I want to invite you to take your Bibles tonight and turn with me to Mark chapter 16. Mark 16, tone it down just a little more, Ian, and I'll read verses 1 through 16. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices so that they might come and anoint him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them, do not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold, here is the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. They went out and fled from the tomb, for a trembling and astonishment had gripped them. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Now, after he had risen early on the first day of the week, he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with him, and they were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. After that, he had appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along their way to the country. They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. Afterward, he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table, and he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Ian, soften it just a little more. Thanks. Well, as we entered into the Gospel of Mark a few weeks back, the first thing I had to do is to give some clarification on the whole issue of textual criticism. I believe that it's legitimate. I believe that we should continue to examine the ancient manuscripts and the writings of the Church Fathers and the ancient translations in order to arrive at the the most accurate Greek translation that we possibly can. So I see that there's validity in this work of textual criticism. But as I also stated in that sermon, and I gave several reasons, I'm not so convinced that verses 9 through 20 are not to be in the Gospel of Mark. Remember, if you have a modern translation in front of you, when I say modern translation, I'm talking about every translation except for the King James and the New King James, your Bible ends with verse 8. Now, they may add the other verses to it. as if they're not totally convinced themselves, but they put them in brackets and there'll be a footnote saying the earliest and best manuscripts do not contain these verses. But I'm going to preach them, and so tonight I read beyond verse 8. Just for the sake of argument, and again I'm not convinced that these verses are not a part of the original, but just for the sake of argument, there's nothing in these verses that's contrary to what we would call the analogy of faith to the teaching of the rest of Scripture, Scripture interpreting Scripture, these verses are perfectly consistent with the remainder of the Word of God. So even if, and again I'm not convinced they are not, but even if they are not a part of the original text, I think we're on solid ground and safe ground to preach them. And so we enter the chapter, and right away we come to these women. Two in particular are mentioned here, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and then they mention Salome, and they brought spices so that they might come and anoint him. As they were going on their way to the tomb, They voiced concern. What are we going to do about the big stone? How are we going to move it? These were just women, and the stone was rolled in place by large men. How would they remove the stone? It didn't stop them from coming. It didn't hinder their plan, their desire to come and anoint Jesus. And, of course, by the time they got there, verse 3, Who will roll away the stone?" Well, verse 4, looking up, they saw the stone had been rolled away. And then Mark puts by way of description, and it was a big stone. It was very large. God, once again, blessed these women. And as I pointed out last time as we were looking at the women. We continue to seek to honor Christ with our lives. We are continually coming upon obstacles, but we press on. Sometimes the obstacles seem large, but yet these women, it did not keep them from their appointed task. Mark records the presence of an angel in verse five. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe And they were amazed. It was a fearful sight. If angels were not common occurrences, they were frightened. In fact, Matthew's Gospel says even these powerful soldiers were frightened as well. Matthew 28, verses 3 and 4, and his appearance was like lightning, his garment as white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. Comparing the Gospels though, We find out there were actually two angels. Mark's gospel records the angel on the outside and Mark's gospel speaks of the angel on the inside and then both Luke and John specify two angels. So Luke 24, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing." So there were two angels. And again, John's Gospel, John 20 verses 11 and 12, But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping, and so as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. So, the wonderful thing about having four Gospels, and particularly the synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, by harmonizing them and looking at the various accounts from different points of view, it gives us the fullness of exactly what's going on. Mark only records one angel, but there were two angels. And the angel speaks, the angel because Mark's speaking of one angel. This is the one that speaks to them. Mark 16, verses 6 and 7. He said to them, Do not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, here is the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter, He's going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you, a