Turn with me to the book of Mark.
This will be our final lesson in the book of Mark. Mark chapter 16, verses 15 through
20. I'm almost sad to come to the
end of this study. I can't speak for individuals
here, but it's been a blessing to me, the study of the Book
of Mark. It's been different than any
of the other Gospels, and I've learned a lot and been blessed
of God a lot in the study of it. Studying the Scriptures,
to me, and I hope you all, when we begin a study on this, I hope
that you'll go home and read not only what I preached on that
day, but read the next several verses ahead and be thinking
on them as we come in here to study them. But studying the
scriptures to me is like sitting in the treasury. It's like an
heir who, he's come, he's been pronounced an heir. And he goes
into the estate and he sits down in the treasury and you know,
he's lived all his life as a pulper and now he goes in there and
he's sitting in this treasury and there's just no, you can't
even see the end of it. It's everywhere and you pick
it up and you look at this treasure and we'll be doing it throughout
all eternity. So that's, to study the scriptures,
that's what it is. And to close out our studies
in Mark, I want us to consider our Lord's last words on this
earth. Now, He was promised. We've been
singing that through all the prophets. And then He came. He appeared
on this earth. He accomplished God's redemptive
purpose in His death on the cross. He established righteousness.
He saved us, basically. And then he ascended into glory
as our representative and sits at the right hand of God as our
surety. He will make this thing sure
to those that God has chosen. And so now we come and he's been
crucified and we saw where he was raised from the dead and
the various things that took place there. And now he's gonna
speak with his disciples. Just a handful. And then he's
gonna step on a cloud and he's gonna be received up into glory
and coronated. Take his seat as King of Kings
and Lord of Lords at the right hand of the Father. So let's
read together Mark chapter 16, verses 15 through 20. 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. He that believeth not shall be
damned. And these signs shall follow
them that believe. In my name shall they cast out
devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.
They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then,
after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into
heaven and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and
preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming
the word was signed following. And he closes out his book by
saying, so be it, amen. Amen. Our Lord's last words on
earth coming forth They come in the form of what men call
the Great Commission. The Great Commission. In Matthew's
account, he tells them that all power in heaven and earth is
given unto him. Therefore, go ye and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost. In Luke's account, he establishes
for them the scriptural basis of this commission. along with
his promise of the Holy Ghost. In John's gospel, he establishes
their motives. He said, if you love me, feed
my sheep. If you love me, feed my lambs. And here in Mark's gospel, he
promises a confirmation of his commission. So time permitting,
let's look at four things contained in our Lord's last words on earth. First of all, let's look at the
commission itself. Men who have devoted their lives
to the study of the scriptures all agree that this is and should
be called the Great Commission. This commission went past just
the ones who were gathered there in his presence. Some people
say, well, that was just given to the disciples. No. No, it wasn't. It was given to
the whole church. You go forward. This is why I'm
leaving you here. This is what I want you to do.
Now, all power is given unto me. Power ought not be a question. Power is not a question. All
power is given unto Him. He's going to do His will. Amen? He's going to do His will in
heaven, earth, and all deep places. He's going to do His will. Who's
more powerful than Him? All power is given. Now you go
preach. Well, I can't. Don't depend on what you can
do. It depends on Him. It depends on Him. The Great Commission. Why is
it called great? First, because of who gave it.
My soul, this is the Lord. This is God. God our Savior gave
this commission. Jesus Christ is the blessed and
only potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords. He's the creator
of the universe. He's the reason for creation.
He's the arranger and Lord of all providence, and is himself
the salvation to which all the prophets gave witness. It's a
great commission because of who gave it. We ought not ever doubt,
ever doubt the will of God, especially when God our Savior gives it. And then secondly, it's a great
commission in the scope of its objective, go ye into all the
world. I was scanning through just the
messages that I have as I go out into the world, and it's
just, I'm just spellbound when I look at it. Places that I know of, there's no gospel
churches in Oregon, But we had 62 downloads of our messages
in Oregon. And Washington? I don't know
of anybody in Washington. Same thing. 50 some downloads
there. And it's just unbelievable to
me some of the places and the islands and over in Russia and
just all kinds of places, places that you'd never suspect. Australia
had 76. all over Australia. So it's a
great commission in the scope of its objective. We're to go
into all the world. It's called great also because
of the need of it. I had a long conversation with
a young pastor yesterday. He was looking at some verses
and some prophecies and things and quizzing me about what these
things were and how could I connect these things to Trump and the
last days and all this stuff was going on. I said, I don't
know. I don't know what you can connect.
But I do know this. What these prophets are writing
about is Christ. And even if I knew the connection
of these things, what could I do about it? Nothing. What could
I possibly do? Exactly what I'm doing. And this
is why our Lord made that the sole business of His church.
You go into all the world, there's nothing this world needs more
than the gospel. All it would take to clean up
Washington, D.C. is a knowledge of the gospel.
That's it. It wouldn't have to be a committee.
It wouldn't have to be a special investigator. They need a new
heart. They need a new understanding.
