He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Two distinct and significant events in that one sentence. You have saving faith there presented to us, and you have that faith, that saving faith demonstrated by the act of water baptism. But water baptism saves no one. Ephesians 2, for by grace, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest anyone should brag. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of Mark.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Despair to Proclamation is the title of Pastor Rick's message, and today he'll be teaching in Mark chapter 16. Jesus did not expound when he met those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He did not sing them a song.
He did not talk to them about ritual. Oh, well, you've got to, you know, light this candle and put it just over here to the east. What did Jesus expound on with his disciples once he was risen? The Word. Luke's Gospel 24 verse 27, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. So he dealt with prophecy, prophecy fulfilled, application of the prophecy. I mean, what good is it if you know that you have an end time scenario and you do nothing with it? I mean, we don't learn these things so we can just go home and say, boy, that was really nice.
It's tempting. I mean, I love reading sermons from the old pastors, but I have to do something with it. It's not just, boy, that was like, you know, watching a play or something. It usually turns into work, scribbling notes, and it's not as enjoyable as it is just, I mean, I could probably read War and Peace in an hour, but it's an exaggeration. But, of course, when I come to a Bible material, I can't read it because I'm busy. Boy, this is a point.
I don't want to forget this. Thank you, Lord, and on it. And maybe you're the same way. Or maybe you just hear someone else preaching. It's okay if you have the same, you know, boy, I just keep pausing it so I can think about that, write it down. There are bookworms and there are tapeworms.
It's okay to be one or the other. Anyway, the age of the apostles was accompanied by miracles for a long part of that. But because of their work, because of the signs and wonders that followed their work, we now have the truth in written form.
Now, that does not mean, I'm not saying I do not believe in the gifts, the signs and wonders, but it does mean that it is not like it was, and we covered this last session, as it was in the days of the apostles. Physical miracles are not as widespread presently as they were in biblical times. Since we are now in the age of truth by faith through grace, the word is the dominant vehicle.
There are other vehicles. But scripture is by far dominant. Remember, Pharaoh, he saw signs and wonders and he still did not believe. Deuteronomy 26 verse 8, So Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.
Well, this has to do what we're talking about, does it not? Because Jesus is going to use signs and wonders in the early church to establish the church. But he gives them something to think about through scripture. That's what happened with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. He gave them something to think about, to develop, and to apply.
That ain't easy. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night because that's what it takes. That's what it takes to be used by God. Should we say, Lord, I want you to honor me and use me to preach in all the world. I just don't want to know your word.
Well, that of course would be crazy. Verse 14, Later he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table, and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He wanted them to believe the preaching. And he didn't say to Mary, Okay, you've seen me, now I'm going to give you a sign and wonder to take back so they'll believe me. Mark again condensing the appearances of Christ. Peter and Thomas present at some point and this is I think verse 14 would have that. He materialized in their midst. He ate food.
He demonstrated that his body was real, but that it could also vanish, that there were physical laws in place, but there were also other laws in place and he had mastered them. Where he rebukes them here, their unbelief, love must rebuke what is wrong in order to restore and to preserve and to advance in situations like this. If you have a child and the child is doing something that is wrong and harmful, that child must be rebuked, dealt with. I mean, it doesn't have to be harsh. Some children are very responsive to it. You know, don't do that.
I'm good. My father could just look in my direction and it would all stop until he went away and I could go back at it. Anyway, this is part of our faith as Christians. Galatians 6, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. That's a verse that every Christian should memorize. Every Christian should look to apply that.
You know, walking around a microscope, instead of trying to take beams out of people's eyes, it's easier to spot a beam and take it out of someone else's eye than to get the mote out of your own. Despair hardened their hearts. That's why they did not believe.
What a lesson. I don't want to hear this when I'm in a state of despair. When I'm in a state of despair, I just want relief from whatever is causing me this lack of faith. But that's not how it works.
Not all the time. I have to remember, okay, I'm supposed to endure. Take the pain. Despair hardened their hearts. Lesson for me, Scripture warms the hearts. Again, Luke's Gospel 24, verse 32. And they said to one another, this is the two again on the road to Emmaus, after they realized Christ had been with them, did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us.
Interesting point. Their hearts were burning as He was giving them lessons on Scripture, even though they still thought He was dead. That's the power of the Word of God. It warmed their hearts in the midst of their grief. And then when they realized it, they put it all together. And that's where victories are. And that's where I want to be. Verse 15, and He said to them, go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
Now, not like some of the history. He's not talking about going and preaching to ants or, you know, mosquitoes. Who wants to preach to mosquitoes? Just, anyway. Clearly, what He says to them, go into all the world, this is the church age, because it was physically impossible for the 12 to go throughout the whole world.
This is looking down the telescope. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Well, we're not supposed to be separatists, isolationists, spiritual hermits, living in monasteries. I mean, when they first started monasteries, they were, you know, they did have a plan. It was not intended to be what monasteries became. But anyway, we're not there now.
We're not supposed to be isolated from the world. We are supposed to seek and engage as the Spirit gives opportunity. Philippians, chapter 2, verse 15. I love reading these verses. This is one of the bonuses of preaching. The not so bonuses of preaching is when you mess up. You know, God gets all the credit for the good stuff. And I get all the credit for the bad stuff.
Anyway, that's the contract. Verse 15 of Philippians 2, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. How profound is that? How many that named Christ don't want to hear that?
The Christian life is to be dominated by truth through the word. Where else are you going to get it from? God has not entrusted Christianity to skywriting. Or something, well, what am I going to do today? Oh, here comes a plane.
I'll read what it says. It's from God. The church age is one of faith, by truth, not by sight. And before the church age, Israel was the primary mission field. Matthew chapter 10. These 12 Jesus sent out and commanded them saying, do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter the city of the Samaritans. And he says to the lost sheep of Israel. Now he is saying, go into all the world after the resurrection. Now it's time to expand the ministry. And we'll see this again in Acts chapter 1 verse 8. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria to the end of the earth.
Collectively, as the church, not any one individual. I like watching food channels and travel channels because I don't want to go to any of those places and eat any of those things. And I'm always entertained by people who do go eat those things and live in those places. They may say the same about me. But anyhow, we have a perfect message. It is a perfect message that is to be delivered by an imperfect people. Get used to that.
Remember that. When you feel like you're not worthy because you're not. But yet God, the love of God, the abilities of God, and as he confronted those men, he reproved them for their reluctance to believe and yet he encouraged them to go out and thank you Lord that you are this way. Verse 16, He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Two distinct and significant events in that one sentence. You have saving faith there presented to us and you have that faith, that saving faith, demonstrated by the act of water baptism. But water baptism saves no one. Ephesians 2, For by grace, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest anyone should brag.
Ooh, look at me. I got baptized twice or some goofy thing. We know that's not how it works, but there may be others that don't know it and we should point it out to them. Those who believe are to be baptized. That's what the Bible, it is a commandment. Jesus will tell his disciples, go into all the world baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And that baptism, it declares this union with Christ and his death, the burial, the resurrection, it preaches this lesson by that one action. God commands and expects believers to be baptized and we see this in Acts, we'll see it in Acts as there are those converts to Christianity. But I'm sure the part that some of you are eager to get to is but he who does not believe will be condemned and comment to he who believes and is baptized. Some of you might want to know an answer for that. And me knowing that, I would like to skip over it. No, that would be just too easy.
That's what you do with a sibling. Anyway, oh, you wanted chocolate? Well, I got you vanilla. You all don't think that way.
You're just like perfect people, aren't you? Anyhow, but he who does not believe will be condemned. So the condemnation is pronounced on unbelief, not immersion. He doesn't say but he who does not believe and is not baptized.
He says he who does not believe will be condemned. That closes it right there, leaving on the outside the connection between water baptism and salvation. And again, you know, the thief on the cross didn't, you know, the Lord didn't say, well, too bad because the church really needs to have people who are water baptized and you missed it.
No, that of course is not the case. God can get people into heaven without water baptism. And to suppose that sinners must be baptized to be saved is a misinterpretation of that verse. The emphasis is on believing. If you want verses, just a couple of them, John 3.16 through 18 and John 3.36 are excellent verses to knock down anyone that you, knock down the argument, knock down anyone.
That would be a different class. But anyway, if a person does not believe, they are condemned even if they are baptized. You can be baptized and go to hell if you insist. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.
It never says he that is not baptized shall be damned. This is the clear teaching of the scripture. Verse 17, these signs will follow those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. These signs will follow those.
I'll back you up, he is saying to his apostles. The sign indicates something, something else it is pointing to. The sign is not the thing itself. The sign is always less than the thing that it is indicating. If you were driving to the airport and you say, oh, there's a sign to the airport, you don't stop there and wait for the plane.
You can, it just won't land there. These signs that he is speaking of, it's not the first time God has given his people the power to do signs and wonders, of course. Just the ministry of Elijah, for example. This is the transition period. Christ is transitioning. These 40 days after the crucifixion, resurrection, he's transitioning his believers from a Judaism-centered system to the church.
And the early chapters of Acts are loaded with the following signs and more that he is going to mention here. I will also point out, you know, the early church met in homes, not by choice, by necessity. They had a choice. They had to meet. They would have loved to have been able to meet like the synagogues. When Paul gave so many instructions to the church, it was built on what the synagogues were doing because it was a sensible thing. He gets to the hall of Tyrannus and he begins to, again, have service in a more formal environment than in someone's home. Today, if you have a Bible study in someone's home and the church starts to grow beyond four people with kids, you'll learn real quick, this home thing is not a good idea.
It doesn't work well for anybody. Just gauging what you think about that by looking at you. Anyway, these early chapters of Acts is where I am. The transitional period, the church transitioned from the home to the public arena and it's a good thing. Of course, the Caesars outlawed the church, stopped it from doing that at times, and it's not only the Caesars.
Even to this day, there are places where the church cannot assemble. Anyway, in my name, they will cast out demons. Well, it is true that when you share the gospel with someone and they convert to Christianity, you just cast out a heavy demonic influence. 1 John 3, verse 8, For this purpose the Son of Man was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. And preaching the Word of God does that. Thus the emphasis on the Word of God, thus the attacks by Satan on the Word of God, be it through a direct attack on the Bible, as we saw in Genesis chapter 3, attacking God's Word, or as we see in the universities and other forums and also in the individual heart.
In my name they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. What's a new tongue? You know, when the Lord spoke these words to them, tongues as we know it, they didn't know it. They didn't know what that deistatic tongue, to praise God in a spiritual language.
They did not have that knowledge. When their first encounter with tongues is speaking praises to God in their language being received by people with a foreign language. And we'll cover that in Acts chapter 2. Tongues can mean various languages. It can mean spiritual language. Acts chapter 10, when Peter's preaching in the house of Cornelius, you know, the Holy Spirit interrupted his sermon. They began to speak in tongues.
And Peter said they need to be baptized with water, having been baptized with the Spirit in that situation. God used the subject of tongues in the church even as a warning sign to unbelieving Jews. You see, in Isaiah 28, Isaiah writes, for with stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to his people. Well, originally Isaiah meant the Assyrian tongue. The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom, and he says there's a judgment coming. That tongue was not a blessing in that case.
It was a curse. But, over 700 years, here comes Paul. And Paul is going to quote this verse from Isaiah, and the Holy Spirit gives him an application for the church. 1 Corinthians 14, verse 21. In the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips, I will speak to this people.
Now he's quoting Isaiah. And yet, for all that, they will not hear me, says the Lord. Therefore, tongues are for a sign to those who believe, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. That usage of the tongue, it is a warning that there's something spiritual going on, and they insist on remaining outside of that spiritual source for the tongues. So, again, Paul's quotation of Isaiah 28 in 1 Corinthians 14 is a reminder that unknown tongues are not always God's ministry of ecstasy in the heart of a believer, but can also be used in judgment. And we have it today where, you know, Christians hear the word tongues, they automatically think of this ecstatic speech of praising the Lord, and that's it. And sometimes you feel like when you're using Scripture with people like that, there's a war going on between the two. One just wants to be hysterical, and the other one is trying to do all things orderly before the Lord.
And why would anybody want to resist that? Well, people do. People come into a church, and the church has established order and policies, and people think that I'm the exception. And I get very defensive of the ushers and the children's workers, for example, because I don't like when they're put in a position where they've got to tell somebody something that the person's going to cause, you know, a little scuffle with. Verbal or, you know, well, verbal, of course, it doesn't usually get much more than that.
You have to go to Brooklyn for that. Anyway, it doesn't get that way there. Not all believers in every age would see sensational signs as we have in the age of the apostles. Most of us hear the gospel and believe. How many folks see a miracle, then become a believer nowadays?
Well, I don't think that many. So Paul writes, so then, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. No emphasis on the signs and wonders, not to reduce their value or the participation of God. Scripture does not say that signs will cease. You know, there are many that, again, think that they stopped with the apostles. Once we have the written word, there's no need for any more signs and wonders.
Well, wait a minute now. What about in those places where there are no Bibles? What about North Korea? What about amongst people who are illiterate? At one point in church history, people were using stained glass to learn theology because they were illiterate.
They'd have to go, you know, they work in the fields and farms, and they didn't have all the things that we enjoy. So let's be careful before we say, oh, there are no more signs and wonders. But let's also not say, I'm expecting one. The sign of wonder for me is when I drive home and there's no one else on the road. That is a miracle, and I rejoice all the way home. Anyway, I think that those who say, well, the Gospel of Mark stops at verse 8 in fear, I think they're driven because they don't want to face the signs and wonders that still exist in the church, and they want to try to dismiss it. I understand that hysterical abuse within churches and amongst some Christians concerning miraculous things in tongues are enough to sicken us sometimes.
Like, you know, that's just crazy. That is not Scripture. And the Lord says He gives the Spirit to those who are obedient.
Many times someone claims to speak in tongues, and there's nothing else going on with their life. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the Book of Mark, right here on Cross-Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-07-06 20:25:18 / 2023-07-06 20:34:45 / 9