If you'd like to follow along,
please turn to Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. I'm just gonna read three verses,
beginning in verse 14 of Mark chapter 16. 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. And he said unto them, go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And that's
it, that's the text. The title, Paul, is Believe the
Gospel. Now, I will admit, I'm fully
aware of, and I think I mentioned this a couple of years ago when
I was near this passage, in this passage, that this part of Mark
16 is a sticking point for some people. If you have an NIV, It'll
say at the beginning of it, this portion, like from I think verse
nine to verse 20 of Mark 16, is not in the two most reliable
manuscripts. I will agree, it's not in the
two oldest manuscripts, but I wholeheartedly disagree that they're that reliable.
They're talking about the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus, that's what
they're called. I believe this scripture from
nine to 20, and all the rest of the book of Mark, agrees with
every bit of scripture in the Old Testament and the New. And
you can talk about the law, you can talk about the prophets,
you can talk about the Psalms and the Proverbs, you can talk
about the gospels, and you can talk about the epistles. This
section is the gospel. And it is scripture. And I understand
the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus leave it out, but they leave
out a lot of things. The Vaticanus was not even written
in Koine Greek, which is basically what everybody kind of wrote
in back in those days. The Sinaiticus came from the
region of Alexandria, Egypt, which was the home base of a
fellow named Origen. And I think I've said this before,
Origen was, Not famous, he was infamous for taking out of the
scripture anything he didn't like. It's well known, it's well
documented in history. The guy was a yahoo, if you wanna
put it that way. Well, here's what it says. Origen
believed and he taught that the father was God, the son was the
power and the word of God. Now that's okay. But he also
said that the Holy Spirit was a dependent creature. That ain't
right. So I'm not surprised that there
might have been some things that Origen wanted to take out. And
I wouldn't be a bit surprised that he did. But I'm not, you
know, this is the word of God. And that's all I can tell you.
If you believe it, you believe it. But I understand it does
bother some people because they've heard things and things like
what's written in the NIV. Well this doesn't have it, don't
worry about what the NIV says, worry about what the scripture
says. Now at least they did put it in there. Some of them, some
versions just leave it out. And I just want to talk about
this today. Believe the gospel. believe the
gospel, because I believe these are the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ to his disciples and by them to us today. Because I do know this one thing
for certain, for sure, you can bet on it if you're a betting
person. I don't know who you're gonna get any money from, but
you can. Our Lord's words never change. That's the beauty of
speaking the truth and lying not. You don't have to change
your story. You don't have to remember what
you made up last week. And our Lord Jesus Christ spoke
the truth always. His disciples were to be upbraided. Why? For their unbelief. That's
not saying they didn't have faith in him, but you understand, in
each and every believer, It is, help thou mine unbelief. I have that in me also. They
had it in them and it was rearing its ugly head. They didn't believe
the ones that came and told them that he had risen from the dead
when he had indeed risen from the dead. But then he said to the same
ones he was just upbraiding. go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. He said to those who have unbelief
in him. You know what that makes these
fellas? That makes them sinners. Just like you or me. Just exactly
like you or me. And he told those sinners, go
ye and preach the gospel to every creature. And I like what Walter
says and the way he says it. God has decided and has sent
one sinner to tell another sinner that Jesus Christ saves sinners. Man, that's good stuff, I like
that. So the question is, of course, why do we preach the
gospel? Why do we expend our time and our energy, and yes,
our money, to preach the gospel? Okay, well really there's only
one reason. Jesus Christ said to. Now you can have any other reason
you want but that's the only reason that matters and that's
the only reason I need. And here's the question, how
many times does Jesus Christ have to say something? Well that's
rhetorical so the answer is once. That's it. But he does repeat
himself in several different ways. Excuse me. But here, Jesus Christ said to
preach the gospel. I mean, if that's the only place
it's recorded, that's all that matters. Paul elaborates on it
this way. In one of his epistles, he says,
for the preaching of the cross, Christ's substitutionary death
on the cross is foolishness to them that perish. But the preaching
of the cross, that same cross, that same sermon, that same message
is the power of God unto them that believe. Those which are
saved is the way he says it there. Why is that? Well, he had also
wrote down, it pleased God, and then by that, Father, Son, and
Spirit, that by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that
believe. Why do we preach the gospel?
We've been told to. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. And it makes us, who preach,
preaching the gospel makes us the saver of life unto life. And it also makes us the saver
of death unto death. Because my preaching the gospel
doesn't change anyone. It's God that maketh thee to
differ. It's Christ that, speaks with his voice, and the dead,
the ones that hear his voice, they shall, shall live. It's the spirit that gives life. It's God that circumcises your
heart, wait a minute, no, heart, and your ears. To what? To where you will understand
the gospel. To where you will hear of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the gospel, and you'll believe. And also, just as an aside, but
it's not an aside in our day, make sure it is the gospel you're
preaching. Salvation of God in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit
in every one of his people. The sin debt, owed by us, excuse
me. Fully owed by us. What? Unbelief. Unbelief is still a sin. I mean, I heard that, somebody
told me that. Walter knows who. I mean, they
talk like Jesus Christ took away every sin except for the sin
of unbelief and you've got to believe and then he'll forgive
you of it. If he didn't take it away, he's still there. And
unbelief is a sin. If his blood wasn't shed for
my unbelief, I'm a goner. But that sin that owed by us
was paid in full by the blessed son of God. What is it the song says? life
and health and peace possessing from the sinner's dying friend. Jesus Christ is the friend of
sinners. He had some bad things to say
about some people who the world thought was good. He talked to
the Pharisees and the scribes, called them snakes and fakers. Hypocrites, that's what a hypocrite
is. It's a faker. And he had really nice things
to say about that publican at the back of the temple, who smote
on his breast and didn't even lift his eyes to heaven. He said,
God, be merciful to me. But the sinner. Our Lord was a friend of sinners. Our Lord died to save sinners. And guess what? That's the gospel. And that's what we are to preach.
You gotta make sure it's the gospel. There's a lot of other
gospels running around, which Paul said, are not another. But
then he made this statement. It says, he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be
damned. He that believes shall be saved. Now that's simple
enough. And I'm gonna tell you something.
believing Christ and in this context, the direct context of
it is believing his gospel. Go out and preach the gospel,
he that believeth. Preaching, believing the gospel
will be for a long time the most profound thing you have ever
done. Because it's not you that does it. I'll get into that in a minute. The question is here, and I just
said it a minute ago, believe what? Wait a minute, that's usually
one of them tricky things where I say no, believe who? So which
one is it, believe what or believe who? Well in this case, the answer
is yes. I like those kind of questions.
Because I'm gonna tell you something, You can't believe what without
believing the who. You can't believe the gospel
without knowing Jesus Christ. Not in truth. You might be able
to do it in your head. You might be able to do it through
education. But you understand, our Lord came into this world
and this world knew him what? Not. He came to his own. and his own received him not.
But to as many as received him, to them gave he the power, the
right, the privilege to become the sons of God. But then he
tells us how, which were born, not of the flesh, not of the
will of man, no, which were born of God. Being born of God, The
direct reference by our Lord here is the gospel, but here's
the thing, our Lord Jesus Christ is the good news. There's no
way to preach the gospel without preaching Jesus Christ. There's
no way to believe the gospel without believing Jesus Christ.
Now, but here the other side is also true. You can't say that
you believe Jesus Christ if you don't believe his gospel. because
you don't know who he is if you haven't heard the gospel. And
I'm not talking about just from the pulpit, I'm talking about
from witnessing, talking to people, however, this book is full of the gospel. We are to believe the gospel
preached. That's the context here. And
it says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Because Jesus Christ himself
is the good news. He is the gospel whom we preach. He that does not believe shall
be damned. Now I realize I just jumped over
the baptized stuff, but I will just say this. Baptism doesn't
save. and the lack of baptism doesn't
damn. Paul said, Christ didn't send
me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And that's what he
meant. The baptism, baptism is the answer
of a good conscience toward God. And baptism is an ordinance performed
by believers to believers. But Jesus Christ didn't say,
he that is not baptized shall be damned. I'm sorry, Church
of Christ notwithstanding. But he did say, he that does
not believe shall be damned. Folks, that's some serious words.
Because I mean, well, because it's serious. This concerns the souls of men. He that believeth shall be saved,
but he that believeth not shall be damned. I can't put it any
clearer than that. He that believeth not Christ,
he that believeth not his gospel. And it says it plainly. And that
word means condemned, condemned. John 3 verse 16 says this, for God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world. That's the same root word as
this other one. but that the world through him
might be saved. John 3.18, which is the one most
people don't read. They'll read John 3.16, but they
won't read John 3.18. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already. Why? Because he hath not believed. in the name of the only begotten
son. And then he tells us why. And
this is that condemnation that light is coming to the world
and men loved darkness in the place of rather than light. Why don't men believe him? Why
don't men believe his gospel? They hate the light and they
love darkness. And understand this, I was right
there with them for 23 years. For 23 years, I hated the lights
and I love the darkness. I was pretty much happy with
myself. I thought I was a pretty good
fella most of the time, Walter. And I thought for sure my good
deeds outweigh my bad deeds. What I didn't know was I didn't
have any good deeds. That's how dark my mind was. If our gospel be hid, folks,
it's hid to who? Them that are lost. Whom the
God of this world had blinded their minds. I was there. But now I like the gospel. I
love the gospel, I try to preach the gospel. The good news that
our Lord Jesus Christ saves sinners like me and like you. What's the difference? He maketh thee to differ or you
don't differ. That's just as plain as I can
say it. There's another one in John 8, 21, he says, Jesus said
unto them, I go my way and ye shall seek me, and what? Shall
die in your sins. Whither I go ye cannot come. Verse 24 of John eight, he said
this to them. I said therefore unto you that
ye shall die in your sins, for ye are really bad sinners. That's
not what he said. You're really evil seducers.
Well, they were, but that's not what he said. You're gonna die in your sins
because you break the law by looking at it. You defile my
commandment by reading it. He didn't say any of that. All he said was that ye shall
die in your sins for if ye believe not that I am. And there's a
word he there interpolated, I'm gonna leave it out. If ye believe
not that I am, I'm God. I and my Father are one. He'd
already said that. If you believe not that I am
he, ye shall die in your sins. Now notice very carefully in
all these passages I've read where it talks about believing
God, believing Christ, believing his gospel. All of them are in
the present tense. You understand? I used to believe,
I have believed in past tense. Let me tell you something, those
statements won't do you a lick of good. It's right now or it never has
been. If you continue, If you continue,
then are ye my disciples indeed. It's right now that matters.
I can talk about the past and say, I did come to Christ. Why?
Because he brought me. But here it is, I'm still here.
If you don't believe Christ today, you never have believed Christ.
If you don't believe his gospel today, you never have believed
his gospel. As you understand, in these passages,
From Mark 16 and from John, our Lord Jesus Christ equates, compares,
gives the same answers for believing his gospel as he does in believing
in him. You know why that is? I'll tell
you. You can't believe him and not
believe his gospel. because he is the gospel. The
gospel is about him. The gospel is him. It's the gospel
of God. It's the gospel of Christ. It's
the gospel of God's dear son. Jesus Christ said, whoever believes
in him shall be saved. And he said, whoever shall believe
his gospel shall be saved. Guess what? They're the same
people. They're the same people. Because I can tell you this,
if the Holy Spirit gives you life, God will make sure that
you hear his gospel. He's promised it. I'm not gonna
leave you. I'm never gonna leave you. I'm
never gonna forsake you. It's all in the present tense. And I can tell you this, it's
all in the future tense also. Because if you don't believe
tomorrow, you never believed. And I can tell you this, believing
the gospel is as easy as believing Christ. And with men, this is
impossible. Just like threading a camel through
a needle. Most people think believing Christ
and believing his gospel is an easy thing. But I'm here to tell
you today, it's a miracle of grace. See, it takes not only the power
of God to give you life, but it takes the power of God for
you to believe his word, for you to believe him, for you to
believe his gospel. John chapter six, I'm not gonna
turn to it. This is what Jesus Christ said. This is the work of God. What is it? That you believe
on him whom the Father has sent. Now that was the answer to a
question they asked, what shall we do that we might work the
works of God? Well, Jesus Christ answered this,
this is the work of God that you believe on him whom we sent.
And this is another one of those great things. Now, does that
mean that's what we do or that's what he does to us, his work
on us? And the answer to that question is also yes. It's the
work of God. Paul in Ephesians wrote about
it saying, we believe according to the working of God. of His mighty power. Understand, it's the Holy Spirit
in you that gives you faith. You believe. God is in you. The hope of glory. I just find that miraculous because
it is. It's a miracle of grace that
you believe the gospel. The world around us doesn't care
anything for this. Doesn't care anything for him.
A lot of them have their own Jesus that they're real happy
with. But they don't want the Christ of God. And I will tell you one more
thing. Because it is a blessing. It takes the pressure, some of
the pressure, off of me, off of Walter, off of Cody, off of
anyone who preaches. You understand, it's God that
saves sinners. Yes, he uses his gospel, but
it's still God that saves sinners. I can't save you, I don't have
to save you. You don't want me to. Because
trust me, I ain't never had anything I couldn't lose. But our Lord
Jesus Christ says, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake
you, and he has never, ever lost one thing. And he has never,
ever lost one sheep that he's found. And he's finding all the
rest of them. Other sheep I have. them I must
bring. And there's going to be one fold
and one shepherd. And that one fold is going to
know this one gospel, his gospel. Heavenly father, thank you, Lord,
for this time. Be with us now and be with us
ever. And Lord, help Cody to bring
a message for your honor and glory and grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. So turn to number five. Please stand. Oh, for a thousand
tongues to sing my great God and King My gracious master and my god The
honors of my name