This World, That World

Q: What does the Bible say about resurrection?

The Bible clearly affirms the resurrection of the dead, as seen in Job and Isaiah, and emphasized by Jesus in Luke 20. The Bible presents the resurrection as a core doctrine, revealed throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Job, for instance, expresses assured hope in his resurrection, stating, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth... yet in my flesh shall I see God' (Job 19:25-27). The prophet Isaiah reinforces this truth by proclaiming, 'Thy dead men shall live...' (Isaiah 26:19). In the New Testament, Jesus confirms the reality of resurrection when responding to the Sadducees in Luke 20, demonstrating that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, affirming that all who have died in faith live unto Him.

Q: How do we know that Christ's resurrection is true?

Christ's resurrection is affirmed in Scripture and is the foundation of Christian hope, evidenced by His victory over death. The truth of Christ's resurrection is substantiated through various scriptural accounts, including the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. In Luke 20, He points out that God is the God of the living, emphasizing that those who have passed away in faith, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are alive in Him. Additionally, the reality of resurrection life hinges on Christ's own resurrection, which fulfills the promise of eternal life for all who believe. This truth reinforces that just as Christ rose from the dead, believers will also be raised, which Paul elaborates on in 1 Corinthians 15, describing it as the 'first fruits' of those who have fallen asleep.

Q: Why is understanding the resurrection important for Christians?

Understanding the resurrection is crucial because it assures Christians of eternal life and the defeat of sin and death. Understanding the resurrection is vital for Christians as it encapsulates the hope of eternal life and the ultimate victory over sin and death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not only a historical event but a theological cornerstone that assures believers that they too will participate in eternal life. As Paul writes, 'If Christ is not raised, your faith is futile' (1 Corinthians 15:17). This hope motivates Christians to live righteously, looking forward to the world to come where sin and death cannot enter. The resurrection empowers believers to proclaim the gospel with confidence, knowing that Christ has conquered the grave. Thus, it is more than knowledge; it is transformative for one's faith and practice.

going to be in Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20. Now our Lord had just soundly broken the snare that the Pharisees and the Herodians tried to lay for him. And we're told in verse 27, Luke 20, 27, Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, this is a different sect of the religious Jews, certain of the Sadducees which deny that there is any resurrection.

And these came with a question themselves. They had a question they thought was good, a question that probably had stumped the Pharisees and the scribes for some time, and that they couldn't figure out. And so they had this question. They thought, well, they couldn't do it, but our question will get them. We'll get them with our question.

Now, the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, They got this doctrine from man. This is a man-made doctrine. There's nothing scriptural about their stance, about what they believe. This is from men, and it's of the spirit of this world, and it's a corrupt doctrine. It's a lying, deceitful doctrine. that deceives men's souls because it signifies that there's no God to stand before when you die, that there's no judgment, that there's nothing, no one to give an account to of the things that are done here in this world, right?

It just negates all of that and it just puts an emphasis on what you have in this world is indicative of the blessings that God has given you. And it deceives men because men think that, well, if I'm doing well in this life, I must be a good person, which is a wicked doctrine that is prominent in our day.

But the Old Testament scriptures do indeed declare that there is a resurrection. Job, for example, Job said in Job 19, 25 through 27, he said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, at whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me." And so he's saying, though I return to the dust, I know that I shall live again. I shall be raised from the dead to see my Redeemer. The prophet Isaiah also said in Isaiah 26, verse 19, thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, this is an encouraging thing, awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

And so these Sadducees come to the Lord. And just like the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians before them, they didn't come with a question born out of sincerity. They came to try and trip him up. They wanted to teach him something. They weren't there to learn anything. They wanted to show him. And so this is how they came. These came with a covetousness in their hearts, seeking their own glory, not the glory of God, seeking their own glory.

And so they heard what the Lord did to the others, the Pharisees and the Herodians, and they came with their best question. Someone described it as a naughty question. I think it was Gil who said it was a naughty question, meaning that it was very hard to untie for men. It had tricks and pitfalls in it, and you try and untie it, and you're going to fall off one way or the other. And so they thought this was a good question that's impossible to be answered by those who believe that there is a resurrection. who know that there's a resurrection. Now here's their question in Luke 20 verse 28 through 33.

They came saying, Moses wrote unto us, if any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. So if a man married a woman and they had no children, his brother was to marry her and try to have children, first to raise up seed to his brother, and then his own. Therefore, since he didn't have any children, there were therefore seven brethren, a full number, a complete number of men, and the first took a wife and died without children, and the second took her to wife and died childless, and the third took her, and in like manner the seven also, and they left no children and died. Last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, and if there is a resurrection, whose wife of them is she? For seven had her to wife."

