Jesus and the Sadducees - Two Vital Applications

Introduction: Review of Jesus' Encounter with the Sadducees

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, February 7th, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Let us turn together in the word of God to the gospel according to Mark, Mark's gospel and the twelfth chapter. And will you follow, please, as I read in your hearing, verses 18 through 27, Mark 12 and verse 18.

0:36 And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. There were seven brethren, and the first took a wife, and dying, left no seed.

1:16 And the second took her and died, leaving no seed behind him, and the third likewise. And the seven left no seed. Last of all, the woman. Also died.

1:34 In the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of them? For the seven had her to wife. Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that you err, that you know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels.

2:03 But as touching the dead, that they are raised. Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the bush, how God spoke unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You do greatly err.

2:33 I have just read this. I have just read in your hearing, and you have followed with me, Mark's account of this third representative group of questioners, we might call them inquisitors, who came to our Lord in the temple area in Jerusalem on the third day of what we commonly call the Passion Week. Two Lord's Days ago, we examined the basic contents of this passage, and on that occasion, we noted, by way of brief review, first of all, the question raised.

3:17 And this is given to us in verses 18 through 23. The specific group that raised it were the Sadducees, a group notorious for their grand doctrine of denial, namely, no resurrection. And according to Acts 23 and verse 1, Acts 23 and verse 1, and according to Acts 23 and verse 1, and according to Acts 23 and verse 1, and according to Acts 23 and verse 1, and according to Acts 23 and verse 1, and according to Acts 23 and verse 1, and according to Acts 23 and verse 8, and according to Acts 23 and verse 8, that central doctrine of denial was flanked on the one hand by a denial of the existence of angels, and on the other hand by a denial of the existence of spirit.

3:56 That is, the continuity of the spirit of human beings after death. The disembodied spirit existing, either in the present or in the future. presence of God with bliss or in separation from him and we know very little about the Sadducees and according to this passage what we need to know about them was particularly this grand doctrine of denial namely their doctrine of denial of the resurrection and while denying this great doctrine they still believed to have faith in the Old Testament Scriptures particularly the

4:40 first five books commonly called the books of Moses now the heart of their question derives from a directive given to Moses by the Lord recorded in Deuteronomy 25 in which a man was to raise up seed to his dead brother in case before his death he bore no fruit the Lord recorded in Deuteronomy 25 in which a man was to raise up seed to his dead brother in case before his death he bore no fruit children, particularly a man-child. And so these Sadducees come and seek to set before the Lord what they regard as an utter absurdity in the light of the doctrine of the resurrection when

5:23 pitted against this directive of Moses. And so they set out this story of the seven brothers, all of whom married the one woman, none of whom bore a child by her and therefore had any special claim over her in the resurrection. And so they say, whose wife shall she be in the resurrection? Now, the intention of their question is very clear. They were seeking to show the absurdity

5:53 in their judgment of the doctrine of resurrection, and if they could show that Jesus, as a public Jesus, was the best-looking man in the world, then they could be indeed the most important change in the world of Newton. Now, they did not accept that such a firm election was holding an absurd doctrine, they could discredit him as a teacher and therefore wean the multitudes away from him. So that was the question raised, the group who raised it, the Sadducees, the heart of the question, who shall she be in the resurrection, the intention of the question to show up our Lord. Then in verses 24 to 27, we have the reply of our Lord Jesus.

6:31 And that reply began with a withering assertion or question. Mark frames it as a question, Matthew states it as an assertion. He responds by saying, do you not greatly err, that is, go astray, or perhaps, if it should be understood in the middle sense, you deceive yourselves. And he says you do so because you are ignorant both of the scriptures, and of the power of God. And then in the reply of Jesus, he follows his withering assertion

7:08 with a convincing demonstration of their ignorance, first of all of the power of God, and then of the word of God. He shows their ignorance of the power of God by making it plain that in the mind of the Sadducees, the resurrection could only be basically a reconstitution

7:31 of the power of God. And he says, I know it. Seven had her to wife in this life, who shall have her to wife in the life to come. They humble themselves, as it were, to admit the possibility of resurrection, but the only resurrection they can conceive of is a resurrection that reconstitutes the present order of things. Jesus shows them pitifully ignorant of the power of God by telling them

7:57 that God's power in conjunction with the resurrection of the world is the power of God. The resurrection will bring the redeemed into a condition in which there will be fundamental and material differences from this present order. One of them being, since there will be no death, there will be no need for procreation, and because there will be no need for procreation, there will be no need for marriage as an institution ordained of God in its original creation institution. For the propagation of the race, and he says, your ignorance of the power of God has left you

