Perry, I appreciate you bringing up a specific consideration about this passage. I'm rather surprised by your line of reasoning.
The antecedent of "HE" is "all creatures," not "exclusively the apostles." Let's examine a more full context for this passage. Mark 16:14-20 (14) Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. (15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (17) And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) 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. (19) So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. (20) And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. In verse 14, we can see readily that Jesus was speaking to the eleven apostles, but in verse 16 Jesus was speaking about those to whom they would be preaching. Verse 15 says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY CREATURE. HE THAT BELIEVETH AND IS BAPTIZED SHALL BE SAVED..." and then it goes on to explain what signs would follow them that believe. My objections to your suggestion are several: 1. It takes a great amount of unnecessary twisting of the reading to try and make the "He" of vs. 16 refer to the eleven rather than to every creature to whom they preached. 2. One would then have to conclude that the promise of salvation through believing and baptism applies only to the eleven, and that the concept of damnation through not believing applied only to the eleven also. Do you think any of the eleven were damned for not believing? 3. The only way I could possibly view the signs as referring to the eleven is if Jesus said, "And these signs shall follow them that PREACH." He did not say that. The text says that these signs shall follow them that BELIEVE. Furthermore, other passages of Scripture show that this is what happened, that signs followed others besides the eleven apostles (men like Stephen, Philip, Ananias, and also other apostles like Paul and Barnabas, and also church elders such as those mentioned in James 5:14-15), and that such signs are indicated as being expressed throughout the church in passages like 1 Cor. 12, Gal. 3:5, etc. I'll wait for your response before saying anything more at this time. Peace be with you. David Miller. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Perry Locke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 5:00 PM Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Who decides David, Regarding your item 2, we might also conclude that Jesus was speaking specifically to the apostles, and that this does not apply to all believers. The key is to identify the antecedent of "He" in verse 16, which I believe to exclusively be the apostles. Perry David wrote: 2. Mark 16:16-20 (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (17) And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) 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. (19) So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. (20) And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. How many Christians have believed and been baptized but have not seen any of these signs follow them? Again, we either have to conclude that the concept of faith as taught by Jesus is something greater than the popular concept of it, or that Jesus was bearing false testimony here, or perhaps that this passage only applies to the immediate believers to whom he spoke. I take the position that faith is something more than what most people think faith is. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
