The Great Commission

Coming up next on Renewing Your Mind… If the building that houses the Bureau of Standards and Measurements in Washington, D.C. were blown up and the standard yardstick that is found there by which we measure precisely the 36 inches that make up a yard, would our understanding of the yardstick be destroyed with that explosion?

If we lost the original normative standard of one yard, would we not, by the existing copies that we have in our possession, be able to reconstruct that original yard to within a zillionth of an inch of accuracy? Now the reason for that analogy was that the Bible as we have it today does not contain the original manuscripts that were written by the prophets and the apostles and those agents of revelation that God superintended in the original writing of sacred Scripture. The original Scriptures have been copied thousands and thousands and thousands of times through the ages, and in many cases those monks whose sole task was to spend their lives carefully and assiduously, precisely copying the existing manuscripts that they had word for word, line upon line, accent upon accent, that even from time to time you would see variations between the monks of one locale and the monks of another locale, and we therefore say we don't believe in the infallible inspiration of copyists. And so the question is raised. Well, if we don't have the original manuscripts and all we have are copies, and those copies include errors of transmission, why do we still speak of having an infallible Bible? Do you feel the problem and the weight of the problem? And so we have thousands of manuscripts that have been copied from the first century onward, and it has become a rather precise science to reconstruct the original documents.

And why am I telling you all of that? Well, the reason is the most difficult text in all of the New Testament in terms of trying to reconstruct the original content of the New Testament happens to be the text that I just read a few moments ago, which in the nomenclature is called the long ending of Mark. Now when these scientists look at all of the existing manuscripts and try to determine what was in the original, they look at external information such as I say the collection of manuscripts, also the quotations of the original text by first and second century church fathers, and then they also look internally if there are any abrupt changes in syntax and style and so forth. Now I really believe that the reconstruction of the New Testament is as accurate as the reconstruction of the yardstick, that if we lost that building in Washington, except for this chapter here in chapter 14, this long ending of Mark is problematic for this reason. All of the best manuscript evidence as well as internal analysis would lead us to conclude, and I'm convinced almost compellingly that the last few verses that I just read here from the gospel of Mark were not in the original version.

So why do translators stick it in here? Well, because they believe that that longer ending is suitable, a suitable conclusion to the gospel of Mark because without it Mark would end in chapter 16, verse 8, where we read, Well, Mark is brief and terse throughout his gospel, but that's a little bit too terse for most readers. They want the book to say a little bit more, and so let's believe that in the very earliest part of the second century the Christian church wanted to give a an appropriate conclusion to the abrupt ending of Mark. We oughtn't to be disturbed by that, but let's look at what is found in this long ending and see that the doctrines that are found therein are very consistent with what is taught everywhere else in the New Testament.

There's one tiny section of it that raises some eyebrows, but we'll get to that in a moment. Let's look then beginning at verse 15 where we have this quotation from Jesus with respect to the Great Commission. And by the way, there's no question in church history and in biblical analysis that our Lord gave the Great Commission. Whether it should appear here in the last portion of Mark is the question, but there's no question that Jesus gave this commission where He said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

We examine that, of course, every year in our mission conference, but it's something that we need to examine every Sunday because this is so central to the life of the church that our Lord has given us a mission. He has enlisted us into this mission, and that mission is to preach the gospel, and the gospel has a definite content. He didn't give us the mandate to preach entertainment, to preach the latest psychological theories, that this mandate is to preach a particular method, a particular message I should say, which message can be gleaned by looking at the apostolic record itself that the gospel has a definite content.

It has to do with the announcement of the person and the ministry of Jesus and of how the benefits of His life and death can be appropriated to us by faith. The gospel is not that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The gospel is not that if you come to Christ, you will have purpose for your life.

Those things may be true and may be interesting and inviting to certain people. That's not the gospel. The gospel has to do with the life of Jesus, His work, His atonement, His resurrection, His ascension, and the salvation that is wrought by Jesus, which is appropriated by faith and by faith alone. That's the gospel. The gospel is not my personal testimony. My personal testimony may relate to your circumstances or it may not, but the gospel relates to everybody's circumstances. And the extent of the preaching of the gospel is according to our Lord's directive, every creature in all the world.

