In a world of mortality, full of sickness, poverty, misery,
illness, famine, wars, violence, sorrow, malice, envy, deceit. In a world full of darkness and
of death, There is one message we need to hear. A message of
life. A message of life. We need to hear the gospel. The
gospel of Jesus Christ. The message of everlasting life
to come, to be found through Jesus Christ and what he did. in laying down his life for sinners
that those who were once dead might live. We need to hear this message. And Mark's gospel is concerned
with the presentation of this message and the presentation
of the coming of Christ into this world. as one who comes
preaching this message. For Mark presents Christ in a
manner distinct from the other three gospels. His presentation of Christ is
very much to present Christ as the preacher, or as a prophet. Whereas Matthew presents Christ
as the Messiah, as the King, And whereas John presents Christ
as the son of God, Mark distinctly presents him
as one who is sent forth as a servant of God and especially as a preacher
of the gospel. The gospel and the preaching
of the gospel is paramount in Mark's gospel. And we can see
this very clearly in various respects from what is recorded
in Mark's Gospel and what is omitted. Mark's Gospel begins
in a very different manner from the other Gospels. There is no
record of the birth of Christ. Immediately we see Christ presented
in chapter 1. And he comes as one who is fully
grown as a man. And he comes preaching the gospel. There's no record of his birth.
There's no genealogy. If you read Matthew's gospel,
there's a genealogy given. Because Matthew presents Christ
as King, as Messiah, and must present his lineage to show his
royal birth. Luke also presents a genealogy
which is different from Matthew's genealogy for a different cause. But Mark has no genealogy. And
this is expressly because Christ comes to us in Mark as a preacher. And as such his genealogy is
unimportant. Where he comes from is unimportant. His birth, his parenthood, is
of no consequence. He is merely one sent forth from
God to preach his gospel. He merely appears, as it were,
on the scene with a message. Mark does not want to draw attention
to where he has come from as such. Because what is paramount
is not so much the man, when you present a preacher, as the
message that that preacher brings. Now of course there is no man
like Christ. And there is no one who has the
genealogy that Christ has. There is no one greater. He is
the son of God, made man. He is rightly as Matthew depicts
him, the king of kings. But it is not Mark's purpose
to present him in that light. Mark will have you see him as
a preacher of the gospel. And therefore the message he
brings is paramount. We read at the beginning of Mark's
gospel, chapter one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. As it is written in the prophets,
behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare
thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John did baptize in the wilderness
and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Mark
opens with a voice, crying in the wilderness, preparing the
way for the coming of the Lord. He opens with a voice, he opens
with a preacher, but this preacher is merely there to prepare the
way for the coming of the preacher. For he in the wilderness preached
to all those that came out to him from Judea and Jerusalem,
saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the lachet of
whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed
have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost. And then in verse 9 we have this
first appearance of Christ in Mark's Gospel. And it came to
pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out
of the water he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a
dove descending upon him. And there came a voice from heaven
saying, Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And
immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And
he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan and
was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered unto him.
And then in verse 14. Now after that John was put in
prison. Jesus came into Galilee preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God. And saying the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the
gospel. Jesus came into Galilee preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand repent ye and believe the
gospel. Now what a sudden appearance
this is of Christ in Mark's gospel. No birth, no record of the of
the shepherds or of the wise men coming to the birth of Christ,
no record of the flight into Egypt, no record of his childhood
in Nazareth, no record of his parents taking him up to the
temple when he was 12 years old, as you read in Luke's gospel.
None of this is recorded. Now suddenly we have Christ appearing,
firstly to be baptized of John, then tempted in the wilderness
and then he comes into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. Immediately we see him preaching
and immediately we see him preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at
hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. Where he comes from is as it
were unimportant. What is paramount is what he
preached. The gospel of the kingdom of
God. Repent you and believe the gospel. Of course the first thing we
see is his baptism just prior to this. This of course is recorded
because what the baptism is a figure of, is that which is central
to the message of the gospel that Christ brings. The baptism
depicts his death, his burial and his resurrection. To which
the voice from heaven cries out, thou art my beloved son, in whom
I am well pleased. Christ came to die for sinners
in a dark and an evil world. Christ came into a world of death
and rebellion. Christ came into a world of darkness,
the Son of God, the light, and he died for those who were in
darkness. He died for those who were dead
in trespasses and sins. He took their iniquities upon
Himself. He bore the punishment due unto
all His own. He took it upon Himself and His
Father crushed Him. He poured out His wrath from
heaven above upon Him. He judged those sins to the uttermost. He destroyed His only begotten
Son as He stood in the place of those for whom He came to
die. And having judged Him, having
destroyed Him, having judged every last sin in the body of
His only begotten Son, when all iniquity was taken away, when
all was washed clean, when all was purged, when all the wrath
of God was propitiated, quenched, when righteousness from heaven
above could no longer find one spot or one blemish in all God's
people found in Christ upon the cross, when God in strict justice
looked down upon His Son and saw no more sin in Him, The son cried out, it is finished. It is finished. For sin had been
taken away and righteousness had been brought in. Death had
been conquered and eternal life was brought in to be granted
to all those for whom Christ died. He brought light and life
into a world of darkness and death. And when he had done it,
when he had accomplished it, he cried out, it is finished. And it was done. And the father,
when he looked upon his son from heaven above, and looked on the
one whom he loved, and saw what the one whom he loved had done
for those whom he loved, when he saw what his son had given
up to save all his brethren, he said, thou art my beloved
son, in whom I am well pleased. For the father was pleased not
only with his son, but he was pleased in his son, in his son,
and in all those who were in his son. who were washed clean
by His Son, when His Son's blood was shed for them upon the tree. And on this ground, because of
this event, because of this accomplishment in the gospel, because of the
good news, the wondrous news of that baptism which Christ
would suffer upon the cross, Christ went forth immediately having been baptized with John
and then tempted in the wilderness of Satan where Satan could find
nothing in him because on the ground of that baptism Satan
could find nothing to condemn Christ and nothing to condemn
any of his people in Christ and on that ground The accomplishment
of his death being proven beyond doubt in 40 days. Christ went
forth to preach this wondrous news. This is what is set forth
in figure here by the account of the baptism, the temptation
and then the coming forth into Galilee of Christ preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God. He comes into this world preaching
a message. and it is a message of life and
a message of salvation. It is a finished work. He comes
following his baptism and his temptation, as it were, having
completed the work and having proven the work, that there was
no fault in it, that it conquered all. He comes with this finished
work and this finished message to declare under all his people,
the gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the
gospel. Have you heard this gospel? Do
you know the kingdom of God is at hand? Has God brought you
to that point of repentance? to turn from the ways of death,
to turn from this world of darkness and all its ways and all its
wisdom, and to turn unto this one that comes preaching, who
comes preaching the gospel. Have you seen him? Well you won't see him and you
won't hear him preaching without that which proceeds. And before Christ comes here,
preaching the gospel in verse 14 of Mark's gospel, as we've
said, there is that at the opening of the gospel, where it is written
in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. make his
path straight. Before you hear Christ, there
must be another voice, another messenger paving his way. Before
you'll hear any preacher of the gospel, there must be that voice
crying in the wilderness of your soul, preparing the ground of
your soul to hear it. For man's heart is hardened to
the gospel, Man's heart is made of rock or stone and one can
come declaring the gospel of the kingdom of God and it just
washes over the heart of man. It hits the surface and bounces
off. There's no entrance. Man cannot
hear, he's deaf by nature. He cannot see, he's blind by
nature. He's in darkness. He's dead. He's in a wilderness. He's in
a wilderness. But God sends a messenger into
that wilderness to prepare the way for the son and to prepare
the way for his gospel. And that messenger cries. He
cries in the wilderness, all flesh is as grass. All flesh is as grass. He prepares the way. Historically here that messenger
is depicted as John, baptizing in the wilderness before the
coming of Christ. But John is just a figure. a
figure of the Spirit of God, who must come in the wilderness
of your soul before you'll ever hear the Word of Christ in the
Gospel. Many speak of Jesus, many tell
you many things from the records in the Gospel, but so often those
words come upon ears and hearts which have yet to feel any effects
of the Spirit of God. And except there's that voice
crying in the wilderness that digs up and prepares the soil,
the ground of your heart to take the seed of the gospel as it
comes forth from the preacher, from Christ in the gospel. Then nothing will take root.
But here Christ appears in Mark's gospel as a preacher. and before
him the spirit goes forth preparing his way. Has the spirit begun
a work in your soul? For there must be that digging
up of that hard stony ground, there must be that bringing to
see what we are before God, to see what we are to see the hardness
of our own hearts to see the depravity of our own souls to
see the iniquity of our ways to see the blindness of our minds
to see how lost we are and how weak we are and how helpless
we are to see how wicked we are to see the wrath of God burning
down from heaven above against us and being brought to see these
things to look out for, to cry out for, to long for a deliverer,
to long for salvation. Seeing these things, to be granted
a change of mind, to be granted repentance. That
when that message comes in the gospel, when Christ the preacher
comes preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying
to us in such a condition the time is fulfilled and the kingdom
of God is at hand repent ye and believe the gospel when that
word comes if the spirits prepared the ground if the spirits caused
our minds to start to change if the Spirit's begun to grant
repentance. A turning, a turning from the
ways of sin unto the ways of God. A turning from the ways
of the world unto the ways of the kingdom that comes down from
above. A turning from sin unto righteousness. A turning from self unto the
Son of God when the Spirit grants repentance. then when we hear
the words repent ye and believe the gospel, we repent and we
believe the gospel. For it's the Spirit's work to
grant repentance and the Spirit's work to grant faith in the dead
sinner quickened unto life to believe the gospel. Yes here we see Christ coming
in Mark as the preacher, preceded by the Spirit. We consider his
entrance, consider his ministry. Everywhere through Mark's gospel
we read of Christ preaching. You might be inclined to think
that that is obvious in all the gospels. And of course there
are records of Christ going here and going there and teaching
and preaching. But if you read through Mark's
gospel carefully, you will see that preaching is preeminent.
As we see here immediately in chapter one, we see Christ coming
into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and declaring
to repent ye and believe the gospel. many many places throughout
we hear of him preaching. In verse 38 he says let us go
into the next towns that I may preach there also for therefore
came I forth and he preached in their synagogues throughout
all Galilee and cast out devils. Everywhere he goes in Mark the
emphasis is on him preaching and on what he preached. He came
into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. It's preeminent. He is the preacher. And he is
the preacher of the gospel of the kingdom of God. All his deeds
and actions circle around this end. when he calls his disciples
here in Mark's Gospel. In verse 17, he comes unto Simon
and Andrew, who were fishermen, and he says unto them, come ye
after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. Immediately
his cry unto them is to follow him that he may make them fishers
of men. Follow me and I will make you
preachers. I will send you forth with my
message. No longer will you just fish
for fish in the sea, but you will have a message to fish for
men, to save men, to preach the gospel. In chapter 3 verse 14
he calls the twelve unto himself he ordained twelve that they
should be with him and that he might send them forth to preach
and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils. In chapter
6 when he sends forth these disciples the twelve to go forth throughout
the villages round about to preach the gospel It describes them
in verse 30, as apostles. And the apostles gathered themselves
together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they
had done and what they had taught. He sends forth these disciples
to preach the gospel and they're described in Mark's gospel there,
very early on, as apostles, as messengers. They were sent forth
with a message. Not only this but great emphasis
is drawn in Mark's Gospel to Christ preaching in chapter 1
and verse 22. Immediately when we see him preaching
in the synagogues and teaching it says that they were astonished
at his doctrine for he taught them as one that had authority
and not as the scribes. He came preaching, but not preaching
like men preach. He wasn't simply learned. He didn't simply present facts. He didn't just teach. But his
teaching and his preaching was unlike anything the people had
heard. They'd sat under the teaching
of the scribes and the Pharisees. They knew what it was to go to
worship and to hear the teaching of the scriptures. But they never
heard preaching like this preaching. He came preaching with authority. They were astonished at his doctrine,
at his teaching. We see immediately the effects
of his preaching which are shown to us in the miracles which attended
them. He comes here in the synagogue
in chapter 1 and verse 23, and it says that there was in their
synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out saying,
let us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked
him saying, hold thy peace and come out of him. And when the
unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice,
he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch
that they questioned among themselves, saying, what thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth
he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately
his fame spread abroad throughout all the region around about Galilee.
You see his preaching and what he preached, his doctrine, is
connected here with the unclean spirit being commanded to depart
out of this man. The people looked on and saw
what happened. They saw this miracle. And their
reaction was not simply How could this man do this? But they say
what thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For
with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits and
they do obey him. He came preaching the gospel
and this gospel was powerful It wasn't simply facts but it
transformed the hero. It sent forth the unclean spirit
out of a man who was torn by it. Later in the chapter it heals
a leper. We read in verse 40, And there
came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him,
and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion,
put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will,
be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken,
immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. Now again, this is immediately
connected with his preaching for in verse 38 he has said let
us go into the next towns that I may preach there also for therefore
came I forth and he preached in their synagogues throughout
all Galilee and cast out devils his preaching had effects It
didn't merely go into the heads, it didn't merely inform people,
it didn't present them with facts from which they could make a
decision. He didn't merely come and say
this is who I am, this is what I will do, why don't you follow
me, why don't you believe me? But his message came with such
authority and with such power. that it healed the sick, it healed
the leper, it cast out devils, it saved, it saved. As Paul says, I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. It saves. And what Christ comes
with here is not simply a message to fill the minds of learned
men, to fill the minds of the religious. But he comes here
with a message to come unto the hardest of sinners, unto the
hardest of hearts, unto the most unlearned of men, unto the most
wayward and worldly of men, and to bring them unto life. He comes with a message to the
dead to make them live. He came unto fishermen, Simon
and Andrew, rough men, working men, to make them preachers of
his gospel, to make them fishers of men. His preaching is with
authority. He comes unto those whom He saves,
those whom He heals. And very often throughout this
gospel, we read of His commendation of their faith. He says, repent
ye and believe the gospel. And the effects we see of that
is the healing. And what He says to those who
are healed time and time again, is to commend their faith. He
says unto them, have faith in God, believe the gospel. And those who are healed, those
who believe, he commends their faith. For this is not the faith
that man conjures up. This is not faith in the head. This is no intellectual persuasion. But this is that which changes
a man totally. This is that which follows a
complete change of thinking, a change of mentality. This is
that which makes the blind man see, and the deaf to hear, and
the lame to walk, the dead to live. Your faith has made you
whole. For your faith came from God,
through purpose to save you. In chapter eight of Mark's gospel,
we're reminded of Isaiah's prophecy of this one to come. Of the hardness
of the hearers to whom the gospel should be sent. For we read in chapter 8 and
verse 14, Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither
had they any in the ship, with them more than one loaf. And
Christ charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned
amongst themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.
And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because
ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither
understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And
having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When
I break the five loaves among 5,000, how many baskets full
of fragments took ye up? They say under him 12. And when
the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full of fragments took
ye up? And they said, seven. And he
said unto them, how is it that ye do not understand? You see,
we have eyes, but by nature we see not. And we have ears, but
by nature we hear not. And the words go in our heads.
But by nature we understand not. And it can be made as clear and
as simple as possible. You can take the words of scripture
and translate them into the clearest and the simplest common tongue. The simplest words that the man
on the street could understand. And he'll still look at you blank. Because this gospel must come
in power and the spirit must come before it to grant that
understanding that causes the dead to live, the blind to see
and the deaf to hear. Here Christ tells them something
in which there is a wondrous truth. They had broken the five
loaves and fed 5,000 and given seven among four thousand. And what was left of the five
loaves was twelve baskets full of fragments. And what was left
after the four thousand was seven. Now the meaning of twelve in
the scriptures and the meaning of seven in the scriptures is something which is hidden
from the natural man but something made clear to those who are given
faith to believe the gospel of God what a depth there is in that
in chapter 9 we see the transfiguration of Christ Christ is transfigured,
the record of the transfiguration is recorded in Matthew, Mark
and Luke, but not of course in John. John presents Christ very
much as the Son of God. In Matthew, Mark and Luke he
is presented as the Son of Man. Also of course the Son of God,
but very much in the sense of which of it he comes as man.
And therefore the transfiguration is recorded to reveal unto the
disciples here that this man whom they followed is also the
Son of God. John has no need to record this
in his gospel because he uniquely presents Christ as the Son of
God throughout. But this preacher in Mark, this
preacher comes from heaven. And God says, as the heavens
are opened, this is my beloved son, hear him. That's Christ's ministry, consider
his death. He came for that baptism which
he should suffer. His preaching of the gospel concerns
that baptism. which he should undergo, which
was figured by the baptism at the beginning of his ministry
here in Mark. He came to die. He came preaching the gospel. He came preaching a message of
life and salvation. He came preaching the gospel
of the kingdom of God. A gospel, the good news of eternal
life. For dead sinners to be brought
into eternal life in the kingdom of God. He came preaching life
unto man. And men turned around and put
him to death. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. The light came into the world
of darkness, and men loved darkness more than light. And they took
him in whom is light, he who is light. They took the Son of
God, they took the preacher, And as with all the preachers
and the prophets who preceded him, and as with many who follow
him, they shut their ears, they'd have him not, and they'd put
him to death. Chapter 10, 45, regarding his
death, it says that the son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. This is why he came, to minister,
to preach, and to offer up his life, a ransom for many. As he enters into Jerusalem,
in Mark we read the people's cry about this one who comes,
this preacher. They cry out, Hosanna! Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord. A welcome fitting for a preacher. But whereas Matthew records the
same event and records their words addressing him as the son
of David, showing forth his lineage, showing forth that he is the
king, as he entered into Jerusalem to die, yes, but recognized As
the king, here in Mark he comes merely as the preacher. Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Why did the scribes and the Pharisees
determine to kill him? What brought their wrath against
him? What kindled it? Well in verse
18 of chapter 11 we read this reaction of the scribes and the
chief priests to Christ's words. It says the scribes and the chief
priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him for they
feared him because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. later in the chapter regarding
his authority we read this it is said unto him by what authority
doest thou these things and who gave thee this authority to do
these things and jesus answered and said unto them i will also
ask of you one question and answer me and i will tell you by what
authority i do these things the baptism of john was it from heaven
or of men answer me And they reasoned with themselves, saying,
If we shall say from heaven, he will say, Why then did ye
not believe him? But if we shall say of men, they
feared the people. For all men counted John, that
he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto
Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering, Sayeth unto
them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
You see they heard his preaching, they heard his doctrine, they
saw his authority, and they saw the effects of the preaching
of the gospel upon the people round about him, and they sought
to slay him. Have you heard his preaching?
Have you heard his gospel? Have you seen the effects of
that gospel? What is your reaction? Does your
heart seek to slay him? Do you shut your ears? Do you
say away with this man? Crucify him! Crucify him! Or do you say Lord if thou wilt
thou canst make me clean Lord if thou wilt thou canst
make me clean Following this rejection by the
scribes and chief priests. Christ gives the parable of the
wicked husbandmen of that vineyard and of how the servants were
sent into the vineyard and the husbandmen beat them and sent
them away. And at the end, the Lord would
send his own son and said, they will revere my son. They will
honour my son, they will reverence him. But the husbandmen said,
this is the heir, come, let us kill him and the inheritance
shall be ours. And they took him and killed
him and cast him out of the vineyard. Yes, preachers had come before
Christ, prophesying of his coming, declaring his gospel in type
and figure. and mankind in darkness rejected
them. In the end, in the fullness of
time, Christ himself came, the preacher, a preacher like none
other. With greater authority and more
power, evident power, he came and the effects of his preaching
were seen for all to see. The sick were healed, the blind
were made to see, the deaf were made to hear. and the husbandmen
of his vineyard, the religious at the time, the chief priests,
the scribes, the Pharisees, said, this is the heir, let us kill
him, and the inheritance shall be ours. The disciples in chapter
13 are comforted regarding times to come. They're warned that
the gospel will go forth amongst all nations, and some will hear,
but others will reject. False prophets will go forth,
much opposition will come, but he who endures to the end, he
who is kept by the grace of God to the end will be saved. And then the chief priests have
their way. They take the son. They take the heir. They take
this preacher, this troubler in Israel. This one who caused
such a stir amongst the people. They take him and they deliver
him up by wicked hands to be crucified. And upon the cross,
Christ cries out. this preacher, this servant of
the Lord, with a loud voice, as he suffers under the wrath
of God, as he's nailed to the tree, as God takes the sins of
all his people and lays them upon him, that horrible thing. that he should be made sin, that
they might be made the righteousness of God, that he, the Holy One,
should bear the sins of his own people in his own body on the
tree, and that his father in that hour should pour out the
anger of his wrath, the cup of his wrath should be drunk by
his son, and he should forsake him for what he was made to be,
vicariously for them, In that hour, in that state, Christ the
servant, the preacher cries out, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? A rough tongue a
servant's tongue, a working man's tongue, not Eli Eli as in other
gospels, as in Matthew, but Eloi Eloi, a rough Galilean tongue,
just the preacher and no one, and yet the one who died to save
his own. He rises again on the third day,
having finished the work, having saved his own, he rises again
in power, and the women go to the tomb where they find him
not, but in the tomb there sits the young man, depicting that
preacher risen from the dead. And finally, at the end of Mark's
gospel, he appears unto his disciples, and we have this record of his
commission unto them. Here in these last few verses
in Mark's gospel, these verses removed from the modern translations,
you won't find them in the NIV. They question the authenticity
of them because they can't find them in some old manuscripts.
And yet God has preserved them in his word because they conclude
Mark's purpose in presenting forth the preacher without these
verses. Mark's message is ripped to tatters
for this is the preacher he came in the beginning in chapter one
we saw he appears on the scene preaching the gospel and he concludes
at the end by sending forth his disciples into all the world
to preach his gospel. afterward he appeared unto the
eleven as they sat at meat and upbraided them with their unbelief
and a 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 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. He sent forth his disciples to
preach the gospel. And he, as it were, ascended. The preacher sat down on high,
having completed his work, continues to preach. For he sent forth
preachers to this very day to preach the gospel to every creature. And in the very last verses in
the book, 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 with signs following. Have you heard this word from
heaven? Have you heard this preacher
with this gospel? For he being dead, yet speaketh,
it is said of Abel. And Christ having died, risen
again and ascended, yet speaketh this day by those whom he sends
forth with his gospel, by whom he speaks through his Spirit,
to those to whom the Spirit has gone forth to prepare the ground,
to give them ears to hear, that they, hearing that the time is
fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, should repent
and believe the gospel. Amen.