In Mark chapter 16 this morning,
in the first 14 verses of chapter 16, I want to talk about worry,
fear, and unbelief. Sounds like kind of a negative
message, doesn't it? Well, but you know, more importantly
than all of that, I want to talk about the remedy of all those
things. worry fear and unbelief where
Brother David read in Luke 24. It's interesting to note that
that's the very end of that gospel and how that the Lord in the
very end of it as he's wrapping up that book and all of the beautiful
pictures of himself in that book and in Matthew and in Mark. When
he shows his power to save and his mercy to save in these miracles
that he performed in his doctrinal teaching. He sets forth himself
and his grace, and how that he has mercy on sinners, and how
he talked to his disciples about how he had to suffer and be abused
and die and rise again the third day. And then we see that happen.
And he ends that book by making sure, the book of Luke, by making
sure that his disciples knew and remembered that this whole
book is about him. how he read there where he opened
all and showed him in all the Scriptures the things concerning
himself. Well here in the book of Mark
chapter 16 we have the end of this Gospel. And it's interesting
what our Lord brings to light here in these last words of this
Gospel of Mark because you'll see the same thing really in
the book of Matthew at the end of it. And also In the book of
John not at the end of the book but in his last days when he
spent his last moments with his disciples will see a parallel
in what was brought to light there. Now this passage of scripture
is a clinic. On the weakness and limitations
of our flesh and I want you to notice that as we read. And when
I say our flesh I mean us our flesh is not some something that's
invading us, some enemy, it's what we are. It's what we are,
we're flesh. We're also spirit, thank God.
But we're flesh, it's us. And when I say weaknesses and
limitations, I mean sin. Let's just call it what it is,
it's sin. But let's see this now, and more importantly, as
I said, let's see the remedy for these things. as we read
this when the Sabbath was passed Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother
of James and Salome had bought sweet spices that they might
come and anoint him and very early in the morning the first
day of the week they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of
the sun and they said among themselves who shall roll us away the stone
from the door of the sepulchre they worry and about something
before they ever got there How are we going to get this done?
How are we going to do what we're going to do? And when they looked, they saw
that the stone was rolled away. And that was remarkable because
it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher,
they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in
a long white garment, and they were affrighted. You remember
the title of the message worry they weren't about how are we
going to do how are we going to. And then they were scared. And he said to them don't be
afraid if you seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. Now notice
they were afraid. It sounds like to me in the context
here they were scared when they saw that angel. But how did he
calm them down by saying, I'm not your enemy, I'm not here
to hurt you. No, he didn't say that. How did he calm their fear?
You're seeking Jesus Christ. He's risen. There's the remedy
of all of it right there. The crucified, risen Redeemer. Victorious Redeemer of sinners.
There he is. All right now. They saw that young man clothed
in a long white garment. They were afraid and he said,
Jesus of Nazareth is risen, which was crucified. Christ crucified
and risen. He's not here. Behold the place
where they laid him. But go your way and don't, don't
just hang around here. Look at it, see and be, be comforted,
but then go do something. Tell his disciples and Peter
that he goeth before you. Peter, we've seen before, has
been mentioned by name here because Peter was a mess right now. He needed particular attention
from our Savior, and our Savior's always gracious to give that. He goeth before you into Galilee,
there shall you see him as he said unto you, remember he told
you, you shouldn't be shocked about all that he told you, And
they went out quickly and fled from the sepulcher, for they
trembled and were amazed. Neither said they anything to
any man, for they were afraid. Now, when Jesus was risen early
the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told
them that had been with him as they mourned and wept. And they,
when they had heard that he was alive and had been seen of her,
they didn't believe her. What's the title of our message?
worry, fear, and unbelief. What's the answer to all of that?
What's the remedy to all of our problems, all of our sin? The
crucified, risen Son of God. After that, he appeared in another
form unto two of them as they walked, we just, my brother just
read about that, and went into the country, and they went and
told it unto the residue, neither believed they them. Afterward,
he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at me and upbraided
them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was raised." As
I said, it's just a clinic, isn't it? On ourselves, on what we
are, on our weaknesses. But then, more than that, just
like Luke does, just like all of this book does. It points
us in our fear, and in our weakness, and worry, and inability, and
in our unbelief. It points us to the Son of God,
the Savior of sinners, the Redeemer. We weak, but He's not. We're
afraid, but we've got nothing to fear now. Our sins are gone. We have no ability to do what
needs to be done. That's all right. The sooner
we find that out, the better. He's done it all. He finished
it. We have no faith. We're sinful, unbelieving wretches. Even in the face of plain light,
indisputable light. But faith is his to give. Thank God for him. And this is the, there's something
we're exhorted to hear in this passage that's very important.