8:37 with such a truncated view of the resurrected state that you think you have impaled me on the horns of a dilemma, when in reality, the horns are constructed of your own ignorance of the power of God. And then he demonstrates their ignorance of the word of God when he quotes to them from the very passage of Scripture. Scripture, which they would have said, surely this is regulative for our thinking. This is taken out of the book of Moses and even the revelation of God to Moses that he was to be the deliverer

9:16 of his people or the human instrument of that deliverance. And so the whole incident of God revealing himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is given by our Lord to demonstrate if they only understood the significance of that Scripture, they would have no questions about the resurrection. And then our Lord's reply moves from the withering assertion, the convincing demonstration, to the concluding accusation in verse 27, you do greatly err. He tightens, as it were, the screws upon their consciences. He introduced with the withering assertion,

10:00 his response by saying, you do err or go astray. Now he says, you do greatly err or go astray. And then we noted briefly the response recorded. There was the approval of the scribes and Pharisees.

10:18 We read on in verse 28 of this chapter, and one of the scribes came and heard them questioning together and knowing that he answered them well. And in Luke 20, 39, we find a fuller description of the approval of the scribes and Pharisees on this occasion. And then there was the astonishment of the crowds recorded in the parallel passage in Matthew 22, 33. And we have that vigorous verb that Mark loves to use, ek plesomai, that is, they were driven out of their wits. The multitudes were astounded at the way Jesus shut the mouths of

11:00 the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and the Gentiles and of these sceptical Pharisees. And then we have recorded for us in both Matthew 22, 34 and Luke 20 verse 40, the silencing and the intimidation of the Sadducees. He silenced them. No man dared ask a question any more. And he intimidated them because they found themselves exposed and shown up

11:30 in debate. They were, for the time, silent. Now, two weeks ago, that's all we had time to do was basically to open up the passage. And on that occasion, I told you that when I returned from our vacation, we would concentrate upon the passage, seeking to glean from it some of the very vital lines of application that it contains. And so, this morning, we come back to the passage,

Timeless Techniques of Skeptics: Feigning Honest Inquiry

11:58 having opened up what it says concerning our Lord's interaction with the Sadducees, seeking to glean both from the example of our Lord and the contents of the passage, vital lessons for our lives as the people of God, and also vital lessons concerning the horrible actings of the skeptical and unbelieving human heart. And I would ask you to note with me, as time permits, four categories of application. And the

12:35 first is this. Note with me the timeless techniques of skeptics who deny fundamental biblical truths. Note in this passage the timeless techniques of skeptics who deny fundamental biblical truths.

12:59 Notice, first of all, in their techniques, that they attempt to give the appearance of honest seekers of truth who have some real intellectual problems. Look at the passage. And there come unto him Sadducees who say that there is no resurrection. They are committed to a doctrinal position of skepticism and materialism. They affirm again and again in their

13:30 grand, Doctrine of Denial, There is no, doctrine of denial, no resurrection, no angels, no spirits. But had you not known that, and you had only seen this representative group coming that day and approaching the Lord Jesus, and you knew nothing about them, what would you have heard when they opened their mouths? Well, you would had heard a title of respect, verse 19, Teacher, they are acknowledging Him as a reputable teacher of divine truth. And then you would have heard the word Moses wrote unto us.

14:06 They acknowledged the authority of Moses themselves as the legitimate recipients of the word of God through Moses. And as you listened to their question, you would have gleaned the notion that they believed Moses and that they even believed in the doctrine of the resurrection. For as they spoke, they said in verse 23, in the resurrection, they didn't say, if there is a resurrection, whose wife would she be? They used the language of faith.

14:42 They used the language of accepted orthodoxy. And you see, the whole appearance they would have given to you or to me were we ignorant but interested bystanders, not knowing, knowing their deep-seated unbelief and skepticism, we would have thought, here are some sincere, earnest inquirers after truth who have a real intellectual problem. They cannot seem to reconcile the general doctrine of the resurrection with a specific application of that doctrine to this special case of the seven brothers who had the same woman.

15:27 To be their wife. There is no new thing under the sun. And here in this passage is one of the timeless techniques of skeptics who in a settled, resolute disposition of unbelief and materialistic perspective on life deny basic biblical truths. They would like you and me to believe that they...

15:59 They would believe only if they could resolve a little problem here or there with how certain scriptures fit together. If only we could resolve how certain truths fit together and reasonably coalesce and dovetail, then surely we would be wholehearted, enthusiastic followers of the body of revealed truth. Amen. Nothing could have been further from reality.

