Date: Sunday, February 07, 2021   Scripture: Mark 7:31-37

Transcript .pdf

Well, this morning we're continuing in Mark chapter 7. And we come this morning to a man who has a personal encounter with Christ. Mark chapter 7 in verse 31 is going to be our text. Mark 7:31-37. Will you read along with me as I read our text this morning?

31 Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. 32 They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. 33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35 And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. 37 They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

If you were sick, who would be the person that you would want to go to? Who would be the person that you would want to see? It would be a doctor, right?

Or if somebody was breaking into your house, who would you call on? Who would be the people that you would want to arrive at your house? The police, right?

Someone was going after you to sue you for some reason, something that you've done. Who would you call? A lawyer.

If you were having some kind of personal struggles in your life, maybe some personal sin that was going on. Or maybe you're having marital issues, or those kinds of things. Who would you call? Hopefully a pastor.

But what about if you were deaf? What if you were deaf? Who would you be able to call on if you were completely deaf? With our passage this morning, we're going to meet this deaf man who isn’t able to call upon a doctor. He's not able to call upon a hearing specialist. He's not able to call upon an audiologist. His only hope is in one Man, one Man who has just walked into town and He was about to have a personal encounter with this deaf man. His only hope for having his ears opened and being able to hear was Jesus. They didn't have hearing specialists back then. They didn't have audiologists. His only hope was Jesus.

If you remember from last week, Jesus is in the region of Tyre where He had taken His twelve disciples to get away. He wanted to get away for some personal time with the guys because He wanted to teach them. But while they're there in Tyre in the region of Tyre, this woman was there who had a divine appointment with Jesus as she came. And she begged Jesus to heal her daughter who was demon possessed. Jesus allowed this to happen because He wanted to teach the twelve a lesson.

This was not just some classroom style lectures for the twelve. This was a lab for them. This was hands-on training for these guys as they would need to be taught about their future mission of taking the gospel out to the world. That's what Jesus was about to send them out to do. And they learn not only about taking the gospel out to the Gentiles, but also what true saving faith looks like. You remember, we talked about that last week.

They saw it first hand in this woman, this woman, who was a Syrophoenician woman. She was a Gentile woman. She was considered unclean by the Jews, and yet she met Jesus, and Jesus healed her daughter. But Jesus isn't done teaching these twelve. There's still more for these guys to learn. He's got more to teach these guys about compassion for the lost. Not just for the lost sheep of Israel, which is exactly what Jesus said He came to do. Right?

Or who He came for… He came for the lost sheep of Israel, but they need to understand and learn the compassion of Christ, not just for the lost sheep of Israel. They needed to learn about compassion for the Gentiles.

So let's pick up in our passage this morning as we look at verse 31. And we'll see what Jesus teaches them concerning His passion for the Gentiles. Look at verse 31.

31 Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis.

Now it helps us to understand where Jesus went on this journey in order to get over to Decapolis, many of you have maps in the back of your Bibles, and you can look at these maps there and you can see where Tyre and Sidon and Decapolis are.

But if you remember from last week Jesus is over in Tyre, which is the in the northwest region, northwest of Galilee along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. And about 20 miles north of Tyre was another city called Sidon. These two cities, Tyre and Sidon, were often grouped together because of their proximity to one another. But also because they were powerful cities with trade ports and lots of commerce that was going on in these towns in these cities.

And so after Jesus has this encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, He heads up north from Tyre. He heads up north to Sidon and He goes through Sidon. We don't know what Jesus did in Sidon, we have no accounts of anything that Jesus did there in Sidon. But we know that Jesus did pass through it.

And then after Jesus passes through Sidon, He and the twelve make a trip east, they head east and then they go south down to the region of Decapolis. Now, if you were to look at a map, this would be a long journey for these guys. This is a long walk for these guys to take. The trip was probably around 120 miles long. The long walk for Jesus and His twelve guys, but one commentator calls this time together with the twelve “The Walking Seminar.” He had a lot of time to spend with these guys, a lot of teaching that's going on as they're walking.

Jesus, we're going through Sidon.  Where we headed next?  We're going to Decapolis. Oh, that's a long ways away. It's a long walk, I know, I've got a lot to teach you. And so off they go down to Decapolis.

