 Alright, I think I mentioned to you, let's open our Bibles, if not Matthew's, rather Mark chapter 16. We're going to be looking at verses 12 and 13 and I'll be sharing also out of Luke because Luke chapter 24 gives us more of a full detailed account of what we're looking at here in the Gospel of Mark. And so I'll read to you out of Mark chapter 16 verses 12 and 13. I'll share a few things. I'm going to give you an introduction and then we'll pick up our study. And so beginning at verse 12, Mark 16 verses 12 and 13, Mark writes after that, he appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Now what I'm planning to do, and I'll share this with you up front here at the beginning of our study, is we're almost at the conclusion of the Gospel of Mark. We're here in chapter 16. And obviously it wouldn't take an awful lot of time for us to pick up the verses and to go through it. And I could conclude this in really one more study, but we're not going to do that. And I'll tell you why. It's because I want to give you a more thorough account of the things that took place after Jesus had been resurrected. So I'm going to share with you excerpts from other portions of Scripture. So that way you get a more full account. I'm actually going to conclude our study of Mark by looking at a couple of chapters in the beginning of the book of Acts. So that's what I'm going to be doing. And so I'm taking my time because I want to lay as much information on you as I can. And it requires me to not only look at these two verses, but to take you to Luke, which we'll do. And then we're going to be looking in John and other portions as we move to conclude our study here in the Gospel of Mark. And so it's probably going to take us another four to five weeks at least until I finally satisfied that I gave you enough information concerning the things that are transpiring here in the last chapter and last verses. So with that said, we'll begin with a brief recap just to bring you up to speed and all these are things you're familiar with. We've already looked through and some of these things perhaps I haven't shared with you yet in much detail. So we're going to begin with a recap. Now I mentioned to you that many think that Jesus resurrected and was immediately taken into heaven, immediately ascended. But the fact is that he actually remained on earth for over a month after his resurrection and he continued his ministry. You see, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to people on several occasions. For example, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene in John 20. He then appeared to Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, Matthew 28. He appeared to the apostle Peter in Luke 24. He appeared to the 10 in the upper room. He appeared to the 11 a week later. He appeared to seven of the apostles at the Sea of Galilee. He appeared to the 11 on a mountain in Galilee. He went on to appear before 500 eyewitnesses. That's recorded in 1 Corinthians 15. He appeared to James, most likely the brother of the Lord Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15. And he also appeared at his ascension on the Mount of Olives. So there were a number of times that Jesus actually was seen by people. Sometimes we think that he was resurrected and just immediately ascended. But he stayed and remained for some time. His ministry didn't stop when he died and was resurrected. He continued his teaching ministry to his disciples because they had many questions. And Luke says that in Acts chapter 1 verse 3 where it says, He also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So there was a lot of confusion as you could imagine that needed to be cleared up amongst his followers. There was also unfinished business that he had with his apostles, especially the apostle Peter. And all of that's going to take some time. So Jesus remains and he ministered for 40 days, for over a month. And when he finished his ministry on earth, he then ascended into heaven. Acts 1 verse 9 says, when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up in a cloud, received him out of their sight. And so Mark's gospel does not include all of his appearances after the resurrection. And so when you look at it, and as we have, notice verse 9 here in chapter 16, how it says, When he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. And so Jesus first appears to her. Now John told us that Mary had gone to the tomb and she saw that the stone had been rolled away. And she went to tell Simon Peter as well as the apostle John. And they ran to the tomb. We looked at that, how John arrived at the tomb before Peter. And at first John stooped, he looked in, he saw the linen cloth, but he stayed outside. Peter arrived and went into the tomb and he saw the same thing that John had seen. You see, John had looked in, he had believed, but Peter left marveling at what had happened. When they left, Mary stood at the tomb weeping, and that's when Jesus appeared to her. She was confused at first as we've seen. She thought he was the gardener that worked for Joseph of Arimathea. I mentioned to you that it was early. It was a time where she was in emotional distress. She was confused and blinded by her tears. It's understandable that she didn't recognize him, but I also mentioned that there was even a greater reason she didn't recognize him. She came in a state of unbelief she didn't expect to see him alive. She had come to the tomb with expectation she was expecting to find a dead body. We saw that, how that the angels had spoken to her and asked her, why are you weeping? And she said