Let's start by looking at the group that had confronted Jesus to begin with. Look at verse 18,
and Sadducees came to him who say there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question.
So Mark, for the first time and only time in his book, brings up this particular group called the
Sadducees, and if you grew up in Sunday school like me, you were told they were sad, you see,
because they did not believe in the resurrection. They're a small group, a small sect within Judaism,
but they had considerable influence, actually. They were the wealthy aristocrats of the day,
of Jewish society. They had many powerful positions within the priesthood, but then also
in the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling body of the Jews. Many Sanhedrins involved in that,
and it was through this power that they had that they controlled the happenings and the procedures
around the temple and temple worship, including those franchises of merchants, the greediness of
the money changers. It was the Sadducees that oversaw all of those processes. Remember in chapter 11,
Jesus comes in and chases them all out. Well, it's the Sadducees that are the ones that are benefiting
the most from that. Their teaching varied greatly from the Pharisees and from the dominant position
of Judaism. They contended that only the first five books of the Bible were divinely inspired.
The Pentateuch or the Book of Moses is how it's referred to here in this passage. They thought that
everything else that we would consider as necessary and inspired in the Old Testament was not actually
inspired. And so they completely dismissed any notions that could not be directly proven in
those first five books. It's a common position that people even hold today. The argument is based
on denial, that I can deny your argument just by denying the basis of your argument. So if someone
were to say, well, we believe that there's a resurrection, they'd say, well, no, you have to go to these other
books to prove that. And since we don't believe those other books are valid, then of course,
we don't believe that your argument about the resurrection is valid. And it's a terrible way
to argue, but it's the way that they positioned themselves when it came to this particular topic.
Acts tells us that they also denied the existence of spiritual beings. They didn't believe in angels,
they didn't believe in demons, and they didn't believe in a resurrection or an afterlife.
They believed that the soul dies with the body, and therefore we face neither rewards for our good,
neither do we face destruction or punishment for our evil, which naturally made them social and political
opportunists whose loyalty lay with whoever benefited them the most at the time. So since they believe that
it's only this life, this world is all that there is, what they pursued in this world was power and wealth
and pleasure. So they were friendly to the Romans. They were friendly to whoever would allow them to
have the authority and control over the temple, whoever was going to allow them to benefit from people.
That's the way that they live their life. And it's in this way that the Sadducees are very much like
modern people. Because modern Western thought refuses to believe that there's any purpose to
this life or existence after this life. It denies that there is actually a holy God who will judge the
world and everything in it so people live their lives for themselves. Because why not? If I'm going to
deny that there is a God and I'm going to deny that he cares about me and I'm going to deny that he will
judge me, then I am my own God. I'll live my life the way I want to live it and no one can tell me
otherwise. So our loyalties typically lie with those who benefit us the most. And our pursuits are consumed
with personal fulfillment and with power and with wealth. And the tragedy of all of this is the error of it.
Because every one of these people will indeed face the judgment of their creator.
And our only hope of vindication in that judgment is the death and resurrection of Christ.
So the Pharisees and the Herodians in the last section, they had failed in their attempt to derail the Lord's influence.
It's the Sadducees' turn now. They're going to give it their best effort. But as we read through,
we find that the cleverness of men is no match for the Son of God. And Jesus' wisdom once again
silences his enemies and leaves them speechless. But it's not the confrontation that is the main point here.
It only serves as the context for a series of critical truths from Jesus. And here's what we learn. Here's the
general thought of what we learn in this passage. God's covenant with Israel's patriarchs promises
that there is life after death. And Jesus' resurrection secures eternal life for whoever
will believe and follow him. All right? That's where we're going to go. Okay? But we're going to go
verse by verse to get there. All right? Listen, I'm going to follow the same format that we did last
week. And we'll do it with the scribe next Sunday as well. We're going to look at the challenge from the
Sadducees. Then we're going to look at Jesus' counter argument here as well. So let's look at the
challenge first. Verse 19. Here was the question that they asked. Teacher Moses wrote for us that
if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and
raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and when he died,
he left no offspring. The second took her and died, leaving no offspring, and the third likewise.
And the seven left no offspring. Last of all, the woman also died. In the resurrection then, Jesus,
when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her.
So their question is really, the motivation behind it is no different than the Pharisees and the
Herodians. This was not an honest inquiry on the part of the Sadducees. This was meant,
as an intellectual trap. And the challenge here is pretty straightforward. It was probably a common
one. Sinclair Ferguson said this is the type of question that every son of a Sadducee would have
asked every son of a Pharisee in primary school. You know, we have those intellectual bullets in our
holsters that we pull out. Just when we get someone at the right moment, we have this one question or
this one statement that we believe is unanswerable. And this was one of those questions. This probably
wasn't, they probably didn't come up with this in this moment. This was probably an argument that
was necessary for every card carrying Sadducee in Israel. And so I'm certain that people had heard
this before, but no one else apparently had been able to answer it adequately or satisfactorily.
