Our text this evening will come from Mark's gospel, chapter 16, and we shall read verse 15, the words of the Lord Jesus as he was about to part. And he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Well, the title for our sermon tonight is taken directly from the text, it's just one word, it's go. This is what he says to them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. They are to preach the gospel, they are to preach everywhere, and they are to preach to everybody. But that does not mean to say that everybody is to preach. Preach the gospel, yes, Preach everywhere. Yes, preach to everybody. The last words of the Savior to his church before he was taken up into glory. And as you will be well aware, when we look at the last signs of Christ on the cross, they are very precious to the church, and we derive a lot of comfort from them. Well, the last words of the Savior, there as he was about to ascend up into heaven, revealed to us the mind of the Savior. This is what he would have us to do We know there are other things the church must do, but this must, in some sense, be our number one priority. To preach the gospel, to preach it everywhere, whenever we get an opportunity, and to preach it clearly, consistently, lovingly, graciously, to everybody, no exceptions. Well, For our missionary prayer meeting, I want you to keep the text in the back of your mind, but I want to draw some lessons for our edification from the early part of the chapter. because I do believe that what we find in the early part of the chapter can well be regarded or applied to us as prerequisites for missionary and evangelistic endeavors. Things that are necessary for the individual to have, for the congregation to have, for the denomination to have, for the professing Christian church to have in order that we might be enabled to play a part and take part in that great commission. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Well, I have four brief things that I wish to highlight from the opening verses of chapter 16, and we shall work our way through. First thing first, we must have love for the Savior. There must be that earnest, holy, grateful love that every single Christian should have towards the Savior. We see it here clearly displayed in the women. When the Sabbath was passed, that was the Jewish Sabbath. It was gone. There was never a Sabbath like it. But now we're into the New Testament Sabbath. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. We're familiar with that. But we might not ponder what went behind it. The women. As you know, women were second-class citizens in biblical times. Women were weak. They were not powerful. They didn't have any clout. And for them to get up very early in the morning when it would be dark and go to a sepulcher took a lot of guts. a lot of love towards what they would regard at this time as their dead friend. They wanted to show their love and their devotion to the Savior. Bear in mind that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, they had anointed the body of the Lord Jesus Christ before that, Before they put him in the tomb, they had done this, but the women, because of their love towards the Savior, because of the terrible time, what they had seen, they were anxious that they might be able to express their own personal devotion towards the Savior by doing this act of love towards the dead body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what did they show here? They showed, above all things, by their dedication, by their willingness to put themselves in danger because they were siding with someone that was regarded as a malefactor. They were siding with the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who had been rejected by the nation, the one who was regarded as a common criminal, and the religious people of the day would have nothing to do with him, yet they were willing to side with this person, whom they believed was in the tomb. They clearly showed and demonstrated that they were heartbroken and that they had a real love for the Savior. And even although he was dead, they wanted to express their love and their devotion to him. That's what drove them. It was love. Jesus says on another occasion about the woman who, what did she do? She wiped his feet with her tears and with her hair. And he said to those gathered, To whom much is forgiven, they love much, or words to that effect. And this woman, what happened to her? She had her sins forgiven. She knew she was a great sinner, but she had her sins forgiven, and she loved the Lord Jesus Christ because of it, and she wanted to show it. It's exactly the same here with this woman. They had love towards the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what drove them to do what they did. They didn't have to do it, but they wanted to. Well, we can take this thought to the early church. It was love towards the Savior that would enable them to do all that they did. to take on religious authorities, to take on heathenism, to take on the Roman state, to take on all kinds of difficulties that would be theirs. It was love towards the Savior that enabled them to do what they did, humanly speaking. Well, if we're ever going to do anything for the Savior, Whether it be missionary work, whether it be evangelistic work, whether it be as an office bearer, whatever it is, we'll never do anything for the Saviour unless we have love towards Him. And maybe you're sitting here tonight and you're saying, well, I have hardly any love for the Saviour. You're honestly looking at your own heart, you're seeing your life, and you're saying to yourself, well, My heart is cold. I'm indifferent. There's no zeal. There's no desire to do anything for the Savior. What must I do? You must go to the Savior. You must ask him to transform your hard granite heart, that indeed it might be broken, and that there might be real love towards the Savior that would motivate you and energize you. This is what we find here, love for the Savior. And if you look at any kind of missionary enterprise, if you look at anyone who's done anything towards the missionary cause, what has motivated them? Above all things, it's love for the Savior. Oh yes, they have love indeed for the lost, and that's something that we need to set ourselves up to. But first and foremost, they have love for the Savior. Well, secondly, Secondly, what did these women notice? Well, they noticed that their difficulties disappeared. They were realistic. They were women. They weren't muscle men. They had a real problem in front of them. Mary Magdalene knew where the sepulchre was. Mary Magdalene knew there was a stone put over the entrance to the sepulchre. Mary Magdalene knew that there's no way will they be able to move that stone, and they saw this difficulty. As we keep on saying, and we will always say, they had their feet firmly on the ground. They realized there was a real difficulty before them. But nevertheless, they were going to go. They wanted to anoint the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they were going to face any difficulty. And indeed, they had this difficulty. They knew about it. But they didn't know they had another difficulty. probably a more serious difficulty. They didn't know that the Jews had gone to Caesar and that the Jews had asked that a guard be placed upon the sepulcher because they didn't want the disciples to come along during the night and steal the body. So Caesar says, go, put a seal there. And there were soldiers there also. They knew nothing about it. but they were prepared to face difficulties. Well, the first difficulty, when they arrived, it was gone. The stone had been rolled away. The difficulty that they knew about, it evaporated, gone. And the difficulty that they didn't know about, It was also dealt with. We're told in Matthew's gospel that the soldiers were like dead men when they realized what had happened. They were gone. They ran for their lives. What am I driving at? Is there something here for us? Of course there is something here for us. We're out to go. We've got to go with the gospel. The gospel's not popular. You'll not fill congregations with gospel preaching today. You won't do it. And if you do preach the gospel, you'll get difficulties. You'll get difficulties from the non-religious. You'll even get difficulties from the religious. You'll get difficulties from professing Christians. You'll find difficulties. What are we to do? We are to be diligent, earnest, do what is required. Look to the Lord. He's the one who breaks up our way. Is that not true? If we're obedient to what he calls us to do, he will undertake for us. This is exactly what happened here. These women could never move that stone. But because of the love they had towards the Savior, they were going to go. And they found that the one difficulty that they knew about and the other difficulty or obstacle that they didn't know about, the Lord had taken care of everything. And even if we do face difficulties, the Lord is with us. Is this not what he said on another part of the commission we find in Matthew's gospel? Lo, I am with you until the end of the world or the end of the age. The Lord is with his people when they go out. When they seek to be ones who honor that commission, the Lord is with them. And difficulties will come. He disappeared. and we will overcome. Nothing to be afraid of. Third thing we've noticed from these opening verses, they encountered the supernatural. Verse 3, and they said among themselves, who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted. Well, they heard wonderful news, did they not? The Lord Jesus Christ, he's not here. Be not afraid, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, verse six, which was crucified. He is risen, he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. Come, look, examine, go in, see what he was. Mary Magdalene, you saw him going into the tomb. He's not here anymore. Why? Because he is risen. And they encountered the supernatural. Here we find a young man, an angel, and he tells them this wonderful news. Well, we don't expect to have visitations from angels, friends. We know the angels do look after those who will be heirs of salvation. We know that. The book of Hebrews will tell us that, and we believe it. But we're not expected to see visions of angels, angels appearing in human form before us. But if we are engaged in gospel work, if we are engaged in preaching the gospel, we can expect to encounter the supernatural. What do I mean? Well friends, we must expect that when the gospel is proclaimed, we must expect the Holy Spirit to work. It's not wrong to have this expectation before us. If we're being honest and open with the Word of God, if we're reading it, and if we're proclaiming it, and if we're applying it, we should come to the pulpit, and we should come to the house of God expecting God to work, and looking for that work. And if we don't get it, we should be crying out to God, why not? What is the problem? We're engaged in a spiritual work. And it would not be wrong of us or presumptuous of us to look for the supernatural in God sending forth signs following the preaching of the gospel. We might regard that as positive. positive supernatural experiences. This is what we should be longing for. This is what we should be crying to God for, that he would honor his word. It's his word. It's his work. All we can be is mouthpieces. All we can do is be a conduit in order to proclaim the great gospel message. Well, they encountered the supernatural. in a positive way. But it's also true that if we're going to be faithful to proclaiming the gospel, we can expect the supernatural in an evil sense. The devil doesn't like the gospel to be proclaimed. The devil doesn't like his kingdom being disturbed. And this is what the gospel does. The gospel does disturb the kingdom of darkness. For when God is working, he is translating people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. And the devil doesn't like it. And we can expect, therefore, if we're being true to the commission, if we're being faithful to what has been given to us, we can expect the devil not to be too happy. And sometimes, as we know, as we read our Bibles, it can be the people of God that the devil uses. We could think of Peter as a prime example. He had just confessed, thou art the Christ. And what did he say when Jesus told him that he was going to suffer and die? Peter, imagine it, takes him aside. It shall not be so. And Jesus had to rebuke him. Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest the things that be of man and not of God. So as they encountered the supernatural, We should expect it. And the gospel minister will know something about this. And if you're also going to be a serious Christian, and you are serious about your profession and your walk, you will know something about it also. You might know some intimacy with the Savior in your prayers or in your reading of the Word of God. And when you come to the means of grace, You might have an experience that no one else has had, who's at the same meeting and hears the same sermon or whatever, but because you are walking closely with the Savior, you will know his presence and his blessing. But you'll also know the evil one, because he does not like one who sticks close to the Savior. And in all missionary work, this is what we can expect. The supernatural in positive and negative applications. Fourthly, finally, these verses, verse seven particularly, reveal to us Christ's love for his disciples. Here we have the message of the angel telling these ladies, but go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him as he said unto you. At this time, The first day of the week, the disciples were dejected, despairing, despondent, depressed. All their hopes that they had built up over the last three years had suddenly evaporated. They were looking for a kingdom. They were looking for a savior. They were looking for a Messiah. He was on the cross. He came down dead and buried into the tomb. They said, it's all over, all over. They had forsaken him. They had cast their lot in with this radical rabbi from Nazareth, and now it had all gone pear-shaped as far as they were concerned. But of course, we know that's not the case. And here we have a message from the angel, ultimately from the Lord Jesus Christ, telling his disciples, no matter what they had done, no matter their experience, no matter their behavior, the Lord Jesus Christ was going to receive them. He was going to meet with them. He was going to reveal himself to them. He was going to show that his love for them had not changed. despite their behavior, because the Lord had told them that he would suffer, he would die, but he would rise the third day. But they never believed it. And even afterwards, it took them a long time before they actually believed it, before the penny dropped. But here, Christ is revealing through the angel his great love for his disciples. And do you notice here, Tell his disciples, and Peter, and Peter. What had Peter done? He had denied him three times. The one who said he would die for him. He was named, he was set out, and Peter. This includes Peter, despite all he had done. He was not going to hold their behavior against them. One or two lessons then surely from this love that the Savior has towards his disciples for us this evening. Christ is willing to forgive and overlook the faults of his people. Here you are tonight, As far as I'm aware, most of you are professing Christians, and if you're honest with yourself, you'll hold your hand up and you'll say, you have not behaved towards the Savior as you should have. There are occasions that you are ashamed of yourself for what you have done or said against the Savior. witness for him. You haven't stood up and nailed your colors to the mast on occasions. You have been poor disciples. That would be your own estimation of your life. Well, the Savior's love for his people doesn't change. There is forgiveness with him. There is reconciliation. He is willing to forgive and overlook the faults of his people. And we are to delight in this glorious Savior. And as far as evangelism is concerned, and as far as missionary enterprise is concerned, what a message the church has for people who are hurting, people who are under conviction of sin, people who know they're not right with God, surely we can tell them with all the authority of the Word of God that sinners can go to the Savior and they're to hear that Jesus Christ is willing to forgive them. Indeed, he's more willing to forgive than they are to be forgiven. This is what we find here. This is the Savior we are to commend. Go forth and proclaim forgiveness of sins, does he not say at the end of Luke's gospel? Forgiveness of sins to be proclaimed. And this is what mankind needs to hear, because it doesn't matter where we go in the world, whether we be in a civilized part of the world or an uncivilized part of the world. Man's needs are exactly the same. He needs to be forgiven. He needs to be reconciled to God. And we have a wonderful message to tell them that there is one who is willing to forgive. But finally, for ourselves, if Christ is so willing to forgive, then believers must also Be willing to forgive those who sin against them, especially fellow believers. Is there a dispute? Is there a problem between believers? All friends, deal with it. Have you not been forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ? Can you not forgive? Can you not be reconciled? Surely this is what it would teach us. Go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you. He will receive you. Yes, you didn't behave correctly, but he's willing to forgive. And believers must have that same attitude because if your sins have been forgiven, which are many that you could never count or calculate, surely you can forgive the sins of others. Go then. Go and do likewise. Go and be reconciled. Go and preach the gospel. Christ's parting words to his church is that they are to go into the world and preach the gospel. And we have plenty of encouragement to do so because he is willing and ready and able to forgive. Amen. May God bless His Word.