WEBVTT

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 It's that time of year where we begin to think about holidays in the summertime.

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! Some of you will be booking holidays, thinking about flights.

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! In the old days you'd have gone to a travel agent and got the brochure and looked through

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! and seen what hotels, which area you went to. Maybe now you buy the books, you buy the

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 lonely planet, you know, five top things to do and things to see of this and that. And

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 maybe you're a planner, you like your holidays, your structure and you plan different things,

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 things that will be exciting, things that you'll be fun, that will be fun. And Christians in

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 their own way, as the Bible would put it, are on their way to a different country, a different

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 place, a heavenly country. And it would be very odd if we didn't take time as Christians

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 to look forward to that. At the moment, the weather is cold, isn't it? And dark and windy.

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 You get the travel book out or the brochure and you think about the sunshine. You think

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 that's where I'm going, that's where I'm going to spend a couple of weeks. But the Christian,

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 we are looking forward to a better country. And it would be odd. And it would be unwise

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 if we didn't look forward. If we didn't daydream about that better country. I will see this

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 and I will see that. And so as Christians, we are living now for eternity. And that's important,

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 isn't it? In a city like ours, a city like ours where people live for what they can do now,

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 and what they can gain now. But you will waste your life if you don't remember where you're

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 heading. Because the temptation for you and I is that we think heaven, it's irrelevant,

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 everything is a load of rubbish. That's the temptation here though, here is exciting. This

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 will fulfil you. Here and now, this will give you enormous pleasure. And as people who follow

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 the Lord Jesus, we need to look up and we need to say, no, no, no. We are going to be with

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 God in heaven. We're going to a place which cannot spoil or perish or fade. It will not

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 let down. There'll be no sin. There'll be no sickness. There'll be no ability to upset

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 others. And we won't be upset. There'll be no pain. There'll be no loneliness. And it will

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 go on and on like that. And so I need to think more rightly of then, so I will live rightly

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 now. And Matthew 22 is one of those passages that will help us to do it. Matthew 21 and 22

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 are all about conflict. Jesus is in conflict with the establishment. So last week, if you

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 remember, we saw how did a Christian relate to authority? How does a Christian relate to

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 authority? And it was the Pharisees. They were, let's put it, middle class people on the make.

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 Alright? The Pharisees. Religious middle classes. But they've tag teamed with, in verse 23, the

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 Sadducees. And the Sadducees are posh aristocrats. They are religious too. But a different kind

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 of religion. And the Sadducees dominated their religious council, the Sanhedrin. They were

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 very powerful. And they are going to ask Jesus about the resurrection. This group, the Sadducees,

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 and they didn't believe in the resurrection. The Pharisees did believe. Two rival gangs.

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 One literalist, one liberal. In their interpretation of the Bible. And they didn't like one another

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 very much, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They didn't like each other, but they disliked

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 Jesus even more. Do you remember that? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And so this

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 is the question they're going to ask. And the heart of this passage is this. Is there

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 really a physical, bodily resurrection to come? When they talk about the resurrection

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 here, they're not talking about one like Lazarus. Remember when Lazarus is dead to these days

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 and comes out of the tomb? He died and came back. But we're talking about here the general

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 resurrection. That at the end of the day, at the end of the time, when the Lord Jesus

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 comes again, everyone will rise from the dead and see him. Everyone who's been a believer

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 throughout history will be restored with a new body forever. And so just to be clear,

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 the New Testament teaches that if you died this morning, you would go to be with Jesus

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 immediately. If you remember the thief on the cross, today you'll be with me in paradise.

