Mark 7

Mark 7:1-13

CHAPTER 28 The Religion of the Pharisees “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” Mark 7:1-13 As our Lord Jesus warns us elsewhere to “beware of false prophets,” he warns us here to beware of false religion. Nothing is more dangerous to the souls of men, and nothing more deadly than false prophets and false religion. The Apostle Paul warns us that those who eat and drink the bread and wine of the Lord’s Table without faith in Christ eat and drink damnation to themselves. What he says about the Lord’s Table is true of and applicable to all other religious practices without faith in Christ. To profess faith without faith, to claim an interest in Christ without an interest in Christ, to be baptized without being born of God, to pretend to be a child of God while you are yet a child of the devil, all these things are eating and drinking damnation to yourself. Our Lord Jesus warns us again and again to, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” The warning is repeated often because it is needed often. Here he explains exactly what he meant by the leaven of the Pharisees. When our Lord warns us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, he is talking about the doctrine, or the religion of the Pharisees. What a humbling picture we have before us of apostate, human religion. Here we see, to some extent, what man is capable of doing in the perversion of truth, while clinging to the name of God. These well read, highly educated, greatly respected religious men really thought God was impressed by watching them meticulously wash their hands and their dishes in religious ceremony! There are multitudes exactly like them today. In fact, the religion of the Pharisees is the natural religion of the carnal heart. All men, by nature gravitate to it.

Yet, the religion of the Pharisees, though it is naturally appealing to and universally approved of by all men, is deadly to a man’s soul and an utter abomination in the sight of God. The religion of the Pharisees is both the most ancient and the newest of all religions. In this study I will call your attention to seven things that characterize the religion of the Pharisees. As we look at these seven characteristics of it, let us ask ourselves this question: — Is my religion the religion of Christ or the religion of the Pharisees? The religion of the Pharisees makes people self-righteous, critical, and judgmental. “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault” (Mark 7:1-2). The Pharisees were always watching other people, inspecting the behavior of other people, finding fault with other people. They had a keen eye for what others did, or failed to do. Such critics and fault-finders are a penny a dozen. If you do something, anything, before you sit down, someone who never does anything will come along and find something wrong with what you have done. In natural things this is annoying; but in spiritual things it reveals a proud, unregenerate, self-righteousness, which is always the result of legalistic, works religion. These Pharisees really thought they could tell, by observing the outward conduct of men in their daily routine of life, who was spiritual and who was carnal. We have many like them in our day. Self-righteous religionists in our day, like the Pharisees of our Lord’s day, ever justify themselves in their own minds, before others, and before God, proudly asserting, “I am not as other men” (Luke 18:11). They always justify themselves by comparing themselves with people they consider more sinful than they are. — “I am not as this publican.” Their claim to holiness is based upon what they do and what they do not do, not upon the work of Christ’s gift of God’s grace in him. Though they talk much above love, they despise others. That is manifest by their treatment of others. They are professional critics of men, who love to point out the weaknesses of others. Here, the Pharisees and Scribes seized the opportunity to point out what they thought was a terrible evil in our Lord and his disciples. They saw them eating in public without ceremonially washing their hands beforehand. That was a breach of their religious traditions that was simply unpardonable! John Trapp tells us that, “the Pharisees deemed it as great a sin to eat with unwashen hands, as to commit fornication.” The complaint of the Scribes and Pharisees against the disciples was not that they were evil, corrupt, covetous men, but that they did not, in keeping with Jewish traditions, wash their hands before they ate! Obviously, it is always good to wash your hands, the more often the better, as a matter of personal hygiene. But the practice of always washing one’s hands before eating, as a show of religious devotion, had become a religious tradition with them, a tradition they would never dare to break, at least not in public. They washed their hands, whether they needed washing or not, because they vainly imagined that in doing so they showed spirituality and devotion to God. Our Lord’s disciples, following his example and instruction, felt no compulsion to obey religious tradition. “They washed not their hands when they ate bread!” Why should they wash them if they were clean? Tradition had no power over their consciences. You may think, “What does that have to do with me? How does this apply to anyone today” There are multitudes who do much of what they do purely out of religious tradition, only to be seen of men, so that they will appear to others to be true Christians, spiritually minded, and devoted to Christ. How often have you heard people say, or said yourself, “I do that to show people that I am a Christian. I want people to know that I love the Lord”? The one thing our Lord Jesus tells us plainly that we are never to do is to try, by our dress, our public appearance, or our public behavior, to show that we are Christians. Read Matthew 6:3-18. You may say, “But I want people to see Jesus in me.” Lost, unbelieving people did not see Jesus in Jesus. They certainly are not going to see him in you and me. Let us take care that we live as men and women who trust and worship the Lord Jesus Christ in honesty, in labor, in conversation, in modesty, in love, and in patience. “Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10). But do nothing to be seen of men. Several years ago, I was in the company of several pastors in a restaurant. When his meal was served, the senior pastor among us began eating his meal without bowing to give thanks first (without publicly washing his hands). One of the younger men objected to his conduct, saying, “I could never do that. I always give thanks before I eat, especially in a public place.” When my older friend asked, “Why,” he said, “I want people to know that I’m a Christian.” The older, wiser pastor smiled and said, “If you want people to know you’re a Christian, leave the waitress a good tip.” No man has any more right to institute a new religious duty in the kingdom of God than to neglect an old one. The issuing of commands is for the King alone. Yet these religionists wanted to know why the Lord’s disciples broke a law, which was never established by God as a law. Lost religionists in all ages love to invent traditions and then rest their souls upon them. Going about to establish their own righteousness, they refuse to submit themselves to the righteousness of God in Christ. They refuse to trust Christ alone for righteousness before God.

They have a form of godliness, which they cherish, but deny the power of true godliness, which is the gospel of God’s free, saving grace in Christ (Romans 1:16-17). That which our Savior said to the Pharisees of his day is yet true. — “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). The washing of hands, like all other religious tradition, is nothing. “Faith which worketh by love” is everything. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” All those things that men do to make themselves righteous in will worship “is abomination in the sight of God.” The religion of the Pharisees is a religion which has apostatized and departed from the Word of God. “For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (vv. Mark 7:3-9). Never was there a nation of men raised so high and fallen so low as the nation of Israel. Never was there a people given such great privileges and opportunities, only to cast them aside, as the Jews. Israel was the nation to whom God gave his law, his ordinances, his priests, his tabernacle, his temple, his altar, his mercy-seat, and his prophets. These are the people to whom Moses, Samuel, and Isaiah prophesied. This is the people who sprung from Abraham’s lions, who descended from David’s kingdom, and wore Israel’s name. These are the people who once trembled before the ark of the covenant.

How they have fallen! Here are Abraham’s sons. Here are men who claim Moses name, though they had long ago rejected his doctrine, who consider the ceremonial washing of hands, cups, saucers, and pots and pans an evidence of spirituality! In their opinion, the person who paid the most rigid attention to the external observance of man-made religious customs was the most holy among them. Let us be warned. Once a church, a denomination, or an individual leaves the King’s highway of truth, we must not be surprised to see them washing pots and calling it godliness! Multitudes today are just like the Pharisees. They wear the names of God’s prophets and claim identification with them; but have long since forsaken the truth of God’s Word in utter apostasy. Today’s religion places great emphasis on getting people into church, but none on getting them into Christ. Multitudes who pass by the doctrine of the cross proudly wear a cross around their necks.

