The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Mark 16:9-20the main passage of the sermon, worked through verse by verse
9 Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11 When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved.
12 After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country.
13 They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.
14 Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
cited to show that belief, not baptism, is the condition for salvation, in tension with Mark 16:16
17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
cited to show Peter preaching repentance and baptism side by side on the day of Pentecost
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
cited to confirm Mark 16:18's promise that believers would lay hands on the sick and they would recover
1 Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
2 A certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple.
3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive gifts for the needy.
4 Peter, fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, “Look at us.”
5 He listened to them, expecting to receive something from them.
6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
7 He took him by the right hand, and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength.
8 Leaping up, he stood, and began to walk. He entered with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.
9 All the people saw him walking and praising God.
cited to confirm Mark 16:17's promise about casting out demons and healing the sick
16 The multitude also came together from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick people, and those who were tormented by unclean spirits: and they were all healed.
cited to confirm Mark 16:18's promise about picking up serpents without harm, fulfilled when Paul was bitten by a viper on Malta
3 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 on his hand.
4 When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live.”
5 However he shook off the creature into the fire, and wasn’t harmed.
6 But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but when they watched for a long time and saw nothing bad happen to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
cited to show baptism connected to being buried and raised with Christ through faith
9 For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,
10 and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;
11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
cited to confirm Christ endured the cross and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
cited in connection with baptism saving, with Peter's parenthetic clarification that it is an appeal to God for a good conscience
20 who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21 This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray walked through Mark 16:9-20, one of two passages in the New Testament that appear in brackets or footnotes in many Bible translations. He spent time explaining why those brackets exist and what a reader can trust about the Bible they hold in their hands.
What was said
The bracketed text in Mark 16 is not the result of a conspiracy or a council secretly removing verses. It comes from a long and careful tradition called textual criticism. We have thousands of ancient manuscript copies of the New Testament, and scholars have worked to compare them honestly. Two manuscript families matter most here: the Byzantine tradition, which forms the basis of the Textus Receptus that Erasmus compiled in 1516 and which underlies the King James and New King James, and the Alexandrian tradition, represented by two very old codices found at the Vatican and at the foot of Mount Sinai, which forms the basis of modern critical translations. The differences between these traditions are minimal and carry almost no doctrinal significance.
Mark 16:9-20 sits outside what most of the earliest manuscripts contain, and the Greek in those verses uses vocabulary and style noticeably different from the rest of Mark. Pastor Ray noted that by tradition Mark's gospel is Peter's account, and it is not unheard of for someone else to complete a letter. He presented this honestly and left room for the reader to sit with the question rather than forcing a conclusion.
Whatever its origin, nearly everything in the passage is confirmed elsewhere in scripture. The appearance to Mary Magdalene, her having had seven demons cast out, the disciples refusing to believe the women's report, the road to Emmaus, the great commission, the ascension, Christ seated at the right hand of God: all of it shows up in Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, and the epistles. Pastor Ray went through the confirmation point by point, not to prove the passage authentic but to show that nothing in it stands alone or contradicts what the rest of the New Testament teaches.
The statement that "the one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved" drew careful attention. Rather than dismissing it or using it to build a doctrine of baptismal regeneration, Pastor Ray let other scripture speak. The thief on the cross, Peter's sermon at Pentecost, Paul's retelling of his own conversion, Colossians 2, and 1 Peter 3 were all brought in. The consistent picture across those passages is that belief comes first and baptism follows as an outward sign of what has already happened, an appeal to God for a good conscience, as Peter puts it.
The signs listed in the passage, casting out demons, speaking in new tongues, surviving serpents and poison, laying hands on the sick, were each traced into Acts and the broader apostolic record. Pastor Ray was direct: the examples scripture actually gives are the apostles doing these things, and building a personal theology around the expectation that every believer will do the same leads, in his view, to delusion. He also said plainly that he is not a cessationist and believes the gifts are for today, but that the right foundation is the gospel itself and the assurance that your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life.
The service closed with communion. Pastor Ray invited anyone who has believed, or who is believing for the first time, to the table, describing it as an open table presented freely. The congregation was sent out with the same note Mark ends on: they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Ray spent time explaining why some Bibles bracket or footnote passages like Mark 16:9-20, rather than just skipping over them or pretending the question does not exist. How does understanding that kind of transparency affect your confidence in the Bible you hold in your hand?
When the disciples heard from Mary Magdalene that Jesus had risen, they refused to believe her, and the same thing happened when the two on the road to Emmaus reported back. Why do you think it was so hard for people who had walked with Jesus to believe the resurrection, and what does that tell us about the nature of faith?
Speaker 1Everybody, how are you? You're here. You're here. Let's sing the rest of men from the vestibule. Would you stand up?
We'll sing there's power in the blood.
Speaker 2Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood. Power in the blood. Would you or evil have victory when there's wonderful power in the blood? There is power, power, working power in the blood of the lamb.
