Mark 16:15-18 Our Great Commission

Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant United Reformed Church

From: The Holy Bible and J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”

House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text

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Review

Mark: Three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry

Message: “Repent and believe the Gospel” - the Gospel was Jesus life and death

Preached, taught, performed miracles for three years”

At the conclusion of His public ministry, He came to Jerusalem, where He was arrested, convicted and crucified

As we begin this text, Jesus has risen from the dead to commission His disciples to build His Church

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Mark 16:15–18 NASB95

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

#1 Jesus says farewell to His disciples with a Great commission

Jesus is addressing His apostles for the last time

He basically assigns them their work until He comes again, in a most signficant way: Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

The Lord wants us to know that the world needs the Gospel - In every part of the world men and woman are the same: sinful, corrupt and separated from God

In modern or primitive societies, in China, in Africa, in Europe and the USA, people are the same - ignorant, without holiness, without faith, without love

Wherever we find the children of Adam, whatever their color or ethnic background, we see people whose heart is wicked, who need the blood of Christ, rebirth by the Holy Spirit, and reconciliation with God

The Lord wants all to know that salvation, by His Gospel, is free to all mankind

the good news that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” and that “Christ died for the ungodly”, are to be preached freely to “all creation”

We have no authority to make any exception - we have no authority to limit the offer to the elect, or the chosen

We come short of Christ’s ful message, if we are unwilling to tell anyone that “God is full of love for you, Christ is willing to save you”.

Rev 22:17: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”

These words are the strongest justification for missionary work, both at home and overseas

If we cannot go to the unbelievers in Asia or Africa, the Middle East or Europe, we can certainly brighten the darkness that we can easily find in our own communities

We should continue our work, unaffected by the criticism of those who disapprove of missionary work

We should pity people like this - they oly demonstrate their own ignorance of the Bible and of Christ’s will for us

They don’t understand what they are saying or talking about

#2 Jesus wants us to tell all of the benefits and consequences to all who hear the Gospel

Mark 16:16 ““He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

Every word in that sentence is important - each expression should be carefully considered

The Lord wants us to know the importance of baptism

This is an ordinance/command that is generally a requirement for salvation, when it is available

He didn’t say simply “he who has believed”, but He who has believed and been baptized shall be saved.”

Many thousands probably don’t get any benefit from baptism. They may be washed in water, but they are never washed in the blood of Christ

Having said that, it doesn’t follow that baptism can be neglected

Baptism is an ordinance commanded by Christ Himself, and when it is used reverently, intelligently, and prayerfully, it comes with a special blessing

Baptismal water, by itself, conveys no grace or blessing - we need to look beyond that to Christ, who commanded us to submit to it

When this ordinance is used properly, we can know that He seals it with His blessing

We are taught here, also, the absolute necessity of faith in Christ for salvation

This, in the end, is the most important requirement

He who refuses to believe is damned, lost forever

He may have been baptized, been a member of a local church, taken the Lord’s supper - He may even have head knowledge of the creeds, but that will do nothing for him if He lacks saving faith in Christ

Do we have this kind of faith? Its a question that pertains to everyone

If we don’t feel our sins, and feeling them realize our need for Christ and embrace Him, we shall eventually realize we would be better off if we had never been born

The Lord teaches us here of the certainty of God’s judgment on those who die in unbelief

KJV: “He who believeth not shall be damned”

Those are really awful and terrifying words - they are really scary when you realize they came from the One who also said “My words shall not pass away”.

Don’t let anyone trick you with soft meaningless words - there is an eternal hell for everyone who continues in their wickedness - who leave this world without faith in Christ

The more mercy we are offered in the Gospel, the more will be the guilt of those who refuse to believe.

Deu 32:29 ““Would that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would discern their future!”

The Son of God, who died on the cross for us, has given us a plain warning that there is a hell, and that unbelievers will be damned

We need to make certain we don’t ignore this warning

#3 The Lord makes gracious promises of special help in His parting words

The Lord knew very well the enormous difficulties the disciples would encounter in the work He assigned them

He knew that they would be involved in a great battle to fight unbelief, the world and the devil

He therefore encourages them by telling them that He will provide miracles to help them in that work

Mark 16:17-18 ““These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.””

We find that most of these promises were fulfilled in the book of Acts

The age of miracles ended long ago. They were never meant to continue beyond the establishment of the Church

As we find with a garden, its only when the plants are first planted that they need to be watered daily

While God rarely does miracles, He is always providing for His church and its members by the ways He arranges our lives and affairs

In fact, if they happened all the time, miracles would no longer be miracles - we should remember this as it helps to avoid confusion

Though the age of miracles has ended, we can be comforted in knowing that the church of Christ will always get Christ’s special help in times of special need

Our great Lord and Saviour will never forsake His followers

His eye is always upon them and He will always provide His help when it is needed

Isaiah 59:19 When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

The Holy Bible: King James Version., electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. (Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), Is 59:19.

Finally, we should never forget that Christ’s Church, in the world, is in itself a standing miracle

The salvation and the perseverance in grace of every member of that Church is a miracle just as great as when Lazarus was raised from the dead

The salvation and renewal of every saint is as great a miracle as casting out a demon, or healing the sick, or speaking in a new language

We should thank God for this and have courage - the age of spiritual miracles has not ended

Happy are those who have learned this by personal experience and can say, as John Newton did, “I was dead, but am now alive: I was blind, but now I see.”

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