These Signs Will Follow (Mark 16 - Part 1)

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. If you would, please turn to the gospel of Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16 and the title of this morning's message is, Expecting Miracles, or Should Christians Expect to See Miracles?

The Question of Whether Christians Should Expect Miracles

I'm sure some people have already made up their minds. If you come from more of a Pentecostal background, and we have had people throughout the years come from Assemblies of God churches, and I think they would be more prone to say, yes, yes, we should expect miracles.

I know some people who claim to see miracles throughout their life. And then if you come from maybe more of a, well, I hate to name any group really, but if you come from another background, perhaps you say no, of course you shouldn't expect miracles.

I mean, miracles by definition are very rare. They're miraculous. They inspire wonder. It's not something you would see every day. So I think you're going to find a variety of different beliefs amongst professing Christians.

But let's look at what the Bible says. And hopefully if we take scripture in context, just see what Jesus and his apostles taught, we can come to some sort of conclusion. So let's begin reading here in Mark chapter 16, starting in verse 15.

And he that is Jesus said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe.

In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents. And if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.

So then after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere. The Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.

Amen. And may God add a blessing to the reading of his word. Now, in order to rightly interpret the Bible, there's a few things that you have to do. You have to compare scripture with scripture. You can't just read something and then kind of run with it.

In order to understand and rightly handle the word of God, you must, the big thing you know is you must take the scripture in context. As we repeat again and again that it's all about three things. What are they?

Context, context, context. So you read the verses before you read the verses after. And then you ask some basic questions like who, when, where, why, how. This is what you have to do to rightly understand God's word.

So let's go through these verses and then we will do exactly that. We will compare what the word of God says to other passages. And I think there is an answer. Let's go back to verse 14. It says, later he appeared to the 11th.

So just in asking these questions who, who's speaking. That passage we read to start with who was speaking? It was Christ. And who is he speaking to? Yeah, well if you go back a verse reading the verses before we see the answer.

Later he appeared to the 11th. So he's speaking to the 11 apostles. As they sat at the table. What did he do? He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. Because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

So here's the context. Jesus had risen from the dead. And the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection. Which itself obviously was probably the greatest miracle that ever occurred. But the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection were who?

Yeah, it was the women. Mary Magdalene was the first one to see Jesus raised from the dead. So Mary went, just like Jesus told her. She went and told the 11 disciples. And what did they do? They didn't believe her.

So even though Jesus specifically told them on several occasions beforehand. That I have to die and I will rise from the dead on the third day. Even though Jesus told them that when Mary witnessed it.

And went back to tell them the story. They didn't believe her. So that's why Jesus is rebuking them. Because they should have believed this testimony about this miraculous event. Now Jesus is rebuking them because of their what?

Unbelief. Ok, so this is something that you are going to face. If you don't necessarily believe in. Because there's people out there that say miracles are happening everywhere. Every day in churches. Just everywhere.

Miracles are everywhere. If you don't automatically accept that. There will be people who accuse you of unbelief. And I know that first hand. So we have to be careful about this term unbelief. So let me ask you.

Did the disciples. Did Peter, James, and John, and the others. Did they believe in Jesus? Well of course they did. And yet Jesus is rebuking them for their unbelief. Well here's the thing. You can believe.

But how much do you believe? You know there's different levels of faith. Some people have a strong faith. Some have a weaker faith. You remember the one man in Mark chapter 9 verse 24. When he said Lord I believe.

But help my unbelief. So even in this room you have some people your faith is here. Other people their faith is here. Other people their faith is down here. But they all maybe believe. But there's some things that you have doubts about.

So that's what's going on with the disciples. So now there are people today. Who claim that miracles and healings are happening literally. If not every day. Every week. And again if you don't automatically believe their testimony.

They may accuse you of unbelief. Is that fair? Here's the difference between that and what's going on in the scripture. Jesus himself told them this miracle would happen. We don't have that same thing today.

Jesus has never spoken to you or to me one on one. Telling me what's going to happen tomorrow. And then tomorrow somebody comes and says. Well if Jesus himself told me personally. I'd like to think that I'd believe him.

But we don't have that. We're 2 ,000 years later reading about things that happened a long time ago. So you can't really equate the two. So what then are we to think about miracles? The average Christian.

You and I. What are we to believe about miracles? Here's one thing I can say for certain. As New Testament Christians. We are required to believe in miracles. Did you know that? At the very least we are required.

To believe in the miracles that are recorded in God's word. So the miracles we read about in scripture. Every true Christian believes. For example that Jesus rose from the dead. To reject that. To deny that.

That is essentially a denial of the gospel itself. Since the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And that is how we are saved. That is how we get to heaven. By putting our full trust in what he did on the cross.

For the forgiveness of our sins. So we are to believe the miracles recorded in scripture. So I believe. Without a doubt. I believe that Moses parted the Red Sea. Well don't you think that's just an allegory?

Isn't that just a story? No, I believe the Israelites walked through the midst of the waters. With a wall of water on either side. You know why I believe that? Because the word of God tells me that. I believe that Jesus fed the 5 ,000.

I believe that Jesus fed the 4 ,000. I believe the apostles spoke in other tongues. And I most certainly believe in the resurrection. So every Christian. No matter where you are in your Christian walk.

These are the miracles we are required to believe in. Now the miracles that the guy on TV is talking about. You know that's not the same as stuff recorded in scripture. I think we all recognize that. I remember a guy a few years ago.

Nice guy. I don't question his sincerity at all. But he came. And he was telling people that God was basically giving him direct revelation. That God was speaking directly to him. And he was making all these claims about miracles.

And me and him didn't necessarily agree on all of this. So he tried to prove it to me. And he sent me a link to a Facebook video. Where a woman was in a wheelchair. In one of these faith healing crusades.

And the televangelist came and, you know, looked like he sort of bonked her on the head. And then she got up and she was dancing. But he said, see that's proof. That is proof that God the Holy Spirit just worked a miracle.

I didn't want to be rude but I'm like, are you kidding? That's proof? Now, in all honesty, I have to admit. I cannot say 100 that that's not what happened. Honestly, I can't say that 100%. But that video was not proof.

That's not proof because there are people who exaggerate. There's some miracles, quote unquote, that are sort of psychosomatic or whatever. And there are people who stage events like that. I think he would even have to recognize that.

So the point is, a 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 Meaning of Baptism

Okay, 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's 12 disciples. Right, yeah, 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. 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?

The Signs in Mark 16 and the Question of Continuation

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. You know, 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 work 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. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .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.