Mark 16:16-20
Mark 16:16 (KJB)
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned.
When a person come to belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and that belief is not
just giving mental assent but it is the total commitment of the believer. A
person not only believes but is also baptized shall be saved. The Lord gave two
ordinances for the church to do, one is the Lord’s Supper and the other is water
baptism. Water Baptism is not necessary for salvation because it is only an
outward sign of what has already taken place internally because of salvation.
(Eph 4:5 KJV) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, The baptism in view is
being baptized into the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:8 KJV) I indeed have baptized
you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. John’s
baptism was one of repentance but when a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit,
they are indwelled by Him for eternity and only those who are truly saved will
have the Holy Spirit. Those who do not believe will be eternally damned.
(John 3:18 KJV) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
Mark 16:17 (KJB)
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out
devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Then Jesus gave some signs which will follow the ministry of the true believers.
It was to confirm the ministry in the early church. The first sign was that
devils will be cast out of those who were possessed. (Acts 16:18 KJV) And
this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit,
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out
the same hour. Then the second sign is that they will speak with new
tongues. (Acts 2:7-8 KJV) And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one
to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? {8} And how hear
we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Since the gift of
tongues had ceased, the new tongues that are spoken are the praises of God.
(Isa 42:10 KJV) Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of
the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and
the inhabitants thereof. When once our mouths spoke evil, they now speak
the new song of the Gospel and the praises of God. In modern times, devils shall
be cast out of people when a person becomes saved because the Holy Spirit will
indwell the believer and that means the devil has to go.
Mark 16:18 (KJB)
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.
Three other signs are given in this verse. The first is that one will be able to
handle serpents and not be poisoned by them. (Acts 28:3-5 KJV) And when Paul
had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper
out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. {4} And when the barbarians saw the
venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man
is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not
to live. {5} And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
This is not giving license to handle poisonous snakes because if you get bit by
one you will die from that bite. What is in view here is that God will protect
His people even from the bite of a poisonous snake as He did with the Apostle
Paul, if it is His will. It was a miraculous event and church history does
record others who were in the same situation and did not die. The spiritual
meaning is that a Christian will not be affected nor hurt by Satan who is also
called the serpent. He was defeated by Christ and those that are in Christ are
also victorious over him. (Rev 12:9 KJV) And the great dragon was cast out,
that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:
he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
The next sign is that if one will drink something deadly, it will not hurt them.
This is not a license to drink poison and expect God to negate the consequences.
If one does that, they are in essence tempting the Lord God. (Mat 4:7 KJV)
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
If someone accidentally drinks some poison and if it is God’s will they do not
die, then they will not die at that point. It also has a spiritual meaning that
if we are given a false Gospel which is deadly, it will not hurt us. (2 Cor
13:8 KJV) For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. Truth
can never be hurt by the false because truth is a constant state whereas falsity
is always changing.
The last sign is that we lay hands on the sick and they will recover. This was
done in the early church by Jesus and the apostles which confirmed their
ministry was from God. (Acts 19:11-12 KJV) And God wrought special miracles
by the hands of Paul: {12} So that from his body were brought unto the sick
handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil
spirits went out of them.
Today we do not lay hands on the sick and see them recover. Some will recover
from sickness by the means of our prayers matching God’s will for their life.
When it talks about laying hands on, it is speaking of the giving of the Gospel
to those who are spiritually weak or dead and they will revive in their spirits.
(Acts 8:18 KJV) And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles'
hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Laying on of hands
is symbolic of giving the Gospel.
Mark 16:19 (KJB)
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and
sat on the right hand of God.
Once the Lord had finished speaking to them on the Mount of Olives. He was then
taken up and received into Heaven as He ascended to sit on the right hand of God
the Father which He had told His disciples that He was going to do. (Acts
1:8 KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The disciples were to
wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of God which was the Holy
Spirit who would empower their ministries.
Mark 16:20 (KJB)
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
After they had received the Holy Spirit, they were now empowered to begin to
fulfill the Great Commission and they went and preaching the Gospel wherever
they went. The Lord had also confirmed their ministries by working miracles in
concert with the preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel of Mark being a completed
book is still being acted out today with the Gospel going to every part of the
world and will until the last day.
The word “Amen” is very familiar to the Christian because we end our prayers
with it. The word means ”truly, surely, so let it be, indeed.” It is also at the
end of all four gospels which means God is giving each Gospel His commendation
that each one is truth. The word in the Greek for Amen is also used many times
in the Gospels as “verily.” (John 3:3 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. We understand “verily” to mean “in truth, in fact, or
certainty.” It is also a word of affirmation. So the word “amen” at the end of
the Gospel of Mark is also an important word because it is stating that the
Gospel of Mark is ending at verse 20 and the contents of it are true, fact, and
of a certainty.