In churches everywhere, people sing “Amazing Grace,” though they despise the doctrine of grace. People everywhere make a big show of outward religion, but ignore righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. They have a form of godliness, but despise the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God. Pharisees in all generations are great washers of the outside. But formal, ritualistic, ceremonial, outward religion, without heart faith, is empty, useless religion. The Pharisees religion is outward, lip-service religion. “He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mark 7:6). The passage our Lord referred to is Isaiah 29:13. I wonder if we will ever learn that God Almighty is not impressed with the way we comb our hair, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, or the show we make in our pretense of piety and godliness. — “The Lord looketh on the heart!” God says, “My son, give me thine heart.” “Keep thy heart with all diligence.” Let us remember the heart is the principle thing in faith, in private worship, in public worship, at the Lord’s Table, in prayer, and in all things spiritual. The heart is the principle thing in the relationship of a husband and wife, parents and children, friend and friend. And in our relationship with, service to, and worship of our God the matter of chief concern is our hearts (Isaiah 29:13; Ezekiel 33:31; Romans 10:13; Romans 14:17). What must we have to be saved? – A New Heart! What sacrifice does God require from us? – A Broken and Contrite Heart! What is true circumcision? – Heart Circumcision! What does God call for from his sons? – “My son, give me thine heart!” Where does Christ dwell? – In Our Hearts! J. C. Ryle wrote, “The bended knee, the bowed head, the loud Amen, the daily chapter, the regular attendance at the Lord’s Table, are all useless and unprofitable, so long as our affections are nailed to sin, or pleasure, or money or the world.” The religion of the Pharisee is a religion which uses the pretense of piety as a covering and excuse for irresponsibility. “For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother” (Mark 7:10-12). While true religion, true spirituality is a very practical thing. False, empty religion will allow a man or woman to neglect and despise the most common duties of life. True religion, true Christianity causes people to cherish and faithfully perform the most common duties of everyday life for the glory of God. The Lord Jesus declares (Matthew 15:5-8) that if a person refuses to take care of his parents, trying to excuse his selfishness, by saying that the only money he has has been devoted as a gift to God, he nullifies the Word of God, and proves himself a religious hypocrite. The worship of God causes a believer to honor his parents, causes a father and husband to provide for his family, causes a believer to be a diligent employee, causes a Christian to be a faithful employer, and causes a woman to be a good wife and mother. Rowland Hill once said, “When a man comes to know the Lord, even his dog and cat and farm animals will be the better for it.” It was William Jay who wrote, “A person, when he comes to Christ, will be better in every relationship. He is a better husband, father, master, worker, and friend than before or else his religion is not genuine.” The religion of the Pharisee is a religion which rejects and makes of non-effect the Word of God, supplanting it with the customs, creeds, and confessions of men. Three times our Lord lays this charge at the feet of these pompous, self-content, self righteous religionists. You lay aside the Word of God, holding the traditions of men (Mark 7:8). “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9). You make the Word of God of none effect through your tradition (Mark 7:13). First, they added their traditions to the Scriptures. Next, they made their traditions equal with the Word of God. In the end, they rejected the Word of God altogether and held to their traditions! The religion of the Pharisees is religion that supplants the Word of God with the doctrines and traditions of men. Instead of teaching the doctrine of Holy Scripture, the gospel of Christ, salvation by his blood, righteousness, and grace alone, it teaches religious morality. Instead of teaching people to observe our Savior’s ordinances of worship (Believer’s Immersion and the Lord’s Supper), it teaches duties and ceremonies of purely human invention (The Sprinkling of Infants, The Observance of Lent, and Religious Pageantry). Such religion, though practiced with great devotion and ceremonial gaudiness, is an utterly vain thing, an empty show, void of life, power, and spirituality. It is unacceptable to God and of no benefit to man. The practice of it is eating and drinking damnation to one’s own soul! The religion of the Pharisee is a religion of legalism, works, and asceticism. The Pharisees thought they would defile themselves by touching or using things and people they considered unclean. Multitudes today follow their example. Entire systems of works based religion have been established and gained popular acceptance by inventing extra-biblical taboos for “Christians.” Adventism is a classic example. All men by nature are legalists and love legal religion, any religion that gives them something to do or not to do, by which they can distinguish themselves from others and make themselves “holier” than others. That religion which says, “touch not, taste not, handle not,” no matter what denominational name it wears, is nothing but “a show of wisdom in will-worship” (Colossians 2:21-23). I personally know people who question the spirituality of anyone who enjoys boxing, horse races, baseball, basketball, or football, of anyone who eats pork, red meat, or catfish, and of anyone who drinks coffee, tea, or Coca-Cola!

I am not exaggerating. I really do know such people. Every servant of God, each child of God stands or falls before his own Master. We have absolutely no business in trying to govern the lives of God’s children. That is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you are thinking – “If we do not, by some means, try to regulate people’s lives, what is there to prevent them from drunkenness, lasciviousness, fornication, and adultery?” That is the thinking of every legalist. Because he must be governed by rules, he presumes that everyone else must be. The believer is governed and constrained by the love of Christ, seeks to honor God in all things, and endeavors to mold his life to the Word of God. Our energies and efforts would be far better spent if we would seek to love and serve one another, rather than rule and judge one another. I ask the reader to weigh these thoughts by only one criteria: — Are they or are they not in total compliance with both the spirit and the letter of the New Testament? In its essence, at its core, the religion of the Pharisee is a religion that denies the need of grace and redemption, because it denies the utter, total depravity of man (Mark 7:14-23). “And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:14-23). All human religion, like the religion of the Pharisees, operates on the assumption that the defilement and corruption of a person’s soul comes from without, from the things we come into contact with in this world. But the Lord Jesus shows us that the defilement and corruption of our souls arises from within us. He shows us that our hearts are polluted, defiled, corrupt, and depraved. We are all by nature corrupt at heart, in need of God’s free, saving grace, and Christ’s precious blood atonement. The Pharisees of old, like the religionists of our day, taught that holiness, righteousness, and godliness depended upon abstaining from certain meats and drinks and carefully observing religious ceremonies of washing and purification. Our Savior overthrows this doctrine by declaring three things. It is not what you put in your body that defiles you, but what comes out of your heart (Romans 14:17). Material things cannot defile your soul by using them. And material ceremonies cannot cleanse your soul by enduring them. Carnal things can neither corrupt nor cleanse the soul. If we would worship and serve God, we must have something more than a separated life and a form of godliness. We must have a heart that is clean and upright before God, a clean heart and a right spirit. Such a heart is the gift of God’s grace, the work of his Spirit in the new birth. All sin and defilement originates in and springs from the heart. It is not our environment that corrupts us, or our company, or our education, but our hearts. “From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” — What a list! What must that heart be out of which so many evils pour forth! If these are the bees, what must the hive be? “Evil thoughts,” evil devisings such as the Pharisees displayed, come from the heart. “Murders” begin not with the dagger, but with malice in the soul. “Adulteries” and “fornications” are committed in the heart,before they are performed by the body. The heart is the cage from which every unclean bird flies forth into the world. “Thefts” are born in the covetousness of the heart. No man steals what he does not first covet. “False witness,” lying and slander, is venom in the heart that is spewed out of the mouth. “Blasphemies” are the enmity of the heart expressed by the vile speech of the tongue. All these, and all other evils, ooze from the vile cesspool inside fallen man called, “the heart.” “All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” — It is the corruption of the heart that makes fallen man unfit for communion with God, not failure to pour water on your hands before you eat, or failure to observe religious duties. The heart of man is abominable before God. The evils gushing from the heart make fallen man loathsome and revolting before God and expose all to shame and ruin. It is only the blood of Christ that can cleanse us from the pollution and guilt of our corrupt hearts and save us from the wrath of God, which we so fully deserve. Yet, those who know nothing of the corruption of their hearts, know nothing of God’s saving grace, know nothing of repentance and faith in Christ, are horrified when they see one who worships God in Spirit and in truth neglecting the religious traditions by which their blind leaders lead them into hell. God looks on the heart; but we prefer outward things, because we are able to perform them and they call attention to us. Few are able to grasp such elementary, but vital truths, because they are turned away from the simplicity that is in Christ by self-righteous, works religion. There is a vast difference between physical and spiritual defilement. What we eat and drink does not touch the soul. It passes through the body; but it does not reach our hearts. Material things cannot defile a person. That which is eaten is material substance, and cannot make anyone spiritually, or morally unclean. That fact is so obvious that no one would ever imagine otherwise, were it not for the man made dogmas of false religion. The only hope for your soul and mine is that God might be pleased to save us from ourselves. I have no hope but Christ. He alone is all my Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. May God make him yours.