And this is what our Lord's telling us in this last commission. There's
nothing more important for people in this earth than what I'm sending
you to do. Go ye and preach the gospel. And it's called great also. because
of the glory in the contents of it. This thing deals with
the glory of God. It's a great commission. Well,
what is the commission? The commission is to preach his
gospel. It's not to build hospitals. I know this world needs hospitals.
And I hate it when people tell me, well, you just won't give
to that hospital because it's Catholic. No, that's not the reason I don't
give to that hospital. I don't give to that hospital
because this is my commission. This is what I'm told to support
and do and build right here, not out there. Not to build hospitals. It's
not to build schools. It's not to build orphanages
or shelters for the homeless. It's to preach the gospel. No one has ever had a heart more
loving or a mind more focused than the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody. Nobody ever walked this earth
with a genuine care for the poor and the homeless and the crippled
and the sick. Sinners. Sinners. Nobody had more. Nobody was more focused than
Jesus of Nazareth. And though he did feed the hungry
on occasion, we'll have occasion. We've had occasion where people
came up here to the door. We've had occasion where I've
seen people on the road. We have occasion. And when we
get occasion, it's OK to give. Give to it. Our Lord did. He did feed the hungry. He did
care for the poor. Yet he never built a single hospital.
Not one. Or an orphanage. He didn't tell
them, go in Jerusalem and you go down there on the lower side
and you buy some of that property up, you build an orphanage there
for the homeless. No. No. No, he didn't. He didn't
build any hospitals. He didn't build any schools. And as far as I can tell, he
never told us to. Our one business as a church
is to get this gospel out. That's our business, nothing
else. This is our business. We can be of no lasting benefit
to anyone apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ. His gospel,
Paul said, is the power of God unto salvation. How you gonna
be saved without the power of God? Well, where do I go to get the
power of God? The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. And I find it striking that his
commission to them is exactly what he practiced himself. Nothing took priority over his
preaching, nothing. You remember one of them told
him one day, said, That woman busted that precious alabaster
box and anointed him, and Judas said, that could have been sold
for so much money and given to the poor. The Lord said, you
got the poor with you always. Always. There's always going
to be poor. The gospel is God's ordained
means of grace to save sinners. And for a man or a woman to imagine
themselves saved by some other means is an illusion. Or maybe
I should say a delusion. Paul wrote to the Corinthians
and he said, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand
and by which, nothing else, by which also you are saved if you
keep in memory what I preached unto you. Otherwise, you've just
believed in vain. In chapter 3 of that same epistle,
he said, who then is Paul? They were running around, well,
I saved under Paul. Not me, I saved under Apollos.
I hear that all the time. Paul said, well, who's Paul?
He's just Paul. None of his letters said St. Paul. It just said Paul. That's how he introduced himself.
My name's Paul. Who then is Paul? Who is a Paulist? They're ministers by whom you
believe, now listen, even as the Lord gave to every man. Huh? Who did? The Lord did. You mean he has a preacher for
every man? That's exactly what I'm saying.
How shall you hear? This is the Holy Ghost said this,
not me. How shall you hear without a
preacher? That's how important this thing
is. In chapter one of 1 Corinthians,
he says this, after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom
knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And then in 2 Thessalonians 2.13,
his words are even more dogmatic. He said, I'm bound to give thanks
always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. For God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
Huh? And yet, people, I can preach
that. I'm preaching it to you this morning, and it'll go up
on the internet, and I'll get calls from people. Well, I know
somebody who wasn't saved through preaching. He wrote books. I don't care what he wrote. He's
a liar. Worse than that, he makes God
to be a liar. Oh, my soul. Listen to this verse,
1 Corinthians 4, 15. For though you have 10,000 instructors
in Christ, you've got people everywhere can teach. This church,
that church, another church, you might have 10,000 instructors
in Christ. Those who wrote books, those
who have fellowship with you, and all those who preach the
gospel. But though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have
you not many fathers? For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten
you through the gospel. That's pretty clear too, isn't
it? Huh? That's God saying this. It's the Holy Spirit teaching
us this. And I can go on and on establishing
this point. In James 1.18, it says this. Good gift, ever perfect gift,
cometh down from the Father of lights, comes down from above,
comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. You know what he said next? Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth. That's
how he did it. Wherefore, he said, be swift
to hear. and slow to speak. Maybe God
will speak to you. Maybe he will. But if he does,
he's gonna do it from up here. Now that's just the way it is.
