Would you turn back to Mark 7?
Our Bible conference is going to be in five weeks. And let's give to support that. That's going to cost several
thousand dollars for the expenses of all the different speakers.
And I'm looking forward very much to that. Also tonight, we're
going to observe the Lord's table together. And I'm going to preach
upon this subject, the fellowship of the mystery. Mark chapter 7. Now, in this
passage of scripture, we read of a man who had never heard
sound and had never been able to speak. Now, I want you to think of a
world Like that, without the ability to hear, without the
ability to speak. Silence. That's all you've ever
known. No ability to communicate. What a crippling disability. And only those who have experienced
this could know. I remember as a child, this has
been over 50 years ago, and it makes me feel amazed that I can
say something about something that happened 50 years ago. You're
not that old, are you? I guess I am. But I remember
going to visit some relatives. And I guess I was probably seven
or eight years old. And at the time, there was a
man living in his home. He was in his late 20s or early
30s. And he was deaf and he was mute. And he would make sounds
he'd never heard. So he couldn't properly articulate
words. He didn't know anything about
phonics. And he would make sounds that actually scared me to death.
And this was before there were programs to help people with
these disabilities. And when this man had this disability,
you can be sure that there was no sign language. There was no
way of helping him. Here he was in a state of silence. He'd never heard anything and
he could not speak. The scripture says he had an
impediment in his speech. Now, beginning in verse 31, and
again, departing from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, he came under
the Sea of Galilee. through the midst of the coasts
of Decapolis. He'd been there before. That's
where he met that man with a legion of demons and cast them out.
And he's returning there again. And they bring unto him, I guess
they are this man's relatives. And they bring unto him one that
was deaf. He could not hear and consequently
he had an impediment in his speech. He'd never heard words and of
course couldn't pronounce anything correctly. And they beseech him
to put his hand upon him. Now I can imagine these men knew
they couldn't do anything with their relative. I'm assuming
it was their relative. And they said, touch him. They
knew that there was healing in his touch. I want the Lord to touch me.
I want the Lord to touch you. You and I will not be saved unless
he touches us. I think of the leper, Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion. reached forth his hand and touched
him, saying, I will be thou clean. That's what I need. I need, you
need the Lord to touch me. Now, this was a man who was deaf
and had an impediment in his speech. And this describes me
and you by nature. Deaf. unable to hear the gospel. And because of that, we have
an impediment in our speech. We cannot speak that which is
true. We can't articulate the gospel. You can't articulate what you've
never heard. what you've never believed. This
man was deaf. He could not hear, and he had
an impediment in his speech. If someone can't hear, you can
tell by the words, the way they're framed, the way they come out
of his mouth. Now, with regard to the natural
man, deaf doesn't mean you cannot hear audibly, and it does not
mean that to some measure, You can understand. Everybody in
this room, I don't know whether you have ears to hear, but everybody
in this room to some measure can understand what I am saying. The Bible is the inspired word
of God. Every word. Now you know what
that means. You might not agree with it,
But you know what that means. The Bible claims divine inspiration. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Now everybody here knows what
that means when I say that. The Bible declares that God is
God. That means God is absolutely
sovereign. That means he's in control of everything. He's in
control of the very thoughts going through your mind right
now. He is the cause. Of all, he's
God. He's absolutely sovereign. In creation, he willed the universe
into existence. In providence, he controls everything
that takes place. He is the cause. I've heard preachers
say, well, there's the directive cause and there's the permissive
cause. No, there's the cause. There's the cause. He causes
all things. He's in control. He's sovereign
in salvation. That means your salvation is
in his hands. You have no control. It's up
to him as to whether or not you're saved. Now, everybody here understands
that. You might not like it, but you
understand what's being said. The Bible declares men to be
dead, dead in sins. What can a dead man do? You don't have a free will, you're
dead in sins. And if God gives me and you what
we deserve, if he leaves us to ourself, we'll go to hell. Everybody
here understands what that means. The Bible declares that God chose
who would be saved before time began. Now there's nothing hard
to understand about that. Like I said, you might not love
that, I understand, but you know what that means. God chose who
would be saved before time began. Christ in time came to represent
those the father elected. He came and kept the law for
them and died for them to put away their sins. And every one
of them must be saved. You understand what that means?