So they bring it to the Lord. And the hypothetical situation that they present
is based on the laws of the law of marriage, which you can find described in Deuteronomy chapter 25.
We're not going to read that today, but let me just give you the synopsis of how it worked.
God commanded that if a married man died without children,
then his widow was to be married by the next relative who was unmarried. Okay, so the next
brother, or maybe if he didn't have any brothers, maybe it would be a cousin or whatever the closest
relative was who was unmarried was then to take the widow of this man and raise up children in his
name. So their first child, their first son would be named after the man who died. And what that did
was it secured the family name in Israel. It secured wealth for that family, their land. It stayed in the
family instead of passing on to other people. But then it also served as a protection for the widow.
It was a protection for her who otherwise might have been rejected by any other suitors,
would have been rejected by anyone else who didn't want to marry someone who wasn't a virgin.
She would have been destitute. She would have no one who could provide for her and protect her.
So God, in his grace, provides this law that the people were to follow. Now, I don't know how many of
you have good relationships with your sister-in-laws, but you can imagine this could be problematic in
some instances. But it was of God's will that they had this in Israel. And if someone didn't follow
this law of leveret marriage, Deuteronomy 25 says that they were to be dishonored. And there was this
whole procedure that you can read about that's somewhat humorous. But basically, it comes down to
dishonor forever. For the rest of the man's life, he would be known as the man who abandoned his
sister-in-law and who disobeyed the Lord's command. And of course, probably the most famous or well-known
of these situations is in Ruth and Boaz. And you can go and read that and how that worked out.
Well, the Sadducees' point here is not to discuss leveret marriage, but they were using it as a weapon
to suggest that the notion of a resurrection or an afterlife was actually absurd. That's what they
were trying to say to the Lord. And the reasoning went something like this. Why would God insist on
leveret marriage knowing how complicated that's going to make things if there is an afterlife?
Do you see the argument that they're trying to make? Why would God do that? He insisted on leveret
marriage. If there's multiple men that have one wife and in eternity, what's that going to be? It's
going to be a big mess. So clearly there's no such thing as a resurrection. Otherwise, God would not
have instituted this law. And they really just made a mockery of the Lord's position. And their argument
was reflective of common Jewish thought that the afterlife was really nothing more than a continuation
of this life. And we're going to get to that more in just a moment. But the famous Jewish historian,
Josephus, he wrote that the Sadducees were notoriously arrogant. They were dismissive of others who had
differing views. And undoubtedly, their objective here with the Lord was to make a mockery of him
and to treat him as a fool rather than a rabbi and messianic figure. But before we move on to Jesus's
response, we need to think for just a moment about what it was that motivated the Sadducees' aggression.
What is it that makes them want to come after Jesus at this moment? It doesn't seem like they're trying
to accomplish the same thing as the Pharisees and the Herodians who were actually seeking for his death.
The Sadducees, this whole thing wouldn't actually contribute to the death of Jesus.
What is it that they're trying to do? Remember, these men are fundamentally opportunists.
And they use their power to corrupt the temple procedures. They sold the franchises to the
merchants. They sold the franchises to the money changers. They were the ones taking the cut
off the top of whatever was made. They were the ones that were getting rich off of the superficial
worship of the people. But when Jesus came to town, what did he do? He interfered with all of that.
He chased out the merchants. He turned over the money changing stations. He refused to let that
continue in the temple, which meant that their wallets are the ones that took the hit.
They've lost their extra source of income here. And obviously, you hit someone in their wallet.
They don't like that very much. And the Sadducees didn't appreciate that either. But on top of all of that,
Jesus humiliated them by ignoring and denying their authority over the people.
And they knew as long as Jesus and the people were following Jesus, they weren't going to listen
to the Sadducees anymore. So what are they actually trying to do here? They're trying to make him look
like a fool in order to diminish his influence over the people so that they might regain their influence
over the people. They might regain their power and authority. And here we find this theme of authority
coming to the surface once again here in this chapter. It's just everywhere here. We all want to do things
our own way. None of us want someone else ruling over our lives or telling us what to do.
But you cannot be a disciple of Jesus without submitting to his lordship over your life.
And think about this. Israel's conflict with Jesus was not ultimately about religious ideas.
It was ultimately about personal authority. And that's the case for us as well. Our issues with Jesus
are far less about what he says and more to do with the fact that he says them to us.
It's less about his commands and more about the fact that he actually commands us. We don't like
that. We're fine for someone to be different. We're fine for someone to have different ideas as long as
they stay over there and leave me alone about it. But as soon as someone comes in and begins to
exercise authority in our own lives, we start to get defensive and we get upset about that. We don't want
to give up our own personal autonomy. And that's exactly what people do with Jesus. He comes in as
the Lord of all and he begins to command us and he begins to teach us. And the problem isn't so much
with what he's saying. It's the fact that he's saying it and that he's saying it to us, expecting us
to follow it. And so this issue of authority comes up again. Well, let's look at how Jesus countered
the men in verses 24 to 27. Of course, one of our favorite things about this section
is Jesus just has a mic drop moment after mic drop moment, doesn't he? He silenced the Pharisees.
