Clarifying Confusion

Go ahead and take your Bibles over to Mark chapter 12 this morning.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 12 as we continue on in our series here through the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

And, you know, the one thing that you'll see today is that, you know, we talk a lot today about misinformation.

There's always a lot of misinformation throughout history.

And you're going to see here as they bring some misinformation to Jesus, and Jesus clarifies their confusion.

And clarifies those things as a full gamut of leaders, as you remember, have come to Jesus.

And asked Him questions as He's there in the temple on Tuesday of that final week.

There, and we find that He'd been addressed by the priests and the scribes and the elders, the Pharisees,

along with the Herodians and all those that began questioning His authority.

Both that physical authority and even His spiritual authority of the things that He spoke.

And their desire, though, we need to understand, because people ask questions.

You always got to remember, people ask questions for two reasons.

Some people ask questions for information that they might grow and learn and understand.

And other people ask questions oftentimes to try to manipulate or divide.

And we're going to see here that they had come to Jesus with that idea in mind.

It was not to learn or understand, but it was to discredit Jesus before the people.

And we find here that Jesus answered all of them well, revealing either their evil intent to their heart

or their lack of understanding of Scripture.

And Jesus clearly answered the question just earlier that we had looked at,

this question of church and state, you know,

what belongs our obligation to the state and which to God.

And I encourage you to stick around for Sunday school,

because we're going to talk about that some more in Sunday school with the things coming up.

And so that's my 30-second commercial for you to stick around for Sunday school, okay?

And because we're going to be talking about some things that are important there.

But also we find here the next group that presented themselves

were a very powerful religious and political group called the Sadducees.

They came with an absurd question that is interesting.

As you're going to see here, they didn't even believe their own question to be true.

You know, that's interesting.

Somebody asks a question based on something that they don't even believe to be true.

And so we're going to see how this comes together here this morning.

So if you've found in your Bible Mark chapter 12,

Mark 12 · chapter mention

let's stand together in the honor of reading of the Word of God.

If you can stand with us here as we read.

And we notice here, it tells us in verse 18,

It says,

And the seven had her and left no seed.

Last of all, the woman died also.

In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise,

whose wife shall she be of them?

For the seven had her to wife.

And Jesus answering said unto them,

Do ye not therefore err,

because ye know not the Scriptures,

neither the power of God.

For when they shall rise from the dead,

they neither marry nor are given in marriage,

but are as the angels which are in heaven.

And as touching the dead, that they arise,

that they have not,

have ye not read in the book of Moses,

how that in the bush God spake unto him,

saying,

I am the God of Abraham,

and the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob.

He is not the God of the dead,

but the God of the living.

Ye therefore do greatly err.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

as we come before you this morning,

Lord, we're thankful for your word.

We're thankful for the opportunity

as we have this morning to know the truth,

Lord,

that we don't have to err when it comes to things

about the Scripture,

Lord,

that you have those things laid out.

You have the things that we need from day to day,

and even to understand not only the present,

but to have an understanding and grasp

of the future and the responsibility

that is contained in it.

And Lord,

we pray just have your hand upon each one today,

Lord,

you know each soul here this morning,

Lord,

you know each one of the things in their heart,

even here today,

Lord,

you might just challenge,

encourage,

convict,

Lord,

you know the need of each one this morning,

Lord,

if there's one that's not sure

about where they stand with you today,

Lord,

that that might be the day

that they would call upon you

and have that settled before you.

And Lord,

we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name.

Amen.

May be seated.

You know,

as we see here this morning,

most questions about spiritual things

are oftentimes built or based

in ignorant presuppositions

or false assumptions.

You know,

many of the questions you face spiritually today,

people come with false assumptions

attached to them.

Things that they've heard,

things that they assume,

or things that,

you know,

today it's,

I Googled it,

and this is what it said.

You know,

it's like,

it's written someplace

or somebody said it,

so they take it as fact

and they begin to operate

on that information.

And that,

you know,

I want you to know

that that gets us in a lot of trouble

when we operate

with information

that's not true.

Whether intentionally

or unintentionally.

We need to make sure

what we're doing

is true

and has a standard

behind it.

and we find here

that even,

even many empty

and wicked arguments

that just lead

to fruitless discussions

are built on the same case

that we're going to see here today

as the Sadducees,

because you,

I want you to understand,

the Sadducees came

for an argument

and to discredit Jesus.