confirmation of the word of our Lord. And keep in mind, the word of our Lord is the word of God. And so it's a confirmation of the word of God concerning his resurrection. The angels tell the ladies, go. You will see him just as he told you, exactly as he revealed to you while he was upon the earth. And Matthew also records in Matthew 28, the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. Go quickly. Tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and behold, he's going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. Well, with the sight of the angels, these dear ladies were moved with amazement. In fact, they were moved with fear and amazement. And the angel commands them, do not be amazed, do not be afraid. And in essence, the angel is saying, this is not the time for fear. This is the time for great joy. And so the angel departs and the ladies are then left. And verse 8, which again in the modern translations would be the final verse, verse 8 then reads, And they went out, fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. the end, which really, it would be a really unusual ending to one of the Gospels. I mean, instead of going out with great joy and, you know, wonder and awe at the resurrection of Christ, and they went out to tell the disciples, and It doesn't say that at all. It simply says they fled from the tomb for fear and astonishment had gripped them. They didn't say a thing to anyone. They said nothing to anyone. Why? They were afraid. And that's the end of the gospel. It seems so unusual. Now, we can understand their astonishment. I mean, you'd be astonished, too, right? You witnessed the death of your Savior. You had traveled with Him for three years, and these ladies were with Him for the majority of His ministry. They were with Him. They loved Him dearly, and He's taken from them. But then they go to the tomb to anoint his body, the angel is speaking to them, and then they remember, the angel reminds them, just as he said, don't you remember? He'll rise again the third day. They go, this is it! Exactly what he said! And so they're absolutely amazed and astonished. But what about his resurrection? There's nothing of any resurrection appearance here. If it ends at verse 8, the resurrection's here. The angels say he's raised, but no post-resurrection appearance. And if that's true, it's the only gospel that does not have a post-resurrection appearance. There's nothing about them going to the disciples, and what's going on with them, and there's just nothing. And if this is the ending, it would end with the conjunction gar. Now I know for most of you that doesn't mean anything, but gar is translated for, and in the Greek it's at the end. I realize in the English Verse 8 says, they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. And the Greek is just two words, and one of them is the gar, and it's at the end. Well, to end the Gospel with a conjunction seems that would be a bit unusual as well. It is so unusual that many of those that doubt whether or not these verses should be in, that they were a part of the original, they at least admit this cannot be the ending. So it can't be the ending, so they must have lost the ending because Mark surely would have gone beyond this. They're just not sure that this is the ending. But I'm not so sure it's not. But most agree that verse 8 is not a logical place for it to end. So tonight, presuming then, and I'm not going to continue mentioning this every sermon, trying to defend these final verses, I'll probably mention it from time to time, but tonight we're going to look at the resurrection of Christ and his post-resurrection appearance, because it is there, and I think it should be there. Oops, I said I wasn't going to keep on, but it is there. And so verse 9, begins with the appearance of Christ. Now, after he had risen early on the first day of the week, he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. Now, I have to say one more thing about the criticism here. Many who claim that this passage should not be a part of or was not a part of the original, they claim that the word now should connect it to the previous verses. Now, after he had risen on the first day of the week, he appeared to Mary Magdalene. Two thoughts on this. First of all, I think it does loosely connect to the previous passages, because Mary was the first to arrive at the tomb. And so this is merely reiterating. Verse 1 says, Now the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome came. And then verse 9, Now after he had risen early in the first day of the week, he went and appeared to Mary Magdalene. But they say the word a conjunction that should be a much tighter connection with the previous verses. One more statement on the Greek. Now, a very strong connection would be the Greek word noon. And this isn't the word noon, this is a very weak word, de. It's D-E, delta epsilon, and it can be translated variously. But it loosely connects. That can be translated but or and. It can be translated now, not very frequently. But it just loosely connects with the previous. So it's not a really tight connection. I have no problem with verse 9 beginning with the word now. Two Marys left the tomb in astonishment and fear, and now Jesus appears to Mary. And then some others, just to give you all their arguments, some others say that it would also be unusual to mention Mary as being the one whom he cast out seven demons. Since he mentioned her in verse 1, it seems like he would have made that comment in verse 1 instead of verse 9. But, I think here Mark's just simply stressing and reinforcing the transforming grace of God. This is Mary Magdalene, the one that Jesus cast out the demons, and Jesus is coming to her. the wonderful transforming grace of God and the wonderful mercy of Christ in embracing His own who have been saved from all manner of sin and He comes to her first. I think it's perfectly natural for her sin to be mentioned here. Well, then we come to verse 10. And we find the great contrast between Mary's joy and the disciples' grief." Now, Mary had seen Jesus, and she was ecstatic. I mean, she was beside herself. In fact, in John's Gospel, John 20, 16, Jesus said to her, Mary, you know, I mean, all he had to do was just say her name, Mary. And she turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabbani, which in essence is saying, My master, my teacher. I mean, she's just looking at the one that she loved and she just says, Master, teacher, I can't believe it's you. And so she's ecstatic. She comes excitedly to tell the disciples, you know, her heart is filled with astonishment. A heart of joy and belief, by the way, it's a heart of joy and faith. In Matthew 28.8, they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to the disciples. Great joy filled their heart. John 28.10. Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. Well, the disciples on the other hand, and I brought before you last time the beautiful contrast with these ladies. So many times ladies don't feel like they have an important part in the ministry of the church and in the kingdom of God, and just reminding us of how precious the ladies were in the ministry of Christ. The great contrast between these ladies and the disciples, they're filled with astonishment, amazement, and joy, and belief. The disciples, on the other hand, verse 10, she went and reported to those who had been with him while they were mourning and weeping on Resurrection Sunday. Well, Mary then brings the report. And his report is coming from her lips. They're not believing. In fact, they're unbelieving. Verse 11, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. Luke 24, 9. They returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest and now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. Verse 13, And they went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. It must have been frustrating for the ladies. I mean, they're excited, and they're bringing good news to the apostles. He's alive! He's not dead! We've seen him with our eyes! And they said, You're out of your mind. We don't believe." And they continue weeping. And the text then tells us that they were sorely rebuked of the Lord for their unbelief. Verse 14, afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table, and he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen. Well, Jesus often rebuked his disciples because of their unbelief. Remember in Mark 4, the account of the storm that arises, Mark 4, 38, Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they awoke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush, be still. The wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And he said to them, why are you afraid? Do you have no faith? This is after they had been with Jesus for a while. Do you have no faith? Matthew 8, 26. Why are you afraid, men of little faith? Which gives a little more encouragement. There's more encouragement in little faith than no faith. Same thing happened, by the way, when Peter cries out as he's sinking beneath the waves, Matthew 14, but seeing the wind, he became frightened and began to sink and he cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him and said, you of little faith, why did you doubt? The unbelief here is particular, and so the rebuke is strong. This is not a gentle rebuke. For one thing, Jesus had already been with them for three years, and now they are still in unbelief. The phrase in verse 11, they refused to believe it. It's a single word in the Greek. It's apisteo, which literally means unbelief. It's a verb meaning to disbelieve or to be faithless. He is accusing them of being faithless, because they will not believe. It's a serious situation, because they were disbelieving the resurrection, and in doing so, they were disbelieving the very word of our Lord. And because of this, He is giving them a stern rebuke. Verse 14 again, He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. Now we need to grant them a bit of graciousness here. We don't prone to be gracious all the time. And so we hear Jesus rebuking them for their unbelief, and we're not stirred at all. Okay, they should have been rebuked. They needed to be rebuked. They were in unbelief. Jesus told them they didn't believe. He needed to rebuke them. But we need to give a little grace here. We need to give a little grace many times. Well, some graciousness because, one, much has happened. Just three days before, they had seen their Lord crucified, killed before their very eyes. It was terrifying. Every one of them fled, with the exception of John. Every single one of them. Peter denied him three times. They were absolutely terrified. And so now, three days later, and they're still weeping and mourning and still in disbelief that their master had died. And so we can grant them that. Their faith was immature, and they didn't have the benefit of the New Testament. We take this for granted. We have God's full revelation. I mean, it's right here. It's leather-bound, and we read it for ourselves. We're looking back at the accomplished, and they're still looking forward. And so they didn't have nearly what we have. And one more thing, it was on the other side of Pentecost. Much took place at Pentecost. They were transformed at Pentecost. At the ascension of Christ, they were still terrified. They were still frozen. He ascends into glory. They're gazing up into the clouds and they're just standing there. It's like they're not even remembering the words that Jesus just told them. You shall receive power. After that, the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria. the uttermost parts of the earth. There's going to be something powerful at Pentecost. The indwelling spirit will come upon them and it will be absolutely transforming. Now, they're already regenerate. The Holy Spirit was still the agent of regeneration, faith, and repentance, but the powerful indwelling that took place at Pentecost had not yet occurred. And it changed these men. Before Pentecost, these men are trembling. They're hiding out. They're afraid. After Pentecost, they became bold as lions. They're told, don't preach in His name. They said, well, I'll tell you what. You choose for yourself, but we cannot follow God. We must do what He commands. And so they preached boldly, and every one of them, with the exception of John, were martyred for the faith. They became powerful witnesses of Christ. But not yet, not here. We need to grant them a little grace here. It's interesting, while the disciples doubted, though, in disbelief. the women remembered our Lord's Word and believed. Luke 24, verses 6 through 8, He is not here, but He is risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered His words. The ladies remembered His words, believed the disciples They didn't remember His words at all, not at this point, and they're in disbelief. And so Jesus comes and rebukes them. Well, we grant them a little grace, but today we are judged on a much stricter standard. because we have the fullness of the Word of God. We're looking back at reality, the resurrection, and it's been made clear to us. There's much that we have clearer light on than they did. Even in the early church, they had the Word of God, the canon had been complete, but they still argued about many basic things for the first 200 years of the church. They argued on issues of the Trinity, issues of the nature of Christ, the hypostatic union of Christ as both God and man. They argued about these things, and the early church councils brought clarification. But we are the benefactors of 2,000 years of church history, and we have the Word of God that's in our hands. We have wonderful confessions of faith that help to clarify it for us, and we have systematic theologies. We have the works of John Calvin that further help to systematize these truths. We are held at a strict, strict standard today. Woe unto us if we are ignorant today. There is no excuse today. There must be powerful preaching today that makes these things crystal clear for us. So we have the full testimony of the Word of God. It is full and it is sufficient. It is God's full revelation of the Gospel and it must be believed. Well, the resurrection is an essential part of the Gospel. That's how important this is. And that's why Jesus was rebuking them. He had already taught them. He had already told them. He had made it clear. The Son of Man will be taken by sinful men. He will be crucified and killed. And on the third day, He will rise again. They had been taught that numerous times. And still, they didn't take it to heart. But for us, We know well the resurrection. We know it clearly. And it is an essential element of the gospel. I can't say that enough. It is an essential element of the gospel. Romans 10, 9, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Sounds to me like with the apostolic preaching and the gospel being proclaimed, the resurrection was an essential aspect of it. And it must be an essential aspect of our preaching today as well. It is an inseparable part of the gospel. You cannot take the resurrection away from the gospel. In other words, a person's attitude about the resurrection as revealed in the word of God is a matter upon which his salvation rests. If you remember as I preached last Sunday night regarding the gospel and that the gospel includes certain propositional truths that must be applied to the mind, and they must be agreed with, and they must be believed. Well, part of these truths that are contained in the gospel message, part of this is the resurrection. If you remove the resurrection, the essence of Christianity is removed. Paul puts it this way, 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 through 4, Well, that's good news. Paul says, I'm making it known to you. Actually, what he's saying is, I have made known to you. So I make known to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received, in which also you stand. So he's preaching to the brethren. They've heard the gospel, they have received the gospel, they are standing upon the gospel, by which also you are saved. They were saved by the gospel. If you hold fast the word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. And then he gives a very brief synopsis of what the gospel is. For I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, and I always like to pause here to remind us that the gospel is what Paul received. It's not something he invented, something that was his gospel. It was merely that which he received by revelation. So he preached that, that he received by divine authority, but it is the gospel of Christ. Well, I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. So the Gospel in a nutshell, just to put it in its most simplistic form, it's the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ. And Paul says this resurrection cannot be separated from it. Now why is the resurrection so important? So important that Paul says that it is absolutely essential to our faith. He says in verses 16 and 17 of 1 Corinthians 15, For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. you're still in your sins. That's pretty powerful stuff. If Christ is still in the grave, your faith is worthless. There's no foundation to your faith, no substance to your faith if Christ is still in the grave. The resurrection is absolutely essential. Well, why is it so essential? Well, because it proves that the atoning sacrifice of Christ satisfied divine justice, that God was well pleased with the sacrifice of His Son, that Jesus Christ was born, He was actually sent forth of the Father, He lived a perfect life of obedience to the law, maintaining the demands of the law. The law demands perfection, and Jesus Christ kept it perfectly. So he was qualified as our Redeemer. And then he goes to the cross. He takes our sins upon himself, and he comes fully under the wrath of God. He drank the full cup of God's wrath, the full penalty for our sins. Well, how do we know that this was sufficient? Well, because God, in His infinite power by His Spirit, raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The tomb could not hold Him. If He's still in the grave, then there's no guarantee the atonement was a satisfaction. There's no guarantee that His death is any different than any other death of any other man. But the resurrection proves that the sacrifice of Christ was well-pleasing in the sight of God. It proves that it was accepted by the Father. It's like this, that after the resurrection, I mean after the death of Christ, it's as if the Father is saying, enter into the glory that we share from all of eternity. And it's truly an answer to our Lord's prayer in John 17. I glorified you on the earth having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Well, the resurrection proves that the Father was satisfied. that His wrath is turned away from us, that the justifying grace that is applied to us is real and complete so that we can say with Romans 4, 25, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification." The resurrection proves our justification. Take it away, and you have no guarantee whatsoever that you are justified before the Father. So then, looking among us tonight, we're probably about 50-50, believers and unbelievers. First of all, I have to ask believers. Do you see the resurrection as having such importance? It is essential. It is of utmost importance. And your very salvation is dependent upon the resurrection. Do you believe the resurrection of Christ? And is it essential to your understanding of the gospel? But for all the others that are here, we have so many little ones here. Some have believed. of which I'm grateful to God and thankful for His grace upon your life and His continuing work of grace in you as I see you maturing and getting stronger in the faith. For the rest of you, you hear the gospel over and over and over, and here's the point. Jesus Christ did die upon the cross. was raised from the tomb on the third day. And he's now seated at the right hand of majesty on high, and he commands all men everywhere to repent. And he says, come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. He is the risen Lord, and we're living in an age of mercy. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts, because we're living in an age of mercy. It's today. Mercy is for today. there's no mercy on the other side of the grave. Oh, Christians will experience an eternity of mercy, but for everyone else, there's no mercy on the other side of the grave. You get a window of opportunity. The day if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. He's alive, and you will deal with Him. The day will come when He will come as the judge, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, and all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The resurrection tells us that He's alive and we will stand before Him. And so I trust that you give careful consideration to that. He's the risen Lord. He's the Master and King, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, exalted at the right hand of majesty, and you will see Him and you will deal with Him in due time. Well, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray, O God, that you would continue to take your Word and apply it to our hearts. May it be ever sweet to us. May we feast upon every word. As we hear of such wonderful things as the Resurrection, may you use it to encourage us and to strengthen us and to Just as the ladies, as they left the tomb, may we be filled with marvelous joy as we contemplate that we serve a risen King, a gracious Lord, our Bridegroom, who loves us with a love that we will never fully comprehend. Thank you that we serve a risen King. for the blessed hope that He will return and we will see Him face to face. May we live as those who have hope and live as those who are serving the risen King. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed.