on the earth 40 days after he
was raised from the dead. And evidently, these are the
last words he spoke before he ascended back into heaven. Look
in verse 19. So then, after the Lord had spoken
unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the
right hand of God. These are his parting instructions
to his disciples. Now, he had also told them of
the signs that will follow. We're gonna consider this more
in detail Wednesday, but look what he says. 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.
And they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Now this is the Lord's promise
of the signs that will accompany the preaching of the gospel.
And like I said, these are his last words. And he says to these
11 men in verse 15, go 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. Now, here the Lord tells this
tiny band, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. And this was before radio. This
was before TV. This was before the internet.
This is before there were trains, planes, and automobiles. And
he tells this tiny band, you spread yourself out all over
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Now, let me
give you an example. This has happened on numerous
occasions. There have been men who have
gone into leper colonies, knowing that they would get this disease,
knowing these men would not hear the gospel if somebody didn't
come in and preach to them. And they have willingly gone
into these leper colonies to preach the gospel, knowing they
would die because of this, but they knew no one is saved apart
from hearing and believing the gospel. I want to have that spirit. Don't you? Faith cometh by hearing. And
you know, these men that went into these leper colonies, they
believed in election. They believed in predestination,
just like you and I do. Did that make them think, well,
if they're elect, they'll be saved. I'm not going to do that.
No, they didn't have that attitude, did they? They were willing to
die in order that these men might hear and believe the gospel. Go and preach the gospel to every
creature. And you and I are called upon
to be involved in this great commission. If we're believers, look back in Matthew 18 or 28,
this is Matthew's account of this. Verse 18, and Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, all power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Now here's your encouragement
to go preach the gospel to every creature, because all power is
given to him. This is his commission. Go ye, therefore. and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world." The great commission of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, the preaching of the gospel
is the way God has ordained for the calling out of the elect. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. That's what God's word
says. Couldn't God save without preaching? Well, I wouldn't say he couldn't, but he doesn't. That's the point. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Faith cometh by hearing. You can't believe what you've
never heard. Let me repeat that. You cannot believe what you've
never heard. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. God, the Lord did say to his
disciples, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Now that is the responsibility
of every believer. Follow me. And let me remind
you what following Christ means. Most people think it means to
imitate Christ. Well, I'm all for imitating Christ.
I want to. But that's not what follow me
means. Follow me means keep your eyes
on me only. Look to me only. As soon as you
look some other direction, you're losing. You found that in your
own experience, haven't you? Keep your eyes looking only to
me. And here's what'll happen as
a result. I will make you. fishers of men. And we're very
much like Paul when the sense that Paul said, I'm a debtor
to all men. I'm indebted to preach the gospel
of God saved you. If God saved me, I'm indebted
to other centers for them to hear how God saves. You know,
if somebody came up with a perfect cure for, um, COVID and decided
not to give it, that'd be monstrous, wouldn't it? Not as monstrous
as someone who knows the gospel and doesn't tell somebody else
concerning the gospel. Go ye, every believer, go ye. to all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. Now, the first thing that I want
us to focus on is the gospel. Definite article, the gospel. The good news, the gospel of
which Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. for
it is the power of God unto salvation. What is the gospel? It is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. To
the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein in the gospel
is the righteousness of God revealed. Preach the gospel to every creature. Now, I said this recently, Genesis
1-1 through Revelation 22-21 is what God uses to declare the
gospel. And this book has one message,
the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ. That's
one of the reasons why I have such disdain for confessions
of men. Well, here's what this book is
all about. No, this book is what this book is all about, not my
comments on it, not what I think, what God says in his word. And
he uses Genesis 1-1 through Revelation 22-21 to declare the gospel. And there's thousands of places
in the scripture where the gospel is clearly declared. Matter of fact, the whole book
is where the gospel is clearly declared. But what I would like
to do this morning is confine ourselves to Mark's use of the
word gospel. It's found eight times in the
book of Mark, and we're going to look at each of them briefly. to see what the Lord means when
he says, preach the gospel to every creature. First turn to
Mark chapter one, verse one. I told Lynn while we were driving
over here, I believe this would be one of my many favorite verses.
