Mark 16:4-20

[snapstur]

@seekHm1st> Folks, if you wish to take a minute right now, you may want to get some bread and some grape juice or something, as we will be sharing Communion this evening.
@seekHm1st> Okay, let's go ahead and get rolling........
@seekHm1st> Welcome to the Weekly Server Meeting and Bible study.
@seekHm1st> Nice to see you all here.
@seekHm1st> For those of you who have stuck it out all the way through Mark with us.....
@seekHm1st> Appreciate it very much.
@seekHm1st> And for those of you who might only be stepping in for tonight.....
@seekHm1st> We appreciate it just the same.
@seekHm1st> There are always riches enough to be mined from the Lord's word.
@seekHm1st> You can read the past logs of our studies at the forums.
Tink> http://forums.christian-chat.net
@seekHm1st> Thanks Tink
@seekHm1st> You may read them courtesy of the diligent efforts of that Snapstur person --->
@seekHm1st> Over there.
@seekHm1st>
@seekHm1st> appreciate it Snapstur
@seekHm1st> She has logged a LOT of hours logging those for us.
Snapstur> .... About 54 hours' worth
@seekHm1st> I also just want to thank all of you for making folks feel welcome when they come on the server.
@seekHm1st> And for being willing to help out new users with helpful hints.
@seekHm1st> Any of you who have been around here for very long know that I am not the fastest typist in the world.
@seekHm1st> And when there are peeps in #help, and others in the #Lobby, it is nice to know that this body of believers keep the needs of other folks in mind.
seekHm1st> So thanks.
@seekHm1st> And when you get the chance, say a prayer for those who are working behind the scenes here on the server to help things run smoothly.
@seekHm1st> if you wish to take a minute right now, you may want to get some bread and some grape juice or something, as we will be sharing Communion this evening.
@seekHm1st> Anything will do, if you are not prepared.
@seekHm1st> We will be using grape juice and wheat thins
@seekHm1st> Okay, let's go ahead and open with prayer
@seekHm1st> Father, we thank You for bringing us together for these studies.
@seekHm1st> We thank You for the riches of wisdom and of the truth of it.
@seekHm1st> Give us hearts that are prepared to take it in Lord
@seekHm1st> And help us to keep it, and to share it with those who need to hear it.
@seekHm1st> Make us instruments that You want to use for Your glory Lord.
@seekHm1st> Give me words to say this evening Father,
@seekHm1st> As we want the teaching to come from You,
@seekHm1st> We ask these things in Jesus' name,
@seekHm1st> Amen
carol> Amen
GentleDove> amen
Jacek> amen.
Tigre_blanc> aMEN
Bethel> amen
froggie> amen
@seekHm1st> Okay.......
@seekHm1st> Last week, we left the scene last week as some ladies were heading toward the tomb in which Jesus' body had been laid.
@seekHm1st> They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
@seekHm1st> Using strictly this text
@seekHm1st> we know that there were at least three women present
@seekHm1st> Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, and Salome
@seekHm1st> These were three grown women
@seekHm1st> And they were likely used to working.
@seekHm1st> But they knew that this stone was too much for them.
@seekHm1st> Only the Book of Mark includes this conversation.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:6 And 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.
@seekHm1st> Remember, there had not been much time for Jesus' body to be properly taken care of before His burial
@seekHm1st> The time for the Passover celebration was close at hand
@seekHm1st> And these women had come to minister to His needs, one last time.
@seekHm1st> Yet here they were..........
@seekHm1st> met by a young man they had not met before, telling them that He had risen!
@seekHm1st> That He was not there!
@seekHm1st> Imagine what they must have felt like.
@seekHm1st> I have tried.
@seekHm1st> I don't know that my imagination, and I have a good one, could do it any justice.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:7 "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.' "
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:8 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.
@seekHm1st> Go and tell His disciples.........
@seekHm1st> .....and Peter.
@seekHm1st> This is not at all what they had expected to find.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:9 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.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:12 After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:13 They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either.
@seekHm1st> There was a lot of disbelief happening here.............
@seekHm1st> "they refused to believe it."
@seekHm1st> " but they did not believe them either."
@seekHm1st> Why do you think that was?
@seekHm1st> feel free to raise your hands like so o/
@seekHm1st> Any thoughts?
@seekHm1st> These folks had seen Jesus perform miracles while they had been with Him.
@seekHm1st> They had walked by His side, listened to Him teach and show His kindnesses to people throughout the Galilee.
@seekHm1st> All over Canaan.
@seekHm1st> He had told them He must be treated cruelly, and that He must die.
@seekHm1st> But He also told them that He would rise again.
@seekHm1st> This had now happened.
@seekHm1st> Why do you think they were having trouble believing this when their close acquaintances or friends were telling them this?
@seekHm1st> Anyone?
@seekHm1st> The trouble lay within the place that it always does.
@seekHm1st> The heart.
@seekHm1st> As we have seen these past couple of months, these men believed Jesus was their Messiah.
@seekHm1st> The "Christ" of God, as Peter said.
@seekHm1st> Or the anointed of God.
@seekHm1st> He certainly was.
@seekHm1st> But what that meant to them had been written another way.