I want us to see it. And I want us to see a parallel
of it in the final words that our Lord spoke with his disciples
in the book of John, chapters 13 and 14. But I want you to
remember these three things as we do. See this parallel and
then I want you to remember the one thing. The three things and
then the one thing. The parallel is between the end
of this book, the book of Mark as we've studied all through
it. Here's the last chapter, the last part. And then the way
that our Lord ended his ministry on this earth. What does he teach
us concerning at the wrap of these most important gospel books
and what did he say to his disciples in the closing moments of his
time with him upon this earth. The same three issues are dealt
with. And the same one issue. Is set
forth three and one. All right we see in this passage
so clearly believers worried about how they're going to do
something how they go How will we be strong enough? Verse three.
This stone is great, and we're just not strong enough to do
it. And then we see them afraid in verse five, and then we see
their unbelief in verses 11 and 13 and 14. Do you remember, John,
in chapters 13 and 14 what our Lord spoke to his disciples about?
I don't think we'll turn there this morning and read that passage,
but you'll remember most of it, I think, and I want you to look
at it if you don't, if you're not sure. Go and look at it.
But in chapter 13, you remember at the end of the chapter, it
was the apostle Peter that bragged that he would never deny the
Lord. The Lord told him specifically, Peter, you're going to deny me.
And he still insisted that he would not, that he would follow
him to the death. But then the Lord, in the beginning
of chapter 14, he said, Peter, you're not going to be able to
do what you claim to be able to do. You're not going to be
able to follow me to the death. You're not going to be able to
get through this without denying me. But he said, don't be troubled
about that because I'm going to do what I came to do. You
remember that? I'm going to do I'm going to
make good on my promises. You're you're promising me something
now you're not going to be able to make good on it. You're not
going to be able to get it done. But I have made some promises
to you. And I'm willing and I'm able
And I'm going to get them done. I'm going to make good on them.
So don't you be troubled about your inability. Let not your heart be troubled. And in verse 27, he said that
in verse one, and then in verse 27, he was speaking to all of
his disciples, and he said it this way. He added a phrase. He said,
let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. There's the other thing that
we saw at the end of Mark 16. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
I've got to leave you now bodily. But don't be afraid. So he dealt
with their fear in these final moments of his time with them
bodily. And then what were the next words out of his mouth in
John 14. You believe in God. Believe also in me. Believe you see the three things.
Believe he spoke to them all throughout the first half of
chapter fourteen about faith in himself. So the Lord summarizes
if you will the whole gospel message. Of that book. With a simple reminder of. Our
problems what we are seeing and of the one solution to all of
our problems. Number one. You are weak and
sinful and you can't do what needs to be done. You see the
difference now Peter. Boasted of being able to do the
women they knew right up front that they couldn't do what needed
to be done. But you see how it's the same issue. It's about your
ability. What can you do and what can you not do? And so Peter. The Lord said you cannot help
but deny me. because of what you're made of. As determined as you may be in
your mind, and he was, and I believe he was sincere in that, don't
you? He was sincere in it. He didn't want to deny his Lord.
And he thought he'd be able to hold up. But as determined as you may
be in your mind and heart, you cannot not sin. Do you know that
about yourself? You can't help but sin. You just
ain't cut out for it, for anything else. You're not going to measure
up. You're not going to be able to
roll the stone. That's the picture. But the spiritual reality of
it is we can't do anything that needs to be done. Did he say
without me you can do nothing? He wasn't exaggerating, was he?
Has that been your experience? So you see that here, you can
brag about your decisions as religious people do, and your
religion itself, all of your religion. And you're turning
over a new leaf, I'm not what I used to be and all that, but
in the end you are in yourself an utter failure. And you're
always gonna be. You need a savior that's not
a failure. We talk a big game, but we come up short. All have
sinned and come short. That's what we do. That's what
we do. That's all we do. We do not have
the strength of conviction that we think we do. Our will is not
what we think it is. But bless God, though, don't
be troubled about that. Don't be troubled about that.
As long as you're worried about measuring up and how you're going
to measure up, that's that heavy burden that the Lord said, lay
it down and come to me. As long as you're worried about
measuring up to God's standard, as long as you're worried about
what you need to do and what you don't need to do, it's gonna
be such a burden upon you. You're never gonna be able to
arrive. You can't give up enough things and you can't start doing
enough things to please God, so just quit it and come to Christ. That's what he said. Are you
burdened? Are you heavy laden? Come and I'll give you rest.
Rest in him. You can't get it done, but I
can and I will and I did. Come to me. Everything. Don't fret about
your inability to do anything about your sin. That's relying
upon yourself. Yes, our sins are, we should
be sorrowful over our sins and we should hate ourselves as Job
did. We are hateful things by nature.
But don't fret over your inability to do anything about it, because
that's just dependent upon yourself. Forget about whether you can
roll the stone or whether you can't roll the stone. You go
into the grave of the Son of God. What are you worried about
rolling the stone away? Do you know whose grave that
is? Do you think that stone's going to be a problem? Christ, in effect, said to Peter
what he said in the book of Exodus, when he said, stand still and
see the salvation of God. Don't you be troubled, Peter,
you just stay right there. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna prepare,
and I'm gonna come again. Just watch me save you. That's
the gospel message. Don't be troubled about it. Don't
worry, don't fret about whether you can do it or not. Am I strong
enough? Am I spiritual enough? You're not. Your sin and inability is one
of the three things, but Christ is the one thing needful. And even when your wretchedness
is being considered, the message is this, be not troubled. I go. I go. And he did go. And he did everything necessary
to save you. He's been saving you since before
you were born. If you know him, and he's still
saving you today, and he's going to save you from now on. And
you're not ever going to have a hand in it. Is that all right
with you? We see that same issue dealt
with in these women who went to the tomb of our Lord. They
weren't bragging like Peter was about being able to move. Oh,
we'll move that stone over. No, they weren't like that. But
the same issues on the table here, isn't it? Our ability to
do what needs to be done or the pathetic lack thereof. That stone being rolled away
symbolizes everything An unrolled stone means a savior in the grave,
which is no savior at all. What can we do about it? The
stone is too big for me. How about you? Let not your heart
be troubled. You're going to the tomb of Jesus
Christ, the one who said, I have power to lay my life down and
I have power to take it again. What's that stone? Why are you
worried about that stone? He said that after three days
he would not be there. Just trust him and quit worrying
about what you can do and what you can't do. Is there a lesson in that for
us? Let's quit bragging on ourselves too like Peter did. Trusting
ourselves. and worrying about our own inability
like they did. Let's quit both. I can do all things through Christ,
I know that, which strengtheneth me. He strengthens me. Bless God, when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ did what we couldn't do. He died
for the ungodly. We can't measure up to God's
standard, but Christ did. He lived as my representative,
perfect, holy, spotless. And I can't pay for my sin, but
Christ could, and he did. He paid the ransom for my soul,
and he did it with his soul. He made his soul an offering
for my sin, and I'm redeemed. I can do nothing. But the good news is this, when
Christ saves you, he saves people that can do nothing. He does
it all. Fear is one of the three. Are
you afraid of anything? We don't even realize how fear
affects us in our everyday lives. I wonder what all fear keeps
us from doing for our master. You ever wondered about that?
What does it keep us from doing? That if we just were confident
and trusting Him, we'd be able to do. Well, if fear limits what
you do for Him, at least let us not allow fear to keep us
from enjoying what He did for us. Don't let fear do that. Do you fear death? Do you fear
death? Maybe that's what these ladies
were afraid of. Boy, that looks like somebody
that could do us harm. Maybe he'll kill us. Can you
fear death at the very tomb of the risen redeemer who conquered
death? Can we do that? Oh yeah, we can. And we will
without his grace. Oh, but let us not. May God give
us grace. Can you not say with the apostle?
Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory?
Surely at his grave we can say that. The sting of death is sin
and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. If death
had no hold on my savior, then it has no hold on me. He's my
champion. He's the firstborn of the dead.
And there's many brethren that will rise because he did. First
Corinthians 15, 55 through 57. Oh, these ladies, how do you
stand in the very tomb of the Redeemer, the empty tomb of the
Redeemer of sinners and tremble? What is there to be afraid of
at all if our champion is risen? You see the messenger of God
and you're afraid? Even if he were a fallen angel
from hell, come specifically to do you harm, you'd have no
reason to fear. Because he can't hurt you. Not
if Christ is risen. Not if your Redeemer is the conquering
Redeemer of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Savior has died, as they
said, He which was crucified, he's not here, he's risen. If he died and rose for you, you wouldn't have to fear even
if that was an angel from hell. But it's not, it's an angel from
God sent to give you the good news and to comfort you. What are you afraid of? Are you
afraid of anything? We have to leave time to consider
the worst of the three the one of the three which is the cause
of them all you see it's unbelief that makes you either think too
much of yourself. In the matter of salvation. Matter of your will and ability.
Unbelief will make you think too much of yourself. Not believe
in God's word now will make you think well it's just up to me
God's done all he can do and now it's up to my will. Well,
that's unbelief, because the Word of God clearly says that
salvation is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. So you just don't believe God
if you believe that. It's just that simple. It's unbelief
that causes us to boast, as Peter does, of our ability and will,
or even to consider our own strength in the matter at all. It's unbelief
that would cause us to despair of being able to do anything.
Because if you despair of it, that means you're depending upon
your ability. I acknowledge that I'm incapable
of doing anything to save myself, but I don't worry about it because
I have a savior that's able to save me to the uttermost. If I do worry about my ability
in the matter or inability, that's unbelief. And are you afraid? You know what that is? Unbelief.
