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Good morning. Good morning. It's a real joy for me to be 
here and see familiar and friendly faces. Forgive me for not remembering 
all of your names, but I do remember your faces. And I want to thank 
you once again for just a warm reception that you have given 
to my wife and I, and I bring you greetings from your brothers 
and sisters in Portland, Oregon, Glen Collin 
Baptist Church. Please turn with me to the Gospel 
of Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12, and I'd like 
to read verses 22 through 32. Matthew chapter 12, beginning 
to read in verse 22, and please give careful attention to the 
reading of God's holy word. Then a demon-possessed man who 
was blind and mute was brought to him, that is, to Jesus, and 
he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw, and all the people 
were amazed and said, can this be the son of David? But when 
the Pharisees heard it, they said, it is only by Beelzebul, 
the prince of demons, that this man cast out demons. Knowing their thoughts, he said 
to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, 
and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And 
if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How 
then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, 
by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be 
your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of 
God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon 
you. Or how can someone enter a strongman's 
house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strongman? then indeed he may plunder his 
house. Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not 
gather with me scatters. Therefore, I tell you, every 
sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, people, but the blasphemy against 
the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against 
the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the 
Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the 
age to come as far as we read God's Word. There is a great 
deal of truth contained in that passage, but today we will gather 
our thoughts primarily around verses 22 and 23. That a demon-possessed man who 
was blind and mute was brought to him and he healed him So that 
the man spoke and saw and all the people were amazed and said, 
can this be the son of David? Our theme today is the amazing 
son of David, savior of needy sinners. We'll consider that 
under three main heads. First, Jesus gives proof that 
he is indeed the Messiah. Second, Jesus is the Savior of 
needy sinners. And third, we will consider the 
abiding proof that Jesus is the Savior of sinners or what he 
has done for sinners once for all. Let's pray and ask for God's 
help. Our Father in Heaven, we do thank 
you once again for the grand privilege and blessing that is 
ours to gather together on this, your day. And we thank you for 
your word that is able to make us wise to salvation. And Father, 
we are very aware of our own inability to do anything of spiritual 
value, and we need your help. And we pray that your Holy Spirit 
would come and be our teacher, We pray, Father, for clarity 
and understanding of your word to the end that Christ would 
be glorified, that your people would be drawn closer to you. And, Father, might you be pleased 
to speak even this day to sinners and cause some to be born again. We will thank you and praise 
you for your help and for hearing our prayer. In Jesus' name, amen. In the preceding and the immediate 
context, which we just read, we see how the Lord Jesus had 
been busy healing the sick and preaching the gospel. These were 
indeed busy and exhausting days for the Lord Jesus Christ. In 
addition, there was this growing opposition. Recently, opposition 
over the Sabbath commandment. And there was a mounting hatred 
of the Lord Jesus among the Jews, especially the Pharisees, the 
religious leaders. If you go back to verse 14, but 
the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him. How sad, the Lord Jesus came 
as a light in a dark world by doing good. telling the truth 
with compassion, and he was rejected by the darkness. And there is 
a lesson right away for each of us that we must bear in mind, 
and I would speak especially to you young people, you older 
young people. And you must understand that 
following Jesus Christ will not make you friends and all popular 
with everyone. In fact, there are those in the 
world who will react to your faith in and your love for the 
Lord Jesus Christ with hatred and bitterness. Jesus said, if 
you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But 
because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, 
therefore the world hates you, John 15. and verse 19. So don't 
be surprised, brethren, that unbelievers react with anger 
when you shine the light of the gospel upon them. The servant 
is not above his master. And make no mistake, we are called. We are called to be lights in 
a dark world to shine brightly for Jesus Christ. And now in 
the passage before us this morning, Matthew draws our attention to 
an amazing event. A man was brought to Jesus who 
was demon-possessed. Moreover, this man was blind 
and mute. He couldn't see or speak. And Matthew simply says, don't 
you love the simplicity, the power of this? Matthew simply 
says, Jesus healed him. instantly and completely in so 
much that the man right away both spoke and saw. Read in the passage that all 
the people were amazed. And they asked, can this be the 
son of David? Now obviously, this was a needy 
man. Desperately needy man. He was 
mute. And often it's true that people 
who can't speak can't hear. And maybe that was the case with 
this man. In addition, he was blind. So 
just think how needy he was. He couldn't communicate to those 
