We're back in the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 15, if you want to read along. And I'm going to be reading beginning in verse 42. And we looked at and discussed the crucifixion of our Lord, His death last week. And we're going to begin this week looking at His burial. And then the resurrection. But I want to spend a little bit of time looking at the burial of our Lord. So we'll take a look at that. But let me pray before I read this. Our Father and our God, we pause before the reading of your word to acknowledge that we're handling reverently the very word of God. And Lord, your word is authoritative, it's powerful and mighty, but Lord, we need your help. We pray that you would help us to be attentive to your word, Lord, that you would open our ears, that we might hear your word. Lord, help our hearts to receive your word and our minds to understand it, Lord, and then let your Holy Spirit apply it to each individual life. And we thank you in Jesus name, amen. So I'm gonna read Mark 15 from 42 to 47. Now, when evening had come, because it was the preparation day, that is the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went into Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that he was already dead, and summoning the centurion, he asked him if he had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then he bought fine linen, took him down, and wrapped him in the linen. And he laid him in a tomb, which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, observed where he was laid." So, as you recall from our study last week at the crucifixion, that at around 12 noon, it became dark throughout the land from noon till 3 p.m. And we know from the scriptures that Jesus died on the cross at 3 p.m. in the afternoon on that Friday. The Sabbath would begin that same day in the evening when sun set. So you can imagine that this is a hasty burial that needs to take place to get Jesus's body down. They have from 3 p.m. until the sun went down, maybe three, maybe four hours of sunlight before the Sabbath would begin, and they wouldn't be able to do this work. Deuteronomy chapter 21 in the law says, if a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he's put to death, and you hang him on a tree. His body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. For he who is hanged is accursed of God." And we looked last week at the fulfillment of that in Jesus, who was the one who became a curse for us and was hung on that tree. But according to the law, his body had to come down. He had to be buried properly before the sunset. And in this case, the sunset would have ushered in the Sabbath, several of the gospel writers tell us. So we find this individual, this character in the gospel study, named Joseph. Joseph, who's from Arimathea. Interesting study, and I do want to spend a little time looking at this Joseph, who comes into the story at this point to come and claim Jesus's body and give him a proper burial. The gospels tell us that he was a disciple of Jesus. We don't see very much of this gentleman in earlier sections of the Gospels, and it almost seems a surprise to see him come on the scene here late at the death of Jesus to ask for the body and to be a part of the Gospel story, but here he is. In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 27, verse 57, it says, Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. So we'll see in the Gospels that he's called a predominant man, or a prominent man, rather. and that he's a rich man. Those two things could mean really the same thing, but he's a rich man who has a grave that we'll find has never been used, and it's the perfect place for him to take and give a respectful burial to Jesus. And I don't believe that Joseph of Arimathea knew that he himself, entering himself into this story at this point, was fulfilling Old Testament scripture, but he was. Interestingly enough, Isaiah 53 says, of the Messiah, that they made his grave with the wicked. I mean, Jesus was accused of wickedness, of being a criminal, and he was crucified with two thieves. But then it says, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth. So here is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 in the good work of Joseph of Arimathea, who takes Jesus to his own tomb and he's buried with the rich. It says in Luke's gospel, a little bit more about this Joseph, that he was a good and he was a just man. It says, I'm reading out of Luke 23, beginning of verse 50, it says, now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, so there's something about him, he's a council member, a good and just man. And he had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. And I'll just read on. He says, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. There's another fact. That day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew near. You see the hastiness. It's coming. They're quickly, and you'll see there's another gentleman with them in a minute, but he's quickly getting everything together to make for the burial before the sun goes down. I want to comment for a moment, just as we're students of the Bible, and I know you are. When the Bible says that this gentleman, Joseph of Arimathea, was a good and just man, the Bible speaks in that language in a couple different ways in the scriptures. You think of, well, Jesus said that no one's good but God. Why are we calling this guy good? There's a