There is power power wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb. Would you be free of your passion and pride? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tithe. There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb. There is power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb. Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Since stains are lost in its life giving flow, there's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb. There is power, power wonder working power in the precious flood of the lamb. Would you do service for Jesus your king? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you live daily his praises to sing?
There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb. There is power, power,
Speaker 1Amen. Let's go right on into the old rugged cross. The power displayed.
Speaker 2On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. Oh, the old rugged cross so despised by the world has a wondrous attraction for me.
For the dear lamb of God left his glory above to bear it to dark Calvary. So I'll cherish thee your rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the all rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. In the old rugged cross stained with blood so divine, how wondrous beauty I see. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. On the last, to the old rugged cross, I will ever be true. It's shame and reproach gladly bear. Then you called me someday to my home far away where is glory forever I'll share. So I'll cherish thee your rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to the all rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. Amen.
Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. Have a few announcements and they are oh, I think that that one already has passed. If you want another super exciting happy happy good times budgeting workshop, you can talk to Nick's, Darren, and he would be glad to set one up for you, but that happened this past week. They'll closing off of that one corporately. The clicky clicker is not working.
There it is. Iwana clubs, that is crazy looking. Volunteer recognition party is happening today, right after this service. So if you have volunteered for Awana, you and your family are welcome to come. Felix and Guadalupe are making a Mexican feast down the other end of the hall.
Food will be provided. Bring your families. That's for volunteer recognition party. Awana has closed out the season. So that's the end of the season close out.
It's just a couple more weeks, few more weeks of school. But we are having tomorrow night, I I said it's closed out. Tomorrow night, we're doing the race. The big Grand Prix and we have more cars than we have ever had in this huge Grand Prix. So you will see and I think color commentary from our own Nick Stern, I think.
But it'll be a fun time. It'll be a good time here in the sanctuary. We'll set up the track and do that. That's gonna be tomorrow night. Fellowship Hall Connect Hour this morning, Addy did the desserts herself, but if you would sign up, it would be great.
Addie Hair is in charge. That's her number right there. It'd be great if she had some help. There's a men's study that happens at lunchtime. Don't let the sandwich fool you.
There is no lunch provided. It just happens at lunchtime. Thursday's at 11:55. It goes to one. You can come and go as you need to, but we're studying first Peter together.
It has been really, really good and fruitful. We're halfway through first Peter two right now. Plenty of time to join in. Vacation Bible school this year at first b will be June 24 through the twenty seventh. Pre k through sixth grade, you can sign up online to be a volunteer or to sign a child up at firstbjackson.org or on the papers out in the vestibule and where Jesus was a kid, hometown Nazareth is the theme this year.
There's a potluck coming up for Jean DeMarsh. We're to keep on advertising that even front of her right here. May 17, 05:30PM down in the Fellowship Hall. No gifts, please, but we do wanna celebrate you. We wanna celebrate your having been here and encourage your encouraging your departure didn't sound good.
We wanna encourage you upon your departure. We can't make you stay, but we're gonna celebrate you. That's good. Alright. There was a congregational meeting.
It was a unanimous vote to adopt the changes the elders had recommended to the constitution. So that did happen and there's a church cleanup coming up on May 18, nine to one. Pizza will be provided. We will find something for your skill level, obviously. Volunteers needed of all skill levels.
We'll find something for you to do, church cleanup. I'm looking around and I'm seeing faces here that haven't been here in a while and I'm just thankful that you're here this morning. We had a group of teenagers in the first service that they took up two rows right over here And it was pretty cool to see. And during the first song, one of them apparently locked his knees and passed out. And so I'm not gonna share his name.
He's fine. But pray that he does not just go into extreme embarrassment about that situation. I passed out in front of a ninth grade English class one time. Still remember it every time I get up on stage. So I'm just thinking about that guy, whoever he is.
Lord bless him. That's it. And I do want to invite Deb Hill forward. Deb Hill. Yeah, I was I was doing a speech on a poem called Insomniac, and I myself am an insomniac, and I fell asleep in front of all the people.
What we're doing right here, this is a covenant ceremony for Deb Hill. Deb has been coming to church for quite some time. She is mother of a missionary and she loves Jesus. She loves his word and she has come forward. I'll ask you a few questions then I'm gonna ask them a couple of questions, alright?
Have you personally trusted in Christ as savior believing that he died for your sins and rose from the dead? Yes. Amen. Do you believe that God has led you here not just to attend but to also become a member of First Bee?
Speaker 3Yes. Amen. Can I say something?
Speaker 1Yes, ma'am. Oh, I'll I'll give you that opportunity for sure.
Speaker 3I have Here
Speaker 1you go.
Speaker 3I've got a big give Becky Tomcic.
Speaker 2It's mutual.
Speaker 3A huge thank you because she wanted to get baptized in February and asked me if I'd help her. So I'm thinking February, who's gonna have baptistry? Oh, the Baptist Churchwood.
Speaker 1Good. Thank you.
Speaker 3And that's how I got to know pastor Ray and Carl, and it was such a fit. So I'm so glad. I'm so glad
Speaker 1that I got this church.
Speaker 3Thank you, Becky, and thank you, lord. I talked to on the phone.
Speaker 1Yes, ma'am. And
Speaker 3I started to cry. Just your voice was just
Speaker 1That's very sweet. Yeah. And when you started to cry, started to
Speaker 2cry because that's what happens. Yeah.
Speaker 1Praise God.
Speaker 3It was it was just
Speaker 1He is he is very He's very active amongst Yeah. Amen.
Speaker 3So anyway, I'm very glad to be here.
Speaker 1Thank you. One more question.
Speaker 2Do you
Speaker 1believe and do you recognize the authority of scripture in our lives, life of the body of the church as we endeavor to live by its teachings that express God's purpose for our lives in worship and fellowship, Christ likeness, service, and an outreach. Do you believe that? Yeah. Do you all believe that? Yes.
Okay. So then, as members together in the body of Christ, will y'all endeavor to open your hearts to ministry towards Deb and to receive ministry from Deb serving each other as well as ministering to one another. Will you all do that? Yes. Will you do that?
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1Okay. And will we all endeavor to grow in faithfulness to one another as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ together. Will you all do that? Yes. Will we do that?
Absolutely. We will. Amen. Welcome. Thank you.
Glad you're you're in. Amen. And now, I'd ask you if you would stand with us and we'll sing a couple more songs. Why should he love me so?
Speaker 2Love sent my savior to die in my stead. Why should he love me so? Meekly to Calvary's cross he was led. Why should he love me so? Why should he love me so?
Why should he love me so? Why should my savior to Calvary go? Why should he love me so? Nails pierced his hands and his feet for my sin. Why should he love me so?
One leper sore my salvation to win. Why should he love me so? Why should he love me so? Why should he love me so? Why should my savior to Calvary go?
Why should he love me so? Oh, how he agonized there in my place. Why should he love me so? Nothing withholding my sin to efface. Why should he love me so?
Why should he love me so? Why should he love me so? Why should my savior to Calvary? Why should he love me so?
Speaker 1Amen. There's a redeemer. Oh, Keith Green song, I think.
Speaker 2There is a redeemer, Jesus God's own son, precious lamb of God, Messiah, holy one. Thank you, oh, my father, for giving us your son and leaving your spirit till the work on earth is done. Jesus, my redeemer, name above all names. Precious lamb of God, messiah, hope for sinners slain. Thank you, oh, my father, for giving us your son and leaving your spirit to the work on earth is done on the last.
Speaker 1Oh, that was the last. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward. The last one on that says, when I stand in glory, I will see his face.
And there, I'll serve my king forever in that holy place. Thank you, oh my father. May I lead off our operatory prayer with just that? God, thank you, oh my father, for giving us your son and for leaving your spirit till the work on earth is done. Lord, would you direct us by your spirit just like you did Jesus?
And I pray lord that we would have the humility to walk it out just like Jesus. We're gonna take communion together here this morning lord and we're gonna look at his example and we want to live out obedience in following that example. Would you bring people into the family of God by the way you use our lives, our surrendered and humbled hearts and walks before you. In Jesus name, we ask that you'd bless this offering, that it would do your kingdom's work, whatever that is and may be. Lord, I pray that we'd be doing your will and your way by your spirit.
Amen. Well, that was fun, Judy. Wow. That's great. So, Mark sixteen nine through 20.
I told you a few weeks ago that I finished the New Testament. I told you that and I said, up there, I put a few slides up, Matthew, Mark, and Luke and I said, covering this in Matthew, we'll go on some from Luke. We're gonna go up to verse eight in Mark and then we're gonna stop. So, we went up through verse eight but nine through 20 remained and I knew that at the time but I wanted to do a little bit more study and I wanted to kind of try to present this. So, last week, if you weren't here, we went through kind of an extended history of the Bible that you have in your hand in English.
An extended history of the Bible in English and we went through a lot of different translations, but we also went through a lot of different methodologies and history. This week, I'm going to continue a little bit of that because Mark sixteen nine through 20 is one of the passages that is a bracketed passage. Now, I typically use the New American Standard Version of the Bible. The NASB contains this, but it contains it with double brackets just like those. And that is because well, what's up with the brackets?
Some of your Bibles, you turn to Mark and you turn to chapter 16, it'll go up to verse eight and it'll just stop. There won't be anything else on that page. Or maybe there'll be an asterisk and a footnote that'll say, the earliest and best manuscripts do not include Mark sixteen nine through 20. Something along those lines, it's a little bit of a footnote. Some of them will have it in a footnote at the bottom of the page and there are just different ways of dealing with this.
We'll talk about this at the beginning and then we'll actually go to this passage, sixteen:nine through 20. So that's what we're gonna do this morning. This is the whole passage that we're covered in Mark. But what I thought would be a good idea is since this is what is considered a disputed passage, There are only two passages, whole passages that are disputed passages in between what I'll get to in a minute, the textual traditions. There are two stories.
Now, are other variant readings of different spellings and stuff like that. I don't want for I don't want to erode the confidence that you have in your Bible, but I want you to understand why would something be brass bracketed or have an asterisk or why is that? Because these days, maybe not as much in this service as in the earlier service, TikTok reels, Instagram reels, short little videos, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, oftentimes, they will have somebody who has doctor something in front of his name, and they will ask the craziest wing nut that they can find to explain how things happened. Or you'll see a scary little Instagram reel while you're waiting at the doctor's office and you see this thing and it says, who took the Bible and twisted it, took verses out of it? The Council of Nicaea three twenty five under the cover of darkness.
And it's like, that's not real. That's not true. There are 16 different verses in most modern translations of the Bible that have been left out bracketed or not included for with an asterisk or whatever. 16 verses and these two stories and the reason that they were, I'll get to it in just a second. Here it is.
Textual criticism. We have thousands, thousands and thousands and thousands of extant copies of papyri and vellum and paper, codex paper. We have thousands and thousands and thousands of copies of these. We do not have the original manuscripts that say Matthew or Mark or Luke or John wrote in their handwriting. We do not believe that we have any of those.
That would go all the way back to the first century before ninety five AD, believe. Certainly by one ten because we have a list of all the complete ones in one ten. The Textus Receptus. Now this forgive me newcomers folks that are visiting this week. Last week's sermon was a long list of the history of Bible in English and I got to the 15 hundreds and said in 1516, Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam compiled all of what he considered to be the best Greek manuscripts for the New Testament and he put them all together in one place and then had it printed.
Now the first thing that was printed on Gutenberg's print and press before that in 1455 was the Bible in Latin, Jerome's Vulgate, the Latin Vulgate. In 1516, Erasmus was able to distribute far and wide a Greek compendium of the best resources available at the time. And so he did that and we call that the Textus Receptus. It is the received text. It's the one that everybody said, we're gonna agree that this is what it says.
1516, Erasmus distributes that in printed form. Martin Luther made his German Bible after that Greek New Testament. William Tyndale made his English Bible after that, Greek New Testament following the traditions there. That's the Textus Receptus and you will see that the in within textual criticism, you'll hear terms a lot. That our Textus Receptus, that's the one Erasmus' combined Greek text put all in there together, we this is what we're calling it good right here.
If you go forward, you might hear something called the majority text. The majority of the texts that we have are in agreement with the Textus Receptus and are of a Byzantine variety. That is the majority of texts that we have are similar, very similar, 99.6% similar. There are a few spelling differences, but that is the tradition of the majority text and the critical text. The critical text came out in 1881.
In 1881, rather than using the Texas Receptus, Westcott and Hort were two guys that believed that older is better. The oldest text that you have is the one you should use because people are less likely to change, add scribal translation errors or try not translation, copyist errors. Like when you get to the end of a sentence and you start back on the beginning and you skip a line, or you start over again on the same line, or you spell something slightly differently. Then those kind of things happen from copyists. And so, the critical text was revised from the earliest manuscripts.
They made a decision at the beginning that older is better. What prompted this is two different codices, codexes were found. One of them in the Vatican and one of them in a church at the bottom of Mount Sinai. And when they found these two almost complete versions of the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, They found them in one place and they were two centuries older than the oldest Byzantine text that we still had. Now, text can be favorably and factually and with fidelity transferred over and over and over again and they were.
We see this actually in the Old Testament. People for years and years and years said, oh, that that Bible is not even anything like what it was. Well, Isaiah's not like it was. And then when we found in 1948, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Isaiah is word for word exactly what it was before. So when you find older manuscripts, what do you do with them?
The Textus Receptus, we've all agreed upon this, we're going to stick with this, is one thing you can do. The other one, intellectual honesty for Westcott and Hort says, we need to say there are some differences here. They believe that the shorter reading was to be preferred. So it's more likely they believe for a scribe to add than to take away. Whether that's true or not, I don't know.
But that was their their methodology. The other was older is better, closer to the source. So the text type in Texas Receptus was Byzantine. In majority text, it's Byzantine. That's where the church was most active and most growing and that's where people had worn out Bibles that were needed to copy, you know, copy and copy, copy.
And the critical text takes these two codexes and basically throws they were of the Alexandrian type and it throws out the Byzantine text for the most part. Now, I will say the the disagreement is very very very minimal, rare, and has almost no doctrinal significance whatsoever dependent on how hard you hit it. Okay? None in my opinion. None.
But this is the modern versions you see goes up to 1862 up to Young's Literal. So Tyndale based on Textus Receptus on Erasmus' Greek New Testament. Tyndale's Bible, great, strangled, burned. Coverdale, you need to revise it a year later. Matthew's Bible, that's the one that had the marginal notes that got him in some hot water.
That was not a great thing. Gotta revise that two years later. The great Bible, that's the one they had to chain to the pulpits because it's such a great version and so heavy and so tempting that they chained them so people wouldn't steal them. The bishop's Bible was the high church folks answer to the Geneva Bible which was a puritan Bible, Calvin's Geneva, Switzerland. The Bishop's Bible came after, not a great translation but still based on Texas Receptus.
