[0:00] Take your Bibles, if you would, and turn with me to Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. We are in a tremendous chapter of the Word of God. Mark chapter 16. We just finished watching Jesus be crucified. He was crucified. He died for sins he did not commit for crimes he had not done.
[0:21] He died on a cross, and then he was taken down from that cross, and he was buried. Then you get to Mark chapter 16, and today you need to believe that he is risen. And that's what they needed to do on that day. I want you to read with me, if you would, Mark chapter 16, verses 1 and 2. The Bible says, and when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. Father, I pray that you would help us to understand that Jesus is alive, that he overcame death and the grave, that he has arisen, he has ascended, and he is seated at the right hand of the Father, your right hand. And I pray to your God that today you would help us to get excited about what you've done and to believe all the scriptures say here. We'll give you praise for all you do in Jesus' name. Amen. Mark chapter 16, verses 1 and 2.
[1:31] Here's what's going on. He's dead. It's been three long days. They have been crying and mourning and weeping just like you would be. I don't know, you know, I don't know how funerals have been with you, but I've been to some very sad funerals. And I, you know, after the funeral and after the body's buried and after you return back to the house and maybe you're with family, maybe you're with friends, and you're just sitting there and you're talking about all the great things that you remember and even considering what happened. And they've been doing that now for three days. For three days, they've been crying. But on this day, the ladies get up and early in the morning, they are thinking to themselves, we're going to go and love him and show our love and our honor and our respect.
[2:24] And we're going to anoint his body. It was something that they did. They were going to care for his dead body. They don't believe he has risen. They don't expect him to rise. They are fully believing. We're going to walk up there. We've got to figure out some way to get the stone rolled away because we've got to get in there and find his body. And we need to put some more perfume on it. We need, we need to just show our love and respect because everybody thinks he's still dead. That's how Mark 16 starts the story. They loved him. They're not going to forget him. They're focusing on their desire to show their love to him. In Mark chapter 16, verse three, they said, who's going to roll the stone away? How are we going to get in to work on that? And in verse four, when they get there, their minds are blown because they walk up and in verse four, the stone was rolled away. They couldn't believe that. They were worried about how they were going to get in. And when they showed up, the stone had been rolled away. Look at verse five. So they get there. Now you got to understand, you'd have to be scared.
[3:31] You show up in the graveyard and the grave's been dug up and the vault's been lifted out and the casket's wide open. When you go to see your mom who died or your brother, your friend, I think you'd be freaking out too. Amen. I mean, they showed up and it's like, who's been here? Some grave robber.
[3:49] And in verse five, the Bible said they went into the sepulcher because you know, this isn't a grave in the ground like we do. It's more like a, it's a cave. It's more like a niche in the ground and they can walk in. If I took you to Peru to where I grew up that way, where we lived for 20 years, you would build and they build it. The richer people build entire houses. And in that, they put a lot of caskets.
[4:11] They may put three or four on this side, that side, that side. They may build a basement, three or four more down there. And you walk in right in amongst the bodies and you can look in from the outside. Well, theirs is a cave. They're ready to go in. But when they step inside to see who rolled the rock away, who opened it up where we could see him? When they step inside, they see a young man, verse five, sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment, and it scared them to death. Look at that in verse five. They were affrighted. That's King James word for scared to death. They're like, what in the world? We step into his grave. We expect to see a dead body. And instead of a dead body, here's a young man sitting here in a long white robe. That would, what's he doing wearing white?
[4:53] I mean, look like a ghost even. What's it? They step into there scared. And in verse six, the guy speaks to him and he says, don't be afraid. Be not affrighted. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. Underline this. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. So this young man, this angel stands up and says, hey girls, calm down, calm down. Don't be afraid. Don't get all shocked at everything. I know you're looking for Jesus, the one that got crucified. And he's not here. Step in and look, this is where they laid him.
[5:30] He's gone. He's risen. Those girls, those girls are, are, are shocked. And in verse seven, he says to them, now girls go and tell his disciples and Peter that he's going to meet them in Galilee.