@seekHm1st> They had all believed that He would release them from bondage to Rome.
@seekHm1st> But He had come to release them from another type of bondage altogether.
@seekHm1st> His death had made everything they wanted seem pointless.
@seekHm1st> Their greatest hopes had been raised only to be hammered to pieces on this anvil of cruelty before their eyes.
@seekHm1st> His life had showed so much promise, and it had now come to a tragic end.
@seekHm1st> They were grieving.
@seekHm1st> And their grief had different levels.
@seekHm1st> They were mourning not only the cruel loss of their friend, for He had declared them to be His own.
@seekHm1st> But for themselves and for their own expectations.
@seekHm1st> Which they now believed to be entirely lost to them.
@seekHm1st> They couldn't see past that.
@seekHm1st> I'm sure I couldn't have either.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:14 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.
@seekHm1st> There it is.
@seekHm1st> Why did they not believe?
@seekHm1st> Anyone?
Tigre_blanc> o/
@seekHm1st> Tigre_blanc?
Tigre_blanc> because of their unbelief and the hardness of their hearts
@seekHm1st> Yes.
@seekHm1st> Pretty plain isn't it?
Tigre_blanc> yep
@seekHm1st> And it is no different today.
@seekHm1st> Yet here He was, giving them the miracle of His appearance to them "bodily".
@seekHm1st> Now they believed.
@seekHm1st> The pointlessness of His death was all changed by His resurrection.
@seekHm1st> They began to see.
@seekHm1st> Things started to fall into place.
@seekHm1st> And His death began to make sense to them.
@seekHm1st> Do you think they were happy?
@seekHm1st> I think they were so overwhelmed with happiness that they didn't know what to do.
@seekHm1st> So.....
@seekHm1st> He told them what to do.
@seekHm1st> Just as He tells us.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:17 "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
@seekHm1st> Mar 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.
@seekHm1st> Okay.......
@seekHm1st> With just a little time left, let's go ahead and share in the Lord's Supper.
@seekHm1st> We are doing this specifically because the Lord told us to do it in remembrance of Him.
@seekHm1st> And because of this event that we have just finished reading through.
@seekHm1st> Paul stated that if Christ had not risen, that we believe in vain.
@seekHm1st> So true.
@seekHm1st> If He had not risen, how would we be able to know that our sins are forgiven?
@seekHm1st> His sacrifice was willingly given
@seekHm1st> For us.
@seekHm1st> It is interesting to me that there is a comedian these days, who has a new movie out.
@seekHm1st> It is all about religion from his perspective.
@seekHm1st> I heard him remark the other day that you can't call yourself a sane person, and then say every so often that you drink the blood of a two-thousand year old dead guy.
@seekHm1st> I am paraphrasing, as I don't remember the exact wording.
@seekHm1st> But that is fairly close.
@seekHm1st> Well, we do drink the blood of a man who died two-thousand years ago.
@seekHm1st> Symbolically.
@seekHm1st> We do it to remember that even though we are sinners.....
@seekHm1st> in that we have all told lies,
@seekHm1st> we have all wished for things that do not belong to us in one form or another,
@seekHm1st> we have all blasphemed His precious name,
@seekHm1st> we have all been hateful in anger..
@seekHm1st> the list goes on..............
@seekHm1st> even though we have all done these things.......
@seekHm1st> He let His blood be shed for us.
@seekHm1st> Go ahead and take the cup.
@seekHm1st> We do remember Lord
@seekHm1st> And we thank You for what You did for us.
@seekHm1st> And we know that one drop of Your perfect, precious blood is more than enough for our sins.
@seekHm1st> Let's partake......
@seekHm1st> Okay........
@seekHm1st> The bread signifies His broken body.
@seekHm1st> He did that for us too.
@seekHm1st> The beating, the flailing,
@seekHm1st> Really?
@seekHm1st> Can I remember it all without reading it all?
@seekHm1st> The crown of thorns.
@seekHm1st> Carrying His cross
@seekHm1st> The nails that pierced His hands and His feet?
@seekHm1st> For us.
@seekHm1st> Father, we remember that all this was done because You loved us so much.
@seekHm1st> Make us thankful, and never forgetful.
@seekHm1st> Each and every day Father,
@seekHm1st> We take this bread,
@seekHm1st> And remember Your sacrifice,
@seekHm1st> And that of Your Son
@seekHm1st> Let's partake........
@seekHm1st> Let's go ahead and close in prayer.
@seekHm1st> Father, we thank You for who You are.
@seekHm1st> And that while we are so undeserving of forgiveness, and that at times we feel worthless,
@seekHm1st> that we can remember to what length You went to, to give us Your mercy, and Your amazing grace
@seekHm1st> We thank You for coming to Earth
@seekHm1st> We thank You for going to the cross
@seekHm1st> For us.
@seekHm1st> We thank You Lord that You rose again
@seekHm1st> For us.
@seekHm1st> And for Your glory
@seekHm1st> We praise Your holy name,
@seekHm1st> Amen
Tigre_blanc> Amen
carol> Amen
Snapstur> Amen
@seekHm1st> Thank you all for coming folks.
froggie> amen
Dirk_> Amen
GentleDove> amen
@seekHm1st> God bless