And they come to this region of Decapolis, which is a Gentile territory. There's more Gentiles in this region. And if you remember, this is not the first time that Jesus goes with the twelve to Decapolis. This is not His first time there. Back in Mark Chapter 4, Jesus is crossing over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He comes from Capernaum and He’s going over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee in the boat, and they're caught in a storm.

And if you remember, what was Jesus doing in the middle of that storm? He was asleep, right? He's asleep in the boat. And they think they're going to die. They think they're going to drown. Jesus, don't you care about us? And they wake Him up. And what does Jesus do? He calms the storm. He calms the storm. And when they arrive on the land then, they are in what Mark tells us the country of the Gerasenes.

And when they arrived there in this country of the Gerasenes, they meet a demon-possessed man in whom Jesus heals. Remember that he's living amongst the tombs. He was kicked out of the city, left for himself, he's out there living amongst the tombs. And Jesus meets this man. And that region, that was that He met this man in there.

This region of the Gerasenes was near Decapolis. And in fact, after Jesus heals this demon-possessed man, He told him in Mark chapter 5 in verse 19. Here's what He said. He said, “go to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you.”

Remember that? He tells the guy, the guy wants to go with him. “Jesus can I go with you?” Jesus says no, you can't go with us. You gotta head back and you gotta tell everyone. Go tell your people, report to them what great things the Lord has done for you. And so this man went away and he began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him. And as he proclaimed this to the people in Decapolis, the people were amazed. They knew who this demon possessed man was. They knew he was kicked out of the city and left in the in the graves to go and survive, they didn't want him in town.

But in he comes...No longer demon possessed, he was clean and in his right mind and the people see this man, and they're amazed that Jesus has healed him.

Well, in our text this morning, Jesus arrives again in Decapolis with the twelve and the people there are about to be amazed again. Another amazement is coming. So let's look what happens as Jesus enters into this region of Decapolis this time.

We're going to take our passage and we're going to break it down into four sections this morning.

1.    We will call our first point here The Friends Concern.

The Friends Concern. Look at verse 32.

32 They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him.

Now who's the “they” there, all of a sudden we’re introduced to this “they”. Who are the they? Well, these are friends of a deaf man. Some friends of the deaf man. They've known this man for some time. We don't know how long they've known him, but they've known this man for some time and they hear that Jesus has come into town.

Obviously word has spread that Jesus can heal people, right? He did it with the demon-possessed man the last time He was there. But now these guys want Jesus to heal their friend. And notice what it says about these friends and this friend here, this deaf man. It says he “was deaf and spoke with difficulty.”

Now some will say that he was both deaf and mute, but it was probably that he had difficulty talking because he was deaf. If you've ever met someone who is deaf, they also have difficulty talking. In fact, when I was a pastor at Grace Church, we had a custodian who was deaf. Great man, great man, and he would come by my office and with my limited sign language in my made-up sign language. Somehow he was great at communicating and we would able to, we were able to talk and have communication with one another.  But he would try, and sometimes he would try and say words to me, and it was difficult for him to talk because he couldn't hear himself. He was completely deaf and that's most likely what's going on with this guy.

This guy is a deaf man and it's hard for him to hear. He can't hear himself, and therefore it's hard for him to talk. And he's probably been like this for his whole life. Deaf and unable to speak. Now in those days, if someone had a physical impairment like this man did, this man would be removed from society. Kind of like the demon-possessed man removed from society, but Jesus heals him and he comes back into Decapolis and they're all amazed at what Jesus has done.

Here's a man removed from society, and especially among Jews. If you had a physical impairment like this and you were a Jew, they clearly removed you from society. They would cast you out. They would look down upon you, and some even believe that the reason why you were deaf, some of the Jews would have believed this about this man, the reason why he was deaf and unable to speak was because of some sin that happened in his life. “It's his fault. You got some sin going on here buddy.” And so they would believe that this man was under God's direct judgment.

That's what the Jews taught. But this guy has some friends. He's got some friends who were concerned for him. And what did they do? They bring their friend to who? To Jesus. What better person to bring your friend to than Jesus, right? That's what they do. They bring their, their deaf friend to Jesus.

And what did they do when they brought their deaf friend to Jesus? Look at what it says, it says “they implored him”, they implored Jesus. The Greek word implored there is the word parakaleo, which means to make a strong request to implore or to entreat. Literally, they begged Jesus to heal him.

