He Has Done All Things Well

Mark 7:31-37

INTRO:
Good Evening.
The miracles of Jesus and the things that Jesus said have been placed on record as evidence of His deity, to make men and women recognize who He is and what He can do for them.

A young mother tells the story that when her son was two and a half she would send him to clean his room but each time he went in, he got distracted by all the toys and nothing got put away.
Following some principals she had learned at a recent ladies day about prayer she went in and said to him, "Johnny, what did mommy tell you to do?"
"Clean my room"
"And did you clean your room?"
"No." he replied quietly.
I disciplined him and then helped him to pray and confess his error to God and ask Jesus to help him get his room cleaned. He seemed to respond really well to all of this and I thought, "Wow, this will work."
But Johnny just got down and sat in the middle of the mess, doing nothing.
In frustration I asked, "Johnny, what are you doing?'
He replied, just as frustrated, "I'm waiting for Jesus to come and help me clean my room!"

I guess that illustrates that sometimes we do not really understand how Jesus helps us.

With that in mind I'm going to one of those incidents in the life of Jesus recorded in the gospel according to Mark Chapter 7 and beginning to read at Verse 31 just a few verses.

It is about the miracle of a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech.
“31. And again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 32. Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. 33. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha,'' that is, "Be opened.'' 35. Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36. Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.''”

In a number of the modern translations those words in Verse 37 He has done all things well, have been rendered “whatever he does he does well”. That's the theme that I want to look at tonight.

In this particular instance there is a striking miracle, isn't there? The method that Jesus used in dealing with this man is quite remarkable. The man is deaf and has an impediment in his speech which in all probability was due to the fact that he didn't hear properly. That’s a fact of life, isn't it? Very often when a person cannot speak clearly it's because they are not hearing clearly and when a person is really deaf they may have an impediment in speech. Since they don’t hear normal speech clearly they consequently are not able to reproduce it clearly.

They brought this man to Jesus and Jesus took him aside. He dealt with him privately. I find that interesting. There has been speculation on this part. We know people who have physical disabilities are often very sensitive and those of us who lack physical disabilities are not as sensitive as we ought to be. We don't always feel for them as we ought to.

Perhaps Jesus felt for this man because He knew how embarrassed the man must have been. For whatever reason, He took the man aside and dealt with him privately. Jesus put His fingers in the man's ears for the source of the trouble was the hearing. Jesus then looked up to heaven acknowledging the source of the power, and it is recorded He sighed, perhaps a silent prayer, said to him, "Ephphatha” and the man heard clearly and he spoke clearly. The word the Lord spoke, Ephphatha, ἐφφαθά ephphathá, ef-fath-ah', means “be opened!”, an imperative of the verb.

Let me suggest something else to consider. The man could not hear, he likely did not know what was to happen. Jesus takes him aside and tells the man what is about to occur using pantomime, hand gestures involving the man’s ears, tongue and then looking toward heaven and appearing to sigh. Jesus may also have taken him aside because He did not wish the multitude to have any basis for supposing that his touching the man's ears and tongue, or His use of spittle, had anything whatever to do with the man's cure. If the Lord had not done such things privately, some might have considered the Lord's healing to be accomplished magically, after the manner of Greek and Jewish magicians. That seems to be born out in the touching of spittle to the man’s tongue. In those days people believed that spittle had a curative quality. Suetonius, the Roman historian recorded this belief in writing about Vespasian’s life.

The people were so amazed that they said whatever He does He does well. Actually the Greek word here we translate as “astonished beyond measure”, (ὑπερπερισσῶς hyperperissōs, hoop-er-per-is-soce') is the emphatic and expresses they have come a settled, a firm, opinion. They are absolutely convinced that whatever He does He does well.

I. In the course of the centuries since this word was written there have been many tributes paid to Jesus by the noble, the mighty, the great, the intellectual and the moderately good. I don't think anything really surpasses this very simple, very brief, heartfelt testimony from these people who witnessed the miracle that day. Whatever He does He does well and that really sums up the life of Jesus.

A. No matter where you look in his life.

1. If we consider Him for example as the word existing in the beginning by whom all things are created - whatever He does He does well. Genesis 1:31 – “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”
2. If we look at His earthly life and we see Him, as Peter says in Acts 10:38, he went about doing good - whatever He does He does well.
3. If we think of the sacrifice that He made, that perfect sacrifice offered for our sins, and we think of the redemptive work of Jesus - whatever He does He does well.
4. If we think of His ascension to heaven and His ministry in the presence of God, right now, as our high priest, standing before God and interceding on our behalf - whatever He does He does well.
5. Rest assured, when He comes again with all His mighty angels, and brings judgment on all mankind, the living and the dead, that second coming might be characterized in the same way. Whatever He does He does well.

B. All through the life of Jesus this was the kind of feeling that people had concerning the things He said and the things He did.

1. For example let's go back to the creation. You remember that John tells us that He was the Word who existed in the beginning with God. We know that creation began in the mind of God. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It is a fact, the plan of creation was conceived in the mind of the great intelligence, the great intellect of God himself. He is the designer of all things, but the world’s creation according to the Bible, as you very well know, was carried out by the Word of God.
2. The Word was with God, all things were made by him by the word and without him was not anything made that was made. [para] That's paraphrased from what John says in John Chapter 1.
3. In Ephesians 3:9 Paul says very plainly, you can't get away from this, “God who created all things through Jesus Christ”
4. Hebrews 1:2 says; “in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds”.
5. I love the verse Colossians 1:16 where Paul says of Jesus Christ; “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

C. It seems to me that this settles once and for all time the question as to the deity of Christ. You can't imagine words like this ever being spoken of a human being, can you? No matter how great that man might have been, no matter how wonderful that personality might be, you can’t say things like this of a human being, of a mortal man.
D. This is the scripture’s testimony that Jesus existed in the beginning with God. He is God, He is deity and He is God's agent, God's instrument in the creation. Consider; because whatever He does He does well, that it must have been a beautiful creation in the beginning. Imagine being back there in the garden when everything was pristine and fresh, clean and pure from the hands of Almighty God. Where there's no pollution, no decay, no death. Nothing that defiled, nothing like that at all, and to walk in the world that God made, into which He placed Adam. It's no wonder that you read; God's saw it was very good. Don't miss the word “very” there. It was very good.

II. Even today in a world that's been defiled and debased and degraded by sin, in spite of the evidence of so much going wrong, so much corruption, so much evil, in a world that's cursed by death, when everything around us is dying and decaying there's still a great deal that testifies to the beauty of God's creation. Imagine what it must have been like in those early days to have been there with Adam and Eve before sin entered, when they walked and talked with God, and had fellowship with their creator.

A. Whatever He did He did well in the beginning as the creator. Then if you think about His earthly life the same thing is true. He came into the world to deal with the problem of sin and you can say the same thing about Him, whatever He did He did well. He came into the world to put aside, to break the power of that sin in people's lives, to eradicate the consequences of evil, and thank God one day sin will go away. As Peter says in 2 Peter 3:13 - “we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” The old earth will pass away. The Bible says that plainly in a number of passages.
B. Jesus went about doing good, healing the sick, curing the lame, giving sight to the blind, and even in three recorded instances raising the dead to life.

1. He demonstrated His power over the things of this world, over disease, over nature, over death itself and what the multitudes said at the healing of this deaf man was typical of the impression made upon all who witnessed the miracles. Whatever He does He does well.
2. Has it ever struck you there's a world of difference between the miracles wrought by Jesus and the pseudo miracles performed by so-called faith healers and miracle workers today?

i. I heard this from a preacher recently telling of his experience at a meeting in a Pentecostal Church on Studfall Avenue in Corby, England. At this meeting was a faith healer and it was pretty obvious that he was extremely selective about the people that he was dealing with. The preacher went with some older members of his congregation and in particular a couple named Bert and Jean. Jean had had a stroke and she was confined to a wheelchair. It was very difficult to hear and understand what she said. In desperation Jean’s family took Jean along but each night as the meeting progressed it seems they didn't have time to deal with her. She was put to the back of the queue and she never was told to come forward to be healed.
ii. The preacher also related the story of one dear old lady who lived on Mantlefield Road whose daughter was a member of his congregation. Someone told him that she’d been to that meeting on Saturday night and that she'd been cured of her blindness, or so they had proclaimed from the pulpit. The preacher went to talk to that dear old soul on Monday morning and she made him a cup of tea as she always did and had set out a copy of The Daily Mirror. He said you know the size of the headlines that you get on the front page of The Daily Mirror. They’re huge! The preacher said to her; “I understand you went forward at the faith healing meeting on Saturday night. She said; “Yes”. The preacher said; “I understand they're supposed to have cured you of your blindness”. She had cataracts in both eyes you see. She said; “Yes”. The preacher then said he did something he supposed was very naughty but he held up the copy of the Daily Mirror and asked; “Can you see that and read the headline?” She said; “No”.
iii. That was proclaimed as a miracle and is typical of the kind of thing that goes on in so called faith healing campaigns. The preacher said he had no doubt that man left Corby with a tremendous reputation because he'd healed a woman of blindness and he’d take that story wherever he went.

3. Think of that sort of thing and then think of what happened in the life of Jesus. Jesus never performed any half cures. There were no relapses of an ailment in people He healed. Whatever He did He did well. Jesus was able to cure and He never needed to make excuses or apologize or say your faith isn't strong enough. No excuses for failure like the present day miracle workers. He never turned anyone away disappointed and He never looked for easy cures. He was the great physician in every possible sense of the word.
4. If I may I’ll make one further comment. I'm convinced that so-called faith healers will have a great deal to answer for one day. They'll have to answer for the people who have left disappointed and disillusioned and who blame God for the failure. You see that's sometimes what happens.
5. When you hear of these so-called campaigns don't look at the few who are seemingly cured but judge the campaign by the poor suffering souls who go away disillusioned and discouraged and embittered because they feel that in some way God has let them down.
6. That's not the way of Jesus. Whatever He did He did well and they glorified God when they witnessed His miracles.

III. Of course the miracles of Jesus served another purpose too and that purpose is explained in John 20:30-31 – “30. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31. but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”. They are to convince us that He is the Christ, the son of the Living God because after all, the ministry, the earthly life of Jesus had a much more important significance than simply to go about healing a few people in Palestine.

A. When we think about it, the ministry of Jesus on earth was performed in a land no bigger than a hundred and twenty miles long and some sixty miles wide smaller than New Jersey. It's very, very doubtful that Jesus ever moved outside of Palestine, never moved outside of that narrow strip of country.

1. All of His life Jesus could only have only touched a small part of the suffering and sorrow that existed in the world because of sin. His mission was greater than that. He came to deal with sin at the root. He came to destroy sin and the one responsible for sin and the consequences of sin. He came to be a savior and as a savior, again we must say; whatever He does He does well.
2. In the first place Hebrews 7:25 – “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.” tells you that he's able to save to the uttermost. In the original language the word we translate “uttermost” (παντελής pantelḗs, pan-tel-ace') means “completely”, “perfectly”. He's able to save completely.

B. That was the prime purpose of His coming, to offer a complete salvation and extensive salvation and an effective salvation. Let me emphasize this, the sacrifice that Jesus offered was a perfect sacrifice, and an effective sacrifice. Able to accomplish what no other sacrifice ever offered would have been able to accomplish.

1. You think for example of the rivers of blood that must have flowed under the Law of Moses. You go back to the rude stone altar erected by Abel in the distant misty days of the beginning, then you look at the altar outside the tabernacle, the one outside the temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem and you think of the constant stream of sacrifices brought to these altars, these places of worship and the animals that were killed. Rivers of blood must have been shed in the course of the centuries.
2. Why there was a lamb offered every morning and every evening for sacrifice in Jerusalem itself! Even more on special occasions, and think of all personal sacrifices, the individual sacrifices, all the burnt offerings, the sin offerings, the guilt offerings, all the different kinds of sacrifices that were made.

C. Yet it was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. All that happened when an animal was sacrificed under the Old Covenant is that sin was covered up. The word atonement in the Old Testament is not the same as in the New Testament.

1. It's nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins in the Old Testament. It simply means that a covering was what happened. When a man came with a sacrifice and by means of that sacrifice he confessed to God that he was guilty, he believed that this animal he was bringing was his substitute. He deserved to die but the animal was dying in his place.
2. God accepted that confession of guilt and that sign of repentance and accepted the animal sacrifice and covered the sins.
3. The sins were only covered. Even on the Great Day of Atonement, when every year there was a national sacrifice for sin, no sins were taken away. Instead there was a reminder of sin made every year the writer of the letter to the Hebrew says. What happened was that when the high Priest went into the holy of holies and offered first for his own sins because he was a sinner and for the sins of his people, his family and then for the sins of the nation, God accepted that, and the sins were rolled forward for another year.

D. God did not call them to account because God was looking forward to the time when His own lamb would come to take away the sin of the world. That's what you find in the New Testament. You find Jesus as the Lamb of God. John the Baptist said Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

1. That’s the extensiveness of Jesus sacrifice. Not just the sins of the Old Testament time, not just the sins of one particular people, the Jewish nation, but the sins of all mankind, all the sins ever committed from that first sin with Eve and Adam, right through to the very last sin that will be committed before Jesus comes back again.
2. His sacrifice is so extensive that it atones for all of this sin. Calvary looks back in retrospect to sins that were committed and it looks forward in prospect to sins that will yet be committed. Such is the power of the blood of Jesus that it avails for all sin, of all mankind, of all the ages. No half measures about the Savior. Whatever He does He does well.

E. Furthermore He deals with the guilt and the penalty of sin, He deals with the power of sin and ultimately He will deal with the presence of sin. The sacrifice of Jesus takes away the guilt of our sin. He breaks the power of sin in our lives. One day when He comes again He's going to deliver us from the very presence of sin. It's a free, full salvation that Jesus offers. It's a total salvation.
F. When we become Christians He cleanses us of the sins of our past life. As believers today, as His children, His blood avails to take away our sin. When he comes again He will deliver us from the very presence of sin to a place where sin no more troubles, where the wicked ceases from troubling as the words say and the weary are at rest. If we stay in Him that's the wonderful goal before us, the wonderful end to our existence. Whatever He does He does well.

IV. As you know, after His atoning work, we find Him ascending up into heaven. Before he ascended to heaven He gave the great commission. On the basis of that great commission the church was established. You remember that he said on the mount in Galilee. He said all authority is given to me in Heaven and on Earth, go make disciples of all nations baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you and lo I am with you until the end of the age.

A. Then later He ascended up into heaven. He told them to wait in Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high. In Jerusalem on that first day of Pentecost after His atoning sacrifice had been offered, after His glorious resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended, Peter stood and powered by the spirit preached the Gospel in its fullness for the first time. 3000 people responded and the chapter ends by telling us the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
B. When Acts chapter two closes you have in existence the church that was in prospect in Matthew Chapter 16 where Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church. In Matthew 16 Jesus spoke of the future I will build my church, in Acts two the church has become a reality. He's done what He promised to do and ever since that time when people have responded obediently to the Gospel the church has been added to and extended to His glory. In the establishment of the church He does all things well.

1. You remember that in Ephesians 3:9-11 Paul says; “9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,” [ESV]
2. Does it occur to us that today in this age, the manifold wisdom of God is being demonstrated? That God's wisdom is shown in what He has accomplished in the church? I say God's wisdom because after all, like creation, the church began in the mind of God. Like creation, the church was born into existence through the work of Jesus just as creation was brought into existence by the work of the Word who existed in the beginning with God. It's God's church. That's why it’s the church of God. It's also the church of Christ because he died for it. He said I'll build my church. It was planned way back in the beginning.

C. Some folks today have the idea that the church was some kind of divine afterthought. There are people who think when Jesus came into the world what He really meant to do was to establish an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem. He would sit upon David’s throne and reign over the whole world. Because the Jews rejected Him, so their theory goes, they say His plans were put back a little bit. He never carried them through. He didn't become the king. He didn't establish His kingdom as He meant to.

1. One day they say He will come again and He will do what He failed to do the first time. Their doctrine says that in the meantime the church has been established as a stopgap, as a fill-in, as a divine afterthought as I said. The Bible makes it very plain that that's not the case. The church isn't a kind of second thought in the mind of God. It was planned in the beginning from eternal ages. Paul says; “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:”(Ephesians 3:5)
2. Like light through a prism in the same way the church was designed by God to be the instrument through which His wisdom is seen in all its radiance and beauty. And not just for us on earth. The passage says; “to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,”[ KJV] Do you know what it means? It means that angels stand in wonder at what God has accomplished in the church.
3. Even the angels are amazed at what God has produced in bringing the church into existence. It was planned in perfection and it was carried out in perfection, brought into the world in perfection, so that Jesus could speak of “my church”.

D. There's a glorious destiny in store for the church. Ephesians chapter five speaks of the church as the bride of Christ. He intends one day to present the church to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. It exists today. It is the called out, the Christians, and it is going to be there all the time. You know somebody once said that the church would be fine if it weren’t for the members.

1. Of course, if there weren't the members there wouldn’t be the church. You have probably heard the story of one man that told Charles Spurgeon he did not go to church because there were too many hypocrites. With typical wit Spurgeon said come inside there's always room for one more.
2. The church has its imperfections it has its flaws. It doesn't look too good at times, but it's going to be transformed. He is going to present the church to Himself as a spotless bride, a fit bride for the Lamb of God and we can share that destiny, if we're faithful. If we're not Christians we can share that destiny by allowing God to add us to the church in His own special way.

V. We know that Jesus ascended to heaven and we know that He has become our high priest. When on the cross Jesus said it is finished or tetalesti it has been accomplished. He was talking about his redemptive work. His work is not finished you know. He’s not sitting in heaven like a prince without power, sitting by the side of God twiddling His thumbs, waiting to come back again, doing nothing in the meantime. We know that the Lord is still working. He said that to the apostles, didn't he?

A. He spoke to them concerning what would happen if they would accept His mission and go out and preach the word, and the end of the gospel according to Mark says: They went everywhere preaching the word. Now listen—the Lord working with them confirming the word with the signs which followed. Jesus is still working.
B. Whenever the Gospel is preached He has an interest in the preaching of the Gospel and whenever a soul is saved there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over the one sinner who repents.'' (there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7)) over 99 just people who don't need any repentance.

1. There’s a wonderful passage in Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;”. It's true that He's gone into the presence of God but we've not lost Him because the writer says he has gone now to appear in the presence of God for us.
2. Don't leave out the “for us”. He doesn't simply say that the Lord has gone into heaven. He says He's gone to appear before God for us.
3. Don't ask me what He's doing. I don't know all of it. I know some of it because He tells us, but whatever He's doing He's doing for us.

i. He's in heaven for us.
ii. He’s our high priest.
iii. He mediates for us.
iv. He intercedes for us in the power of His blood and the power of his sacrifice.
v. Whatever He's doing it’s for us.
vi. Whatever He’s arranging is for us.
vii. Whatever He’s preparing is for us.

CONCLUSION: One day He’ll come again. It is wonderful that we have such a high priest. We don't have one who can not be touched with the feelings of our infirmity. We have one who can sympathize because He's been a man and had all the experiences of humanity in sorrow, pain, rejection, and loneliness.

He's able to sympathize and that's great, isn't it? He can be touched by the feeling of our difficulties. He knows our problems. He knows the weaknesses to which we’re prone. He's able to pick us up when we fall and He's able to do the very best for us in representing us before the throne.

If you had to appear before the court accused of a very serious crime, I think you'd want the very best advocate you could find wouldn't you. You've got Him in Jesus when it comes to dealing with God about your sin. You've got very best advocate, the very best mediator you can possibly have.

What a wonderful Savior He is. Nothing He’s ever done, nothing He ever does, ends in failure. You can rely on Him completely. You can turn to Him with utter confidence in every experience of your life. I think it's a great pity, if I may close on this note, a great pity that many Christians have not yet learned to lean on him and to trust him.
It's such a wonderful savior who can do so much for us but we don't allow him to do what He wants to do.

Let's learn to depend on him. He's worthy of our confidence and He wants us to lean on Him. What a wonderful Savior. He does everything well. Whatever he does he does well.

When we read and study the bible, attend bible class and worship services we come to realize the power of almighty God. There is nothing stronger, or more sure on which we may lean. If you have heard the gospel message and it has led you to believe in Jesus, then you need to repent of your sins, confess that belief and be baptized for the remission of your sins. God is faithful and if you do these things He will wash away your sins and add you to His Kingdom, His church. If perhaps you are a Christian and somehow your foot has slipped, you may become right with God by asking for forgiveness. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

Invitation song: ???

Reference sermon: Frank Worgan