Maybe We Should

January 30, 2022           NOTES NOT EDITED
Maybe We Should?
Mark 16:9-20

SIS – We should be a bit more daring and bold in our devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is “real gospel preaching,” or a “real gospel church?”  How would one recognize “real gospel preaching” as compared to just clever, engaging, enlightening, and even entertaining oratory? What’s the difference between a “great speech” and “great gospel preaching?”  What’s the difference from a “good show that’s enlightening and even entertaining” and “true worship?”  Our text this morning points us to the answer.  Real Church and Real Preaching is attended by “Real Miracles.”

My text, more often debated than practiced, describes “real gospel preaching.” Let’s read our text.  Mark 16:15-18 (CSB):

¹⁴ Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen. ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.” ¹⁹ So the Lord Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.]

The authenticity of this text is debated by scholars. That doesn’t necessarily mean the “veracity” contained in the text is challenged, but whether these words that conclude the writing of Mark, a follower of Jesus Christ and inspired author of the gospel bearing his name, were actually written by Mark.  They probably were not

But, what really troubles scholars about this text? Is it that somehow someone other than Mark penned these words for some reason to smooth out an abrupt ending uncharacteristic of First Century writing? Or, is it the emphasis on the “miraculous” that gets some “religious” folk all twisted up in a knot? I’m thinking it is the latter that is the case.

We modern folk consider ourselves too intellectually sophisticated to believe in such things as casting out demons, speaking in a heavenly language, being miraculously protected from calamities such as being bitten by deadly snakes or forced to drink deadly poison. This all sounds so . . . well, “primitive” and unscientific.

Most so-called Christians are far too advanced intellectually to believe in miracles—especially miracles involving “snake-handling.” But, what a great irony to be troubled by such minor miracles as casting out demons or being miraculously protected from deadly calamity, and yet, follow the teachings of Jesus who was crucified, lay in a cold tomb for three days, rolled away a two-ton stone and walked out to live among men and then be ascended into heaven. Oh, they practice a religion based upon THAT miracle, but have problems with “snake handling!” That’s just disingenuous and not the least bit foolish.

Not to mention, that kind of “christianity” (small “c”) is powerless! If God cannot save me from a snake bite, how in the world am I to believe He can save my soul from sin for all eternity! I know a lot of people who find “snake handling” to be a bizarre—actually crazy—way to express one’s faith. But, if the alternative is a dead, purposeless, frigid, powerless religion, then maybe we should consider a crazy alternative.

Many object to the verses because of abuses arising out of verses 17 and 18 regarding “the signs authenticating the work of the gospel.”  Most notably, and quite justifiably, many object to the idea of “picking up snakes and drinking poison” to prove one’s faith.  These verses do NOT teach we should “tempt God with such nonsense.”  These signs “followed” the apostolic teaching, they did not drive it.  The Book of Acts records many such miracles as are mentioned here in this text, and Christian history records many more. 

So, that brings me to the point I want to make about “handling snakes and drinking poison, yet not dyiing.”  “Maybe we should?”  Maybe we should “what?”  Maybe we should take up “snake handling!”  No, absolutely not, but maybe we should be a bit more daring and bold in our devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.  That’s my point.  The snake handlers of the Church of God With Signs Following with followers stretching from Tennessee to Pennsylvania, along with the Appalachian hills of West Virginia are “bold and daring” if they are anything!

Many members of the Church of God With Signs Following have withered hands from the repeated bites from copperheads, water moccasins, and rattle snakes.  Many have missing fingers that decayed as a result of snake bites. More than a few died expressing their faith by handling snakes.  They are bold and daring in their faith—we have to give them that.

I think the Church of God—and God’s church here on this hill—could benefit greatly from devotion that is a little bit more bold and daring.

Far from being willing to discard this text, I feel this is one of the most important passages in the New Testament.  Far from being bizarre, it describes the power that comes from living in the Presence of Almighty God and the Risen Lord through the Holy Spirit.  It talks about the miraculous promise that the Hand of God will powerfully evident in the lives of those who walk in His presence and serve in His Kingdom.

Bold and Daring Faith Has Three Requirements:  bold worship, bold service, and bold sacrifice.

1.  We should practice a more bold and daring WORSHIP

Follow me for a moment as I switch the channel to a parallel passage

in the Gospel of Matthew.  Matthew adds something about the last meeting the disciples have with Jesus Christ before He ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of God.  Matthew 28:16-17

 

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain

where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him,

they worshiped him; but some doubted.

“Worship and doubt,” – two opposite responses to the Risen Savior.  Just like many members of the Church of God With Signs Following have withered hands and missing fingers, so many churches have a withered religious program missing any real manifestation of God’s Holy Spirit power.

Why are so many Christians weak and so many churches insignificant to their communities?  We “dwell in doubt instead of dance in bold and daring worship.”    Why do so many people doubt the miraculous power of God to intervene in their lives. Notice here in Matthew that the opposite of “doubting is not believing.”  The opposite of doubting is WORSHIPPING. 

Many Christians live ineffectual, inconsequential lives because they neglect worship.  When a person worships God regularly and allows the Risen Christ to rise up in one’s soul, that person is changed.  The Bible teaches throughout that “God inhabits the praise of His people.”  God says in another place in the Gospel of Matthew, “Wherever two or three gather in my name, I am in the midst of them.” 

The same Lord that broke bread with Peter, James, John and the

other disciples, wants to break bread with you.  The same Lord we worship today is the same Lord that the disciples worshipped with two thousand years ago.  How is it possible to doubt that Jesus Christ is alive if you worship in His presence on a regular basis!?  That is simply not possible.  Almighty God and the Risen Lord through the Holy Spirit is present with us when we truly fall on our faces or raise or hands in worship. 

The Bible teaches that God visits His people in a mighty waywhen we gather to worship Him.  Bold and Daring Faith requires bold and daring WORSHIP.

2.  We should practice a more daring and bold SERVICE  (15,20)

Let’s go back to Mark 16.  Verse 15 says,  "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Then, Verse 20 says: [I like theKJVon this] 20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

The proof of surrendered service to Jesus is “signs following” and a global SPREAD-“EVERYWHERE”  We can experience the power and presence of Almighty God and the Risen Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit WHEN WE ARE SERVING.

One of the most significant missionaries in the modern age was a Scotsman by the name of David Livingstone.  More than any other individual, Livingstone, a self-taught medical doctor, opened up the continent of Africa.  He brought the message of Light and Hope in the gospel to what had previously been called the Dark Continent.  His discoveries, such as Victoria Falls, made him a national hero to England.  His love of the African people made him a treasure to God.  So beloved was he by Africans that came to know him, that when he died his heart was removed and buried in Africa.  So beloved and treasured was he by England, his body is buried in the famous Westminster Abbey.  Missionary work literally killed Livingstone, but being a man of resolute character it took some years.  By the end of his life he was frail from16 difficult years of service in the swamps and jungles of Africa.  He suffered disease, starvation, and attacks from vicious animals in his service to God on the Dark Continent.  After having been in Africa for over a decade, Livingstone who was home in England for a brief furlough was asked to address the students at Glasgow University.  His body was weak from having fought off jungle fever over 27 times.  His left arm hung uselessly at his side as a result of a lion attack that nearly took his life.  Remember, he would still spend years yet in Africa even in this condition.  As he stood before the students, many contemplating missionary service themselves, he said, “I will tell you what sustained me amidst the toil, the hardship, and the loneliness of my exile.  It was Christ’s promise, ‘lo, I am with you always, even unto the end’ .” 

David Livingstone was living proof that “miraculous signs follow those who are bold and daring in their service to the Lord Jesus Christ.” For those who engage in spreading the gospel our text promises that the presence of Christ will bring: “signs and wonders!”

Friends, we must recapture a belief in the supernatural power of the

presence of God Almighty in our lives as we serve Him.  I’m not saying that we should go out and play with poisonous snakes or drink poisonous brew to “test” God.  I am simply saying that the God Who authenticated His work by “signs and wonders” two thousand years ago, is the same God we serve today.

How sad that the early disciples could raise the dead and most churches cannot even raise their budgets!

3.  We need a more daring and bold attitude of SACRIFICE. (20)

“They went OUT!”

“Out” is a very scary place.  “Out” represents the area beyond our comfort zone where success is not guaranteed, but sacrifice most certainly is.  “Out” represents that bold, new, frontier of living that pushes us to “boldly go where no man has gone before.”  This is really what it means to “handle snakes.”  Bold and daring faith is not about “testing” God, but about “trusting” God!

“Out” represents a willingness to “pay whatever costs must be paid to bring others the opportunity to be save.

The difference between a “bold and daring, snake handling” disciple and a the typical “frozen chosen church member” is that “a bold and daring disciple willingly takes upon himself suffering and sacrifice required to fulfill the purpose of extending the Kingdom of God.

That’s what “snake handling” in this passage really represents.  It is not some showy trick more suited for a circus act than an act of faith, but it is a sincere commitment to face anything for the cause of Christ—and do it willingly and fearlessly

That phrase is in verse 20: “The disciples WENT OUT!” says a lot about the early disciples.  They were not “campers for Christ,” but they were “crusaders for Christ.”  They had no desire to confine their worship and service to the safety of the sanctuary—be it the Temple or the synagogue.  No, they “broke out” of their comfort zones and moved into the danger zone of the world.  They were not interesting in “being safe,” but wanted to be “effective.”

The natural tendency of our human flesh is to seek comfort and protection.  Plato looked at the world with all its suffering and determined that God could not possibly have anything to do with creating or sustaining it.  This idea that the world is evil prevailed in Greek thought.  Though I do not agree with Plato’s conclusion, I certainly agree with his observations – the world is a place where suffering abounds.

God never promised that our service would be without sacrifice, but quite the opposite.  Suffering is the tarmac from which our service of God takes flight.

Suffering?  Yes!  But never abandonment.  God said very clearly and succinctly as we read earlier in Matthew: “and lo, I am with you always, even to the ends of the earth.”(28:20)

There has been no more bold and daring example of sacrifice than that which Jesus—God, the Son—demonstrated by dying on the cross.  Think about that phrase, “They went OUT!”  Did anyone move further OUT than Jesus Christ who left the glory of a throne in heaven to endure the cross on Calvary!  Philippians 2:5–8 (CSB)

⁵ Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. ⁷ Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, ⁸ he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.

Jesus is our model for bold and daring faith.   If anyone ever faced deadly snakes it was Jesus surrounded by the serpentine demons of hell as He hung upon the cross—YET, He hung there—not secured by nails but secured by perfect obedience to God His Father and a perfect love for you and I. 

By and large, churches in the U.S. are not experiencing the miraculous signs and wonders that the Bible says will follow those who believe.  It is not that we are not experiencing some blessing, we are just not experiencing the blessing of God as He promised we would and should.

Mark 16 is dismissed by many scholars because they feel it is about “snake handling.”  It is not about “picking up snakes for a show of our faith” but it is about being “bold and daring” in the execution of our obedience to Almighty God.  It isn’t about “snakes.”  It is about bold and daring, self-abandoning worship.  It is about broad and effective service to our community in preaching the gospel in meaningful and powerful ways.  It is about a bold willingness to sacrifice whatever it takes to give others the opportunity to hear the gospel.  Bold and daring worship; bold and daring service; bold and daring sacrifice.  That’s the kind of gospel preaching that will be followed by “signs and wonders” this world could not imagine.

Friends, we need some snake handlers! Not handling the slithering, scaly kind, but a “snake handler” type of faith that is “bold and daring.” Whatever snakes come—and they will—cannot harm us when we are on mission with God!

Let’s join together today making a decision to become a more “bold and daring” church. , . . .  Now, pass me a rattle snake.