1611, the King James would become the standard for three hundred and fifty years, easy. Young's Literal, if you ever think, I wonder if what that literally says, you can look up on your Bible Gateway app, go to the YLT, Young's Literal translation, and it'll give you like where it says heart in some of our translations, it'll say splanchnoid, the visceral guts. You know, that's the literal, Young's Literal. The New King James in 1982, and you'll see the NT, just the New Testament in the New King James is from the Texas Receptus. Of course, that is the Greek New Testament, so that makes sense.
They use the majority text for the Old Testament. The critical text is basically all of the new ones. And that's why what's in your hand right now, you might get to a place today and see these brackets. The majority text is really very slightly modified version of the Texas Receptus. It's seen as a middle way in some ways because they are finding older and older manuscripts of the Byzantine variety.
And so it way majority, not even close, lots of those. So here we go. That's Textual Chrysostism. Now we're going to start the actual passage. Now, after he had risen early on the first day of the week.
Okay. Wait a second. This is the resurrection story. Do we have that confirmed in other places in scripture? So is Mark saying anything new, outlandish, or crazy here?
No. Matthew agrees with him after the Sabbath, it began to dawn toward the first day of the week and that is in agreement. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene whom from whom he had cast out seven demons. Does that sound abnormal, new, different, not to be trusted? No.
Luke eight. This is cool. Luke eight says Mary Magdalene was a part of this group of ladies after Jesus soon after Jesus began going around from one city and village to another. He was proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God, the 12 guys were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses. Mary, from whom had gone out seven demons, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
I love that. That's missionary support. That's how Jesus and his disciples were able to go because it says specifically faithful believing women provided for them. Also, that the seven demons have been cast out, Mark's not saying anything new there. She went and she reported to those who had been with him while they were mourning, while they were weeping.
Can you imagine the disciples doing that for sure? And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, what did they do? Refuse to believe it. If you look in Luke, these words appear to them as nonsense and they would not believe the women. That's kind of the way guys are sometimes.
This one comes from Luke also. I'm sorry, Mark. The last 11 verses here, nine nine through 20. The the Greek grammar is very different. There are 11 new words that are introduced that have not been used in Mark at all.
And then in 11 verses, are 11 new terms that come up. So it does not look like Mark who was writing along got to this and then just went crazy and started doing other stuff. But as I have had it presented to me in my study, it's interesting that we all know by tradition that Mark's gospel is Peter's story written down by Mark. And it's not uncommon to have someone else finish their own letter. And so it could very well be Peter is writing this part, maybe.
I think because there's a Greek term in here that didn't make any that that show up anywhere else in Mark. Now after that, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they're walking along on their way to the country. Remember that? The disciples on the road to Emmaus, one of my favorite stories. Well, one of the things that's weird about that story when you read it in Luke, it says and they didn't know who he was.
Well gracious, they were just in town with him. They just saw all the beatings. What did do? Shave? Is he wearing a funny hat?
I don't know what's going on. Well, Mark, this is why some people believe that this is a later edition because Mark says it's in a different form. We have early witnesses that's that quote this. So I'm going to leave it in your lap. After that, he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along their way to the country.
And they went away and they reported it to the rest, but they didn't believe them either. It's a hard story to believe. Even though Jesus has been saying, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection. So those are the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Later, he appeared to the 11 disciples themselves as they were reclining at the table.
And he reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. The reprimand is a little stronger term. I'm not I don't think of it being a reprimand even when he opens up and says, go ahead, Thomas. Touch. See.
I want for you to have confidence in this so that you can tell the people who are not going be able to see me. Right? He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead. So that was why he was like, come on, don't be slow to believe. And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
That's sort of an abbreviated version of the great commission which we see in Matthew. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Y'all be going therefore making disciples of all the nation, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to follow all that I've commanded you. Behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age. Mark says, go preach the gospel to the whole creation.
The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved. Now, this is where we start to see, what's going on here? The one who has believed. Well, we got the one who has believed, there's no doubt. The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved, but the one who has not believed will be condemned.
And John three, talking to Nicodemus, Jesus, for God did not send the son into the world to judge the world. He was throwing him a lifeline so that the world might be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not judged, is saved. The one who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God, the exclusive gospel of Christ. The one who believes is not judged or is saved.
Do we get that from John? But the addition of this and has been baptized. Does that make any of you a little nervous? Because it says, the one who believes and is baptized. If you come from a Church of Christ background, where water baptism is very very important and is regenerational.
It is something that baptismal regeneration is something that they preach And they hold on to this. They actually hold on to Texas receptus and to this because it is a good place to go as a proof text. But Anne has been baptized. Now let's let scripture speak instead of just looking at it going, I don't like that. I'm going to throw that out.
I'll just pay attention to the new modern versions. I think the thief on the cross would disagree with the baptismal necessity. Right? Because Jesus says today, you're going to be with me in paradise. It's an extreme circumstance.