Mark chapter one, verse one. This is how Mark comes out of
the gate. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. The beginning, the origin. When did the gospel begin? Did
it begin 2,000 years ago when Christ was born? No, this is
the gospel that's eternal. The beginning, the origin, God
himself before time began the beginning. Now this gospel is
what John called in the book of revelation, revelation 14,
verse six, the everlasting gospel. The eternal gospel, this gospel
is as old as God. That means this gospel never
had a beginning and it will never have an end. Revelation 13, eight,
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the beginning,
the origin of the gospel, the good news of his son, THE GOOD
NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD. NOW, IT'S THE GOSPEL
OF WHO HE IS. THE GOSPEL IS A MESSAGE CONCERNING
WHO HE IS. THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS. WHO HE IS. You see, what we believe is determined
by who He is. He's Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. The uncreated, second person of the blessed trinity, the one
of whom it said, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. bodily You know because of who
he is it's impossible for him to fail in his intentions Whatever
was he intended to do because of who he is Whatever he intended
to do He did Matthew 121 says thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins and that's exactly
what he did and It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the savior. Do you need saved? Do you need
saved? Well, he's the only one who can
save you. He is the savior. He's Jesus Christ. He's the word of God. He's God's
prophet. HE'S GOD'S PRIEST. IF HE BRINGS YOU INTO GOD'S PRESENCE,
YOU MUST BE SAVED. HE'S GOD'S KING. HE'S THE KING
OF KINGS, THE LORD OF LORDS. HE'S THE ONE WHO HAS THE ABILITY
TO MAKE SURE ALL THIS COMES TO PASS. THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL
OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD. NOW LOOK AT VERSE 14 OF THIS
SAME CHAPTER. Now, after the John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel, the good
news of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God. This kingdom has a king. Revelation chapter 17 verse 14
says that he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Don't you
love that description of the Lord Jesus Christ? He's the Lord
of Lords. He's the King of Kings. He said, by me do kings reign
and princes decree justice. And they that are with him. are
called, chosen, and faithful. That is the description of every
one of his subjects, called by the invincible grace of God,
chosen by him in eternal election. You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. Faithful, they believe the gospel. They believe the gospel, and
they can be believed. When they say they believe the
gospel, they really do believe the gospel. Now, look in verse
15. Here's the third time the word
is used. The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel. Repent ye, change your mind,
and believe the gospel. You don't believe the gospel
right now. Change your mind, repent, and believe the gospel. Now, repent, repent, change your
mind. You know, the stuff you believe
about God is all false. Your natural thoughts about God,
they're all wrong. They're contrary to what the scripture says. Repent.
Repent about the thought you have of yourself. They're all
wrong. You're a whole lot worse than
you think. You really are. You're a whole lot more evil
than you think. You really are. You need a savior.
Repent of your wrong thoughts of yourself. They're wrong. They're
wrong. Repent of your thoughts of salvation. Everybody thinks by nature that
the forgiveness of sins is the end of salvation. If you do this,
if you stop doing that, and if you start doing this and you
quit being that way and you become this way, you'll have the forgiveness
of sins. Repent of that foolishness. SALVATION DOES NOT END WITH THE
FORGIVENESS OF SINS. IT BEGINS WITH THE FULL, COMPLETE
FORGIVENESS OF SINS. YOU REPENT OF ANYTHING THAT'S
CONTRARY TO THAT. REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL,
THE GOOD NEWS. Turn to Mark chapter eight, verse 34. And when he had called
the people unto him with his disciples, also he said unto
them, whosoever will come after me. let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life For my sake and the gospel's. Now, here are two things that
go together. His sake and the gospel's sake. They can't be separated, can
they? For my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. If I seek to save myself, I'll
be lost. Did you hear that? If I seek to save myself, I will
not be saved. If I fail to deny myself, take up my cross. That's not
talking about taking up the afflictions God sends on us, that's taking
up the confession of Christ in this world, salvation only by
the cross. And if I fail to follow him,
I won't be saved. I won't be. If I don't save myself, I lose
my life. You know what? I'll be saved.
And this is the gospel. I deny salvation by self. I look to Christ only. I will
be saved. I lose my life. I lose all hopes
of self-salvation. I will be saved. Mark chapter 10, verse 29. And Jesus answered and said,
verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands, for my sake and the gospels." Notice those two things
are there together again. His sake and the gospels. They
can't be separated. But he shall receive an hundredfold
down this time houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and
children, and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal
life. Now this is the only message that is so precious to those
who believe that by his grace they forsake and don't count
it sacrifice. What do I mean by that? Whatever
you forsake, is it a sacrifice? No, it's no sacrifice. such as the glory of his person,
that that's the way you see, it's no sacrifice. If I lose everything, what have
I lost? Dung? Dung? In light of the glory of his
person and the greatness of his gospel, it's no sacrifice to
lose. As a matter of fact, it's gain. It's gain. Now turn with me to
Mark chapter 13, verse 10. And the gospel, these are the
words of the Lord, and the gospel must first be published. Among all nations, this is the
message that must first be published. You know, uh, something I never
liked to hear people say, I'm sharing the gospel. I'm not sharing
the gospel. I'm publishing it. There's not
a, uh, you know, I don't know. The Bible doesn't talk like that.
I'm sharing the gospel. Most of what goes under the name
of preaching is not publishing. The gospel is trying to manipulate
people, trying to get them to feel bad, to get them to do certain
things and get them to stop doing certain things. It's a thing
of manipulation. The gospel is not a thing of
manipulation. Paul said, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the gospel. to publish the gospel, to declare
the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ
should be made of none effect. No, we're not trying to manipulate
people. We preach the gospel and leave them alone. God will
do the work. If I try to do the work, all
I'll do is mess it up. I'll screw myself up and you
up. We publish the gospel, and that is what comes first. Mark 14, the gospel is the message
that must be published, not apologized for, not try to bring in the
back door, not try to get people along gradually. You know, we
got to, no, it's published, published. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. I'm proud of it. It's to be published. Now look in verse nine of Mark
chapter 14. Verily, I say unto you, wheresoever
this gospel shall be preached throughout all the whole world,
this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial
of her. That's talking about this woman. Let's read about
her. Verse three, Mark 14, and being in Bethany, in the house
of Simon the leper, as he sat at me, there came a woman having
an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious,
And she break the box and poured it on his head. Now I would have saved the box and
I'd show you all what I did. Look what I did. Here's proof.
Not her. She broke it. And she poured it on his head.
And there were some that had indignation within themselves
and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might've been sold for
more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor. And they
murmured against her. And Jesus said, let her alone. Why trouble ye
her? She hath wrought a good work
on me." Now understand this, only the gospel produces this. She didn't do this work for recognition. for hope of reward, for fear
of punishment. She did this work solely for
him. Law cannot produce that. The
law can never produce that. Only the gospel produces this. You see such glory in Jesus Christ
that you forget yourself. This is done solely for him. Only the gospel produces that. And back to our text in Mark
chapter 16, verse 15. Go ye. unto all the world and preach the gospel, the gospel
as it's just been attempted to describe, the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, the gospel of His kingdom, the gospel that
calls for repentance of anything that's contrary to this gospel.
You go, you go into all the world and preach this glorious message
to every creature. You know, I love the way the
Lord inspired Pilate to write the accusation above the head
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And do you remember what it said? the king of the Jews. But it's
pointed out that it was written in Latin and in Greek and in
Hebrew. Latin, the religion or the language
of the educated. Greek, the language of the common
man. Hebrew, the language of the religious
man. And you know what? They all got
the exact same message. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. You go preach the gospel to every
creature. Now look what he says in verse
16. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. that he that believeth not shall
be damned. He that believeth, what does
he believe? The gospel. Now listen real carefully. This is a message to be believed. Romans 4, 5 says to him that
worketh not, but believeth. You know, you can't work and
believe at the same time. Did you know that? If you're
working, you ain't believing. If you're believing, you ain't
working. To him that worketh not, but
believeth. on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12,
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. Acts 8.39, what hinders me from
being baptized if you believe? With all your heart, you may. He replied, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. You believe that? Do you believe
that Jesus Christ is God the Son? John chapter six, verse 29. This
is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent. God sent him. And you believe
he did what God sent him to do. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe. He didn't say there's nothing
you can do to be saved. He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. As many as received him, TO THEM
GAVE HE THE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, EVEN TO THEM WHICH
BELIEVE ON HIS NAME. WHOSO BELIEVETH THAT JESUS IS
THE CHRIST IS BORN OF GOD. WE BELIEVE AND ARE SURE THAT
THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED TO ETERNAL
LIFE, WHAT? BELIEVED. BELIEVED. THESE THINGS ARE WRITTEN THAT
YOU MIGHT BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST AND THAT BELIEVING
YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE THROUGH HIS NAME. THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IS A
MESSAGE TO BE BELIEVED. THE LORD SAID TO THOSE TWO BLIND
MEN, DO YOU BELIEVE? that I am able to do this. Do you believe that he is able
to save you with no help, with no contribution whatsoever from
you? He that believeth and is baptized The same shall be saved. Now, the act of baptism does
not save. You know, people believe that
going underwater and coming back out, you're born again. Your
sins are washed away. That's just foolishness to think
the act of baptism saves anybody. It doesn't. Somebody says, you
have to be baptized to be saved. Well, the thief on the cross
was not baptized, was he? He was not baptized. Now, I don't
have any doubt that if he wasn't nailed to a cross, he would have
been. He couldn't be baptized, but he was not baptized. He died
having never been baptized and he was saved. So we know that
the act of baptism does not save. But the Lord still says, who
so believeth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Now,
what is the significance of this thing of baptism? Well, number
one, it's just doing what the Lord said. That's enough of a
reason, isn't it? If he said to be baptized, That's
why I need to be baptized. He said to, and baptism is such
a beautiful illustration of salvation. I love to think of baptism in
the sense that when Jesus Christ lived, I was in him and I lived,
I kept the law. When Jesus Christ died, I died
with him. I went into the grave with him.