No, he didn't die for everybody. Somebody says, didn't Christ
die for all men? No, he didn't. He died for the
elect and he accomplished their salvation. Now everybody knows
what I'm saying. You might not agree with it. I realize that,
but you know what that means. The Bible teaches that God's
grace actually saves. It's irresistible. and invincible. And if God gives you his grace
saved, you must be. It's not an offer, but I didn't
offer you his grace. He didn't go out there, take
it or leave it. No, his grace is saving grace. And it's only
those people, listen to this. It's only those people who persevere
all the way to the end, believing this message that will be saved.
That's the only one. Now, everybody in this room knows
what that means. Here's the difference. There's
some people who hear as sinners. That's the difference. There
are some people who do not hear as sinners. And if you do not
hear as a sinner, you don't find this necessary. But if you hear
as a sinner. Now, what do I mean by sinner?
What does the Bible mean by sinner? If you're a sinner, you listen
real carefully. If you're a sinner, that means all you do is sin.
Nonstop. That means you cannot not sin. And your sin is all your fault. It's all your fault. You can't
blame God's sovereignty. You can't blame your circumstances.
You can't blame your upbringing. You can't blame anything but
yourself. My sin. is all my fault. Yes, I'm a sinner by nature,
but I'm a sinner by choice. I'm a sinner by practice. Sin
is my nature. Sin is my name. You can't throw a rock at anybody
about anything. And you have no claims on God.
If you can't hear the gospel without that, you can't hear
the gospel, period. It's only as you personally As
I personally am a sinner, then I can hear the gospel and find
it to be good news indeed. If you don't hear as a sinner,
you can't hear this as good news. It's not good news to you. that
the Bible is the inspired Word of God. It's not good news to
you that God elected a people or that Christ is a successful
Savior, that He must save all for whom He died. It's not good
news to you that grace is invincible and irresistible and can't take
no for an answer. That's not good news if you think
you have some ability. You're looking somewhere else.
You're looking to yourself. Oh, if you're a sinner, this
is good news Indeed. Now, if you've never been able
to hear as a sinner, you've got a speech impediment. It sounds
like this, I, I, I, I. What makes you think you're safe?
I believed. I repented. I changed. I. I, I, that's the
impediment of speech. All who have never heard the
gospel. Me, me, me. I, I, I. Now this deaf mute person, spiritually
deaf mute person will remain that way and go to hell unless
Christ does something for them. You know, the best thing that
we can do is bring a deaf mute person to Christ in prayer and
ask him to do something for them and bring them to hear the gospel. Now let's go on reading in verse
33. And he, the Lord Jesus, took
him aside from the multitude. You know, the Lord always saves
by the one. If he's going to save me or you,
he's going to take us aside. We might be in a crowd, but he's
dealing with us one-on-one, individually, just like he was this deaf, mute
man. And he took him aside from the
multitude. And there's four things he is
said to do. And it took him aside from them
all too. Number one, he put his finger,
his fingers into his ears. Number two, he spit and he touched
his tongue. Number three, and looking up
to heaven, he sighed. Number four, and he saith unto
him, Ephetha. That's what I've entitled this
message. Ephetha. Ephetha. That is, be opened. He put his finger in his ears. I like to think about this. Try
to picture it in my mind, the Lord taking his fingers and putting
them in the man's ears. Now, what is the significance
of that? Well, we read in Luke chapter
11, verse 46, when he said, if I, with the finger of God, that
was God's fingers put in his ears, wasn't it? If I, with the
finger of God, cast out demons, his finger speaks of his mighty
power. It speaks of his omnipotence. Just a little, I've always liked
those TV, those programs, I think it was Sean Connery said, with
his thumb, I'm going to whip you. Just that's all it took.
And he beat the guy up with his thumb. I don't remember the movie,
what the movie was, but I mean, he took his thumb and he just
wore the guy out with it. But what are you watching movies
like that? I don't know. But the point is, what is it
going to take for you to hear or me to hear? Omnipotence. The power of God Almighty. He put his finger in his ears. And the next thing he did, he
spit. He spit on his hand. And he took
his hand and touched that man's tongue. There was another time
when he spit and made mud and put it in a guy's eyes and it
gave him sight. That seems like the last way
you'd give somebody sight by making mud and stick it in his
eyes, but he did. But the point is, something came
from the Lord and touched this man. came into contact with this
man. Something that came from his
body. In order for me to hear, in order for me to be saved,
something is going to have to come from him. His perfect righteousness. His actual law keeping which
he accomplished in his body and be given to me. What did he do next? He sighed. You know, there's
several times in the New Testament where the Lord has said to sigh
and groan. And what that's speaking of is
His sympathetic humanity. I need Him to sympathize with
me. I need Him to be touched by the
feeling of my infirmities. I need His sympathetic humanity. Not to send me to hell, but to
have mercy on me. To do something for me. And then He said, fourthly, Ephatha,
be opened. He didn't say, I'm offering you
the ability to hear. He couldn't hear. He wouldn't
have heard him if he said that. He said, be open. He didn't say,
I'm going to make hearing available to you and I'm going to make
it to where you can speak if you want to. Be open. You know what? His ears were
opened. He heard for the first time. I need I need the almighty power of
God. I need to be given something
to me from him, his perfect righteousness, something that came from him.