[5:45] There you shall see him as he said unto you. And, uh, the girls are now, I mean, they've been talking to an angel. That's not normal. In a graveyard. That's not normal. Inside a grave room. That's not normal. And now they've been told to go till Peter chapter six and the apostles chapter 16, verse eight.
[6:07] And they went out quickly. I wonder how that worked. I mean, I don't know how fast that guy talked to, but I'd have been getting out before he even got finished talking. Unless they're standing there in shock, like maybe that's what they were doing. The deer in the headlights look and they went out quickly and they fled. They ran away, scared to death. They were trembling and they were a shock. They were amazed and they didn't say anything to anybody. They go running through town.
[6:33] You know, I just want you to imagine as they run towards a, they're looking, they can't send a Twitter message. They can't FaceTime anybody. They're running and people are walking down the street. Here come these ladies, white face, buddy, all the blood's in their toes. And they're running straight down the road and everybody's like, what in the world's going on? Everything okay? They don't talk to anybody. They just keep on boogieing on down the road and, and, and they're running out amazed. They were afraid. Do you have that underwrite in your Bible? They were afraid.
[7:00] They were afraid. They're going to go tell Peter, but there's a kind of an interlude here in verse nine. I love verse nine. Look at this. And when Jesus was written in the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. I'd just like to take about an hour or two to talk about that because that's like the most beautiful, wonderful thing I can imagine in this whole story. Jesus does so many shocking things in this story because Jesus does shocking stuff all the time. He's just sweet and good and wonderful and kind. And he arrives. This woman had seven demons, seven devils in her before. She was a bad, wicked woman. She was a woman nobody would talk to. She was a woman that would have been an outcast. She's a woman that that's full of devils. And Jesus talks to her first. Several things hit my mind. He didn't talk to a man first. He didn't talk to a woman first. He talked to a woman who had been devil possessed. He talked to somebody showing grace. He appeared to a person that you would doubt had a right to get such big blessings. But Jesus spoke to her. She knew grace because if anybody in history had ever been any worse off than her, that'd be a pretty big shock. Seven demons in her. And they've been cast out. Jesus has saved her, changed her life. She's a Christian now. She's on her way to heaven. She's born again. And then Jesus says, I think I'll talk to you and tell you about it. Now they go running. Look at verse 10. In chapter 16 and verse 10, they went and they told them that had been with Jesus as they mourned and wept. So they run into the room and the guys are sitting around drinking coffee and crying and whining and mourning and all upset. I mean, it's a funeral. The other day we were at a funeral and we were coming home and I told the guys, I said, now when y'all plan my funeral, I don't want it to be like that. It was like a funeral.
[8:48] And they were like, well, it was. And I said, well, I really don't want man to be like a funeral. I'd like a little more joy. I'm going to heaven. You don't have to be so worried about everything. But they walk in the room and Jesus is dead. And the guys all know he's dead. And they're all sitting there. It's like three years they've been planning this big ministry. Three years they've been thinking God's going to do something big with them. And now they're just sitting there whining and crying and moping. And it's all over. They've come to the end of it. It's done. There's nothing else to do.
[9:13] And the girls burst in the room. They said, hey, hey, he's alive. And look what the Bible says happened. They burst in and they, verse 10, they went and told her as they were mourning and weeping.
[9:24] And when they heard that he was alive and had seen, been seen of her, I didn't believe that. Crazy, hysterical woman. Number one, you're a woman. Women get all emotional and all torn out of the frame. You know, I don't believe you. No, don't believe you. Don't believe you. And you're one of the worst ones of them. You know, you was kind of wicked and he saved you. You've been emotional ever since then. Every time there's testimony, you stand up and go, you wouldn't believe what I used to be before Jesus saved me. And so they're like, we're not going to listen. He won't believe you.
[9:55] And then two more witnesses show up in Mark chapter 16, verse 12, that he had appeared to them in another form as they walked into the country. That's the guys on the road to Emmaus. And they walked in and they told him, I said, you're not going to believe this. We were on the road to Emmaus and he showed up and he was walking down the road with us and he was telling us all this stuff. And he was preaching to us and he explained all over the Old Testament who he was and what he did. He's alive.
