Every story without exception
in the Old Testament is given to give us a type of the gospel,
a picture of Jesus Christ. And if we don't understand any
passage of scripture in that light, it's because we haven't
understood it. Like this, I know what it means
before I know what it means. I might not know how to get there,
but I know what it's given for, to give us some glimpse of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As long as Galatians chapter
four is in the Bible, which things are an allegory? Talking about
Sarah and Abraham and Hagar and Ishmael and Isaac. He said these
things are an allegory to teach us of the two covenants. Well,
everything in the scripture is an allegory to teach us of the
two covenants, law and grace. In our text, verse 24, the Sadducees had come up with
what they thought was an unanswerable way of disproving the resurrection,
and I love the way the Lord answered them. Verse 24, And Jesus answering
said unto them, Do you not therefore err? Because you know not the
scriptures, neither the power of God. Look down in verse 27. He's not the God of the dead,
but the God of the living. You therefore do greatly err. Now these are the words of the
Lord to this foolish hypothetical situation that the Sadducees
presented to him. He said, you err. You err greatly. I've entitled this message, The
Essence of Erring. The Essence of Erring. Now to err is to go astray. It's
to be seduced, it's to be deceived, it's to wander off. And that's
what he says these Sadducees had done. They had wandered off. And he gives two reasons which
can't be separated one from the other. The reason you err is,
number one, because you don't know the scriptures. You talk
about them, you use them, but you don't know them. And what
always goes along with that, you don't know the power of God. I love what Psalm 62 says, power
belongeth unto the Lord. He's got a monopoly on it. All
power is his. Now, who are these Sadducees? verse 18, then came unto him
the Sadducees. Now the Pharisees had already
come to him, and he put them to silence. Now it's the Sadducees'
turn. They think, well, we can do a
better job than the Pharisees. I mean, he made them look like
idiots, but we'll make him look like an idiot. And after them,
the lawyer comes and tries to tempt the Lord in what he said.
And I love the way after these three attempts to entrap the
Lord in his words, and he put them all to shame and silence,
then dares not any man ask him any more questions. But this
is the middle, when they're asking him these questions. Now, the
Sadducees actually were the chief priests at that time. Annas and
Caiaphas were both Sadducee chief priests. And I think it's interesting
how they had two chief priests. That shows how off they were.
Two chief priests? There's only one chief priest.
But they had two. and they were of the office of
the Sadducees. Now, who were the Sadducees?
They were the liberals of that day. I did some reading on the
history of the Sadducees, and the two things that came out
most outstanding about them is they hated predestination, and
they were great proponents of free will. That is the Sadducees. They also believe that only the
Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, were inspired.
They believe Moses was inspired when he wrote Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, but the other books, the Psalm
we just read, was uninspired. The prophets were uninspired. The kings were uninspired. The only place of inspiration
is found in the Pentateuch. And in this view of the Pentateuch,
they said, there's nothing about the resurrection. You can't go
to any scripture in the Pentateuch and prove that there's a resurrection
or an afterlife. And they knew that you could
pull it out of these other uninspired books, so they thought, like
Psalms and Job and Isaiah and so on, but they thought you can't
find a resurrection, you can't find an afterlife in the first
five books of the Bible. And that is what they used to
try to trip the Lord. And in doing this, they brought
this ludicrous hypothetical situation thinking that through this they
could disprove the resurrection. I'm amazed that these men thought
they could trip up omniscience once again. But this is what
they tried, the Sadducees, they were the liberals. They were
actually the main ruling class above the Pharisees. The Pharisees
and Sadducees hated each other. Now, they were united in their
hatred toward Christ, but they hated each other much like the
liberals and conservatives hate one another in religion. I mean,
they're liberals, they're conservatives, and that's what was going on
here. And they come up with this hypothetical situation thinking
that they could make the Lord look wrong, obviously, with this
law that Moses gave, there could not possibly be a resurrection.
Now let's look what they said. Verse 18. Then came unto him
the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection. And they
asked him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, just a word, what an irreverent
use of the scripture. They're using the scripture to
try to prove their false, diabolical doctrine. They're going to the
Bible. Moses wrote this, and this is
what they're using. They're trying to pull scriptures
out to prove what the Bible never taught and what they themselves
stood for. Moses wrote unto us, if a man's
brother die, and leave his wife behind him, 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 also. Now they thought the implication
of this is obviously there's no resurrection, or this rule
wouldn't have been given like this. Obviously there couldn't
be a resurrection. So then in their hypocrisy, they say in
the resurrection, but they didn't believe in any way. In the resurrection,
therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall be of them? For the seven had her to wife. Now they thought we've got the
Lord tangled up. We did a lot better job than
those idiot Pharisees. We're a lot smarter than they
are and we can get this job done. We've got him tied up. And I
love the Lord's answer. And Jesus answering said to them,
do you not therefore err? You're deceived. You've wandered
off. You've gone astray. And he gives
these two reasons. Number one, you don't know the
scriptures. And they thought they did. They
were using the scriptures to try to prove their corrupt doctrine.
But they were clueless with regard to the scriptures. And here's
what always accompanies ignorance of the scripture, an ignorance
of the character of God. They had a small g God. They
didn't know anything about the power the omnipotence of God. Now, the Lord said, You err not
knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. Now, let's camp
here for a moment. The Scriptures and the power
of God. You do not know the Scriptures. Now, they thought they did, and
they even believed in inspiration insofar as Genesis through Deuteronomy
goes, but They did not know the scriptures. You know, they thought,
well, you can't go into Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers or
Deuteronomy and teach the resurrection. There's no scripture that even
implies the resurrection there. So you can't go to the scriptures
to teach that. They appealed to Moses. Now,
here's my question right now. What are the scriptures? Well,
I'm glad you asked. They're the inspired word of
God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. The prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. Genesis 1.1 through Revelation
22.1 contain what are called the scriptures, the scriptures
of truth. Now, the Lord said to the Pharisees
in John chapter five, verse 39, you search the scriptures. And
they did. They read them. They had them memorized. They'd
have them on their clothing. You search the scriptures. In
them, you think you have eternal life. And they are they, every
one of them. I love this. Every one of them.
He's just talking about the Old Testament now. He's not even
talking about the New Testament. It hadn't been written. They are they,
which testify of me. Every single one of them. Do you believe that? I do. I
know that's so. They are they which testify of
me. Look in Luke chapter 24 for a
moment. Verse 25, and he said unto them,
O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken. Ought not, was it not necessary
for Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his
glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets. He expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
Look down in verse 32, and they said one to another, did not
our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way
and while he opened to us the scriptures? Look in verse 44. And he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. Now this book is a closed book
unless he is pleased to open our understanding. You can't
figure it out. Canst thou by searching find
out God? No. You and I cannot understand
one thing in this book. Now, we might deduce some things
logically, but we can't really understand this book. We're totally
dependent upon God to open our understandings and reveal himself
to us. Now, listen to these scriptures. The scripture, this is in Galatians
3, verse 8, the scripture, foreseeing, that God would justify the heathen
by faith. Now do you see that the scripture
foresees? The scripture's alive. The scripture's
God's word. It's the living word of God.
What about in Romans chapter nine where Paul says, for the
scripture saith to Pharaoh. Now wait a minute. Moses hadn't
written a Bible yet. And yet Paul says, for the scripture
saith to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee
up. Now when the scripture speaks,
God speaks. And what you and I really believe
concerning God is seen in our attitude toward this book, the
scriptures. The word of God is quick and
powerful. and sharper than any two-edged
sword. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God
of his own will 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. To the law and to the
testimony, if they speak not according to this word, It's
because there's no light in them. Now, he tells these men who are
trying to use the scriptures to prove what they believed,
you don't know the scripture, and here's what always goes along
with not knowing the scripture. Here's what always accompanies
that. You don't know the power of God. Your God, small g God, the non-existent
God that you claim to believe in, the God that is a figment
of your depraved imagination, the God that you made up, the
God that you feel comfortable with, the God that you can control,
the God that you can understand. Your God is less than all-powerful. Now, a God who lacks power to
perform His will is a small g God, a non-existent God. Now, try
to picture in your mind that, if you can do this, that great
heavenly choir, 10,000 times 10,000 and thousand and thousands,
and their powerful voice that sounded like the voice of many
waters, hallelujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. That's what every gospel preacher
comes and brings to Zion. Tell Zion, thy God reigneth. A God who lacks the power to
perform his will is a non-existent God. You know, he said to Abraham
and Sarah after she laughed, and she heard the Lord say, about
this time next year, you're gonna have a child. Now, she'd already
gone through menopause. She laughed at what the Lord
said. She laughed, she didn't believe it. Shall I have pleasure
from my Lord, me being old? And I love, the Lord said to
Abraham, said, why'd Sarah laugh? She said, I didn't laugh. Scared
to death, I mean, she didn't know what to say. The Lord said,
Nay, thou didst laugh. And then he said, Is anything
too hard for the Lord? Is anything beyond his power? Now, the living God can do anything. that is not contrary to his nature.
Now, this is very important. Most people, when they think
of the omnipotence of God, he could take that tree and rip
it up by the roots and throw it a thousand miles, and he's
just so powerful. He could throw, stop trains. He could explode. That doesn't
have anything to do with the power of God. Now, understand,
first of all, God cannot, his power cannot cause him to act
contrary to his nature. God can't lie, can He? God can't
sin. God can't be unjust. God cannot
act contrary to His nature. He can't respond to anything.
He can't react to anything because everything that happens is His
will predetermined to be done. He can't learn anything. He's
never heard something He didn't know. He can't change. He can't be in need. There's never a time where he
needs something to fulfill himself. He's utterly independent. He
is omnipotent. Without omnipotence, all of his
attributes would be meaningless, wouldn't they? What would his
will be without the power to make it come to pass. His sovereignty would be meaningless
without his omnipotence. How can he perform his purpose
if he doesn't have the power to cause it to come to pass?
What about his love? What would his love do me any
good if he doesn't power to make sure the objects of his love
are saved? I mean, His love would be meaningless
without His omnipotence. His justice, without the power
to punish, His omnipotence is a denial of His immutability.
It's a denial of His independence. It's a denial of His wisdom.
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He. Where's your God, David? Our
God is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. And I love thinking about this,
Christ is the power of God. That's what 1 Corinthians 1,
22 says, Christ is the power of God. The gospel is the power
of God and the salvation. Let's think a bit about omnipotence,
this thing of omnipotence. Only omnipotence can create something
from nothing. And only omnipotence can take
something and make it not there anymore. Only God can create
matter. Only God can make matter to be
no longer. Now think of this in light of
salvation. The Lord God has the power to
make me to be what I was not. I wasn't holy, evil, sinful,
no righteousness. And the power of God is such
that He can make me to be what I was not, perfectly holy, perfectly
righteous, without sin, without fault, holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable in his sight. Now listen to me, believer. Right
now, you are, before God, holy and unblameable and unreprovable. The Lord's given you new history.
God's got the power to give you a new history. And that history
is all perfect. And he has the power to make
what you were to not be. You were a sinner, you were evil,
you were guilty before God's law. He made you to stand to
be justified before God. Now, only the power of God can
do that. Now, omnipotence, you don't know
the scriptures, you don't know the power of God. Now look in
verse 25, four. When they shall rise from the
dead, they shall rise. They neither marry nor are given
in marriage, but are as the angels of God, which are in heaven.
Now, these family ties we have here, we won't have there. You
see, there's only one husband and one bride, the bride of Christ.
And everybody's the same. We're not going to have these.
They're gonna be better. They're gonna be a lot better
than they are now. They're going to be perfect,
but we're not going to have individual families. There's one family,
the family of God. There's one husband, the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's one bride, all of God's
elect. It isn't going to be the way
we do now. So you're wrong about that. You're
trying to say, well, whose wife will she be? Nobody's. She's
the bride of Christ. That's whose wife she is. She's
not so-and-so's wife. But look at this in verse 26. and as touching the dead that
they rise. Have you not read in the book
of Moses, how in the bush, God spake unto him saying, I am the
God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He's
not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You therefore
do greatly here. Now, let me ask you a question.
If you were looking for a scripture to prove the resurrection, Would
you have ever gone to this one? I wouldn't have. This lets us
know how deep and far reaching the word of God is. This is what
the Lord uses to demonstrate the resurrection. Now he talks
about Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Now, they had been dead a long
time. And as a matter of fact, when
God spake to Moses from the bush. Well, Abraham had been dead 400
years. Jacob, Isaac, they'd been dead a long time. But he says,
he's not the God of the dead. He's the God of the living. They
live. Abraham lives. Isaac lives. Jacob lives. Right now, you see, when I gave
him life, I gave them eternal life, and they have a life that
cannot die. Now that, when you die, the new
man doesn't die. Your old man's gonna die. They're
gonna put this body of yours and mine in the grave where it
belongs, that old nature will die, it will no longer be, but
that new life that he gives is eternal. This is so, you know, I believe
this, I don't understand, but I know this is so. I won't be
any more holy in heaven than I am right now. Anybody here
believe that? We can't believe it experientially,
but we believe it by faith. That's the only way we can believe
anything anyway. I'm not gonna be any more holy in heaven than
I am right now. Now, I love to think of him referring
to the Lord speaking from the burning bush. God spake from
the burning bush. And you remember Moses seeing
that great site, the bush that was on fire, but it wasn't consumed. Maybe he'd seen it the day before.
I don't know. Maybe he just watched it for a couple hours. And he
was astonished at the fact this bush kept burning. It kept burning. It kept burning. It never was
consumed. He said, I'm gonna go see what
this great site is. And when the Lord saw, he went to the
site. That's when he spoke to him. Now what a great sight.
This bush did not need the energy of the wood to keep burning.
You know why? Because this bush was the independent
God. He doesn't have any needs. He
doesn't need something to keep the fire going. He has the power
of the life in himself. This bush didn't need the energy
of the wood for the combustion and the fire. And this wood could
not be consumed by the fire. I mean, it kept going, couldn't
consume it. The son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the wrath
of God came down on him, but he couldn't consume him. You
see, he's the God man. That wrath came down on him and
he consumed the wrath. Now, the God that spake from
that bush, is the God, the Living God of Abraham, the Living God
of Isaac, the Living God of the Living Jacob. Now, when man is
born again, and Abraham was, Isaac was, Jacob was, they're
given spirits that cannot die, and listen to the words of our
Lord from John 11, He that liveth and believeth in me. And notice the order. He doesn't
say him that believes and then lives. No. Him that liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. He said I am the resurrection
and I am the life. Now understand this. The resurrection
is not so much an event. Christ is the resurrection. When
he was raised, I was raised. He lives eternally, I live eternally. Because I live, you shall live
also. The gospel is Jesus and the resurrection. That's what Paul preached in
Athens. Who is Jesus? He's the God-man.
What did he do? He lived, he died, As a sin-bearing
substitute, he was raised from the dead because God was completely
satisfied with what he did. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification, because of our justification.
Right now, every believer, listen to me, believe this. You stand
before God right now. He couldn't be more pleased with
you than he is. He couldn't be any more satisfied
with you than he is in Christ. 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. And that is life eternal. You see, there's folks walking
in this world who are dead in sins, dead in trespasses and
sins. No spiritual life, no understanding
of the gospel, no love for the gospel, no love for Jesus Christ,
dead, graveyard dead in trespasses and sins. And there are people
who have life, God-given life, the life of God in their soul,
and they live forever. He is the God of the living. Amen? Let everything that hath
breath, the breath of life, let everything that hath breath praise
the Lord. The just shall live, that just
shall live by faith. Reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. Now reckon yourself right
now. Sin doesn't have anything to
say to you. It's been put away. It's gone. Believe it. It's so. The only reason God
would say reckon yourself to be dead and sin because you're
dead to sin. Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but
alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I through the law
and dead to the law that I might live unto God. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. And I love this statement
by Paul. There's no way it can be expounded
as it ought to be expounded. He said, for me to live is Christ. You know that didn't even make
grammatical sense. For me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. 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 will raise him up again
at the last day. He's not the God of the dead,
is he? He's the God of the living. You therefore do greatly err,
the essence of error, here it is, not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power of God. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you're
the God of the bush, the God of the living, and that your life is eternal
life. How we thank you for the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, where our sin was put away. How we
thank you for our spiritual resurrection when you quickened us when we
were dead in sins. And Lord, how we look forward
to that final resurrection when we're raised incorruptible, perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ. What a reason for rejoicing. Now, bless your word to your
glory and our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.