Mark chapter 16. In this passage we begin reading
of the resurrection of our Lord, the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We read that Mary Magdalene and
Mary the mother of James and Salmone, they had went to the
grave. They went there to anoint the
Lord's body. And when they arrived at that
sepulcher, there at the grave, much to their surprise, they
found that that stone had been rolled away. And inside there
was a young man, what appeared to be a young man, clothed in
long white garments. And he said unto them, look at
Mark 16, verse 6, verse 6, he said, Be not affrighted. Be not afraid. He said, You seek
Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. He's risen. He's not here. Behold the place. Apparently,
these sepulchres were large enough for sometimes several people
to be buried in, but they said, look there to the place where
they laid him. Verse 7, but go your way and tell his disciples And Peter. And Peter. I believe I've read
over that several times and not really noticed that it says,
tell his disciples and you tell Peter also. You know it was Peter, we read
in Matthew 14, Peter, who said to the Lord, Lord, if it be Thou,
bid me come unto Thee on the water. Peter must have just had great
faith, didn't he? He looked to the Lord and he said, let me
walk on the water with You. And when Peter was come down
out of that ship, He walked on water to go to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now we know that was short-lived,
wasn't it? Isn't that just an amazing thing? That for a brief moment, Peter
walked on water with the Lord. In John chapter 18, remember
that band of men? There was a band of men who came
to take the Lord. There they were in the garden,
and these men, they were serious. They came with their lanterns.
They came with weapons. They came with torches. And it
was Peter, who having a sword, drew it out, and he cut off the
ear. of the high priest servant of
Malchus. Wouldn't that be great faith?
I mean, here you are with this great enemy approaching. Somebody's
coming to take your master and he reaches in and he pulls out
that sword and no doubt, I've heard many men say he wasn't
aiming for his ear. He was going to take his head
off. He was going to defend his Lord to the death. In Matthew 16, the Lord asked His disciples,
He said, ìWhom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?î And they
said, ìWell, some say youíre John the Baptist, and some say
Elias, and some say Jeremias, and some say one of the other
prophets.î And He put the question to them, He said, ìWho do you
say that I am?î Once again, it's Peter. Peter,
who said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
to Peter, he said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jon. Flesh and
blood didn't reveal that to you. You didn't come up with that
on your own. But my Father, which is in heaven,
And I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock,
upon this confession, I'm going to build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it." Peter, who would say this, he
said, although everyone will be offended, I won't. I wonder, just kind of looking
at his track record, if the other disciples, when they heard that,
just like, I wish I'd have said that first, right? Lord, if you die, I'll die with you. I will not
deny thee in any wise. Not me. And yet. Peter was one of those disciples
who, when the Lord was there praying, and the Lord had said, stay and
watch, he fell asleep. Not once, not twice, but three
times. And the Lord looked at him and
he said, sleepest thou? Could you not watch for one hour? Three times. And this same Peter
that denied, denied the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Luke 22.
Luke 22. Look at verse 54, Luke 22, 54. Then took they him, they took
the Lord, and led him and brought him into the high priest's house.
And Peter, he followed from afar off. Should have been an indication
there, shouldn't it? Wasn't going to get too close.
He was keeping his distance back. And when they'd kindled a fire
in the midst of the hall and were sat down together, Peter
sat down among them. And a certain maid looked over
and saw him, beheld him as he sat by the fire and earnestly
looked upon him and said, this man, Peter, this man was also
with him. What did Peter do? He denied
him, saying, Woman, I know him not. This is the same man that
said, thou art the Christ. He looked at the Lord, thou art
the Christ, the son of the living God. And just a little time passed
and he says, I don't know him. I don't know him. In about a
space of an hour after, another confidently affirmed saying of
a truth. This fellow also was with him
for he's a Galilean. And Peter said, man, I know not
what thou sayest. Three times. Three times he denied
the Lord and immediately wise spake the cock crow. And Peter remembered what the
Lord had told him and how he had said to him, before the cock
crow, thou shalt deny me three times. And Peter, when that happened,
it says he went out and he wept bitterly, made aware of his sin, made aware
of his denial of the Lord, made aware of his guilt. Has the Lord revealed that to
you? Has he let us see just a glimpse of our guilt, of our shame. Turn back to Mark chapter 16. Mark 16. Look again at verse 6 and 7 of
Mark 16. Be not afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He's risen. He's not here. Behold the place where they laid
him, but go your way and tell his disciples and tell Peter. Tell Peter. You know, I wonder, I wonder if this was a surprise
to these women. No doubt when Peter denied the
Lord, no doubt that had to go out. Doesn't that happen every
time one of God's sheep falls into trial or falls into difficulty?