around him. He was isolated and cut off. And on top of all of that, a 
demon possessed him, oppressed him, the ESV says, the King James 
says he was possessed. What a horrible reality. And today we might find that 
hard to understand, but we should observe that not all such afflictions 
in scripture in the New Testament are attributed to demon possession. There were those who were afflicted, 
but not demon possessed or oppressed. For example, Turn over to Matthew 
chapter 15, verses 30 and 31. And great crowds came to him, 
bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the 
mute, and many others. And they put them at his feet, 
and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered When they saw 
the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and 
the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel." Note nothing is mentioned of 
those afflictions being the result of demon activity or demon possession. In the case of the man being 
born blind in the Gospel of John chapter 9, In verse 1, we read, 
as he passed by, he saw, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. And you'll see how the Lord Jesus 
healed the man with no reference to demon activity. We can think of blind Bartimaeus, 
or even how the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, you may 
remember, who was suddenly, he suddenly became mute, unable 
to speak for a time, and it was at God's hand. So not all muteness, not all 
blindness or deafness in the Bible is attributed to demon 
possession, regardless what liberals today like to accuse Christians 
of being backwards and superstitious in their beliefs. It's a distortion 
to say that. That all affliction is a result 
of some demon activity is a distortion of the so-called deliverance 
movement. Have any of you ever met someone 
believing that every affliction must be traced to demon activity 
and therefore they say what is needed in every situation of 
affliction is that the demons be confronted. Have you ever 
met anybody like that? We had a lady in our church, 
when she first came to us, she wasn't converted, and she had 
a lot of bitterness in her heart towards the Lord. Her daughter 
had recently passed away with a very bad brain tumor, and she 
would go to the hospital and visit her daughter, not knowing 
what to do. And her daughter was a member 
of this cultic group that would gather around her bed and would 
pray for the demons to come out of her. And this dear lady couldn't accept 
any of that. She believed her daughter was 
really sick and needed medical attention. They didn't allow 
her to see her daughter in her dying days. You see, that simply 
is not the teaching of the Bible. Regardless how superficially 
exciting it may appear to be, to be battling demons at every 
front, it is in fact error and the teaching leads to misery 
and disappointment. However, that being said, demon 
possession is something that is real. And it was common at 
times. And it was evidently more common 
at the time of Christ's coming into the world. In fact, we might 
say that the very coming of Christ into the world was actually the 
occasion for the increase of activities from the of powers 
of darkness. You might remember as you read 
in the book of Acts how the apostles Peter and Paul were also confronted 
by people possessed with demons. And today missionaries will report 
in some pagan cultures of demon possession and oppression and 
activity. So while we don't understand 
all there is to know about these matters, Brethren, one thing 
we do understand is that the Lord Jesus is sovereign and he 
rules over the demons. He's in control of all of these 
things. Go back to Matthew chapter 4 
verses 10 and 11 for a moment and I just, I love these verses. You know the context. The Lord 
Jesus has been in the wilderness for 40 days without food or drink 
and he's been tempted by the devil. And we read at the conclusion 
of that, In verse 10, Jesus said to him, be gone Satan for it 
is written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only 
shall you serve. Then the devil left him and behold 
angels came and were ministering to him. Be gone Satan. He dismissed 
him. So Jesus can cast out demons 
and His miracles that Matthew records for us in this section 
of his gospel are intended to teach us something about his 
great love and compassion. And we don't forget that he is 
all-powerful as well. What an amazing Savior, full 
of love and power. He came to set captives free 
out of love and compassion, and he has power to deliver those 
kept in the bonds of slavery. And brethren, that's good news, 
is it not? Because with Christ, there is 
hope for the hopeless. In fact, this passage teaches 
us that for Jesus, there are no hopeless cases. Sometimes 
you may feel hopeless. Sometimes you may feel as if 
you're beyond his love or his reach, but it's not so. And the 
reason we are presented with this account here of this, the 
healing of this desperately needy man is to teach us the truth 
that Jesus saves desperate sinners. Matthew gives us these accounts 
of physical healings to show that the physical effects of 
sin and Christ delivering from them are illustrations and lessons 
concerning Christ's willingness and ability to deliver from sin 
itself. To set us free from guilt and 
the power that sin has over us and all of its effects and consequences. Jesus saves to the uttermost. Now in this miracle the Lord 
Jesus gave powerful proof of his messiahship. Note Matthew 
said simply, he healed him. He healed him and the people 
were amazed. Literally they are taken back 
in astonishment. I like what Hendrickson said, 
he said they were not off their senses. We might say today in 
our vernacular, they were blown away. How amazing the thing. And take note of what they said. 
