WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:08.640 If you'll please join me turning in your Bible to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 20. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.640 I'll be reading verses 27 through 40. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:20.719 And if you don't happen to have a Bible with you, if you look right in front of you, there should be a black hardcovered Bible there. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:24.079 And you can find the scripture passage on page 880. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:35.840 And each week we remind people if you don't own a Bible or you don't have easy access, ready access to a Bible, please take that Bible home with you as our gift. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:41.600 We'd love for you to have it, to read it, and bring it back each week and we'll study it together. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:47.039 Luke chapter 20, beginning in verse 27. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:53.679 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:06.959 And they asked him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:09.760 Now there were seven brothers. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.120 The first took a wife and died without children. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:19.920 And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:23.280 Afterward were the woman also died. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:27.599 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:30.400 For the seven had her as a wife. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:52.719 And Jesus said to them, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:02:03.280 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:08.879 Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.240 Then some of the scribes answered, Teacher, you have spoken well. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.879 For they no longer dared to ask him any question. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:29.120 If I was going to title this section, really this whole chapter, I think I would title it, Don't Mess with the Man. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:35.680 Not being irreverent or disrespectful, but that really is what is happening here. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:48.560 They have been an onslaught over and over again, challenging Jesus' authority, undermining his ministry, trying to entrap him and eventually put him to death. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:54.479 Jesus had just cleansed the temple a few days ago, and we're in the final week of Jesus' life. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:59.680 Everything moving forward is in that last week of his life. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:05.199 There's an all-out assault against the ministry and the person of Jesus. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.080 Ultimately, they want him dead. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:10.879 And in a few days, they'll succeed. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.919 In the last section, we saw kingdoms in conflict. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:23.199 The religious leaders and the political component joined forces to try to trap Jesus. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:24.719 And it was odd bed, fellows. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:37.520 It was the religious conservatives, the far religious right conservatives, and the political left who were aligned with Caesar. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:44.879 And they had brought him a coin and they asked him, Should we pay tax to Caesar or not? 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:53.520 The coin was made in Caesar's image, so when Jesus asked him whose inscription is on it, they answered, Caesar. 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:59.120 And he said, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:13.360 And what we saw there was Jesus answering them and saying, in essence, give back to Caesar what is made in his image, but each one of us, Caesar included, is made in the image of God. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:22.480 Therefore, every human being, including Caesar, has a responsibility to answer to him, and he is Lord over all. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:30.879 And so Jesus silenced them by saying there is a legitimate place for government under the sovereign rule of King Jesus. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.759 Now another group comes to him, the Sadducees. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:42.000 And this morning we're going to move from the political to the philosophical. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:45.360 And even as I say that, I see eyes glazing over. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:51.920 We have here worldviews in conflict. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:04.319 This is a very obscure argument on a very ancient passage from a relatively unknown group, and we're going to try to ask ourselves: how does this apply to us today? 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:12.160 And I think we're going to find there's a lot of application once we begin to understand who the Sadducees were. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:21.439 These are worldviews, and we don't often use that word, but it's a very helpful word, and so let me explain what I mean by the word worldview. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:30.879 A worldview is a set of beliefs or assumptions by which we view life and evaluate circumstances. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:36.079 It is the grid that we interpret life through. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.279 It is our set of beliefs and our assumptions. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:42.399 And everyone has a worldview. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:48.720 And the Sadducees here have what we will find is a very modern worldview. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:06:02.160 The question they ask, even as we read it, might seem silly, nonsensical, absurd, ancient, but it hides a very vicious and fatal attack if it's not addressed. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:09.600 These two worldviews are in direct conflict today. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:16.160 The Sadducees' philosophy of life, if I could sum it up this way, is this this is all there is. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.199 It may seem odd coming from a religious group, but at the heart of it, what they believed is this is all there is. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:30.240 Jesus talks of the kingdom of God, of forgiveness, of new life, of heaven, of eternity. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:33.920 And his view could be described as the best is yet to be. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:47.519 How many remember a couple years ago the phrase that became popular in about 2012? 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:49.120 YOLO. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:50.800 Anyone remember that? 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.720 You only live once. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:55.120 If you didn't, you're blessed. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:04.560 But it became a very popular saying, go online, you'll find all of these different references to it. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:12.639 It became popular on t-shirts and and uh and the response was you only live once. 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:17.279 And the idea behind it is this life is all you have, so live it to the full. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:25.680 And so, no matter uh how how how foolish you need to live free, as wild as that may be, because this is all there is. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:37.120 And and so, no matter how foolish and stupid the activities were, and they ended up on YouTube, when they would be asked, Well, why did you do it? 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:39.120 The answer is, Well, you only live once. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:41.839 So you you need to live to the full now. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:57.360 When I was a kid, there was a similar phrase, and you may remember this one, Carpe Diem, it means seize the day, but the underlying idea behind it is you live for this life because ultimately that's all there is. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.079 Is this life the best that there is? 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.199 Is this all that there is, or is the best yet to be? 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:12.480 Should we live it up because we only live once, or should we live wisely because right now counts for eternity? 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:20.560 When we examine the arguments of the Sadducees, we recognize the cynicism of an unbelieving heart. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:24.639 And so we're going to look at these two competing worldviews. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:34.399 The first one we're going to look at is the cynicism of the Sadducees, of this unbelieving heart, that this is all there is. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:41.200 And then we'll look at Jesus' reply and find the hope of every believer that the best is yet to be. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:45.840 And so let's examine, first of all, the Sadducees and their argument. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:49.840 The argument is this is all there is. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:51.679 Who were the Sadducees? 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:57.039 And when we understand who the Sadducees were, we see how this argument plays out. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:05.840 You may recall from reading through the gospel accounts that the Sadducees and the Pharisees were religious rivals. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.200 They were constantly at odds with one another. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:22.080 Even after the time of Jesus in the book of Acts, we see Paul splitting the Sanhedrin against one another, religious rulers, based on the opposing views of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.039 The Pharisees wanted to overthrow Rome. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:27.759 The Sadducees wanted to play it safe. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:29.120 They were more conservative. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:33.919 They supported Rome because they wanted to preserve their power. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:38.159 The Pharisees followed religious traditions. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:47.919 In addition to the Old Testament, they they continued to put additions and adding on regulations not explicitly found in the Scripture. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:56.720 This might surprise you, but the Sadducees were actually hyper-literal in their reading of the Old Testament. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:09.200 They focused primarily on the books of Moses, but they would describe themselves as a close reading of the Old Testament. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.039 They claimed only to believe what was written in Scripture. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:19.279 And if they didn't find it explicitly stated, then they denied it. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.600 They come from a guy named Zadok. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:38.720 And back in 586 BC in the Old Testament, Israel, the southern kingdom, was carried off to Babylon for 70 years. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:45.120 And when they came back from exile, this family was put in charge of the priesthood. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:50.799 And over the generations they gained control over the priesthood. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:11:03.840 And so the high priest and all of the priests and most of the religious leaders, the Sanhedrin, were part of this family, and they were Sadducees. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:07.039 And so they had a power. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:11.120 Now keep in mind, they were in charge of the temple. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:18.159 And Jesus had just cleared the temple, overthrowing and expelling the people. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:22.960 They were in charge of exchanging money and selling animals. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.399 And Jesus had just confronted them. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.240 Well, what didn't they find in Scripture? 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.000 Well, they didn't find a lot. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.200 They rejected the resurrection. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.799 That's what we find in this passage. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:39.840 The Sadducees, they denied that there's a resurrection. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.399 They didn't believe that there was a resurrection. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:45.039 They denied eternal life. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.639 They denied that there was life after death. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:57.279 In fact, according to one ancient historian, Josephus, he said that the Sadducees said the soul perishes along with the body. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.759 So they denied in, they denied eternal life. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:07.360 They denied, in other words, the doctrines of heaven and hell. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:10.080 They denied the idea of rewards. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:12.639 They didn't believe in the supernatural. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:15.360 They didn't believe in angels or demons. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:24.799 Believe it or not, they actually believed in God, but they said that God created this world and then he just walked away. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:28.720 And so that he is not involved with this world. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:35.200 He is not active in this world, and he doesn't intervene in history or in the affairs of people. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.000 That God completely is a hands-off God. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:42.480 And so there is a God, but he has nothing to do with the created order. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:50.559 And so they gave lip service to being spiritual, but they lived as through and through materialist. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.879 This life is all there is, and so we need to make the most of it. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.879 We need to live to be happy. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:58.720 We need to live for affluence. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:05.120 We need to live to enjoy life and squeeze the most out of it that we possibly can. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.879 And that's the mindset of most in the world today. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:27.919 We can see the arguments of a skeptic, and it's it's fascinating, even seeing, and and you probably encounter this when somebody comes to challenge your faith or ask you about what you believe, and we see this coming through with uh their question and how they ask it. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:34.559 Um often uh use hypothetical situations. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:36.000 You ever notice that? 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:48.639 You know, they'll say, Well, how about, and they come up with the most absurd, ridiculous hypothetical situation that has never happened in the history of the world, but if it did, how would you answer this? 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:52.240 And so they use hypothetical situations. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.879 They they tend to be uh skeptical, uh cynical. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.159 There's often an absurd, cynical edge to their questions. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:04.799 They really don't want an answer, they just want to show you how foolish your beliefs are. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:13.279 One of the tactics that's often used is skeptics often try to use the Bible to disprove the Bible. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:15.200 How often do we find that? 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:19.919 They try to use the Bible to disprove the Bible, and they do that in three ways. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:27.120 Uh, they they do it by misreading the Bible, they will misquote what the Bible says. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:37.679 Uh, often you'll get into discussion with people who claim the Bible says something that it plainly doesn't say, but they will misquote the scripture to try to disprove the scripture. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:42.559 Another thing that they do is they misinterpret the Bible. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:47.759 This is huge today in dealing with a number of issues, but they misinterpret the Bible. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:15:03.279 They don't understand theology and they don't understand the flow of redemptive history, they don't understand what God is doing in different eras of redemptive history, and so they misinterpret the Bible. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:13.519 Uh for instance, uh today it's very popular for people to say uh that uh that we can't believe what the Bible says on moral issues. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:27.519 And uh I'll give you a, for instance, they uh they'll talk about uh the Old Testament in Leviticus, and they'll say, Well, you see, the Bible talks about sexual issues, and the Bible talks about not eating shellfish. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:32.720 And you guys go out to Red Lobster, therefore, the entire Bible's wrong. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:56.480 And so they misinterpret the Bible, not understanding the difference between God's moral law, which is a reflection of his character, and the ceremonial law, which was an illustration of what was to come that Christ fulfilled, but they don't understand the nuances of theology or the Bible, and so they come up with misinterpretations of the Bible to try to disprove it. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:59.759 And then finally, they misapply the Bible. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:05.039 They'll find an absurd application of a biblical teaching in order to disprove the Bible. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:10.960 In fact, there was a book out, I saw the cover of and read a review of uh The Year of Living Biblically. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:22.159 And it was it was a person who for a year tried to apply every uh every application from the Old Testament and the New Testament and live it out. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:32.240 And the intent of it at the end of the day was to write a book to show the absurdity of living biblically and to say that Christians don't really follow their Bibles. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:34.799 And so they misapply the Bible. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.200 And that's what we find here. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:44.159 The Sadducees misread the Bible, they misinterpret the Bible, and they misapply the Bible. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:50.480 Now, let's look for just a moment at what the arguments are in particular. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:57.600 One author described it as uh one bride for seven brothers. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:02.799 And they come up with this argument based on a teaching in the Old Testament. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:09.680 In fact, what they're basing it on is a teaching from the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 25, verses 5 and 6. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:20.400 And there in Deuteronomy it says this if a brother if brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:27.039 Her husband's brother shall go into her and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:35.920 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:48.160 In other words, as one author says, if a woman was child a childless widow, her brother-in-law should marry her for the explicit explicit purpose of producing a son to carry on the family name. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:53.200 This was not practiced at the time that the Sadducees asked it. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:58.000 It wasn't practiced during New Testament times, but it was uh taught in the Old Testament. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:08.000 And so they bring this up, they come up with a hypothetical situation, and they say, Whose wife is she? 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:21.920 And so what they do is they take this teaching from the Old Testament, they come up with an absurd argument that the first couple marries, the husband dies, the second, third, fourth, on to the seventh. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.720 And whose wife is she? 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:29.119 Well, the answer that they're driving at is basically this. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:46.160 Well, obviously, she must be all of them if the Bible is true, but but this contradicts other parts of the Bible, therefore, it is false, and the belief of the resurrection is absurd as well, because you can't even explain how the resurrection works out. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:54.720 Now, I can only imagine they the the Sadducees viewed themselves as the more sophisticated crowd. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:19:11.759 Uh the Pharisees, they were the religious guys, they were the kind of the country bumpkins, we're we're the sophisticated city dwellers, and at this point they view themselves as the big guns, and now they've come in to put Jesus in his place because obviously uh the Pharisees couldn't handle him, but but we're going to. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:17.519 And I can just imagine them giving themselves high fives and patting themselves on the back, thinking, we've won. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:20.480 Yeah, it's kind of like Vikings fans in the first quarter. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:25.680 Um they just think, we've won, we've we've got it, we've got Jesus now. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:32.079 And this is the cynicism of an unbelieving heart. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:38.240 This is the heart of somebody who says, you know what, there's all there is, and I and I will do whatever it takes to prove that. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.640 But Jesus reveals in his answer the hope of every believer. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:53.200 And we need to see what he says, but also behind what he says, to understand that what Jesus says is the best is yet to be. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:59.680 That really is where Jesus is driving at with his refuting of their answer. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:01.200 The best is yet to be. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:03.440 We saw the cynicism of the skeptics. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:06.480 Now look at the hope of our Savior. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:24.400 Mark records something that Luke doesn't, and I love what Mark records, adding to this, as the discussion turns and Jesus begins to answer them, uh, he says something to the Sadducees that really underlies everything that we find here in Luke's gospel. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.480 And he he says this to them. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:32.480 When they ask him this question, Jesus answers, says, Is this not the reason you are wrong? 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.400 Because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:45.279 And Jesus really cuts to the quick and he says, You don't understand scripture and you don't know God, that's why you're thinking how you're thinking. 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:51.279 You don't understand the Bible, you don't have the Holy Spirit. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:59.200 And then Jesus dismantles their arguments by showing that they don't know what the scripture says. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:07.599 And then what they think they know, they interpret wrongly, and what they interpret wrongly they apply foolishly, and that's what we find. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:14.720 This is a really important issue that is brought up here. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.920 Because it cuts to the heart of the gospel. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:25.839 If what they say is proved, then we have no hope. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:38.640 If the Sadducees' arguments are allowed to stand, it undermines not just the idea of marriage and not just the discussion of the resurrection, but really it comes to the heart of the gospel and the hope that we have in Christ. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:43.920 Because what they're attacking is the resurrection, and the resurrection is our hope. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.200 If there's no resurrection, there's no hope. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:51.920 In fact, the apostle Paul says this very thing in 1 Corinthians 15. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.200 Listen to what Paul says, and he puts it very bluntly. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.759 He says, For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:05.519 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:09.119 Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:14.960 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.880 The issue underlying this is the hope of the gospel. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:23.039 It is the hope of Jesus Christ. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:31.680 We believe in Jesus Christ, crucified, dead, buried, and physically resurrected, that He is alive. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:37.839 And if we don't believe in the resurrection, if the resurrection is not true, we have no hope. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:41.920 The resurrection is the power of God. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:50.480 And so Jesus answers this by showing them that they don't understand Scripture or know God. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:54.160 He says, first of all, that there are two distinct ages. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:55.920 Look at what he says in verse 37. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:01.119 He says, the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:09.200 He says, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.279 He says there are two distinct ages. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:14.480 There is this age and there is the age to come. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:24.559 And so what we need to understand is what Jesus is talking about is the ultimate end for which we live. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:26.160 That there are two ages. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:30.640 We are in this present age, and then there is the age to come. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:35.920 And this present age will culminate in the tribulation and the millennium and a final judgment. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:42.880 And after the final judgment comes the eternal state, where the Bible says there is a new heaven and a new earth. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:24:00.960 That heaven and earth are joined together for all of eternity, that God dwells among his people, and that we will be resurrected in our physical bodies, and we will live with God for all of eternity in a recreated heaven and earth. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:07.440 And that is our final hope to be in fellowship with God for all of eternity. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:19.839 But what Jesus tells us is although there are a lot of similarities between this age and the age to come, we need to recognize there are also some differences. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:26.480 And one of the things that Jesus says is that our relationships will be different. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:32.480 He says that we are that marriage is for this age, it is not for the age to come. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:34.720 And he says, we'll be different. 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:36.559 Look at how he describes us. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.160 He says, we'll be different. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:47.599 He says that when we attain to the resurrection of the dead, uh we're they're no longer given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:49.599 We will be immortal. 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:51.599 Death will be no more. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:56.319 There will be no more sickness, sadness, sin, or decay. 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:57.759 Death will be no more. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:24:59.920 We will be immortal. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:05.680 He also says we'll be like the angels, and there could be a lot of ways that he means that. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:07.839 Angels worship God continually. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:09.440 Angels don't sin. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:11.839 Angels are immediately obedient. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:13.920 Angels do not marry. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:16.799 Angels have no offspring. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:29.279 And then he says, we'll be sons of God and sons of the resurrection, that we'll experience the fullness of our relationship with God that we only experience through a glass dimly. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:39.519 Now there's an issue here that I think many of you are probably wondering about. 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:50.480 And so I need to address it, but kind of like a lawyer when he does a sidebar and says, okay, well, this isn't in the flow of the argument, but let's go to the side and we need to address something. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:55.440 And that is how do how do we handle this question of marriage? 00:25:55.599 --> 00:26:05.119 For some people sitting here saying, the love of my life that I've been married to for 40 or 50 or 60 years, when I get to eternity, I'll no longer be married? 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.920 And that is what Jesus is saying here. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:15.839 And for many, uh, that's a very difficult uh question to answer or to realize. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:23.680 And so let me talk a little bit about what the Bible teaches about marriage and the relationship even to this passage. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:28.400 There's a direct relationship between marriage and the resurrection. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:34.240 Marriage is designed to be a living illustration of our relationship with God. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:38.400 Our relationship with God is described as a marriage. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:50.240 In the Old Testament, it says God's people are married to God, and the imagery of marriage is used throughout the Old Testament, and we find that we as God's people are the bride of Christ. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:27:01.680 And so the imagery of marriage is really a reflection of a greater relationship, and that is the relationship between God and his people. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.960 God didn't copy the imagery of marriage. 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:08.720 Marriage was created to illustrate a relationship with God. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:10.240 That is primary. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:14.880 Marriage here is the living illustration of that. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:19.680 We see that in Ephesians 5, 22 to 33, for example. 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:34.000 We also learn here that marriage, it has many purposes, but one of the main purposes is a covenant relationship to perpetuate the human race. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:40.400 In Genesis chapter 1, verse 28, God says, be fruitful and multiply. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:49.279 At the end of the Old Testament, in Malachi chapter 2, we're told that God made them one because he was seeking godly offspring. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:55.359 And so God designed marriage to be the context in which children are brought into the world. 00:27:55.599 --> 00:28:02.400 In this age, we are a race and we perpetuate the human race generation after generation. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:08.240 And so this is one of the foundational purposes of marriage. 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:14.480 It's not the only one, but it is central to God creating marriage in this age. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:22.960 This leads inescapably to the fact that true biblical marriage can only be between a man and a woman. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:26.480 That no other relationship is true marriage according to the Bible. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:34.480 It is a fiction because of the foundational reality of what God intended marriage to be. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:40.720 Well, some might argue that not every married couple can or will have children, and that's very true. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:49.039 Every husband and wife will not have children, but every child has a mother and father. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:52.960 And that is inescapable in this age. 00:28:54.079 --> 00:29:06.960 And so marriage is the covenant community by which those whom God gives children are raised, are brought into this world and raised in a context of security and safety. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:13.200 But individual circumstances don't take away from God's creative design or purpose. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:22.960 One other reality of marriage, as I've mentioned, is marriage is a temporary institution in this age, and some find this unsettling. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:26.160 Jesus says that you will not be married in the eternal state. 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:30.400 In fact, even when we perform weddings, we say, till death do us part. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:41.279 And we recognize that those who are widows or widowers, widowers, are released from that marriage and have a right to remarry in the Lord because of that reality. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:52.559 In this life, marriage is the most intimate personal expression of love that we have. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:30:02.319 It is a relationship and the only relationship where you can share heart, mind, body, and soul with another human being. 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:09.119 But we need to recognize that heaven is not a diminishing of what we find in this world. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:14.480 Heaven in no way is less than what we have here. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:24.799 In fact, in every way, it is not only greater than, it is the superlative reality of everything that we can possibly experience in this life. 00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:43.200 And so in heaven, we we need to recognize that there will be even deeper, more intimate expressions of relationship with one another, not in a sexual way, which is to this age, but in a deeper, more intimate way that we even experience now. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:54.400 And so we will not sense loss in the relationships that we have, but we will experience an even deeper level of relationship. 00:30:54.880 --> 00:31:01.519 In fact, we long for a depth of relationship in this life that we only experience glimpses of, even in the best of marriages. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:04.160 I think if we were honest, we would we would say that. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:09.599 That in those peak moments of experience, we wish that those would be perpetual. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:13.839 And that's a glimpse of something greater that God has for us. 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:20.000 One other sidebar comment, and that is this. 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:26.160 Jesus points out elsewhere that not everyone will get married in this life. 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:38.720 And we need to honor and celebrate singleness in the same way that we do marriage and recognize that singleness is equally a gift from God, just different from marriage. 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:46.880 And that those who are single are complete and whole in themselves in their relationship with Christ. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:52.000 Singleness is not a diminished gift than the gift of marriage is. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:53.279 It's just different. 00:31:53.519 --> 00:32:05.279 And so often in our churches we look at singleness as something to uh to feel sorry for or uh to have pity on or to try to arrange. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:17.359 And God may, for one purpose or another, have called that person and gifted that person to be single for his purpose, for his glory, and we need to honor and celebrate that and recognize that. 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:27.359 And in the eternal state, we will all have experience and the same depth of relationship as every other person who knows Christ. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:34.000 The entire Bible, even this sidebar, points to the hope of the resurrection. 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:47.200 He says, You claim to believe Moses, but you really don't read the Bible well, because if you did, you'd recognize that Moses talked about the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and he's not the God of the living. 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:49.759 He's not the God of the dead, excuse me. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:51.200 He is the God of the living. 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:55.759 And they are all alive right now, and they live before God. 00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:21.680 And for those of us, when we die, if we die before the Lord returns, our hope is in the reality that when we die, we go to be with the Lord, and that when Christ returns, the dead in Christ will be raised, and those who are alive will be caught up together in the air, and we will worship Him forever and ever in a relationship that goes beyond the ability for us to even understand and fully comprehend. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:26.319 And that is the hope of the resurrection that we have. 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:30.400 And there's only two ways that we live our lives. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:41.759 We can live our lives for this life only and say you only live once, and so you better squeeze the most out of it that you can because you only go around once, and when it's over, it's over. 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:59.759 Or maybe we should change the letters and say you live only once, but you live for eternity, and everything you do now counts for eternity, and so recognize that every moment counts, but it's not just for the here and now. 00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:26.960 Those who have been made worthy by Christ, who've come into a relationship with Christ, our eyes don't just see the horizontal, we see the vertical, we don't just see the temporal, we see the eternal, and we have a hope, and our hope is in Christ who rose from the dead, who is the first fruits of our resurrection, and we too one day will rise, and that is the hope of the gospel of Christ. 00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:32.480 You only live once, make it count for eternity. 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:34.880 Don't live for the here and now. 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:38.159 Live for eternity because the best is yet to be. 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:39.360 Let's pray.