[10:22] And Peter goes, first a crazy woman, now two crazy dudes walking down the street going to tell me he's alive. Don't believe it. Don't accept it. I didn't believe them either. See, the problem wasn't the witness. It was the believer. The apostles simply can't get their mind around the fact that Jesus just might be alive. Just like he said he was. It would be. It's one thing to say we believe and then to really believe it and step out by faith. If we'd have talked to the apostles, they'd have said, well, Jesus said he was going to rise again. Jesus said he was going to do all these great things. Jesus is and Jesus that, but they saw him crucified. They saw him nailed to a tree. They heard all the things that were going on as Peter's hiding out there and John's there.
[11:09] They know he's dead. They know his body's been taken off of a cross. They know his body has been beaten until it's not even recognizable. You couldn't even tell who he was. They had punched him in the face and plucked his beard, shoved the crown of thorns on his head, hit him with sticks in the head. They had mistreated him and they're like, he's dead. Y'all can get excited. You can talk all you want, but he's dead. They'd seen him die. They'd seen him buried. They loved him and they're mourning and sure, wishful thinking he might be alive. They knew what he said. They knew it up in their head, but they didn't know it in their heart. They didn't register yet that everything Jesus said was true. They wanted to believe, but it seemed impossible in real life. You know how it is. You read the Bible and you hear all this Bible stuff and you're like, that sounds really good.
[12:03] Could it really work? You mean Jesus could die and pay my sin debt and all my sins would be washed away and I'd be forgiven? And some of you are here today and Jesus died for you and he paid your sin debt. We tell you week after week, you can have your sins forgiven. You can start life all over again.
[12:18] And you're like, man, that sounds good, but I just can't believe it. That sounds good, but I just don't know how that would work for me. And that's why you're still lost. That's what happened with them. But you need to know our salvation depends on his resurrection.
[12:33] The gospel isn't that he died for you. The gospel is that he died for you, was buried and rose again. First Corinthians chapter 15, the first few verses, you can check it out. He died. Lots of people have died and lots of people have been mistreated and lots of people have been horribly disfigured and lots of people have done all that just like what happened to Jesus. The thing that nobody else ever done is live again. The thing that had never happened before is he came back to life. He overcame death and the grave. It was, the Bible's going to make it clear here in Mark chapter 16, he ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father. God said, you did enough, Jesus. I'm happy with it. You're alive. And he takes him to heaven. I just want you, before we go on, I don't want you to be so critical to these guys. I just don't know what you'd think. I don't know what you'd think if somebody you loved came back to life, even if it was Jesus, even if it was somebody telling the story. I mean,
[13:33] Peter's as good a guy you're going to meet. John's as good a guy you're going to meet. They knew Jesus like no one. But can you really believe somebody can die, be dead, dead, dead, buried, sealed in a rock, and come back to life? That's what happened that day. I want you to go to verse seven with me real quick. This is one of my favorite parts of the chapter. You do know about this guy, Peter, right?
[13:59] In Mark chapter 14 and verse 27, just before Jesus died, he had said, everybody's going to be offended. Everybody's going to be scattered, scandalized, upset, and worried about it. And you're all going to run for the heels because they're going to smite the shepherd and your sheep will be scattered. But then he said, but I'll see you boys in Galilee after it's all over. Well, they didn't hear that part. Peter heard, I'm going to get hurt and you guys are going to run like cowards. And when Peter heard that, he went, whoa, oh, excuse me. Hands up. Can I say a word? Can I say a word? I got a word of testimony here. Jesus said, go ahead, Peter. Peter said, these other guys might quit on you.
[14:39] They all might run away. They all might leave you. But I would never, ever do that. And Jesus said, well, before the cock crows, you're going to deny me three times. He'll crow twice. You'll deny me three times. Peter said, oh, I'd rather be dead. That ain't happening. That ain't happening.