they've taken away my Lord and I don't know where they've laid him. And it was at that time that Jesus spoke to her. He first asked her, he said to her, woman, why are you weeping? And in tears she had answered. She said, sir, if you've taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, I will take him away. And now instead of calling her woman, Jesus called her by her name. And you can almost hear the tenderness in his voice as he spoke to her. He said, Mary. And she recognized the voice of her shepherd. And she said, Roboni, which is my dear master upon hearing her voice, his voice rather her fear and her pain disappeared. And John records how she clung to him tightly. She was afraid of losing him again. And he told her to release him because he still had work to do. But she also had work that she was to do because he told her, go to my brethren, tell them what you have seen. You have marching orders. You're to go and you're to talk. The first service, I shared some things that aren't in my notes and I said to them in a teasing way, I probably won't share that in the second service, but here we go. If there's anything, and let me first, some of you don't know who I am at all and that's okay. You're really missing out on a lot. No. I'm teasing. But you know, as a Christian, I've been a Christian for 52 years. I've been pastoring this church for almost 42 years. I've been teaching the Word of God for 49 years. I'm just saying that so that you know. Yeah. Thank you so much. How much did John pay you to clap? I do appreciate that. And I'm encouraged by that. And so let me say that first and foremost, because some of you, you know, you look and just say, who's that guy? Well, I'm a pastor. I've been ministering for a long time. Taught the Word of God since September of 1973. So I've been in the Word for a long time. And I usually restrain some of the things that I have to say because I want to make sure that I'm giving to you what the passage says and that's what teachers are supposed to do. But as I was looking at this passage this morning, refreshing my mind just before I came out for first service, I thought about what Jesus had done. He had said, go and tell my brother. And so I was beginning to think about that in the first service and I shared some things because I believe that the church, the body of Christ, we who are believers in Jesus, we who love Him, we who believe that He died, was buried, that He rose the third day, that He ascended to heaven, we who believe that He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within the church and that He gave us a commission to go out and to preach the gospel to every creature. We believe that. And the heart of Christianity has always been to be faithful witnesses, to go out to share, to tell people this is the truth, this is what God has said. And we're living in a time, I think, that because there is so much negative backlash that there are some who are getting a little bit gun-shy, if you will, there are words that are being forbidden. You can't use this word. You can't use that word and all. And people are being brainwashed every day by nonsense. And so I was sharing some things from my heart. I'm going to share with you a little bit of that today as we go into it because I was looking at how Jesus said, go and tell. Now he said, go tell my brother. But he said, go and tell. Be a witness. Be a witness of what I've done. Tell them that you spoke to me. Tell them that Jesus is saying that I rose from them. Tell them. Don't keep it to yourself, even if they don't believe you. We're being told as people of God to shut up. We are. We know that. We're being told, shut up. You can have your religion. Keep it to yourself. Keep it to yourself. Well, every day the world progresses in taking the minds of our children, taking the minds of people while the church is afraid of just speaking the truth in love. And so we're living in a moment that I think is a very important moment. And that is we are being told that we can choose to be what we are. That there are 100, 200, 300, whatever, different ways or variables. And that's not just a man and a woman, but that men can get pregnant. And it's just kind of like, well, it's delusional. It's what it is. It's demonic for sure. At the heart of that is demonic. That's just what it is. It's undermining the teaching of the word of God, where he created Adam and Eve, and they had a commission and all of that that we are familiar with as Bible readers. But that's what's taking place right now. And one of the fastest-rising movements is to try and convince Americans in doing a very good job of it that you choose your gender. And that's greatly distressing. And we need to be those who speak and share the truth with people. Years ago, when there was big controversy going on, I stood behind this platform here, on this platform behind the pulpit like this, and I had said, I said this, I said, you know, I can tell you that I'm a six-foot-five-inch blonde blue-eyed swede. They're good. You can laugh, thank you. Because that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to be looking at me saying, you're crazy, or there's something wrong with you. Where did you get that idea, right? But now I legally can do that, and you have to believe me. You have to believe me. How dare you be such a bigot? How dare you? And you've been brainwashed. You've been told that. I don't think you have, but the world has. And maybe some have. I don't know whether you believe that or not. But I've said that, and I was making a point, and it was ingest, but now that's real. So we have some kid. Now, I don't drink. I haven't had a beer or anything for as long as I can remember. But I'll tell you this. We have some guy who is celebrating, he says, his first year of womanhood. And he's a guy, and he's got some beer can. You know that. Anyway, that's what you can do with the cans, not him. And then the CEO of the particular brewery organization writes his, or her, his, I believe, his statement related to it. And everybody's supposed to still go by his brew, and this and that. And I just think it's crazy. I think it is. It's delusional. And I think the church has to say, no, you're not going to tell my kids that a woman is anything other than a woman. God created Adam. He created Eve. And that's what it is. So when you have, here we go. So when you have a man competing in races, swimming races or fighting in MMA, beating up and almost hospitalizing women, what happened to the way we think? What happened when you think some man, six foot plus is a woman swimmer, and he hasn't had any transitions done at all. And there he is undressing in front of women in locker rooms, or we're being told that you have to have bathrooms that men and women can use. We're talking about crazy. We're living in crazy land. And when you have a Supreme Court justice who cannot define what a woman, you're living in crazy land. That's a fact. Now, I'm not mocking people who have delusions. I'm not. The enemy has blinded the eyes and they cannot see. I'm not angry at them, but I'm certainly not going to be quiet about it either. We have to speak up. There's something wrong here. We have to. We have to. Oh, you're going to hurt the feelings. Guess what? I'm an old man. I've had my feelings hurt a lot over the years. A lot. After church, a lot of times. So I just hit them. No, after church. It's just a fact. We cannot be living in some kind of bubble. We're afraid to offend. Guess what? I love you enough to tell you the truth. I don't think anybody here is going to have a problem with that. Maybe so. Let me say it. I'm telling you the truth. Listen, a man and a woman, God created so that they could populate. God calls marriage a holy thing. Because He intends us to take His faith in parting it to our children. So it's a holy, sacred relationship created by God Himself. So some man says, I'm going to celebrate. Some man says, I'm going to celebrate 365 days of being a woman and they put them on a beer can. I wonder why women aren't insulted by that. Are you? No, we can't say anything. My goodness, no, we'll hurt His feelings. So they've lost like five billion dollars in sales and that's good. Can't do it. You can't force me to do that. You can't do that. Listen, if you have a man and a woman and you were to place them on an island that they could live off of the produce that is naturally there, you leave them and you abandon them on a good-sized island and a hundred years later, people find that island, they're going to find a lot of people. It's going to be populated over a hundred years. You're going to find a lot of people there. That's what's going to happen because a man and a woman of the age where they can reproduce, that's what you're going to find. But if you put a man and a transgender, a man who thinks he's a woman, those people on the same island in a hundred years you come back, you're going to find skeletons of two men. That's what you're going to find. That's what you're going to find. Why don't we realize that? When a woman decides to take hormones and grow a beard, that doesn't make her a man. I had a nun that had a better mustache than I had. It's a fat. That was at Our Lady of Perpetual Motion when I used to go to... Am I angry? No. Of course not. But what is it that the Lord said? Go and tell them. What are we doing? Nothing. Nothing. Listen, they're going after our children. They're going after our grandchildren. That's a fact. When you have a man with a beard wearing a dress in entertaining children and doing nasty dancing and mothers are bringing their one and two year old children to watch this, God help us. The nations of the world are looking at the United States and they're mocking us because we have... We had, and I'll stop, but one more thing, because it's worth saying, we had three... I call them babies, they were nine years old. Three nine-year-old babies who went to Christian school just to go to school. Mama and daddy dropped them off and ended up with three dead babies because some woman who thinks she's a man decided to take out whatever she had, her anger on them, left a manifesto. She told everybody why she did it and the press will not publish it. Why is that? Why is that? It's a manifesto. It's out. Why is it that? Listen, if it was a Christian who did that, you better believe that manifesto would have been printed and they'd be pointing fingers at Christians. Look at the way you do. Look at how you are. They would be doing that. That's a fact. You know that and I do too. Because Republicans and I, you know, Republican, independent Democrat, you know, I'm not making a case for either, but I'm telling you what we're seeing right now and you see it too. And three people in their 60s who were there caring for the kids, loving those children, they got killed too. And what are they saying? There were six deaths at this Christian school and they're saying there were seven deaths. Don't forget. No, wait a minute. When did we celebrate the person who kills children? When did we? Well, we started celebrating them when we said abortion is okay. That's when we started. That's when we started. I told this church and many of you weren't here, but I told this church many years ago when there was a mass shooting I said to the church and it was out of school and I had said, you would think that a classroom is the safest place for a child, wouldn't you? And our church at that time said yes in Columbine, when that happened and my church nodded their head and he said yes. I said you would think that a classroom is the safest place for a child, wouldn't you? And my church all just, yes, I said that's where you're wrong. The safest place for a child is in the womb and when you take the life of a child in the womb, you will take a life of the child in the classroom. We have stopped valuing life, wake up. They're killing our children and they think it's okay. And it's not. And it's not. And so this is what we're living in. So, yeah, that's not in the passage. They said, will you get back to the passage? I will. But go and tell. Open your mouths. Be free to speak. They have been lying to you. Tell them the truth. Don't just be there at the water cooler at work where they're saying, well, I believe in all this and those Christians and you're just slipping your water and you walk back. Don't do that. Tell them. You have every right to tell them the truth. Every right to tell them. You know? When I got saved, nobody told me I couldn't talk. As far as I know, I have first minute rights and I didn't give them up when I got saved. I exercise them because I have freedom of speech and freedom of the practice of religion. I have that freedom and so do you. And we as a church need to be aware of it. Am I saying be pugnacious? No. Am I saying start fights? No, of course not. Just be willing to talk. Just be willing to say with all due respect I don't agree with that. And let me tell you why. And the way you'll be able to do that, we'll see this in a minute. I'm getting ahead of my notes is by knowing the word. By knowing the word. And so let's get back to the Bible study. That was an aside that I felt necessary to share. And I'm not afraid of people. People walk out and that's okay if they want to. But may the Spirit of Lord convict them. Go and tell my brother and tell them what you've seen. And in John 2018 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples what she had seen. That she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. So she became the first to see the risen Lord and to testify of his resurrection. The woman who was delivered of seven was the first to declare his victory. It says in verse 10 here in chapter 16 she went and told those who had been with him as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her they did not believe it was too good to be true. So they refused to listen to what was said. You see to them in the midst of their grief this all seemed like nonsense. But that's what's taking place. And so in verse 12 it says and that was your intro. After that he appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country and they went and told it to the rest but they did not believe them either. And so this particular portion, these two verses actually we have more information I'm going to ask you now to turn to Luke chapter 24 and I want to show you some things there and build this for you. Luke chapter 24 the details are found in Luke chapter 24 beginning at verse 13 all the way to verse 35. But let me read to you beginning in Luke chapter 24 at verse 13 in Luke 24 verse 13 it says behold two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus which was seven miles from Jerusalem and they talked together of all these things which had happened so it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them but their eyes were restrained so that they did not know him and he said to them what kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad? Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him are you the only stranger in Jerusalem and have you not known the things which happened there in these days? And he said to them what things? So they said to him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet mighty indeed in word before God and all the people and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him but we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel indeed besides all this today is the third day since these things happened yes in certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us when they did not find his body they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels he was alive and certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women said but him they did not see so Luke begins to give us more information of this conversation between Jesus and two who are traveling and these two as it says are traveling to a village called Emmaus and it's told we're told that the Emmaus was close to Jerusalem around seven miles away in verse 14 they were talking together of all the things that had happened to them as they're walking they're talking about the recent events and so as they're conversing verse 15 and reasoning Jesus draws near them so it says they were conversing and reasoning they were talking about the possibility of Jesus being messiah when it says reasoned when they were reasoning that word reason means to dispute or to investigate together it speaks of discussing in a deep way that's what they were doing they were responding to it so they were reasoning with one another about what had happened so as this is taking place Jesus himself drew near and he went with them they didn't have the information at that time that they needed to be able to understand what had happened and so while they're disputing and asking questions the answer to their questions came and joined himself to them Jesus joins their conversation and they don't even realize it now why would Jesus speak to two why do we see that he's speaking to two why did Luke include that it's because according to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 19 verse 15 and 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 1 it's the witness of two that everything is established so he's speaking to two in order that there would be there's a complete witness there two people not just a single person but as he's speaking to them they don't recognize him well how'd that happen well we saw in Mark 16 verse 12 he had said after that he appeared in another form to two of them so he appeared in another form the word appear simply means to be visibly manifested it means to be made known or to see another form in words that heterosmorphia it's what the Greek is and it speaks of a different external appearance and so he visibly manifests himself in a different physical appearance that's what's taking place now I'm gonna do a bit of a theological aside for a moment because it's necessary at this point some teach to this day Jesus assumed different physical looks in other words he changed the way he looked some believe that and they say that that he changed the way he looked physically after his resurrection and they teach that Jesus took upon himself different physical appearances different shapes the shapes that he desired at that time this is because they say that Jesus' resurrection was not physical they say that his spiritual and therefore they say in that he was spiritually resurrected he could manifest himself or express himself looking in a different way and so this is actually one of the passages that they look to to point to that belief they want to present that he looked different well in John 20 verse 15 they will say that Jesus assumed he took upon himself the appearance of a gardener and then they say here that he looked different and they combined these let me give you the answer to that because some of you perhaps have had people tell you that one Jesus was bodily resurrected and not spiritually resurrected one of my I took a master's class in azusa pacific many years ago and professor was asking whether or not it matters whether Jesus was physically or spiritually resurrected the professor was saying apparently didn't matter but it does matter it does matter because the bible teaches that he was physically resurrected and you see when Jesus appears and we're going to look at this as we continue on next week more likely or soon after when Jesus appears to his men and they're frightened well Thomas was not present when that happened the first time and so they had told Thomas that Jesus was there and he said unless I put my hand into his wounds there's no way I'm going to believe and then later on in John 20 later on Jesus entered into the room and he told Thomas he said put your finger into my wounds and he said it is me that was the whole point he was making there was a physical resurrection and he even showed him the wounds that's when Thomas said my lord and my god that's when Thomas said that and so Jesus was not spiritually resurrected he wasn't a spirit being he was physically resurrected so some will say but wait a minute he looked like a gardener no remember what the word actually says that Mary supposing him to be the gardener said if you've taken away my lord tell me where he is and I'll go get him she supposed him again she was blinded by tears it was dark she was in grief she didn't expect to see him and so she was confused and that's why Jesus spoke to her and ministered to him to her rather because she mistook him for the gardener who worked for Joseph of Arimathea well in this particular portion of scripture Luke clearly says that their eyes were restrained that's what he's saying here their eyes were restrained verse 16 that they did not know him their eyes were restrained they were held in check so to them he looked different from his usual appearance they weren't expecting to see him after all he's dead so Jesus seems to have restrained them from recognizing him and the fact is we can't see him we can't see him for who he is unless he discloses himself to us in Matthew 11 27 all things have been delivered to me by my father no one knows the son except the father nor does anyone know the father except the son and the one to whom the son wills to reveal him Jesus held their eyes in check he was ministering to them and we're going to see that ministry as we go on notice verse 17 again he says what kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and he points out and are sad so he's walking along with them they're conversing and he's quiet but at the proper moment he interrupts them and he does so with a question and that well that seems a bit personal because they're having a private conversation when this stranger attaches himself and yet in spite of this he breaks in and even asks them a question and he's the one who can answer the question you have to ask him well verse 18 says one whose name was Klapas answered and said to him are you the only stranger in Jerusalem and have you not known the things which happened there in these days that was not a polite response they were grieving he interrupted their private conversation but Jesus continues verse 19 he said oh what things so they begin to explain so they said to him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet mighty indeed in word before God and all the