Mark 16:12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
Today is marked as Canada Day. It is supposed to be a day of celebration. Honestly, if we look at the facts, there is little to celebrate on this day, as a nation. We have protected the murder of unborn children now for many years. With the decrease in natural growth in the country due to this slaughter of innocent people, Canada has opened the floodgates to illegal immigration. We have welcomed terrorists into this country with open arms. When they get here we, the taxpayers are being forced to cover expenses for these people while Canadians are forced into homelessness.
We have publicly condemned the nation of Israel and endorsed terrorists who want to destroy not just Israel, but also Christians. God cannot bless a nation that curses the nation of Israel. There was a debate on this in the U.S. media recently. The question was: does God support the current nation of Israel. The land of Israel was promised to Abraham and his descendants. It is their land, not because they deserve it, but because God promised it to them. Does God support the wickedness that is so prominent in the land of Israel today? NO! God has shown in the past that He did not support the wickedness in Israel and He punished them by sending them into exile. The land of Israel was under foreign occupation for hundreds of years due to the sins of the people of Israel. God moved in the hearts of world leaders in 1948, just as He did in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar and king Cyrus in Old Testament times. God gave the Jews an opportunity to go back to their homeland and He is protecting them in that land now. They are in an almost constant state of conflict with someone now. That is due to their lack of trust in the true God. God could grant them peace in their land today, but they do not want it. They want to be a secular nation and thus they struggle. The day will come when they will acknowledge the true God and then they will know great peace. It is a sin for anyone to curse Israel. We, those who are saved, do not agree with her promotion of sodomy or the other vile activities they condone. However, we do not curse them.
Then we also are promoting sodomy in its many forms. The promotion of gender fluidity is wicked. God declared that He made them male and female. A boy is a boy from conception and a girl is a girl in the same way. Sodomy is a judgment from God. It is not a blessing for any nation. Sodomy is the result of a rejection of God. Man loses all foundation when he rejects God.
Canada has been blessed in the past with great opportunity for Christians to live here and to evangelize their neighbours and friends. However, too often those who profess to be Christians have desired to be friends of the world.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Born again Christians will be different from the world. That is God’s design for them. Those who want to claim to be Christians, and not be different, prove who they truly are. It is not a shame to be a true born again Christian. It is a blessing to be able to help others to be set free from the bondage of sin.
The hope of Canada is not found in putting our heads in the sand and thinking things are going well here. The hope for Canada is for those who are born again to be bold in the Lord and glorify Him in our words and actions.
God directed four men to give us first hand accounts of the true Jesus. Those men were holy men. They did not have an agenda. In fact some of them were fishermen. They were not interested in being famous. They were common people. God chose them because they were men who were willing to learn how to walk in the fear of the Lord. They were men who were teachable and would learn how to walk in obedience to the Lord.
It is important to know the true God and the true Saviour. As we come to the close of Mark’s account of the life of Jesus Christ, we continue to read of some events that took place after He rose from the dead. It was a challenging time for the disciples and for others that had come to truly love the Lord Jesus Christ. They lacked the faith needed to simply believe what Jesus said. One key factor in their lives was that the Holy Spirit had not yet been given in the way that true Christians would receive Him after Jesus’ ascension. In Acts 2 and beyond, we see the blessing of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
In verse 12 of our text we see that Jesus did not reveal Himself openly yet at this time. There was some teaching that the disciples and others needed to hear. They needed some time to reflect on what Jesus had already told them, but they had not yet accepted. This time of fog would be short lived for them. God shows us how important it is to believe what He says.
Jesus walked with these two individuals but they just did not comprehend what was taking place. In verse 13 we read that after Jesus parted ways with these two, they went and told the others. We are told that none of them believed what they were hearing and witnessing. Because of this, those people who had been close to Jesus during His public ministry, were now in a state of unnecessary fear. They did not need to be there. We know that Jesus reminded the disciples of what He had taught them previously, on several occasions after His resurrection. We see that the disciples were capable of blocking out important facts for a time. This time of doubt was difficult for them. We know that there was much less of this doubt in the disciples’ minds after Acts 2.
In Acts 2 Peter spoke very clearly with regard to the Gospel and Who Jesus was. His message was from God and it was preached with such conviction that God could bless it. We read that about three thousand souls were added to the first church at that time.
The truth is the truth. It is what we do with the truth that makes the difference. It is quite possible to miss out on the blessings that God wants us to know in our time. There are so many people who take the attitude of Aaron and the sons of Korah in the Old Testament, or of those Paul wrote of in I Corinthians 14.
God created man with a mind. God wants us to think. We also know that God chooses those whom He wants to be spiritual leaders. He does not choose that many for that position. God sees the heart of each person. He knows those who are subject to Him. We can assume we are one of those people. We will know if we are truly one of those people if we humbly submit to the will and Word of God.
Titus 2:7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
God is holy. He has high standards for those whom He calls to give leadership to their generation. No man can meet those standards on their own. They are not met simply by attending a Bible College or a seminary. Having a doctorate does not guarantee the recipient is a man of God. A man must be saved and become submissive to the will and word of God in all things. Most of those who attain a doctorate, have compromised the truth so much that they actually cannot be trusted with the truth.
All those who are truly saved receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. It is important to yield to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the heart and life. As we yield to Him, we will understand the Scriptures in their context. We will know how to apply them for the glory of God.
We need to be sure we are God’s child first of all, and then we need to submit to His absolute authority in all things. As we yield to Him, we will have His peace and we will not need to be in the state that these people were in our text.
Pastor Bartel
