Mark 16:18

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.

A still later revelation of Christ toward the end of the forty days. The evangelist is so brief in contracting his account that it is difficult to fix the exact time for every act and every word. It may also be assumed, without question, that the Lord spoke many more things to His disciples at the various appearances, of which we know nothing. In this case, He appeared while they were reclining, probably at a meal. At that time He spoke to them in a very serious manner, rebuking and chiding them very earnestly on account of their refusal to believe, which resulted from the hardness of their heart, when the message of His resurrection had been brought to them by such as had actually seen Him after He had risen. For all these accounts of credible witnesses, coming after the thorough instruction which He had given them on their private excursions, should have filled them with the most confident faith as to the fact of His resurrection. And here they had been hidden away in mortal fear of their lives, showing about as much trust in the almighty Lord as the average Christian when he is attacked by the unbelievers and seems in danger of persecution. "There was a faith and yet no faith; for they did not yet believe all, though they believed that God made heaven and earth and was the Creator of all. Therefore faith is a thing which always grows. The apostles, then, were not altogether without faith, for they had a piece of faith. It is with faith as with a person that has been sick and is on the way to recovery. Therefore the Lord states wherein they did not believe and what they still lacked; for that was the matter that they did not believe Christ's resurrection from the dead. Though they believed the other, yet this thing they lacked. For I presume they believed also that they had a gracious God; but that was not enough, since it was necessary also to believe the resurrection of Christ from the dead. For this reason the Lord chides them for their unbelief, rebukes them and says: Though they had seen everything, yet they did not believe, since this article of the resurrection was missing."

Still He gave them His great commission. Going out into all the world, they should preach the Gospel to every creature. It is a most comprehensive command, it knows no limit. The Gospel, the message of salvation through the meritorious work, through the bitter suffering of Jesus, the Savior of the whole world is the only proclamation that has any' authority and right in Christian pulpits. All other topics are outside of the pale. Every sermon must serve in building the Church of Jesus Christ. For the test is faith in that Gospel and in nothing else. There may be ever so many creeds and cults in the world today, with philosophical systems and schemes for the social amelioration of mankind. Many of these may even have their value for effecting more wholesome conditions and improving the tone of a community. But they all are trash and worse than trash when it comes to the critical question: What must I do to be saved? For this there is only one answer: He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. Faith in Jesus Christ through the medium of the Gospel and a further confirming and accepting of the great benefits of Christ's salvation through the water of salvation, through Baptism, that is the only way to become sure of heaven and its bliss. The former is conceded by most people that profess adherence to the Bible and its truths, but the latter fact, salvation through the Sacrament of Baptism, is denied by many upon so-called reasonable grounds. "But there thou seest no work of men; for Baptism is not mine, but God's work. For he that baptizes me stands there in the stead of God, and does not perform a human work, but it is God's hand and work. Therefore I may and shall say thus: God, my Lord, has baptized me Himself by 'the hand of a man; of this I may boast and may depend upon it and say: God, who will not and cannot lie, has given me that sign, that I may be certain of His grace and that He wants to save me, having given me all that He has, through His Son. Thus there is on our side nothing but faith, and on His side only the Word and the sign. " Through this faith and in this Sacrament God actually gives salvation, assures us of the certainty of the heritage of heaven which is reserved for us. "That is indeed pleasant, friendly, consoling preaching, and is fitly called Gospel. For here hearest thou with one word: He shall be saved, heaven opened, hell closed, the Law and the sentence of God annulled, sin and death buried, and life and salvation placed into the bosom of the whole world, if they would but believe it. O that everyone could learn well but these two words 'believe' and 'be saved'! For though they are short and have few letters, yet they are such preaching and power as the world cannot comprehend, that such excellent grace and unspeakable treasure is given through preaching, altogether without our merit, for which we have done nothing, yea, knew nothing thereof. " But the other side of the question cannot be passed over in silence, for Christ's words are very impressive. Where there is no faith in the salvation of Jesus, damnation is sure to follow. "As the former sentence in one word opens heaven, closes hell, annuls Moses and the terrors of the Law for all that believe: so this part is a strong sentence and in turn with one word closes heaven, opens hell wide, makes Moses with his Law an unendurable tyrant and the devil a mighty lord to all that do not believe. Nothing will help against it; though thou shouldest be zealous to death for the Law, as the Jews were or Paul before his conversion; though thou become a monk or a nun; though thou permit thyself to be tortured and burned, yet shall the verdict be: If thou believest not in Christ, thou must go into the fire of hell, be eternally damned, and death will be an eternal, almighty dungeon over thee."

It was a responsible commission which the Lord entrusted to His disciples. And therefore He cheers and strengthens them by the assurance of special signs, miracles, or powers, with which He will accompany their work: In His name to cast out devils; to speak with new, that is, unknown languages; to pick up serpents without danger to themselves; to drink poison which might be offered to them to kill them, with no evil effects; to lay their hands upon invalids of all kinds and restore them to health. All these miraculous things actually did take place in the history of the Church. During the early days it was especially necessary that the power of God in the apostles and all Christians be evidenced in such a manner; but the power of God is just as mighty today as ever, and there are thousands of miracles being done in His name wherever the Gospel is being proclaimed. "Thus even in our days and always such great signs and wonders upon wonders are being performed in this, that any city or any small body or assembly of Christians still remains in true knowledge of God and in faith; since there are more than a hundred thousand devils directed against her, and the world is full of sects and scoundrels and tyrants; yet the Gospel, Baptism, Eucharist, confession of Christ is retained without their thanks, to make it evident that for the heathen He must have given external signs which people could see before their eyes and grasp them. But the Christians must have much higher heavenly signs than those earthly ones. Therefore we should indeed praise and glorify the great and glorious, wonderful deeds which Christ does daily in Christendom, that they conquer the devil's might and power and tear so many souls out of the mouth of death and hell. Where a heart, therefore, in spite of the terror of death and sin and hell, cheerfully dies in the faith in Christ, there he is truly cast out of his seat and dwelling, and his power and kingdom is weakened and taken from him. " The warning which Luther adds in one of his sermons on this text concerning false miracles and such as are done without God's sanction, often with the aid of powers which have nothing in common with Him, is very timely even today. Even if it were possible for a person to perform deeds that had all the external marks of true miracles, the promise and command of God is not there. The Gospel and the Sacraments are the means by which the Christian Church is to carry forward the work of the Savior till the end of time.