Can this be the son of David? Son of David, well that was the 
name and character by which Messiah was looked for. In fact, during 
Christ's earthly ministry, Son of David and Messiah had become 
synonymous terms. In fact, it's interesting to 
note, if you turn over to Matthew chapter 21, and we just read 
verses 15 and 16. But when the chief priest and 
the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, And the children 
crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the son of David, they were 
indignant. And they said to him, do you 
hear what these are saying? To Jesus, do you hear what these 
kids are, they're calling you Messiah. And Jesus said to them, yes, 
have you never read out of the mouths of infants and nursing 
babes you have prepared a praise. So back in Matthew 12, the people 
are asking with a measure of doubt, can this be the son of 
David? Hendrickson writes, the question 
was so phrased that a modified negative answer was expected. Somewhat on the order No, he's 
probably not the son of David, and yet, who else could he be 
to perform such a miracle? An important question. Who else 
could this be? I appreciated Hendrickson's comments 
at this point. He went on, and bear with me 
one paragraph. He went on and wrote, but though 
we should guard ourselves against attaching too little significance 
to the question, we must equally refrain from reading too much 
into it. It must be borne in mind that 
even if it should be granted that these people, at least some 
of them, saw in Jesus the Messiah, the further question would still 
be, what kind of Messiah? Merely a deliverer from earthly 
woes, such as bodily afflictions and handicaps, yes, even from 
demons, possibly also a potential rescuer from the Roman yoke, 
hints from degradation and oppression, all of this, but not from sin, 
not from the evil underlying all other miseries, namely man's 
alienation from God. The messianic conception of the 
people, including to some extent Christ's own disciples, was distinctly 
materialistic, earthly, Judaistic. The very suggestion of the possibility, 
no matter how imperfectly and remotely conceived or presented 
that Jesus might be the long-awaited one was poison to the Pharisees. I feel I should interject here. 
Don't underestimate the settled unreasonableness and hatred of 
the Pharisees for towards Jesus Christ. We read a moment ago 
if you go back to verses 12 and 14 Actually just verse 14, but the 
Pharisees went out and they conspired against him how to destroy him. Turn over to Mark's gospel chapter 
3 and verse 6. The Pharisees went out immediately 
and immediately held consul with the Herodians against him how 
to destroy him. Now can you imagine? The Pharisees, 
the rulers in Israel, the Herodians were their natural enemies. They 
despised them. They despised the fact that Herod 
had given them rule over them in Jerusalem. But their hatred 
for Christ is so much greater they went out with them and conspired 
with them as to how they might destroy Jesus. In Luke chapter 
6 in verse 11 we read that they were filled with fury. They denied 
the clear evidence that Jesus was the Messiah and they rejected 
Christ. And the thing is, this miracle 
was precisely of the kind that Messiah was expected to perform. This is exactly what was predicted 
of Messiah. in the Old Testament. It was 
foretold by the prophets. For example, in Isaiah 35.5 we 
read, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears 
of the deaf unstopped. And remember when John the Baptist 
had doubt and he asked the Lord through his messengers in Matthew 
chapter 11 and verse 3 while he was in prison, are you the 
one who is to come? Are you the Messiah? Are you 
the son of David? Or shall we look for another? 