They didn't come

to get their question answered.

They really didn't care

how Jesus answered the question.

Their goal

was to cause

a disagreement.

Their goal

was to discredit Jesus

by maybe something

that he said.

And we can learn a lot

when it comes to this

from Jesus,

but I want you to see

how Jesus

responds here

as the Sadducees

come with this question

and I want you to understand

it's built upon something

that they did not even believe.

Because the Bible reveals to us

and history reveals to us

something interesting

about the Sadducees.

This group of people

didn't even believe

in the resurrection.

So why are they asking

a question about

the outcome of the resurrection

when they don't even believe in it?

Makes you start wondering,

doesn't it?

But it reveals their intent,

reveals their heart behind it

of what they were doing

because they didn't want

a conversation.

They wanted an argument.

They wanted to entangle Jesus

in his words.

And we find here

the conjecture of the Sadducees.

You know,

they conjectured some things here.

They conjured up

was something that contained

some misunderstandings,

some conclusions

that were not correct.

You know,

today we call that misinformation.

They came to Jesus

with a lot of things

mangled in there

that they were trying

to promote

as what was true.

And the worst part about it,

like any misinformation,

and the devil's a master

of misinformation.

information.

Because the best deceiving information

is built upon something

that has some truth

contained in it.

Because we grab a hold

of what we hear of the truth

and assume the rest of it

to be so.

We need to be careful

that the truth

that we grab a hold of

is actually being expressed correctly.

Being presented correctly

to those things.

And we find here

that what they're doing

is they're combining

a command

with a truth

that was absurd

in their mind

because we're going to see here,

take a look with me

what they say here.

Look at verse 19

in our text.

It says,

Master,

Moses wrote unto us,

if a man's brother die

and leave his wife behind

and leave no children,

that his brother

should take his wife

and raise up seed

unto his brother.

Now there were seven brethren.

Do you see how this builds?

Because I want you to understand

what they're talking about here

is something God had commanded

the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy chapter 25,

Deuteronomy 25 · chapter mention

you can go back

and read it later

because this isn't really

dealing with leveret marriage.

This is just the thing

that they brought

into this equation.

But I'll summarize

leveret marriage for you.

It's simply this,

that because the children of Israel

were all going to be given

a specific heritage

a specific inheritance

in the land

that family was to raise up an heir.

And so what God did

with leveret marriage,

and I want you to understand,

it wasn't just something

that the children of Israel were doing.

It's recorded that other customs

and other cultures

practiced this same thing.

What the brother would do,

another brother would come

and redeem that man's wife

if he died without an heir.

And he would take her as a wife

to do what?

To raise up an heir

unto his brother.

The child born,

the first born child

would not be considered his,

it would be considered his brother's

to inherit his brother's inheritance.

In other words,

it was a way of preservation

among the lineage

and the heritage.

You know?

Now that's not something

we practice today,

but I want you to understand

what they're talking about

was something God

had told Israel

for a specific purpose

and had merit

and some teeth behind it

because God had instructed it

to the children of Israel.

So they're taking something there

and so simply,

this dynamic was there

and the Sadducees

used this law

and the expectation

of the resurrection

to invent an absurd situation

in a thinly veiled attempt

to trap Jesus.

Because we see here

as it goes on down through,

it says,

what,

that they went through

all seven brothers

and all seven brothers died

and they had no heir

and then they look at Jesus,

I can just imagine,

the more I read this,

the more I can just see

the smug look on their face

thinking we got him.

Have you ever noticed that

when sometimes

when people are trying

to trick you

and try to get over on you,

it's like they have to get

that smugness to them

to say,

this one will trap

and there's no way out.

In the resurrection,

whose wife is she?

They're like,

oh, we got him.

Now I want you to understand

in that little tidbit

of history

that's important here,

the Pharisees

had promoted

among the people

that the wife

would belong back

to the resurrected

first husband.

but you know what?

It's interesting here,

Jesus deflates all of them

because he reveals them.

He says,

you guys greatly err,

you don't even understand

what's happening.

You don't understand

the scripture.

You don't understand

how these things

are happening

and what the word of God

says

and this is a very

extreme story

but yet we see here

this dynamic

and the point of it

is the resurrection

of the dead

and the conflict

that was going to be caused.

You know,

over in Acts chapter 23,

Acts 23 · chapter mention

you'll find

that this was a conflict

amongst the Jews

about resurrection.

