A Healthy Degree of Skepticism (Mark 16 - Part 2)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Healthy degree of skepticism is not such a bad thing. You know, living in this world, you know there are people, even religious people, who tell you things that are not necessarily the case.

The Great Commission and the Signs in Mark 16

Let's go through these verses, Mark chapter 16, starting in verse 15. Jesus, speaking to his disciples, he says, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. So we already said he's speaking to the 11 disciples.

You say, I thought there was 12 disciples. Right, but Judas is out of the picture at this point. So that's the context, and of course the Christian church historically has seen this as the Great Commission.

So these are the marching orders for the church in general. The apostles were to go out and basically serve as what we would call missionaries. That's not necessarily God's will for you personally, but it was his command for them.

Verse 16, he says, He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. This verse has created a lot of controversy, and there are some people who don't even recognize this section of scripture as even being legitimate, but it's in my Bible.

It's in yours, isn't it? As long as it's in my Bible, I believe it. Okay, and when they finally take it out, I'll do a sermon on that, but that's another topic. So this statement, he who believes and is baptized will be saved.

Notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say he who does not get baptized will be condemned. That's not what it says. He who believes and is baptized. In other words, believing in Jesus and being baptized, the two go hand in hand.

Now, if you do not believe, then they are condemned, and that is true. So don't get confused on that verse. Okay, what's the title of the message? Let's get focused on the topic at hand. Should Christians expect miracles?

Whether Mark 16 Promises Miracles for All Believers

Jesus tells the apostles in verse 17, here's the argument for yes. He says, and these signs will follow those who believe. The Greek words say my on is translated here as signs, but it can also be translated as miracles.

So in other words, Jesus is saying these miracles will follow those who believe. And then he lists five things. What are they? Number one, they will cast out demons. Number two, they will speak with new tongues.

Number three, they will take up serpents. Number four, if they drink anything poisonous, and this would include being bit by a serpent, that poison, whether you get bit or whether you drink it, it will not hurt them.

And then number five, they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. So what is being said here? There's basically two viewpoints. Is Jesus saying that these things will continue to happen throughout history?

So as long as there are people believing in the word of God, these miracles are going to keep reoccurring throughout history. Well, that's one point of view. The other point of view is that, well, yeah, this is what happened.

This is what happened. The apostles worked these miracles. This is what happened. And you know what? They're all recorded. All of these things are actually recorded specifically in the book of Acts. So let's now turn to Acts chapter 28.

Acts chapter 28. So these five things, they'll cast out demons, speak with new tongues, take up serpents. If they drink anything poisonous, it will not hurt them. And laying hands on the sick and they will recover.

All of these things are recorded in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. With the one exception, maybe, of drinking poison. As you're turning to Acts 28, let me just give some references. In Acts chapter 16, the apostle Paul, he cast out a demon.

We know the story about the apostles speaking in Acts chapter 2 with other tongues. It says each one heard them speak, each in their own language. In Acts chapter 28, verse 8, Paul laid hands on someone who was sick and that person recovered.

Also, here in chapter 28, Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake. We'll read that account in a second, but is that how the apostle Paul died? No. So here's one thing I have noticed. If you read through and pay attention throughout the New Testament, primarily the people working miracles were the apostles and their close associates.

I'm not saying nobody else ever worked a miracle, but in scripture it's primarily the apostles and their associates. As far as this one thing that isn't recorded in the book of Acts, drinking poison, there is one ancient tradition that says the apostle John drank from a poison cup in the presence of the emperor Domitian and he lived.

Now, that's a tradition that's not recorded in scripture, so we don't know for certain whether or not it happened. But does the scripture say, let me just test you a little bit. Does the scripture say, hey, go out and handle serpents?

Does it say that? Does it say to drink? Hey, go drink poison. It won't hurt you. Obviously, the Bible is not saying that, although there is that one sect of Christians down south who believe that that is part of worship.

And I'm not saying this with any disrespect, but they're missing fingers and body parts because they have been bitten and it did hurt. But 99 of Christians, 99 .9 of Christians throughout history know that these things are not instructions.

What does it say? It says, if they do it, you know, if, if they do it, it will not hurt them. Does that mean that if Moores Quarter Church organizes a church hike and me and Larry and a group of us are out there and Larry gets bit by a rattlesnake, we say, Larry, don't worry, Jesus promised it wouldn't hurt you.

Yeah, I don't, I don't think so. That's not what the Bible is saying. Jesus didn't give that promise to him. He didn't give it to me. He did give it to the 11 disciples, though. Hopefully it's starting to become a little more clear.