Mark 7:14-23

CHAPTER 29 Total Depravity “And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:14-23) All human religion, like the religion of the Pharisees, operates on the assumption that the defilement and corruption of a person’s soul comes from without, from the things we come into contact with in this world. The creed of such religion is, “Touch not, taste not, handle not” (Colossians 2:21). But in this passage the Lord Jesus shows us that the defilement and corruption of our souls arises from within us. He shows us that our hearts are polluted, defiled, corrupt, and depraved. As we go through these verses together, I want to call your attention to three things. The Dullness of Our Minds First, we have before us a clear demonstration of the dullness of our minds (Mark 7:14; Mark 7:16; Mark 7:18). The simple fact is fallen man has absolutely no spiritual understanding. He is not just slow to understand the things of God. He is incapable of understanding. Our Lord called for the multitudes to “Hearken unto him and understand.” Then he said to his disciples, “Are ye so without understanding also?”The natural man is totally void of spiritual discernment. Until a person is born again by God the Holy Spirit, he cannot understand anything spiritual. The language of Holy Scripture is crystal clear: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (John 3:3; Romans 3:11; 1 Corinthians 2:14). The corruption of the human nature is a universal corruption. It affects every man’s heart, his will, his emotions, and his conscience; and it affects his mind as well, his reasoning, his memory, and his understanding. Those who are smart and even brilliant in other things, until they are taught of God, are without understanding in spiritual matters. Worldly men of brilliance often stumble over the simplest things revealed in the gospel. They see no beauty of revelation, spiritual wisdom, or depth of meaning in the clearest statements of gospel truth. To the worldly wise man, those things which hold the believer’s mind in rapturous wonder are foolishness.

He listens, if he listens at all, to the preaching of the gospel like a man listening to someone talk in a foreign language, catching a word here and there, but missing the drift of the conversation. He hears but he does not and cannot understand the things of God. The Holy Spirit tells us that the world by wisdom knows not God (1 Corinthians 1:21).[4] [4] Let me give you an example. — Thomas Jefferson was one of America’s most brilliant and distinguished forefathers. Like most of our nation’s earliest statesmen, he was a Deist. (A Deist is one who believes in a god on purely rational grounds, without any revelation or inspired authority. Deists believe that a god created the world and established certain laws of nature, but has nothing else to do with the world he created). Jefferson seems to have been brilliant with regard to almost all things natural. But he was totally ignorant of all things spiritual. This is what Thomas Jefferson had to say about the God of the Bible… “I can never join Calvin in addressing ‘his God.’ He was indeed an atheist, which I can never be; or rather his religion was demonism. If ever a man worshipped a false god, he did. The being described in his five points is not the God whom you and I acknowledge and adore, the Creator and benevolent Governor of the world, but a demon of malignant spirit.” Jefferson stands as a glaring display of that which God the Holy Spirit declares. — “The natural man understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned!” Sovereign election, to the worldling, seems unfair. Divine predestination, to the unbeliever, appears to be fatalism. The doctrine of the Trinity appears to the brilliant infidel an impossible riddle. The incarnation and virgin birth of Christ to the worldly mind appear to be both needless and impossible. Substitutionary redemption and penal satisfaction to unbelievers are barbaric concepts. Imputed righteousness to self-righteous worldlings is utter nonsense. Salvation by grace alone to men and women who have no idea what grace is is foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). Even those who are born again and taught of God are often slow to understand the things of God. I know that Christ’s sheep hear his voice and follow him. I know that all who are born again have the mind of Christ and, being taught of God, discern all things spiritual. However, so long as we live in this world, our discernment and understanding is at best partial and tainted. Certainly that was the case with the Lord’s earliest disciples. Looking at it from this distance, our Lord’s teaching here seems so very simple that we think — How could anyone miss that? But “his disciples asked him concerning the parable.” They said, “What did you mean by that parable?” And the Master replied, “Are ye so without understanding also?” Let us pray continually for the teaching of God the Holy Spirit, that we might understand the Scriptures and the things of God. Without the teaching of the Spirit, the most brilliant mind is confused by the simplest of truths. In reading the Word of God, as we hear the preaching of the gospel, and as we seek to know the ways of God, the direct intervention and illumination of the Spirit is vital. We must always approach the things of God with a humble, childlike, teachable spirit, praying with David, “Teach me thy statutes” (Psalms 119:64). The Defilement of Our Nature Second, our Lord here sets before us the defilement of our nature. “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 7:15-16). Asceticism is not Christianity. Separationism is not spirituality. Moral and spiritual purity does not depend upon or come from washing or not washing our hands, touching things or not touching them, eating things or not eating them. Moral, spiritual purity certainly cannot be obtained by the most diligent practice of religious ritualism and ceremonialism. That which enters our bodies by the mouth, or enters our minds by the eye or the ear is not that which defiles us, but our own hearts. All evil speech springs from our evil hearts. All corrupt behavior arises from our corrupt hearts. It is the heart that defiles the body, not the body that defiles the heart. The evil of our hearts is that which defiles the mind and conscience, the faculties of the soul, and the members of the body, making fallen man abominable in the sight of God, exposing him to wrath and judgment. Every man, woman, and child in this world carries in his inmost being a cesspool of wickedness. None of us need bad company to corrupt us. We are bad company! We have within us the root and beginning of all moral and spiritual wickedness. The beginning of all evil is within us all. We ought to always bear this in mind, especially when training and educating our children. It is not wise, in my opinion, to shelter our children and raise them in isolation from the world. To do so is to teach them, by implication, that they are better than others, that they are not so depraved as others. When they do wrong, we should never blame their companions or their environment. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of every child; and the rod of correction must be used to drive it from him. Do not misunderstand my meaning. Though we should not live as religious hermits, we should not keep company with evil doers, and should not allow our children to do so (Psalms 26:5; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 15:3). But it is not the company we keep that corrupts us. The corruption is within. “It is, “ John Gill wrote, “sin in the heart, and what proceeds from it; as all evil thoughts, wicked words, and impure actions; which denominate a man filthy and unclean, and expose him to the abhorrence of God.” Let us train our sons and daughters in the way they should go, ever reminding them of their own personal depravity and need of Christ, diligently praying for them. The only hope any of us have, the only hope our children have of being made righteous and of being accepted with God is Christ. We must be washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness, and born of his Spirit. Corrupt and sinful as we all are by nature, we are all utterly self-righteous by nature. That is the reason we are all so naturally inclined to embrace the practices of legalistic Pharisees, so quick to look upon those who do not observe ascetic religious traditions as wicked, and ourselves as righteous. Knowing this, and knowing that his doctrine would be received by none except those who are given grace to receive it, our Savior says, “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” If God the Holy Spirit gives us such spiritual discernment, let us ever give him thanks and praise for his grace. The Depravity of Our Hearts In Mark 7:20-23, we are given a clear description of the depravity of our hearts. “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” These words describe us all. Our Lord is not here speaking only of the profligate, the base, and the disreputable, but also of the high, the mighty, and the respectable. These words describe every human being, without exception. The seeds of evil may lie hidden within us, covered by the pretense of piety and restrained by society; but they are at the very core of our beings. We are all unclean things! In our “inward part is every wickedness” (Psalms 5:9), and nothing good (Isaiah 1:2-6; Romans 3:10-18). All “evil thoughts” concerning the triune God, his sovereignty and his salvation, and all “evil thoughts” of our fellow creatures proceed from our depraved hearts. All wicked imaginations, carnal reasonings and lusts, and malicious imaginations rise from, and are devised, and forged in the corrupt heart of man. All “adulteries,” unlawful intercourse, in thought and deed, between married people, takes its rise from the heart of fallen men and women. All “fornications,” sexual evil, pornography, pedophilia, incest, homosexuality, and idolatry are evils residing in every heart by nature. All “murders,” including the hatred and malice from which murder springs, and slanders by which men assassinate one another’s name and character, are deeds of the heart, before they are committed by the hand. All “thefts,” by force or by fraud, arise from the heart. All “covetousness,” greed, envy and extortion, an insatiable desire after the things of the world, springs from the heart. All “wickedness,” every act of iniquity, every transgression of God’s holy law, every sinful thought and deed, doing harm to others, every evil thing comes from the heart. All “deceit,” guile, hypocrisy, subtlety, and craftiness are evil traits of the heart, not learned practices. All “lasciviousness,” licentiousness, the lack of contentment, and filth of mind are the lusts of the heart of fallen man. The “evil eye” refers to man’s rejoicing at the miseries of others. It includes sorcery and witchcraft. All “blasphemy,” evil speech regarding God or men, comes from the heart. All “pride,” the root of all evil, be it pride of race or pride of place, springs from the evil heart of wickedness, that resides in every human being. All “foolishness,” senseless, rash, reckless behavior, springs from the proud, egotistical heart of man, who thinks of none but himself. “All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” That being so, how humble we should be! — “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalms 51:5). — “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18). “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God…What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). How thankful we ought to be for God’s free grace, Christ’s blood atonement and imputed righteousness. How thankful we ought to be for God’s immutable mercy! How thankful we ought to be for God’s unspeakable gift, Christ our Savior! It is by God’s grace alone that we are in Christ, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Mark 7:24-30

CHAPTER 30 Mercy Needed, Mercy Sought, Mercy Given “And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.” (Mark 7:24-30) Here Mark gives us his inspired history of this poor woman, her great need, the mercy she obtained of the Lord Jesus, and his high commendation of her faith. It is the same story Matthew gives us in Matthew 15:21-28. But both Matthew and Mark give specific details the other was not inspired by the Spirit of God to relate. So it will be helpful to read Matthew’s account as well. “Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” Matthew tells us that this woman was of Canaan. She was a Gentile. Mark adds that she was a Syrophenician, that is, she belonged to that part of Phoenicia that bordered Syria. She came seeking Christ. Who taught her about the Lord Jesus? How did she to know that he was the Christ, the Son of David? We are not told what instrument God used to teach her; but it is obvious that God himself was her Teacher. God the Holy Spirit had given her faith in Christ. “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” (Isaiah 54:13) “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:37-40) Taking the accounts of Matthew and Mark together, I see ten gospel lessons clearly set before us in the story of this Syrophenician woman. Man’s unbelief never thwarts or even hinders the purpose of God. — “Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon” (Matthew 15:21). It is written, “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged” (Romans 3:3-4). The Pharisees would not hear him or receive his Word. Their pride, self-righteousness, and religious traditions kept them out of the kingdom of God. Therefore, in judicial reprobation, our Lord left them; but his leaving them was that he might enter into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon and there bestow his grace upon a chosen Gentile woman. Before ever a sinner will come to Christ seeking mercy, the Lord Jesus Christ must come to that sinner in mercy.We do not read this story aright if all we see is a needy soul coming to Christ. Certainly, we must not neglect that; but this Syrophenician woman could never have come to Christ for mercy if Christ had not come to her in mercy. She sought the Lord; but he came to seek her first. It is not the lost sheep who seeks and finds the Shepherd, but the Shepherd who seeks and finds his one lost sheep. If we love him it is because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). And if we seek him, it is because he first sought us. “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). Our Lord passed by the multitudes, the congested cities, and the people of renown and came to the outskirts of nowhere to show mercy to a nobody. That brings me to our third lesson… Grace always comes to the most unlikely.I always get a little uneasy when I hear men talk about being able to tell who is going to be saved. Anyone would have thought, “If the Lord is going to do any great work or perform any great miracle, he will pick someone important, someone respected, someone other people will look up to.” But that simply is not the case. The Son of God comes to a Greek, a Canaanite, a Syrophenician woman, a woman with no promise from God, no covenant rights with God, no relationship to God, and nothing to offer God; but she was “a certain woman” loved and chosen by God as the special object of his special grace. When the Lord God intends to be gracious to a sinner, he always causes that sinner, like this poor woman, to “hear of him,” to hear the gospel of his free and sovereign grace in Christ. — “For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet” (Mark 7:25). As I have already stated, we do not know who the instrument was by whom this woman was taught of God; but we do know that an instrument was used because the Scriptures tell us that it is the will, pleasure, and purpose of God to use the preaching of the gospel, by one means or another, to save sinners, give them faith in Christ, and teach them (Romans 1:15-16; Romans 10:13-17; 1 Corinthians 1:18-29; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:8-16; 1 Timothy 4:12-16; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25). The Word of God, the gospel of Christ, is the power of God unto salvation, the catalyst God uses to give sinners life and faith in Christ (Romans 1:16). A catalyst is an agent of action. If a chemist desires to unite two substances to create another, in many cases a catalyst is necessary. The catalyst does not cause the union and never enters into the union of those substances. But without the presence of that specific catalyst, the union could never take place and could not continue. That is exactly what the preaching of the gospel is in God’s saving operations. Without question, were it his pleasure to do so, God almighty could have chosen to save sinners without the use of any means or agency of any kind. Had he chosen to do so, he could have sent angels to pull us into heaven by our noses, once atonement was made for us. But that is not his pleasure. The Lord God has chosen to regenerate and call chosen, redeemed sinners through the agency of gospel preaching. The fact that God has so ordained it makes the preaching of the gospel the catalyst necessary for the communication of his saving grace. I know that many cry out against this and say, “That limits God’s sovereignty. That makes salvation depend upon man.” Do not be so foolish as to be found fighting against God. We must never force the Scriptures to mean what we want them to mean. We must never bend the Word of God to our doctrinal notions and theological system. Rather, we bow to God’s Word. We cannot extol and honor God if we refuse to submit our reason to his Revelation. Carefully read the Scriptures cited above. It is impossible to read them in their context without concluding that regeneration and faith in Christ, gifts of God the Holy Spirit and operations of his irresistible grace, are communicated to chosen, redeemed sinners through the instrumentality of gospel preaching. In each of those passages the Lord God plainly declares that it is his purpose and pleasure to save his elect through the preaching of the gospel. Perhaps you think, “What if one of God’s elect is in a remote barbarian tribe in the jungles of New Guinea where no gospel preacher has ever been?” I can see how that would create a problem, except for one thing — There are no problems with God! He knows exactly how to get his prophet to the people to whom he has purposed to show his mercy. Just ask Jonah! We preach the gospel with a sense of urgency, knowing that sinners cannot believe on Christ until Christ is preached to them. Yet, we preach with confidence of success, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). God’s Word will not return to him void. It will accomplish his will and prosper in the thing it is sent to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). Every chosen, redeemed sinner must be regenerated and called by the Holy Spirit. And that work will be accomplished through the preaching of the gospel. True prayer arises from a heartfelt need of mercy, grace, and divine intervention.“And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil” (Matthew 15:22). “The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter” (Mark 7:26). Such is the pride, self-sufficiency, and arrogance of our hearts that we will never come down until God brings us down. We will never beg for mercy until we need mercy. We will not seek grace until we need grace. We will not come to Christ until we have to have him. This woman came to the Lord Jesus because her daughter was “grievously vexed with a devil.” None could help her but the Son of God who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). How blessed it is to have such a Savior to whom we may turn in times of great distress and trouble (Hebrews 4:16). May God the Holy Spirit give us such faith in Christ as this woman had, that we may spread our sorrows before him and seek grace to help in every time of need. This woman wanted just one thing from the Lord, — mercy! She cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord!” What a comprehensive prayer that is. If he will have mercy, we need no more. The ground upon which she hoped for mercy was the fact that the man Jesus is the “Son of David,” Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature, God and man in one person. She sought mercy from Christ because he is the Christ. Thousands of the Jews saw him daily, who knew him not; but this woman who was a Gentile knew him, believed him, came to him, and sought mercy from him. Obviously, none but God could have taught her; and the teaching of God infallibly brought her to Christ. So it has ever been; and so it shall ever be (John 6:45-46). The place of mercy is at his feet.Look at Mark’s description of this woman’s behavior. “For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter” (Mark 7:25-26). She was in trouble and had a desperate need. She heard about Christ. She came to the Son of God. She fell at his feet. If we would worship Christ and obtain mercy from him, we must be found, like this needy soul, “at his feet” (Mark 5:22; Luke 7:2; John 11:32; Revelation 1:17). This is the place of mercy, the place of humility, the place of reverence, the place of worship, the place of love, the place of obedience, the place of blessing, the place of honor, the place of peace, and the place of contentment. True faith always bows to Christ.Faith does not rebel against Christ’s words or his deeds. Faith bows, because faith acknowledges Christ’s place, dominion, and rights as Lord. “But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (Matthew 15:23-27). “But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:27-28). The Lord Jesus ignored her; but she considered that his right and waited for him to acknowledge her. The Master spoke to her plainly about the purpose of God in election and the distinguishing character of his grace; and she worshipped him (Matthew 15:24-25). The Lord described her in the most humbling terms, calling her a dog; but she took the ground he gave her, and begged his mercy and help, even if it were just the crumbs others despised. Faith honors Christ and Christ honors faith. — “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” (Matthew 15:28). “Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” — Robert Hawker suggested that it is “as if Jesus threw the reins of government into her hand.” Does he not say as much to all true faith? — “Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me” (Isaiah 45:11). When Christ enters into the house of man’s soul and takes possession of it, he drives the devil out by the power of his grace.We are told that when this woman came into her house, “she found the devil gone out.” What a blessing! Let me show you one more thing. I readily admit that I’m stretching the text, using it now in a strictly allegorical, spiritual way; but I am not stretching the Scriptures. What I have to say in the last place is the teaching of Scripture, and a blessed teaching of Scripture. This is the dessert I promised you. In Mark 7:30 we read, “And her daughter laid upon the bed.” Here is our tenth lesson… When Christ saves sinners he always puts them to bed.Isaiah tells us of those who lay in a bed of religious deceit, a bed of free will, works religion, in which no rest is to be found. The bed of your works is too short to stretch out on it; and the covering of your self-righteousness is too narrow to wrap up in (Isaiah 28:20). Here is a bed you can stretch out on: — Christ’s blood atonement! Here is a covering you can wrap up in — Christ’s perfect righteousness! But the only way you will ever stretch out on this bed and wrap up in this cover is if Christ himself gives you rest. Therefore, he graciously bids weary, helpless, guilty sinners to come to him for mercy and grace. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). May God the Holy Spirit lay to our hearts the wonders of God’s free grace in Christ that are displayed in the inspired records Matthew and Mark have given us of this woman. We see the sovereignty of God’s grace in this chosen vessel of mercy, called from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Our Savior has his elect in all nations, who must be gathered to him in faith. They shall come from north, south, east, and west. And they shall come willingly in the day of his power (Psalms 110:3). Often our God uses great afflictions and troubles to sweetly force his own to seek his mercy, just as he did in the case of this woman (Psalms 107). How we ought to thank him for those trials of life by which our Savior sweetly causes us, under the irresistible influence of his grace, to seek him! In order to enhance his blessing in our estimation and to improve our faith, the mercy we desperately need is sometimes withheld for a season, just as it was with this woman. By graciously forcing us to wait at his feet, our Savior renews our strength (Isaiah 40:27-31). When the Lord was about to perform his wondrous mercy for this woman, he first forced her to take her proper place of humility before him, calling her a dog, to which she replied, “Truth, Lord.” She acknowledged that she was altogether unworthy of children’s bread. A proper view of Christ’s greatness, grace, and glory always causes sinners to have a proper view of themselves. Christ alone is exalted where Christ is known in the blessed experience of his grace (Psalms 115:1). All who have experienced God’s mercy in Christ gladly sing with Augustus Toplady… “A debtor to mercy alone— Of covenant mercy I sing; Nor fear, with thy righteousness on, My person and off’ring to bring. The terrors of law and of God With me can have nothing to do; My Saviour’s obedience and blood Hide all my transgressions from view. The work which his goodness began, The arm of his strength will complete; His promise is Yea and Amen, And never was forfeited yet; Things future, nor things that are now, Not all things below nor above, Can make Him His purpose forego, Or sever my soul from His love. My name from the palm of his hands Eternity will not erase; Impressed on his heart it remains, In marks of indellible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure, As sure as the earnest is giv’n— More happy, but not more secure, The glorified sprits in heav’n.”

Mark 7:31-37

CHAPTER 31 “Ephphatha!” “And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts 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, Ephphatha, 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.” (Mark 7:31-37) We have before us the story of a remarkable cure wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ, the cure of a man who was a deaf mute. It is a story told only by Mark. “Departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.” — How quickly the Son of God passes by! While he is present there is hope. When he is gone there is none! He came into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. While he was there one lone Canaanite woman seized the opportunity. One lone woman came to the Master and obtained mercy. Now, he was gone! Mercy was gone! Grace was gone! The Son of God passed through the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, but did not stay long. What a warning! He came there to show mercy to that chosen sinner. Indeed, he showed mercy to every sinner who sought him for it. Then he left as quickly as he had come. Well might we cry with Fanny Crosby… “Pass me not, O gentle Savior! Hear my humble cry, While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by!” Our Lord Jesus, while he walked on this earth, never stayed in one place for very long. When he had cured the Canaanite woman’s daughter, he had done what he came there to do. Then he went through the coasts of Decapolis; he came again unto the sea of Galilee, where he had so often performed miracles of mercy and taught sinners the way of life. As our Lord’s departure from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon is a warning, his return unto Galilee is most hopeful and encouraging. The Son of God is often found in the same place and often performs his wonders among the same people. I cannot tell you how that inspires me as a member of a local church where the Lord Jesus has constantly manifested his presence for twenty-eight years. As I try to prepare my heart for worship, Sunday after Sunday and Tuesday after Tuesday, I come to the house of God with the prayer and hope, with the reverent expectation that Christ will meet with us again, that he will show himself again, that he will speak again, that he will again stretch forth his mighty arm of grace for the saving of chosen, redeemed sinners, that he might again embrace me in his arms, smother me with his love, and revive me with his Spirit! A Very Sad Condition The healing of this deaf mute by the Son of God is a tremendous picture, both of our Lord’s power and of his grace, full of spiritual instruction. In Mark 7:32 we see a man in a very sad condition. — “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.” We are not told who these people were that brought this poor deaf-mute to the Lord Jesus. That is obviously insignificant. But someone had heard about Christ. Perhaps they had personally seen or experienced the Master’s miraculous healing, saving power. Whatever the case may have been, they knew who Christ was, where he was, what he could do, and how desperately this poor soul needed the Savior. So they brought him to the Lord Jesus, knowing that if he would just lay his hand on him, the deaf-mute would be healed. “Gracious souls,” Robert Hawker observed, “who know the Lord, do well to bring to Jesus those who know him not. He that hath unstopped your ears, and opened your lips, can do the same by others.” John Gill wrote, concerning those who brought this man to Christ… “As the friends and relations of this man, having a great opinion of Christ, and a persuasion of his ability to relieve and cure him, bring him unto him, that he might put his hands upon him; so do such who know Christ themselves, and have felt the power of his grace upon their own souls, bring their deaf and dumb, their relations in a state of nature, under the means of grace; being very desirous that Christ would make bare, and put forth his mighty arm of grace, and lay hold upon them, and work a good work in them, and give them ears to hear his voice, and a tongue to speak his praise.” Notice how the Holy Spirit directed Mark to choose his words. — “And they beseech him to put his hand upon him.” That is to be commended. They firmly believed that Christ could heal this poor man by merely laying his hands upon him. Yet, they made a big mistake, as we shall see. They dared to presume to tell the Son of God how to heal him! We must never do so. We must never presume to prescribe to God how to do his work, or even presume that he must always work his wonders the same way. Every child of God experiences the same grace, by the same means; but we all have differing experiences of grace. This man’s experience was truly singular. He experienced the grace and power of God like no one else in the world! This poor, needy creature is a pretty good picture of all men by nature, representing unregenerate sinners, who are deaf to the voice of both the law of God and the gospel. All who are yet without life and faith in Christ are very much like this man. He does not hear what God says by way of wrath and condemnation in his holy law. The unregenerate do not hear the command of the law. He will not and cannot obey the precepts of the law. And he is not moved by the menacing curse, condemnation, and terrible wrath and justice of the law. God says, “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” But that does not bother him. He is deaf. He is not at all affected and disturbed with such things. You might as well be talking to stones, when talking to unregenerate souls about the things of God. Indeed, you are talking to stones. Until God graciously takes away the stony heart, none can hear. Like the deaf adder, unregenerate souls stop their ears to the charming sound of the gospel. The sweet sound of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, they utterly despise. They consider it a contemptuous, bothersome, irksome thing. They are totally deaf to all the instructions, directions, cautions, and exhortations of God’s Word, his servants, their dearest relations and their best friends. Not only are all men by nature spiritually deaf, they are deaf-mutes. Try as they might, they cannot speak the language of Canaan. It is a strange language to them. They cannot speak it themselves; and they cannot understand it when others speak it. The things of Christ sound like much meaningless babble about nothing to them. And, having no true experience of the grace of God in their souls, they simply cannot speak of what they do not know. “Nothing becomes more striking, in proof of a spiritual deafness and dumbness, than a poor unawakened sinner. He is like the deaf adder, which stoppeth her ears at the voice of the charmer; charm he never so wisely; for all the melody of mercy in the Gospel of Christ, nor all the harsh sounds of condemnation in the law of God, can affect his mind, And as he hears of nothing, either to allure, or to alarm, so no cry for salvation ever passeth his lips.” (Robert Hawker) I think it is also proper to say that this poor deaf-mute is a picture, type, and representative of sinners newly awakened by the Spirit of God. When a person is first born again, we ought not expect him or her to walk and talk like an aged, experienced saint. Babes in Christ usually behave as such, though they may think they are very strong, mature, and knowledgeable. Children often think that way. And those who are under the first workings of the Spirit of God upon their souls are often as it were tongue tied. Through fear or bashfulness, or the temptations of Satan, they fear to speak; or with great difficulty are brought to speak of what God has done for them. When they do, it is but in a lisping, stammering way. A Very Singular Cure “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, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain” (Mark 7:33-35). This mighty miracle performed by our Savior was a clear demonstration of his sovereign power over creation and over all the elements of nature in creation. But, if all we see in this miracle is the fact that a deaf-mute was miraculously cured by the power of God, if all we see here is a picture of physical healing, we have missed the point altogether. There are precious, spiritual truths revealed here, lessons about God’s saving power, mercy, and grace in Christ toward helpless sinners. The Holy Spirit intends for us to see here that the Son of God has power to heal the spiritually deaf. He can give the most hard-hearted, spiritually deaf sinner a hearing ear and make him delight in hearing the very gospel he once despised. As he can heal spiritually deaf sinners, he can also untie the tongue of those who are spiritually mute. Jesus Christ can cause the most obstinate rebel to call upon him in faith. He can put a new song of grace in the heart and in the mouth of the vilest transgressor. And he can make the basest blasphemer a preacher of the gospel. When the Son of God comes in saving power, nothing is impossible. We believe in and preach irresistible grace, grace that cannot be resisted. When God has a will to save, the sinner he comes to save has no will to resist. — “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth” (Psalms 110:3). Let no sinner regard himself as being beyond the reach of God’s omnipotent arm. Let us never consider anyone beyond hope. Jesus Christ, our all glorious Savior, is that One who is Mighty to save. He that healed the deaf-mute still lives. I remind you again that our all glorious Savior is not limited to any one way of doing things. The peculiar means employed by the Son of God in healing this man may have many hidden lessons that I do not see, but this is the most obvious thing about it. I know that God saves chosen sinners by the appointed means of grace, as he has declared in Scripture. — “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Still, sometimes God works one way and sometimes another. Sometimes he works through the Word preached publicly. Sometimes he works by the Word spoken privately. Sometimes he is pleased to use the oral exposition of the Word, and sometimes the written exposition.

Sometimes he uses great adversities and afflictions to bring sinners to himself. Sometimes he uses the gentle, loving persuasion of a friend or relative to arrest the attention of the chosen. But of this you may be sure: God almighty will not perform his wonders of grace like a trained seal in obedience to our whims and plans! As soon as we begin to think this is the way the Son of God works, by laying his hands on the needy soul, he uses something as despised by us as spit, and gives no account of his matters. Look at the details of what the Lord Jesus did here and glean the spiritual truths set before us in this wonder of mercy. He took him aside, separating him from everyone else. When the Lord Jesus comes to save, he separates his people, like sheep culled out of a flock by the shepherd, from the rest of the world. He allures his chosen into the wilderness that he may speak to their hearts, that he may speak grace to the soul. He calls his elect out of the world, out of Babylon, and brings them to himself. The Master put his fingers into the deaf man’s ears, as if to say, “I alone, who made the ear, can give the hearing ear to whom I will by the finger of my grace.” He puts his finger into the ears of his redeemed, when he opens them to hear “the joyful sound.” He spat and touched the man’s tongue, as if to say, “Only that which comes forth out of me entering into you can loosen your tongue and cause you to know and show forth my praise.” As Hawker observed, “He truly toucheth our tongues with the spittle of his mouth, when he looseneth our lips to speak his praise.” What a humbling, but necessary picture! The Lord Jesus looked up to heaven, as One who is the Servant of God on a mission from God, doing the will of God, teaching us that all grace and power, all good and perfect gifts, indeed, all things are of God. Then, he sighed. No doubt this is a picture of our Savior’s compassion, pity, and mercy for needy souls. It was a sigh for this man, but for many others as well. Next, he looked at the deaf-mute himself and spoke a single word of sovereign power and authority - “Ephphatha!” The word means, “Be opened!” Immediately, the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosed, so that he spoke plainly. Those whose ears are opened and whose tongues are loosed by Christ speak plainly and clearly of what they have seen and heard, of what they have experienced and been taught by the grace of God. They can give a ready answer to any man who asks the reason of their hope. Mr. Spurgeon once told a story illustrating this beautifully. “Once there was a poor man, a huckster, who used to go through country villages selling his goods. This poor creature, while going round on his journeys, heard some women singing a little chorus. It went like this… ‘I’m a poor sinner, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is my all in all.’ Jack said to himself, ‘That sure suits me.’ So he started to hum the tune to himself, as he walked along. By God’s grace, in time, the words of the little chorus worked their way into the poor huckster’s heart. After some time he was converted and began to attend church regularly. Finally, he made up his mind to publicly confess his faith in Christ and join the church. So he went to see the pastor. The pastor asked him, ‘What can you say for yourself?’ ‘Not much,’ Jack replied, ‘only this… ‘I’m a poor sinner, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is my all in all.’’ ‘You must tell me more than that,’ the pastor said. — ‘No, I can’t,’ Jack answered, ‘for that is all I know. That’s my confession of faith.’ ‘Well,’ the pastor said, ‘I cannot refuse you church fellowship, but you will have to come before the elders and deacons. They will have to see you and judge you.’ At the appointed time the poor huckster met with the elders and deacons. They wanted to see if they could find some fault with him. Being asked to stand and state his experience, Jack simply said… ‘I’m a poor sinner, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is my all in all.’ One of the old men asked, ‘Is that all you have to say?’ — ‘Yes, that’s all,’ he answered. The pastor said, ‘You may ask him some questions, if you wish.’ So another man spoke up. ‘Brother Jack, Do you have many doubts and fears?’ ‘No,’ Jack answered, ‘I can never doubt that I am a poor sinner and nothing at all, for I know that I am. And I can never doubt that Jesus Christ is my all in all, for he says he is. How can I doubt that?’ Then another man said, ‘But sometimes I lose my evidences and my graces, and then I get very sad.’ — ‘Oh,’ Jack said, ‘I can never lose anything, for, in the first place, I am a poor sinner and nothing at all. No one can rob me if I am nothing. And in the second place, Jesus Christ is my all in all. And who can rob him? He is in heaven. I never get richer or poorer, for I am always nothing, but I always have everything.’ ‘But, my dear brother, Jack,’ another man asked, ‘Don’t you sometimes doubt whether you are a child of God?’ — ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I don’t quite understand your question. But I can tell you I never doubt but that I am a poor sinner and nothing at all and that Jesus Christ is my all in all.’ They were astonished at Jack’s simple, constant composure. They had a world of doubts and fears. When they asked him why he never doubted, he just said, ‘I cannot doubt but that I am a poor sinner, and nothing at all, for I know that, and feel it every day. And why should I doubt that Jesus Christ is my all in all? for he says he is.’ ‘Oh,’ one of the men said, ‘I have my ups and downs.’ ‘I don’t,’ Jack replied. ‘I can never go up, for in myself I am a poor sinner and nothing at all; and I cannot go down, for Jesus Christ is my all in all.’ The deacons and elders kept trying to shake the simple man from his simple faith. ‘Why,’ said one brother, ‘I sometimes feel so full of grace, I feel so advanced in sanctification, that I begin to be very happy.’ ‘I never do,’ Jack replied. ‘I am a poor sinner and nothing at all.’ ‘Then, I go down again, and think I am not saved, because I am not as sanctified as I used to be,’ the brother continued. ‘I never doubt my salvation,’ Jack said, ‘because Jesus Christ is my all in all, and he never alters.’ They admitted Jack into the church, and he continued all the days of his life with this simple confession…. ‘I’m a poor sinner, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is my all in all.’ That was all his experience, and you could not get him beyond it. For the rest of his days on earth, the poor huckster was called ‘Happy Jack,’ because of his happiness in faith. Happy Jack’s simple story is beautifully instructive. It sets forth a picture of plain, simple, clear faith in Christ. It exemplifies adherence to Paul’s admonition in Colossians 2:6. — ‘As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.’” A Very Satisfying Confession“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” (Mark 7:36-37). This man who was healed and those who brought him to be healed went everywhere telling what wonders Christ had wrought for him and in him. But the Lord charged them to tell no man what he had done. Perhaps he did so because he sought not the praise of men. Perhaps he did so that he might try these people, to see whether they were truly grateful for his grace. Whatever the case may have been, this deaf-mute was not about to keep his mouth shut! He went everywhere confessing Christ for the praise of him who had wrought such wonders in him. He who is God our Savior “maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”They also confessed, “He hath done all things well.” No doubt these poor souls no more understood the full meaning of their words when they spoke them than we do in repeating them; but what a satisfaction we find here for our souls. — “He hath done all things well!” Let us remember this when we think about the past, as we consider the present, and as we anticipate the future. In that great and glorious eternal day awaiting us, we will fully see and gladly confess — “He hath done all things well!” In that great day we will understand the why and wherefore of all things. We will wonder at our past blindness and marvel that we could have even once doubted our Savior’s love and called into question his faithfulness.