When sin was put away and he was raised, I was there, my sin
was put away. When he was raised from the dead,
I was in him. I was raised from the dead. What
a beautiful illustration we have of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Now, what are you waiting on?
What are you waiting on? Good question. What are you waiting
on? What hinders me from being baptized?
What are you waiting on? Let me say this with regard to
baptism. It's baptism by mercy. The very
idea of an infant being baptized is, it's evil. That's all I know to say, it's
evil. Why did he say, whoso believeth and is baptized should be saved?
Because here's the requisite for baptism, belief. Believe
the gospel. And baptism is believers baptism. IF YOU WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS
OF BEING DUNKED WITHOUT HAVING EVER HEARD THE GOSPEL, THAT WASN'T
BAPTISM. THAT WOULDN'T MEAN DIFFERENT
THAN WHEN YOU GO TO THE SWIMMING POOL AND GO UNDERWATER AND COME BACK UP.
I MEAN, THAT'S NOT BAPTISM. BAPTISM IS BELIEVER'S BAPTISM.
WHEN YOU BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. I don't know how many of you
right now are thinking, well, I wonder if I believed when I was baptized. Every time
I hear that, I start thinking that. I'm not asking you if you
knew enough. Don't be thinking that way. You
know more now than you did when you were first baptized, don't
you? You have a little bit more understanding of the gospel now
than you did. And you'll have more now. But if you did not
believe the gospel, that act of going under the water was
not baptism. Baptism is for believers. Whoso believeth and is baptized,
the same shall be saved. And then the Lord gives what
I believe is the most terrifying words in all the Word of God.
And this is not some fundamentalist hellfire and brimstone red-faced
preacher screaming this. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He that believeth not shall be damned. That one who does not believe
will go to hell. That is what that means. What is unbelief? You know, when the Lord convicts
of sin, He says, when he has come, he will convince the world
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, of sin, because
they believe not on me. You have been convicted of sin.
When you find out that you're guilty of unbelief and faith
is really altogether out of your grasp, you cannot just up and
believe. You're dependent upon him to
cause you to believe. You're not even being convinced
of sin until you've been convinced of that, of sin because they
believe not on me. What is unbelief? Well, unbelief
is the opposite of faith. Faith is believing God's word.
Unbelief does not believe God's word. Faith sees the glory of God in
what Christ did. He gets all the glory. He accomplished
it. Unbelief sees no glory. It just sees no glory. You see,
unbelief doesn't even need Christ. I can be saved by works. Unbelief
sees no value in the blood of Christ or the work of Christ
or the intercession of Christ. It's fine without Christ. Has
no love for Christ. She's no beauty in the cross. My works will do. My works will
do. How evil. What do you think of
your works? And do you think nothing of the
work of Christ? Why did he come? Faith is trust. Unbelief says
he is not trustworthy. Faith receives him. Unbelief
rejects him. We'll not have this man reign
over us. Unbelief is the greatest sin. It's the sin from which
all other sins proceed. Failure to trust Jesus Christ
as all in salvation. And to not trust Christ as all
in salvation will mean you will. And I say this, I hope with a
broken heart, but if you fail to trust Christ as all you have,
you will be damned. And that's what the Lord says.
This is not the words of some red face angry preacher. These
are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He that believeth not
shall be damned. May the Lord give us the grace
to believe the gospel. And may the Lord give us the
zeal for his gospel to go into all the world. and to preach
this gospel. I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Let's pray. Lord, would you be pleased to
come down in your word and give every man, woman, boy
and girl in this room the grace to believe your gospel. Lord, we thank you for the gospel
of Jesus Christ, the son of God, how glorious he is. Bless your
word for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen.