[Salvation]

Isn't Christ speaking only to the apostles?

Mark 16

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1	And when the sabbath was past, Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salo'me, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

2	And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen.

3	And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?"

4	And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; -- it was very large.
5	And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed.

6	And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him.

7	But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."

8	And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.

9	Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

10	She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

11	But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

12	After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.

13	And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

14	Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.

15	And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

16	He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

17	And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

18	they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

19	So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

20	And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.

[Nifster]

That certainly has always been my understanding of these words. My point initially was that Mark 16 has from the earliest consistently had these words (the story of Him speaking to the eleven).

[Iscool]

Isn't Christ speaking only to the apostles?

Nope...

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 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.

As much as people can't stand it, it is one of the things that believers will exhibit as a 'sign' to unbelievers...

Do we exhibit these signs??? Nope...

Instead of trying to discredit the Gospels, seems folks would try to search out (in the scriptures) why we don't exhibit theses signs and are not protected from drinking poison...

But no, lets all slam the Holy words of God because we don't want to believe what he says...

[Cronos]

well, technically yes and no, this was addressed to the Apostles but it says "these signs will accompany those who believe... they will pick up serpents"

That doesn't mean that only Apostles picked up serpents.

however, at the same time it doesn't say the serpents won't bite them or what they do with the serpents or indeed if this is a must or should be done in the future