They obviously understood and they knew the power that Jesus has because they saw a demon-possessed man who's now walking around in Decapolis. And that demon-possessed man was walking around telling everybody Jesus healed me. And now here comes Jesus and these friends see Jesus “Oh, Rabbi,” walking with His twelve and they come into town and they see him there and they go “That's the man.  There He is.” and they come and they beg him. They plead with Jesus to heal their friend, who is deaf.

Why did they beg? Because their friend couldn't. He couldn't beg himself. He had a speech impediment. He was deaf. But his friends were there to beg on his behalf. And what do they want Jesus to do then? Look what it says there “to lay His hands on him.” Now think about the twelve in this situation.

These twelve guys are Jews, the twelve are there with Jesus and they hear these Gentiles come up to Jesus and say we want you to lay your hands upon our friend upon this deaf man. And the twelve were standing there, thinking “touch a Gentile? You want Jesus, a Jew, and we are Jews as well, to touch a Gentile?  You realize what happens? If Jesus touches this Gentile man, He would be unclean.”

Not only is this man a sinner, as the Jews would have thought, he is a sinner and there's something in his life that's caused him to be deaf. Some kind of sin that's going on. So not only is he a sinner, but also he's a Gentile. We don't touch them. We stay away from them. So what does Jesus do?

Let's look at our second point. Not only do we see the friends concern, but point number two:

2.    We see The Saviors Compassion.

The Saviors Compassion look at verse 33.

33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

Now this man had been an outcast of society for all of his life. But in this moment he had someone who would pay special attention to him. And what does Jesus do? Look at what He does. He took him aside from the crowd by himself. Jesus got personal with this guy with a Gentile, a Gentile, deaf man. He removes this man from the crowd.

As there were likely other people who were there who wanted to be healed as well, they understood and they knew the power that Jesus has and they want to be healed. So Jesus says, look, I'm going to take you aside. And He takes the man aside by himself and He gives him special attention.

And then Jesus used His own personal sign language to communicate with this man what He’s doing. Look at what He does. First thing that Jesus does is He does what? He put His fingers into his ears. He puts His fingers into his ears. He answers the friends requests by doing what? Touching this Gentile man. He touches him.

And Jesus is giving this man a sign here that He knew all about his deafness. Look, I understand, I know what's going on with you. And unable to speak verbally with him, He puts His fingers inside this man's ears. He touches him. And He tells him, He tells this man, I know exactly what you're going through.

The second, the second sign that Jesus does using His own sign language with this man. The second thing He does, it says “after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva.” Now some of you are probably thinking gross, right? You germaphobes are going. Wow, really?. But notice what in the NASB. If you're reading out of the NASB, which I am, in the NASB it says the words with the saliva are italicized. You see that there? They're italicized. Which means that they're not in the original Greek.

These words here are added by the translators to try and help convey the story and what they think is going on there. But some commentators just take this as Jesus spitting on the ground Jesus spits on the ground, and then He touches the man's tongue with His fingers.

Now, why would He touch his tongue? It's another sign that Jesus is giving to this man. I understand not only are you deaf, but I even understand your tongue. I understand your speech impediment. I know what you're going through. And He touches him. He knows what this man's needs are. And He’s there to show this man compassion and to heal him.

He gives him a third sign, the third sign, look at verse 34 “and looking up to heaven.”

Jesus not only touches the man's ears and then touches the man's tongue, but Jesus then looks up to heaven to indicate to this man where this healing is coming from. It wasn't the touch of the ears or the touch of the tongue that would heal this man, but it was the power of God. The power would come from above. It would come from God, and that's why He looks up to indicate to this man power is coming from above. And you're going to be healed.

And then fourth, He gives a fourth sign where it says, and He, Jesus gave “a deep sigh.” A deep sigh. Now this man wasn't blind, so he saw everything that's going on. Right? And he would have seen Jesus give this sigh here.

Another way that you could translate this word sigh as Jesus gives this deep sigh is to groan. That is, Jesus is groaning here. Jesus groans as He understood everything that this man has gone through in his life. He understands that this man has been an outcast in the society of Gentiles. He's been pushed out. And He’s there to show this man a deep sympathy and compassion for him as He’s there to heal him.