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 But only in a temporary sense. You would be with Jesus in heaven, but that is not where you

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 will spend eternity. The Bible teaches that there will be in the future a new heavens and

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 a new earth. We might call it the new creation or glory. And that's where we will spend eternity

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 forever. That's where our hope is. That we will spend eternity forever in a literal, physical,

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 bodily resurrection. And the Sadducees, they thought, nah, nonsense. We don't believe in any of that

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 sort of stuff. A physical, bodily resurrection, that's the issue. People get very, very confused

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 on that. I took funerales and every time I go to the house before the funeral. And I can't

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 think of any occasion where I haven't been told in the last 17 years where I'm told this.

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 They're in a better place, aren't they? They're in a better place. And so people really want

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 to believe in heaven. Somebody scores a try in international rugby and they say, my gran was

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 looking down on me today. People really want to believe in heaven, but there is massive confusion

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 on what that looks like. But there's no confusion in the Bible. Jesus is very, very clear that

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 when he returns, there will be a physical, bodily resurrection. Three things to this passage.

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 First of all, the sophisticated Sadducees, they had no resurrection. That's a terrible point

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 for someone with a list, isn't it? The sophisticated Sadducees, they had no resurrection. Secondly, Jesus

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 contradicts them and there's two things there. He says the power of God will bring resurrection

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 and he says the scriptures promise resurrection. So first of all, the sophisticated Sadducees

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 is there is no resurrection. Jesus says, no, you're wrong for two reasons. One, the power

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 of God will bring resurrection. Number two, the scriptures promise it. So first of all, let's

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 look at the Sadducees. They say there's no resurrection. Verse 23. They came to him who say that there

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 is no resurrection and they asked him a question. You can read more about this group in Acts 23.

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 They didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe in angels. And they didn't believe

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 the spirits will last forever. And they were anti-supernatural. They were anti-supernatural

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 religious leaders. There are many of them around today. And what you get with these people here

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 and with some of that sorts of folks today is you get religion that is really a moral veneer.

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 Just a kind of moral paint job upon people. There's no supernatural power of God to change

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 them. Their religion can't save you physically forever. It won't change you now.

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 It is a weak God that they believe in. And that's what's being offered by the Sadducees.

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 And many people offer it today. The crowd they are invested in, this group, in the world,

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 they are supportive of the Romans, the occupiers. And they are a wealthy group. They are influential.

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 Therefore, this group of Sadducees don't want to rock the boat. And their religion is just

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 a gloss, just a religious veneer on the people. And they love that. This crowd, though, has

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 come to Jesus. And they are an anti-supernatural sophisticated group. And they come to Jesus with

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 what they think is a very, very clever question. Let's go through verse 24.

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 Teacher, Moses said, Moses said of the law, if a man dies and doesn't have any children,

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 well, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

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 Now that's the Deuteronomy. So to the second brother, and the third, and the fourth, and the

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 fifth, and the sixth, and the seventh. That's, that's, short, short, short. What are you going

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 to make of this, Jesus? Because we know, don't we, there's no resurrection. Whose wife will

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 she be, brother, one, two, three, four, five, and six, seven, in the resurrection? And what

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 are you going to make of that, Jesus? How are you going to answer that? Your silly little

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 system of resurrection, how does it cope with a sophisticated, sensible question like ours?

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 And you read this, don't you, and you know it's not genuine. You read this question, and

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 it's not sensible that they've asked. You think, don't you, it's a very unlikely story.

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 We'll run with one minute for a moment. Husband dies, and leaves the wife. And the culture

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 of the time is, yes, the brother must marry the widow. Let's say you are brother four, number

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 four, okay? And you've seen your brothers, you've stood in the church on three occasions,

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 and you've watched this woman marry one of your brothers. And all three of them have died.

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 How do you feel on your wedding day? Your best man before you go to the church? Are you sure?

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 She seems a femme fatale, doesn't she? And you stand there on your wedding day, you say this

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 for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, till death has

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 to part. It's a silly story, isn't it? They're asking nonsense. They want to trap him. It's

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 not a real question. But they are taking something from the Bible. They take something from Deuteronomy

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 25. Moses gives this law. He says if brothers are living together and one of them dies and

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 another son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Your husband's brother shall take

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 her and marry her. The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that

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 his name will not be blotted out. So do you see that the principle here is that you don't

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 want the name of the family to disappear. You're the name of the family to last. You can see

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 the concern behind it. How does a family raise children if dad is dead? How do we keep going

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 here? And I think if you are a Sadducee and you believe in no physical afterlife, it's a very

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 normal question to ask. In fact, that's a very, very contemporary question to ask. Lots

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 of people will say that there's no life to come. There's no life to come, but I will live

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 on in my children. Do you hear that? The family name will last. I'll live on in my children.

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 And that is how they justify emotionally the fact that there's nothing to come. Albert

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 Einstein, you know the physicist? Let me read to you what he wrote. He wrote this, our death

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 is not an end. If we can live on in our children, in the younger generation, for they are us and

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 we are them. Our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. We live on. Einstein, you

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 are brilliant. Albert Einstein did physics like no one before him and no one after him

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 and that's the best that he can come up with. Our bodies are wilted leaves on the tree of

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 life. We live on. It's not true. Have you heard this at a funeral? I've heard this at a funeral

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 that I've taken. I've heard these tributes. We're not really saying goodbye to Audrey. Because

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 she would live on. She would live on in the memory of her children and grandchildren. That's

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 so not right. Why is it not right? It's not right because remembering is not living. They are

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 two very different things. And it might sound nice superficially but it's not true. Because

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 the horror of death is that that person is dead. People are into family histories, aren't

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 they? I was preaching in Leicester two weeks ago and the family I was with in the afternoon

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 and the conversation was drying up and I asked about their family and really wish I hadn't.

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 Because they're really into genealogies and it went back and somehow they thought that they

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 were related to William the Conqueror and at that point I was just kind of zoning out on

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 the sofa. But William the Conqueror does not live on, does he? He's not living in Leicester.

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 And you may be remembered. Mightn't you? It's very very unlikely that anyone in this room

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 will be remembered in 150 years. And you may be remembered. You might achieve some greatness.

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 But then, even then, not for very long. And people think, oh I'll live on in the lives

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 of my children. There's no supernatural, no afterlife. Schools are obsessed with this, aren't they?

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 Your school children are obsessed with this. You kind of maintain the community. You make

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 a name for yourself. You build other traditions. And if you're a saddicee, you've got to have

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 something. Haven't you? Like that. Because no one really thinks you die and that's it.

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 Even Richard Dawkins thinks it's kind of genial and they'll carry on and feed the plants or

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 something like that. No one stands in a funeral and thinks, well I'm happy this is just it.

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 No one does. The Sadducees, they were sophisticated anti-supernaturals. But you've got to find meaning

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 elsewhere. That's our culture. And Jesus says, your thinking is far too small.

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 So they come to the end of their question. They're nudging and they're chorting to one

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 another. And verse 29, Jesus batters them. You are wrong. You've strayed from the path.

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 Because you don't know the Bible nor the power of God. Two reasons you make an error. And

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 they're two pretty insulting reasons, aren't they, to say to somebody who's a professional

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 religious bloke. You don't know the Bible and you don't know the power of God.

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 You feel so well we study the Bible. It's quite possible to say it's so many presuppositions

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 that actually when you come to the Bible you've already decided what is right and wrong anyway.

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 And to completely miss the point, don't do that, Jesus says. So two errors. Let's take

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 them in turn. First of all he says the power of God, verse 30 and then the scriptures, 31.

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 So they're sophisticated. They've got no resurrection, verses 23 to 28. They say there's no power of,

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 Jesus says, no. Think about the power of God. Verse 30.

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 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels

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 in heaven. Jesus is saying it's different. Sadducees, implicit in your question is this

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 woman who marries certain times, which of them will be her husband in the afterlife. Implicit

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 in your question is that you think that the life to come is basically the same as this

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 one. With a mild uplift. You think that it's comparable from iPhone 9 to iPhone 10. You

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 know, you finish a contract, you give in your iPhone and you get an upgrade and it's sleeker,

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 it's better, it's a little bit glossier, it's a bit quicker. And that's what you think that

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 life is like, Sadducees. You think it's upgrade. And that's what you think that I think Christian

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 life, the resurrection is like. One mild upgrade. But we're not talking about that. In the next

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 life relationships are very different. And people will be like the angels in heaven, not

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 will be angels in heaven. And so our pattern of relationships and how we relate to one another

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 will be very different, not just a mild upgrade. So think, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, you

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 take the acorn and you compare it to the full grown oak tree. Is there continuity from the

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 acorn to the oak tree? Yeah, there is, isn't there? But there's also radical discontinuity

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 between the acorn and the oak tree. The seeds that you plant in the ground and the tree that

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 emerges, same but different. Well, we know that, don't we? We see that in the Lord Jesus.

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 Jesus, in his resurrection, he's the first fruit. He's the prototype. His body is the same

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 they recognize him, they recognize him, although they're slow to recognize him, his body is

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 the same, but it's radically different. He walks through walls. He can appear in a room

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 with closed doors. He is different. He goes up to heaven. There's continuity and discontinuity.

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 Not just a mild upgrade. You know Muslim heaven? Muslim heaven is upgrade. In heaven, as a Muslim,

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 when you get to heaven, you can have a drink. It's about time, isn't it? You're not allowed

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 to in this life, the Quran says. But when you get into paradise, you can have a drink. And

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 you can marry multiple times in heaven, according to the Quran. And when you read what the Quran

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 says about paradise, there's loads of couches. Couches everywhere. People reclining on couches.

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 It's supposed to be a picture, isn't it? Of luxury. But that is just life with a mild

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 upgrade. Jesus is not talking about that. It's radically different. You will live like

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 the angels. And it doesn't go into detail here. But it's a completely different scale of things.

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 And so, there's no marriage then. And there's no children needed. It is forever. Let's think

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 about this. New bodies, new relationships. New bodies, continuity and discontinuity. I'll

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 be me, and you'll be you, but we will be different. Like the angels, it says here. Like Jesus, 1 John

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 3, 2 says, perfected. It's one of the funniest things I think, that only in the Christian faith

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 do we become more after death than what we are now. It's very, very important. That after

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 death, according to the Bible, we become more than what we are now. More. Not diminished.

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 Not with a little upgrade or a little uplift. Radically more. Sown in weakness. Raised

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 in power.

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 C.S. Lewis famously puts it this way in his essay, The Weight of Glory. He says, remember

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 that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which

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 if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. God will make the feeblest and the

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 filthiest of us. A dazzling, immortal creature pulsating all through with such energy and joy

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 and wisdom and love that we cannot now imagine. It's quite right according to the New Testament.

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 Radically different. And that really matters. And I think as some of you get older, and we

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 are watching some of you get older, aren't we? It really matters. New bodies in the world

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 to come. New relationships. And the element Jesus is choosing to stress here because of

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 the question they ask. Their silly question. You know that throughout the Bible there's a trajectory.

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 Okay? So in the Old Testament marriage is the norm. And to not be married is unusual in the

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 Old Testament. And to have no children in the Old Testament is to be seen as a curse.

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 In the New Testament marriage is the norm. And singleness is seen as good. And there are real

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 benefits in not having the stress and the opportunity to work flat out for the gospel. So singleness

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 is seen as good. And in the New Testament some people have natural children and some people

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 have spiritual children and both are great. So when you get to the new heavens and the new

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 earth, there is no marriage. There is no physical children. But many that we've loved here and

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 now. There. Now I need to work a little bit more on that trajectory. But what you need to see this

00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:47.760
 morning is you need to know where you're going. I think we can safely assume that in glory the

00:23:47.760 --> 00:23:52.960
 new creation we will recognize one another. When we get there in glory and we'll recognize people that

00:23:52.960 --> 00:24:01.120
 we don't know here. In Matthew 8 we're going to sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. We can't do that if

00:24:01.120 --> 00:24:07.200
 we don't know who they are. Or more accurately 1 Thessalonians 4.13 says do not grieve as those

00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:13.039
 don't grieve without hope for those who've died because you will see them again. And they'll be reunited

00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:20.799
 with our brothers and sisters. We'll recognize friends and families in the new creation. But there is going to be a difference in how we relate.

00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:31.839
 And I think what Jesus is saying here is in this life marriage is a place where often our desire for intimacy is met.

00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:40.079
 And one of the dangers that people feel when they're not married is that they're missing out on intimacy

00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:48.240
 emotionally and physically. But what Jesus seems to be stressing here is that in the life to come there is an

00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:59.720
 intimacy but it is never in marriage between a man and a woman. That we will have that quality of intimacy with many people.

00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:03.740
 I don't think that's too hard to imagine.

00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:14.200
 Phokias, four children. First child, Marius, comes along. Then she goes on to have Rebecca, the second child.

00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:19.860
 She didn't say, oh, I'm sorry, I just can't love any more than Marius.

00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:20.519
 Did she?

00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:23.220
 I can only love number one.

00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:25.539
 I can't love the others.

00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.299
 Poor Annis and then poor Florence at number four.

00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:32.400
 There's just not enough love to go around. That's not how it works, is it?

00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:36.519
 But I think Jesus is saying that

00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:38.299
 the quality of relationships,

00:25:38.580 --> 00:25:40.880
 there's enough love to go around.

00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:45.140
 This great intimacy is spread.

00:25:45.560 --> 00:25:46.780
 Friends, family members.

00:25:46.860 --> 00:25:48.160
 So let me make two comments here, okay?

00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:50.540
 I know we're a little bit late, but stick with me, alright?

00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:52.940
 Two comments.

00:25:53.140 --> 00:25:54.480
 Number one, you've got to keep looking forward.

00:25:54.800 --> 00:25:56.000
 You've got to keep looking forward.

00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:00.140
 Eternity is a long time.

00:26:03.380 --> 00:26:04.520
 And if you're married,

00:26:05.520 --> 00:26:09.120
 you need to know that your marriage doesn't last very long,

00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.099
 only this life.

00:26:12.419 --> 00:26:14.459
 And you've got to serve Jesus Christ

00:26:14.459 --> 00:26:18.000
 and the people you know through him.

00:26:19.679 --> 00:26:20.939
 Because that will last forever.

00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:24.619
 And if you're single,

00:26:24.859 --> 00:26:27.419
 you need to recognise that that doesn't last very long.

00:26:29.139 --> 00:26:30.339
 And serving Jesus Christ

00:26:30.339 --> 00:26:31.819
 is the most important thing,

00:26:31.899 --> 00:26:33.319
 because what you do in serving him

00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:34.019
 will last forever.

00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:38.099
 And there'll be friends you can make

00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:39.240
 and people you can encourage

00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:40.139
 in the Christian faith

00:26:40.139 --> 00:26:41.299
 that you'll be with forever.

00:26:41.619 --> 00:26:43.619
 And you'll have a quality of intimacy

00:26:43.619 --> 00:26:47.539
 that surpasses anything that we know now.

00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:51.400
 And so you've got to keep looking forward.

00:26:52.759 --> 00:26:54.400
 That's one obvious implication.

00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:55.500
 The second is this.

00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:58.079
 That there'll be no loneliness in heaven.

00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:01.839
 And therefore there should be no loneliness

00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:02.699
 in the church now.

00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:06.759
 And the church has got to make sure

00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:08.139
 that those who are single

00:27:08.139 --> 00:27:10.720
 have intimate relationships emotionally.

00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:12.819
 And so for us here,

00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:14.980
 it's really incumbent on families

00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:16.279
 and those of us who are married

00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:18.019
 that we open the doors of our homes.

00:27:22.819 --> 00:27:25.059
 But there's intimate relationships and friendship.

00:27:25.059 --> 00:27:26.659
 And sometimes there's an awkwardness.

00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.679
 And we need to get over that.

00:27:34.939 --> 00:27:37.279
 And for us, our single folk,

00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:39.779
 sometimes the temptation with loneliness

00:27:39.779 --> 00:27:40.960
 is that you pull back.

00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:41.659
 Let me tell you what,

00:27:41.779 --> 00:27:42.919
 the only thing that can happen

00:27:42.919 --> 00:27:43.559
 when you pull back

00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:44.819
 is that you'll get more lonely, isn't it?

00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:47.539
 I'll never forget

00:27:47.539 --> 00:27:50.480
 a guy sitting in the old church lounge

00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:51.519
 with his arms folded,

00:27:51.659 --> 00:27:52.279
 looking down,

00:27:53.299 --> 00:27:54.099
 saying to me,

00:27:56.099 --> 00:27:57.220
 no one talks to me.

00:27:58.079 --> 00:27:58.599
 And I said,

00:27:58.659 --> 00:27:59.220
 you want to sit in like that?

00:27:59.220 --> 00:27:59.879
 I'm not surprised.

00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:03.659
 Because your body language

00:28:03.659 --> 00:28:04.859
 is that you want no one to talk to you.

00:28:06.059 --> 00:28:07.740
 And so if you pull back,

00:28:09.299 --> 00:28:10.199
 the only thing you'll get

00:28:10.199 --> 00:28:10.659
 is more loneliness.

00:28:12.179 --> 00:28:13.039
 Those are tangents.

00:28:13.159 --> 00:28:13.899
 Jesus is saying,

00:28:14.019 --> 00:28:14.279
 it's me,

00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:15.319
 you think too small.

00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:17.899
 You're mocking me,

00:28:17.939 --> 00:28:18.720
 saying the life to come

00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:19.240
 will be like this,

00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:20.139
 just a bit better.

00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:22.300
 You have no idea,

00:28:22.360 --> 00:28:23.080
 it's radically different.

00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:24.000
 You don't know the power of God.

00:28:24.080 --> 00:28:24.520
 And then lastly,

00:28:24.620 --> 00:28:25.020
 really quickly,

00:28:25.600 --> 00:28:26.740
 you don't know the scriptures.

00:28:27.280 --> 00:28:28.280
 They promise us resurrection.

00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:29.259
 Look at 31 and 32.

00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:33.560
 And as for the resurrection of the dead,

00:28:33.620 --> 00:28:34.200
 have you not read

00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:35.280
 what was said to you by God?

00:28:35.360 --> 00:28:36.840
 I am the God of Abraham.

00:28:37.259 --> 00:28:38.800
 I am the God of Isaac.

00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:40.640
 I am the God of Jacob.

00:28:43.600 --> 00:28:44.640
 I'm the God of the living,

00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.180
 not the dead.

00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:48.720
 The issue isn't really marriage.

00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:50.300
 It's just a silly question.

00:28:50.420 --> 00:28:51.540
 The issue is bodily resurrection.

00:28:54.360 --> 00:28:55.180
 Jesus could have gone for

00:28:55.180 --> 00:28:56.600
 any number of Old Testament texts.

00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:57.360
 He could have gone for

00:28:57.360 --> 00:28:58.620
 Isaiah 26, 19.

00:28:58.720 --> 00:28:59.240
 That's a good one.

00:29:01.020 --> 00:29:02.240
 Your dead will live.

00:29:02.320 --> 00:29:03.400
 Their bodies will rise.