Born again, he said, Peter said, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the word of God, and this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. That's the seed of
regeneration. So the commission was given as
God's ordained means of salvation. And he secures this with his
very last words on this earth before ascending into glory. Secondly, what does he say about
those who hear the gospel? We're pretty clear on the preaching
of it, but what does he say about the hearers? He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. To the preaching of the gospel,
the Holy Ghost attaches an and. Read it, it's right there in
front of you. And is baptized. Now be careful how you handle
the scriptures. Men have carelessly just relegated
baptism to the scrap heap because they know that baptism can't
save. But don't you throw on the scrap
heap that which God has vitally connected with his gospel. I
didn't write this book, he did. And I'll tell you why people
want to hear the gospel and believe the gospel, why they wait 10
years before they're baptized. I'll tell you why. It's because
of how we preach it. We're not preaching it the way
God wrote it, the way God said it. He that believeth and is
baptized, shall be saved. Isn't that what that says? Then
why'd I want to change it? I want to change it so I can
make it more palatable, so I don't stir up offense, just like every
other truth that's compromised in the Word of God. We want to
set it aside. We don't want to talk about it
the way God said it. We want to say it some other
way. I know that salvation is in Christ,
and that there's no saving efficacy in baptism. But here the Holy
Ghost connects it with saving faith. Why? Why would he do such
a thing? Why does he put this ordinance
in such a high place? Because baptism confesses that
inward work of grace. It's your first act of submission
to God. Well, I'm saved. You're not saved
if you haven't bowed to Christ. And you haven't bowed to Christ
unless you're willing to confess him, and you can't confess him
except through baptism. Is that right? That's exactly
right. Baptism is not salvation, but
it always accompanies salvation. In Acts 2.41, it said, then they
that gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day,
there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. It was important
enough. Can you imagine? The most I've
ever baptized was eight. Can you imagine baptizing 3,000
people? But they did. They did. That Ethiopian eunuch, God the preacher got up in the
chariot with him, Started right there in Isaiah where he was
reading and preached Christ to him. And he believed. He didn't
have a New Testament, all he had was the Old Testament. From
Malachi back, that's all he had. And he preached to that man baptism. Else why did the Ethiopian eunuch
as soon as he spotted water say, there's water, what does hinder
me from being baptized? Huh? We don't do that, do we? We don't
preach it in such a way that people are ready to be baptized. What it is, we leave them in
ignorance about baptism. Saul of Tarsus, having heard
the gospel from Ananias, was baptized that same day. The Gentiles
heard Peter preach Christ and were all baptized. The Philippian
jailer in his old house at two o'clock in the morning was baptized. Huh? Baptism is the first acknowledgement
of our submission to Christ. And in every baptism that you've
ever seen me perform, I always say these words in obedience
to his divine command, because that's what it is. Why are you
being baptized? You feel like you have to be
baptized? It's got nothing to do with feelings.
It's got to do with his commandment. and our submission to him. Now hear me. Baptism don't wash
away sin. Baptism does not convey grace. Baptism has no part in regeneration. And in point of fact, it contributes
nothing to the salvation of a soul. But salvation is as much a commandment
of God as faith in Christ. And here he connects them together. We're not asked to believe. We're
commanded to believe. He commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. He's not, please repent. No. Repent. Repent. Or die in hell. We're not asked to be baptized.
We're commanded to be baptized. And brethren, you cannot be saved
and continue on in your rebellion. To be saved is to be called out
of darkness into his marvelous light and to be translated into
the kingdom of his dear son. And that word kingdom, almost
every time it's written in the New Testament, has to do with
one thing, and that is the power and government of Christ and
of God. His kingdom. If you go into a
kingdom, you know who you're responding to. The king. We don't
know anything about that. We're so corrupt in this country
with our voting and so-called rights and everything. We don't
understand anything at all about a kingdom. Baptism is, as Brother Barnard
used to say, putting on the uniform. putting on a uniform. Nobody
knows who you fight for. Nobody knows where your loyalty
belongs until you put on a uniform. All they got to do is take one
look, and now they know. And then thirdly, a glorious
confirmation is promised, undeniable signs and wonders. And these
signs were given as a confirmation of both the preachers who preached
this gospel and of the gospel they preached. And also it was
the ushering in of a new age, the gospel age. And every one
of them, every one of them was confirmed
of God with miracles and signs and wonders. Why? Well, first of all, that the
word of God be completed. That's what was going on. That's
what was going on. In Hebrews chapter 2 verse 3,
he said, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard him? God also bearing them witness
both with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of
the Holy Ghost according to his own will. Why was these things
given? Was it to reveal something futuristic? Was it to confirm your regeneration? No, it was to confirm the word
of the gospel that these men were preaching. They were part
of that foundation. We don't need these things to
prove we are of God. Especially today. I have His Word. It's complete. It's done. Everything I need
to hear is in this book. And there's no need of Him just
constantly confirming His Word with miracles and wonders and
signs. He's already done it. Now we
got the word, and we got no reason to doubt it. And then lastly,
Mark ends his gospel testimony with these words. And they went
forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them. That's my hope. Wherever it is
I stand to speak, I hope and pray that the Lord works with
me. and confirming the word, not
their experience and not their faith and not their salvation,
but confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Amen. The only thing dead sinners
shall be given from now to the end of time is the gospel of
Jesus Christ by the hands of one of his chosen servants. He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. And he said this
immediately after commanding them to go preach the gospel.
He that believeth not shall be damned. If you read John three,
he closes that chapter with these words. He that believeth not
on him shall not see life. but the wrath of God abideth
on him. Oh, what words, what words. All right, thank you.