But Jesus, after getting done with this sign language that He uses with this man, He’s done with the nonverbal signs and now it's time to do what? It's time to speak. It's time to speak. And look at what He says, He says, “Ephphatha!”  Which Mark translated this Aramaic word for us, and he tells us it means to be what? “Be opened”

Be open with one command with the power of one word this man is completely healed. It wasn't the touch that healed this man, it was the what? The word. It was the command. Jesus, who commanded all things into existence and they exist by the power of His word Jesus there at this moment with this man who's an outcast of society, He touches his ears and He touches his tongue. But it's not the touch that heals him, it's His word that heals this man. And He speaks the word and look what it says in verse 35:

“And his ears were opened. And the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.”

This here was a complete healing. It was a complete double-healing in this man's life. Not only is he now able to hear, but this man can speak plainly too. Which is also a miracle for this man. This man wasn't able to speak before because of his speech impediment. But notice this Jesus didn't tell him “Now go see a speech pathologist. Now go and visit somebody so that they can help you because you can hear now, but you need to learn how to speak, now. You need to learn how to control your tongue and your vocal cords and all of this kind of, so go see a speech pathologist and they'll help you out with everything and get you back on the right track buddy.” That's not what Jesus does.

He heals him immediately. This guy can speak plainly and the people understand, and they know as they hear this man going. I'm not only could he not hear before but, he couldn't even talk. He couldn't talk right.  And now he can hear and he can speak. It's a miracle. It's a miracle. This guy can hear. This guy can speak. And what he spoke was plainly understood by all those around him.

But remember, Jesus didn't want to be known for His miracles. Which is probably why He even took this man aside by himself. He doesn't want to be known for His miracles. His miracles were to be a testament to the message that He preached. Remember, Jesus came to preach the gospel. That's what He came to do. That's what His mission was -- to come and proclaim the gospel and to call people to repentance and faith in Him. His miracles were just a testament of the message that He came to bring, but sadly many people were after the miracles instead of after Jesus.

So He doesn't want to know…He doesn't want anyone to know about this healing.

Which leads to our Third Point --

3.    Point #3. We'll look at The Savior's Command.

The Savior's command. Look at verse 36.

“And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.”

Now obviously this man and his friends know all about his healing, right? As Jesus was alone with this man and He heals him. And now he comes amongst the crowd amongst his friends that are there and all of a sudden this guy can hear he can hear his friends for the first time he can begin to speak plainly now and they hear everything that's going on, they understand this man is completely healed.

And Jesus then tells them that He doesn't want anyone to know about this. “Don't go and spread this around.” Now what is interesting is the last time that Jesus was in Decapolis after He had healed that demon-possessed man. What did He do with that man? What did He tell him to do? “Go back to Decapolis, go tell everybody what's happened to you.”

In fact He says in Mark 5:19

He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

But now Jesus tells this guy and his friends not to tell anyone. Why? Why would He tell him that? Well, the first guy, that demoniac that Jesus had healed, that guy was the first missionary in that region, to these people about who Jesus is and what He has done. But now that the word has spread, Jesus doesn't want his attention on His miracles. Why?

Because what was His purpose in coming to Earth? To do what? To die. Jesus is fixed on the cross even at this moment as He heals this man. He is still fixed upon going to the cross to die for the sins of the world, because that's what He was sent by the father to do.

And so He says. “Don't tell anybody about this. I don't want to be known as a miracle miracle healer. My job, my mission is to go to the cross to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.”

Remember what happened after Jesus fed the 5,000? What did they want to do with Jesus? Remember that? Make him what? King.

“Look at what you've done, Jesus. With five loaves and two fish, you fed 5,000 men only, up to 20,000 people here. You have fed them all. It's a miracle you must be the Prophet. Let's make Him King.” And what does Jesus have to do? No, no, get away. My mission is to die. And Jesus is fixed on His mission to go to the cross and die and be resurrected. He didn't need these crowds of people to get in His way. And so He tells them not to tell anyone.

But they're so full of joy they're so full of amazement of what has just happened, that they don't listen to Jesus. What did they do? They go out and tell everyone. Although Jesus shows compassion toward this man. They don't show submission to Him. Jesus healed this man's ears. But he didn't listen to Jesus.

Sadly, this is how many people treat Jesus today. They want the blessings from Jesus. But they don't want His authority. They don't want to submit to Him. “Oh, we love the mercy of Jesus. Jesus, please show us mercy and grace.” But they don't want to submit. They want His love. Oh, we love the love of Jesus, don't we? But they don't want His Lordship.

Jesus came as Lord of all creation. One commentator says about these people. “The conduct of this multitude is a good example of the way in which men treat Jesus, yielding Him all homage except obedience.” Except obedience.

Remember what Jesus said in John 14:15? “If you love me, you will…” do what? “You'll keep my commandments.” If you love me, you will obey me.  And so many people today they want Jesus, but they don't want His Lordship.

They want Jesus and all the good things that come with Jesus, but they don't want His authority over their life. “Oh, we know what Jesus has told us to do in His word, but you know? We'll just take the blessings. That's all.”

But Jesus is Lord. And He's Lord over our life. Which means that if we are true followers of Christ, we will submit to him in everything, which means, even if something good happens in Jesus says, don't go tell anyone. We say “Yes, Lord. We won't do it. Because we submit to You and whatever You've called us to do.”  You can't have Jesus and your own will. It doesn't work that way. We're called to submit to Jesus and to submit to His will and His authority in our lives. That's what we need to be after.

But these people they kept disobeying Jesus and proclaiming all the things that had happened to this man. And then what is the result?

4.    Point #4 The People's Conclusion.

Point #4 The People’s Conclusion look at verse 37.

“37 They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

These people at this point are utterly astonished at Jesus. They are beyond amazement. If you look at the Greek there, that's what it's talking about there. They are completely awestruck as they see this man who was deaf. Who had a speech impediment completely healed. This man is completely healed, and so what did they say? What is the result then?

They say He has done all things well. Of course He has done all things well. He's the creator of the world. Remember back in Genesis chapter 1? And it is good, and it is good. And it is good. And it is good. And it is… what? Very good. He does all things well.  Everything that is created is very good and yes He has restored this man. He has completely healed him because He does all things well.

They've now seen two miracles of Jesus, the healing of the demoniac, and now the healing of this deaf man. And then they make this final pronouncement…look at what it says there, they make this pronouncement that they don't even understand, and what do they say? They say “He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Now these Gentiles at this time they didn't understand what they were saying. But we should understand this. We should understand this exact statement right here. And in order for us to understand this, we need to go to the Book of Isaiah. Will you turn with me over to Isaiah 35, Isaiah chapter 35.

Isaiah, here in chapter 35, is speaking about the future kingdom. He's talking about the Millennial Kingdom here in Isaiah 35, when Christ will come back to rule and reign on the earth. And so Isaiah is laying out for Israel, here is the Millennial Kingdom. “Here is your future kingdom Israel” and look what he says in verse 3. Isaiah 35 in verse 3 says:

“encourage the exhausted and strengthen the feeble, say to those with anxious heart. Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come, but He will save you.”

Isaiah here is giving encouragement to Israel, to the Jews. He's giving encouragement to those who are suffering, they’re at a time of suffering in their lives. Those who are downtrodden. And what does He say?

He says, be encouraged. Look Israel, you must be encouraged. Don't fear. I know things are difficult for you right now, but be encouraged and don't fear, why? Because God is going to do something for you. And what will He do? What does it say? He will come with vengeance and He will save you. He will save you. And what will that look like? What will this salvation look like?

Look in verse 5. Isaiah 35 in verse 5.

 5 “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.  For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.”

What Isaiah is pointing out here is the future Kingdom, the Millennial Kingdom. When Christ comes to rule and reign on the Earth. This is what it will look like. What does He say? The eyes of the blind will be opened. The ears of the death will be what unstopped they will be healed. The deaf will be able to hear. It's exactly what just happened with this man in Decapolis.

A deaf man who is able to hear. The lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. Now notice that… the tongue of the mute. That word mute there in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, in the Septuagint, it is the same word that Mark uses over in Mark chapter 7 to describe the deaf man when he says he spoke with difficulty, it's the exact same Greek word. So when He says the tongue of the mute. The tongue of those who speak with difficulty will shout for joy. It's the exact same word.

These Gentiles who are here and make this proclamation back in Mark chapter 7, verse 37 “He makes even the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak.” What are they declaring? That He's the Messiah. That He's the King. He's the King who's going to rule over His Kingdom, the Millennial Kingdom. That's who He is. They are declaring that Jesus is the Messiah. He will rule and reign in His Millennial Kingdom when He comes back to sit on His throne in Jerusalem.

He is the fulfillment of Isaiah 35, that any Jew standing there would have understood. They would have known Isaiah 35, wow. He's the one who makes the deaf to hear. And the mute to speak. That's Him. He makes the blind to see, the ears of the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the tongue to speak. And this encounter here with this deaf man is just a small glimpse into what eternity will look like for those who are in Christ. This is what eternity will look like for us. This is what the Millennial Kingdom will look like for us when we rule and reign with Christ. The blind will be able to see the deaf will be able to hear and that's what this miracle is that Jesus is doing there.

It's pointing to His future Kingdom and he's saying look, I am the King overall and I'm coming to restore all things.  I am coming to bring salvation, but in order for me to bring salvation, something must happen first. I know you want me to sit on the throne right now, but my seat is not on the throne right now.

I gotta go to the cross. My next stop is the cross. Because someone needs to pay the penalty for your sins. And no one can. So I, God, the second person of the Trinity, must do it. I'm the only one who can take the sins of the world upon myself and make a full and complete payment for the sins of the world. And look, I will restore all things. I am the King. I'm the King who's come to a cross. And in the Millennial Kingdom He will come and He will sit upon His throne and He will rule and reign there in a place that He has completely restored.

But listen, this future reality is only for those who believe in Christ. It's only for those who believe. Some of you may be here this morning who are not in Christ. Because you've not repented of your sin and put your faith in Christ. Some of you this morning need a personal encounter with Jesus. Not for physical healing, but for spiritual healing. And you need to come to Christ this morning. You need to come to Him today. Because you're full of sin. Your heart is wicked and it's evil. And it needs to be cleansed.

And the only way that your heart can be cleansed is through repenting of your sin and putting your faith in Christ who came to die as a sacrifice for your sins. Who came to pay the penalty for your sins. And if you do that today, you will get to spend eternity with Jesus in His Kingdom where He will sit on His throne ruling and reigning, and you will get to reign with Him.

But if you don't do that, you will spend an eternity in hell, separated from Him forever. And He calls you today to come to Him, to have a personal encounter with Him. And He says, repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and put your trust in Me. That's what you must do. That's what you must do this day.

And for those of us that have, we need to live in obedience to our King, right? They were there and and they heard Jesus’ command and they loved the healing and they loved the mercy and the grace that Jesus was showing. They loved the compassion of Jesus, but they didn't want His Lordship.

Listen brother sisters. We must submit to Christ in every area of our life. Live in full obedience to Him. He is the only one who is worthy of our praise. He is the only one who is worthy of our obedience and we must give it all to Him. Let's live that way. Realizing and understanding that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Let's pray. Father. We thank you for this amazing encounter that this deaf man had with Christ. Wow… to be there and to see that happen…how amazing that was. We see that the people responded in amazement. Some of us here would, we would respond the same way. But they didn't respond in obedience. Father help us to be people who would obey You. Your Word. What You have called us to do. You haven't saved us by good works. You have saved us for good works. That we would live a life full of good works to bring glory to Your name. Father, I pray for anyone who is here this morning who Is headed to hell. Father, I pray that You would snatch them from hell this day that they would repent of their sin and put their faith in Jesus. That you would call them to Yourself and grant them eternal life.

That is their greatest need this morning. Father, I pray that You would do it in their lives. And that You would receive all glory and all honor for what You have accomplished.

We know what Your Word tells us…that salvation is not by works, but by faith alone. Father, I pray that you would grant them the gift of faith this morning. That they would trust in You, that they would leave here this morning as a child of God, coming in as a child of Satan and leaving here as a child of God.

Father, I pray that You would do Your work in their lives. God, I pray that You would give us the boldness to go out and to preach this very message that Jesus came to preach. That we would breed those who would go out and boldly proclaim the truth of Your Word to a lost and dying world. All of us sitting here this morning have friends or family members who are lost. God give us a heart for them, that would burn for them. A heart for them to be saved. Give us the words to speak, and the boldness to proclaim the truth of the gospel to them so that they might be saved.

Father, we thank you for Your Word this morning, how Your Word accomplishes its work in our lives. Help us to go here from this worship service this morning to live in complete obedience, to give praise and adoration to You, we pray in Christ name. Amen.