I think that but if you look in Acts during Peter's speech on the day of Pentecost when there are thousands gathered and thousands coming in, he says, repent and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. It is a step of obedience and it is something that Peter preaches for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promises for you and your children and for all who are far away as many as the Lord our God will call to himself, repent and be baptized and with many other words, he solemnly testified and kept on urging them saying, be saved from this perverse generation. So there it is, salvation and baptism side by side. Colossians two, great statement about Jesus. In in Jesus, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form and in him, you have been made complete and he is the head over every ruler and authority And in him you are also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, it's spiritual.
And the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ having been buried with him in baptism in which you are also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. Every time that I interview a child especially about baptism and what it means when they believe and want to be baptized, I say, now what is this? What are we talking about here? And they'll say, I believe in Jesus. I believe he's my savior, and I wanna be baptized in obedience.
That's a great answer to that question. It's an outward sign of something that has already happened in my heart. Amen. That's good. Right?
Going on. This is a weird one from Peter. First Peter two twenty, second part of the verse. When the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ard in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Correspond to that, now that I'm thinking about that, Peter says, baptism now saves you.
What? And then he very quickly puts in a parenthetic expression, baptism now saves you. Not just the removal of dirt from the flesh. It's not just getting wet and clean, but it is an appeal to God for a good conscience. Step of obedience after God saves.
Through the resurrection of Christ who is at the right hand of God having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers have been subjected to him. Acts 22. This is Paul retelling about his conversion experience and when he met Jesus on that Damascus Road and he's off of his high horse and he's blinded by the light and Jesus says, why are you persecuting me? He was persecuting the followers of Jesus, the continuing body of Christ on earth. And when Paul's telling the story, he talks about going to Ananias' house and he came to me.
He was standing nearby me. He said, brother Saul, his previous name, receive your sight and at that very moment, I looked up at him and I saw him and he said, the God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will and to see the righteous one directly. He saw Christ and hear a message from his mouth for you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and what you've heard. Now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins by calling on his name.
So they go hand in hand, but I would not say in all cases, belief belief belief belief belief precedes. Thief on the cross certainly proves it, but biblically, he's not saying anything outlandish in Mark. These signs will accompany those who have been healed. Now here comes a list. In my name, they will cast out demons.
Do we see that in scripture? Do we see it elsewhere in scripture? Well, yeah. We see it in Acts. We I could have put a bunch of them from Acts actually.
The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well. They were bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits and they were all being healed. This is the apostles that are doing this. And apparently, some of the people that the apostles healed were also doing this. They will speak with new tongues.
Okay. Where do we see that? Acts two. Yes. Biblically, we have seen this happen.
So when Mark in the end of his gospel, just like Luke in the end of his gospel, there is an ongoing of the history of the church in the Bible in Acts. So we keep seeing these things confirmed that Mark says. When the day of Pentecost to come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly, noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting and tongues that looked like fire appeared to them distributing themselves and a tongue rested on each one of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak with different tongues, different languages as the spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.
If you go into the next paragraph, I don't have it up here. If you go into the next paragraph, there's one translation that has a very succinct statement after they said, aren't all these guys from Galilee? Why is it we're hearing them in our own languages? The next line and I think it's a fairly dynamic translation it says, and they were confused because they understood. Oh Lord, that's what I want.
I want to be confused at how I understand. That's what this is saying. It was to reach more people. Every tribe, tongue, and nation has to be reached and we've got this group of Galileans to reach them. We're going to fill them with all they need to be able to spread this good gospel.
Oh, boy. Oh, boy. I was tempted this morning to bring in a burlap bag with a with my bunny in it and just let it move around up here on stage. This one is one that causes some pause for people. They will pick up serpents and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them.
Now, do we see this elsewhere in scripture? We actually do. Acts 28, do you all remember that? Paul has appealed to Caesar. He's on his way.
He's gonna get his audience in Rome and so he sets sail and as he's in the Mediterranean, they have a shipwreck. Poor guy. Shipwrecked. A night and a day, he's in the in he's adrift, and then he washes up on the shore of Malta, and as he's trying to warm himself, when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and he laid them out on the fire, there was a viper, a serpent, poisonous snake, came out because of the heat and fastened itself onto his hand. It was no little scratch.
It held on tight. Actually, it says so again in the next verse, when the native saw that the creature was hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, well undoubtedly this man is a murderer for crying out loud. He survived a shipwreck and justice has not allowed him to live. He must not be living right. That primitive religion is really sticky.
However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and he suffered no harm. Just like Mark said. Now, they were expecting that he was gonna swell up or suddenly fall down dead because that's what happens when you get snake bit. But after they had waited for a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds. Oh, that's good.
And they began to say that he was a God. People can interpret situations in all kinds of different ways. He must be a murderer or maybe he's a God, seems far apart to me. But those it kind of demonstrates what Mark has said. Is there any other support for this sort of thing?
