[0:00] He would again turn with me to Luke chapter number 20. Luke chapter number 20. We'll start off in verse number seven. I'm really excited about this. I love getting to preach to not kids every now and then, but I do miss kids church at the moment.
[0:11] I like stories. A lot of our Bible is full of narrative stories. Almost three quarters of our Bible is a narrative. I think that's pretty interesting. I can tell you a story. In one of his latter moments, Benjamin Franklin, founding father, penned his own epitaph. He was ever the tinkerer thinker.
[0:28] He didn't profess to be a born again Christian, but it seems he must have been influenced by Paul's teaching of the resurrection. Here's what he wrote. The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here.
[0:42] Food for worms, but the work shall not be wholly lost, for it will be believed, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the author.
[0:54] It's an epitaph that Ben Franklin wrote about the resurrection. Another story is Vice President George Bush represented the U.S. at a funeral for former Soviet leader, Lenoyd Bredchev.
[1:04] Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by his widow. She stood motionless at the coffin for hours, until seconds before the coffin was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, his wife performed an act of great courage and hope.
[1:18] A gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed, she reached down and made a sign of a cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of the secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong.
[1:33] She had hoped that there was another life. She had hoped that there was a resurrection. The concept of life after death, the concept of heaven, resurrection, where do I go after I die, is something that people have thought about since the founding of man, since history itself.
[1:47] The day of life after death is a topic that appears in every culture at every time. It's a pretty big deal. Hindu beliefs include reincarnation, where the deceased person returns in the form of another person, beliefs with karma and dharma and things like that.
[1:59] Among long-gone Norse cultures, burial with the sword was quite common and believed to help the ancestor fight in the life to come. Some hold to an idea of an intermediary state of purgatory, right?
[2:10] Others, in between, like a lobby. Some of the ancient Greeks would place silver in the mouths of those deceased to help them buy things in the afterlife. Native tribes are recorded to have buried people with dogs so they would have a guide in the next life.
[2:22] The concept of where do I go after I die, resurrection, heaven, is something a lot of people have thought about for a long time. This fascination with what comes next, I believe, is natural. I believe it is from God.
[2:32] Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse number 11. This is what the Bible is going to say here. He has made everything beautiful in this time. He has also set the world in their heart. That word world there, we look behind it, it would mean eternity.
[2:43] He has put the concept of thinking about eternity in the heart of man. For the Bible believer, for the Christ follower, we know that our ultimate destination is resurrection. Those who are believers and Christians, we know that death isn't the end.
[2:54] Being buried isn't the end. Being put into the dirt isn't the end. We know that resurrection is what awaits us. This concept of resurrection, it's biblical. The concept of resurrection is a major theme in the Bible, a major theme in Christ's teaching.
[3:05] Look what the Bible says in Job chapter 19, verse 25 through 27. Job, who was around way before Abraham, this is what he says. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand the latter day upon the earth. Verse 26.
[3:16] And though my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job believed in a resurrection. It's pretty neat. Even King David believed in a resurrection. Look at what the Bible says in Psalm 16, verses 9 through 10.
[3:29] Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou would not leave my soul in hell, neither would thou suffer thine holy when to see corruption. King David wrote about a resurrection.
[3:40] Even the prophet Daniel believed in a resurrection. Look what the Bible says in Daniel chapter 12, verse number 2. Many of them which sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
[3:52] Daniel believed in a resurrection. We see men like Elijah and Elisha. They believed in a resurrection. They actually got to help perform a couple. Abraham believed in the resurrection. It's a pretty big deal. Excuse me.
[4:02] Resurrection is a future event of finally being raised to glory with the Lord Jesus. Believers may rest assured that account of their faith, they will share in the resurrection and the glory of Christ and be with him forever and ever.
[4:14] A.K.A. beating death. It's a pretty neat thing. Well, over 300 verses are concerned with the subject of resurrection in the New Testament. So much of biblical Christianity is rooted in this idea of resurrection.
[4:26] It was a large part of Jesus' teaching ministry, actually. Let's look at what he says in Matthew chapter 12, verse 40. The certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adultery and a race is seeking that their sign.
[4:38] And there shall be no sign given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonah was in the grave, or in three days and three nights in the well of his belly, so shall the Son of Man be for three days and three nights in the earth.
[4:49] Jesus taught about resurrection. It's the answer to the believer's doubt. We can look at Luke 24, 38, in which Thomas doubts and Jesus shows him the resurrection and that helps assuage his doubt.
[5:00] It serves to guarantee that Jesus' teachings are true. Look what the Bible says in Acts chapter 2, verse 24. You men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders, which God did about him in the midst of you, as you yourselves knew.
[5:13] Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God you have taken. What can happen to you, crucified and slain? Jesus is God. Y'all killed him. Verse 24, him who God hath raised up. The ultimate vindication of who Jesus is, is in the resurrection.
[5:26] It's at the center of the gospel itself. Romans chapter 10, verse 9 reads this. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth in the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[5:37] The resurrection is important. Our justification hinges on the resurrection. Romans 4, 24. But unto us whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him who hath raised up Jesus from the dead.
[5:47] Verse 25. Who has lived for our offensive and raised again for our justification. With there is no resurrection. You can kind of see how it's a pretty big deal. Furthermore, the resurrection is our impetus for evangelism.
[5:58] Why do we give to missions? Why are we evangelistic? Why do we want to bring our friends to church? Look what the Bible says in Matthew 28, 18. Jesus spake unto them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
[6:10] Teach them to observe all things which I have commanded you. This comes after the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection is a motivation for evangelism. It's the key indication of the believer's daily power to live the Christian life.
[6:21] How can we live victorious Christian lives? Because of the resurrection. Philippians 3, 10 says this. That I may know him in the power of his resurrection. Romans 7, 4. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, Ye who are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ, You should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead.
[6:36] The resurrection is of utmost importance. It's related to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Our hope hinges on the resurrection. Acts 1, 11, as Jesus arises and ascends, Angel stands there and says, So in like manner ye as you have seen him go into heaven, He's coming back.
[6:52] Revelation 1, 7. Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him. Lastly, resurrection. This is a model of our resurrection in Jesus' resurrection. If I can tell you this, the resurrection is a big deal.
[7:06] God has raised up the Lord Jesus Christ. And God has raised up both the Lord and will raise us up by his own power. Our hope hinges on the resurrection. Our salvation is based on the resurrection.
[7:17] The centrality of Jesus' teaching is around resurrection. It's a biblical theme. It comes up over and over and over again. The resurrection is a big deal. It's a huge part of Jesus' teaching ministry. I say that because as we come to this story, and as we enter into Luke chapter 20, we need to remember Jesus is under extreme scrutiny.
[7:34] He's under doctrinal attack. He's in the temple. He's already cleansed it. He's already purged it. Leading up to this point, Jesus has been leading change in the nation of Israel. His system was different. The Jewish leaders of that day, and the way he criticized legalism, the way he criticized focusing on external acts, and the teaching of his grace, forgiveness.
[7:50] He even associated people who were different. The Bible says they scoffed at him because he sat with sinners and publicans. His teaching on all sorts of things. As he entered in Jerusalem, it was loud.
[8:01] Hosannas rang. Miracles happened. Cast judgment on their system. And he's purged the temple. The money changers, the people selling animals. And he begins to teach daily in the temple, according to Luke chapter 9, verse 47. The Jewish leaders could not stand that, so they raise a few questions to Jesus.
[8:16] Remember we looked earlier in Luke chapter 20. He's already silenced the priests and the scribes. Verse Luke 20, 19 is going to say this, and the chief priests and the scribes the same hour so lay hands on him because they feared the people, for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
[8:29] He silenced them. He's kind of ended their argument, like they can't really do anything except try to kill them. He does it a second time. Look at what the Bible says in Luke chapter 20, verse 26. And they could not take hold of his words before the people, and they marveled at his answer, and they held their peace.
[8:43] They couldn't respond to what Jesus was saying. He had ended their arguments two times. He's going for the hat trick here. Jesus is approached by a group of people known as the Sadducees. We need to understand who these people are.
[8:54] The Sadducees were a party of high priests, scholars, aristocratic families, merchants, the wealthier elements of the population. It's often believed that the people selling those animals in the temple were endorsed by the Sadducees themselves.
[9:05] So you can see how they'd be kind of upset at Jesus, right? They're the high priests, preachers, teachers of the day. Jesus comes in the temple, and he starts changing things. They approach him. They ask him, what authority do you do this by? The Sadducees dominated the temple and its priesthood.
[9:17] Look at what's said about the Sadducees in Acts 5, verse 17. Then the high priest rose up, and all they were with him, which is a sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation. So the temple was run, essentially, by Sadducees.
[9:30] But most notably, they did not believe in the resurrection. Look at what's said about him in Luke 20, verse 27. Certain of the Sadducees would deny there is any resurrection. The Sadducees don't believe that there will be a bodily resurrection.
[9:42] They don't believe in life after that. They would say, it's lights out after you go. I think it's pretty funny. The historian Josephus even calls these men harsh in their belief of a lack of a resurrection. Acts 23, verse 8 says this about him.
[9:54] The Sadducees say there's no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. So that sort of sums up what the Sadducees believe. There's no spirits. There's no angel. There's no life after death.
[10:05] There's nothing. They believe it's lights out. And again, I would be sad you see too. This group who was upset at the change that Jesus is making, remember they're opposing them because they feel threatened politically. They're upset at them because they feel threatened theologically.
[10:17] And they deny the resurrection, which is a real issue. If you're going to be around Jesus and you deny the resurrection, you're probably bound to come into some arguments there. They deny the resurrection, but Jesus preaches the resurrection.
[10:28] They deny the resurrection, but Jesus claims to be the resurrection. So they're saying there is no resurrection, not knowing that they're looking at the man who says, I am the resurrection. Look at what he says in John 11, 25. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.
[10:40] He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. So there's quite a polarization here. They say there's no resurrection. Jesus claims to be the resurrection. Let's see how this battle goes down. If they can destroy the resurrection, if they can nullify arguments around the resurrection, you could say the thread that goes through most of Jesus' teaching is pulled and the whole sweater unravels.
[11:00] That's their goal. If they can disprove the resurrection, if they can make the resurrection seem nonsensical and illogical and not worth it, they believe that they can get Jesus. They can revoke his authority. They can say, look, you're not a real teacher.
[11:11] Look, you're not a real, you're not who you say you are. You're not the Messiah. You're not the Christ. So that is what they attempt to do. If they do so, they'd make him a false teacher and a liar. And for those of us this morning as Christians and believers, that put us in a real bad spot because if there is no resurrection, we'd have no hope because the resurrection is the very center of the gospel.
[11:29] Let's look at what the Bible says about in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 4. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which is preached unto you, which you have also received wherein you stand, by which you are also saved, that you keep in memory what is preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain.
[11:44] For they are delivered unto you, which I also receive, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. So the resurrection is a linchpin of the gospel.
[11:56] It's the very center of it. We're going to look at how Jesus defends the resurrection. But also, we have to know, if there is no resurrection, that bears a lot of implications for our lives. That means there is no future hope.
[12:07] That means our Lord is not coming back. That means we might as well not be at church this morning. That means we might as well go start prepping for the Super Bowl right now. It means there's no point in any of this. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
[12:18] Father, thank you for your goodness and your mercy. I'm thankful for your word. God, thank you for the opportunity to preach your word. I pray that you'd help us leave with a greater appreciation for your resurrection and the truths and the wonder and the power that it brings to our lives.
[12:30] God, I thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your mercy. Let us have a good time in your word today. In your name I pray. Amen. First thing is when we look at the ask of a question. Let's look at Luke 20, verses 28 through 33. They come up to Jesus, the Sadducees, and they say, 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.
[12:50] And there were therefore seven brethren. The first took a wife and died without children. The second took her to wife, and died childless, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and so on. In like manner is the seven also. He left no children and died.
[13:02] Last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of them is she? For they had seven of her that had her to wife. They ask Jesus a question. It's one of those questions that's so absurd in nature that they ask the question because they believe this.
[13:17] They believe this. The question was designed to discredit the resurrection by reducing it to absurdity. The question seems so crazy, and I dare say by even modern sensibility is a little bit inappropriate, but we've got to remember our context.
[13:28] So they ask Jesus this question. Seven people married this lady, hoping to have a son, and continue the name of the family, and they all die without having kids. So whose wife is going to be the resurrection? It's a crazy question.
[13:39] It's a question that's meant as somewhat of an insult, somewhat to make what Jesus believes to mean it. Let's remember our context, though. In Deuteronomy 25, verses 5 through 10, Moses wrote something about this.
[13:51] In the Hebrews, he gives them a command on marriage. When a married man dies and has a widow and has no surviving sons, for example, we can think of the story of Ruth, live right marriage occurs.
[14:01] The brother of the deceased man marries a widow and seeks to bear a son with her to continue the family name. Why? Because God gave them land, and with land you need somebody to inherit it. A lot of Israel's promises hinged on the land and so on and so forth.
[14:13] So Moses is giving them this command about marrying the widow to continue it. That's why Ruth was looking for her kinsman redeemer. We see it with Judah and Onan. It comes up over and over again in the Bible in which you remarry to keep the family name going.
[14:27] But let's examine Jesus' response and what we can learn from it. Mr. Matthew includes something that Jesus starts off with, we'll come back to, but I think it's really interesting. It's from the same gospel account, Matthew 22, 29.
[14:39] Jesus answered, He said, Ye who err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. So Jesus makes this statement, and then he begins his discourse, answering the questions and teaching about the resurrection. But the first thing Jesus is going to go after is this, the presuppositions of the Sadducees.
[14:52] In this question, they assume some things to be true. When they asked the question, they told this story, there were several things that they just assumed to be true, stated like it was truth, and Jesus is going to go after those first. And the question asked Jesus, the Sadducees accepted several things to be true.
[15:06] All the characters went to heaven, marriage was going to be the next thing in the next life, so on and so forth. There were just several things they embraced to be truth. And the question they asked, Jesus is going to begin by first handling their faulty resurrection logic.
[15:16] Let's look at what he says in verse 34. Jesus answered and says, and the children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and in the resurrection of the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage.
[15:27] Neither can they die anymore, for they are equal unto the angels and are the children of God being the children of the resurrection. The first thing that we see that Jesus kind of goes after in their faulty logic is this. They assume that all people would participate in the resurrection.
[15:40] They assume that all seven and the lady were going to be present in the resurrection. But we need to understand something. They failed to realize that there was no person even worthy to participate in the resurrection in the first place. They just accepted it for a guarantee that all those people would participate in that resurrection.
[15:55] They'd all be in heaven. Look what he says in Luke 20, 35. But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world in the resurrection of the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. He says it.
[16:05] They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world. We need to understand that they failed to realize that not everyone is counted worthy to obtain resurrection, heaven, the next life. We know that biblically because look what the Bible says in Romans chapter 3, verse 23.
[16:19] For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's sort of bad news. There is nobody worthy to obtain resurrection. Why is there death in the world? Because there is sin. Why would there be no resurrection? Because nobody is worthy to obtain this resurrection.
[16:31] He even says those who are counted worthy are those who are counted worthy are those who place their faith in Christ because faith in Christ is the only means by which you are accepted and are deemed worthy. See, the resurrection is real for us not because we're good people, because we go to church, because we read our Bibles, anything like that.
[16:46] The resurrection to us is true because we place our faith in the gospel of Jesus. We believed in him. We trusted him. Because we've put our faith in his worth, we are then granted worthy for heaven. The Sadducees didn't understand that.
[16:59] Look what the Bible says in Romans chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian, it's an excellent reminder. You are not worthy. Greg, excellent reminder.
[17:09] I am not worthy. Us, we are not worthy of our own selves. We are worthy because Jesus made us worthy. In faith in the gospels, we find our worth. So, Christian, believer, we are worthy because Jesus makes us worthy.
[17:21] Look what the Bible says in Galatians chapter 2, verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, a man is not justified by doing good stuff, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even when we have believed in Jesus Christ, we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by works of the law, but by faith in Christ.
[17:37] That is where we find justification, that is where we find worth, not in trying to do it ourselves, but entirely in Jesus and his mercy. That is where you find that at. We learned that to obtain resurrection status, you have to be counted worthy, but we've also established that it's impossible to do so on our own merit, our own schemes, our own devices.
[17:54] How does it work? It's credited. Look at what the Bible says in Romans chapter 4, verses 1 through 5. What shall we say? Then even Abraham, my father, is pertaining to the flesh that's found so. Paul's writing here. He says, What can we say?
[18:05] Abraham, you know, our forefather, can we say that he found out how to get to heaven by himself? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath were of the glory, but not before God. Verse 3. For what saith the scripture?
[18:15] Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. The same thing is true about us today. Our worth is found in believing in the gospel. It is in the work of Jesus Christ so we can be made worthy of this resurrection.
[18:27] I like the way 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21 says it. He has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might make the righteousness of God in him. We are worthy because Jesus is worthy and we place our faith in him.
[18:38] Nothing we do. But the second faulty assumption they had was this. They'd also assume that life would be the same as it was on earth. Which I hope that's not the case it is. I hope there was no traffic in heaven.
[18:48] I'm just going to be honest. I hope, you know, I hope that coffee is free in heaven. There's just a few things like that that I hope heaven is different than the way it is here. But they had assumed that life would exist the same as it is on earth.
[18:59] Look what the Bible says in Luke 20, 36. He says, Jesus answers, neither can they die anymore. So he makes a statement. Neither is there death anymore for they equal into the angels and they are the children of God being the children of the resurrection.
[19:10] The first thing they were wrong was they assumed that marriage would work the same. Though marriage is part of God's design for his children, it would not be a feature of the new creation. So questions like whose wife will this woman be, they're kind of irrelevant.
[19:21] Resurrected believers will no longer die so there will be no need to make families and to keep the population going and so on and so forth. In heaven, there will be like the angels who enjoy many meaningful relationships but do not marry or have children.
[19:32] After resurrection, the human life cycle, birth, death, marriage, reproduction is forever changed for the better, by the way. And there is the spiritual family. I like what he teaches. We're all the children of God.
[19:42] In this introduction in the spiritual family of God, we learn that that begins on earth. John 1, 12 is going to read this. But if many have received him, to him gave them the power to become the sons of God to them which believe in his name.
[19:54] Cool fact, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, you are a child of God. And that process has started here on earth. But what's awesome is it's accomplished and actualized in the resurrection. Ephesians 1, 5 says this, Having predestined us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
[20:09] Which means it's the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, the moment you believed and accepted the gospel, the moment we decide to trust the gospel, the Lord predestined us to be children of God.
[20:19] It means he put the destination in the GPS and set it on go. We will be adopted as children of God. It is our destiny. Romans 8, 23 even reads this, And they not only, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, growing within ourselves, waiting for the adoption.
[20:33] Christians, believers, we look forward to the day where we will be actualized, be in heaven, be with our Father as children of God. The process starts now, but it is finished and completed in heaven.
[20:45] But they also assume this. They assume that death would strike again. Look at what they say in verse 26. This is what Jesus responds. Neither can they die anymore. So here's a few things. They doubted that they thought that life would work the same.
[20:57] They thought that death would happen again. And they seem to ignore and forget the fact that in the resurrection there is no more death. Jesus had to remind them of this fact. Neither can they die anymore is what he says.
[21:07] Death is defeated by resurrection. John chapter 11, verse 25, when Jesus goes to a funeral, he makes a statement, I am the resurrection, and then ends the funeral. Death is defeated by resurrection. Jesus wins over death.
[21:19] Look what the Bible says in Revelation 118. This kind of sums it up. I am he that lived, this is Jesus talking, and was dead, and behold, I am alive evermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and death.
[21:29] Jesus wins over death. They had bad assumptions about the resurrection. They assumed that life would be the same. They'd assumed that death would strike again. And they'd assumed that all would be counterworthy to the resurrection. So Jesus has to dispute this first.
[21:41] But after disputing this faulty resurrection theology, he's then going to point them to the Old Testament. Specifically, he's going to point them to the book of Exodus. So Jesus is going to answer their faulty presuppositions. But then he's also going to take them to the precepts of scripture.
[21:53] Look what the Bible says in Luke 20, verses 37. Now that the dead are raised, even Moses, he's like, don't you guys know what Moses said? Even Moses showed us to the bush when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
[22:03] For he's not a God of the dead, but a God of the living. Jesus quotes Moses. He's going to show them what God and Moses had to say about the resurrection. He is first, he is already bested their assumptions.
[22:14] He's now going to get Moses and God to corroborate his evidence here. I think that's real neat. He takes them to Exodus 3, 6 more specifically, reading this. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
[22:27] And Moses hid his face where he was afraid to look upon God. So God makes this statement to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He tells him that. What's really neat is Jesus took this argument a step further and showing them the folly of the denial of the resurrection.
[22:39] The first thing is it's clearly written about in the Bible here. But then he shows him this. The resurrection referred to in Exodus chapter 3 in these verses, God did not say, I was the God. God did not say, I used to be the God.
[22:51] God did not say, at one point in time, I was the God of Abraham and Isaac. Just like if you moved of dresses, you don't say, I live where I used to live. You say, well, I guess you do say, I live where I used to live. But you know what I'm going for.
[23:02] God did not use past tense in his statement of his relationship with these men. He said, I am the God. Which to say that would infer that that relationship was still continuing. Well, dead people don't really have relationships.
[23:13] So it means that those men must still be living. He is the God of the living. Existence is not extinguished at death. Those who are raised in the resurrection to eternal life with God are not bound by temporal categories of the past, present, and future.
[23:24] Rather, when the age of the resurrection arrives, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all those associated with God, we simultaneously in the present with God. So I make a statement, I am the God of Isaac and Abraham and Jacob.
[23:35] He is not, he did not used to be the God. He will not just be the God. He is the God of them. Look what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, 8. I love this verse. We are confident, and I say, rather willing, rather be absent of the body is to be present with the Lord.
[23:49] Christians, believers, we have this hope. One day we will be absolutely present in heaven with the Lord. We will be with him. Look, those afraid of death are dealing with loss, so I want to let you know that your loved one is not gone.
[24:00] If your loved one has placed their faith in Jesus, they are very much so alive. Lee Strobel writes the following story in his book, A Case for Heaven. I hesitate to ask my last question. Maybe it was too personal.
[24:11] Maybe it was too soon, but I took a breath and decided to go ahead and ask the question. He was interviewing a doctor here. He says, The last time we talked in your office, your wife, Becky, was suffering from a terrible illness, and of course, she died pretty quickly after that.
[24:24] I said, So if you had your choice, if you were able to choose between reincarnation or resurrection as being true, what would you select? What would give you more comfort to know? This is how he responds. He was somber at first, and he says this, Well, Lee, there's no contest, and a small smile begins to break out.
[24:40] I would choose the promise of Scripture that Becky was fully forgiven of all of her sins based on the Christ work of the cross, that she was with the Lord, and that she would eventually be resurrected, living in a disease-free body in a new heaven, a new earth, forever and ever.
[24:53] How could I find any comfort whether she was reincardent or to cease to exist to face death again? Becky and I found hope in the self-given love in the heart of the reality of God.
[25:04] God loves the world so much that he sent his only begotten son to conquer death, disability, and disease, and he offers an eternal gift of life from his amazing grace to those which believe. What comforted this man dealing with the loss of his wife?
[25:15] It was this. She will be resurrected with no more disease, no more pain, no more death. She will be resurrected in a real true body, and she is with her Lord. That is what comforted this man in this case. In Christian believers, we have the same gospel hope, same gospel truth.
[25:30] Resurrection is far, far better. And after Jesus makes his statement about Moses and the burning bush and God being the God of the living, he's kind of silenced the skeptics. He's hushed, and they have no choice but to yield.
[25:40] I think it's funny. Look at what the Bible says in Luke chapter 20, verses 39 through 40. And certain of the scribes answered, saying, Master, thou hast well said. And after that, they durst not ask him any more questions also.
[25:51] He's kind of answered the question so well. They're like, I'm done. I'm not asking any more questions. I have nothing left to say. But in the other gospels, there's a verse that's included. I think it's neat how Mr. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John, they focus on different things, all the same account, but each took different things away from it.
[26:05] But look at what Matthew and Mark include in their gospel at the end of this. In Matthew chapter 29, verses 22, verse 29. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.
[26:16] Jesus already addressed the fact that they know the scriptures. He's like, you guys don't even know the book of Exodus. But then he makes a statement. He says, you don't know the power of God, which on a basic reading, usually we mention something like, I don't really see the power of God here.
[26:27] There's no powers not even mentioned in this chapter. See, the power of God is the resurrection. And that's the statement that Jesus is teaching. The power of God is this, to not know the resurrection is to not know God's power.
[26:38] If God's power is revealed and manifested in the resurrection, Ephesians 119 reads this, that what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to the work of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ Jesus, check this out, when he raised him from the dead.
[26:52] God's power was revealed in the resurrection. Yes, he's powerful all the time, but he showed his power and manifested in the greatest way in the resurrection. Power over death, power for hope, power in this life, power to live for him, power in all things.
[27:06] The greatest vindicating fact for the existence of God, the existence of Jesus, his claims, is the resurrection itself. His power is shown in that. Christians, believers, we have power for hope.
[27:16] Look what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 19. And if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, our hope is broken.
[27:27] It's not real. We're miserable. Because he rose from the dead, we have hope. We have help here. We know that. Look what the Bible says in Romans 6, 4. Therefore we bear with him by baptism in the death that is like Christ is raised from the dead by the glory of his Father.
[27:40] Even so, we should walk in newness of life. We live in new life because of what happened. We live in new life in this earth, which means new desires. We do new things. We live lives holy to him. We also know that we will have a new life one day.
[27:52] His power to save is revealed in the resurrection. Look what the Bible says in Romans 4, 25. Who is delivered for our offenses that he was raised again for our justification. Over and over and over again, God's power is shown and revealed in this resurrection.
[28:05] It's important. That's why Jesus took the time to defend it. It's at the center of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15, 2 is going to read this. By which you were saved, verse 3, for the liberty of first of all which you received how Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, he was buried and that he rose again.
[28:19] If there is no resurrection, there is no gospel, there is no salvation, there is no help, there is no hope. His power is revealed in the resurrection. And Jesus makes this other statement that by not knowing them you do err.
[28:31] The scriptures attest to the resurrection and to know them is to err, which means literally to lean towards error, to go the wrong way. My invitation to you today will be very simple. Believe the resurrection.
[28:41] Jesus took the time to defend it. The Bible takes the time to write about it. We need the resurrection in our life. Friend, I trust Jesus to save you. You have not put your faith in the gospel, not put your faith in Jesus to save you. I implore you to do it.
[28:53] If you want to know the resurrection, you need to believe the gospel. To my friends who are hurting and going through pain and trials and different tribulations and different storms, you can know this.
[29:04] Jesus is going to, he's going to set things right. The resurrection is going to happen. We do not, we have not lost. Lean on the hope the resurrection provides. And to those of us, we can live in boldness and service and in victory that the resurrection enables.
[29:17] Because Jesus won, we get to participate in that victory. Because the resurrection is true, we get to participate in that. Jesus took the time to defend this, to defend the resurrection. He took the time to make a case for the resurrection.
[29:29] Because in the days to follow after this, they're going to take Jesus, they're going to place him on a cross, they're going to kill him. They would have thought that lights, you know, they thought the show was over, Jesus was done, he's not coming back, we silence him.
[29:40] But three days later, he would rise again and be the first resurrected, setting a pattern and a principle for all of us. We can trust and have confidence in the resurrection. Everyone's heads bowed, everyone's eyes closed, we're going to pray here.
[29:52] And I'm asking you this morning, if you have not put your faith in Jesus, believe the resurrection and trust it. Those of us in here going through different things and storms and trials and different pains, take heart in the hope the resurrection provides.
[30:06] As musicians come and play, I want to give you a moment to pray in your seat. Maybe some of us here are in different situations and scenarios in which it seems to be hopeless. Maybe we're dealing with the loss of a loved one.
[30:18] Maybe we're hurting. We can trust in the hope the resurrection provides. Maybe some of us in here today don't know where we'll go after we die. Maybe you want to know if you will participate in this resurrection in heaven.
[30:30] Come get this settled at the altar.