16:33 They did not come as honest seekers of truth who had what we might call legitimate intellectual struggles and problems. They came with a settled spirit of hatred to Christ, of opposition to Christ, of determination publicly to shame Christ, that they might wean men away from Christ. And yet they came...

16:59 came with this pseudo-spirit of teaching. And as then, so now. You beware of people who come to you or move among you or should ever move among us saying with a very strained and pious look upon their faces, I really would love to accept all that the Bible says, but you see, I have an intellectual problem. The truth is this.

17:34 Jesus said in John 7 and verse 17, If any man will to do my will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God or of man. Jesus said that if a man's heart is set upon a path of obedience to God, his intellectual problems regarding, the truth of God will be resolved by the Spirit of God. If any man will to do, he shall know.

18:09 And almost every so-called intellectual problem is nothing but a smokescreen for the arrogance of unbelief and for the commitment of a heart to a course of materialism and preoccupation with self-will and with the will of God. This is the world that is now. So here is one of the timeless techniques of skeptics openly displayed in this incident with the Sadducees. But then there is a second technique displayed, and it's this.

Timeless Techniques of Skeptics: Focusing on Difficult Tenets

18:47 They attempt to discredit the pillars of biblical religion by focusing upon the more difficult tenets of that revealed religion. They attempt to discredit, discredit the pillars of biblical religion by focusing upon the more difficult tenets of that religion. See what they did. They raised the question with regard to the resurrection.

19:20 Now everything that surrounds the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the age to come is of necessity shrouded in a great, great deal of impenetrable mystery. Because we are speaking about a mode of existence with which we have no felt experience and acquaintance. What will it be like to exist in a real body, but a body that is not at all subject to any of the ravages of disease and pain and death? A body that will have real senses, but no inordinate,

20:03 but no inordinate appetites. A body that will have true sexual identity, males and females recognized as such, and yet apparently no necessity for sexual intimacy in terms of actual sexual intercourse. We cannot conceive of such a mode of existence. It is one of the great difficulties because it deals with the age to come.

20:34 In which all the dynamics of redemptive grace will be let loose in their plenitude in the new heavens and the new earth.

20:43 And it is so far beyond us that it creates a problem by the sheer light of its glory and its mystery. And you see, skeptics often focus upon those more difficult pillars or more difficult aspects of biblical religion in order to try to tumble the pillars of that very biblical religion. For example, what do the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Russellites, the current Aryans of our day, what do they focus upon? Given the chance, and what's the first doctrine they will attack?

21:24 The doctrine of the Trinity. They say, now come, hold up your fingers. One, two, three. Now, how many fingers do you have?

21:32 Three. Good. Now, how can you make your three into one? You say, well, I can't.

21:38 If I have three, I have three. They say, now put up one. You have one. All right, is God one?

21:41 Yes. Well, if God's one, how can he be three? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Simple mathematics.

21:46 What were they doing? Just what the Sadducees did.

21:52 Someone has said that the greatest mystery of being is the reality of the great one in three and the free in one. And the most profound, and devout minds have interacted with the materials of Scripture in reverence and humility, and yet have come away and said, all we can do in the language of one of God's servants is to state the doctrine in a way that sets a hedge or a fence around a mystery. That's what our doctrinal formularies are. They are simply hedges.

22:36 They are simply hedges. They are simply hedges. And we come to our Bibles and we see, here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. There is but one true and living God.

22:46 And yet the same Bible teaches us that within that one God there are three subsistences. There is one who is identified as the Father, who is not the Son nor the Spirit, yet is one with them. There is one who is the Son, who is neither the Father nor the Spirit, and one who is the Spirit, who is neither the Son nor the Father, and yet all three comprise the one God. And before the light of that mystery we bow in reverence.

23:23 But you see, skepticism takes those more difficult tenets of biblical religion and ceases to press their difficulties to make them... them appear as absurdities in order to shake the pillars of the Christian or revealed religion.

23:48 And what the Sadducees did in our Lord's day, the Jehovah's Witnesses do in our day, the liberals do it particularly with the person of Christ. His humanity is so unembarrassingly displayed on every page of the New Testament that they say one who was so truly human certainly could not be essentially truly divine. Why, he said, the son does not know the hour of his coming, only the father. How can one who is God be ignorant of the time of his return?

24:32 Look at him, sound asleep in a boat. So weary from his labors that even the upheaval of the sea that is about to make the boat capsized doesn't awaken him. How can that be the God who both created the seas, holds them in their bounds, and all the galaxies and all of the planets in their orbs? Come on, let's be reasonable. That's a man. That's a good man. That's a noble man. But surely,

25:05 in the light of this biblical data, how can he be God? Well, what are they doing? They're taking some of those more difficult aspects of revealed religion and attempting to discredit the Lord by raising questions and pressing apparent absurdity in the face of what the Bible reveals as glorious. There is no new thing under the sun, dear people.

Timeless Techniques of Skeptics: Pitting Scripture Against Scripture

25:42 Don't be surprised when people come with a look of triumphalism, thinking they've really got you now because they've got a text over here that surely knocks out the very pillars of one of your foundational doctrines. That's exactly what these Pharisees thought they were doing. The timeless techniques of skepticism. Then we see a third technique of skepticism.

26:15 They attempt to deny the pillars of biblical religion by pitting one Scripture against another. See how they did it? Teacher, Moses wrote unto us. We have Scripture. And surely,

26:33 as a teacher of the Word of God, you will not deny that Moses wrote that which we're about to quote, nor will you deny that Moses' authority should be recognized. Teacher, Moses wrote. Now, you say that the Scriptures teach a resurrection. How can what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 25 fit this resurrection that you think you see in the same Scriptures?

27:02 In other words, they come saying, how do you fit this Scripture with this? One must give way before the other, and it's far more reasonable to believe our perspective than yours. And so they pit one Scripture against another in an effort to undermine the whole. And in so doing, they are much like their father the devil, who attempted this with the Lord Jesus himself.

27:36 When Jesus quoted Scripture to him in the first temptation he says, alright, I'll come to your ground, I'll quote Scripture to you in the next one. Is it not written, he will give his angels charge over you? He quotes Scripture, and it's the very method of the devil. The pretext is the cycle of sin, the cycle of death, the cycle of death. This is the

27:55 devil and his followers who give themselves over to the spirit of skepticism and human arrogance to attempt to undermine the Christian faith by pitting one scripture against another. Now, when this happens, what must we do? Well, we must remember that the truth of God's word is ultimately one and perfectly self-consistent. How do we know that?

28:22 Because Jesus has forever settled it when he said in John 17, 17, sanctify them in thy truth. Thy word is truth, not true self-contradictions, not true. Plus the limited cosmogony of certain people who just didn't understand what the world is all about and a limited cultural perspective on male and female roles. And oh, no, no, thy word is truth.

28:56 In another place, God says the sum of thy word is truth. Sum of thy word is truth. Take every word of Genesis and put it in the column and every word of Exodus right through to Revelation. Put the line at the bottom and add it all up.

29:13 And what do you have? The sum of thy word is truth. Truth. Plus some human error.

29:20 Plus some human folly. Plus some human ignorance. Plus some human prejudice. Plus, plus, plus the sum of thy word is truth.

29:30 And therefore, though we're prepared to admit, as Peter admitted, that there are some things hard to be understood, 2 Peter chapter 3, 15 and 16, the difference between a believing heart and a Sadduceic skeptical heart is this. When Peter acknowledged that there were things in Paul's letters hard to be understood,

29:56 2 Peter chapter 3, 15 and 16, the difference between a believing heart and a Sadduceic skeptical heart is this. When Peter acknowledged that there were things in Paul's letters hard to be understood, 2 Peter chapter 3, 15 and 16, the difference between a believing heart and a Sadduceic skeptical heart is this. When Peter acknowledged that there were things in Paul's letters hard to be understood, 2 Peter chapter 3, 15 and 16, the difference between a believing heart and a Sadduceic skeptical heart is this. When Peter acknowledged that there were things in Paul's letters hard to be understood, 2 Peter chapter 3, 15 and 16, the difference between a believing heart and a Sadduceic skeptical heart is this.

30:30 When Peter acknowledged that there were things in Paul's letters hard to be understood, 2 Peter chapter 3, 15 and 16, the difference between a believing heart and a Sadduceic skeptical heart is this. When Peter acknowledged that there were things in Paul's letters hard to be understood, 2 Peter chapter 3, 15 and 16, the difference between a believing heart and a Sadduceic skeptical heart is this. passage. They are classic examples of this very thing. The ignorant and the unstable

30:36 wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction. And so we as God's people must cry to God that we may have a spirit of humility before the Word in what we do not understand. We can say as men and women of faith, Lord, I don't understand what you are saying, but I believe you've said it. And if in due course you are pleased to open the eyes of my understanding, I will thank you and I will bless you and I will praise you. But I'm prepared to go

31:08 to heaven ignorant of what that passage really means and have you expound it to me someday when I sit at your feet in your immediate presence. But this much I know, what I need to know about my sin and about your holiness, what I need to know about my guilt and my unhealed deservingness, and what I need to know about the only righteous way a guilty sinner such as I can have acceptance with you through the blood and righteousness of your Son, and what I need to know about repentance and faith and the gift of the Spirit and the life of holiness, Lord, that is clear. And in that I will rest. Willing for you to open

31:49 up whatever pleases you and to keep close to me whatever pleases you until I see you face to face. You see, there is in the skeptical, materialistic, unbelieving heart a strain of creature arrogance that would get God in a hammerlock and say, until you come to my terms on my time, I'll have nothing to do with you. You marvel that God bears so long with his arrogant, impudent creatures. And then you see a fourth, timeless technique of skepticism.

Timeless Techniques of Skeptics: Making Human Reason the Supreme Arbiter

32:30 And it's this. They attempt to overthrow the pillars of biblical religion by making human reason the supreme arbiter of reality. They attempt to overthrow the pillars of biblical religion by making human reason the supreme arbiter, that is, the supreme determiner of reality. See the argument from this passage? They say, in the resurrection, obviously,

33:01 there can only be, if there is such a thing as resurrection, a reconstitution of life as we now know it. They could not conceive of life that was life without marriage, sexual

33:16 intimacy, children. But Jesus said their problem was they knew not the power of God. In other

33:25 words, they were making what their own human reason could project as the statement of the deed of resurrection, the measure of the resurrection state. And Jesus said you do so because you're ignorant of the power of God that sets the dimensions of the resurrection state, not your little pea brain, not your little head, but God's almighty arm. Not your human weakness, but divine omnipotence. And so, dear Christian, when you are confronted

34:03 with people that, again, with an air of triumphalism, have obviously made their own minds the measure

34:12 of what can and cannot be, don't cower before that. Don't feel intimidated by that. Confronted unashamedly by acknowledging that God is bigger than any brain in any human head that He Himself

34:30 made. I thought of that, that was clear. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Mark. Thank you,

34:31 Robert. Thank you. Thank you, B. 1963 B. 1961. Total third century slots were raised by B.

34:33 projected. A total third century slots were raised by a who-stace, as Maddow used to Calley, as No. 1, to be recorded from the writers of Pompey's book W economic e av 입 of a single section of the art. If you are amazed at those as we are not amazing enough to believe, those ares that brushing in a path by looseveda 194 original humanity.

34:34 this the other day when I stood in a computer room of a business that has four different stores in four different locations and the central computer brain was in that room and I happened to be there at the time when several of the stores were feeding in the information of all of the invoices and sales for the day and then as the man who was operating this thing told me how it operated and what it did and how it stored everything and then everything was put on a tape and that was put in a fireproof safe so if everything burned or a bomb dropped on it they could recover their records for so many years I looked at that thing whirring away and pounding out this stuff and printing out

35:15 these sheets and I said now wait a minute which is greater the computer or the mind of man that made it feeds it and operates it well obviously the computer owes its existence to man's brain now it may perform certain functions much faster than the human brain does or the human pen but the computer is not greater than the one who makes it it can only be and do what the brain of man directs it to be and to do and then I began to

35:52 think and I wanted to laugh out loud puny stupid little man here I stand awed before something spun out of man's little gray matter in man's hands and the God of the universe the God of the universe made the brain which helps man to make this very thing which awes some of us what must the mind of God be if that thing that little puny man made can call up all the invoices for x number of years with the pushing of a button is it any big thing for God to call up

36:35 every thought you've ever thought from the moment of your birth to the day of your death by you in the day of judgment? That's no big deal for God. If man can make computers that can run the business transactions of everyone and all of this out of wonder up here, what must the mind of God do? Oh, the horrible arrogance of skepticism and unbelief that would seek to overthrow the pillars of biblical religion by making human reason the supreme

37:18 arbiter of reality. As Spurgeon stated it so beautifully, faith may swim where reason and understanding may only wade. And if you're only going to go as far as you can wade and feel the bottom of human reason on your feet, then I pity you. I pity you. But oh, to swim

37:44 in the ocean of God's truth and in the reality of the infinite. The reality of God, whose power is infinite, whose wisdom is infinite, and whose infinite power and wisdom have come to their most glorious expression, not in the creation or the sustaining of the world, but in the gift of his Son, who is called the Wisdom and the Power of God. And oh, how wonderful to revel in Christ crucified, and to glory in the mysteries of the universe, and to truly understand the true truth of God and His preciousness.

38:29 The wisdom of Jesus Christ is the wisdom of all the nations, of all the horses, of all the angels, of all the kings, of all the kings that are building the world. The wisdom of Christ is the wisdom of all things, the wisdom of all things that surround every sense of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Christ is God's wisdom. All that conceived of the incarnation, sinner of perfect right. And, oh, the power of God, the power of the Most High, shall

39:02 come upon thee, the angel said to Mary. What power was exerted to conceive in Mary's womb a true soul and body, joined to the eternal Word in one person, and yet two distinct natures. Oh, the power put forth that the person of the Lord Jesus should partake of the substance of Mary, and yet be unstained with any organic connection with Adam. What power. Power was

39:41 put forth to uphold that real humanity in Mary's womb, to uphold that humanity in all the vulnerability of infancy and childhood. What power was put forth to uphold that humanity in the flesh, to uphold it. Most of all, when upon the cross he bore the crushing weight of the anger and wrath of God against the sins of all those for whom he hung as surety and substitute. Surely no mere human frame or soul could have been sustained under that weight without infinite power. Behold my servant whom I uphold, and then the

40:25 great power of God. Great power manifested when he was raised from the dead. You see, the Christian has come to rest in Christ as the wisdom of God. Christ as the power of God.

40:39 And he, therefore, is forever done with making human reason the measure of reality. Well, there's the timeless techniques. Well, there are some of the timeless techniques of skepticism and unbelief. But now I want you to notice in the second place the method of our Lord in confronting skeptics and rationalists who deny fundamental biblical truth.

The Method of Our Lord in Confronting Skeptics

41:08 What was the method of our Lord in confronting these skeptics, these Sadducees, whose grand note of confession was no resurrection? Well, look at the passage. When they come and they say, Teacher, Teacher, Moses wrote to us, and they lay out their scenario, and then they ask their question, verse 23, In the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of them? For the seven had her to wife.

41:43 Now, does Jesus flatter them? Does he accommodate them? No. Does he demean them and ridicule them?

41:52 No. He does neither of those. You see, left to ourselves, we will either carnally accommodate, skepticism and unbelief, or we will sinfully demean the skeptic in his unbelief and further harden him and make not the truth offensive, but the manner of our dealing with his person offensive. Now, Jesus did neither.

42:17 He did not accommodate. He did not fawn over them. He did not cower before them. Nor did he ridicule and demean.

42:26 What did he do? Well, look at the three things he did. First of all, he charged them with going astray or with self-deception. He said, you do greatly err or deceive yourselves.

42:39 And then he repeated it in verse 27. He said, you greatly err. The first thing he did was to make a moral judgment directed to their conscience.

42:51 Now, isn't that interesting? You, you have. He dealt with the ethical and moral issue right up front. He charged them.

43:08 He charged them with going astray. And then he bent over the nail and clenched it on the other end. You do greatly go astray or deceive yourself. So the method of our Lord was to make central the moral ethical issue of skepticism and unbelief.

43:30 Second thing he did was this. He exposed their ignorance and their arrogance and their unbelief. Do you not err? Not knowing the scriptures or the power of God.

43:47 He exposed their ignorance and arrogance and unbelief. He says, you do not know the scriptures, nor do you know the power of God. He didn't flatter them. He did not unnecessarily insult them, but he exposed them.

44:07 These who thought they would come in their vaunted, pride and triumphalistic attitude and show him up to be a fool. He turns and says, you are ignorant. You are ignorant of the very scriptures you quote to me. And you're ignorant of the power of God, whose power secures the very thing you deny, namely the resurrection as well as the existence of angels and the continuity of the human spirit after its severance from the body.

44:41 And then the third thing he did is he authoritatively expounded the scriptures to them. They rise from the dead. They neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven. But as touching the dead that they are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses?

45:06 And then he expounds that passage and makes an authoritative deduction from it. So he expounds. He did basically three things. Charged them with going astray.

45:18 He nailed the moral, ethical issue up front. He exposed their ignorance and arrogance and unbelief. They did not know the scriptures nor the power of God. And then he authoritatively expounded the scriptures to them.

45:37 He did exactly what God says every elder is supposed to be able to do with every gainsayer. Titus 1 in verse 9. One of the requirements for an elder is this. That he who would be an elder must hold to the faithful word which is according to the teaching that he may be able both to exhort, to comfort, to encourage in the healthy doctrine and to convict, to bring to the bar of judgment and send away guilty the gainsayers.

Applying Jesus' Method: Moral Courage and Expounding Scripture

46:09 That is those who speak against the truth. And no man. No man is fit to be a shepherd of God's people who cannot follow to some degree the path of his Lord in confronting skeptics and rationalists who deny fundamental biblical truths. They must have the moral courage to face a man and say your problems are not intellectual problems.

46:36 They are moral problems. In your will you are deviating from the way of God. You do greatly. Go astray or deceive.

46:44 Go astray or deceive yourself. And then we need firmly and lovingly to expose their ignorance. You are ignorant of the scriptures. Oh yes, you quote a text here and a text there.

46:55 But you do not see that the overall message of the word of God is this. And expose their ignorance and the arrogance that makes the human mind the measure of reality. And then to expound the word of God. But you say, Pastor, they may not believe it to be the word of God.

47:12 They may not believe it to be the word of God. They may not believe it to be the word of God. That is the point of their skepticism. You mean I must wait for a man to consent that God's word is God's word before I tell him what it says?

47:24 Where do you find that in the Bible? Martin Luther, in his own quaint way, dealt with that issue when discussing the whole matter of whether or not he should quote the scriptures to people who did not recognize their authority or try to prove that the Bible is the word of God. He said, well, if you have a lion in a cage and a man standing right there in the middle of the room, you are not going to believe that the word of God is the word of God. He said, well, if you have a lion in a cage and a man standing right there in the middle of the room, you are not going to believe that the Bible is the word of God.

47:45 Man can't seem to believe the word of God. A person who sits there and doesn't believe that the word of God is a lion makes no sense arguing with them, just open the gate and let the lion out. Soon enough, these folks will find out that the lion represents a lion. I am no match for the lion.

47:57 But that is what we should do. In the presence of skepticism and unbelief, the word of God is God's lion. Let it in! It is not my word that I can break like onto a verbs 13 the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing neighbours.

48:19 thunder of soul and spirit joint and marrow it and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. And a man doesn't need to confess his belief in it to feel its cutting power. The story is told, and it's true, of an evangelist who in his preaching one night in a large evangelistic meeting made it plain he believed in the doctrine of everlasting punishment. And some modern Sadducee came up to him afterwards and said, Mr. So-and-so,

48:53 you obviously believe in this horrible doctrine of eternal punishment. I don't believe in that, and here are my reasons.

49:00 And he gave his reasons, and when he was done, the evangelist looked at him. He said, I have one thing to say to you. He that believeth not shall be damned. Oh, but so-and-so, I don't believe in damnation, and here are my reasons.

49:14 And he gave another spate of reasons. And the evangelist simply looked at him and said, He that believeth not shall be damned. And then he came with his third and fourth volley of all of his reasons why he didn't believe in damnation. And the evangelist simply quoted the text, He that believeth not shall be damned.

49:32 The man went his way, and the evangelist went back to his hotel. Two or three o'clock in the morning, there was a desperate knock on the door.

49:41 The evangelist woke up from his sleep and went to the door. And there was a man, white as a ghost, as though the day of judgment had dawned, tears streaming down his eyes, saying, Oh, sir, oh, sir, I left you and tried to go to my home and comfort myself in my unbelief. But one word kept ringing in my breast. He that believeth not shall be damned.

50:05 He that believeth not shall be damned. And I'm an unbeliever, and I know I shall be damned, sir. What must I do to be saved? He just opened the gate and let the lion out.

50:17 He let the lion do its work in slaying the unbelief. Dear child of God, don't feel intimidated because you're in the presence of a so-called educated fool.

50:31 That's what God calls people who use their so-called education to reason around God and the claims of truth which they instinctively feel upon their own breasts. They just may be a little more clever in sending up smoke screens than the uneducated, but that's all it is. It's a bigger, puffier smoke screen. They know themselves to be God's creatures, accountants, and they're accountable to God on their way to judgment.

50:58 Let the... Until they come broken and bleeding at the foot of the cross, crying for mercy.

51:09 Follow your Lord. Dare graciously but firmly to charge people with their unbelief. Expose their ignorance. Press the scriptures upon them.

Application for Believers: Don't Be Intimidated by Skepticism

51:26 Well, I've just about gone my hour. There's more that could be said. The root causes of skepticism. The root causes of skepticism and rationalism.

51:35 Ignorance of the scriptures. Ignorance of the power of God. But I trust what we've considered thus far has been sufficient to do at least two things. First of all, I trust it's been sufficient to set at rest the heart of every true child of God who perhaps having confronted arguments from your unsaved classmates at college, unsaved relatives and friends that you weren't able to answer and you felt intimidated.

52:05 How can I witness till I scurry around and find an answer? My friend, don't, don't, don't be put in such bondage. Be like that blind man whom the Lord healed. You remember in John 9?

52:18 And the religious leaders had it all figured out. They said, look, whoever healed you can't be Jesus because he's a sinner. God doesn't hear sinners. So we know he didn't heal you.

52:26 Now tell us who healed you. He said, look, I don't know what you guys got. I don't know what your problem is. But one thing I know.

52:33 One time these eyes would look up at the sun and see nothing. Nothing. Now they see. Once I was blind, see, and Jesus did it.

52:42 They said he couldn't do it. This man's a sinner. He said, whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know. But one thing I know.

52:47 I was blind. Now I see.

52:50 Now your skepticism can't take away my sight. I see. I see. I see.

52:56 Then they got mad. And they said, you were all together born in sin. And do you become our teacher?

53:04 Because he said, if I tell you again, will you become his disciple? Oh, I love that.

53:09 They said, maybe you're getting interested. You want to know some more? And then they got mad at him. But isn't it beautiful, this implicit?

53:15 He said, I don't even know whether he's a sinner. Now some of you think you're ignorant. But none of you who here as a Christian is so ignorant. You know that Christ is the sinless son of God.

53:23 You know more than that poor man did. Now be bold like he was. Once I was blind, now I see. How could God and man exist in one?

53:33 How could... Say, I don't understand the mystery.

53:37 But one thing I know. I have life from a crucified Savior. I have life from his death. And I have...

53:46 Come to peace and rest in the Christ of the Bible. Oh, but you see, the Bible's all for the...

53:51 Look at this. I can't answer all your questions. But one thing I know. That that book is my meat and drink.

53:58 Because it sets my Savior before me. Shows me his glory. Teaches me how to follow him. Christian, I hope you've seen in this passage.

54:08 In our Lord's dealing with the skepticism of the Sadducees. A pattern of how you, in the name and strength of Christ. Can deal with that same spirit that is so permeating our society. And then the second thing I trust you've seen is this.

Application for Unbelievers: Humble Yourselves and Embrace Christ

54:26 My unconverted friend, listen. What are your so-called intellectual objections to becoming a Christian? What are they? Oh, you say I have a problem.

54:36 Come on, get honest. The real problem is this, isn't it? You've either made your little pea brain the measure of all reality. How stupid.

54:46 When you can't even stand in front... Of a computer and explain why it does what it does.

54:51 Something made by other pea brains like yours. And yet it eludes you. It goes beyond. My friend, get off your arrogant horse.

55:04 Fall upon your face and say, oh God, I marvel you didn't crush me back to nothing. That I would dare to question what you've revealed in your word. Sinner, humble yourself. Go to the God who made you and acknowledge you've broken his law.

55:20 And deserve his wrath. And then embrace his dear son who is set before you in the gospel. In this very setting, think of it. These Sadducees who say there is no resurrection were saying it to one who in just a couple of days would die and three days later would rise from the dead the first fruits of all who sleep.

55:43 See the irony of God? He's on his way to die, to rise from the dead. First fruits of all who trusted. Oh my sinner friend, you too will die and there is a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust and you will only be found in the resurrection of the just if you're united to the Lord Jesus and you can only be united to him by faith and you'll never be united to him by faith till you see you are lost.

56:16 That's reality. Face it. Go to him and you'll find him to be true to his word. Him that comes.

Prayer and Benediction

56:24 Come to me. I will in no wise cast out. Let us pray our father how we thank you for the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and for the record of that life. We thank you for recording this encounter with these skeptical unbelieving Sadducees and depositing in that account meat and drink for our souls.

57:00 We thank you for your patience with us Lord. We. Are all we marvel at how patient you are with arrogance sinners dependent upon you for the very breath we breathe and yet taking that breath and framing words to question you to defy you to seek to undermine your truth Lord have mercy be merciful to impenitent sinners who sit here this morning in their pride and arrogance. Turn loose your word upon them.

57:34 And track them down in grace and then give to all of your people a new boldness. May none be intimidated before arrogant pompous skepticism and unbelief but armed with your word and with the knowledge of your grace and salvation. Make us bold to turn loose your word graciously and yet pointedly and use our witness that others may be brought to your son. Hear our cry seal your word to our hearts and dismiss us from this place with your blessing resting upon us we ask in Jesus name Amen.