[14:55] You know, then you remember that night he did deny him and he ran off crying, brokenhearted. He realized I got a big mouth that says stuff I can't live up to. And now Jesus is alive. You might think Peter, you might think Jesus might be a little vengeful and get aggravated at Peter, but no, he doesn't.
[15:18] He's like, hey, go tell the boys I'm alive. Be sure to tell Peter. I'll see him in Galilee. Just like I said, I would. What a sweet God. He didn't say, leave Peter out. Peter's one denied me. I'll deny him now. You know, Peter turned his back on me. And since he turned his back on me, I'm washing my hands. He messed up. I'm messing up. I'm not letting him back in the group. No, that's not what Jesus did.
[15:44] Jesus said, you go tell Peter. You tell the disciples and you tell Peter that he's going before you into Galilee. You need to go to verse seven. You need to underline this. He said, he's going to see you in Galilee. You shall see him. And that's exactly what he had said. Look at Mark chapter 14 and verse 28 and Mark 14, 28. He had said, after I'm risen, I'll go before you to Galilee.
[16:13] Now I'm going to be killed. Y'all are all going to take off running and hide and I'm going to be killed. But after I come back to life, I'm going to, I'll find you guys in Galilee. Jesus loved Peter.
[16:27] Jesus loved Peter. Jesus knew Peter was a goober. Jesus knew Peter messed up. Jesus knew Peter was just a regular guy. See, sometimes y'all got the feeling that God up in heaven is looking at you saying, you don't measure up. Well, in this story, the two people he calls out, especially is a woman that was full of demons, seven of them. And the guy who denied him and he said, I just want to say something. I love you too. You're the worst off in the way. I love you. That's a good sign for me.
[16:54] I think I got a chance. Amen. I think he looks down and says, there's a bunch of mess ups on this earth. Austin, I love you, buddy. Thank you, Jesus. I was, I was wondering there because sometimes I know I don't blame you for not loving me, but he loved Jesus. Or Peter, Jesus loved Peter. Peter had been warned and done wrong. Said he'd never deny, but he did deny. His amazing love and thinking about Peter, even this time speaks greatly to me. And I'd like to say this before I go on with the chapter. He loves you. You need to listen to this. He loves you. He knows where you live. He understands your pain. He thinks about you. He thinks about you. Isn't it amazing? He's rising from the dead. He's got a whole world ministry in front of him. He's about to send up into heaven.
[17:39] And he says, uh, Hey, be sure and tell Peter. I told him I'd see him in Galilee. I'm on my way. I'll be over there in a bit. What a God. What a God. You can trust that he will love you like he loved Peter. Will you look to him and love him as he loves you today? I want you to get to Mark 16, 14.
[17:59] To me, this is the center verse of the entire chapter. This is the key to understanding this chapter. In Mark 16, 14, the Bible says afterward he appeared unto the 11. That's 11 because there were 12, but one of them's gone bad. He's already killed himself. Uh, he appeared to the 11 as they sat at meat, they were eating and he abraded them. He fussed at them. He scolded them with their unbelief. He said, I can't believe you guys. You didn't believe me. He, he upbraided them. He fussed at them. He scolded them for the hardness of heart because they believe not them, which had seen him after he was risen. I think the whole chapter hinges around this. Now, Peter, I told you I was going to be killed, buried, rise again, and see you in Galilee. You heard me say it time after time after time.
[18:55] And you didn't believe it. And then just to be really nice, I sent the ladies to tell you I was really alive. You could have gone, what? For real? Wow. I believe you. But no, you didn't believe them.
[19:10] Then I sent, then I sent two men to tell you, and you didn't believe then. See, look at the verses that you believe not them, which had seen him. You believe not them, which had seen him. Peter in his grief and his pity party he's throwing, he and the other disciples are not sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
[19:29] So they don't remember what they've been taught. They have forgotten what they've been taught. They had not listened with spiritual eagers when Jesus told them that he would rise from the dead. I mean, I'm sure they heard Jesus say that because we know it's written in the scriptures. They heard it.
[19:44] But I'm sure they were thinking to themselves, hyperbole here, rhetorical here. He doesn't really mean that. Literary device here. He's not really going to die. He's not really going to be buried. He's not really going to rise from the dead. I mean, he's talking there. Kind of like I did when I said I wouldn't deny him. I'd rather be dead than deny him. I was just running my mouth. But that wasn't what was going on. The real problem was they hadn't believed his word. They hadn't believed his word. They hadn't believed the witness and they hadn't believed the word. How often do we know in our heads the truth of the gospel but refuse to believe it? Now, if you're here and you're not a born-again believer, you're not saved, your sins aren't forgiven, you're not on your way to heaven, let me explain something to you. I believe you know right here you're a sinner. I believe that you know that you have done wrong and you know God's not pleased. I don't believe anybody needs to tell you that. And if somebody were to have a discussion with you, you'd start saying, no, no, no, no, I'm not really that bad.
[20:42] Because even though you know up here, down here you're not willing to admit you've sinned, that's why you can't get saved. Down here you're not willing to say, I really need help. And until you're willing to do that, you won't get help. We've allowed our faith to become academic, not personal and real. How is your unbelief this morning? Do you doubt what the scripture say?
[21:08] Do you doubt the testimonies of others that have seen God do great things? Are you insensitive to the Holy Spirit as he convicts you of your sin? Go with me if you would to verse 15. I'm covering the old chapter and I'm doing it because I think it really goes together. I mean, it just belongs together. The story starts off with them not believing he's alive.
[21:32] And then of course the ladies hear about it and the two witnesses hear about it and Jesus sends special word to Peter and he is alive and he's fussed at them for not believing he's alive. They've been in neutral or reverse. Their gift shifters in the wrong spot there. I mean, when Jesus died, they either slammed it into neutral and stopped moving or parked or they put it in reverse and they're backing up. And now he says, you guys didn't believe me? You didn't believe the witnesses I sent to you? I spent three years telling you I am God. I spent three years telling you that I was going to die on a cross and be buried and rising. I told you and I told you and I told you.
[22:15] And now I'm here. Now what you boys want to say? Because I mean, I don't know if you realize this, but these last few hours have been like world turning upside down hours. Do you see what I'm talking about? We're in that, we're in here talking. I'm in the office. I got like 11 guys in there, 10 other guys with me. We're all sitting around. We had such great plans. We were expected to do big stuff. We thought Jesus was real. I left my business. I gave up my boats. Man, life's terrible.
[22:52] And in bus these women going, he's alive. Oh, hush. Get out of here. Can't you see we're crying? Can't you see we're sad? Then two guys walked in and said, he really is alive. I will believe you either. Get out of here. Next one to show up, Jesus. When Jesus walks in and says, yep, here I am.
[23:13] And I don't appreciate y'all didn't believe me. And you didn't believe the people I sent to tell you. I don't appreciate that a bit. I don't appreciate that a bit. I don't know what you think happened. I mean, I see them, they're wiping their faces. They're trying to clean up the room.
[23:26] They're trying to act like we're, they're all like, we got to go take a shower. We had a pact in three days because we was all whining and pouty here. And they're jumping up and Jesus said, you quit saying you don't believe in me now. No, like you got us. We believe. And then he said in verse 15, look at your Bible verse 15. He said, all right, now go tell everybody.
[23:47] He said, you believe my witnesses. You believe the people I sent to you, but now you do, don't you? Cause you're looking at me, aren't you? So he says in verse 15, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I died. I was buried and I rose again. I have the power to save lost man. I want the world to know the truth. I love everybody. I don't want anybody to go to hell. How in the world can you not imagine? You know, see, they're going to take the great commission and they're going to go crazy taking the gospel to the world. Well, I understand it.
[24:20] I mean, I'm, I'm a, I spend my life trying to motivate, challenge people to do something for God. I spend my life training young missionaries and work with older missionaries and everything, but all they ever sees me. But I can only imagine what would happen if Jesus walked up and said, I'm about to tell you all not believe in me. I'm out here. Touch me. Touch me. Go ahead.