Every creature in all the world. This is His last mandate into all the world, to every creature that they would hear the gospel. And then the text says, Jesus said, He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Now this message here may be a little bit confusing. Some people look at it and find that baptism is necessary for salvation because our Lord said, He who believes and is baptized will be saved. And so therefore the inference is drawn that just as faith is a necessary condition for salvation, so is baptism. However, the rest of the New Testament makes it very clear that the only absolute necessary condition for our salvation, which condition is not only necessary but is also sufficient, is faith. Anyone who truly puts their trust in Christ will be justified at that very second. And we see examples in the Scripture themselves of those who were saved who were not baptized, for example, the thief on the cross. Now, let me state it this way for you if I can make a fine distinction. And the distinction is this, that baptism is not necessary to salvation, but it is necessary for sanctification.

Why do I say that? Because we're commanded to be baptized. And if we do not obey that command, that is a failure in terms of our being conformed to the image of Christ and of our obedience in terms of our sanctification. So even though we all have an obligation to be baptized, that baptism does not necessarily mean that if we have it, we'll be saved, or if we don't have it, we'll be lost. Now notice in the second clause of this statement Jesus makes, He who does not believe will be condemned. Notice the absence there of the term baptism. Jesus does not say in the parallel fashion that he who does not be baptized will be condemned. But faith is necessary for salvation, and the lack of it will result in condemnation. You remember John 3.16. That's quoted all of the time. Now what's John 3.17?

Anyone? For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him may be saved. Then He goes on to say, this is the condemnation, that men prefer the darkness over the light because their deeds are evil. And Jesus says in that same context that he who does not believe is condemned already. I stress this for this reason that Jesus doesn't come into a world of innocent people in order to bring them salvation. Our Lord came into a world that was already universally under the condemnation of God. People who have never heard of Jesus are not condemned because they rejected Jesus of whom they've never heard.

And so we breathe a sigh of relief, and we've been thinking, we've been thinking, well therefore we don't have to worry about their condemnation. On the contrary, they're already in a state of condemnation because they have universally rejected the general revelation of God the Father who has made Himself known and clear to every creature, and every creature down to the last one of us has exchanged that knowledge for an idol, exchanged the truth for a lie and serves and worships the creature rather than the Creator, which exposes the whole world to condemnation. And then Jesus goes on to say, and these signs will follow those who believe, and in My name they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents, and if they drink anything, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Now I think you've already detected the one statement in there that's problematic, but my guess is that you haven't.

My guess is that you've responded to the wrong one. But let's look at these things again. Here's the signs that will follow those who believe. First of all, they'll be able to cast out demons. Did that happen with the apostles in the book of Acts?

Yes, that was fulfilled. They will speak with new tongues. Did that happen in the book of Acts in the apostolic age? Yes. They will take up serpents.

Did that happen? It was not Paul when he reached his hand into the fire bitten by an asp who affixed himself to Paul's hand, and this poisonous snake after Paul shook it loose did no damage to the Apostle Paul. But I wonder how many of you zeroed in on that one as one that was not really fulfilled. Well, this of course is the proof text for snake handling cults, and we've all heard about those cults of people who at the heart of their Christian faith is the testing of their faith by handling poisonous snakes, usually rattlesnakes, copperheads, or moccasins. And the idea is that if they handle these snakes and they have the proper amount of faith, they're not going to be fatally wounded by these snakes. Now some of these people become very proficient of handling snakes without irritating the snakes and become able to play with the snakes without getting bitten. But every year you read of reports of those in such cults who indeed are stricken by these serpents.

This was not designed by the Word of God to produce a ritual in the life of the church to prove our faith, as some suppose. But indeed we do have the apostolic record of one, at least the Apostle Paul, who survived the encounter with the deadly snake. However, we have no biblical record of anybody drinking poison and surviving it. We do have an extra biblical testimony from early church history about one Christian who in persecution was forced to drink something like hemlock and nevertheless survived the experience without even becoming ill. That's again extra biblical, and even though it's extra biblical would certainly fulfill this particular prophecy.

They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. And that prophecy as well has been well attested. And then what follows in the text at the very end is, so then after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Listen to that sentence, listen to that sentence, the last clause, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Two of the most important activities of our Lord are compressed into less than one sentence. This is the reference here to the ascension of Jesus, which is of extreme importance if we look carefully at Luke's gospel and at the book of Acts that Jesus after the resurrection did not go to Mexico or to the United States, but He ascended into heaven fulfilling that office promised to the faithful Messiah where He goes into heaven for His coronation as the King of Kings and as the Lord of Lords. And then at the end of the confession of the ascension comes the confession of the session. In the Apostles' Creed we say, ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God. In this church we have a session, which is a group of elders, and they're called the session because these elders meet regularly in an ecclesiastical session where they are seated together, and they make judgments and decisions by which the church is governed.

And there are many members of our session. In heaven there is only one session member, and that is the Jesus, our supreme elder, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, and the Father has delegated to Christ all authority on heaven and on earth. That's why we say He is the King of the Kings and the Lord of the Lords, and His authority governs every event, every molecule, every person's life in this world today. We don't have to wait for the second coming for Jesus to be Lord. He's Lord right now, and He is right this moment, seated at God's right hand, which is the seat of heavenly authority. And then we read that they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs. No sooner has the ending of Mark's gospel affirmed that Jesus has left this world, that He has ascended into heaven, that He is no longer present with us, that in the same breath it is expressed that as the apostles went about their ministry that the Lord was working with them. Hence the confessional statement that says, touching His human nature, Jesus is no longer present with us, touching His divine nature. He is never absent from us. Our Lord Himself, when He announced His imminent departure to His disciples, said, yet a little while, you will see Me no more, for I am going away. And where I am going, you won't be able to come right now. Nevertheless, I am with you.

I am with you. And so the task that is given to the church here is not a task that is to be accomplished by human effort alone, but that task that we are called to do, dear friends, is a task that is to be done with the help of the Lord, who works with His people, who goes before His people. Even in His resurrection announcement that we read last week that He told the women, go and tell the twelve that I am going before them into Galilee.

That's His pattern. We go and we find out He's already been there. He doesn't follow the ministry of the church. He leads the ministry of the church, as the Scripture says. And finally it says, and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs. The Bible doesn't have a word for miracle. There's no word for miracle in the New Testament. There are three words for miracle. There are signs, powers, and wonders. And all three of those give us the substance by which we extrapolate the concept of miracle. These signs that we call miracles are given to the church primarily and essentially to confirm the truth proclaimed by the apostolic testimony. Finally, the gospel in the longer ending ends with one word, amen.

That word, which is based upon a Semitic word for truth, simply means this is the truth. And so what you've been listening to today and last Sunday, last month, last year, and all of our gatherings together here as we've followed closely through this gospel is that we've heard the truth of God. Amen. And that wraps up our verse by verse journey through the gospel of Mark. Thanks for being with us today here on the Lord's Day edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb, and we have been working our way through Mark's gospel for more than 60 weeks now in a sermon series that Dr. R.C. Sproul preached to his beloved congregation at St. Andrew's Chapel. These sermons are the basis for Dr. Sproul's expositional commentary on Mark, and we would like to send you a digital download of that commentary when you contact us today with a donation of any amount. It will provide you with a wonderful opportunity to continue your study on your own.

You can go online to request it at renewingyourmind.org. We want to be a source of biblical help as you study, and if you get stuck on a verse or a theological concept, a very helpful source for answers is Ask Ligonier. It's available 24 hours a day, Monday through Saturday, and it gives you the opportunity to ask well-trained staff members your theological or biblical questions. For example, what does it mean to be in Christ? You may have other questions like that, so go to ask.ligonier.org, and one of my colleagues will be glad to take your question. Well, I hope you'll make plans to be with us next week as we begin Dr. Sproul's sermon series from the Gospel of Luke. That's next Sunday here on Renewing Your Mind.