the sin and speechlessness. But
no, let us open our tongues. Let us loosen our tongues. They have been loosened. May
we use them honorably and to the glory of God. Not so much
this world as all this stuff. The world is fast perishing. But He has given us new life
in Christ. Psalms 51 and verse 15, David
says, O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth Thy
praise. Open my mouth, open my lips to
sing Your praises. May we take the case before Jehovah
God. Take it, lay it before Him. Speak
to our friends, our neighbors, co-workers, family. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 13, you
don't have to turn around, I'm just going to read these to you.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written,
I believed, and therefore have I spoken.
We also believe and therefore speak. If we believe this gospel,
we can't help but to speak of the truth. There's a lot of religions
out here. This place is filled with religion,
false religion. They need to hear the truth. Malachi chapter 3, I like this
one. This is when we gather together
because our tongues have been loosened. We understand the Gospel. We understand the grace of God.
Malachi 3 verse 16, Then they that feared the Lord spake often
one to another. And the Lord hearkened and heard
it. And a book of remembrance was written before Him and for
them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name. That's
what we do. It's just simple worship. We
gather together. We sing because we can. We speak
because we can. We preach because we can. We
preach the truth. We sing of the truth. We believe
the truth. Let us speak one to another because
by His grace, we can. What a privilege! I mean, what
a privilege! And I know I've said this a hundred times, In
the Gospels, he's going over the different miracles. The blind
see, the dumb speak, heal this and that. And in that same verse,
he says the Gospels preach. The preaching of the Gospel is a miracle. It's a miracle. It's a blessing. May we speak
often one to another. And lastly, let's look at this
one together. Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35, starting verse 1, They shall see the glory of the
Lord and the excellency of our God. Verse 4, Say to them that
are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will
come with vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come
and save you. Verse 5, Then the eyes of the
blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame man shall leap as a heart and the tongue of
the dumb sing." Sing. Sing, brethren. May we sing of
His grace, may we sing of His name, and sing of His glory every
time we gather together. That's what we want to do. We don't want to hear about So
much stuff that's being talked about. We want to use these tongues
to sing about Him and glorify Him. Oh, to sing! For in the
wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. Do we marvel when we see His
grace? When we hear His grace? Or do
we just relegate it to something else? To God be the glory. May we use these tongues for
His service and His glory. Matt, would you close us please?