Well, in Luke 10, remember when the 72 were sent out, Jesus sends out the 70, they were sent out two by two. The 72 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. I've seen amazing things. Behold, I have given you the authority to walk on snakes and scorpions and authority over all the power of the enemy and nothing will injure you.
He is telling them, those were the capital a apostles, even 72 that they are. He sent them out directly himself, and he imbued them with this power. Nothing's gonna injure them. He was telling them that until God had accomplished through them all he wanted to accomplish, they were going to be fine. Nevertheless, Jesus says, don't rejoice in that that you're a miracle worker all of a sudden, but that the that the spirits are subject to you but rejoice in this.
Your names are recorded in the lamb's book of life. You're on the roll in heaven. That's what should be amazing. This was a picture on a mission trip of a dearly beloved of mine. I cannot believe I'm showing this.
She got bit by a snake on a mission trip and she survived and I'm thankful. The yellow bearded snake in Guatemala. Yeah. I'll let that stand. I I would not go picking up any snakes.
I would not go drinking any poison things. The double brackets help me to say, I'm not so certain about that that I've got to go try in it. I don't think that God is asking us don't tempt the Lord your God. People die every year from trying to handle snakes as an exhibition of their faith and they die from it. So I would not say it is suggested.
Tempting the Lord your God is what I classify that as. But God did bring that lady through. God did bring Paul through. God did have a purpose for him as he was going on. Even with all the beatings and lowered down over the wall and shipwrecked a couple times, snake bit, all of the stuff that he listed the Corinthians.
They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Do we see that in Acts? We do. I love this story. In Acts three, Peter and John are walking along and a guy was begging for alms, begging for money, and Peter says to him, silver and gold have we none.
But what we do have, we'll give to you. So in the name of Jesus Christ, and he lays his hands on me, picks him up by the right hand, he raises him up, and immediately, his feet and his ankles were strengthened, and leaping up, he stood up and began to walk and he entered the temple with them walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and they began to praise God too. God is being exalted in all of these things. The weird thing is, almost every example I just gave, all examples I gave, were the apostles and the apostle Paul that were doing these things.
And what Mark says up there says, these things will accompany those who have believed. It depends on how you take that. So if you take it that these apostles have believed and then we see in Acts and we see in the other epistles that these things happened and we believe that those who have believed, the apostles were able to do it. Yeah, absolutely. It confirms Mark.
But if you build your theology on that, it would pave the way for everybody thinking it's normal to cast out demons themselves, everybody thinking that they can do whatever they want with snakes, everybody thinking they can drink any poison thing and that they're unstoppable and immortal, and it would cause them to, in my opinion, live delusionally. Now, in James, it says if one among you is sick, have them call the elders. They will come and anoint their head with oil and they'll lay hands on them and pray for the one who is sick. I think we should be doing that. I don't think we should build our theology around something that Mark is saying that could be taken that the apostles could do this and might be inferred that we should be doing this or that everybody who accepts Christ should be doing this.
I think it's a faulty foundation because we don't see that elsewhere in scripture. So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken, and I do believe that the gifts are for today, I do. That's the first time I've ever said that out loud here, but I do believe it's true. I'm not a cessationist. I'm just telling you.
I believe we should be praying for people and I've seen God do miraculous and amazing things and I think that that's wonderful. I don't think we need to build our theology on that. I think we need to build our theology on your name is in the lamb's book of life. The gospel is the gospel whether we live or die because of it. So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven.
Is there anything new there? No. Luke tells us he was received up. Acts tells us he was received up. And he sat down at the right hand of God.
I love this little phrase that if you've ever been to a PCA church, a Presbyterian church in America, our bosses down in Mexico were from PCA, a lot of my professors were in college. And they don't just talk about the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but they go on to say the ascension and the session. He was ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God. Being seated at the right hand of God says, his work has been finished like he said in John, to tell us that it's finished. So he sits down at the right hand of God.
And we've got it all over the place. Hebrews 10, every priest stands daily ministering offering time after time after time after time the same sacrifices which never could take away sins. But Jesus having offered one sacrifice, four sins for all time sat down at the right hand of God. Amen. Finished worker Christ on the cross and waiting for a time and onward until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.
Hebrews 12, therefore since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let's rid ourselves of every obstacle and of the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endures the race that is set before us. Looking only at Jesus, the originator, the perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and he has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. In Colossians three three one, therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep on seeking the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Acts two, in that same passage about the day of Pentecost. Therefore, since he has been exalted and he's at the right hand of God, he's sitting there and what's he doing?
He's interceding for you with infinite capacity to know what's going on in your life. He's received the promise of the Holy Spirit and of the Father and he has poured out this which you both see and hear. In Acts seven, do you remember in Acts one, Jesus said, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts. Well, they clumped up in Jerusalem because they were comfortable there And after having clumped up there and the beginning of the new church after the day of Pentecost, they still were clumped up there. The word is moving.