couple of senses in which the Bible talks about righteousness, goodness. One of the other ways that the Bible uses the language of that he was blameless before the Lord. The Apostle Paul actually uses that to speak of himself as a Pharisee. According to the law, Paul said, I was blameless. But then he goes right on to tell us that he was a sinner. So why do we use this language? Well, in one sense, there's only one who is absolutely, purely blameless before the Lord, keeping his law perfectly, and while keeping God's law perfectly, also with the attitude behind it of loving God with all his being and loving his neighbor as himself, and that's our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one who has ever accomplished that. He is our righteousness in that sense. There's another sense in which the Lord looks at us as believers and would declare us righteous in his sight because he sees us in Christ. It's not our own inherent or merited righteousness. It's the righteousness which we receive by faith that comes from Christ. He sees us in Jesus and therefore God declares us to be righteous. But there's a third way in which the Bible speaks of goodness and righteousness. And that's in the sense of not that we are so good that we're perfect before the Lord and we've merited heaven. Only the Lord did that. but in that we strive to do those things which are pleasing to God, and we repent when we fail to do so. God, in Scripture, will declare that person to be a good person or a righteous person. And that's the sense in which Luke is talking about Joseph of Arimathea here. He was generally, according to God's purposes, a good man. He would do what God saw as those things that was pleasing to God. And when he failed to do so, he would be the one of the type that would repent, confess his sin, and find forgiveness with God. That's the language being used here. Both Mark and Luke also tell us of this individual, Joseph, that he was waiting for the kingdom of God. One of the Old Testament saints who was looking with a sense of expectancy to the coming of Messiah who would usher in the kingdom. He would have been one of the ones, like in Hebrews chapter 11, that speaks of all these died in the faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off. It says in Hebrews chapter 11. And those who would have considered themselves to be pilgrims and strangers, sojourners in this world, because their true home was the kingdom of God, and they were waiting for that. And Joseph of Arimathea was such a one who was waiting for the kingdom to be ushered in. And he sees in that expectation a connection between this messianic kingdom and the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes that connection as Jesus' disciple. But John's going to tell us something I find interesting. It says in John 19.38 that he was a secret disciple. It says, after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. Now, if you're a student of the scriptures like I am, I am a curious sort. And I'm thinking, what happened to this guy? What happened to this guy? He's a good guy. He didn't just sit back and let injustice happen. He didn't consent when they made their decision to go after Jesus. He thought that was a bad thing before the face of God. He's a good man, but he's also a rich man. And I think that because of his prominence, because of his riches, because he was on the council, he could lose much. if he had exposed himself as one who was truly a disciple of Jesus. So all the time that Jesus is doing his earthly ministry, he's a disciple. I think he probably went and heard Jesus teach, but he was a secret disciple, and something happened to him. I don't know if it was when he saw Jesus on the cross. I don't know what happened to this guy, but you better believe that God dealt with him. Because Mark tells us that he had to gather up courage to go to Pilate. And I don't know what that looks like. I don't know if he was in his prayer closet somewhere doing business with God. But he had to finally say, enough is enough. I'm going to identify with this Jesus. I'm not hiding this anymore. I'm going to go to Pilate, which was a dangerous thing to do, to go to Pilate. I'm going to ask for the body. And you have to remember that they didn't just give the bodies back to the family or somebody that was a council member. Typically, they would either get a bribe and give the body, or they might just say, no, this person committed a crime against Rome, and we're going to let them hang there until the animals devour them. And we're going to let them deteriorate on the tree so that the people can see what happens when you rise up against Rome. But it's interesting, Pilate And maybe this further tells us that he knew that Jesus was innocent. But the language the Bible uses is that Pilate, what, granted the body of Jesus. In other words, that no bribe was necessary. Even though he had money, he granted the body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea. Something happened, and he gained courage, and he thought, enough is enough. I'm identifying with him. It's not right that this man just stays here. The law tells me I have to bury him before the sun sets, and he goes to Pilate. Somebody wrote, and I thought this was good, If a man is a disciple, the fact will reveal itself. And I think that's true. We might hide, we might be closet Christians for a time, but there's going to come some point where the