[24:40] Stick your hand in where the nail prints were. I am alive. Now get out and tell people. I mean, I can just imagine they didn't even pack a bag, man. They took off running. Somebody hollered, send somebody with a suitcase. I'm going to need some new underwear in a few days.
[24:54] I got to get out of here. I got to go tell everybody. How could they hold on to the truth now? How could they keep it quiet now? They had to tell the world Jesus is alive. We spent three years talking about it in theory. We thought it was all over. He's alive. We got to tell the world.
[25:15] Jesus said, go tell everybody. And then he promised them before they left in Mark 16, 17, and 18, he said, and I'll protect you while you do it. I'll protect you while you do it. He said, there'll be signs that follow you that believe you'll cast out devils. You'll speak in new tongues.
[25:31] You'll take up serpents. You'll drink nothing that can harm you. You'll lay hands on the sick. I got big stuff for you. You're going to do big stuff. These are basically the signs of an apostle.
[25:44] In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 12, the Bible says, truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patient signs, wonders, and mighty deeds. God said, let me show you how powerful I am.
[25:57] So you got to get the picture. We don't believe he's alive. We don't believe he's alive. We don't believe he's alive. Oh, he's terrible. Then it comes the girls and say he's alive and they are, get out of here. Go to the kitchen, make a sandwich. We aren't listening to you.
[26:09] So she leaves. Then comes in two guys. They're like, oh boy, this is bad as a woman. They think he's alive. And then Jesus walks in the door and says, I am alive. And I don't appreciate y'all didn't believe me. Now get up and go tell people what I just said. And by the way, I'll go with you and I'll protect you and I'll bless your ministry. And you can go, you can have great things happen.
[26:31] He gives a great commission at least five times. The new Testament, every time he gives them promises in Matthew promises them his presence and Mark, he promises them his protection and Johnny promises them his peace. And in Luke and I actually promises them his power. They will be blessed and used.
[26:50] Now you got to understand they're about to leave and go out and preach, but what's going to happen? And Jesus says, well, let me explain something to you. If they'll believe and get baptized, they'll go to heaven. If they won't believe, they'll go to hell. Well, it is. You guys just go do your job.
[27:06] You go tell the world that I died for my, for their sins. I was buried and I rose again. And I'm here telling you to go tell them. Now look, if you went at Mark 16, 16, Mark 16, 16, he says, he that believes it comes right after 15, 15 says, go and go and preach the gospel to all nations.
[27:24] He says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall be damned. Okay, guys, you go do your job. You just go preach. And when you preach, some will believe.
[27:41] And some will take the steps to follow me and show they love me. And others will say, get out of here. We don't believe. He said, they're going to go to hell when they die. They're going to be damned. You can put a circle around that word, damned, and draw it to the side of that. It means go to hell.
[27:54] If they won't believe Jesus, they will pay for their sin. All have sinned. For all have sinned and come to the glory of God. There's none righteous, not one. Everybody sinned. And the wages of sin is death. And so if somebody doesn't pay your debt, you'll pay your debt. He said, I paid their debt. And if they'll believe, they'll go to heaven. But if they won't believe, they'll go to hell. Your job is to go tell them how to be saved. Believe and be saved or don't believe and be damned. You should write that by that verse. Because some of you have been around enough churches to kind of get messed up on verse 16.
[28:28] Here's what the verse says. Believe and be saved. Don't believe and be damned. Because the key part of the phrase is, he that believeth not shall be damned. Not about he that doesn't get baptized will be damned, but he that doesn't believe. Can you read the verse? If you see that, say amen. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. He that believes not shall be damned.
[28:49] Who's going to get damned? Who's going to get damned? He that believes not. That's the guy that's going to be damned. Now believers ought to take a public profession of faith. Believers ought to be baptized. Believers ought to stand up and say, I do believe. Because your testimony goes hand in hand with your faith. You know, if you're in love, you're going to make it public. You know, I haven't, I've done a lot of weddings. I've done a lot of weddings at this church. You know, I mean, I've done a bunch of weddings. In fact, the other day, I didn't know I was going to be able to make it back for the rehearsal for the last couple that got married and they've run off. I don't know where they are, but anyway, they must be enjoying their honeymoon. Say amen. But, but I called them. I said, now, if I'm not there, just let the people that run the wedding handle it. They'll tell me what to do. I've done it so many times. I know what to do on my part. But you know, I've been doing this a whole long time. I never have anybody say, no, I ain't wearing a ring and I ain't kissing. I don't want nobody announcing that I'm married. That just ain't how it works. I mean, all they're waiting for is me to say, put the ring on. You can kiss her and that's your new name. That's what they're waiting for. When you really believe Jesus, I mean, it's getting baptized. Things are normal, natural thing that would follow. Can I get an amen there? Let me explain something to you.
[30:03] The baptism was your way of identifying with Christ. So the verse is believe and be baptized and you'll be saved. That's not saying that if you're not baptized, you won't get saved, but it's like being believing and being baptized are so closely connected. It's like getting married and wearing this ring. I've been wearing this ring for 45 years. It's the same ring. 45 years I've been wearing this ring. I put this ring on 45 years ago in August to say, I love you. And everywhere I go, I will be identified as a marked man. I want it to be clear. I have made my decision. Well, this is what happens when you get baptized. When you get saved, man, you want to get baptized. If you didn't want to get baptized, I would question whether or not you were saved. If you were to say, I don't want to get baptized. It's so closely related. I can't even imagine that. Now the whole key though is not being baptized. Some of y'all did get baptized, but baptizing never has saved anybody. If baptizing would save, I would fill up a dump tank, drive around town, grab and people throw them through it.
[31:03] I just grab them, throw them in. They get out mad. I wouldn't care. I'd be like, Hey, you've been baptized. You're going to heaven. You'd be mad at me, but you're going to heaven. If sprinkling would work, I'd just get me one of the things that shoots the water out. I just drive through town. I go to the ball game. Everybody going out. I said, Oh, y'all are, you're all saved going to heaven. Oh, it's not the water. It saves you. Amen. But how would you be ashamed? It's the gospel. It's the gospel that saves. It's the gospel. And you're believing that. And when you believe, you want to show that.
[31:32] Now go with me, if you would, to Mark chapter 16 and verse 19. These are verses that are just beautiful. He said, now when you guys go out, I'll protect you and they'll have to decide whether they'll believe or not. But I promise you this, I'll be going with you. I love this part of the verse. And Mark chapter 16, verse 19, he said, so after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up in heaven and he sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere.
[31:58] The Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Can you imagine what you would do if you saw Jesus risen from the dead, speaking to you, then being received up into heaven? I mean, you got it. It's all in, it's all in just a matter of, of a month and 10 days.
[32:21] This is all going to take place in 40 days time. He died. He's dead, dead, dead. There's stones rolled in front of him. We've anointed his body. We know he's dead. We didn't find a pulse. We, we had to wipe the blood and all the mess off of him to clean him up for when we buried him. He's dead.
[32:41] Three days, they whine and mope about knowing he's dead. And then, and then one day, one day the girls go to anoint his body. When they walk in the room, the, the stones rolled away and a young man standing in there, sitting in there with a long white robe on. And they walk in like, man, what you doing in here? This is where Jesus posed me. He said, ladies, they didn't say a word. They cat got her tongue real quick. And he said, I know you're looking for Jesus. And, and he's not here.
[33:06] This is where he was laid. Go tell Peter and the boys, Jesus said, he'll meet them in Galilee. And the ladies are scared to death and they go running with the message and they run into the room and Peter and him go from reverse to high speed. They go from zero to a hundred in less than a second, because one moment it's like, we, we, and I was a zoom that things have totally changed, totally changed. And then for the next 40 days or so, Jesus is telling them, this is what I want you to do. Cause there's 40 days taking place in these last verses and he's telling them what he wants them to do. And, and then he's saying, now here's the last words I got to say to you. And then all of a sudden he just goes up in the clouds. He steps on a cloud and floats up into heaven. There's angels on each side of him. In fact, there's one of the angels look down and say, what you boys doing?
[33:53] Looking up here. He told you what to do. Get with it. That's Acts chapter one. I think. What would you have done? I think you'd have done what they did. I want you to see what it says in verse 19. After the Lord had spoken to them, I mean, a dead guy that's alive again, and he was received into heaven and he sat on the right hand of the father. Guess what happened? They went forth and they preached everywhere. They went forth and they preached everywhere. I don't, I mean, I'd just be blunt honest with you. I'm not even shocked. I mean, if I'd seen a dead guy come to life, walked around for 40 days and then floated up into heaven, I'd have been like, sell the business, buddy. We got work to do. If we could pull that off here this morning, I believe I could turn this all in the missionaries. Say amen. But you're like, well, that happened a long time ago. I ain't seen nothing like that in my life. You can imagine, you can imagine fishermen, they throwing their nets away. They're gone, buddy. They're out. And the beautiful thing is it says the Lord working with them. Look at that verse, the Lord working with them. That's in verse 20, the Lord working with them.
[35:01] So they went out and he's gone. He's gone. But the Holy Spirit's coming. And as they go out, he's working with them. They walk out there and they know they're just unlearned and ignorant people.
[35:14] And they start sharing with people how Jesus died, was buried and rose again. And Jesus could save them and change their lives. And people started getting saved. Oh, one day Peter will preach and 3,000 guys are going to get baptized. You say, how in the world that happened? Well, it wasn't that God. Peter didn't even go to speaker school. Peter was a nigger fisherman. How'd he do it?
[35:35] The Lord working with him. How the mystery is going to get her done. The Lord working with him. It was the Lord working with him. I like this part. Confirming the word with signs following.
[35:48] You know what happened? Everywhere they went, it was like, I mean, you'd have to be a preacher to understand how scary it is when you get off an airplane in a foreign country or when you step into a new church to preach. And you walk in and you're like, okay, I'm going to do the best I can here. And I hope to make God, won't you just please do something? And he, they stood up and started speaking and God moved. They were like, he's confirming it. He really is real. He really did die.
[36:15] He really was buried. He really did rise from the dead. He really is working with us. He's saving people. He's changing lives. He's a great God. I don't know how you wouldn't believe he's a great God. Not if you started off a chapter knowing he was dead and going to, I mean, they're on the way to the graveyard to spray sweet smelling stuff in there so you don't have to smell Jesus's rotting body. That's what they're doing. But on the way there, they find out he ain't dead. He's alive.
[36:44] And you've heard the story. Two questions I have for you. How can you be quiet about such a great truth? You have family members that don't know they go to heaven if they died. You have family members that have never trusted Christ. I didn't ask if they'd gone to church. I didn't ask if they'd been baptized. I didn't ask if they'd take first communion. I didn't ask if they're dying and going to hell. He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He that believes not will be damned.
[37:16] They got to hear the gospel. They must believe. And you're too quiet. You don't tell them about Jesus. You never mention the gospel with them. They're your family, the people you most love.
[37:28] And soon you'll be at their funeral and they'll have never heard the gospel. If we believe, we got to tell. Can I get an amen right there? We got to share what he's done.
[37:41] And if you're here this morning and you've never been saved, you're not going to heaven when you die, your sins aren't forgiven. And you know everything I've talked about, you know it up here. You know it up here. You don't know it down here. Knowing everything about what the Bible says is not the same as being born again. Having a head full of knowledge means nothing. The devils even believe in Jesus or believe in God. But they don't, they're not saved because it's, they, what that means is they know all about him and they know he's real, but he's not personal. Have you placed your trust in Jesus? Today's your day. He loves you. He died for you. He wants you to go to heaven when you die.
[38:24] There is no reason for your sins not to be forgiven today. There's no reason for you not to know for sure you go to heaven. We want to help you.