Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Neibert. Mark chapter 12, verse 18, we
read, Then came unto him the Sadducees, which say, There is
no resurrection. And they asked him, saying, Master,
Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die and leave his wife
behind and leave no children, then his brother should take
his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven
brethren, and the first took a wife and dying, left no seed,
and the second took her and died, neither left he any seed, and
the third likewise. And the seven had her and left
no seed. Last of all, the woman died in
the resurrection therefore." Now remember, they didn't believe
in the resurrection. They're trying to trip up the
Lord. In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife
shall she be of them? For the seven had her wife. And
Jesus answering said unto them, do you not therefore err? Not knowing the scripture, nor
the power of God. I've entitled this message, The
Essence of Erring. He said to these people who had
made this hypothetical situation, do you not therefore err not
knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God? Those are the two
things they are ignorant of, the scriptures and the power
of God. And that's what brought upon
this erring. He goes on to say in verse 25,
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 rise, have you not read in the book of Moses? Well, of
course they had read this. I love it when the Lord says
this to them though. Have you never read this? They
obviously didn't have any understanding of the scriptures. He said, have
you not read in the book of Moses how in the bush, speaking of
that burning bush where God appeared to Moses in Exodus chapter three,
God spake unto him saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he doesn't speak of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob as dead, but as living. And then he says,
he is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You
therefore do greatly err. the essence of erring. Now, as
I said, this is the Lord's answer to this foolish hypothetical
situation brought up by the Sadducees. Now, to err is to go astray. It's to be deceived. It's to
wander off. And the Lord tells these Sadducees
You've been deceived, you've erred, you've wandered off for
this reason. You do not know the scriptures
and you do not know the power of God. Now, these two forms
of ignorance always accompany one another. not knowing the
scriptures nor the power of God. Now, verse 18, then came unto
him the Sadducees. Now, who are these people, the
Sadducees? Now, I think it's interesting
in this chapter, you have the Pharisees coming and tempting
the Lord, and then you have the Sadducees coming after the Pharisees
had failed, and then you have some lawyers and scribes after
them coming and trying to trip the Lord in what he was saying.
Now, the previous time, the Pharisees came and said, should we pay
taxes? And he said, you render to Caesars the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they couldn't
answer that. Now, the Sadducees come along
thinking, well, we can trip him up. The Pharisees weren't as
clever as we are. We'll come up with a hypothetical
situation that he won't be able to answer. And they didn't believe
in the resurrection. The Pharisees were the liberals
of those days, and they were actually the chief priests. Annas and Caiaphas were both
Sadducees, and they were the two chief priests. And this shows
how warped things have become. You only have one chief priest.
But they had two, the Sadducees, and they were the leaders of
the Sanhedrin. And there are two things that
stand out about them and what they believed. Number one, they
had a hatred of predestination. And they had a strong belief
in free will. And they did not believe in an
afterlife. They did not believe in the resurrection. Now they believed that the first
five books of the Bible were inspired, but they didn't believe
anything after Deuteronomy was inspired. And they couldn't find
the resurrection as they believed in the Pentateuch. So they rejected
the resurrection. They rejected an afterlife. Now they come unto the Lord. and try to bring this hypothetical
situation that they thought would prove. that there is no resurrection. Now they're thinking, Moses did
in the law say, if a man dies and leaves his wife with no descendants,
that man's brother ought to take her and raise up seed into his
brother. That is in the law. And they thought, well, obviously,
if there was a resurrection, you wouldn't have anything like
that. Because whose wives would they be? So they come to the
Lord with this hypothetical situation. Not believing in the resurrection
all along, but they thought they could trip him up in his words.
Show to him how foolish he is in believing in the resurrection.
That's what they thought. So they give this hypothetical
situation. A man died without children,
left his wife. He had six brothers. There were
seven of them in all. The second took her, died. They
had no children. The third took her, died. They
had no children. Seven of them took her, had no
descendants, and died. And this woman had been married,
legally, lawfully married to all seven of these men. Now,
in the resurrection, and their hypocrisy is disgusting in this
because they didn't believe in the resurrection. But yet they
say, in the resurrection, who shall have her to wife? For all
of them had her, all of them had her lawfully, and they thought,
obviously there isn't any resurrection. Now how's he going to try to
answer this? And I love the Lord's reply to
them. Now they used the scriptures,
so they thought Moses wrote this. And, you know, really using Moses
to prove their wicked doctrine. It's so terrible when somebody
goes to the Bible to try to prove their corrupt doctrine. And they
did this. Now, let me remind you something.
Don't go to the Bible to prove what you believe. Go to the Bible
to find out what to believe. Now these men were using the
scripture to try to prove their false doctrine. Moses wrote this. They were using the scripture
and I love the Lord's answer in verse 24. And Jesus answering
said unto them, do you not therefore err? Everything you're saying
is wrong. It's deceitful. It's wandering
off, wandering away. Do you not therefore err? He's saying to these proud religious
Sadducees, so proud of their understanding and their knowledge,
so they think. Do you not therefore err? Not knowing the scriptures, and
not knowing the power of God. There's your problem. You do
not know the scriptures and you do not know the power of God. Your God is a small g God, a
God with limitations, a God not worthy of the name of God because
he's not a God who is all powerful. Now, let's camp here for a moment.
The scriptures and omnipotence. The first thing the Lord says
to these Sadducees is, you do not know the scriptures. Now, they didn't believe in the
inspiration of anything but Genesis through Deuteronomy. beginning
in the book of Joshua on down to the last book in the Old Testament
in Malachi, they did not believe those books to be inspired. All
they believed that were inspired were the first five books of
the Bible. And they thought you can't find
resurrection in those five books. And so they're trying to tear
apart the resurrection. Now, What are the scriptures? The Lord said, you know, not
the scriptures nor the power of God. What are the scriptures? Well, they begin in Genesis chapter
one, verse one, and they end in Revelation chapter 22, verse
21. It's the entire Bible, all 66
books of the Old and New Testament, written by over 35 authors over
a period of 1,300 years All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Literally, God breathed. Now somebody says, do you expect
me to believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God?
I don't expect you to, but I know it is. This is the inspired word
of God. Now somebody says, well, how
do you expect me to believe something like that? Well, you believe
God created the universe, don't you? Sure you do. So I said,
I don't believe that. Well, there was a time when you
did. Everybody knows intuitively that somebody made this and nobody
made him. If you believe that God can create
the universe, you believe that God can inspire men to write
a book and cause it to be preserved and not changed. Now that is
the scriptures. It's the authority to the law
and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word.
It's because there's no light in them. The Bible is the inspired
Word of God. And this is so important because
if we don't have the inspired authoritative Word of God, all
we have is my opinion and your opinion. And if that's the case,
we're in trouble. The Bible claims to be the inspired
Word of God. Now, this book, has one message. The Lord said, you search the
scriptures and in them you think you have eternal life. You think,
well, I can study this book and learn how to keep God's laws
and I can have eternal life. He says, but they are they, every
single one of them, they are they which testify of me. This book called the Bible has
one message, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And included in
that message is Him raised from the dead. Now, we're totally
dependent upon God to open our understanding, to understand
this book. It's a closed book. to us unless God is pleased to
open our understanding. Now, let me give you two scriptures
that give us some idea of the awesomeness of the scriptures. In Galatians 3, verse 8, Paul
said for the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preach before the gospel unto Abraham. Now,
the scripture had not been written when that statement is made,
yet the scripture is said to be the very word of God preaching
the gospel to Abraham. Listen to this scripture. In
Romans 9, verse 16, we read, For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Now, all we know of God is from
this book. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. The word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. Of his own will,
the scripture says, begat he us. through the word of truth,
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now he tells
these men, you don't know the scriptures. Now they could quote
them, they'd read them, but he said, you don't know them, you
don't understand them. And then this is what always
accompanies that, you don't know the power of God. You're God,
he says to these Sadducees who couldn't believe in a resurrection.
Why, how could somebody be raised from the dead? Your God is a
small G God. Any God less than omnipotent
is a small God. A God who lacks the power to
perform his will is a small G God, a non-existent God, a God that
cannot save. Now, the voice of the great multitude
in heaven, Numbered 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands and thousands,
sing this glorious song. Hallelujah. For the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth. God all powerful. Now he said to Abraham and Sarah,
after she laughed, when the Lord said, about this time next year,
you're gonna have a child, she knew she'd already gone through
menopause. She knew it was impossible for her to have a child. And
she laughed when God said, about this time next year, you're gonna
be having a child. And the Lord said to Abraham
after she laughed, wherefore did Sarah laugh? And Sarah, in
her fear, denies laughing. That's what people do when they
get caught up. They'll deny it. She denied laughing. He said,
Nay, but thou didst laugh. And then he made this statement,
and I love this statement. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Now that speaks of his power,
his omnipotence. Is anything too hard? for the Lord. Now, the living
God can do anything. that's not contrary to his nature. Now, listen real carefully. A
lot of folks, when they think of the power of God, well, he's got
the power to rip up a mountain and throw it into the sea. He's got the power to explode
the universe. He's got the, well, he has that
power, but that's not really the point behind God's omnipotence. Now, first of all, the living
God can do anything that's not contrary to his nature. Notice
I said that's not contrary to his nature. He cannot lie. He
said that. He cannot sin. He cannot be unjust. He cannot learn anything. He already knows everything.
He can't respond to something. Because everything that happens
is what He has decreed to take place. He can't change. He can't be in need. He cannot act contrary to His
nature. For Him to do so is impossible. Now in that sense, It's impossible
for God. There's something that's impossible
for God. It's impossible for him to act contrary to his nature. It's impossible for him to save
in a manner that's contrary to his nature. God is who he is. He is omnipotent. He is all powerful. And if he was not all powerful,
his attributes would be meaningless. What would his will be without
the power to make sure it comes to pass? What would his sovereignty
be without omnipotence? What would his purpose be if
he lacked the power to bring his purpose to pass? What would
his love be if he lacked the power to make sure the objects
of his love are saved? What would his justice be if
he lacked the power to punish? Denial of omnipotence is a denial
of his immutability. It's a denial of his independence.
It makes him have needs. It's a denial of his wisdom.
Listen to this scripture. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he. Psalm 115, three, where's your
God, David? Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. 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 say unto him, what
doest thou? And I love the way Paul calls
Christ the power of God unto salvation. Jesus Christ is the
omnipotence of God. He is God, and he's the power
of God unto salvation. Now, in this universe, there's nothing
that can create matter and bring something into being that was
not there. Also in this universe, there's
nothing that can cause matter to no longer be. Now matter can
change its form, take a piece of wood, set it on fire, the
energy goes off somewhere else, it turns into ashes, but matter
does not disappear. The energy, the matter is always
there. Now, how is Christ the power
of God? I love thinking about this. I am not the way I was born into
this world. I'm not holy. I'm not righteous. But Christ makes me to be what
I was not. He brings me into this universe
and makes me to be holy by what He did. He actually put away
my sins. He gives me His righteousness.
He gives me a holy nature. I'm made to be what I was not. And it's been said that matter
can't become non-existent. Well, Christ Jesus made my sin
to be non-existent. He is the omnipotence. He is
the power of God. All power, he said, is given
to me. Power belongeth unto the Lord.
Now the Lord says to these Sadducees, when they denied the resurrection,
he said, you do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power
of God. And that goes on to say in verse
25, for when they shall rise from the dead, and they shall,
They neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
which are in heaven." You see, in the resurrection, there's
not going to be these family relationships that are here now.
In Christ Jesus, there's neither bond nor free, male nor female. We're not going to have these
family relationships. They'll be dissolved. It doesn't
mean your loved ones won't be in heaven in any way, but there's
only one marriage, Christ and his church. All these human links
and bonds will be taken away. She won't be any of their wives
when they're in heaven because she's going to be the Lamb's
wife, just like everybody in heaven is. And then he says in
verse 26, and that's touching the dead, that they rise. Have
you not read in the book of Moses, I love the way he says that.
Of course they've read it, but he says obviously you haven't
understood anything you've read. Have you not read in the book
of Moses how in the bush, God spake unto him saying, I'm the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now the
bush is that bush that burned with fire and was not consumed.
You can remember when Moses saw that great sight, and this is
where the Lord spake to Moses, that bush did not need the energy
of the wood to keep burning. That speaks of the independence,
the deity of Jesus Christ. That bush could not be consumed
by the fire. That speaks of the perfect humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ that could not be consumed by the
wrath of God. He consumed the wrath on Galilee's
tree. Now, what does God say from the bush? He says, I am
the God of Abraham, I am the God of Isaac, and I am the God
of Jacob. He doesn't speak of these men
as being dead, but as living. Not dead. They've been physically
dead for hundreds of years. But he says, I'm not the God
of the dead. He says, I'm the God of Abraham
and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He's not the God
of the dead, but the God of the living. Now, if somebody said,
go to the Old Testament scriptures in the Pentateuch and find me
a scripture that proves the resurrection, I wouldn't have gone to this
one. And this lets us know how broad the Word of God is. The Lord Jesus uses a scripture
that teaches the resurrection that I wouldn't have ever thought
of, but you see it clearly when he teaches it. God is the God
of the living. You see, Abraham Isaac and Jacob
live before God. The gospel is about Jesus and
the resurrection. And these men were raised spiritually. That's what the new birth is.
They were raised from the dead spiritually, and they will one
day be raised physically. But He's not the God of the dead. These men were born again. They
were born from above. They were given eternal life,
the life of God in their soul, and they now have fellowship
with the living God. They were raised from the dead.
Spiritually, the Lord said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that liveth and believeth
in me. You see, the resurrection is
not so much an event. It's a person. When Christ was
raised from the dead, every believer was raised from the dead. And
they have eternal life before God. He is the God of the living
that just shall live by faith. Reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died that they which live
should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which
died for them. and rose again, I through the
law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. I'm crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live eternally. Yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. Paul said for me to live is Christ
and to die is gain. He is the God of the living. These men were spiritually raised
from the dead, and they will one day be physically raised
from the dead at that last Trump at the end of the world when
the dead in Christ most assuredly shall be raised. The Lord said
in John chapter 6, 38 through 40, well the 40th, He said, I
came down and this is the will of Him that sent me that everyone
that seeth the sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the
living. And then he says again, you therefore
do greatly err. And what was the essence of their
error? They didn't know the scriptures.
They didn't know the power of God. Oh, that God would reveal
to us The message of the scripture, Christ, the power of God. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Niber praying God
will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's our prayer,
amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.niber at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
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