Holy Spirit is going to prod us to finally declare that publicly. Jesus commands us to declare our discipleship to Him publicly. He mentions the fact that if we're ashamed before men of Him, He'll be ashamed of us before His Father. I believe that one of the ways, the primary way that Jesus commands us to be identified with him publicly is our baptism. We come privately to the Lord, maybe at home, we're just praying one day and we confess our sins, we embrace Christ by faith, but then the Word of God tells us we're commanded to be baptized. That's a public event, where we're publicly identified with Jesus Christ. You'll see in the Great Commission that we're called to go and to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them all that Jesus taught, the teachings of Jesus. J.D. Jones says, But happily for Joseph, if at the beginning his fear overcame his love, in the end his love cast out his fear. And I think that's true. Now, he was not alone in this, as you know, but I want to read it for us. Nicodemus is with him carrying out this burial. And John records in chapter 19, beginning of verse 39, says, and Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in strips of linen with the spices as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new tomb, in which no one had been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' preparation day, for the tomb was nearby." God had all this worked out, obviously, as he has everything worked out in his sovereignty, but the tomb was nearby, they had to get him buried quickly, and now Joseph of Arimathea has a helper, it's Nicodemus. Every time you see Nicodemus in the scriptures, and it's interesting, I want to point it out, It always says, Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night. He's always identified that way. Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night. I almost think that in the early church, if somebody said, you know, just tell them the story, say, oh, and then Nicodemus, I think somebody else in the room would go, is that the Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night? Because that's how he was known. And that's recorded back in John chapter 3. And I don't want to read all that, but there's this great interchange between Jesus and Nicodemus in chapter 3 of John. And if you remember in that interchange discussion, Jesus repeatedly tells Nicodemus, you have to be born again. You have to be born again to see the kingdom. You have to be born again to enter the kingdom. And he's talking about the kingdom of God. In that discussion, I'll just read this, it says in John 3.14, Jesus says to him, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. And I wonder to myself if Nicodemus remembered that, and when he saw Jesus lifted up on the cross, if those words came back to his mind, and he thought, you're the Messiah. You're lifted up. And now we're called upon to believe in you, because that's what Jesus had taught him. Nicodemus actually defends Jesus in John 7, and let me read it to you and see if this sounds familiar. It says in verse 50 of John 7, Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, being one of them, said to them, and he's talking to the council here, does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he's doing? Now they pounce on Nicodemus for saying anything at all in the defense of Jesus, but he does defend Jesus there to the best of his ability. So we have Joseph of Arimathea, who's a secret disciple of Jesus, and we have Nicodemus, who's known as the one who came to Jesus under the cover of night, now in broad daylight. coming for the body of Jesus, being identified with Jesus, doing good to Jesus, caring for His body. The Bible doesn't record it, but certainly washing His body, preparing Him for the grave, and burying our Lord. Much of scripture is given to the burial of Jesus, and that's why I'm laboring it a little bit. It's recorded in all four of the Gospels, and that always underscores an event in the life of our Lord. All four Gospels witness this recording of the burial of Jesus. When Paul gives his creedal statement, In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he says, For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried. The early church in the early creeds, the Apostles' Creed, says he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. It's an important aspect of the gospel. In the Reformational catechisms, in the Heidelberg catechism, question 41, you would ask the catechized, why was he buried? And the answer was, his burial testifies that he really died. When Paul preached in Antioch of Pisidia, he preached at a synagogue and he preaches in Acts 13 and says, and though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. Now, when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and they laid him in a tomb. Westminster, larger catechism, question 50, wherein consists Christ's humiliation after his death? In other words, how was Christ further humbled after his death is what they mean. And the answer, Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried and continuing in the state of the dead and under the power of death till the third day, which has been otherwise expressed in these words, he descended into hell." Jesus completely gave himself over to death, is the point. He didn't swoon. He didn't faint. He died and gave himself completely over to the power of death for a time. He died. Jesus had said as much in Matthew 12. Jesus said, For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And then Mark 16 verse 1. Let me read a 1 to 8. Now when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, bought spices that they might come and anoint him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said to themselves, who will roll the stone from the door of the tomb for us? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe, sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him as he said to you.' So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." These women, God bless these women, they're overwhelmed with grief. They keep saying over and over, in the original language, they didn't just say it once. As they're walking, probably in grief, and busying themselves with talk, and they keep saying, who will remove the stone for us? And yet they go to the market and they buy what they need, the spices that they might come and honor Jesus' body, even though it says that they had already had a hundred pounds or more of aloes and spices to anoint the body. One commentator said that would have been enough to anoint the body and cover the floor of the tomb. But these women, they just lavished Jesus with their love, and overwhelmed, who's going to remove this stone? Who's going to remove this stone? Yet one commentator said, but nobody of these women ever said, this is of no use, let's just go home. They press on, even though they're deeply mourning the death of Jesus, not knowing anything of what has transpired, not knowing that our Lord had been risen from the grave. Matthew 28 verse 2 tells us, And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. Now, I won't get into every aspect of the resurrection of our Lord, but we do know that when they found that Joseph of Arimathea had come and taken the body, it alarmed the council. And they thought, you know, this Jesus said he was going to rise from the dead. We need to get a guard to stand over the grave. And Pilate gives them a detachment of soldiers who go. And at the shuddering earthquake and the rolling back of the stone, they're knocked unconscious. All that's recorded in the Gospels. Mark doesn't take the time to give us all those details, but that's all there in the Gospels. J.D. Jones, again, comments on this section of the story, and he says, they had kept saying to one another, Who shall roll us away the stone? And already God had sent one of those immortal spirits, whoever do him service, to remove every difficulty out of their path, so that when they came to the grave they found not a great stone, but an open door. And they were amazed. They had never thought of an angel. They had never lifted up their eyes above the earth. They had never once thought that heaven might intervene for their help. And so, when they saw this radiant being sitting there, they were, quote, amazed. They were amazed. Their undaunting love caused them to press on, even though they thought the stone would be impossible to move. They really exemplify love in 1 Corinthians 13, where it says, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures. all things. It was this love that motivated these women to trudge forward, to go and do what they could to honor the body of our Lord. JD Jones brings conviction to all of us when he says, they made the same mistake that we all make. And beloved, we've all done this. We look at some monstrous stone in our path, and we think to ourselves, who's going to move this stone? And we don't think there's any way we can move forward with what God called us to do. But J.D. Jones says, we are continually making the mistake that these women made, leaving the angel out of the account. We contemplate the great stones that we have to remove, and when we reckon up our own scanty resources, we cry out, who's sufficient for these things? And we forget that God is in the business. We forget that this world of ours is the scene of vast and incalculable spiritual ministries. We greatly err. when we confine God and His holy angels to some far off and inaccessible heaven. God is here. And the angels are all about us. You know, beloved, if we really would contemplate that and believe that, there's really nothing that would stop us from doing whatever God called us to do, even as a little church as we are. God is here, and His angels encamp all around us. The psalmist wrote, The poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. So we have these female witnesses, and this adds validity to the truthfulness of the gospel. Women weren't witnesses in that day. They didn't give testimony in court. They weren't somebody that the disciples and the apostles would say, well, let's make the women be the witnesses. But God chose these women to be the witnesses. And that just adds validity to the truthfulness of scripture. These women witnessed the crucifixion. Remember they observed Jesus dying on that cross from afar. There are witnesses here of his burial. It says as they buried Jesus, it says Mary Magdalene was there with the other Mary. Sitting opposite the tomb, they were watching as Jesus was being buried. Some of the skeptics say, well, they went to the wrong grave. That's why there was no body there. No, they knew where the grave was. They had been there. They watched the burial. They were witnesses of the empty tomb. The angel says, no, you go look. Look where they had laid him. In other words, the