Because remember

in Acts chapter 23,

Acts 23 · chapter mention

you'll find over there

in verse 6

that the apostle Paul

was being addressed.

Both the Sadducees

and the Pharisees

wanted Paul arrested.

So what does Paul do?

Notice what he says

and Paul perceived

that in one part

were Sadducees

and the other Pharisees

he cried out

in the council,

Ben and brother

I am a Pharisee,

a son of a Pharisee,

of the hope

of the resurrection

of the dead

I am called in question.

Now notice this,

and when he had so said

there arose a dissension

between the Pharisees

and the Sadducees

and the multitude

was divided.

Now that happened later

but I wanted to bring

that out so you realize

what were the Sadducees

trying to do?

They were not trying

to get their question answered,

they were trying

to cause division.

Their question

was built to be deceptive.

And so when we see here

their goal

was that division

among those

listening to Jesus

and to understand

the story

that they had conjured up

was intertwined

with misunderstandings

and outright errors

from the scripture.

Even though,

I want you to understand,

the Sadducees

were highly educated.

They controlled

the priesthood.

They were political leaders.

I mean,

I want you to understand

they were wealthy,

they were a fluent

group of individuals.

They were actually

one of the smaller

political parties

of groups in Israel

but they maintained

a large chunk of power.

And they were there

trying to disrupt this

because Jesus

was a threat

to their power.

Now let me give you

a little bit of history

why they might have

been so upset

because you remember

just a few days before

what did Jesus do

when he went into the temple?

He overturned

all the tables

and ran all the people

in the market out.

History tells us

that the Sadducees

were the ones

who owned the marketplace.

Interesting how that happens,

isn't it?

You know?

So I want you to understand

what was going on here

and even though

they had all these things,

they were educated

in Scripture,

they knew what things

had been said,

they wanted to promote

though their own

ideology and authority

and they came thinking

that they knew

and understood

the Scripture

better than Jesus.

Now that's pretty tough.

That'd be like

going down

to the bookstore

where an author's there

promoting their book.

Can you imagine

somebody walking up

to the author of the book,

I want to tell you

what you wrote

and what you meant.

Now if you saw

somebody do that,

what would you do?

You'd probably just

shake your head going,

what are you thinking?

But literally,

that's what the Sadducees

did that day.

They literally,

not even knowing it,

they went up

to the author of the book

and said,

let me tell you

how to interpret

what you wrote.

Not a good chance

or a good look,

is it?

Because I want you

to see here

what takes place.

Because when we understand

that the Sadducees

were like many today,

they rejected

anything from Scripture

that didn't align

with their concept

of life.

You know,

this life

was their primary focus

as they didn't believe

in anything

different about the future.

They thought

everything was about today.

Therefore,

they lived for today.

You know,

similar ideas

are held

by many today

as they reject

the Bible

as God's standard

and direction

for life,

resulting in the absence

of hope

and no fear

of a future judgment.

You know,

today we understand

that people reject

the Word of God.

They talk about

the Word of God.

You know,

we have presidential

candidates who quote

the Word of God

and do a good job

of taking it out of context.

You can know

what it says,

but you better

understand what it says.

Because if we make

our own assumptions,

we'll get in trouble

and you might say,

well,

why do people make

false assumptions

about the Scripture?

Look over to John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

for a moment.

John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

you'll find over here

in John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

the problem

is the core of the issue

is the heart

of the individual.

Now notice what it says,

and this is the condemnation,

that light

has come into the world,

and men love darkness

rather than light

because what?

Their deeds

were evil.

Why were the Sadducees

upset?

Because Jesus

had confronted

their evil choices.

The choices

they were making

that were contrary

to the things of God,

Jesus had directly

conflicted

with what they thought.

He had disrupted

what they were doing.

Now notice it says

here in verse 20,

for everyone

that doeth evil

hateth the light,

neither cometh

to the light,

lest his deeds

should be reproved.

So here they come

with this totally

conjured up story,

totally absurd situation

that's like,

okay,

we'll get him

on this one.

We're going to use

the Word of God

to trap him.

But notice

what Jesus tells them here

because they thought

the first words

out of Jesus' mouth

was probably going to be

to address their question.

Look down at verse 24.

Notice what Jesus

says here in verse 24.

Do ye not

therefore what?

Err.

In other words,

Jesus has replied to him,

he says,

guys,

before we answer

the question,

we need to correct

the false assumptions.

We need to correct

the core issue

of your question

that's not accurate

because you have

a lack of understanding.

so we see Jesus here

is going to correct

the suppositions

that they brought.

You know,

Jesus' response

focuses on the error

and the misapplication

of Scripture.

If you wanted

to put it

in today's vernacular,

you might put it this way.

Jesus looked at him

and shook his head

and said,

you guys don't have a clue

what you're talking about.

You know?

Oftentimes,

we can understand,

people ask questions

trying to stir something up

and you'll look at them

and say,

you have no idea

what you're talking about.

The Sadducees

received that same type look,

I think,

from Jesus that day

where Jesus is like,

you did greatly error.

You have no idea

what you're really asking

because you have

no understanding

of how this fits together.

Why things were put that way.

The suppositions they brought

were both about marriage

and the resurrection.

Both of them

were incorrect.

Yes,

leverage was the proper thing

that they were to do

as the children of Israel

but their real question

had to do with marriage

and eternity

and marriage

and the resurrection.

He tells them

that they misunderstood

those things

about the word of God

because first,

they were ignorant

of the word of God.

Now,

I want you to know here

the Sadducees

only believed

the first five books,

the books of Moses.

All the other law

and the prophets,

all the other prophets,

all the others

that were there,

they didn't take that

as scripture.

That's already

a presupposition

on their part

and I want you to notice

as we're going to look

a little later,

it's interesting

that Jesus

proves this point

out of the portion

of scripture

that they believed

because he talks

about Moses

at the burning bush.

Jesus says,

well,

we can play this game

and we'll just go

to where you guys

say you already believe

so we'll skip the argument

and just say

this is what's going to be

but we'll look at this

because notice here

they rejected

the rest of the Old Testament.

Now,

I want you to understand

Isaiah chapter 8

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

tells us this,

it says,

to the law

and to the testimony,

if they speak not

according to this word

is because there is

no light in them.

Isaiah the prophet

pinned these people directly.

He says,

if you don't accept

the word of God,

there's error already

in everything that you say.

That is an understanding,

we need to understand

the importance

of the word of God

because rejecting

part of the scripture

will cause confusion

about the message

that God has given to us.

You know,

oftentimes people will say,

well,

I don't like that part

of scripture

so I'll just ignore that

or I'll spiritualize it

or I'll make it,

you know,

they'll just kind of say,

well,

I don't really think

that was accurate

or that's not for today.

Instead of saying,

instead of asking

is it for today,

what's the context

and what's the application

and how does it fit

in the whole scheme

and realm

of what God is doing?

How does it fit together

to understand

the word of God?

To understand

the big picture?

You know,

because we know here

that throughout

the Old Testament,

the resurrection

is spoken of very clearly

yet they didn't believe it.

You know,

consider Isaiah chapter 26.

Isaiah 26 · chapter mention

Notice what it says,

thy dead shall live

together with my dead body

shall they what?

Arise,

awake and sing,

ye that dwell in where?

In dust.

You know,

I think this is just

one example

you can find

that the earth,

God is going to resurrect

physically

people.

The resurrection

was spoken of

in the Old Testament.

Notice,

and the earth

shall cast out the dead.

That's an interesting statement.

We could have to study that

some other time.

We don't have time

to get into all that,

but I want you to understand

the emphasis here

with this verse

and many others.

It's clear in the Old Testament

that resurrection was taught

and that God said

there's going to be

a resurrection.

That was not the question.

When we don't know

the Scriptures,

that is to,

the only way to know

the Scripture

is to study them

to know

how to rightly divide them.

When you rightly divide

the Word of God

means you put things

and understand them

in context.

How does it fit?

What's the big picture?

You know,

understand,

you know,

one of the things

that gets people

in a lot of trouble

is what I call

soundbite theology.

I believe something

and then I find a verse

that makes it sound

like I know what I'm saying.

Then I use that verse

to beat everybody up

and when you study it,

there's a lot of false doctrines

built on soundbite theology.

Because when you study out,

oftentimes you'll find

99% of the time

that has absolutely

nothing to do

with what they're trying

to push it to be.

It's a misunderstanding,

it's a falsehood

of those things

and we understand

that we'll believe

many things

that are either

misunderstandings

or even old wives

tales about the Scripture

that are not in the Scripture.

You know,

this is why we encourage you

to study the Word of God.

You know,

coming to church

on Sunday is good,

but you know,

you ought to read your Bible.

I want to give you

a little clue.

It's not the preacher's job

to teach you everything.

Look over in 2 Timothy

for a moment.

2 Timothy chapter 2.

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

Notice what the Word of God

tells us here

in verse 15.

It says what?

Study to show thyself

approved unto God,

a workman

that needeth not

be ashamed,

doing what?

Rightly dividing

the Word of truth.

Now I want you to notice

the verse that follows.

It says,

rightly divide

the Word of truth,

but shun profane

and vain babblings,

for they will increase

more,

increase unto more

ungodliness.

I want you to understand

that sometimes

you can waste a lot of time

arguing about things

that are irrelevant.

There's been a lot

of misconceptions

put out

that people grab a hold of.

Because when you understand

the Scriptures

where you're going to find

your answer,

consider what Jesus said

over in John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

Look at John chapter 5

John 5 · chapter mention

in verse 38.

The Word of God

says this,

and ye have not

the Word abiding in you

for whom He has sent

Him ye believe not.

Search the Scriptures

for in them

ye have eternal life

and they are they

which testify of Me.

In other words,

Jesus said

that the very things

you guys are lacking

the thing you err in,

you're erring because

you don't see

what the Word of God

has said,

what is declared

because if they did,

they would have been

like others

that turned to Jesus.

You know,

oftentimes when we read

through we say,

well all these people

were against Jesus,

not all of them,

there were a lot.

You have men

like Nicodemus.

He was a high-ranking Pharisee

but yet he realized

that there's something

different about Jesus

and he came to Jesus.

And we find that he was

one that had understood

who Jesus is

and what Christ had done.

You'll see him mentioned

throughout Scripture.

You say,

well he's in the background

but you know what,

there's a lot of people

that are believers

that might be in the background

of what we consider history

that are key players

in God's eyes.

Because they were where

God had them to be

at that point.

Doing what God

would have them to do.

They were ignorant

of the Word of God.

You know,

many misconceptions

come because of ignorance

of the Word of God.

The second thing

we find here,

they were ignorant

that he tells them

of God's power.

You know,

notice in verse 24

he says,

do ye not therefore err

because ye know not

the Scriptures

neither the power

of God.

In other words,

they negated God

downward

to say God

can do only

what I think

He can do.

That I can know

what God's limits are.

Now I find it

kind of ironic

when you consider

that they,

this group,

remember,

the Sadducees,

what portion of Scripture

did they accept?

the first five books.

The books of Moses.

Now the first book

Moses wrote

that we have

in the Scripture

for us in order

anyways

is the book of Genesis.

When you open up

to the first few chapters

of the book of Genesis,

you have to understand

the power of God.

When it says,

in the beginning,

God created.

God spoke

the universe

into existence

from nothing.

In other words,

I want you to understand

He spoke the universe

into existence.

The Bible tells us

He formed Adam

from the dust

of the earth.

The special this morning

was pretty appropriate.

I want you to understand

that God says

He formed man

out of the dust

of the earth.

Now a few minutes ago

we read in Isaiah,

where was God

going to raise up

people from

in the resurrection?

From the dust.

So when you think about it,

if He did it

at the beginning,

how hard is it

for Him to do it again?

I mean,

it's really not that,

and not to downgrade it,

but I want you to understand

it's really not

that spectacular for God.

God says,

I've already done it.

You know?

He says,

this is nothing

that you ought to consider

outrageous

or out of scope

of things.

Because God says,

I've already showed you

that I've done it.

If in question,

pinch yourself.

You're here

because He formed man

out of the dust

of the ground.

You're a walking testimony

to God's power.

And the Bible says

He breathed into Him

the breath of life.

And here we have

a group that said,

we're going to believe

in the literal creation

that God had the power

to speak the universe

into existence,

but we don't believe

He has the power

to resurrect people.

You know what that is?

That's a big misunderstanding

and a misconception.

You know not the power

of God.

You've read about it.

You've heard about it,

but you haven't understood it

and applied what it is.

Because if God could make man

out of the dust of the ground,

it's no big deal for Him

to raise the dead physically

in the resurrection.

You know,

I want you to understand,

you might look at it this way,

that God said

it's not a problem.

Think about Jeremiah the prophet.

Look over to Jeremiah chapter 32.

Jeremiah 32 · chapter mention

Jeremiah 32.

We see here

in Jeremiah 32

in verse 17,

Jeremiah says,

Ah, Lord God,

behold,

Thou hast made the heaven

and the earth

by Thy great power

and stretched Thou art arm

and there is nothing,

what?

Too hard for Thee.

In other words,

Jesus looked at the Sadducees

that day and said,

Guys, you err

not knowing the Scripture.

You don't understand

what's going on

and you don't understand

the power of God.

You don't understand

what God can do.

But now Jesus,

after He clarifies

and helps them understand

that, hey,

the question you asked,

the question you conjured up

is not accurate.

Let me correct your assumptions.

Let me correct the things

that you've said in this.

Because look down

at verse 25

and it says,

For when they shall rise

from the dead,

notice this,

they neither marry

nor are given in marriage.

Neither marry

nor are given in marriage.

Now I want you to understand

the first part of the question

centered around marriage.

Now marriage,

you know,

we've talked about it.

Marriage is ordained.

It's a wonderful

divine institution

that God has given to us.

But I want you to understand

marriage is an earthly institution

that God's given.

When you are in heaven,

you are no longer married.

Now that's a hard pill

for some to swallow.

Now I want you to understand

it doesn't mean

you might not still like

the person

or even want to hang out

with them.

I hope that's the case.

Yeah,

I hope who you married

you want to hang out with.

We talked about that

a few weeks ago

talking about marriage.

You know,

you ought to want to hang out

with them

but I want you to understand

that that is absolved

at death.

That's what the Bible

teaches us.

It might make you feel good

to consider other things

but I want you to understand

that God gives us marriage

here for legitimate reasons

in God's design

and God's plan.

We understand some of that

is just for companionship.

God says it's not good

for man to be alone.

You know,

two is always better than one.

We're designed that way.

God gave us marriage

for a place that family

could be made

and family could grow

and to have those things

and it's a place

to fulfill legitimate desires

that God gives to us.

But I want you to understand

that in heaven

it's no longer

neither marry

or given in marriage.

Now,

that's one of those things

that you start to preach

or you're talking about things

that I have in my mind

the way I think

it's going to be.

Well,

I'm sorry.

God's word makes it clear

of this is how it's going

to operate

and notice

the next part

of what he says

because simply

Jesus tells them

your question is mute

because there's nobody

going to be married

in heaven.

So in other words

Jesus said

all seven brothers

that married this gal

when they come

to the resurrection

what?

It's all irrelevant.

It doesn't matter.

You're misunderstanding.

You're arguing about

something that is irrelevant

because it has no substance.

There's no marriage

in the resurrection.

Take a look over

into Luke chapter 20

Luke 20 · chapter mention

for a moment.

Luke chapter 20

Luke 20 · chapter mention

because Luke gives us

a little more insight

into these things.

In verse 35

of Luke chapter 20

Luke 20 · chapter mention

it says

but they which shall

be accounted

worthy to obtain

that world

and the resurrection

from the dead

neither marry

nor are given

in marriage

neither can they

die anymore

for they are equal

unto the angels

and are the children

of God

being children

of the resurrection.

Now,

I want you to understand

because he talks here

about another

false and a bunch

of misinformation

that people say

and you hear people

say this all the time.

But when your loved one dies

they do not become

an angel.

The word of God

compares them

like or as.

In other words

there's some similarities

but they are not.

The similarities

are that spiritual dynamic

that number one

angels don't die

and that once you're

resurrected

you're never going

to die again.

Jesus makes it clear

some very foundational

things here

because he says

that you're not

you're equal

unto the angels

but notice here

he says

you are the children

of God.

When a saved individual

dies and goes to glory

they don't become

an angel

they become

and sit

as part of the family.

Now how many of you

heard that misconception

well they're now

an angel?

You hear that a lot

don't you?

It makes people

feel good

but you know what?

The devil loves

to twist

false things

that make us feel good

to counteract

what God has actually said.

Because I want you

to understand

to be a child of God

is far better

than being an angel.

You might say

it's a greater status.

When you look

in the scripture

an angel

was just a servant.

They're a messenger

they're a servant

of God.

Now if you were

to be a part

of a household

and the picture

we see

is of an ancient

household

would you rather

be the child

of the king

or the servant

of the king?

I don't know about you

but it sounds a lot

better being his kid.

Not that a servant

would be bad

but the child

of the king

is way better status.

And God says

that if you've

trusted him

as savior

when you rose again

you're risen again

and declared

you're placed

as one of the family.

Similar

but different.

Instead

we're as distinct

children of God.

Think about here

1 John chapter 3

1 John 3 · chapter mention

and verse 2

tells us this

it says

Beloved

now we are

what?

The sons of God

and it does not

yet appear

what we shall be

but we know

that when he

shall appear

we shall be

like him

for we shall

see him

as he

is.

Jesus is

correcting

a misconception

not only

to the Sadducees

or the Pharisees

but to all the

people that

were listening.

He says

let me put

things in context.

Had the question

there of the

second question

was the question

of the

resurrection.

Jesus knew

the Sadducees

denied the

resurrection.

You know

there's many

people today

deny the

resurrection.

They deny

the resurrection

of Jesus

they deny

the fact

that they're

going to be

resurrected

one day.

And you say

well why do

people reject

the resurrection

because

you can't

separate

the resurrection

from accountability.

accountability.

In the

scripture

resurrection

and accountability

go hand

in hand.

You find

throughout the

scripture

those two

are tied

together.

You know

notice what

Jesus tells

them here

though

when he

reminds them

about Moses

before the

burning bush

where it

says there

in verse

25

he says

I am

the God

of Abraham

the God

of Isaac

the God

of Jacob.

Now this

is one of

those things

I think

we miss

you know

we just

got done

with our

conference

on the

Bible

and this

is one

of those

things

sometimes

get lost

in translation

a little

bit

but the

words used

there

are present

tense

in other

words

God

looks

when

God

was speaking

to Moses

out of the

bush

Moses

understood

that he

was being

spoken to

about Abraham

Isaac

and Jacob

in the

present

tense

in other

words

Moses

understood

that when

he heard

that

that he

was talking

about them

being physically

present

with Jesus

being present

in heaven

not the

God of the

dead

they'd long

been eaten

up by the

worms

but he spoke

of them

as being

alive

he said

I'm the

God of the

living

it's not

open for

debate

notice

when they

shall rise

notice in

verse 25

for when they

shall rise

from the

dead

you know

that's another

powerful

dynamic

you know

when we

understand

he's not

the God

of the

dead

but he's

God

of the

living

look there

in verse 27

as he

concludes

he do

therefore

greatly

Jesus

answered

their

question

by saying

you guys

need to

get

your facts

straight

let me

put those

things

in context

Jesus

reminded

them

that the

resurrection

is

foundational

to

everything

today

I want

you

to

understand

the

resurrection

is

foundational

to your

very

salvation

the gospel

is the

death

burial

and

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ

he is the

first fruits

he is the

reason

that we

can be

alive

he is the

one

that has

dealt

with all

that

notice

understand

look over

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15

for a moment

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15

notice here

in verse 20

it says

but now

is Christ

risen

from the

dead

and become

the first fruits

of them

that slept

for since

by man

came death

by man

came also

resurrection

of the

dead

for in

Adam

all die

even so

in Christ

shall all

be made

alive

but every

man

in his

own

order

Christ

the first

fruits

afterwards

they

that are

Christ

that is

coming

I want

you to

understand

because

Jesus

rose

from the

dead

those

who

have

their

faith

in him

for

salvation

have

passed

from

death

unto

life

John

John 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

makes it

clear

that we

have

passed

from

death

the wages

of sin

is death

but the

gift

of God

is what

eternal

life

he is

the one

that is

brought

forth

that

salvation

that

person

is

made

alive

from

that

spiritual

death

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

he makes

them alive

in himself

he gives

them

his life

this is

why

salvation

is referred

to as

a new

birth

in

John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

because

we're now

a new

creature

in

Christ

when a

person

receives

Christ

they become

partaker

of an

everlasting

life

you know

John

3

16

and

6

47

reveal

that

he has

given us

his abundant

life

in John

10

10

everything

about

Jesus

has to

do

with

life

death

might be

part of

where we

are

but

Jesus

is

life

he

is

the

one

but

I want

you

to

understand

that

resurrection

even if

you don't

believe in

Christ

you will

be

resurrected

for a

purpose

look over

in John

John 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

for a

moment

Jesus

declared

this

it shall

come

forth

that they

have done

good

under the

resurrection

of life

and they

have done

evil

under the

resurrection

of damnation

you know

what that

means

it doesn't

matter

who you

are

or what

you've

done

but it

does

matter

what you've

done

with Christ

in this