What's the first thing people say? Oh, I thought they were
a believer. I thought they were one of the
Lord's. Some people say that with sadness. Some people say
it with joy. Take great pleasure in seeing God's sheep falter. Maybe it was said for them. You go tell Peter also. I wonder how Peter felt when he
heard those words. It said Peter went out and wept
bitterly. Don't you think that went through
his head too? I thought I was one of the Lord's
sheep. I thought, how could I do this? Go tell Peter also. I believe these had to be words
that comforted him and his disciples. They were ashamed. They were
afraid. Some had returned to their old
jobs. Go your way. his disciples. And you tell Peter
also, all the grace of God, all the love of the Lord Jesus Christ
for his sheep. Go your way. Tell his disciples,
tell Peter, they're mine. They're mine. They always have
been and they always will be. Tell them that he goeth forth
before you into Galilee, and there shall you see him as he
said unto you, just as he said to them. Let's read on in our
text here in Mark 16, verse 8. And they went out quickly and
fled from the sepulcher, for they trembled, And they were
amazed. Neither said they anything to
any man, for they were afraid. And when Jesus was risen early
the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he'd cast seven devils. And she went out and told them
that had been with him as they mourned and as they wept. They mourned and wept. over his death, no doubt over
the loss of his presence. I would imagine they wept and
mourned over the fact that one of them had betrayed him. Another had denied him openly,
and all of them had forsaken him. They mourned his absence. I'd imagine they grieved over
their sin. I was thinking about this last
night. You know, there are times when
we grieve. There are times when we mourn. Especially. They had lost the
Lord here. And they mourned and grieved
over that. I fear sometimes that we feel like we don't have any
faith or that our faith is weak because we mourned. That we feel
like we don't have any faith because we're troubled about
things. Read with me down to verse 14.
Begin with verse 11 there. And they, when they heard that
he was alive and had been seen, they believed not. They still
didn't believe. And 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 to the residue. They
told it to the rest of them. Neither believed they them. And afterward, verse 14, He appeared
unto the eleven as He said it meet, and He upbraided them. I had
to look that up. He reproached them. He rebuked
them. Why? Was it because they mourned
and grieved? No, sir. No, he upbraided them
because of their unbelief and the hardness of their hearts. They believed not. Believe not
them which had seen him after he was risen." Why did he rebuke
them? Unbelief. All because of unbelief
and hardness of heart. In verse 15, "...and he said
unto them, The Lord said unto his disciples..." And these will
be some of his last recorded words before he ascends into
heaven. You know, we often attribute
Give a little more credence to someone's last words. Well, that's
probably true of most. But our Lord from the cradle
to the grave, he never spoke one idle word. We still have
to wonder about the significance of this. This is, what he says
here is often referred to as the great commission. Listen
to the words. Do you have verse 15? Go ye into all the world. Go into all the world. Not just here in our neighborhood. Well, we're thankful, aren't
we? We're thankful that of all places the Lord would be pleased
to bring His gospel here and keep it here. He says, go into all the world.
Paul told Timothy, he said, you do the work of an evangelist. Go into the world. You know,
there are missionaries that preach the word in Mexico, in Africa. This gospel goes around this
world. The Lord's pleased to do that.
We're shocked that he'd bring it anywhere, aren't we? We're
thankful. Go into all the world. We're thankful for this gospel.
And this, listen, this command is as urgent today as it was
2,000 years ago. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. Not, I mean, I guess it's great
that people learn how to plant a garden and maybe they have
water brought to them, things like that. But listen, is there
anything more important than the living water? Is there anything
more important than the gospel? That's the work. Preach the gospel. It pleased God. Think about this
statement, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. The gospel, the gospel, preach
the gospel. Paul told Timothy, he said, preach
the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. And there's a reason
for this charge. We're charged to do that until
he's pleased to return. You know there's going to come
a time, and that time has come, when people will not receive
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. Our self-righteous
nature. are proud and boastful spirit.
Men are going to be lovers of themselves more than lovers of
God. There are those who are going
to turn their back on this message of grace. They treat it with ridicule.
They treat it with contempt. They seek out false preachers,
not to tell them the truth, but to just tell them what they want
to hear. Just tickle the ears. There's so-called worship service
where there's not an ounce of gospel preached. Men want to hear doctrine that
promotes their free will rather than salvation, salvation by grace, salvation
by the Lord Jesus Christ. The time will come, Scripture
says, when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their
own lusts, they'll heap to themselves teachers having itching ears,
and they'll turn away their ears from the truth and be turned
unto fables." I pray the Lord would always
keep His hand on us. That He would not deliver us
to ourselves, to our own free will, but He would continue to
hold us and keep us in His Word. That He would continue to keep
His Gospel in this place. And that we would never lose
sight of this command. Preach the Gospel. What's the command? Preach the
Gospel. To do that, we declare that men
are fallen. They're sinful. They're lost. The truth about man, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. That we'd never
grow tired of hearing that. We say it a lot, don't we? It's
true. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Man's lost. Man's dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. Without Christ. Aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel. Strangers from the covenant of
promise. Having no hope and without God
in this world. That's the truth about man. This
gospel declares the truth about Almighty God. God who is absolutely
holy. God who is going to punish sin. And he's going to be just and
right in doing so. Sin must be punished. God's holy
man is lost, but listen, the gospel also declares that the
Lord Jesus Christ, He came. A man named the Lord Jesus Christ,
He came. And why did He come? He came
to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Son
of God, who is now in heaven, you know there's grace sufficient
to meet the need of every sinner, every one of his sheep. And whosoever
believeth in him, those sins are going to be forgiven. This gospel, listen, it's the
same gospel preached here. If you were down in Lexington
this morning, I have no idea what Todd Nybert's text is, but
I'm confident, I'm confident if you were sitting in front
of him, you'd hear the gospel preached this morning. Kingsport,
listen, in Mexico, in Africa, God's Word continues to go forth
to the great, to the small, to the bond, to the free, to the
rich, to the poor, to the Jew, to the Gentile, to the barbarian,
to the Scythian, male, female. God's Word continues to go forth. It's His command. It's His will. Preach the Word. Preach the Gospel. Go into all the world and preach
the Gospel. The gospel of his free and sovereign
grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the word of peace. It's
the word of reconciliation. It's the gospel that declares
an atoning effectual sacrifice made by his son. It declares
full and free pardon of sin. He declares justification by
His righteousness, salvation in, by, and through one, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it's all by His grace. It's He who elected us, He who
redeemed us, He who sanctified us, He who ever keeps us. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. And let's read on, Mark 16, verse
16. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Aren't those plain words? Those
are the words of our Lord. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Do you believe this gospel? Would
you rest completely in His salvation? A salvation which is all of Him. A salvation which He wrought. Believe Christ. Believe Him. Do you believe Him to be God's
appointed Savior? Do you believe that He is able
to save you? What's the command? Believe. Believe Him. We're responsible
to believe Him, to commit Him, to trust ourselves into the hands
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says the man that would
do that, the woman that would do that, Mark 9. Mark 9, there was a man whose
son, I won't have you turn there, but in Mark 9, there was a man
whose son was terribly sick. And he came to the Lord. And
he said to him, he said to the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, if
you can do anything, anything, he can do everything. He's God
in human flesh, but this man, in weak faith, but I tell you,
it was in faith. He said, if you can do anything, have compassion on us. He said
this, help us. And Jesus said unto him, the
Lord Jesus Christ said unto this man, if thou can do this one
thing, if you can do anything, if thou canst Believe. Believe. All things are possible
to him that believeth. And straightway the father of
that child cried out, and he said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And when Jesus saw that the people
came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto
him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him.
And he entered no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent
him sore, and came out of him, and he was as one dead." Everybody
thought he was dead, insomuch that many said that. They said,
he's dead. But Jesus took him by the hand,
and he lifted him up, and he arose. if thou canst believe. All things are possible to him
that believeth. Back to Mark 16, verse 16. He that believeth. He that what? He that believeth. Believeth
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. What's your confidence? What's your hope? Is it Christ? Is He all your
hope? Is He all your salvation? Is
it the Lord Jesus Christ? That's the command. Believe.
and be baptized, that's a public confession. It's an outward confession
of an inward faith. Baptism doesn't put away sin.
Listen, we could dunk somebody a whole lot of time back there
in that water. It is never, never going to put
away sin. Only Christ can do that. But
it's an answer of a good conscience toward God, toward those around
us. When a person is baptized, that
person is saying to all that look on, when they go down into
that water, they're saying, I'm dead to this world. That time that they're under
the water, I'm confessing that I am buried with Christ. I'm buried with Him. All my hope
is within Him. And coming out of the water,
We declare, I'm risen, I'm risen with Him to newness of life. He that believeth and is baptized,
Christ said this, I'm not making this up, Christ said this. He
that believeth and is baptized, are you listening? shall be saved. Saved. Kept safe. Kept safe and sound. Rescued
from danger. Rescued from destruction. Saved. Delivered from the penalty of
judgment. Made perfectly whole. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. And listen to the rest of this
verse, Mark 16, 16. He that believeth not shall be damned. Don't deny Him. Don't despise
Him. Don't neglect Him. Don't reject
Him. Those who would reject Him, those
who would refuse to believe, Their peril is imminent. God's
word says, you shall be damned. Or rather, believe. Believe. I pray as that dad we read there
earlier. This would be our, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. All right, I pray God bless His
word.