We read those first verses of
Mark chapter 16, and I want to pick up where we left off and
begin in verse 9. 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." 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 believed they them. 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." I have thought a lot this week,
actually beginning in last week, about these verses. And I hope I can say, I believe
that I can say, that I've tried to tell you over the years, tried
to tell all who heard me, both the necessity and the benefits
of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing the gospel. And I've set forth the gospel
command, which is to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. But there is also what we would
call another side of this coin. There is an awful alternative
to believing. And it is stated here in verse
16, by the perfect risen Son of God. This is not just the
Word of God. This is the Word of God as it
actually came out of the mouth of God in human flesh. And the other side of faith in
Christ is a sobering thought. He says in verse 16, you go preach
the gospel, and he that believes and is baptized shall be saved,
but he that believes not, shall be damned." How could we ever
read that and hear that without paying serious attention to it? And if I am to preach the Word
of God, this is what I have to do this day And it is to remind
us all, to remind us all of this fearful, dreadful, serious thing. He that believeth not shall be
damned. And I want to emphasize this
today for A few reasons that came to my mind, one of which
is this, I must preach all the counsel of God. This is not my opinion. This
is not something I even by nature delight in thinking about. But it is the Word of God. We know he says concerning all
sin, he speaks of all the wickedness of men, and he says they'll all
have their part in the lake of fire. But here, through Mark's
gospel, he brings it down to this. All who believe not shall
be damned. We know that David, was a murderer,
an adulterer. We know that is sin as well as
every other. But that's not the question here,
is it? He that believeth not shall be damned. And not only that, but also I
have to warn all unbelieving hearers. You see, that believing
is a continued believing. We all are by nature found as
unbelievers. These in our text, when they
first heard of His resurrection, did you notice they did not believe
the report of that. But by God's grace, they did
not continue unbelievers. All do not continue unbelievers. He gives to his people faith,
and they believe. But all who do not believe on
Christ, this is the warning, he that believeth not, believeth
not his gospel, shall be damned. I have to tell men and women
the truth. But not only that, I say it also
to remind those who are believers concerning our own families,
our own close friends, which we by nature make some kind of
a different allowance for in our minds. But it'll be the same
with my children, Your children, all children, all spouses, all
parents, all aunts, all uncles, all close friends, he that believes
not, love them as we will, love them as we do. He that believes
not shall be damned. And I remind us of this in order
that we might be stirred up, stirred up in our hearts and
in our efforts to seek to bring them under the sound of the gospel
Christ was talking about. The gospel that gives Him all
the glory. The gospel of His purpose of
grace. The gospel of the covenant. The gospel that declares His
success as our Savior and Redeemer. And not only that we might be
stirred to get them under the sound of the gospel, but that
we might also be stirred to earnest prayer for them. These that we
love. These all around us in our daily
life. that we pass by, that we speak
to, that we have interaction with, and yet know in our hearts,
if we're honest, that they do not believe. This ought to stir
us to get down before God and call out their names and offer
up prayers and supplications on their behalf, that if it's
His will, He might bring them to believe, because if they don't,
they'll be damned. And that we also might seek in
our lives, in our daily living before them, in our examples,
which either show to them how important this is to us or not. that we might in our life, as
Paul said, adorn the gospel, show them by what we do, as well
as what we say, that this is the most vital issue, not only
for us, but also for them. And that we might be honest.
How hard it is for us to be honest. with ourselves concerning them. And no less for them than every
other unbeliever. We love them. We pray for them. But this is the reality. It doesn't
make God less than the Holy One He is. It demonstrates His holiness. His justice. His righteousness. It demonstrates also His great
grace and mercy to us who He's brought to believe. And so for
all of these things to warn again and again as to why they will
be damned, it is because they believe not. They believe not
the truth. They believe not Him who is the
truth Himself. Because you see, there is a remedy
in the broken law or for the broken law of God. There's a
remedy for all sin in the gospel. And I'm going to tell you this
today. And that is, if we do not believe on Christ, if we
do not believe the gospel that gives to Him all the glory, there's
no remedy. There's no remedy. Somebody says,
well, you don't know what kind of sinner I am. I don't care
what kind of sinner you are. There is a remedy. for all sin
against God in the gospel. But outside of the gospel, there's
no remedy. No remedy. And all sin will be
judged, but there is not murder or adultery or thievery or all
the other vile things here. It's simply all who believe not. And the unbelieving mass murderer,
serial killer, will at the same time with the unbelieving moral
person, unbelieving religious person, Spend eternity together
in hell for the same reason. Do you realize that? And oftentimes,
it is all these various groups who hate and despise each other
and look down on each other in this life and say of the other,
oh, they'll surely be damned. Or they look at the other in
their self-righteousness, in their false piety, they say,
well, I may not be that, but they'll surely be damned. They'll
be damned together. Why? Because they believe not. And I say all this knowing that
we don't of ourselves have faith. And I say it knowing that God
alone must give it as a gift. But though we must credit God
for our faith, we cannot blame Him for our unbelief. Is that
right? If we believe, then we have to
give glory to God for His grace in giving us the gift of faith. But if we don't believe, we can't
blame Him for that unbelief that is natural to us, that is sin
without a doubt. And I say it also, knowing all
or even most won't believe. The greater part of our fallen
race, the greater part of those that we preach the gospel to
as we have opportunity, they will not believe. You see, this
all comes down to what Christ says, not only to these disciples,
But to us, he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature." He says, oftentimes, in the book
of Acts especially, when this gospel was preached by Paul and
all the others, He said, and some believed and some believed
not. He tells us that as many as were
ordained unto eternal life, they believe. That doesn't change
this, does it? He says, you go and preach the
gospel. He that believeth and is baptized,
That baptism, public confession of what is believed in the heart? He said, but he that believeth
not shall be damned. That means baptism doesn't save,
does it? That means all that we receive
of God's salvation, all that He gives to us in Christ, we
are enabled by Him to receive it by faith. It's always in Christ. It isn't in our just simply believing. It isn't in our act of faith. This believing is a believing
of the gospel wherein Christ crucified as all of salvation
is set forth. Paul expressed it to the Corinthians
like this. He said, to the one we are the
saver of death unto death. We preach the gospel, it goes
up before God, first of all, as pleasing to Him. Somebody
said, if I believe what you believe, I would never preach the gospel.
If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't preach. Because we preach the
gospel, first of all, to the glory and satisfaction and appreciation
of God Himself. We preach for Him. He delights
in it. Paul likened it to the sweet
incense that went up off the altar. It rises up into the nostrils
of God as a pleasing thing. But he said to those we preach
to, he said to some, that fragrance that we set forth is a fragrance
of death unto death. And then he said, but to others,
he says, we are the saver of life unto life. And then he said
something that I have to confess. He said, and who is sufficient
for these things? Who understands everything about
this? But the truth is, we're not called
upon to understand all these things. We're commanded to do
this, preach the gospel, and commanded to believe it. And
told this, those who believe it, they'll be saved. But those who believe it not,
they'll be damned. And He's given us not simply
this warning or a few warnings, He's given us many warnings and
even used a people, a whole race of people, as a warning. And that's that whole race of
Israelites that came out of the land of Egypt, delivered out
of that place of bondage, and given to us, he says, as examples. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
3. Hebrews chapter 3. And listen to the apostle beginning
in verse 7. He says, "...Wherefore, as the
Holy Ghost saith today, if you will hear His voice, harden not
your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the
wilderness, When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw
my works forty years, wherefore I was grieved with that generation,
and said, They do always err in their heart, and they have
not known my ways, so I swear in my wrath, they shall not enter
into my rest." Everyone in that generation that came out of the
land of Egypt saw all those glorious miracles accomplished by God. They died all but two in the
wilderness not believing God. Listen, verse 12. Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief
in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily
while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end." What's a believer's confidence? What's our confidence
when we are first brought to belief? There is no question
about it. Our confidence is all in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our confidence, God-given faith,
rests in who He is and what He has done. And we have no other
confidence. And if we ever are found And
he and all he's done is not our confidence. It never was to start
with. We are a partaker of Christ,
he said. If we hold fast this confidence
until the very end, he says, while it is said, today if you
will hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard,
did provoke, how be it not all that came out of Egypt by Moses,
But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with
them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to
whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but
to them that believed not." They believe not. So we see that
they could not enter in because of unbelief. Oh, they sinned in a multitude
of ways. They murmured. They plotted to
kill Moses. They did all these things. But
there's a remedy for all such sin. That's the blood of Christ
that was typified in all those offerings and sacrifices. But
they didn't believe. They didn't look to God. They
talked about God. They saw the miracles of God.
But He was not their hope. And if you notice in our text,
The Holy Spirit uses in that 16th verse the pronoun, He, in
order to include all who are identified with this not believing. You can put there anybody, young
or old, anybody rich or poor, Anybody learned or unlearned?
Anybody living in Paul's day or in the year 2015? Anybody male or female? Anybody
raised in religion or in blatant irreligion? He that believeth
not shall be damned. Not believing on Christ. Not believing his gospel. Why? Because all forgiveness
of sins, all righteousness that God requires and is given in
Christ is received and relied upon and trusted by faith. He said, you go and preach the
gospel. You go forth and you tell men and women what they
are in themselves. You go forth and you tell them
that all of salvation is in Christ. All life, all forgiveness, all
mercy, all grace is in Christ, not to be found anywhere else. This is good news for those who
find themselves real sinners in need of good news, of grace,
and of a salvation outside of themselves. A total reliance on Jesus Christ
for everything. You'll never get beyond that.
I hope you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. I
hope you learn. I hope you're able to be familiar
with more of His Word. I hope that it will transform
your lives, that grace will not be simply a doctrine to you,
but a reason for faithfulness to Christ and love for the brethren.
But it will always all come back to this, Christ and only Him. He is all. And this is a most awful thought
to consider. He says, he that believeth not
shall. Shall. Now I tell you, I love
the shalls of grace. I rest in all those promises
of God, all those pledges He made throughout all of time past
and for all of time future. I love to hear when he says,
this shall be and that shall be. I know there is a faithfulness
and an unchangeableness in such promises. But what about when it says,
they shall be damned? What does that say for man's
so-called free will? Once when a man I believe it
was, was preaching in Wales to a bunch of old, swarthy, rough,
tough coal miners. And he had been preaching an
Armenian gospel which was simply, it's all up to you, it's your
decision, salvation is based on your free will, such things
as that. And then he came down to something
like this and said, well, and if you don't, God will damn you.
Some old coal miner stood up. He said, no he won't. And that
preacher said, what do you mean no he won't? You see, very few
preachers have ever considered really what they're saying. But
that old coal miner said, if God can't save me against my
will, then He can't damn me against my will. That's right. He says here, he shall be damned.
He shall be with all the power of the God hid behind that statement. He says, they shall be damned. That means judged with an eternal
judgment. It doesn't mean annihilated.
It doesn't mean made to be nothing anymore. It means that the judgment
of Almighty God, the sentence particularly of God against them,
will bring about this separation from God, this eternal agony,
this remembrance of all that is lost, this separation from
all that is good and right and true, This is an eternal separation
from God in hell forever. Somebody said, oh, that preacher,
he really preached hell. He preached hell so hot you could
feel the flames. That's not what hell is about.
It's not about mere bodily suffering or punishment. It's about a torment. A torment of the knowledge of
being separated from God for all eternity. That soul that
can only find rest in God is separated and therefore without
rest for all eternity. That man in Luke chapter 16 says
he died. He died in his unbelief. And
in hell, he lifted up his eyes, he was still alive, he was still
a being, he still had a soul, but he was separated from God,
and it says he was in torment. I think most of you who have
any age on you at all, you're coming to realize more and more
and more, it's not the bodily things that torment you. It's
the things of your mind. It's that torment of soul that
bothers us. You can get enough drugs to maybe
ease the pain of your body. It's a lot different in the matter
of your conscience and your soul. Turn over to John chapter 3. I do suppose that all who hear
me will have been familiar with John chapter 3, especially verse
16. Look at verse 16. 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. Those who believe. They have
everlasting life. But is there not another side
of that coin there? Those who don't believe, they
perish. They perish in the same sense
that he's talking about in Mark. They're damned. Look down in
verse 18. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. He'll never be judged. Why? Because
his sins have already been judged. That was what was going on on
the cross. God was judging the sins of all His people that were
laid on Christ, and He satisfied that judgment. He satisfied the
justice of God. But he that believeth not is
condemned already. All who do not believe the truth,
all who are not at this moment believing on Christ and only
Christ, all who do not believe the gospel of His grace, they
are in a state of condemnation right now. He that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God." Somebody said, well, I believe
in Jesus. Well, there's more to the name of Jesus Christ than
just that name, literally Jesus. A name has something to do with
our renown. So-and-so has got a name for
being an honest person. So-and-so has got a name for
being able to do this or make this and all. It's a renown that's
associated with our name. What's the renown of Christ?
Why is His name Jesus? Because He shall save His people
from their sins. He came into the world. To save
sinners, Paul said, of whom I am chief. And this is the condemnation. That light has come into the
world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil. Their deeds are evil. Now they're
not calling evil what is obviously evil. They're calling good what God
calls evil. That which is highly esteemed
of men, their character, their conduct, their acts of charity,
that which is highly esteemed of men is an abomination in the
sight of God. Look at verse 36. He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life." An old preacher said, he's got
it. He already has it. Why? It's
manifest in his believing on Christ alone. And he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on Him." Folks don't want to hear much about wrath. They don't
want to hear much about God being a God of wrath. But it says here,
the wrath of God abideth on Him. And it would be an awful thing.
I know some people in this world that you wouldn't be in a good
place if their wrath was against you. And if you add to that all
the powers that are in this world, all the kings of the earth, all
the high political people, wouldn't be good if their wrath was against
you. This is the wrath of God. He is as unique in His wrath
as He is in His salvation. He is as mighty in His wrath
as He is in His ability to save His people from their sins. And
that Word, abideth." Like having an anvil hanging over your head. It's like one of those pendulum
axes that swings back and forth and with every second gets closer
and closer to us. The wrath of God abideth on Him. And Satan's deception of men
and women through false religion is most common, it is so common
in this day of apostasy." What is that? A turning away, a falling
away from the truth. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians. Now listen to
Paul as he writes in this letter. He says in verse 1, Now we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken
in mind, or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. There's nobody who can say to
you, that this is the day, Christ is coming, tomorrow or the next
day, or that He has already come. Let no man deceive you by any
means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
Somebody is always looking for one verse. There may come such
a person, I don't know. But it's more often in many people. It's in a manifestation of all
that is against the true Christ. the son of perdition, who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God." Everything that is against God. Every idol. whether it be a literal stone
or metal piece carved and set in an earthly temple, or that
in our minds and hearts, our views of God that we need to
repent of. Why? Because it's idolatry. Idolatry. Listen now. Remember ye not that
when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you
know what withholdeth that He might be revealed in His time."
The Spirit of God is the only thing that holds back this tidal
surge the greatest wickedness. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. Only he who now letteth will
let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that
wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit
of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. Even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders."
That will be always the case in a time of apostasy. All these
outward signs, all these things wonderful to human flesh, but
by these things the devil always deceives. Because faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith doesn't look to what we
see to believe. Faith hears the Word, the Gospel
of God concerning Christ and believes on Him whom we have
not seen. And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should
believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. I thank God
by His grace. Paul turns on a dime here with
that, but he looks to these believers in Thessalonica and he says,
but we're always bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren,
beloved of God, because He's from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. These poor deluded souls that
make up the mass of humanity on this earth right now, who
travel under their various banners of religion, who hold up their
gods before the world, who clench tightly to them all through their
life with their superstition, and then die with a firm grip
on them. Deluded, deceived, Believing
in lie rather than the truth, he said, they shall be damned.
John 8, 24. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am
He, you shall die in your sins. To die in your sins is to be
damned. John 12. If any man hear my words,
and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth
not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day." What's that word? He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. But you didn't believe, and therefore
you're damned. You thought it was nothing. You
thought all these people had to be right, and this little
group all wrong. You took the words of family
and friends and neighbors and preachers and such above the
words of God. Paul again in 2 Thessalonians.
He said, it's a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation
to them that trouble you. Trouble who? Trouble those who
do believe. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord shall be revealed from heaven with
His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ." In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not
God. Well, how would we know if they
knew not God? They do not obey the truth, but
unrighteousness." He goes on to say in Romans, "...but unto
them that are contentious, and do not believe the truth, but
obey unrighteousness to them, indignation and wrath." Romans
2 again. He says, "...in the day when
God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according
to my gospel." I'm not looking for any surprises in that day.
You say, what do you mean? Paul said, being led by the Spirit
of God, that all judgment would be according to the gospel he
preached. I believe the gospel he preached. Matthew 13, "...the Son of Man
shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of
His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth." Cast them in a furnace. And there
will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Man's anger against
God goes on unabated for all eternity. But all his anger in
that day is just simply the evidence of his unbelief in this day.
It goes on forever. Matthew 7. When he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto
them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come?" And then when he sees the sheep and the
goats, he tells us all about it in Matthew 25. He says of
those on his left hand, And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." I'll tell
you, the Lord's people, these that He loved and chose and predestined
to conform to His Son, He brings to believe, they're saved from
a lot. And thank God they're saved from
His wrath. Paul said, we wait for His Son
from heaven, whom He hath raised from the dead. That's just what
we're reading about in Matthew 16. Christ raised from the dead. Which means that His people have
a living Savior. But it also means that His enemies
have a living Judge. whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come." Isn't
that a reason to be thankful among a multitude of reasons?
He delivered us from the wrath of God, which is to come upon
those who believe not. In Revelation 6, it speaks of
The great day of His wrath. Oh, He is a God of love. But
His love's in Christ. And apart from that, He's a consuming
fire. We sang that song, Holy, Holy,
Holy. The great day of His wrath is
come, and who shall be able to stand? Only those in Christ. Look over in Hebrews chapter
4. Paul continues out of chapter
3, in verse 1 of chapter 4, "...let us therefore fear, lest a promise
being left us of entering into His rest, that any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us, was the gospel preached,"
now get this one, "...as well as unto them." In all those types,
shadows, sacrifices, figures, was the gospel. For unto us was
the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached
did not profit them, being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. Nobody will ever be able to blame
God for not giving them faith. Because unbelief is entirely
our own. Our own. You see, to believe
on Christ is to come to Him and leave all else. It's to turn
aside from every other hope. It's to cling to Him. To believe
means to roll or cast our sins upon Him. All our weight to be
leaned on Him. Apply to Him. Receive Him. Lay hold of Him. Embrace Him. Finish His promise. Believe His
promises. And rely solely. rely solely
on His finished work. On Christ, the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand." Oh, we're like, even as believers,
we're always found like these in this text in Matthew 16. They had fits of unbelief. But
we're found crying out like that man concerning his child who
said, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. I believe. Hebrews 10 says, But we are not
of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul. And in Paul's words in Romans
5, he says much more then, being now justified by his blood. Justified has another side too. Condemned. Being not condemned. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ, being not condemned, being justified,
declared righteous before God by the bloodshedding of Christ. We shall be saved from wrath
through Him. There are times when my sins
are such Just the mention of the word judgment or wrath brings
a momentary fear in my heart. There are times when I'm found
in such a state of unbelief that I'm found fearful. Just the mention
of hell or torment. But these words always say the
same thing. We, that is we who believe, We
who trust in that justification that's in Christ through His
blood, through that righteousness that He impugned to us, on that
basis, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. But all who believe not, they
shall be damned." Oh, the grace and mercy of God in Christ. It's
a just damnation. But it's also a just salvation. That God has set forth His Son,
and in Him, shown Himself to be a just God and a Savior. Just and the Justifier. Those that believe. Those that
believe. I thank Him so much. My heart
breaks for so many, but God will be true. Our Father, this day we praise
You for mercy and grace, for salvation, for our Savior. Grant that we might be among
those who continue in faith, who continue in the faith, who
continue believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. For we pray in
His name, Amen.