And how did Jesus respond? He referred to such miracles 
that he was doing just like this one as positive proof of his 
Messiahship. Matthew 11 verses 4 through 6. What an amazing and wonderful 
miracle. the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, 
the truth of who Jesus was so clearly set forth. But the envious 
Pharisees, in order to deny the conclusions of truth, ascribe 
the miracle to a partnership with the devil. They couldn't 
deny that a healing had taken place. And so what do they do? They ascribe its power to a partnership 
with the devil. Matthew 12, look at verse 24. But when the Pharisees heard 
it, they said, it is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, 
that this man cast out demons. The hardness, brethren, and the 
unreasonableness of sinful unbelief clearly demonstrate it. And our 
Lord argued with them that if their view was correct, what 
would be taking place is that Satan would be undermining his 
own kingdom. And he describes that in verses 
25 and 26. And since that's inconceivable, 
and that denies even common sense, and the Pharisees had to recognize 
that, then it must be clear, as Jesus continued to say in 
verses 7 and 28 where he says, and if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, 
by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be 
your judges. But if it is by the spirit of 
God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon 
you. That was not good news to the 
Pharisees. So again we see the purpose of this miracle as with 
the others was to establish his claim as the Messiah. It was to give sufficient warrant 
for the people to receive him as the appointed Savior of the 
world. In order for them to embrace 
and to enter his kingdom. Isaiah 59 20, and the Redeemer 
shall come to Zion. We sing, come thou long expected 
Jesus, born to set thy people free. From our fears and sins 
release us, let us find our rest in thee. He is the great Lord 
and he is the king to whom all power and all authority in heaven 
and upon earth has been delivered. Christ Jesus is the Son of David. He is the Savior of desperately 
needy sinners, and that's the point of this passage before 
us this morning. He is the amazing Son of David, 
and this blind man is brought to Christ. A beautiful picture 
of the gospel of free grace. This man, utterly hopeless and 
helpless, cannot see, probably can't hear, but only feel his 
way about. He can't speak. He's possessed 
with a demon who moves him here and there in turmoil and trouble 
and unrest. And just think how he is brought 
to the savior of the lost and needy. What a wonderful, moving, 
living picture. What a beautiful illustration. 
The most wretched of men can be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's consider this man a little 
closer. First, he was blind. Now, isn't 
that an illustration of how all men are spiritually blind? The Bible says that We are dead 
in trespasses and sins of ourselves and dead men and women don't 
see. And so here in his blindness 
is a picture, you see. It's not just an amazing story, 
which it is, but a wonderful picture of how we are of ourselves. Tell me, what is there in the 
world in all of reality that of ourselves we see correctly. What is it? One of my favorite 
preachers, Charles Simeon, he asked the question this way, 
what views have we of our duty, our interest, or our happiness? How do we see those things? How 
do we see our responsibility? How do we see our purpose in 
life? How do we see our real happiness? He then explains, you might assume 
that every rational thinking person should see, understand, 
with a little help maybe, that his great duty in life is to 
love and to serve God. And that he might see his interest 
or his great motivation and purpose in life should be to secure that 
divine favor and his happiness. And he might see that to enjoy 
the very presence of God and a foretaste of his eternal inheritance. The Bible declares in many places 
what the catechism clearly teaches. The chief end of man, that is 
his number one interest, his number one purpose in life, is 
to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. But who really sees 
that? I mean, where do you find people 
of themselves acting in alignment with such a view? Instead, men's 
earthly endeavors and occupations and enjoyments of this world 
are of the highest obligation and attention. And the desire 
for God's presence, his favor, his heavenly favor and the things 
of eternity is lost as man sets his sights on things of the world. It's for those things, those 
things of the world that he is engaged. It's for those things 
for which he is ambitious and anxious over. It's for those 
things that he plans, and he works, and he strides, and he 
frets, and he worries about the things of the world, things that 
are passing away. And it's not that God hasn't 
told us differently. It's not that God hasn't told 
us that this world is like a broken fountain. that it can't hold 
water, Jeremiah 2.13. Or as 1 John 2.17 says, the world 
is passing away along with its desires. What shall it profit 
a man if he were to gain the whole world and lose his own 
soul? So the Bible clearly declares 
that no real, no lasting rest or joy can be derived from any 
source but from God. God is the fountain. of living 
waters. But we don't see it of ourselves. It's not our concern by nature 
because we are spiritually blind until by grace our eyes are opened. Until we are born again. And 
so Jesus says in John chapter 3 In verse 3, truly, truly, unless 
one is born again, he cannot what? He cannot see. The word 
see there means to understand so as to appreciate. Pastor Al 
Martin used to say he cannot savvy the kingdom of God, even 
though it's come right before him. This poor blind man, was 
desperately needy, but the Pharisees were much worse off. And so our passage has been recorded 
in order for us to see how we are by ourselves. For us to understand 
how it is that we live in the world of ourselves, spiritually 
blind. And man doesn't realize that. 