00:29:03.560 --> 00:29:04.920
 You who have died in the dust

00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:05.940
 will wake up and shout

00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:07.720
 for the joy of the earth

00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:09.560
 will give birth to the dead.

00:29:10.380 --> 00:29:11.560
 Could have gone for Daniel 12, 2.

00:29:12.120 --> 00:29:12.920
 Multitudes who sleep

00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:13.780
 in the dust of the earth

00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:15.639
 will wake some to everlasting life

00:29:15.639 --> 00:29:17.299
 and others to everlasting content.

00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:19.139
 There's plenty of Old Testament texts

00:29:19.139 --> 00:29:20.200
 that demonstrate

00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:21.059
 there's life to come.

00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:23.119
 But Jesus goes for the big one.

00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:25.480
 He goes for Exodus chapter 3.

00:29:25.619 --> 00:29:25.899
 Do you remember?

00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:26.879
 They're Jewish leaders.

00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:29.519
 Exodus is your big book.

00:29:29.639 --> 00:29:30.460
 This is the one

00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:33.019
 where God calls to Moses.

00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:34.299
 It doesn't get bigger than that.

00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:35.940
 It's one of your all-time

00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:36.740
 favourite passages.

00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:41.079
 And you know that one,

00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:41.579
 Jesus says,

00:29:41.639 --> 00:29:41.960
 where he calls,

00:29:42.019 --> 00:29:43.180
 I'm the God of these people

00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:43.759
 who have been dead

00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:44.860
 for 500 years.

00:29:45.100 --> 00:29:45.539
 He says,

00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:47.299
 I am, present tense.

00:29:49.220 --> 00:29:50.460
 And either they're still living

00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:51.400
 in some sense

00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:52.640
 or you're calling God a liar.

00:29:53.660 --> 00:29:54.200
 Which is it?

00:29:54.340 --> 00:29:55.660
 Over to you, Sadducees.

00:29:56.600 --> 00:29:57.380
 You like your questions?

00:29:59.259 --> 00:30:00.279
 You should have known it

00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:00.840
 from the scriptures.

00:30:03.539 --> 00:30:05.680
 So the sophisticated Sadducees,

00:30:05.779 --> 00:30:08.019
 they had no resurrection,

00:30:08.220 --> 00:30:09.460
 just a little moral veneer.

00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:12.279
 They tried to find meaning elsewhere.

00:30:13.860 --> 00:30:14.460
 And Jesus says,

00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:15.319
 you think too small,

00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:16.880
 you are an error,

00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:18.100
 you don't know the power of God,

00:30:18.620 --> 00:30:20.340
 and you don't know the scriptures.

00:30:22.620 --> 00:30:23.420
 But elsewhere,

00:30:23.579 --> 00:30:24.799
 he'd be more stark,

00:30:25.460 --> 00:30:26.220
 and more bold.

00:30:27.380 --> 00:30:28.519
 Because in John 11,

00:30:28.660 --> 00:30:28.980
 he says,

00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:30.240
 I am the resurrection

00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:30.880
 and the life.

00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.279
 I am the resurrection

00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:33.940
 and the life.

00:30:33.940 --> 00:30:36.440
 And he who believes in me

00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:37.420
 will live,

00:30:38.380 --> 00:30:39.559
 even though he dies.

00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:42.320
 There will be

00:30:42.320 --> 00:30:43.180
 physical,

00:30:44.299 --> 00:30:45.240
 bodily

00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:47.360
 resurrection.

00:30:49.100 --> 00:30:50.180
 And if you've trusted

00:30:50.180 --> 00:30:50.920
 in the Lord Jesus,

00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:52.320
 you will be there.

00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:54.480
 And that matters.

00:30:55.900 --> 00:30:56.580
 And so trust him

00:30:56.580 --> 00:30:57.080
 will take you there.

00:30:57.140 --> 00:30:57.519
 Let's pray.

00:30:57.960 --> 00:30:57.960


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