Now, in every age, we know that there are men, in every generation, there are men who come seeking not to make plain the Word of God, but seek to complicate it and make it dark and impossible to understand. They hide behind religion, and they hide behind the form of religion, and they make things sound very complex. I remember in a number of jobs that I had previous to being called as a pastor, in places that I worked, there were men who had knowledge of certain things, and they were very careful not to share that knowledge with anybody. And the reason why is that they were jealous.

They wanted to make sure that they had a job and that no one could take that job from them because nobody knew what he did. They knew he did something, but they didn't want to get rid of him because nobody knew what he did. Nobody was trained on it. Nobody understood. They didn't understand that if you train somebody with your knowledge, then you can go on to better things. But they're always so worried, so worried about everybody else knowing these things.

These men made it very dark, very obscure, not plain and simple at all. And the word of God does tell us that there's a mystery of God. There is a mystery of God. Sometimes it's called the mystery of Christ. But the reason why it's a mystery to us, the reason why it's unknown to man, is because of the fall of Adam.

Because we are born of corrupt seed. We are born dead in trespasses and sins. And so through our rebellion in Adam, We are in darkness. We're spiritually dead. We don't know the things of God. We listen to the spirit of this world. We go the course of this world in ignorance and in darkness. When Adam rebelled against God, we rebelled against God.

And that comes from when he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that fruit that the Lord told him, commanded him not to eat of. And as soon as he did, he died just as the Lord said, in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. Sin and death entered into the world and he immediately died spiritually. So that when he heard the voice of God walking in the garden, he heard an enemy and he fled from him. He ran from him. He didn't run up to God and say, Lord, I've sinned. Lord, have mercy on me. I've ruined everything. I did exactly what you said not to do. No, he heard him, and he ran and hid himself among the trees. That's our nature.

That's why things are dark to us, and we don't understand the things of God, because we're all born of Adam's corrupt seed. And we need to be quickened, made alive, given spiritual life. a spiritual birth. We need the Spirit of God. We need His grace and mercy and power to do for us, to take us out of that death and out of that darkness, to give us light and life and liberty and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. He must do that.

Peter tells us, he describes it this way, to you that believe, being born again. That's what he says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, that seed of corrupt Adam, his corrupt seed, which we were all born of, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And so it is God's good pleasure to make known to you who believe Christ, you who trust Him for all your righteousness, it pleases Him to make known this mystery to you, to simplify it, to make it easy to understand. to not be complex anymore, to not look to men in effeminate robes and silly robes and the silly form of religion and the smell of incense and things like that, where we think it's all complicated and I don't understand it. Well, of course, it's all a lie. It's all darkness. That's why when you look at the big form of religion, we don't understand it, because that's what it's meant to be. It's just darkness. It's men's thoughts, and it's not Christ.

It is God's good pleasure to make known to us salvation in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in Ephesians 1, verse 7 through 9, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself." To understand the mysteries of God, the deep mysteries of God, the not so deep, whatever you think of them, to understand the Lord, you need only look to the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's the key to everything. He that hath the Son hath life. You have everything in the Son. When you understand Christ, when you look to Him, you understand this whole word is declaring Christ to you. It speaks of Him. It tells you everything you need to know in the face of Jesus Christ. All that you need.

I love that scripture at the end of Luke 24, verse 45, when it says, of our Lord, then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. He's the one who gives us understanding. He is the understanding of God. He's the wisdom of God, made unto us the wisdom of God. He's everything to us. And so he's our great shepherd, and he's pleased to make known to us the Father, to reveal the Father to us, to reveal God to us. Now, the Sadducees, they sought to weaken the faith of the people by attacking this doctrine of the resurrection. Their chief goal in this was to turn men from Christ.

And that's how you know a doctrine is false. Any doctrine that turns you from Christ to look to this man over here, to look to self, to look to this word and trying to fix yourself by the things you do, that's turning you away from Christ. Anyone that turns you away from Christ is a false prophet. He's a liar and a deceiver. Don't listen to him. Look to Christ. He gives you and tells you everything you need to know.

Now, the reality is this woman's marital status has no bearing on the resurrection. It has nothing to do with whether there's a resurrection or not. The fact that she's married has no point to it, and the Lord does make that clear. Our Lord says, he begins to teach them in verses 34 and 35, And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage. But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage.

There's many good things that arise in this world through marriage. There's a lot of good in this world because of marriage. If you think about it, if you stop and think about it, and you think about it today and throughout the week, you'll discern that there's much good done in this world because of marriage between a husband and a wife. There is a lot of good. If you think about it, there is a lot of good because of marriage.

The Lord, our God, said himself, it is not good that a man should be alone, that the man should be alone. I will make him and help me for him. And so, you men, you think about it. You think about this. When you're young, think about when the Lord gave you a wife. How did that change you? That had an impact on you. It matures you. It grows you up. It starts to make you think, finally, about another person.

Otherwise, we just go through this life thinking of ourselves. And we can be very harsh, very mean, very cold, very indifferent in a lot of ways. And the wife, oftentimes, has a way of just just her whole being, to make you realize, why am I just so hard? And she's delicate, and she'll say things that make you realize how hard you're being, how difficult you're being, how crass you're being. She has a way of doing that to a man. It does.

It does have an impact on men. Then add to that children. And now you've added a whole thing to the men and the women, because I've seen women that think about this world a certain way, its function, its politics, its this and that, and as soon as they have children, their whole thought about the world changes. becomes very different for her and the husband. Because now, as a provider, as a man, you're thinking of your wife and her needs, and she's letting you know her needs, and their valid needs, and then you have children and their needs, right? And so it starts to affect you in a way that changes very much how we go through this life. It does have positive impacts.

If there was no marriage, I think things would be very different. It would be very different in this world as a whole, you know, if you think about it in that sense. And so, I mean, I started to think about the chaos that would be in this world without marriage. And if you just think about how it does just calm people down and make people mindful, that they otherwise would not be mindful of certain things. And so it has a stabilizing force in the world, and just stabilizing, just calming things down and making people function in a way where they're being a little more thoughtful, Because if I do this, then that's going to impact them, whom I love and care for and provide for. It just has that effect. I'm reminded of, well, I think this world would be much more rapidly destroyed had there not been the solemnity of marriage, in that sense. It would be more rapidly destroyed.

And I'm reminded of Peter's words which said in 2 Peter 3, 9, concerning the salvation of the elect of God, he said, the Lord's not slack concerning his promise. As some men count slackness, but as longsuffering to us word, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so for God to bear with the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. As he's patiently bringing about the vessels of mercy to whom he intends to be merciful to, marriage has been a wise and good thing for him to put in the world to just slow it down. When you think about the Lord destroying nations as they fill up that cup of wrath, again, if men are just living how men would live without any thought or care, that cup would fill up really fast and we'd be destroyed. But it just tempers it, it just slows it down while he's bringing his people into the world.

Now my point in saying that, in emphasizing it, my point is that this world requires marriage. It does require marriage. But in that light, in the light of the usefulness of marriage here in this world, is it needed in that world which is to come? Would it have its same utility and purpose in that world? where we are transformed in the image of Christ and made like unto Christ. It doesn't have that same need or necessity there.

Look again at verse 34 through 36. Jesus answering said unto them, the children of this world marry and are given a marriage, 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 the children of the resurrection." And so in light of all that we've considered, sin and death has entered into this world, but not into that world. It's very different. That world is very different from this world, where sin and death are present.

And the Lord has given us good things to slow it down, to slow down the progression of sin. It's just what he's done. It's what he's done. And so, even though I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Yet we which have the Spirit of God given to us understand that we are made new creatures in Christ, and that everything we are and shall be in the Lord Jesus Christ is very different in that world than the world that we know here, with all its chaos and sin and trespasses and transgressions. It's just the iniquity of this world is abundant. And so John tells us, beloved, now are we the sons of God.

And it doth 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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. Our Lord gives us that life and that light and that hope in him. And we're looking unto that day, that world, in which everything that we know here shall be left behind and forgotten for a better place, with a better view. And it's just everything.

So our Lord. teaches us that about marriage just through his scriptures, and the goodness there, and the attitude we should have toward marriage. But here, our Lord turns our attention to that world, which is to come, in the sense that, well, wait a minute, how might I be a partaker of that world? Because he speaks of they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world. With the suggestion that, will I come short of that? There's some difficulty in obtaining that world. How will I get to that world? Will I come short of it? Lord, what are you talking about here? What should I be thinking about that world?

Well, those who are counted worthy of that world, of that world, You are made worthy, you are made so by the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks these words, that world which is to come is spoken of here to set your eyes not on yourself, not on the things of this world, not on the death of this world, but on the Lord Jesus Christ who himself by his blood and his righteousness and his faithfulness makes us fit for that world. makes us worthy, whether you're married or not, whatever you are in this world, it is Christ Jesus alone who makes a man, woman, or child fit for that world.

He does that. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it's to turn our attention upon the Son of God who came in the likeness of the sinful flesh, yet without sin, and showed himself faithful in all things unto the Father, speaking the words of the Father, doing the works that the Father sent him to do, showing himself to be the Lamb of God. and going to that cross willingly as the substitute of his people, standing in their place, bearing their punishment, bearing their sins and the wrath of God for them.

And he paid that just punishment that we owed as our surety. He settled the debt. He satisfied the justice of holy God for his people so that, brethren, there's not a drop of wrath left for us to drink. He drank it dry. He finished the work perfectly.

And so the scriptures tell us that the wages of sin, that which we earn, what we deserve, is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 6.23. And so you're not gonna obtain this goodness of God, that world which is to come, you're not gonna merit it by your works, by any imagined goodness of yourself, We don't earn that world.

The Lord Jesus Christ has earned it for his people. He's obtained it for his people. Look to him. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. All who look to him and trust him by his grace and power, they are worthy of that life through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It comes by him, brethren. this same Jesus, our Lord here, and he spoke also of these things over in John chapter five, turn over there, go to John chapter five, and he speaks of the resurrection in this chapter as well. John five, and we'll look at verse 24, that's where we'll pick up. John 5, 24, verily, verily, Our Lord is teaching the Jews here. I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath, right now, present tense, everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.

And what the Lord teaches us through the gospel in his scriptures is that through faith we are counted worthy of that world. of that world which is to come, all on account of Christ. And even the faith by which we believe Christ is the gift of God. It's given to us as part of his resurrection gifts, whereby we may know him who loved us and gave himself for us. That we may know and understand what he did for us to make this not a mystery anymore, but understood that it's all because of him. It's all because of his merit.

Verily, verily, verse 25, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Now, the dead he's speaking of here in this verse are those that are spiritually dead. There was a day, you that believe Christ now, today, there was a day in which you were dead in trespasses and sins, spiritually dead.

And one day, you heard the word. You heard the word of God. You heard the Lord Jesus Christ, through the gospel, speak to you. And he gave you life. So you heard him effectually by faith and believed. One moment, you didn't believe. The next moment, by his grace and power, you believed. And you were alive, because he did that. He gave that to you.

This is the first resurrection. That is the first resurrection. You that believe Christ are partakers of the first resurrection. And you have nothing to fear about the second death. The second death being when you lay this body down in the dust. The first death is what we're born into, born dead in trespasses and sins.

That second death, when I die and go to stand before God in judgment by his grace and power, I stand in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, not my own righteousness according to what I've done, but according to him and what he's done, and are received and accepted of God based on the merits of Christ Jesus, the Son of God. whom the Father sent to save his people from their sins.

He's done it all. For as the Father, he says, verse 26, hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. He came for this very purpose. And because our Lord has done this for us, for whom he died, verse 28 and 29, he says, don't marvel at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear. Even those that are in the graves, they shall hear his voice and shall come forth that they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.

The good that he speaks of is that work which he works in you. That's the good, that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives that. He gives that work in you. That's the good work that we do. It's Christ, Christ in you, the hope of glory. He's all our goodness and all our hope. To deny him, to not believe him, that's the evil. That's evil. That's just what a man does when he's left in his own works, in his own flesh, left in deadness and in darkness.

And so these things, brethren, are absolutely certain. There is a resurrection. There's a resurrection from spiritual death, and there is a resurrection from the dead out of the grave. The Lord has spoken it, and it is so. by his grace and power. We hear him.

Now the Sadducees, they were deceivers and liars, and they were putting away, trying to hide these things from the people. But there's nothing that they could say. There was nothing good that they had to say. And our Lord said this, just to clarify everything once and for all for them. If I understand correctly, they, read only the books of Moses. I believe that's what they looked at. And they didn't think that Moses spoke of these things.

But our Lord shows, oh, yes, he did. He did indeed speak of the resurrection. The man that you think didn't, he does speak of the resurrection. He speaks of Christ, who is the resurrection and the life. He saw Christ and wrote of him. He spoke of him. You see it right from the very first chapter of the book. It's all Christ. It's all speaking of him.

Now he said, now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush when he calleth the Lord, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, for he is not a God of the dead, but of the living for all live unto him. All right, why would God harken back to him and refer to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if he was their God. Because they're dead. They're in the cave, Machpelah. They're just dust. They were, right?

He was their God. Oh no, He is their God because they are alive. They live with Him. They're in the presence of Almighty God and all who have gone before us, all who love the Lord and are called of Him are in the presence of Almighty God right now. Beholding Him, in fellowship with Him, in glory, in everlasting peace and comfort and joy in the presence of the Lord.

And so our Lord, he makes known, see how he just makes things simple. He took that naughty question and just unraveled it and showed it to be no hard thing at all. Nothing hard at all. In fact, it says there, verse 39, then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said. You did solve the riddle for us that we couldn't even solve. You spoke the truth there, Lord. And after that, they durst not ask him any question at all, because he settled the matter that he is indeed the Christ. the Savior of God's people. He's Lord and Christ. I pray the Lord bless that word.

This World, That World

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What does the Bible say about resurrection?

How do we know that Christ's resurrection is true?

Why is understanding the resurrection important for Christians?

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This World, That World

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about resurrection?

How do we know that Christ's resurrection is true?

Why is understanding the resurrection important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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