angel is saying, I want you to see for yourself that he is not here. He is risen. Don't just take my word for it. Go and look and then be eyewitnesses of the fact that the tomb is empty. And these women are the first to worship the risen Lord. Matthew records that in Matthew 28 verse 8. It says, So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and they ran to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell the disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! So they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Beloved, God does not call us to blind faith. He does not. God doesn't come to us with the gospel story and then say, now I know this makes no sense, I know there's no historical eyewitnesses to any of this, but you just need to have blind faith and believe it anyway. never calls us to that. One of the things that drew me into the kingdom, that drew me to Christ as I examined the scriptures, as I studied the word, as I wanted to know, is this true? Was the fact that the word of God is so convincing in that way, that you have a testimony of eyewitnesses. The gospel writers don't say, well, just take it from us. No, it says, no, what we've handled with our hands, what our eyes have seen, we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten. They tell us what they saw and experienced, and they tell it with veracity, it's truthfulness. We can believe it because it's so. Much of the Bible is history. It's true history. Even though the writing of the Gospels was superintended by the Holy Spirit. Come and see, the angel says. Examine the evidence. Come to a logical conclusion. Bow your knee to Christ as Lord. And then go and tell the world. Because they need to hear. They need to know the truthfulness of the story. And that's what the angel says to these ladies. Go and tell his disciples. Peter. Go tell his disciples and Peter that he's going before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you." One writer said, Peter had failed and abandoned his Lord, but the Lord had not failed nor abandoned Peter. It's not as if the angels say, now go tell his disciples and that one that's no longer a disciple, that guy Peter, that's not what he's saying. Albert Barnes says, now the way to read this, Albert Barnes says, is tell his disciples and especially Peter. Peter needs to hear this. Peter needs to know that the Lord has risen. Matthew Henry writes, had the angel said only, go tell his disciples, poor Peter would have been ready to sigh and to say, but I doubt I cannot look upon myself as one of them, meaning one of the disciples, for I disowned him and deserve to be disowned by him. To obviate that, quote, go to Peter by name and tell him, he shall be as welcome as any of the rest to see him in Galilee." That's the word from the Lord. And Peter had repented. And you know, Jesus had taught that he said that, I say to you, there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents. Jesus is ready to welcome us with open arms when we fail him. And God never sees us outside of Christ once we come to Christ in faith. He always sees us as righteous. And when pains come into our life, sometimes we think, well, I failed the Lord last week, and now he's punishing me. Beloved, that doesn't happen to Christians. If you're going through a rough spot, it's because in love, the Lord is bringing you through something for your good to sanctify you, not to undo you because of something you did. Because he sees us always once we come to the Lord in Christ Jesus. One of the things that I'm curious about in the scripture are the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus with all these individuals that the Bible mentions. Because some of them we get to hear what transpired, and some of them we do not. Some of them were private conversations between the risen Lord and whoever he was speaking with. And one of those individuals is Peter. In Luke 24-34, These two that were on the road to Emmaus come and they say, the Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. That's Peter. The Lord has appeared singularly to Peter, to Simon. And when Paul gives that long list of the appearances of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 15, he says, and that he was seen by Cephas and then by the twelve. Cephas being Simon, being Peter. This is Peter that Jesus has this discussion with. And we are privy to it, and we probably shouldn't be. That was a private discussion between Jesus. Now, we do get the beautiful reinstatement of Peter in the end of John's Gospel, where Jesus asks Peter three times, Do you love me? Do you love me more than these? And Peter says, Well, you know all things, Lord. You know that I love you. And Jesus commissions him to the church, to be a minister to the church, and says, then feed my lambs. Then tend my sheep. Then feed my sheep, Jesus says to him. Now, Jesus' unbelieving disciples in verses 19, I'm sorry, in verse 9 to 14 in Mark 16. It says, now, when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, and they mourned and wept. And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, he appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country, and they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later, he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table, and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. the probable order of these appearances that Jesus makes. Mary Magdalene, and then the other women, and then Peter, two on the road to Emmaus, the disciples in the upper room without Thomas, and then the disciples when Thomas is there with them. Then Paul also mentions that Jesus appeared to 500 brethren at once, to James, the brother of the Lord. We don't get to hear that conversation here. That was a private discussion between Jesus and James. And then eventually to Paul himself, right? Jesus says, the least of all the apostles. So with this proclamation of these eyewitnesses, Jesus rebukes unbelief here. You should have believed the eyewitness accounts, is what Jesus is saying. Most assuredly I say to you that you will weep and lament, Jesus had told them before he died, but the world's going to rejoice, and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy, and the joy would come when they believed that Jesus had rose from the dead. I'm going to read the last section of Mark's gospel here, verses 15 to 20, and just comment briefly, and then we'll close. And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned, and these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Now I'm not going to labor this, but I will tell you, and you might have a footnote in your Bible, that from verse 9 to the end of chapter 16 in Mark, there's some doubt whether that was originally written by Mark or if it was added later. I'm just going to unpack what's here. I'm not going to go into all the various positions on that. Because what is here is very much useful to us, even if it was something that was added later. The Great Commission is recorded here, as it's recorded in other Gospels. For us to go and to preach to every creature, everyone will have an ear to hear that we would preach, and then it's up to God to bring conviction and belief. He says here that faith is the key to escape condemnation, right? If you do not believe, he says, you will be condemned. It's faith in the risen Lord. And then he speaks of these original apostles, is who I think he has in mind, and these accompanying signs. And we can see that play out in the Book of Acts, so I don't really have a problem with the text. It says that they would cast out demons. We can think of Paul who casts the demon of divination that the slave girl had, and Philippi cast the demon out, so that actually happened. Speaking in new tongues, we think of Pentecost and there's three other events where they spoke in these new tongues. that people can hear in every language of their own. To take up serpents, well we think instantly in the book of Acts of Paul and Malta, who's bit by a poisonous snake and they're waiting for him to die, but he doesn't die. So that actually occurred in the book of Acts. Drinking poison, we don't have a biblical example for that. I read a couple commentators that said, well, as they went forth into this heathen world, they were going to be presented with foods and drinks that they knew nothing of, and it was just a word of admonition that you go forth as I command, I'll protect you, as they bring this strange food. If you ever travel to other countries, you know what I'm talking about. You've been handed some weird things, you're thinking, okay, everybody else is eating this, I guess I'll eat it too. And then healing the sick, of course, there's many examples with Peter in the early chapters of Acts, and then Paul in the later chapters of Acts. Warren Wiersbe says, Jesus refused to tempt God and we should follow his example. And I think that's a little bit, well, it's absolutely true. And that doesn't mean we're supposed to come in here with a box of poisonous snakes and we hand them out to everybody when you come to the church because they're not going to hurt us. We don't tempt God with this. And I think these were the type of signs that would accompany the original apostles as they went forth. And I believe those signs finally dissipated. If you remember in the book of Acts, at one point Paul had to leave somebody behind because he was sick. Well, why didn't Paul heal him? Because it wasn't God's will that that individual would be healed. So we had to keep that in mind as well. And recorded within this is the ascension of our Lord. It says, So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven, and he sat at the right hand, sat down at the right hand of God. And that's what the theologians call the session of our Lord Jesus Christ. It just means He's seated. He's seated as prophet. He is the Word of God. He's seated as priest. He's the one who makes intercession for the saints even now. And he's seated as king. In his ascension is his coronation as king of kings and lord of lords. And he's seated in the seat of cosmic authority, ruling over his universe. From whence he'll come again to receive us to himself. And we wait for that second coming. Well, I'll end with the words of Jesus, which are encouraging words, in Revelation 1, verse 18. I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. That's the Lord we serve, the risen, glorious Lord. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the truth of the gospel. We thank you for the assurity of knowing that the tomb is empty. Our Lord is seated at the right hand of God. And Lord, help your church to herald this truth, this gospel message, and to be chased and to be faithful to you until your return, Lord, when you gather us to be with yourself. Lord, we thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen.