The lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20, verses 27 through
38. And the lesson is again concerning
men who were opposed to Christ, who wanted Him out of the picture.
They can't operate in false religion with the true and living God
as He's revealed in Christ. Christ is a, what did they call Him? He's
the stone disallowed, disallowed. He didn't fit in their temple. And yet He's the head of the
corner of the temple of God. This is again concerning men
who were opposed to Christ. They wanted him out of the picture,
but even in the midst of confrontation with these Sadducees, these ungodly
men, men who were contrary to Christ, even in the midst of
that, he had a following who were looking on, and he leaves
them some sweet honey of grace. even in his answer to those Sadducees. The title of the study this morning
is Children of the Resurrection. So let's read these verses together. Luke chapter 20, verse 27. Then came to him certain of the
Sadducees which deny that there's any resurrection. And they asked
him, saying, Master, 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. There
were, therefore, seven brethren, and the first took a wife and
died without children. And the second took her to wife,
and he died childless. The same took her, 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,
whose wife of them is she? For seven had her to wife. 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, that world where men and women
are raised in the resurrection, that promised world. that holy
world. 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 any more, for they are equal unto the angels, and are the
children of God, being the children of the resurrection. 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 the God of the
dead, but of the living, for all live unto him. Now, if we consider these verses
we've just read, we read these verses, I don't know what's on
your mind this morning or how you're looking at these verses.
But if you consider these verses in the time and circumstance,
these things are one of a kind. There are one of a kind, certain
men at a particular time coming to Christ, doing what God's hand
and God's eternal counsel determined before to be done. And these
enemies of God will look on him in judgment in that day. They'll
see him whom they have pierced. And every man, every woman who
has set themselves against Christ and his gospel will one day stand
before the one they despised and be judged by him. So if I
consider these things as they're written concerning the Sadducees
and concerning Christ and concerning that group that followed him,
it's a one of a kind. This happened once. He died once.
He suffered once. But if I consider these things
in the light of the gospel of Christ, then I see that all the
principalities and powers then present are active right now.
And they're in every age from that day to this, and in every
circumstance. What are you saying? I'm saying
don't write these things off to ancient history. They have
an application. Current, and that application
is to all who read. So don't write these things off
to ancient history. They're as current as this morning's
sunrise. And every natural man would like
to disprove the very existence of God except as some sensual,
some imaginary influence whose only purpose is to bless and
make men happy. When this world talks about God,
that's how they like to talk about Him. Somebody dies. He could have
been the biggest rebel that ever lived, and he died. And said,
well, he's better off now. Really? Jesus of Nazareth is God. manifest in the flesh. This was
God standing before these Sadducees. And these men in their rebellion and unbelief and ignorance
approach Him as though He was a mere man. And men's gods, they're
not much higher than them, if any. That man always pictures
himself above his God. He's letting his God. Won't you
let Jesus come in you? Huh? You're going to let God? Paul said, you'll say unto me,
if God does all his will and is never challenged, why doth
he yet find fault? And then you remember what he
says? Who art thou, O man, that replies against God? This was
God. God come into the flesh. And
God is spirit. What's that mean? Well, number
one, it means he's invisible. They couldn't see God in God.
They were standing there looking at Christ, who was God manifested
in the flesh, and they saw no God. All they saw was a man. He's an invisible spirit. It
says in Colossians 115 that Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, is the
image of the invisible God. The firstborn of every created
thing. And those who preach the gospel
preach the person of Christ who is the gospel. And if Jesus of
Nazareth had gone along with the religion of this world, they
would have coddled Him, promoted Him, exalted Him, and worshipped
Him. The religion of our day is a
religion of a compromised Christ. That's what it is. And He's willing
to bend, He's willing to ignore ungodliness, ignore ignorance,
and ignore lies. He's like a jolly old Santa Claus
that loves and gives and blesses no matter who you are or what
you've done. And the religion of this world is called anti-Christ. It's against Christ. It's contrary
to Christ. Were Jesus Christ to appear today
and walk into any of today's organized churches, denominational
assemblies, he'd be treated as an imposter just as he was in
the days of the Jews. He wouldn't fit. He wouldn't
fit. He'd be treated as a false prophet
and as an enemy of their so-called God. Nothing has changed. Men and women are the same. Sin
is the same. Truth is the same. God is the
same. Everything's the same. And be
careful how you read and hear the Word of God. The Bible is
a hymn book. It's about Christ. It's about
H-I-M. So what is this all about, these
Sadducees coming hymn? Well, the first thing we're confronted
with here is religious infidels. They're infidels. Just as we
have sects of religion now, they had them then. And the Sadducees
were a people, chiefly motivated. I was kind of surprised when
I started studying about the Sadducees. I don't know that
I've ever just sat down and looked in. I mean, I know that they
didn't believe in the resurrection, but there was a whole lot more
they didn't believe in. And there's a reason for it.
The Sadducees were a people chiefly motivated by power and wealth.
They were so radically opposed to the Pharisees and their doctrine. And the Pharisees would cut off
anybody who wasn't in agreement with them over doctrine. But
they didn't cut off the Sadducees. Why? Because they had money.
They had wealth. They had station in this world. They was respected, and so they
wouldn't cut them off. But their focus was upon that
short time that they lived here in this world. They went into the Scriptures,
just like most folks do, with a preconceived notion of how
things are, and they interpreted the Word of God according to
that, and ignored all the other parts. They found a few things
that seemed to justify what they believed, and they built a whole
doctrine on it. Over in Acts 23 and verse 8,
Luke writes this, For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection. They deny the resurrection. If
you read 1 Corinthians 1 chapter 15, You'll find Paul deals with
that all through the first part. If there is no resurrection,
then your faith is in vain. Christ was an imposter and a
liar. All the prophets lied. Those who went to sleep had no
hope. The Sadducees say there is no
resurrection. Now watch this. Neither angel,
there are no angels, If there's no angels, then there's no Satan.
He's a fallen angel. There is no angel. There's no
Michael. There's no ministers of God.
That's what the angels are, aren't they? They sent forth to minister
to those who shall be heirs of salvation. They say there is
no resurrection. There is no angel. Now watch
this. There's no spirit. Boy, that's dangerous, ain't
it? No spirit. The Sadducees did not believe
in the eternality of the soul. They lived in this short span
that we call life here, and they died like a beast. When they
did, they did. There's no judgment, there's
no future, there's no nothing. They lived for the day. Turn with me over to Mark chapter
12. This is Mark's account of this
confrontation of the Sadducees. And in this confrontation, our
Lord gives us two things, two reasons that men and women stand
in opposition to the truth. Mark chapter 12, verse 24. In answer to the Sadducees' question,
concerning marriage in heaven. And Jesus answering them said
unto them, Do you not therefore err because... Here's why you err. You know
not the Scriptures. Boy, they could quote huge chunks
of Scriptures. And our Lord said, you know not
the Scriptures. Neither the power of God. Ignorance of spiritual
truth has a two-fold source. Ignorance of the Word of God
and ignorance of the power of God. Now, let's just consider these
two things for a minute. Let's consider, first of all,
ignorance of the Scriptures. These men were well-versed in
the law and the prophets. And they often, as they did here,
quoted from it. They quoted exactly what Moses
said. They quoted from the Bible. Now
I have no doubt they could give you a chronological account of
creation. They could give you a chronological
account of Israel, where they came from, beginning with Abraham,
all down through the time. I know they could do that. They
could tell you every story. I'm going to preach a little
bit later on this morning, Lord willing, on the man Samson. And
I can tell you all about Samson. I can tell you who his parents
were. They were well versed in the Law and the Prophets. But
they were ignorant of the meaning and message of the Word of God.
Go into any church up and down the land, any one of them, you're
going to hear the Word of God quoted. But they were ignorant of the
meaning and message of the Word of God. The Bible is a book of
redemption. Redemption in Christ. It's a book declaring the glory
of God and the salvation of a people through His Son, Jesus Christ. After His death, you remember
the disciples were walking along the road to Emmaus. They were
so ignorant of the resurrection. Even though He told them so many
times plainly, I'm going to go to Jerusalem, and they're going
to put me to death in Jerusalem. And I'm going to be in the grave
three days. And then I'm going to rise from the dead. And they're
still ignorant of those things that He declared so plainly.
And after His death, they were despondent, and all their hopes
and dreams were crushed when their Savior died on the cross.
What our resurrected Lord tells them? Old fools and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have written about me. They were ignorant of the Word
of God. Now those men were Jews. They
were raised hearing the Scriptures read. And they could give you
the genealogies, they could tell you All the laws, the sacrifices,
the ceremonies, what day this happened, what day the feasts
were, they could tell you all those things. But our Lord said,
you slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things and entered into
His glory? You missed that part. You used to worry about that
lamb you was going to bring or that dove you was going to buy.
You missed the part about Christ and His resurrection and His
entering into His glory. And beginning at Moses, Luke
24, 27. Beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, He expounded unto them and all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself. To have a knowledge of the Scriptures,
you have to have a knowledge of Christ. That He was promised from the
beginning. But there's no hope apart from
Him. He took our fallen parents into
the garden and offered a lamb on an altar and clothed them
with His skin. Gave them the first promise of
the gospel, the woman's seed. And then when He vanished from
them, They looked at each other and said, didn't our hearts burn
within us? As we walked along the way and
he talked to us about these things and opened to us the Scriptures. The infidels are men and women
ignorant of the message of Holy Scripture. Our Lord said to the
Pharisees, you search the Scriptures. I'm telling you, the Scriptures
was a big deal to them. When the scribes transcribed
the scriptures, when they wrote the name Jehovah, in any of its
various forms, when they wrote that name, they took the pen
through the way. They would get a new pen each
time, and they'd transcribe the scriptures. They had a reverence
for the Word of God, but they didn't understand what it said. He said, you search the Scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they
that testify of me. But you will not come unto me,
that you might have life. You'll go to the law, you'll
go to the genealogies, you'll go to the ceremonies and sacrifices,
but you won't come to me. Religious infidelity is the reason
for all the ignorance in this world. And their infidelity stems
from an ignorance of the Scriptures. And then secondly, he tells us
this. Their ignorance arises from an ignorance of the power
of God. Now the power of God, if you go through the Scriptures,
it can be traced in the Word of God to mean three things. And from an ignorance. Of these
three things comes our false ideas about spiritual things. Number one is an ignorance of
God's sovereignty. God's sovereign. What's that
mean? That means He has authority over everything that is. Number two is the omnipotence
of God. God is almighty. Men wouldn't
talk the way they talk about men concerning God if they knew
anything at all about God's almightiness. He's almighty. They talk about
resisting God. You can't resist God. He's almighty. He does what He will, when He
will, to whom He will, how He will. It's an ignorance of God's almightiness. He's almighty. None can stay
His hand. What's that mean? That means
none can resist Him. He does what He will. He doeth
according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or even
question what He does. It's an almighty voice that brought
creation into being, is it not? There was nothing here, nothing
to work with. It was a void. It was empty. It was a vacuum. Faith understands that the things
that you see were made from things not existing, things not seeing. Well, what brought it into being?
An almighty voice. Well, what brings that new creation
into being? An almighty voice. You got to
hear Him speak. Men are ignorant of the all-mightiness
of God. And then thirdly, and more to
the point of our text, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel. Why? How can that be? Because God
willed it to be so. That's why. That's why. Somebody told me one time, well,
God can save men any way He wants to. He sure can. How did he want
to? Tell me that. How did God want to? It pleased
God through the foolishness of preaching to save them to believe.
That's how he wants to. And how he wants to is how it's
going to be done. Oh, my soul. God's power is manifested
in his gospel. It's the continual exercise of
his sovereign purpose and will to save sinners through the preaching
of the gospel. The power of God, Paul says. It is the result of his omnipotent
power displayed continually in the preaching of his gospel. Do you think the Romans wanted
the gospel to be preached to them? Let me get past that. Do you think that the Roman leaders
and royalty and those who held title and authority in Rome wanted
the gospel to come to them? But God had them to imprison
His saint, and His saint came right up before them and preached
the gospel to them. Did he not? Sure he did. And that's why Paul said he was
captive by Rome, to bring the gospel to him. What about his providence? What about his inward working
of grace? Is that not the power of God? And how about in the giving and
the receiving? of the gift of faith. All right, let's look at a more
positive thing than merely exposing these religious infidels. Our
Lord always had sweet and precious things for those that believed
in him and followed him. And while it had no effect whatsoever
on the Sadducees, it must have had a great effect on those who
were watching. While he left these gainsayers
speechless, he says this in his comments, there are some worthy
to obtain that world, that world to come. Some are worthy. And
that all God's children are children of God and children, now listen,
of the resurrection. Luke 20, 35 through 36. And nobody
shall enter into glory who's not worthy. He's going to say unto you, this
is what our Lord said, He's going to say unto you in that day,
Well done, thy good and faithful servant. That sounds worthy to
me, don't it to you? God's sovereign What constitutes
our worthiness into glory? What's your hope? When you leave
this world, what's your hope of entering into glory? You have
to be worthy, you don't say that, but some are. So what constitutes
that worthiness? Is it your attitudes? Is it the
deeds that you've done? What constitutes that worthiness
to enter into glory? Four things. First of all, God's
sovereign, eternal election of grace. I don't know of a more plain
verse of Scripture in the Bible than this, in Revelation chapter
20, verse 15. He said, and whosoever, now listen
to this, and whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire. I don't care what they did. I
don't care what they said. I don't care how they lived. Whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Why? Because
he has a people that he chose and put in Christ and provision
was made for them in Christ and nobody else. Nobody else. He's going to save them. And
every man and woman in the world shall follow after the beast
of false religion and wonder They're just going to wander.
You ever seen religious people? They're just filled full of wonder.
And there's nothing there but lies. Nothing there but falsehood. Just a pipe dream. A mirage. But they're filled with wonder.
And they're going to follow after the beast and wonder whose names
are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the
world. Revelation 17. In verse 8. And then a similar passage over
in Revelation 13. Their names are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life, slain before the foundation of the world.
And their worthiness is plainly declared over in Romans 8, verses
28 through 30. Whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, him he also called. Huh? And whom he called,
what did he do? He justified. He justified. The second thing that constitutes
our worthiness is the blood of Christ. By his own blood, he
entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption Now you can argue and argue and argue, it's not
the blood but the life that he gave and on and on and on it
goes. You better not think too softly about the blood. He's
pretty plain when it comes to the blood of Christ. The life
of the flesh, he said, is in the blood. And I've given it
to you upon the altar to make propitiation or make atonement
for your soul. He says in Ephesians 1 and verse
7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins. Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. What's
that talking about? That's talking about being satisfied
that the blood had the value to redeem your soul. The second thing constitutes
our worthiness is the blood of Christ. And then thirdly, our
worthiness is declared in the righteousness. The righteousness
of God. God's people are made the righteousness
of God in Christ. And therefore, He's the end of
the life. He's the end of life. The righteousness. And then lastly, we're counted
worthy to obtain that world to come by regenerating work of
God in us. You hath he quickened who were
dead. You were dead in trespasses and
sins. You didn't know anything. You
didn't have anything. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but incorruptible by the word of God. And this is the
word which by the gospel is preached unto you, where in Christ made
partakers, he said, of the divine nature, partakers of His attitude
and spirit, His worthiness, His faithfulness, His righteousness,
chosen in Him that we might be holy and without blame before
Him being loved. And the mystery of God, hidden
from all ages and generations, but now made manifest to His
saints, is Christ in you. What's my hope? Christ in me. That's the hope of glory. And all this, I'd add one more
thing. A divine resurrection. A final
raising of God's saints. The dead shall be raised incorruptible. Death swallowed up in victory.
Sinners saved to sin no more. Saved to sin no more. That's
what the old hymn writer wrote, isn't it? To all the ransomed souls of
God, be saved to sin no more. Alright, thank you.