Grace Bible Church of Rolling Meadows

Post Resurrection Commissions - Part 1

June 30, 2024

Presented by John Klasen



So we're going to get into something this morning which is unrelated to what I've been teaching lately. Anyone who has been following what I have been teaching most recently may know that earlier this year I began a series of messages providing a dispensational overview of the Bible. Now, eventually that overview is going to become a ten part series which I intend to edit into a two or three booklet series which Jerry will be printing out for us, like some of the other booklets that are on the book and ministry table, which I've written before that are always on the table. Booklets like that. Now, information like this will obviously be quite helpful for new believers or for anyone who is just becoming familiar with the dispensational right division of the Bible and the principles associated with that, what God is doing today and what God is not doing today in this present church age.

Now, when I last taught on April 7, 2024, I delivered part four in that dispensational overview. Part four took us through the Book of Acts and on into the book of Romans, Romans being the first of the letters of the Apostle Paul, which we come to in our Bibles. Now, the Book of Romans is clearly not the first epistle which Paul wrote. So I attempted to explain to you and our listeners why the Book of Romans is the first of Paul's letters to appear in our Bibles and why the Book of Romans is unquestionably the most important of all the books in the Bible for any person living today in this dispensation of grace. So the next message in the overview would have been to progress on through the rest of Paul's epistles.

But I'm not going to do that today, and I want to explain why, except for Romans chapter three, which is such a critically important chapter  because it explains what our gospel of salvation is for today. Except for Romans three, I haven't gone into any great depth on any particular issue because this is simply meant to be an overview, and an overview like this, you just want to come away with an accurate perspective of the entire Bible, where everything fits and how it relates to what God's entire plan and purposes are. But I did refer our listeners to various other series on the website where I have gone into much greater depth on certain important issues, sometimes controversial issues like how God was justified in completely wiping out certain people groups as Israel moved into their promised land under the leadership of Joshua, or issues like the importance of the mystery kingdom parables in Matthew 13, and how those seven mystery parables are so important to what's going to play out in the future, or issues like the multitude of the many fulfilled prophecies throughout the gospel account and things like that. So I want to be able to continue referring our listeners to more in depth teaching on various important issues that we come across as we progress on through this overview. And in what will be part five of this overview, we will be coming to the book of II Corinthians.

And in II Corinthians chapter  five, we have the commission for the Body of Christ during this present church age. And it's very important to understand how that our commission today is vastly different from the commissions given to Israel in the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and in Acts chapter one. But I don't have any detailed teaching on those commissions on our website to refer our listeners to.

So we're going to take a two session sidetrack today and next week to look at those commissions, the commissions which were given by Christ to Israel in the Gospel accounts and in Acts chapter one, verse eight.

Now, in the thinking of most Christian people today, when they consider the concept of Bible commissions, the first thing they usually think of is the so called great commission, which is said to be found in Matthew chapter  28. And we'll certainly take a look at that in a few minutes. Others may view the so called great commission in more of a collective manner, collectively, in the sense that they would include elements of all the post resurrection commissions which are found at the end of the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and in Acts chapter one, verse eight. They would kind of put all those commissions together and come up with God's great commission for evangelical Christianity today.

But as we're going to see, it's critically important to understand what all those commissions actually say and to whom those commissions have been given. Now, it's interesting to note that you won't find the phrase great commission or any phrase like that anywhere in our Bibles. And if you were to trace back the history of the origin of the phrase great commission, you would learn that the phrase was originally coined by a Dutch missionary whose name was Justinian von Wells, who lived during the mid 1600s. That phrase was then popularized some 200 years later by an English Baptist minister named Hudson Taylor, a name that you may have heard of in the past, who was famous for his long time missionary work in China. Throughout the late 1800s, until his death in 1905, the phrase was also popularized secondarily by another English Baptist minister named William Carey, another name that may be familiar to you because he was well known for his missionary work in India throughout the late 1700s and on into the early 1800s.

It seems that this phrase Great Commission, was used by these men as a means to generate financial support to carry on their missionary work. And it's a phrase which is still widely referred to within Christian circles today. Now, having said that, there's a very real sense in which any commissions which have ever been given by God at any point in history are great commissions. There are lots of commissions in the Bible. God told Adam to have dominion over the entire earth. God told Noah to build an ark. It took Noah 120 years to do it. God told Joshua and Israel to go in and take the promised land which was inhabited by people groups that were far mightier than the nation of Israel. Those were some pretty profound commissions. So the question should not be, what is the great commission, or even what is the greatest commission, but rather what is God's latest commission?

What is God's current commission for today? What is our commission as members of the Body of Christ in this present Church age? Furthermore, another question which is critically important as you examine any of the commissions which God has given in the Bible is to whom has that commission or any commission been given? Has it been given to the little flock of Christ's followers in the Gospel accounts, the believing remnant of the nation Israel? Or has it been given to members of the church, the Body of Christ today, in this dispensation of grace?

These are very important questions which need to be considered. So let's begin looking at the basic commissions which are found in the New Testament scriptures, beginning with those that were given by the Lord Jesus Christ at his first coming. And we're going to look at these in the order in which we find them. So let's begin looking at the commissions found in the Gospel account of Matthew. And we're going to look at chapter ten in Matthew, so you can turn there in your Bibles.

And I say Matthew's commissions, plural, because relatively few Bible believers recognize or notice that Christ's first commission was actually given to his disciples in Matthew chapter ten. In Matthew chapter ten and verses one through four, we have the account of Christ ordaining his twelve disciples. Then immediately following that ordination, he gives them their first commission in verse five. So we'll pick it up there, verse five, chapter ten.

Then these twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans. Enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Freely ye have received, freely give.

Now, I'm going to stop there for now, but I just want to point out that this commission continues on through all the rest of chapter ten, and it's given in bits and pieces, and it takes you all the way through the tribulation.

And of course, as a result of Israel's prophetic kingdom program being temporarily set aside in Acts chapter seven, most of this commission was never actually realized. And those elements of this commission which have never happened, associated with Christ's first coming, those events then become prophetic of events that will not take place until Israel finds herself in the tribulation prior to Christ's second coming. So I'm not going to say much more about this first commission right now, but we will be coming back to it later on, probably next week, to see something which is really quite interesting there. Now, as we know, the Gospel account of Matthew has a particular focus on Christ's role as Israel's king. And this has unique relevance when you analyze the so called great commission which is said to be found in Matthew chapter 28.
So let's turn over there, Matthew 28, and look at that commission. Matthew chapter 28. And we'll begin there in verse 18.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Now you want to notice that in verse 18, Jesus says to his disciples, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Understand that Christ is speaking here as Israel's king. But Christ is not demonstrating that all power today. Today, he certainly does have that power in a positional sense, so to speak. But he's not demonstrating it today. He will have all power, and he will be demonstrating that power when this commission will be implemented. At that point in Israel's program, when this commission is active, the nation of Israel will be functioning as a nation of priests, as a holy nation. Israel will be functioning as the kingdom of priests, which was the Lord's purpose for the nation ever since Exodus chapter 19, verse six. And notice in verse 19 the disciples are to carry out his commission by teaching and baptizing all nations.

Just as a side note here, it's interesting to acknowledge that according to Numbers, chapter 23, verse 9, the people of Israel are nothing to be reckoned among the nations. So this commission would therefore not include the evangelism of lost Jews. And the reason for that is really quite simple. There won't be any lost unsaved Jews to evangelize at that point in time. Now, there are people today who would consider themselves to be Jews and who other people would certainly consider to be Jews and who are certainly not saved. But there won't be any unsaved Jews when this commission will be active. At that point in Israel's history, all Israel will be saved. As Paul states it in Romans 11:26. At that point during Israels earthly program, all Israel will know the Lord according to Jeremiah 31:34, which outlines the new covenant which Israel will be receiving. At that point in Israel's kingdom program, all Israel will have been converted, because any and all of the unbelievers in Israel will have been purged out of the nation according to the baptism of fires spoken of by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11‑12.

So the only Jews living on planet earth at that time will be saved. Jews in Israel's prophetic kingdom. Then notice that in verse 20, his disciples are instructed to teach all nations all things which he had commanded them. So the obvious question then becomes, what did Christ teach and command his disciples? Well, the short answer is that he taught them pretty much everything associated with the law.

Let's take a look at a few examples. Turn back to the sermon of the mount in Matthew, chapter five. And we'll begin there in verse 17. Jesus says,

Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men, so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So you see here how Christ is putting great emphasis on everything having to do with keeping the law. Let's look at the prayer which Christ taught his disciples in Israel to pray in Matthew, chapter six. And here's one of the things that he told them to pray for and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Then he goes on to explain what this means in verse 14.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

Here we see the issue of conditional forgiveness. How would you like to have your forgiveness of sins today dependent upon whether or not you're able to forgive everyone who has ever sinned against you? That's kind of a frightening proposition. Now, you might just find some folks who can actually do this, but that's certainly not what we go around teaching unbelievers today that they need to do in order to have their sins forgiven in this church age. Turn over to chapter seven and look at verse 21.

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord. Shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven.

Here we're back to issues related to law keeping. Let's look at a classical passage in Matthew 19. And we'll begin there in verse 16, which says,

And behold, one came and said unto him, said unto Jesus, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. And he saith unto him, which Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept from my youth up. What lack I yet?

Well, this fellow obviously thinks pretty highly of himself. I doubt that his responses were accurate and true, but let's presume for a moment that they were. Christ isn't finished with him yet. Verse 21. Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me.

Now we know that this is something which the little flock of true believers and the followers of Christ were instructed to do in preparation for the kingdom life. And in fact, we clearly see in Acts chapter two and Acts chapter four that this is exactly what the little flock did do. Verse 22.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

So these are the things which the Lord Jesus Christ did teach and command his disciples.

And we'll look at one more, if you flip over to Matthew chapter 23, beginning in verse one,

Then spake Jesus to the multitude and said to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat: All therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye after their works, for they say and do not.

So again we're back to that issue of strictly observing the law, just as God had given it to the nation Israel, and not following any traditions of men which have creeped into their doctrines since the Lord gave them that law. Now the successful observance of all these things having to do with the law covenant is what will enable the nation of Israel to become the sanctified Holy Kingdom of priests, through whom all the other nations of the world might know the Lord and become blessed according to the Abrahamic covenant. But the Jews in Israel will never actually be able to do this until the entire nation is empowered to do so as a result of the New Covenant being implemented in their lives.

Now, at this point in our study today, it would be profitable to consider the profound differences between this so called great commission given in the nation Israel in Matthew chapter 28, and the commission which has been given to the Body of Christ, the Church of today in II Corinthians chapter five. So turn with me over to II Corinthians chapter five, verse 17.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

What is that?

To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, for he hath made him that's Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin. And of course, that's Christ who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, in Christ.

It's pretty clear here that our commission has nothing to do with the law. You don't see anything here having to do with the law. Nothing like that is mentioned here. In fact, in verse 19, it says that God will not be imputing their trespasses unto them. Our commission is a message of reconciliation to the world, unto all, as God states it in Romans 3:22, unto all the world, but becoming a reality only upon all them that believe the message.

That believe. What message? That believe the message that Christ died for their sins, trusting in Christ's death for their sins, adding absolutely nothing else to the equation, and that equals instant, irreversible eternal life. Add to this the fact that Paul teaches repeatedly throughout his epistles that we are simply not under the law during this dispensation of grace, and it becomes pretty easy to see how that these commissions in Matthew 10 and Matthew 25 have nothing to do with what God is doing today in and through the Church, the Body of Christ, in this present dispensation of grace. Now, for anyone who is interested in looking into the details of our commission here in II Corinthians chapter five and the responsibilities associated with that commission, I would encourage you to listen to a three part series titled the Great Commission for the Church, the Body of Christ.

Well, that then takes us to Mark's commission. And that's going to be in Mark chapter 16.

Now, of all of the post resurrection commissions, the Mark 16 commission may be the most abused and misunderstood of all the commissions. The typical failure to understand the dispensational differences between Israel's prophetic Kingdom program and God's program for the Church, the Body of Christ today makes it extremely difficult. It makes it impossible to deal with what this commission actually says, so much so that it might just be easier for some folks to simply eliminate this passage from the Bible altogether. And indeed, some people have done just that. They've taken the passage out.

Some people have taken the position that the passage is either not inspired or not part of the scriptures at all. And one of the problems with that, with such a position happens to be that this passage is found in over 600 Greek manuscripts, and the passage is left out of only two manuscripts, those two manuscripts being the corrupted Sinaiticus and Vaticanus manuscripts which were not even claimed to have been written at that point. So let's start looking at why this commission is such a problem for people living in this current church age. So in Mark 16, we'll begin there in verse 15, and we'll read through the whole commission.

And he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So the commission begins in verse 15, where Christ commissions his disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. So that seems rather fundamental, as long as the reader understands that the Gospel which they are commissioned to preach, there is not the Gospel of the Grace of God which has the power to save a person today during this present Dispensation of Grace, but rather they are supposed to be teaching people the Gospel of the Kingdom, just as Christ and the writers of Matthew and Mark present it, and which was preached by the twelve throughout their entire ministry, all the way through Acts chapter seven. The Gospel message which they were commissioned to preach and which Christ's disciples did preach throughout their entire ministry and even on into the book of Acts through Acts chapter seven was the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Not only that, but in the future, when Israel's prophetic program resumes again, the little flock of true believers will once again be preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, not the Gospel of the Grace of God. Now, let's look at all this in verses throughout the Gospel accounts. So go back into Matthew, and we'll begin there in Matthew chapter four, Matthew 4:23. Here we have the beginning of Jesus' ministry to the nation Israel. Verse 23.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

So Christ preached the Gospel of the kingdom. At the very beginning of his earthly ministry, he begins preaching this Gospel of the kingdom. Israel's Messiah is here. Israel's king is here, and the kingdom is at hand. Turn over to chapter nine and look at verse 35.

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

So here you have it again. Christ preached the Gospel of the kingdom.

Now let's move ahead into the future to see what will be going on long after Christ's first coming, to see what will be preached in the future preceding his second coming. So go to Matthew, chapter 24. And we only need one verse here. That's verse 14. Matthew, chapter 24, verse 14, which says,

and this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then the end shall come.

So after the rapture, when Israel's prophetic kingdom program resumes again, the little flock of true believers will once again be preaching the Gospel of the kingdom.

And then let's look in Mark's account, chapter one, verses 14 and 15.

Now, after that, John was put in prison. Jesus came unto Galilee preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the Gospel.

Keep your finger here. We're going to come back to Mark chapter one in a minute. But I want to go back to Mark's account again and look at what it says in verse 16. In verse 16, it says that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

Now, most folks would agree that this is clearly a reference to water baptism, the ritual of water baptism. And so if this verse is applied to people living today in this current dispensation of grace, this would be a pretty clear statement, teaching a false doctrine of baptismal regeneration or basically salvation associated with this water baptism ritual. It has everything to do with Israel's prophetic kingdom program, but it has no part in the program for the church today or for believers today. Water baptism was an integral and required ritual for believers in Israel's prophetic kingdom program from the time of the ministry of John the Baptist all the way through early Acts. Now, going back to Mark, chapter one again, just wanted you to see the verses in verse four and five where it says,

John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

So all of those folks in Israel who were excited about the Gospel of the kingdom which was at hand, as we just read in verses 14 and 15, they all went out to see John to be water baptized in the Jordan river. And water baptism is what they still needed to do even in early Acts when Peter was rebuking the nation for having crucified their Messiah at his first coming. Let's take a look at that in Acts, chapter two. We'll start in verse 36.

Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

So verse 38 says, be baptized, every one of you. So you have this water baptism requirement as part of Israel's prophetic kingdom program, which begins with John the Baptist and continues on through early Acts, and which will resume again when Israel's prophetic kingdom program resumes after the rapture.

Water baptism is an integral part of Israel's prophetic kingdom program. And the reason for that is that water baptizing symbolizes the purification, the washing, the purification, which every Jew is going to need to undergo in order to become the kingdom of priests to all the other nations of the world, just as they're told they're supposed to be in Exodus chapter 19, verses five.

And we'll take a look at that in Exodus chapter 19, beginning in chapter five, they're told,

now, therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

The role of saved Jews in Israel's prophetic kingdom program is supposed to be that they will be a kingdom of priests ministering to all the other nations of the world. That's one of the key components of the Abrahamic covenant.

Let's take a quick look how that will look and play out during the millennial kingdom. Beginning in Isaiah, chapter 60, we're going to go to Isaiah 61. But beginning in Isaiah 60, you have this tremendous look at what life will be like on earth during the millennial kingdom. But I just want to point out this one verse that gives you a prophetic picture of how this role of the kingdom of priests will play out during the millennium. So in Isaiah, chapter 61. Look at verse six. It says:

but ye shall be named the priests of the Lord. Men shall call you the ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

So these men will be functioning as a kingdom of priests to all the other nations of the world during the millennial kingdom, because this is an integral part of the role of the Jew as part of the Abrahamic covenant. So all those Jews in Israel prophetic kingdom program that we've been looking at here are undergoing basically the same symbolic rituals which all the priests in Israel's program have always undergone. The priests were always washed with water. That's the first thing they did to sanctify a priest. They washed him with water. And then there was one more ritual which the priests always had to have.

And what was that? The priests were then anointed with oil. Right? Well, what is the anointing of oil all about? The anointing with oil was a symbol of the priests being equipped with the Holy Ghost in order to execute their roles as priests.

You remember what Christ told his disciples in Acts chapter one, verses seven and eight? We should take a look at that. Acts, chapter one. What did he say there to his disciples?
And he said unto them in verse seven,

it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power after that. The Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me in both Jerusalem, in all Judea and in Samaria, and under the uttermost part of the earth.

And then what happened on the day of Pentecost? They received the Holy Ghost. They received the power. Everything was all lining up for Israel to receive their prophetic kingdom and their king. If they only would have recognized what they had done to their Messiah, what they had done to their King at his first coming. They needed to repent, as Peter said in Acts two. They needed to change their thinking and accept him for who he actually was so that he could return and establish that kingdom.

But of course, the nation as a whole refused to do so. And because of that, their program is temporarily cut off in Acts chapter seven. Now let's go back to Mark's commission again and pick up where we left off. And you want to put a marker here in Mark 16 because we'll probably be flipping back and forth quite a bit. But in verse 17, it goes on to say,

and these signs shall follow them that believe in my name, they shall cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues.

Now do you see how things are just continuing to get more and more complicated here? This verse describes supernatural activities which were clearly manifest by believers in Israel's prophetic program, in the kingdom program and even by Paul for a while in the early years of the dispensation of the grace. But these are not activities which follow them that believe in this present church age. Now, as inappropriate as these instructions and signs may be for believers in this present church age, we're going to see from a number of verses in the Old Testament prophets and from John's visions in the book of Revelation.

We're going to see from these verses things which are relevant to what will be happening during Israel's last days during the tribulation, for which time this particular commission was intended. And it should be clear from the verses that we're going to look at just how Mark 16: 17,18 will be working in the lives of the believing remnant at that time. So verse 17 in Mark's commission speaks of the casting out of devils in Christ's name. Well, this is not very difficult to envision. The followers of Christ were doing this already in association with his first coming, but they will be doing it again in the future during the tribulation.

Verse 17 then goes on to say how they shall speak with new tongues. Well, that also happened at Pentecost after Christ's ascension. And it will be happening again during the tribulation when the little flock of believers will be working according to this commission. This tongues phenomenon will be continuing right on through the entire millennium in order to fulfill this commission of service and evangelism. And all of these things were spoken of by the prophets.

Now I'm going to go through a number of verses here. And the first one is in Zephaniah and verse nine. And it says there,

for then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent

So that kingdom of priests will be capable of speaking in a language that any person from any nation will be able to understand.

Now we have Zechariah, chapter eight, verse 23, Zechariah 8:23.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, in those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him. That is a jew saying, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

So God will be reversing the confusion of languages which began at Babylon back in Genesis, chapter eleven, giving men one pure language to use for the purpose of teaching and preaching to all the nations on the earth.

Well, things become even more outlandish when you get to verse 18, which says

they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.

Well, the sad fact is that there are many professed believers today during this present church age who have died attempting to claim this verse. You see a lot of this, I believe, down in the south where you have this tremendous southern baptist influence, people who don't know how to rightly divide, and you've seen this happen. But the little flock of the future will be able to claim this verse. Deuteronomy chapter 32 speaks prophetically of a number of things that will be occurring during the future tribulation. And I just want to point out a verse there which speaks prophetically about some of these things. And that's going to be Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 24, where it says they, they referring to the people on the earth going through the tribulation.

At that time, they shall be burnt with hunger and devoured with burning heat and with bitter destruction. I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them with the poison of serpents of the dust.

That's Deuteronomy 32:24. And this is from one of Moses' great songs to the nation Israel. The entire chapter 32 is one of Moses' great songs which speaks prophetically about those beasts and poisonous serpents that will be afflicting those people who will be going through the great tribulation. In Revelation chapter six, verse eight. It speaks of these beasts of the earth that will be killing people. But the believing remnant is not going to be harmed by these beasts. In Jeremiah chapter eight and verse 17, it says,

for behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, that's vipers among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.

The little flock of true believers are not going to be affected by all this. Now let's go and actually look at some verses in the book of Revelation. And we'll go to Revelation, chapter nine. And we'll begin there in verse one, which says,

and the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth. And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth. And unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. verse five And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented.

Pretty frightening and devastating events. But the little flock of true believers, they won't be affected by any of this. But getting back to Mark's commission in verse 18, it speaks of drinking things that are deadly. And this immediately brings to mind a verse like we see in Revelation, chapter eight and verse ten. So just flip over a page. Look at chapter eight, verse ten, where it says,

and the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning, as it were a lamp. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers and the fountains of water waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And the third part of the waters became Wormwood. And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.

So during the tribulation, many of the groundwaters will be contaminated to such an extent that anyone who drinks that water will die. But the believing remnant, as we read, will not be harmed by this. God will be giving the believing remnant the ability to endure the judgments which will be going on during the tribulation. But that's still not all that will be going on. Verse 18 in the commission says, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Notice that it doesn't say that the sick might recover. It says they shall recover. There aren't going to be any failures, any healing failures when these promises are claimed during Israel's prophetic program. When that prophetic program resumes. And it's just as James described it in his book in chapter five. And we'll take a look at that. James, chapter five. In verse 14, James asks the question,

is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick. And the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him, for I will restore health unto thee and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord, because they called thee an outcast, saying, this is Zion whom no man seeketh after.

So the further you delve into this commission, the more ludicrous it becomes to think that this commission pertains to believers today in this dispensation of grace. Because, folks, you can't just run with some aspect of a particular commission that may sound good to you or that may possibly have an application. And any dispensation, either the whole commission applies or it doesn't. And you can rely on this particular commission to be completely accurate and applicable to those members of the little flock, the believing remnant, in the future, when Israel's prophetic kingdom program resumes once again, they will be able to claim these verses. And the verses are going to work just fine when they're part of what God will be doing at that time. And as verse 17 in the commission says, these signs shall follow them that believe.

Let's go back to Mark 16 again and kind of finish out the chapter. There's some interesting things to come here. Let's look at verse 19, which says, so then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God. So the Lord Jesus Christ is now ascended up to the right hand of God.

And notice how the chapter ends in verse 20. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. After the Lord's ascension, there is a brief period of time up until Israel's program was temporarily set aside in Acts chapter seven, a brief period of time where some of the things spoken of in this commission did come to pass. Those would be the things in verse 17 which are consistent with what the writer of Hebrews has to say to the little flock of the future when Israel's prophetic kingdom program resumes again after the rapture, do you remember what the writer of Hebrews said?

Remember, Hebrews is the first book of information and instruction which the Jews and Israel's prophetic kingdom program will need when their program resumes again after the rapture. And what did the writer of Hebrews say there in Hebrews chapter two? Let's take a look at it. Hebrews chapter two. And beginning in verse three, it says,

how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first Christ's first coming began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto them that heard him. God, also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will.

All right, these verses are explaining how that some of the signs in Mark's commission were happening for a while, until Israel's kingdom program had to be cut off in Acts chapter seven. But then when Israel's program does resume again, and when that program progresses deeper into the tribulation, the other miraculous interventions in this commission are going to be able to be claimed by the little flock in those days. And there's one more interesting thing I'd like to point out in this commission. You know how that each of the Gospel accounts emphasizes some aspect of Christ's person and work and his mission during his earthly ministry? In Matthew's Gospel account, as we pointed out, it was the emphasis that he was Israel's king.

Well, what's the emphasis of Christ's person and mission in the book of Mark? Mark's account emphasizes Christ's role as God's elect servant. His elect servant, God's servant to and for the nation Israel. And for your notes, you want to put down Isaiah 42:1, and Zechariah 3:8. These are verses which contain those prophetic proclamations, the behold proclamations, and my servants and all those things that are associated with the Gospel accounts.

Now look at this interesting little phrase the Holy Spirit chose to include in verse 20 of Mark 16, the Lord working with them. So even here in this commission, the Holy Spirit is demonstrating Christ's role as Israel's servant, perfectly consistent with Mark's emphasis. Well, that's as far as we're going to go today. And we'll pick up with Luke's commission and the Acts one eight commission next week.