I'm sorry, Mark, chapter 7 and verse 32. It says, in his speech, impediment, sorry, impediment in his speech, and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, put his fingers into his ears, and he spit and touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Path, path, that is, be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. So, before we get into this specific passage, I'd like us to look at a couple of other passages. So, let's go to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15. So, we're there in Mark. So, let's go to Luke chapter 15. We'll read a couple of passages and try to not be too fast in reading or getting there so that you can get there. Luke chapter 15, look at verse 25. So this is the parable of the prodigal son, and you have three parables. You have the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and then the lost son. So notice in verse 25, "...now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant, and he said unto him, Thy brother is come." The father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And notice in verse 28, And he was angry, would not go in. Therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee. Neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which had devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, art ever with me? All that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. So that's one passage here in Luke chapter 15. So let's go to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. We'll read each passage, and then we'll try to talk a little bit. If you guys want to discuss something, you've got some questions, throw them out here, all right? It's Sunday school class, all right? So in Sunday school, we can have conversation, all right? So in Luke chapter 22, notice in verse 23. So the Passover, Jesus was in the upper room, and He's doing the Last Supper with them, and then We'll start in verse 23, and they began to inquire among themselves which of them it was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them. They that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so. But he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For others greater, he that sitteth at me, or he that serveth. It's not he that sitteth at me, but I am among you, as he that serveth. Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fell not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Then go to John chapter 13, one last passage. John chapter 13. And we'll start in verse 4. So, Jesus, this is a very similar setting from Luke chapter 22. So, John 13 would be a little before that setting. And notice what Jesus did in verse 4, John 13, 4. He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and girdeth himself. After that, he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, And Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know it hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean everywhere, and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him, therefore said he, ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, it was said again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you. So we have three different stories, and then if you want to go back, three different passages, and if you wanna go back to Mark chapter seven, and we're gonna look at that Mark chapter seven. and draw some application. So, we're talking about developing a servant's heart. In Matthew 23, 11, it says, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. So, Jesus was talking to the disciples, and remember in Luke chapter 22, there was a discussion who's going to be the greatest. And in that discussion, Jesus said, with the Gentiles, the idea is in the world. In the world, the way that you move up, All right? It's that reverence and respect. And sometimes you're stepping on each other. We talk about that in the corporate world. You can talk about that even in politics. You can talk about that even in religion. In religion, you're making your way up, trying to get respect. And what did Jesus say, though? But it's not so in my world. And then in John 13, what did Jesus exemplify to the disciples? He gets down on his knees. So remember that Christ is part of the Godhead. Okay, so you have God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and you have God the Son on his knees, washing his creation's feet. And that's an example for us. So we use that as an example to help us to understand we need to have a servant's heart. Our Savior had a servant's heart. And you'll notice that the elder son in Luke chapter 15, a lot of it does have to do with your heart. So here was a son that he didn't go away, he didn't do wrong, he was in the house, he was serving. But what was wrong with him? His heart. We have to make sure that our heart is tender and that our heart is properly aligned to scripture when it comes to this serving area. We have, in this life, we have a tendency to want to be lifted up. We want to be recognized. We want all kinds of, we want accolades. And yet Christ, Christ gives us an example. And what was Christ despised? He was rejected of men. He humbled himself. You can see that in Philippians chapter 2. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. That's our example. So this morning I want to take from Mark chapter 7 and I want to give us five helps and developing a servant's heart. Five helps from Mark chapter 7. Let's pray, and then we'll get into it. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us as we look at Mark 7. We already tried to lay a foundation to help us to understand that God desires us to have a servant's heart. Lord, it is our desire to be like our Savior, Christ, and I pray that you would lead and guide through the passage this morning. You would make it clear, do that which I cannot do, and that is speak to hearts. We ask and claim your power in Jesus' name. Amen. So, in Mark chapter 7, we're going to take our first three points from two words, they bring. They bring. So notice, and they bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. And so there's, There's another story about four men, and I believe this one is different than that one, but it's very similar. Remember when Jesus was in a house in the midst and there was a guy that was lame and he couldn't walk? and it says that he was born of four, and they went up to the top of the house, and they ripped the roof off and lowered him right in front of Christ. So that's a very similar story to this as far as what we're trying to get across, and that is developing a servant's heart. You'll notice it says, and they bring. So our first way that we develop a servant's heart is sweat. S-W-E-A-T, sweat. Do you notice they brought? They didn't, and you know, the guy was, he had an impediment. It says that he, he couldn't, he was deaf, he couldn't speak, so he's deaf and dumb, we would say that way. The guys that were board of four, he couldn't walk, so it takes sweat. The bringing required no small effort. They brought a deaf and dumb man to Christ, but they did it. And service for God, you will find, is not always an easy task. Many difficulties are involved, and you'll have to work hard at times. Sometimes it's thankless. Sometimes your work is unnoticed by those who are even receiving the help. Does this mean that we stop serving? No. Our service must be deep-rooted in a love for our Savior. Everyone doesn't have the same talent. Everybody does not have the same abilities. And therefore, there's not always the same position that, you know, everybody can't have the same position. If you study in Scripture, there's different terms that is used for the church. One of them is the body. And even in the passage about God talking about the body, and it's the visible body. It's not some invisible body. It's talking about you guys. If you're a member of this church, God brought you here, and I believe God enables and has the right people together for his church, his visible church, so that you can accomplish what his desire is for this community. So he brought you all together, and guess what? The eye and the ear, they operate differently. I don't know if you know that, but they operate differently. The toes and the ear are not the same. All kinds of different parts are there. And so we have to understand, and we pray through and say, God, what kind of gifting have you given me? I do believe, actually, in spiritual gifts. You can study that in Scripture. You have Romans, and you have Corinthians. That helps us to understand there's some gifts that are done, but there's other things. God blesses us as a church, and He says, hey, I've given you everything you need to accomplish what I desire. He doesn't leave us helpless. But when we do those things, now even myself and my body, I mean, every day I should be more thankful for what God has done and the health God has given me. But it's not every day I get up and I'm looking at my pinky and I'm like, yes, you're there. All right, or I'm touching my eye and petting it. I'm like, oh, you're so wonderful. I don't even think about it in the morning when I get up. My eyes open, and I'm like, all right, why are you a little foggy? All right, we just go. And so sometimes, even in our own body, we understand that. We're not always jumping up and down and saying, oh, oh, my knee, except when it doesn't work right. So within your body, we have to understand that it takes work though. It takes sweat to accomplish something for God. And so I want to give us a couple of ideas in regards to this sweat that we have to have. One is serve Christ in spite of hardships. Serve Christ in spite of hardships. You know, plowing and feeding cattle in Bible days was exceptionally hard work. Farming is still hard work. You know, it's a little easier. For six months last year, I was able to live in Dubuque, Iowa. And that's right outside. That's a big farming community. And there was one guy that had, he was retired, but he still loved his equipment. And so we had a picnic at his our men's meeting at his farm, and he wanted to show me his tractor. And man, you had to climb high into his tractor. It was an amazing thing. And so I was like, all right, this is not, this is a little different than, you know, the little hand plow I'm thinking. All right, but in Bible days, you had a lot of hard work to plow a field, to work with cattle. And there is gonna be times that you're plowing. All right, just a couple of weeks ago, my youth pastor, he's a pastor now in Columbus, Ohio, and I call him just every so often. In today's terminology, he would be, I guess, considered a mentor in my life, and he still is. I just, I love him. And so I'll call him once in a while when I just feel like, man, I'm just plowing. And so I called him and I'm like, man, you know, it just seems like I'm not getting anywhere. He said, you're plowing. He said, so you're digging in the dirt, right? He said, are you shocked that you're pulling up dirt? I'm like, yeah. All right. I said, I don't know. I said, I called you to try to get encouraged. That's not really encouraging me. All right. So you say that I'm in the dirt. But sometimes you're just doing that. In the season of life, you're plowing. You're just plowing and plowing and plowing, and you can't expect to eat of it, unless you want dirt. It takes time. It takes time to do that. And so, serve Christ in spite of hardships. There are gonna be times that it's just hard to keep going, but it's all right. God can be beside you. So, serve Christ in spite of hardships. The second thing is serve Christ without time constraints. Now, what do we mean? Don't be looking at the punch clock. Like, oh, well, I already put in this amount of time. You know, sometimes we have to serve, and we get done serving, and we're tired, and there's still more to do. We serve in the day when it's almost a punch clock mentality. Well, this is all I'm going to do. And I'm done now. Not in this life. In this life, we keep serving God every minute, every day. And God's not a brutal taskmaster, just so you know. Satan is. He's deceptive because he says he's not. but really his reward system is not much of a reward system. So we sweat and we serve Christ in spite of hardships, we serve Christ without time constraints, and we serve Christ out of devotion, not out of duty. We serve Christ out of devotion, not out of duty. Remember that Christ even said this. He gave a parable, and he said that when you've just done your duty, what are we? Unprofitable servants. And when he's trying to get across it, he wasn't saying that he's not gonna come alongside of his, he's not gonna say, I'm proud of you, I'm thankful for your service. Christ is not that way. He's a very great person to work for. But we should work for Christ out of devotion. All right, so our first one is sweat. So, we said all of them come from they bring. They bring. So, the first one is sweat. If we're going to be devoted to Christ, we have to be willing to put in some sweat. Sweat equity, we'd call it. Secondly, if we're going to serve Christ, we need to sacrifice. Again, we get that from they bring. Service requires a price. They had to give the time and effort to get the deaf and dumb man to Christ. You will not serve well if you're not willing to pay the price and sacrifice time and effort and anything else necessary in order to serve. We sometimes get the idea that I'm sacrificing so much by just doing this work. God requires us not only to do the work, but to pay for it out of our own pocket sometimes. He does. God will pay you back manifoldly, but He does require sacrifice. Do we find that in Scripture? We do in Romans chapter 12. In Romans chapter 12 and verse 1. It says this, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. There's the word, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And notice, God doesn't just want any sacrifice. I think sometimes you're like, oh, you know what, just come, come as you are. That's not what he says. He wants it holy and acceptable. Now, this is not talking about salvation here. It's not saying that I've got to get myself to a certain place and then I can be saved. No, you can come as you are and the problem is that in the world what they want is they want you to come as you are and stay as you are. With salvation, you come as you are and God changes you. That is regeneration. And salvation, the Holy Spirit comes and He regenerates. That's why in Ephesians, the Bible says, in Christ, we're a new creation. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but then through the work of the Holy Spirit, we're made alive. It's an amazing thing. All right, regenerated. But in this passage, it's talking about us as Christians. I beseech you, therefore, brethren. This is Paul writing to the brethren, not unsaved. And what does he tell them? Sacrifice. Sacrifice. So there's five things that I thought of that we have to sacrifice. if we're going to have a good heart, a servant's heart. So we have sweat, that means I'm going to be willing to work hard, but then sacrifice. So what are the five things I sacrifice? I sacrifice time. Any type of service is going to cost you time. You're going to have times coming up where you're going to have to put in some extra time. on the building, right? I'm sure you moved here and you had to do some work here. And it seems like it's always asking for more time. But sometimes that's the sacrifice. It's sacrifice of time. Then also there's a sacrifice of energy. A sacrifice of energy. And God asks of us to give of ourselves. It's sacrifice of energy. Then there's a third way. There's the sacrifice of money. Sacrifice of money. You know, it takes money to do a lot of things, but it does take money to do the work of God. That's one of my prayers every day for the seminary. In the seminary that God has called us to do, and we're getting it up off the ground, and it's exactly what we're talking about. We're in the dirt. You're just plowing in the dirt. But then it takes sacrifice, and what it takes is it takes funds. And part of it is, what is the seminary trying to reach? It's trying to reach guys normally that are in the ministry, have been a part of ministry, or if a layman, I don't have a problem with a layman grabbing a class or two if they want to get a degree. That's great. I'd love it. But most are in the ministry. Well, just so you know, the guys that are in ministry aren't multi-millionaires. Joel Olsteen isn't signing up for my seminary. He needs to fund it. He can just sell his bathroom in his house and fund my seminary. All right, but we're not trying to. Most pastors don't have an endless supply of money, so we're trying to keep it very reasonable. So I pray for funding. It's a sacrifice of money that I'm praying that God bring the funding in, and he does, brings funding in. Sacrifice of time, energy, money, of talent. Of talent. You know, God has given, he enables us with different talents, and he says, hey, why don't you use that for me? But then, the last one is the sacrifice of plans. Now, I hate this one. I like things laid out. I like things, and God has taught me in the last couple years, you can lay out whatever you want, but I can change it. And he has the right to. And if we have a servant's heart, he says, hey, you had this idea, but this is my idea, and give it to me. And this is what you can find. If you give it to God, God is pretty good at designing and planning things. He really is. Look at this world. I mean, I'm not talking about politics or anything. I'm talking even nature. You go look at nature, God designed all of that. He designed all of it. He's an amazing planner, so we can trust him. So, we said that there's a couple of things, and we're still on that they bring. Okay, so it's sweat. The second one is sacrifice. The third is sympathy. By the words they bring, what we see is that they had compassion on that man. And if you're going to have a servant's heart, you've got to ask God to develop a compassionate heart. A servant's heart is a compassionate heart. You start seeing needs all over. And you're saying, God, how can I How can you use me to fulfill this? How can you use me to help with this need? Sympathy. All right, then notice in that passage, and I'm going to go back to it in Mark chapter 7 and verse 32, and they bring unto him. So look it, we got two more words now. They bring unto Him. So we have sweat, we have sacrifice, we have sympathy, but notice number four, they have sound judgment. If you're gonna have a servant's heart, you're gonna have to learn to have sound judgment. What do we mean by that? The deaf and dumb man was brought to the right person, to Christ. A servant knows and is asking for prudence and discernment all the time, saying, God, help me. These guys, I mean, have you ever put a lot of energy, sweat, and sacrifice into something and it really was worthless? I've done that. All right, I've done that. I put a lot of effort and time into something and then I come down to it and really it didn't amount to a lot. So I want sound judgment as a servant of Christ because I want to do this work and I want it to be lasting. So sound judgment, these men brought this man to the right person. And we need to have wisdom when we're working for the Lord. The world will take the needy to everyone but Christ. Christ is the one who can solve the problems of mankind. And also in different areas of our churches. You know, sometimes I think we go to God as a last resort. One of the things that, especially in the last couple years, God highlighted, and I did some deep studies on, you know, there's different disciplines in the Christian life that we should have. And so, Bible reading is there, and prayer, and going to church. Soul winning is another one. But God really spoke to me a number of years ago about fasting. And so I dove into the idea of fasting through scripture, and I found that it was all over. It's all through scripture. And as I studied it, I realized that God wanted that to be a part of my life, a discipline in my life. And so, we need to understand that God wants us to have sound judgment. He wants us to have discernment. He wants us to understand the work that He has for us and to accomplish it for Him. And some of that is flowing it through Scripture, to understand more about it. That's the discernment that God wants us to have. Christ is the one who can solve the problems of mankind, and he can help us to have a servant's heart. And the way we develop a servant's heart, and we see it in this text, is through sweat. It's through sacrifice. It's through sympathy. It's through sound judgment. And notice the last one. It says, they bring unto him one that was deaf, had an impediment in his speech, and they beseech him. supplication. They beseech him. You know, service to God requires much prayer. You know, I started talking about the idea of fasting and how God led me to that. So in a church setting, You know, you're coming through a time that you're building, you're moving some, then you're praying, and I can vouch for this, that your pastor, there's a pressure there that comes because you're leading people and you're trying to follow God. You're trying to follow God's leading. You want unity. But you also want God to provide, but also God stretches you sometimes, and pushes you, and it seems like, where is that gonna come from? So as servants, you know what we can't forget? Is to be on our knees praying. And if God wants us to set some time aside of fasting, that's a sacrifice too. It's putting yourself at bay. It's putting our flesh at bay and saying, no, I want to pray about this. This is really important. We want to see God through this project. And you know what you can find? You can see God. It's amazing what God can do. It's amazing how he can lead and guide. God wants us to have a servant's heart. Can you imagine? sitting with Christ, Christ just washed your feet. And then you turn to the other disciples and you're like, hey, you know what? No, I actually, I think I'm better. No, no, no, no, I'm better. I mean, Christ just washed your feet. He's heading to the cross. Like, no, no, no, no. And then Christ looks over and overhears. I can't imagine. I think, now I'm a laughing, joking type of guy, so when I get to heaven, I want to have a barbecue at my mansion, I want to have the disciples over, and I want to just sit and laugh with them. I'm like, alright, tell me, tell me guys, can you just tell me what you felt like a couple days later with that discussion? Alright, did you feel like an idiot? And just while we're eating brats or burgers or different things or who knows, I'm not really a lamb guy. So I'm sure they like lamb more, but I'm not really into that. But I just like to talk to them and just say, and I can cast stones at them, but you know all of us, sometimes that same idea comes. I start thinking I'm better than other people. I start thinking, oh, well, they haven't really done much. God wants all of us to have a servant's heart, and that comes by following the example of Christ. And what did Christ do? He laid aside heaven. I can't imagine laying aside heaven and coming down to this earth. And I'm sure when we get to heaven, you know, we're going to have perfect understanding and knowledge. We're even going to more understand what God gave up, what Christ gave up. We need to pray that God would develop in us a servant's heart. I read this many years ago, and I thought it was fitting. I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord. Real service is what I desire. I'll sing a solo anytime, dear Lord, but please don't ask me to sing in the choir. I'll do what you want me to do, dear Lord. I like to see things come to pass, but don't ask me to teach girls or boys, or Lord, I'd rather just stay in my class. I'll do what you want me to do, dear Lord. I yearn for the kingdom to thrive. I'll give you my nickels and dimes, dear Lord, but please don't ask me to tithe. I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord. I'll say what you want me to say. I'm busy just now with myself, dear Lord. I'll help you some other day. Hopefully, that's not our prayer. Our prayer should be, God, develop in me a servant's heart. Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for today. I thank you that we can look at Scripture, get some understanding from it. Pray that you would help us to develop a servant's heart like our Savior. I thank you that Christ is a great example through the Gospels. Lord, even in the appalling epistles you revealed to us so much about our Savior and the heart that he had, the servant's heart. I pray that we would mirror that in our lives here with the task that you have before us here on this earth. We pray that you would get honor and glory through our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.