Thursday, January 30, 2025

Mark 16:14

Mark 16:14 says, Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. Mark says that Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were eating after his appearance to the others that was already mentioned. We might think He would have appeared to them first, but He appeared first to those who were out and at least going about life instead of hiding away, as the disciples were. We cannot be successful in sharing the gospel if we are hiding away in fear. Jesus chastised them for their unbelief and hardness of heart for not believing the good news that had already been brought to them. We can never be saved if we do not believe in the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, and until the disciples encountered Him personally after the resurrection, they did not believe. Likewise, until we encounter Him personally and accept Him as our Savior and Lord, we will not be saved. Verse fifteen adds, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Jesus then commissioned them to go and do what He had been preparing them to do all along, and that was to go and preach the gospel. The time for hiding away in fear was past. As Christians, God has called us to share the gospel, and He has also called us for a specific purpose in the church, and we can be certain that He has prepared us to do what He calls us to do. Verse sixteen continues, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Jesus said that those that believed and were baptized would be saved. Of course, believing in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord is all that is necessary for salvation, and baptism is simply a sign of our identifying with Jesus and our obedience to His command after we accept Him. This is made clearer in the second part of the verse when it says he who believes not will be damned, and not he who believes not and is not baptized.  Verse seventeen states, And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Jesus then speaks of some of the signs people will see that will be performed by His followers.  Jesus said that they would cast out devils, and when people accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, all devils are cast out of that person.   He said they would speak with new tongues, which I understand to mean they would be able to communicate with people who spoke different languages by power of the Holy Spirit.  On this point, and the next few, Matthew Henry says the same thing.  Verse eighteen adds, They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.  Matthew Henry says that in the early church Christians were often given poisonous drinks, and they did not hurt them, and we still serve the same God.  Taking up serpents does not mean willingly grabbing a serpent simply to test God, but means as was the case with Paul if we are bitten while doing what God calls us to do that He will protect us.  Jesus said that Christians would lay their hands on the sick and they would be healed.  I personally believe that we have to understand this as meaning if it is God’s will.  Sometimes, we lay hands on people or pray for them, and they are not healed physically, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care.  If they are a Christian, they are already healed forever.  Verse nineteen declares, So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.  After Jesus spoke these words, He was received into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God, where He will be until He returns in victory to claim His people and bring them home to heaven with Him.  Verse twenty adds, And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.  They disciples went forth to preach the gospel everywhere, under the power of the Holy Spirit.  God affirmed their work by the signs following them.  This is where we as followers of Christ are today.  We need to be at work until Jesus Christ returns or until we leave this old world through death.  

 

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