I need that. I need him to be sympathetic
toward me in his humanity. And I need him
to say to me with the power of irresistible grace, the same
way he spoke to Lazarus, Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead
came forth. I need him to say to me, be open. When did Lydia believe? In Acts chapter 16, when the
Lord opened her heart. When did the disciples understand
the scriptures? When the Lord opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. Verse 35, and straightway Now
this is one of the words that is unique to Mark's gospel. He
uses it all the time. He uses it 40 times in the book
of Mark, and it has something to do with the immediacy of obedience
to his command. When he said, be opened, what
happened? Straightway, immediately, his
ears were opened. so that he could hear for the
first time. Straightway, immediately his
ears were opened and the string of his tongue was loosed. That word string is usually translated
bond. That which bound his tongue so
that he was unable to speak, it was loosed. It was set free. I love that hymn, and can it
be, but this verse is not in it. Long my imprisoned spirit
lay, fast bound by sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening
ray. I woke the dungeon, flamed with
light, my chains fell off, my heart was free, I went forth
and followed thee. And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and what happened? He spake plain. The impediment was gone. No more
I, I, I, but he, he, he. You see, out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaketh. He now speaks plainly. He now
speaks rightly. His speech is now grace speech. I got a letter from a man three
or four days ago. And he said to me, he listened
to a message and he lives in a town where there's no gospel
church that he knows of. He hasn't been able to find one.
And he asked this question, as far as I can tell, all of the
churches in my town are works-based churches. Will any of them be
saved, believing what they do or did to be saved? If they are
part of the elect, will the Lord forgive them because of their
wrong belief, or will they, by God's grace and mercy, come to
a correct view of salvation? Well, this man came to a correct
view of salvation, didn't he? It's not a correct view, it's
life from the dead. This man was given life. He spake plainly or rightly by
God's mercy. And so will everybody else. If
God opens your ears and loosens your tongue, they shall all be
taught of God. Every man, therefore, that had
heard and learned of the father cometh to me. If God opens your
ears, you will speak rightly. Now, I don't know how many times
people are afraid to say anything because they're afraid of what
I'll say is stupid and wrong and dumb. Don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it in the sense of I'm afraid. If God has given
you understanding, you understand the language of grace. You might
not even say the words right sometimes, but you know what
you mean. Salvation is of the Lord. Now
let's go on reading. Verse 36. And he, the Lord Jesus,
charged them that they should tell no man. Now how many times
does the Lord do this? You read throughout the scriptures
where it says, don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody. I would want to take, Here's
the point. The Lord doesn't need publicity. He doesn't need, he's not trying
to gather a hearing. The Lord came to save his people
from their sins. That's why he came. That's what he did. He
doesn't need a hearing. He doesn't need publicity. He
doesn't need to market himself. He doesn't think, well, these
people can tell others about me, then more people know about me,
more belief. Lord doesn't. Lord doesn't think that way.
Me and you shouldn't either. But I love what it says, but
the more he charged them so much, the more great deal they published
it. I mean, if the Lord ever does something for me or you,
we're going to want folks to know it was him that did it.
So much the more they published it and made it known. Verse 37,
and were beyond measure. Astonished. Amazed. I hope I'll never cease
to be astonished and amazed at the Gospel. I hope it never gets to where
it's just something, y'all believe that. I agree with that. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene and I wonder how He could love me A sinner,
condemned, unclean, amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. He found me. I was blind, but
now I see. I see how God can be just. absolutely just, and yet justify
and declare as righteous somebody like me. I see that. I see the
great mystery of the Gospel. I see how that poor publican
in the temple beating on his breast, God be merciful to me,
the sinner, the worst man to ever live. I see how Christ can
say, I tell you that man went down to his house justified,
without guilt, perfect in my sight. Notice what they say after the
Lord has given this man the ability to hear and the ability to speak.
And they were beyond measure, astounded, saying, and here's
what we believe, real simply. He hath done all things well. That summarizes everything we
believe, doesn't it? hath done all things well, beautifully,
perfectly. He maketh salvation for what
he makes. You believe that? He maketh both
the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. He hath done. This is salvation. I'm telling
you the truth. It's what he hath done. When he said it is finished,
it was done. Somebody says, what's the Lord
doing in your life? I'm not real sure, but I know
what he's done. That's what I'm relying on. He hath done all
things well, beautifully, perfectly. You know, when he stood as the
surety of God's elect before time began and took full responsibility
for their salvation, you know what? I was glorified then. That's how well he's done all
things. I was actually glorified. Somebody says, you don't look
very glorified to me. I know, I know, but this is what
the Bible teaches. Whom he did predestinate, then
he also conformed to be the image of the Son. Moreover, whom he
did predestinate, then he also called whom he called. Then he
also justified whom he justified. Then he also glorified, past
tense, a completed action. However glorified Jesus Christ
is in heaven, right now, that's how glorified I am. He's done
all things well. He came in the flesh and He in
His heart kept God's law perfectly. Outwardly, inwardly, He has done
all things well. And He did this as a representative. You know, I think, More than
as a representative, as my brother, as the one that's one with me,
he kept the law for me. And he did it perfectly. He's
done all things well. Isn't that what we believe? He's
done all things well. You know, when he died, he died
for those the father gave him. And you know what he did? He
put away their sin completely. Completely. He has done all things
well. What a glorious Savior. I mean,
He came to save His people from their sins, and that's exactly
what He did. He put them all away. Oh, how glorious He was. When He was raised from the dead,
the complete salvation, the justification of all of His people was done.
He didn't make anything available. He did it. He had done all things
well. You know, regarding his providence, he hath done all things well. Whatever you have experienced,
he hath done all things well. Now, if I had the power I'd change so much. I'd change
things about myself. I'd change things about you.
I'd change things about the society. I'd change our political. I'd
change, man. If I had power to do it, I'd
do it. But if I had wisdom, I'd leave
things exactly as they are. He hath done all things well. And we know that all things work
together for good. Thank the Lord for that. To them
that love God, to them who are thee called according to his
purpose in providence, he hath done all things well. He can say you meant it for evil,
but the Lord meant it for good. One of the glorious things about
the Lord is He does only what He can do. He brings good out
of evil. The terrible evil that you've
committed, He gloriously is able and does bring good from that. And the proof of that is the
cross, the worst thing that ever took place. What's the best thing
to ever take place? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, He had done all things well when He gave us this book
called the Bible. You know, this is the perfect book. It's the
perfect book. Revealing who He is. Couldn't
be improved on. It's perfect. It's complete.
He has done all things well. And it's this book, the message
of this book, Jesus Christ, that God the Holy Spirit uses to teach
us His gospel. He has done all things well. He makes. He makes. You know, If I'm saved, it's because he
made me saved. Salvation is what he makes. Aren't
you glad it's that way? What if it was left up to you?
Me and you, there'd be no hope for us. But he has done all things
well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. I can hear. I can hear. There's a time when I couldn't.
I do now. I hear the gospel as gospel.
And by God's grace, I'm speaking rightly concerning the gospel. He hath done all things well.
He maketh both the deaf to hear, and they will then speak plainly. I want to close with this passage
of Scripture. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Verse 18. But as God is true, our word,
our preaching, our doctrine toward you was not yay and nay. Now, if there's one thing that
I hate hearing preach is yay nay preaching. Saying yes and
no to the same thing. Is salvation by grace? Yes! No,
if you don't do what you're supposed to do, you won't be saved. That's
yea-nay preaching. Is Jesus Christ's blood enough
to bring you into heaven? Oh, yes. Yes. But if you don't
accept it, you won't be saved. That's yea-nay preaching. That
doesn't even make sense. That's contrary to the gospel.
Is Christ all in salvation? Yes, He is, but you need to do
your part. Yea-nay. That's all that is.
Paul said, our word, our preaching toward you was not yea, nay.
Verse 19, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached
among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not
yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in
him are yea, and in him, amen, unto the glory of God. by us. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you, by your power, by your grace, by your touch, would make the deaf to hear. and the dumb to speak. Lord,
our words are powerless unless you're pleased to bless them
for your glory and our good. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen.