Turn with me, if you would, back
to Mark 16. Mark 16. We just saw in our Bible study how our Lord was talking about
believing and not believing, right? He that believeth shall
be saved. But he that believes not shall
be damned, right? Believing and not believing.
And we just saw how that ability to believe is a gift from God. It's a gift from God. He gets
all the credit for it. It's not in man's ability. To believe on his own. And that's
about to be proven to us. I don't know of a. clearer spot
than this right here to be proven that it's not in man's ability
to believe on his own. We're about to see that if God
were to take his hand off of any of us, there's no room for pride in
grace, is there? Never does there become room
for pride in grace. Well, we believe. We believe
God. Others don't. If God were to
take his hand off of any of us and leave us to ourselves, the
only thing we're capable of doing is falling into the sin of unbelief. That's the only thing we're capable
of doing. We are also going to see right here that if we belong
to Christ, he will not leave us there. Isn't that wonderful? He will not leave us there. So
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. But if we belong to him,
he will not let us go. He just won't. Verse nine, right
here, Mark 16, verse nine says, 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,
believed not." They believed not. All the disciples were weeping
and mourning over his death. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
those three days? Can you imagine those three days?
We have never been without the hope of a risen Savior. We can't
imagine what those three days must have felt like. We always have the comfort that
our God He's reigning on the throne right now. Well, they
had it too, didn't they? But for three days they mourned
and they wept and Mary Magdalene, that precious woman, wouldn't
leave the tomb. Everybody else, you know, went back and she wouldn't
leave the tomb. So when he arose, she was the
first one he appeared to. And oh, the blessing of drawing
nigh to God. He will draw nigh to you. You seek the Lord, you'll find
him. He told her when he met with
her, you go and tell our brethren. You go tell my brethren and your
brethren, your brothers and sisters, that I have risen. You go tell them that, and she
did. And they didn't believe her. They didn't believe her. How sad. They just sat there
in unbelief. Good news came pouring in and
they just sat there in unbelief. How sad. Verse 12 says, after that he
appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked and
went into the country. He started walking with two of
the disciples that were headed down the road to a little village
called Emmaus. Two on the road to Emmaus. And
he joined himself to them and he asked them what they were
talking about. These two guys were in deep conversation. And
he came up and he said, what are y'all talking about? And
they said, you must not be from around here. You don't know what's
going on. And he asked them, well, what
is going on? I love how our Lord always turns
the question on people. That's a wise way to answer people.
When somebody wants to come at you with something, that's a
wise way. You turn and he said, well, what
is going on? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. We thought he was
our savior. We thought he was going to save
us. But three days ago, he died. You know what he said to him?
Oh, fools and slow of heart to believe. Ought not Christ to
have suffered these things and to enter in to his glory? And then beginning at Moses,
and can you imagine having God preach to you? Beginning at Moses,
in all the scriptures, he expounded the things concerning himself. And then they made it to Emmaus.
They got to where they were going and he acted like he was going
to keep on going and they laid hold of him and they constrained
him. They said, no, keep talking. Please stay with us. Don't leave.
We want to hear more about what you're talking about. Don't stop
telling us these things. And look what it says in Luke
24. That's where this story is. Go over to Luke 24. Luke 24,
verse 29 says, But they constrained him, saying,
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with
them. And it came to pass, as he sat
at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break, and
gave to them. And just like he had done three
days earlier. the night in which he was betrayed.
Studying this, it occurred to me for the very first time that
our Lord observed his table the day he arose. I've never realized
that before. As soon as he arose, he had the
Lord's table. This do in remembrance of me.
Verse 31 says, And their eyes were opened, and they knew him,
and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another,
did not our heart burn within us? While he talked with us,
by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures, you know,
if, if we ever meet here together and God actually opens up the
scripture, you know, he's doing it. And if he does it, does not
our heart burn within us? Is it not life? Is it not everything? Verse 33, and they rose up the
same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the 11 gathered together
and them that were with them saying, the Lord is risen indeed
and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were
done in the way and how he was known of them in breaking of
bread. How wonderful. Now go with me
back to our text in Mark 16. Mark 16 verse 12 says, after
that he appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked
and went into the country and they went and told it unto the
residue. Neither believe they then. How
sad. Oh, how sad. It's amazing how
this flesh will not believe God. These are the apostles. These
are the, this is not you and me. These were the apostles. These were the ones that physically
walked and talked with the God for three and a half years. These were the apostles. This flesh, the flesh naturally
will not believe. And verse 14 says, afterward,
he appeared unto the eleven. He came to where everybody was
as they sat at meat. And he upbraided them. That's
a sharp word. He upbraided them with their
unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them
which had seen him after he was risen. He sharply rebuked them
because they would not believe his word or his witnesses. Our Lord very, very clearly and
very plainly told them exactly what was going to happen. Look
with me at Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8 verse 31 says, and he began to teach them that
the son of man must suffer many things. Here he is teaching them
that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of
the elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and
after three days rise again. All right, he told them that
in chapter eight. Look at chapter nine, verse 31. For he taught his disciples and
said unto them, the son of man is delivered into the hands of
men and they shall kill him. And after that he is killed,
he shall rise the third day. So he told them that in Mark
chapter 8, he told them that in Mark chapter 9, look at Mark
chapter 10 verse 32. And they were in the way going
up to Jerusalem and Jesus went before them and they were amazed
and as they followed they were afraid and he took again the
twelve and began to tell them what things should happen unto
him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of
Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes,
and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him
to the Gentiles, the Romans. They shall mock him, and shall
scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him, and
the third day he shall rise again. It's almost like when all that
happened that this was already written down and all the Romans
were, okay, chapter 8, chapter 9, we got to do this and then
we got to do this. They did exactly what he said
they would do. They had no excuse. Man has no
excuse not to believe God. Do you know God has plainly told
us what's coming next? He's done it over and over and
over. God is the one saying this, but
amazingly this flesh does not, not naturally, does not believe
God. This is what he has to say now.
He is coming back. Didn't he say, let me tell you
what's going to happen, okay? He's coming back. He's coming
quickly. Isn't that what he said? Well,
yeah, but he said that 2,000 years ago. Well, how does that
compare to never-ending eternity? How fast is 2,000 years compared
to never-ending eternity? The blink of an eye is way too
long for that. He said, I'm coming quickly.
This is what he said. Every eye shall see him. I wonder if I'm going to see
him when he returns. Every eye that has ever been made is going
to see him. Going to see him. All of his
elect who have been chosen to believe on him, given that gift,
they're all going to be taken up with him in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air. And then after that, they're
going to forever be with the Lord. All of those who do not
believe on him are going to be left on this earth. They're going
to be judged with physical fire and brimstone. Everything, everyone
is going to burn up. He said the heavens are going
to melt with a fervent heat. And then all those souls that
suffered that physical destruction are going to go back to the God
that made them. And they're going to be judged with an eternal
spiritual fire and brimstone. Now, how many people hear that
and say, I don't believe that. What does our flesh say to the
fact that God, who is a man, is going to come back in the
clouds and all of a sudden we're going to have the ability to
defy gravity and be lifted up into the clouds and go into a
place where there's no oxygen and forever live with the Lord,
never have sorrow? What does our flesh naturally
say to that? But for the grace of God, it would say, I don't
believe that. Well, he said it. Isn't that
right? We don't have to understand things.
He said it. So far, everything he has said
to this point has come to pass. Everything, everything he said
so far has come to pass. So that's our warning. That is
the warning. That's the one sin that will
not be forgiven. Unbelief. That command goes out
and we believe it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not of yourself. It's the gift of God. We believe
that. But oh, may God give us the ability
to believe on him. Doesn't that make us want to
cry, God be merciful to me? Doesn't that make us want to
cry that? God, we believe you. This is in your hands. God be
merciful to me. If it does make us want to cry
that. If that produces something in
us that makes us cry, God be merciful to me, then I have some
good news for us, some very good news. Back in Mark chapter 16,
back in our text, verse 14 says, Afterward he appeared unto the
eleven as they sat at meat and upbraided them with their unbelief
and hardness of heart because they believed not them which
had seen him after he was risen." He sharply rebuked them of the
danger of unbelief and then he proved himself in goodness and
kindness. He proved himself in his word. He convinced them that not one
word of his is going to fail. Not one word. It's all true.
And then he said in verse 15, go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. Now that this is confirmed in
your hearts, you go into all the world and you preach the
gospel to every creature. He said, he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. You go preach this gospel to
every creature. That is my calling. I've been
called to preach and I take this calling very seriously. I take
it extremely seriously. We're dealing with eternal matters.
I have a very specific task. Our Lord asked Peter, and I don't
compare myself to Peter by any means, but he asked Peter, do
you love me? He said, feed my sheep. I hear that in my heart
all the time. Gabe, do you love me? Feed my
sheep. If you love me, feed my sheep. Feed them. He told Isaiah, he
said, I want you to comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Isn't that
what he said? He told all of his disciples
right here, I want you to go into all the world and preach
the gospel. The gospel. Even though this
world is going to be judged in damnation outside of Christ,
thankfully he did not command me to run around hollering damnation,
damnation. That goes with the gospel, doesn't
it? But he said, this is your message.
This is the focus. This is where you're going. This
is what you're getting to. This is the final word before
the period. Go preach the gospel. Go preach the gospel. If a man has been called to preach,
he's been called to preach the gospel. The word gospel means
glad tidings. It means good news. Good news. I think all the time of a paper
boy standing out on the corner holding good news, crying good,
extra read all about it. I've got good news right here. What is the good news? What is
the good news? You know it's on every single
page in this book. We could go anywhere. We could turn anywhere
and we could read and we could preach good news. For this message
this morning, I'm going to try to be to the point, but I found
five scriptures I want to declare to you. And all five of these are good
news. I have been commanded of God to tell you good news. And these five came to my mind,
and I want to go through them very quickly, and I hope the
Lord will let us enter into them, because these five things are
good news. The first one is in 1 Timothy
chapter one. First Timothy 1 verse 15 says, this is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. Here's the first thing
I have to say. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners. He came to save sinners. May God give us a heart to believe
that. To believe that. May He comfort
us in that. The natural response of this
flesh is no, Christ came to save good people. Christ came to save good people.
If you want to be saved, you have to be a good person. Believe it. I mean, just believe
it. Period. Christ came to save sinners. That's not what I've been told.
I don't know where you're getting that. I don't have any idea where
you're getting that because I've been in churches all my life
and I've never been told that. Believe it. Christ came to have mercy on
sinners. In order to believe that and
rejoice in it, I have to acknowledge I'm a sinner. Isn't that right? If I'm going to rejoice in it,
I have to acknowledge I'm a sinner. Because if I'm not a sinner,
then that verse of scripture right there just said to me,
Christ didn't come to save me. Are you a sinner? No. Oh, I have
terrible news for you. You better read all about it. The amazing news is I am a sinner. I am exactly who Christ came
to save and so are you because you're a sinner too. Whether
you know it yet or not, you're a sinner too. I have good news for both of
us. He said, I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners.
I came to call sinners. I've thought so many times and
I understand if a person hears that and really is a sinner,
really knows they're a sinner, probably this is going to be
the first thing that comes into their mind. That just sounds
too good to be true. Believe it. Just believe it.
Christ came to save sinners. All right, let's continue the
good news. Go to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, According
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Not only did Christ come to spare
us from eternal damnation, Not only did he come to stop our
being destroyed, he chose for us to be placed in him so that
we would not only be spared, but be made holy and without
blame. Not just spared, not just spared
and wretched, spared and holy and without blame. All we are
in this flesh is unholy and with blame. That's all we are. But
He chose to give us a brand new record. We all know we have a
record, don't we? We all know we have a record.
Before the foundation of the world, He chose us to wipe our
slate clean. I mean completely blotted out. In Christ, it's not there. It is not there. It's gone. How did he do that? That's good news. The answer
to that is good news. Go over to Romans 5. Romans 5 verse 5 says, hope maketh not ashamed because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good man,
some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died for us. He commended
his love to us by dying for us. Somebody will say, let me ask
you this. Are you saying it's a good thing to be a sinner?
Are you actually encouraging us to be sinners? I read in the scripture where
God Almighty says, if you sin against me, you'll die in your
sins. If God Almighty sent Christ to
be your substitute, Christ did die in your sins. If you sin against God, you'll
die in your sins. If Christ was sent by God the
Father to be your substitute, Christ did die in your sins. The Lord Jesus Christ has said
to his preachers, I want you to go into all the world. I want
you to look my people right in the eye and you tell them Christ
died in your sins. I think that's good news. I really
do. Christ came to save sinners.
He came to make them holy and without blame. And He did that by dying for
them in their sins. Now here's the fourth piece of
wonderful news. Go to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others, but God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." Now
watch this. By grace, you are saved. You are saved. The apostle John said, beloved,
Right now, we're the sons of God. Right now, in Christ, right
now, you are quickened. Right now. Not will be. I can't
wait to be saved. Not will be. Are. In Christ, right now, you are
alive. In Christ, you are a child of
God. We all say, but I don't feel
like it. I don't feel like it. I feel
so cold. I feel so lifeless. Believe it. Just believe it. It doesn't matter
what I feel like. It doesn't matter what you feel
like. The question is, what did God say? What did God say? He said, you are quickened. Hath is past tense. You've been
given life. You're a child of God. You are
just as much a child of God right now as you're ever going to be.
ever going to be. John went on to say, it doesn't
yet appear what we shall be when he rids us of this body of sin
and death, but we know we're going to be just like him. Just
like him. Somebody might say, well, I see
it in the scriptures. I've been following along with
you. I believe what you're saying.
I do see it. I see that God has done this for his people. I see
he didn't do this for the entire world. But how can I know if
I'm one of them? How can I know if I'm one of
them? How can I know if he's given me this gift? If he's done
this work in me? Where is my good news in knowing
this applies to me? Here it is. Here's the fifth
piece of good news. Go with me to John 6. John 6, verse 37 says, All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. Every soul that the father gave
to Christ to do this for him, every single soul is going to
come to him. Every soul is going to come in
the heart, through this heart of believing, Lord, I come. He said, you go preach the gospel
unto all the world. He that believeth, he that has
been baptized by the Holy Ghost. He that God has caused to come
through that heart of faith shall be saved. Shall be. Verse 37, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. In him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. May God give us a heart to believe
that. Just come to Christ with the heart of faith. Believing
everything he said. I just, if you said it, I believe
it. May he give us a heart to believe
we're sinners. You said I am and I am, I believe
it. May he give us a heart to believe
that he chose to make us holy and without blame. And he did that by dying for
us and our sins. And through his death, we have
been given life to come to him. He's made us able. We can approach
that throne of grace. And if we come to Him, He will
never cast us out. Never. May God give us a heart
to believe the gospel. May He give us a heart to believe
the gospel. Alright, Brother Dwight, you come and lead us
in a hymn.