Look at Acts 28 verses 1 through 5. It says now when they had escaped, this is Paul and a few companions here. When they had escaped, they found out that the island was called Malta and the natives showed us, that's Paul and Luke, showed us unusual kindness.

For they kindled the fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened onto his hands.

You can imagine what this looks like. They're around the fire and Paul has got this viper biting onto his hand, not letting go. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, because they were superstitious, they said, well, this must mean that he's a murderer whom he has escaped through the sea.

Yet justice does not allow him to live. Verse 5, though, it says, but he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. See, Jesus, what he said in Mark 16 is true. Jesus knew this was going to happen before it happened.

Well, that's not a guarantee for me today, right? You see the obvious difference. So they're looking at the Apostle Paul, waiting for him to keel over and die, and he just shakes it off and it's like nothing even happened because God was with him.

So should you expect that today? I don't think so. Now, will God protect us? Does God protect his people? You know, there are probably so many close calls, so many people that have prayed for you. Disaster has been avoided.

I don't doubt that God works in miraculous ways today, but I think there's a lot of times that we were probably this close from danger. Something bad was really going to happen. Someone prayed and we avoided it, but we would never necessarily know.

I think that type of thing does happen. Here's one thing I am concerned about. There's a lot of ministers today who rip the Bible out of context. They make promises to people that God never made. You know, there's a lot of people that are sick.

There's a lot of people that are desperate. There's a lot of people, they feel like they're always going to have this pain in their body. There's just no hope for me. And then they see some man of God on television who promises them a miracle, promises them healing, if you would just send in your donation.

My friends, that is spiritual abuse. It's spiritual abuse. And then when it doesn't happen, they feel like God let them down. God didn't let them down. That man just made a promise that he shouldn't have, that God didn't make.

You know, God always comes through, doesn't he? Anyone who's been walking with the Lord any amount of time, you know that God does come through. Maybe not the way you expect or the way that you would like him to come through at the moment, but God always provides.

You remember Job, when Job went through his suffering, his friends said, Job, it must be your fault. Just like Paul, when he got bit, well, he must have done something. That's the way people think. Was Job to be blamed?

Was it his fault? No. Or when the Apostle Paul suffered from his thorn in the flesh, few men had more faith than the Apostle Paul. Paul prayed to the Lord three times that it would be removed. Did God remove it?

No. Rather, in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, the Lord said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. You know how the Lord grows our faith? By putting us through trials.

By putting us through these times of testing. You know, if you are feeling that, you're being pruned by God, and it can be unpleasant. But these are the moments, oftentimes, when we grow the most. Amen.

It's true. Maybe instead of praying for a miracle, and if you want to pray for a miracle, ask. You know, maybe God will say yes. But what if he says no? If he says no, maybe we should pray for peace. Maybe we should pray to the Lord, Lord, give me peace in my heart that I can endure this.

Lord, give me strength that I can persevere. Lord, grow me into the person that you want me to be. Maybe that should be our prayer, rather than asking God to get us out of every bad situation. Or to the Lord, Lord, don't allow me to suffer.

Healing, Suffering, and the Limits of the Atonement

Life here on earth includes suffering. Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 53. Another thing that people will teach, I believe erroneously, they will teach that physical healing is provided for in the atonement.

Many of these TV preachers that I referenced, this is one of their main arguments, that Jesus died on the cross to make you whole. Now, if somebody were to say that to me, I wouldn't argue with that. Or that there is healing within the atonement.

I mean, that's true. But what they're saying is there's physical healing in the atonement. So if you believe you should expect a miracle, you should expect to be delivered from this suffering. There's a new movement out there, very popular.

It's called the NAR. Who's heard of the NAR? The New Apostolic Reformation. Well, that's a little misleading because it's not new. People have been teaching this kind of thing for a long time. It's not apostolic because none of them are actually apostles.

And then it's not really a reformation, although it is a very popular movement. It's being led. Perhaps the most prominent church is a church named Bethel out of California. Much of the popular Christian contemporary music that you hear on the radio, much of it is being put out by Bethel music.

Here is what they teach. Their leader says that he refuses to create a theology that allows for sickness. Let that sink in. I refuse to create a theology that allows for sickness. This is the idea that it is never God's will for a person to be sick.

I know some of you know better than that, but not everybody does. There's something in us that kind of wants to believe that, right? A healthy degree of skepticism is not such a bad thing. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.