And it's not just that we are spiritually blind, you see, we 
don't think it so. I remember my own experience 
before I was born again. Let me speak to some of you older 
young people. I was raised in the church like 
probably many of you are. I heard the gospel from week 
to week. And I never believed I was blind 
to spiritual reality growing up. I knew all I needed to know. 
I could see clearly. But the Bible declares the reality 
that man doesn't realize spiritual reality. He doesn't see sin for 
what it is. He might say, I've messed up. 
I've made some mistakes that were costly and a bit painful. But he sees no offense against 
God, his creator. He sees no guilt. Everybody sins, 
he might say. He might even go so far as to 
say, well, I did wrong towards that person. I was unkind. I thought badly. I even wish 
they were dead, but guilty before God? The judgment of God and 
that my sins deserve hell? Man's blind to that. He doesn't 
see that he is given over to his sin. He might sin now and 
then, he would admit, but in his mind, you see, he's not a 
sinner. In fact, he justifies and he 
validates himself. He says, in the end, the good 
outweighs the bad. He's blind to the spiritual reality 
that he is a sinner in his heart and in his mind. As the Bible 
says, at enmity with God and under his judgment, his condemnation. Moreover, such a person doesn't 
see who Christ is. He has no room for Christ. He's 
full to the brim with himself. And the natural man doesn't see 
the necessity of Christ. Again, my own testimony to these 
things. Growing up in the church, I never 
remember a time that I didn't believe Jesus was the Son of 
God. I don't ever remember that, when I didn't believe that. I 
don't ever remember a time that I didn't know Jesus died on the 
cross for sinners, and that he was buried, and he rose again 
on the third day, and that he went back to heaven. I believed 
all of that. But I didn't have any time for 
that in my life. I wasn't interested in Jesus being my Lord. The spiritual 
truth is foolishness to the natural mind. Because he just doesn't 
understand as the Apostle Paul says there in 1 Corinthians chapter 
2. Now that's how man is by nature. 
Spiritually blind. I should stop and And ask, I 
would be negligent if I didn't. Have you ever come to a time 
when you could see these things? Have you ever come to a time 
in your life when you could see your sin? That you came to know and understand 
that it was real. And that it was ugly. And that 
it was from the heart. And that it was against God in 
heaven. Have you ever come to conviction 
and a sense of true grief and sorrow over that sin? Like Isaiah in the Old Testament 
who cried, woe is me. I'm undone. I'm coming apart, 
literally. I'm lost. I'm a man of unclean 
lips. A sinner. Have you ever seen your need 
for the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from your sins? To be 
merciful to you. Have you ever come to the place 
where you stood like the publican, Lord be merciful to me, a sinner. Have your eyes been opened to 
that? Have you ever prayed like David 
in Psalm 119 and verse 18? Open my eyes that I may behold 
wondrous things out of your love. You must be born again. Except 
a man be born again, born from above, he cannot see the kingdom 
of God, even though it has come very near to you. In addition, 
this desperately needy man couldn't speak. He was blind and he couldn't 
speak. Our text points that out. Well, it's amazing when you think 
about how we're made, how we're put together, isn't it? When 
you think of the human body and the tongue is a wonderful thing 
in one sense. When David repented of his sins, 
He prayed in Psalm 51 and verse 14, my tongue will sing aloud 
of your righteousness. You see, that's what the tongue 
is designed for. But how is the tongue used for 
God? Read Psalm 39, because when David 
sinned, he was silent. Do sinful, spiritually blind 
people praise God with their tongue. By nature, we don't speak 
of Him in the exercise of prayer and praise. Of course, we have 
numerous needs, multiplied needs, and sometimes out of a sense 
of selfish desire, we ask for God's help. I have a friend I 
worked with for many years when I used to work for the Boeing 
company, and from time to time he will still call me. I don't 
know the last time he was ever in church. He has no time for 
Christ in his life. But if he gets in a bind, he 
will call me and ask me to pray for him or the particular situation 
in which he's in. It's real easy for me to get 
judgmental about that, but I have to remember where I was at many 
years ago. That's how we are by nature. 
We don't use the tongue in the exercise of real prayer, of desiring 
his name to be glorified and hallowed, asking for his will 
to be accomplished in our lives. And in spite of all of God's 
mercies to the natural man, he doesn't speak to God in praise. 
And in the world, as we make a way for ourselves, we don't 
speak of God or his honor of ourselves. And there's no limit 
of things that we might speak of or things that we might tweet 
about. We could have any number of conversations about politics 
and sports and music or weather or health, whatever it may be. 
And even among our friends and family, it's as if at times there's 
a general agreement not to speak of God. This is my favorite time of the 
year. I love this. I love the end of October, not 
because of Halloween, but because of Reformation Day. This is Reformation 
Sunday, isn't it? Wednesday is the anniversary 
of the Reformation, and I love this time of year because then 
we begin to look towards, in the United States, we have Thanksgiving. 
Do you have Thanksgiving in Canada? I hope you have Thanksgiving 
every day in Canada. A couple weeks ago, okay. Close. I love 
Thanksgiving. It's my favorite of all the holidays, 
to be able to sit down with family and friends and to really thank 
God. I really think it's a wonderful 
holiday when observed in that spirit. We have some friends, 
very dear friends of ours we've known for many years, and we 
used to spend Thanksgiving with them. And they professed to be 
Christians, but they were somewhat nominal in their faith. And my 
friend had his sister would always come over for Thanksgiving dinner 
as well. And he would always say to me 
before we would sit down for dinner, now Phil, please, no 
God talk today. And by the way, will you give 
thanks and ask the blessing. You see, by sin, man has become 
spiritually mute. By grace, David saw this and 
in humility, out of his sin, he repented and he prayed in 
that 51st Psalm, Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare 
your praise. And so we see in our passage 
in verse 22 that a demon oppressed man who was blind and mute was 
brought to him and he healed him so that the man spoke and 
saw. He spoke. So when by grace the Lord saves 
the people, he saves them for his praise. Brethren, the Lord 
Jesus has no spiritually mute people among his redeemed. Do you believe that? Oh, for a thousand 
tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God 
and King, the triumph of His grace. By grace, we know how to praise 
and honor His glorious name. Not of ourselves, by grace. And it's our delight 
to speak well of the one who has saved our souls. You see, 
the child of God just can't keep that in. He's like that man that, 
can you imagine? He couldn't see, all of a sudden, 
boom, he sees. He couldn't speak, and all of 
a sudden, words. Do you think you could have shut him up? He 
spoke. The child of God just can't keep 
it in. It's like a young man smitten with his girlfriend. 
It just bubbles up. It comes out. I don't know if I can say this 
or not, but it's all right. I'm visiting so I can say it 
and I'm going home. I believe in romance. I'm not 
talking about sinful lust. I believe in romance. And when 
I do marriage counseling with a young couple, I like to know 
that this young man really loves her. And when a young man really loves 
This girl, it'll bubble. He won't be able to keep it in. His desire will be to spend his 
life with her and to speak of her. And that's the way it is 
for the one who's born again. That's the way it is for the 
one who's been forgiven all of his sins. He can't help but tell 
what Jesus has done for him. We love to tell, I love to tell 
the story. of unseen things above. I love 
to tell the story of Jesus and his love. Listen, that's biblical. Isaiah 43, 21, the people whom 
I formed for myself, why? That they might declare my praise. First Peter chapter 2, verses 9 and 10. But you are a chosen race, a 
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, 
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of 
darkness into his marvelous light. You see, once you were not a 
people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received 
mercy, but now you have received mercy, and you can't be quiet 
about it. You're going to speak his praises. 
Needy sinners delivered by Christ don't want to talk about themselves. Some people even in the church 
are stuck on themselves. I did this. I had this experience 
and let me tell you about this experience that I have. It's me, me, me. And that's not good. That's not 
evidence of grace. It needs to be about Christ. Let me tell you what He has done 
for me. Let me tell you how gracious 
and merciful and patient and kind He has been to me. Once, 
I couldn't see. I couldn't speak His praises. 
I was lost, but now I'm found. And with their tongue, they express 
a desire to know more about Him, to love Him more, to serve Him 
with greater zeal and energy. They sing as we did earlier, 
oh for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's, one's 
not enough. The glories of my God and King, 
the triumphs of His grace. Is that how it is with you? Or are you still spiritually 
mute? Now coming back to this man in 
Matthew 12, we read that he was oppressed by a demon. And what can we say except he 
wasn't his own master. The devil controlled him and 
exercised power over him. And that cruel master had taken 
away his eyesight, and his speech. Now to a certain extent, that's 
a picture of every sinner. Don't misunderstand me. Not every 
sinner is oppressed or possessed by a demon. But every sinner 
is under the evil influence of Satan. Every sinner is born under 
that wicked and hard taskmaster. The Apostle Paul reminds the 
Christians at Ephesus of that very thing. Ephesians chapter 
1. Oh, all that grand truth of what 
they are in Christ, in Christ. Fourteen times. Their predestination, 
their election, their adoption, their forgiveness, their redemption. 
All of that in Christ. In Christ. In Christ. Chapter 
2. Don't forget. You were dead in 
trespasses and sins. Back yonder. Don't forget what 
you were. And how you live. According to the course of this 
world, you followed the dictates of your own sinful hearts and 
desires, just like all the rest of the people in the world. That's 
what you were. And you lived under the power 
of the prince, the power of the air. You were, by nature, children 
of wrath, even as others. Every sinner is under the evil 
influence of Satan, under that wicked and hard taskmaster. And he tells the natural man, 
go ahead and lie. Go ahead and curse and covet 
what your neighbor has. It's not fair anyway, is it? 
He's got something you don't. Go ahead and desire it. And you 
say in your natural condition, yes, master, a little lie won't 
hurt. I'm going to curse. I've got 
to let off some steam. And I will stew in my discontent. Life just isn't fair. That's 
how natural man goes because he's under the influence of the 
devil. 2 Corinthians 4.4 says, Satan 
has blinded the minds, that is the spiritual senses. of the 
unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel 
of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Now grace changes 
all of that. By the gospel we have a new master, 
Jesus Christ. But we don't forget, we don't 
forget from where we came. Now think of what Christ has 
done to save desperate, needy sinners, which we all are. Spiritually blind, mute, children 
of the devil, he bore the wrath of God on the cross of Calvary. That's what he did. And he did 
so, so that the riches of divine grace and mercy should be displayed 
in the deliverance, in the salvation of needy, guilty, very guilty, 
terribly guilty men and women. He bore on the cross our sins. He took upon himself the guilt 
and the shame and the punishment that those sins deserved. Christ Jesus died for sinners 
in their place. Literally, he died instead of 
sinners. Sinners like you and me. Desperate, 
needy sinners. And now he is risen from the 
dead. He is exalted to God's right 
hand. And he is constituted both Lord 
and Christ and he is given a name that is above every name that 
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess 
that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And he is 
exalted so that he may give us the grace we desperately stand 
in need of. Acts 5.31 God exalted him at 
his right hand and as leader and savior to give repentance 
and forgiveness of sins. That's why the Apostle John teaches 
in 1 John 3.8 that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. 
He came to destroy his works and his influence in us. When 
Christ arose and ascended to heaven, he poured out the gracious 
gifts of the Holy Spirit, which indeed are promised to all who 
believe. And by the spirit of grace, as 
Ephesians 2, 17 and 18 says, he will open the eyes of our 
understanding. And with all the other saints, 
you see, we will open our lips that we may show forth His praise. This is the very office and work 
of the amazing Son of David, the Messiah, the Savior of desperately 
needy sinners. He is, as Colossians 1.19 says, 
made head over all things to the church for this very purpose. And what a complete and divine 
savior he is. There is a fullness that is treasured 
up in him for the salvation of his people. He is able to save 
to the uttermost all who come to God by him. And he is ever 
willing to save you from your sin. He is a powerful and willing 
Savior. Might you go to Him even today? See, there is no reason to be 
discouraged. There is no reason to doubt. There is no reason to think that 
you are beyond the reach of His mercy. And listen, you can't prepare 
yourself. You can't make yourself savable. See this story in our text, it's 
about how hopeless was that man. And so we're assured, you see, 
that there are no hopeless cases with Christ. The things which 
are hid from the wise and prudent, our Lord will reveal unto babes. Things that are impossible with 
man are possible with God. So look to Christ and be saved. The spiritually blind that they 
may see, the mute that they may speak, and not one will be disappointed 
of this hope. Our blessed God calls all people 
to come unto him for life and fullness of blessing. He calls 
this morning in the gospel message. He calls you to repent of your 
sins and to believe on him and not one who seeks his face does 
so in vain. Amazing grace how sweet the sound 
that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found. I was blind but now I see. Let me tell you, this poor man 
in our passage was in a very bad way. But if you are spiritually 
blind and mute so that you have no spiritual perception, you cannot see so as to appreciate 
the Kingdom of God. You're way worse off than that 
blind man. Charles Simeon wrote, if you 
have not a truly spiritual use of your faculties, possess what 
else you may, you are in a far worse condition than the man 
whom Satan had rendered blind and mute. His wants might be 
supplied by others, yours cannot. His would cease at death. Yours 
will never terminate. His might be far more than compensated 
by the acquisition of spiritual attainments, but what can ever 
compensate for the wants which you experience? 10,000 worlds could not be to 
you any compensation for the loss of spiritual faculties and 
spiritual enjoyments, then I entreat you Come to the Lord Jesus Christ 
who was able and as willing to supply your wants as ever he 
was to heal those who were brought to him in the days of old. Come to Christ. And if you've 
been saved so that you are made new in Christ, to see his beauty, 
And you're here this morning and you have an appreciation 
for His goodness. And by grace you've been enabled 
to embrace His kingdom. Then you have a new song in your 
heart. So strive to use all that is 
renewed by grace to the glory of Christ and to the good of 
His people. Dear brethren, seek the things 
that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that 
are on the earth. Amen. Let's pray. Most gracious and loving Father 
in heaven, we do thank you and praise you for the gospel, the 
good news of the gospel. We thank you that Jesus Christ 
indeed has come. the Savior of desperate centers. 
And we, many of us here, Father, are so thankful for what you 
have done for us in Christ. And we thank you that we have 
a redemption, even the forgiveness of all of our sins. We thank 
you, Father, that you have opened our blind eyes. You have loosed 
our deaf tongues. And we just praise you. Father, 
help us to live out of an awareness and a deeper sense of gratitude 
to all that you've done for us. And Father, undoubtedly, there 
are some here this morning that are yet in the darkness of sin, 
who cannot see, so to appreciate your kingdom. We pray, Father, 
that you would cause them, by your grace, to be born again. 
Grant unto them repentance of their sins and faith. Enable 
them to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, who was able to save 
to the uttermost. and we'll thank you and praise 
you for all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.