Spiritual Dumbness Series

SPIRITUAL DUMBNESS

“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”. (Mark 7:32 - 35)

In our last series – Spiritual deafness – we discussed why our ears need to be opened so that we can live a holy life, avoid satanic deception, and be a good soldier of Christ to defend the flocks of Christ from the Nicolaitanes and Balaam doctrines (Revelation 2:14-15).

This man was also dumb, he was brought to Jesus; after touching his tongue; He looked up to heaven, sighed and said, “Ephphatha!”. Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak plainly. Who else can do such wonder " He that has the key of David; He that opens, and no man shut; and shuts, and no man opens” (Revelation 3:7b). No one or nothing can undo Jesus’ word.

He opened this Deaf man’s ears and freed his bound tongue, so that this man would plainly praise and thank the Lord.

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According to Cruden’s Bible Concordance, there are 5 different kinds of dumb people. The first is the usual meaning of the word dumb; the others are, of course, only figurative applications of the term.

1. NATURAL DUMBNESS

Those that cannot speak for want of natural ability. Many people may ask this question, “Why is this person dumb? Is it his sin or his parents’? Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (John 9:3); Furthermore, “And the Lord said unto him, who hath made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? “(Exodus 4:11).

Spiritually, the man who is still in trespasses and sins is dumb; for he is dead (1 Corinthians 2:14); and there is none so dumb as a dead man. They cannot sing God’s praises; and they don’t know him, and, therefore, they cannot exalt his glorious name. Sin has taken control of their tongue; that they can’t acknowledge the creator of the tongue. They need to repent, confess their sin, and say that Jesus is Lord ((1 Corinthians 12:3) and God will be glorified in their tongue.

2. DUMB WHO CANNOT SPEAK SPIRITUALLY

The person that cannot speak to, and teach others, for lack of grace and knowledge. “His watchmen are ignorant, they are dumb dogs, they cannot bark” (Isaiah 56:10). There are some preachers who have eloquence to preach about many things, but little or nothing about Jesus Christ. They lack the grace of God (Hebrews 12:15) and don’t desire the required knowledge to preach the Gospel; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6)

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16); “and God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2corinthians 9:8)

No people make such good preachers as those who were once dumb. If the Lord opens their mouths, they will think they cannot preach often enough, and earnestly enough, to make up for the mischief they did before, “In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD”. (Ezekiel 24:27)

If we are dumb as professed ministers, may God open our mouths, and force us to speak forth his Word. The Lord of Hosts has issued the command, ”Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.(Exodus 4:12), “and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house”(Ezekiel 3:27); ‘then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.(Ezekiel 33:4).