The Lord working with them

Mark 16:20

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Mark recounts for us the glorious story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The women had found the tomb empty, and were distraught concerning where their Lord may have been laid. The angel told them not to be afraid but to tell His disciples that He would meet them in Galilee. They ran to tell the men, who were first incredulous until they saw the Savior with their own eyes. They lived in unbelief until, after seeing the Lord several times after His resurrection, they became convinced beyond all doubt. Jesus then, knowing that they would be committed to His cause, gave the eleven a commission that they would take to their dying breath. No mountain would be steep enough, no river would be turbulent enough, and no culture would be savage enough for the disciples not to take this Gospel to the ends of the earth. They would go to Asia, to Ethiopia, to India, to the far corners of the known world with this commission. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature! This was the commission, and they would embark on the fulfillment of it as soon as Christ ascended.

The Lord Jesus further explained to them that He would give immediate signs for their ministry. These signs did not function as perpetual signs for all the history of the church, but for the ministry into which the apostles themselves would plunge. The Lord would approve and authenticate their ministry in the eyes of the world by the signs that would follow in those that believed their message. They would do such things as speak with tongues, prophecy, drink deadly things, pick up serpents, etc. And this would be mostly confined to the apostle’s ministry. But the greatest sign is none of these! The most wondrous phenomenon would not be the immediate signs that would awe people. The greatest sign of their ministry was within! What would keep them going? What would bring them to the edge of the known world, and would bring them before kings, who would martyr them in almost a dozen different ways? It was that they knew that the Lord was working with them! Therefore they preached every where! They obeyed His commission! They did all His bidding, because of the one promise that He gave them—that He would be with them unto the end of the world.

The Lord working with them! Is there any greater promise than this? How will we keep serving the Lord every day? How will we continue to preach the gospel to the lost? How will we not give up in the ministry of our Lord? How will we indeed accomplish anything for God? And how will we be tireless and unfaltering and unwavering in the work of the Lord? How will be always abound in the work of the Lord? May I suggest that this one truth will go with us in every endeavor and in every attempt?And it will keep us going—that the Lord works with us! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! He works with us as we work! Dear friend, never think yourself alone again, for the Lord has promised He would be with you. And if we are in His will, obeying His command, and performing His commission, He will certainly work with us. Take comfort today!

“Lord, we praise you wholeheartedly that you are always with us. And you work with us and on our behalf. We know we are not alone, and that we are not working without help, aid, or guide. You are there with us, accomplishing all of the work that we cannot accomplish. We are only vessels. May we be willing vessels for Thee. And may you work with each of us to bring to pass and fruition your blessed and holy will for each of our lives. And we shall praise Thee for it. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”