people and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him so he wants them to tell them what's on your mind by letting them talk he's going to clear things up for them so they begin to outline who Jesus was what had happened they speak of Jesus of Nazareth they speak of him being a miracle working prophet he was an amazing teacher now when they speak to him and in verse 19 and they say who was a prophet you need to understand that they were not simply saying that he was a prophet like Jeremiah or one of the others you know Isaiah but that he was we thought he was the prophet now the prophet is Messiah the prophet is actually a phrase that was used and still used to describe Messiah so we thought he was the prophet is what they're saying you see in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 18 Moses said I will raise up God actually through Moses I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him so they knew of this prophet who was to come who was a prophet like unto Moses and so when they're speaking in that way they're saying we thought that Jesus of Nazareth a miracle worker was the prophet and so they're speaking about our disappointment that we have we were hoping that he was going to redeem us verse 21 we thought he'd deliver us the redeemer but he was killed so as far as their concern Jesus is still dead he's still in the tomb this had happened only three days before but they continue on verse 22 yes and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us when they did not find his body they came saying that he had he had they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive and certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said but him they did not see some women went to the tomb they didn't find his body it was empty instead of finding his body they saw angels and then and then they said that some of the women went to the tomb and they found the tomb was empty they were saying they couldn't find his body that he's alive others have gone to the tomb they didn't see Jesus the problem there's no visible proof that any of this happened so what you have here is an internal war it's being waged between hope and disappointment they can't believe that this happened without proof and so they weren't putting their trust in the promise of the Lord derives from the dead these were his disciples these were not strangers to him they were not the 12 they could have been part of the 70 but they most certainly were followers of Christ and so the teachings of Christ undoubtedly over the years or so of his ministry they had heard these kinds of things these were things that were being spoken and so were disappointed because he asked them why are you so sad what is it that you're talking about why are you so sad well verse 25 he said to them oh foolish one slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken not the Christ who have suffered these things and to enter into his glory and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself what an incredible Bible study that would have been starting with Moses the first prophecy of Messiah is Genesis 3 15 where God is speaking of the what will happen between Satan and Jesus ultimately I will put enmity between you and the woman between your offspring and hers he will crush your head you will strike his heel beginning at Moses and entering into the prophets Isaiah 7 14 therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel Isaiah 53 5 he was pierced for our transgressions crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was upon him by his wounds we are healed Psalm 16 verse 10 you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead nor will you let your faithful one see decay Psalm 49 15 God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave he shall receive me and so he gives this incredible Bible study to them would you like a Bible study like that you can have it read your Bible it's there well as this is taking place verse 28 they junior to the village where they were going and he indicated that he would have gone farther but they constrained him saying abide with us for it is toward evening and the day is far spent and he went in to stay with them now it came to pass as he sat at the table with them that he took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to them and their eyes were open and they knew him and he vanished from their sight and they said to one another did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us and they rose up that very hour returned to Jerusalem found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together saying the Lord is risen indeed has appeared to Simon and they told about the things that had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the break and a bread well they were going to and Jesus made as if he was going to continue and they said no please stay with us he wouldn't have remained with them without the invitation you see if they had no interest he would have continued on down the road there's this hunger that we should have for spiritual things that should motivate us to invite Christ to dine with us if you will Jeremiah 15 16 says it like this your words were found I ate them your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart I'm called by your name oh Lord God of Hosts your words were found and I ate them Job said his word was more important than his daily food I desire your word and please share more with me so they constrained him abide with us it's getting late there are there are wild animals on the road there are people who can do you harm on the road stay with us it's getting late so they asked would you abide with us what a blessing they would have missed that they had not asked him to stay the amount of time that you spend with the Lord is a good indicator of your actual hunger for him the Psalmist in Psalm 63 verse 1 said it like this he said oh God you are my God early will I seek you my soul thirsts for you my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water I seek you early I desire you you fill me you quench my thirst and so Jesus speaks to them and I think this is beautiful it says their eyes were open and they knew him after he had broken bread that breaking of the bread could very well have been a reminder of how he had fed the multitude just the fact that he broke the bread of the ministry that he has already performed and their eyes were open they knew him it says in verse 31 he vanished in and I looked that up I wanted you know vanished that's a strong word so some of the commentators will say that when they were eating and looking down he walked out of the room nah it's nonsense that's not what the word means the word vanished simply means disappeared he disappeared that would be trippy wouldn't it but he disappeared and as that happened they begin to speak and verse 32 is so powerful when they said to one another did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us back when I first got saved we called this holy heart burn that's what this was holy heart burn he showed them in all the scriptures the things that concerned himself why is that because scripture points to Jesus it summed up and fulfilled in him Revelation 1910 the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy and as he taught them their eyes were opened and they knew him because that comes through the word of God open means to the word open there speaks of opening the mind it means to cause someone to understand something his teaching open their eyes causing them to understand the plan of God again the way to know him is by his word and him opening our eyes doesn't open our eyes we remain blind to who Jesus is and we walk in spiritual darkness people will come you know I was hearing someone speak the other day and he was sharing how he said yeah I went to church before I got saved I went to church on Easter and on Christmas and there's a lot of people who would say yeah that's what I do I go once or twice a year you know for special Christian holidays and when you speak to him and you ask them as you could have done the same with me and you would ask them are you a Christian I would I answered yes yes I am I answered that yes I am I'm a Christian what else would it be I'm not a Buddhist I'm not a Hindu I'm not Muslim you know I went through certain stages and various things to become a Christian so if you asked me I would say that so for me I was very comfortable going to church because Christians go to church but I wasn't saved right and one of us in this room could say the same thing your eyes have to be opened by God in 2 Corinthians 4 3 and 4 if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God one of the ways to know whether you're saved is whether you like the Bible whether you read the Bible whether you study the Bible whether that is something that's necessary to you because in many churches in the case of many people with no condemnation at all towards those that are mentioning but in many churches the only time the Bible has ever opened for some Christians attending the churches when it's open in the church it's the only time it's the number one salient book in the United States still to this day but it's the most unread and so when the Holy Spirit is working you will get this sense of aha if you will my eyes are being opened now I see that I'll say this quickly but before I became a Christian I was a hippie and being a hippie just simply means that you're open minded and one day I thought man I'm open minded which simply means that any trash can be dropped into my head I'm like a waste basket the world can just drop thoughts into my head because I'm open and I learned to be discerning when I got saved if the Word of God says that I want to do it if it doesn't say it that I don't want to believe it it's that simple because I have a book there are people who say I feel sorry for you because you have that one book and you trust in one man who do you trust in trust in yourself have you ever been wrong what would I trust in you I trust in Jesus Christ who's never wrong he knew no sin I trust in the Word of God it's right so man's opinion doesn't matter to me it's very simple it's very simple and so what happens well he opens up the scriptures to them and their heart is stirred with the spiritual fire and so verse 33 tells us they rose up that very hour returned to Jerusalem on a mile walk found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together saying the Lord is risen indeed he's appeared to Simon and they told about the things that had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread well it was still dark it was difficult to walk in those unlit paths and yes there's still the danger of animals or thieves but they forgot their own concerns and they hurried out of that room to go to Jerusalem and speak and then finally mark 1613 simply says they went and told it to the rest but they didn't believe them either and that's the initial response of the apostles we just don't believe it we've heard this it's already been told to us and we don't believe it the next study we have we're going to be looking at how the Lord responds to unbelief in his followers