People are being added to the church every day. And then, there's something that happens that makes them go beyond the bounds of Jerusalem and Judea, but get out of there. The diaspora happened at the stoning of Stephen. And Stephen gives in his defense a beautiful in Acts six, a beautiful summation of what had happened since the very beginning all the way here to four. And then it ends with Jesus's exaltation, and when they heard this, they were infuriated, Jewish leaders.
They began gnashing their teeth at him, but he being full of the Holy Spirit looked intently into heaven and he saw the glory of God and he saw Jesus from his session standing up. I think that's beautiful too. At the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I see the heavens opened. I know where I'm going.
The son of man is standing at the right hand of God. So that one's pretty well attested. 20, and they went out and they preached everywhere. He said, y'all go everywhere. And it says, and they went out and they preached everywhere.
That's cool. In Mark, it often happens that when he says something, it's very much a go do this and they go do it. It's an obedience thing and then God works through people's humble obedience. They went out, they preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them, he did not leave them alone and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And I believe the book of Acts from chapter one twenty eight tells us a lot of the way that the early church and I think this is the next place we're gonna go.
I'm gonna keep on going on a theme of repentance. Knowing you can trust your Bible, we're gonna hit a few things before we get to this. But be praying for me. Acts is a hot potato. You try to throw it straight down the middle of the plate, you can upset a lot of people.
But I hope I upset people for both sides. That's the way it goes. Would you stand with me? We're going to go from that rather academic beginning and then confirming all of it was in Mark. We're gonna work towards a time of communion.
I'll ask the ushers to come on in and come forward. And Judy, if you would play something pretty after the prayer, but I'd like to pray. God, as we consider stuff and some of this stuff is hard, Lord. It's been two thousand years and whether there's a sigma on the end of a name or not or whether something is misspelled or not, probably doesn't make any difference whatsoever to any of us. But thank you for the scholars who have humbly placed themselves before your text.
They they take the harder reading, they work at this day and night still even Lord, that there are folks who are scribes. I pray that they would be humble scribes. I pray we'd be humble students, humble disciples that as we look at your word and we see a passage and we sit humbly before it. I pray lord that you would protect us from all evil like Mark says there. I say that I I pray that you would work through us going and proclaiming the good news with the way we use our life, with the way we use our words.
I pray that you would accompany us in that and that it would grow. That we would be a part of the vast and unchronicled witness that just simply carries your gospel forward. In Jesus name, I ask your blessing on these elements, the representative sample of body and blood, perfect faith walked out perfectly in the in the flesh and perfect innocent blood given on our behalf. Lord God, we are practicing this open table for anyone who would believe. Anyone who has believed earlier at any point in their life has held on to this lord.
For anyone who is believing for the first time right now, it's an open table. That's the way I believe you presented it freely, freely. In Jesus name, I pray that you transform our lives that we would look more and more like Christ. Amen. And on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he'd given thanks, he blessed it and he broke it and he divided among his disciples who were there.
I believe he extends that to us too And he says, this is my body which is given for you voluntarily sacrificed for you. Take this, take it in, eat of it, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Thank you Jesus for emptying yourself, for emptying yourself and walking out tempted in every way just as we're tempted yet without sin. Thank you for the perfect record. Empowered by the spirit within the context of your humility, you tried this earth and did the will of the father perfectly to be able to offer innocent blood.
Would you bless this little representation of plastic cup of grape juice two thousand years later? Would you bless it and bless each one who would partake? Lord, if there's someone in the room who does not partake, I pray that by the ministry, witness life and words of one present, you would reach them and bring them into the family of God. Amen. In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he also took the cup after supper.
And in that day, it would have been a common cup probably passed around the room. We have these individual little cups, but we're taking this collectively as a part of the continuing body of Christ. He said to them and he says to us, this is the new covenant in my blood. He's taking upon him a sense of the world. Is that song that Judy just played says, the lamb of God.
This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, take it in, drink of it, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. And Paul says that as often as we do this, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. It's an end.
Breaks the power of canceled sin. Right? That's what we're saying. I do wanna have a couple things and I'll do a little benediction here in just a second. But the New King James is what I normally use myself in my study.
The New American Standard is what I almost always present from. New King James is Texas receptus. NASB technically is critical text but includes all of the passages that are disputed. There are two. One of them is that that I just covered from Mark.
The other is a woman caught in adultery from John. I did I forgot to say that in this service. So with that being said, I don't wanna let go of anything, but I do want you to know what the brackets mean. I do want want you to know so that you can critically think about it. But I would ask that you humbly before Christ hold on to this and see what it is that he wants to show you to do.
How do you live out the gospel? Would you stand with me? We're gonna sing Jesus Paid It All.
Speaker 2I hear the savior say thy strength indeed is small child of weakness watch and pray find in me thine all in all Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find thy power and thine alone can change the leper spots and melt the heart of stone.
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Speaker 1Let's close right there. Amen. Lord God Almighty, I pray that you would take this word, plant it deep into our hearts, and direct our steps, and that you would save people's souls by the way you live among your humble and obedient students. In Jesus name, amen.