Mark 7:37

CHAPTER 32 “He Hath Done All Things Well” “And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.” (Mark 7:37) Try to picture the scene. Our Lord Jesus has just come to Decapolis from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, where he had graciously healed the Syrophenician’s daughter, who was vexed with an unclean spirit. Here he continued his acts of mercy, healing one who was both deaf and suffered from a speech impediment. His fame was so great that he simply could not be hidden. There is a huge crowd before him. He had caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. He who cast out devils, opened the eyes of the blind, and raised the dead by the mere word of his power stood before the astonished crowd, who in their amazement said, “He hath done all things well.” If these men and women who had seen our Savior’s miracles were astonished and cried out, “He hath done all things well,” how much more astonished we ought to be who have tasted and experienced his grace! How much more we ought to confess to God our Savior, to the angels before his throne, to wondering worlds, and to one another, — “He hath done all things well!” My Testimony Looking over all the days of my life and everything I have experienced these 57 years, I lift my heart to heaven and say, “He hath done all things well!” Like you, I’ve had a few trials and heartaches, a little pain and sorrow, a little hurt and bitterness. (And, I am ashamed to confess, I have caused much more than I’ve experienced.) But God my Savior has been so kind and gracious to me, that were I to die this day, you can write these words on my gravestone. — “‘He hath done all things well!’ Here lies a man who was for 57 years the benefactor of unceasing, special divine care. And ‘My Jesus hath done all things well.’” Sinners redeemed, with wonder tell, Christ Jesus has done all things well! By His great sin-atoning blood, Believing, we have peace with God. That One who bought us with Hs blood Now reigns on high, the Son of God! This fact our every fear should quell — Christ Jesus has done all things well! A Question Can you not testify the same? — “He hath done all things well!” Does your own life’s experience not verify this? If you are one of God’s elect, I know it does. Yes, from first to last, — from the day of our birth to this very hour, — from the earliest pangs of sin’s conviction to the blessed thrill of sin’s forgiveness, — from the cradle to the grave, — from earth to heaven, — this will be our testimony regarding all the way our ever-gracious God has led us through this wilderness and every experience along the way, “He hath done all things well!” In providence and in grace, — in every truth revealed in his Word, — in every token of his love, — in every stroke of his rod, — in every sunbeam of his goodness, — in every cloud that has darkened our skies, — in every sweet morsel he has put into our lives, — in every bitter thing he has mixed into our cup, — in all that has been mysterious, confusing, painful, and humiliating, — in all that he has given, — and in all that he has taken away, this is the sum of it all. — “He hath done all things well!” This is, must be, and shall be our grateful acknowledgment through time and eternity. — “He hath done all things well!” Our great God and Savior who loved us, chose us, redeemed us and saved us by his grace, who has kept us in all our ways, has done all things well! He who is our God is too wise to err, too strong to fail, and too good to do wrong. He cannot do wrong. Study his universe, all the history of it; study his creation, his providence, his judgments, and his grace; view them in every light; examine them in their most minute detail, as you would the petal of a flower, or the wing of an insect; study all with the microscopic eye of faith, and this will be your glad testimony to his praise, — “He hath done all things well!” This is David’s testimony; and it is ours. “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes” (Psalms 119:65-68). I could never find better words to sum up my life’s experience than those. God my Savior has dealt with me. — What an awesome thought! All the days of my life my God has dealt with me. All the days of my life the Angel of the Lord has pitched his tent around me and dealt with me (Psalms 34:7). Not only that, he has dealt well with me! Truly, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant.” The fact is he has dealt so well with me that these words do not begin to start telling my astonishment at how well he has dealt with my soul. The word David uses for “well” is one of those magnificent little words that is bursting with meaning. It means “most favorably, most kindly, most graciously, most lovingly, most pleasurably, most sweetly, most prosperously, most finely, most joyfully, and most merrily.” Particularly, these last 41 years since he saved me by his grace, my God has dealt well with me as his servant. Of course, he has dealt with me as his son, as his spouse, and as his friend. But, like David, I take particular delight in saying he has dealt well with me as his servant (Ephesians 3:8; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29): in his appointing and call me to be his servant, in providing for me as his servant, in his protection of his servant, and in the reward he gives his servant. And he has dealt well with me all the days of my life according to his Word. — “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.” According to his word of predestination, according to his inspired, written Word of promise, according to his word of grace, and according to Christ his Word, truly, “He hath done all things well!” Let me elaborate just a little. Let every redeemed sinner who serves God with a willing heart acknowledge the Lord’s unfailing goodness to him. Truly, he has dealt well with all his servants, according to his Word. In addition to the immeasurable riches of his grace to us in Christ, our great God has constantly loaded our days with goodness in providence! He promised, “There shall no evil happen to the just.” And no evil has ever befallen one of God’s elect. Much that we experience appears to be evil at the time. We may, in our unbelief, even look upon it as evil.

But God has proved himself faithful. Looking back upon the things we thought were most evil at the time we experienced them, we now can say, “I thank God that happened. I praise him for that experience. By it good has come to me and good has come to a brother here and a sister there.”It is good to acknowledge the good when we see it; but it is far better and far more honoring to God to acknowledge the goodness of his providence when nothing good can be seen, except by the eye of faith. When I can look up to my Father, with tears burning my cheeks and sorrow crushing my heart, and say with confident faith, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,” then I will have proved the reality of my faith.Child of God, whatever your God has done or allowed to be done for you, with you, or to you, he has done you good. The same is true of me.

So let us, with glad hearts, acknowledge now what we will acknowledge when all things are set in their true light. — “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word.”Let us His praise and wonders tell, Sing! For our God’s done all things well! Through Jesus’ sin-atoning blood, Sinners are reconciled to God. In grace and providence, as well, The triune God does all things well! The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, The triune God in whom we trust, Has promised, and He’s proved it good, That He works all things for our good. In grace and providence, as well, The triune God does all things well! Let sinners loved of God and bought, Who by free grace have been sought out, Love Him Who has made us His choice. In joyful praise, lift up your voice! In grace and providence, as well, The triune God does all things well! In Eternity He has done all things well from eternity. When we think of all that our Savior did for us as our Surety in old eternity (if I can use such language), before the world was, our hearts gladly confess, “He hath done all things well!” In the covenant of grace, when he took upon himself all responsibility for our souls and espoused our cause as our great Surety, “He hath done all things well!” He drew nigh to God on our behalf. His delights were with us. His heart was upon us. He pledged himself to redeem and save us. He gave himself as the Lamb of God to redeem us. And the Father accepted us and blessed us with all spiritual blessings in him, trusting him as our Surety (Ephesians 1:3-12). In His Incarnation In the fulness of time, when God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, when the Son of God came down here and took on him the seed of Abraham, “He hath done all things well!” As a Man, the Lord Jesus Christ lived in the world in perfect righteousness, not for himself, but for us, that he might bring in everlasting righteousness of infinite worth on our behalf, that he might be “THE LORD OUR .” — “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us righteousness.” — “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Look back upon your past sins, look upon your present infirmities, and look upon your future errors, and, while you weep the tears of repentance, rejoice that there is no fear of condemnation, for Christ is our Righteousness. Child of God, today you stand before God robed in the garments of Christ. With unspeakable joy, I assert that in Christ we are as holy as our Holy Redeemer. We have a better righteousness than Adam had in the garden. Christ’s righteousness is compared to fine linen clean and white; and if we wear it, then we are without spot. In this robe we are worthy to sit at the wedding feast of the great King.

In the parable of the prodigal son this is called “the best robe.” It is a better robe than Adam had in the Garden. It is a better robe than the angels have. And it is a robe that shall never be worn out. Not only is Christ our righteousness for justification, he is our righteousness for sanctification, too (1 Corinthians 1:30; Hebrews 10:10-14). Ralph Erskine said, “If you would have righteousness, you must have it in and from Christ. He has to give you both an imputed righteousness for justifying you; and an imparted righteousness for sanctifying you.” Just as the fallen, unrighteous nature of Adam was imparted to all men by natural birth, the holy, righteous nature of Christ is imparted to all God’s elect in the new birth. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us for justification; and the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us in regeneration by the irresistible power and effectual grace of God the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:10-12; 1 John 3:7-9). “If once I catch by the eye of faith this glorious truth, that Jesus Christ is of God made unto me ‘righteousness’ — the moment I see that by the eye of faith, a measure of imparted righteousness flows into my heart. The soul then receives internally what Christ has done externally. In a word, when Christ is received as ‘wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,’ he becomes all these in vital manifestation.” (J. C. Philpot) Because we were justified by Christ’s imputed righteousness at the cross, we are sanctified by his imparted righteousness in the new birth. — “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). It is only in Christ that God is well pleased. He declares, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” — not with whom, but in whom I am pleased, satisfied, delighted. And in Christ, God is well pleased with us. It is only through the merits and mediation of Christ our Righteousness that God accepts us in Christ as “a living Sacrifice” (holy and acceptable to God) and accepts the sacrifices we bring to him by Christ, that living Sacrifice (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5). The only claim that we have to the heavenly inheritance is Christ our righteousness; but we need no other claim. In him we have been made worthy of heaven’s glory, worthy “to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). In Redemption But he did not stop there. The life of Christ in perfect obedience to the Father would be of no benefit to our souls without atonement. His righteousness could never have been ours had he not also redeemed us with his precious blood. Therefore, “in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” And in his great, wondrous work of redemption, “He hath done all things well!” When the Lord Jesus was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, he laid down his life for us, and in doing so made complete satisfaction for our sins to God’s holy law and offended justice. And now, the Lord God comes to chosen, redeemed sinners in grace as “a just God and a Savior.” Justice is satisfied. Sin has been put away.

The curse of the law is gone forever. And we are free (Romans 8:1-4; Romans 8:32-34; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18-20; 1 Peter 3:18; Isaiah 12:1). In Grace Reflect upon this fact, too. — “He hath done all things well” in the mighty operations of his saving grace. In Holy Spirit conviction, in effectual calling, in conversion, in the forgiveness of our sins, and in preserving our souls, “He hath done all things well” (Psalms 32:1-5; Psalms 34:1-4; Psalms 34:6; Psalms 116:1-7). “I spurned his grace, I broke his laws, And yet he undertook my cause, To save my sinful soul from hell, My Jesus hath done all things well.” In Love How our hearts rejoice to know and acknowledge, “He hath done all things well” in every display of his great love for us. “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10) “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1 John 3:1) “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16) “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10) “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) In Providence “I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me”(Psalms 13:6) — “Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee”(Psalms 116:7). — “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). What a good God and Savior we have! What a text this is! Our biographies expound it far better than any book. The Lord has dealt bountifully with us. He who gave us his darling Son has with him freely given us all things. He has given us his Spirit and he conveys to us all spiritual blessings in Christ. Our God deals with us like a God. He lays open all his infinite fulness to us. — “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” Is not your life a verification of these things? Mine is. Truly, in all the affairs of providence, “He hath done all things well!” And that which he has done, he is doing and shall forever continue to do, until he has finished doing all that he purposed to do in eternity. Then, we shall look back upon all things and say, “He hath done all things well!” In that great day, when our mansions are prepared, our bodies raised from the dead, and we are perfectly conformed to his image in resurrection glory, when we hear him say, “Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” oh, with what rapture, gratitude, rejoicing, and love shall we shout, “HE HATH DONE ALL THINGS WELL!” “O for a heart prepared to sing, To God, my Savior and my King: With all the saints I’ll join to tell, My Jesus hath done all things well. All worlds his glorious power confess, His wisdom all his works confess, But O his love what tongue can tell! My Jesus hath done all things well. How sovereign, wonderful, and free, Is all His love to sinful me! He plucked me as a brand from hell! — My Jesus hath done all things well. And since my soul has known His love, What mercies He has made me prove, Mercies which all my praise excel. — My Jesus will do all things well. Soon I shall pass this vale of death, And in his arms shall lose my breath, Yet, then my happy soul shall tell, My Jesus hath done all things well. And when to that bright world I rise, And join the anthems in the skies, Among the rest, this note shall swell, My Jesus hath done all things well.” Samuel Medley In the light of these facts, can you imagine what must be waiting for us on the other side, in that land where there is no darkness, no weeping, no sorrow, no pain, and no sin, in that blessed place called “Heaven,” where “the former things are passed away”? “We read of a place that’s called heaven. It’s made for the pure and the free. These truths in God’s Word He hath given. — How beautiful heaven must be! In heaven no drooping nor pining, No wishing for elsewhere to be. God’s light is forever there shining — How beautiful heaven must be! Pure waters of life there are flowing; And all who will drink may be free. Rare jewels of splendor are glowing — How beautiful heaven must be! The angels so sweetly are singing Up there by the beautiful sea. Sweet chords from their gold harps are ringing. — How beautiful heaven must be! How beautiful heaven must be! Sweet home of the happy and free, Fair heaven of rest for the weary, How beautiful heaven must be!”