Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

He Has Done All Things Well

Bryan Schneider · February 18, 2023

Mark 7:31-37

sharonrpc.org/sermons/he-has-done-all-things-well

Summary

News of Jesus' earlier deliverance in the Decapolis moves people to bring a deaf man with impaired speech to him and beg for help.
Jesus sees the man personally, takes him aside, and communicates through touch in a way the man can understand before speaking the command to be opened.
The Creator's word immediately opens the man's ears and loosens his tongue, displaying compassionate authority over the body he made.
The man's friends model relational evangelism: they hear about Christ, believe the report, love their friend, and bring him to the only one who can help.
God ordinarily uses secondary means (friends, family, witnesses, and preachers) to bring spiritually deaf people within hearing of the gospel.
The crowd's confession that Jesus has done all things well is doxology, the proper response of hearts amazed by Christ's person and work.
Even when suffering remains and answers are absent, believers may trust that Christ does all things well and will complete the work he began.

Who first told me about Jesus or brought me within hearing of his Word?
Whom has God already placed in my family, workplace, neighborhood, or friendships for me to bring the gospel?
Do I believe God's sovereignty gives purpose to evangelism, or have I used it as an excuse for passivity?
Has the truth about Jesus remained information on a page, or has the Spirit moved me to marvel and worship?
What good words about Christ naturally well up when I remember what he has done?
Have theological knowledge and correct practice continued while my first love for Jesus has cooled?
Can I trust that Jesus does all things well even where healing has not come and sorrow remains?

Divine accommodation: God's gracious communication in a form suited to the hearer's weakness and capacity, illustrated by Jesus' personal gestures to the deaf man.
Ephphatha: The Aramaic command 'Be opened,' by which Jesus authoritatively restores the man's hearing.
Relational evangelism: Friends and family personally bringing the good news of Jesus to people already within their lives.
Secondary means: Human witnesses and ordinary actions God uses to accomplish his sovereign saving purposes.
Doxology: Words and a life that declare God's glory and praise his excellent works.
First love: The living delight in Christ that must animate sound doctrine, witness, and worship.