The Lord Jesus Christ says, fear not. You've got no reason to
fear. I'm going to prepare a place
for you. And he did. He went to the cross. And he said, if I go, I'm coming
back for you. And he is. We've got no reason
to fear. Why are you afraid of anything
or anybody now that you've heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ? If you've heard this gospel and
you're scared of anything or anybody, it's unbelief. It just
is. How can you hear from one who
has seen him risen and alive? That's who God sends now. You
can't tell about somebody you haven't seen and don't know.
You can't talk about a salvation you haven't experienced. But
think about Thomas. Someone who had seen him risen
and alive, several of them, Said to Thomas, we've seen him, he's
alive. He did what he said he'd do. He rose again the third day. And we spoke with him. And Thomas
said, nonetheless, I will not believe. I will not believe. Can you do that? After hearing
the gospel, the good news that Christ, who was crucified, is
risen from the dead? And we've spoken with him. I
will not believe. Maybe you haven't said the words,
but your heart has spoken them. Ah, but in all of these things,
the one thing needful is always the same. In our unbelief, he
accommodates us as he did Thomas. He reveals himself to us, the
crucified risen Savior. He bids us to touch and feel
with a hand of faith his very wounds that he suffered in our
place. And he makes the powerful command, the irresistible command
to our very hearts, be not faithless, but believing. He's the answer
to unbelief, just like every other problem that we have. Oh Lord, even we who believe,
help our unbelief. Help our unbelief. Help us to
see and to recognize all of our problems as you clearly reveal
them in your word. We're always looking to ourselves,
aren't we? Is that what we're doing? That's
what these ladies did on the way to the tomb. They were thinking,
wait a minute, there's a big stone over there. We're not very
strong. Are you guilty of that ever,
looking to yourself? to accomplish what's necessary
in spiritual things in the matter of your salvation with regard
to Christ and him crucified and risen. We're guilty of that,
aren't we? Help us to see that we are and
that we what we are. But help us, Lord, instead to
look to you and trust you. And then stop spending all of
our time thinking about how We're gonna do, how are we gonna do
what he's already done for us? You ever do that? How am I gonna,
how am I gonna live right? He already did that for you,
didn't he? How am I gonna measure up? How
am I gonna be good enough? He already did that for you.
How can I ever pay for my sin? Isn't that what they said when
Peter preached and they said, what are we gonna do? He said,
you killed the prince of life. They said, how are we going to
make up for that? He already did that for you.
The stone's already rolled away. He's already risen. Don't be
troubled about that. Help us to see you in this as
the one thing needful and rest in your finished work. May God
help us. He accomplished salvation for
us. Rest in him. Rest in him. And Lord, we're fearful and wretched
creatures. We are. Because we forget, we
forget, don't we? And because to our great shame,
we just flat out don't believe you. We just don't. If we did, we just simply wouldn't
act the way we do, we wouldn't worry like we do, and we wouldn't
be so proud like we are all the time. We wouldn't boast, we wouldn't
fret, we wouldn't fear, and we wouldn't doubt if we believed on Him. We do
believe, but Lord help us. Help us. And let's not miss the
exhortation of Scripture here. I want you to notice what's not
here. Nowhere in any of this clear
revelation of our sin do we see the Lord exhorting us to strive
to be better, to do anything to overcome or
make up for our shortcomings. In it all, the message is simply
trust me. What did he say to them after
he pointed out those things to them? Peter, your inability It's
great. You don't know it yet. But you
cannot do what needs to be done. And you're all afraid. Don't
be afraid. And unbelief. You believe in God. Believe in
me. Trust me. And then what was the answer
to all that? What was his exhortation to them? I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. He didn't say turn over a new
leaf. We are exhorted in the scripture
now to walk worthy of the calling wherewith we are called, but
that's not salvation. That's not salvation. I don't
rest in my ability to do that. All you eggs now are gonna have
to be in one basket, all of them. The exhortation here is trust
me, believe me, look to me. In Luke 24 there, what was it?
Christ is all. in the Word of God. What is it
here? Christ is all when it comes to
our shortcomings, our needs, our sin. And here's our prayer
for us this morning. Lord, help our unbelief. May
we see you risen as Thomas with the nail hole still in your hands
and feet and the spear wound in your side. Give us a glimpse
of you as you did him. And when we see you as you are
crucified and risen may we know this it is finished. Give us rest in you. Don't let
our hearts be troubled. You calm our hearts Lord and
we won't be troubled. I pray for that in all of our
wretchedness cause us to look to you the author and finisher
of our faith. The author and finisher of our
faith. We pray that in his holy name
we pray. Amen. Let's pray together now and be