He silences the Sadducees here as well. No matter how clever they got, they could not find a way to trap
him. And so Jesus in this response is simple. He gives some reasons for their error. He gives some
realities of the resurrection, some realities of what life will be like in eternity. And then he affirms
the resurrection itself. I want to deal just quickly with the reasons for their error. And then I want to
jump in and give us some time to be encouraged by what Jesus is saying about heaven here and about
eternity. Let's look first at the reasons for their error. Verse 24, Jesus said to them,
is this not the reason you are wrong? Because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.
And don't you love how straightforward Jesus is here? He doesn't say, well, you know what? That's an
interesting thought that you have there. And I value your opinion. He does know what he says.
He says, you're wrong.
Different from the politically correct compromise of the modern church, Jesus had no problem saying
they were plainly wrong. Now here's what's interesting about it. We know Jesus. We've studied his life here.
We know that there was no person to have ever lived or has ever lived since that is more loving than Jesus.
We have all experienced that he truly is, as he said, gentle and lowly.
That when we come to him, he gives us, he takes off the burden of religion and he takes off the burden of
works and he takes off the burden of our sin and he replaces it with his light and easy load and he gives us
rest. That's who Jesus is, right? He's gentle and he's lowly and he's loving.
Modern thought asserts that to love someone is to agree with them. But Jesus proves that true love does
not capitulate to error. True love exposes error. But here's where we go wrong sometimes.
Jesus' aim in exposing their error was not to insult them. His aim was not to win an argument.
His aim was to lead them to the truth. And that's where we go wrong sometimes, isn't it?
We forget that the ultimate aim of standing on the truth and exposing error is to lead other people to that truth.
But sometimes, man, you know, just get, if you're on social media, you can get so irritated, right?
Or you're in that one conversation. Now it becomes less about leading these people to truth
and it becomes more about embarrassing them for having such a foolish opinion. Or it becomes more
about just destroying them and their character. It's not really about truth anymore. Well, Jesus never
went there, but he was plain. And still, we need disciples who will lovingly and unashamedly stand
for truth and righteousness in the world. Otherwise, we are salt that has lost its seasoning and we have
become utterly worthless and useless in the plan of God. And so we see right in God's example,
Jesus' example here, he just plainly tells them, you're wrong. And here's why. He gives two reasons.
They were ignorant of the scriptures and they were ignorant of God's power. They dismissed the Bible
and they ignored the fact that the God who created ex nihilo out of nothing, all that is, also has the
power to create and transform life in the next life. They just ignored all of that. Jesus says,
that's your problem, which was a particular blow to their egos because the Sadducees would have
prided themselves on being experts in both categories. And the truth is, without fail,
the root of our sin, the root of our false doctrine, ultimately comes down to a low view of God's word
and a low view of God. A low view of God and a low view of God's word is going to lead us to sin
and it's going to lead us to false doctrine and it's going to lead us to carnality. And if we're going
to win people for Christ, we can't rely on our intellect for that. What do we do? We endeavor to
show them the beauty and holiness of God along with the inerrant authority of the Bible.
So Jesus points out right away, here's your problem. You don't know the Bible and you don't know God.
Okay. Those are the reasons for their error. Secondly, here's where I want to park for a minute.
The realities of the eternal state, the realities of the eternal state. Look at verse 25.
Jesus says, for when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but are like angels in heaven.
So before dealing with the central issue of the resurrection,
Jesus made a statement here about the reality of what life is like in eternity. And of course,
this is not exhaustive. He just points to one particular thing that related to their question.
Now, remember what I said about Jewish thought. They believed that any afterlife was just a
continuation of this life. There wasn't really anything more grand about it. It was just that
we get to continue on how things are. And that was the context of the Sadducees' question.
They assumed that the afterlife would mimic the current one, which was evidence that even the
Pharisees didn't really know the power of God. Says Sinclair Ferguson, they had so small a view of God
that they seemed to think the world to come would simply be a continuation of the world as it is.
But if they had known the power of God to transform human life, they would have already known what
Jesus was about to tell them. Now, here's where I want to pause for a second. Be honest.
Does it bother you when Jesus says,
there will be no marriage in heaven?
You're neither married, nor are you given in marriage.
Because if I'm honest, that bugs me a little bit when I first get to it, right?
I love Julie so much.
It's almost painful to consider that
in heaven, I might not be as close to her
or have the intimacy with her that I enjoy now
on earth. But is that what Jesus is saying here?
In eternity, will Julie and I be
like strangers?
I don't think so.
There won't be marriage in heaven
because there will be no need for marriage
in heaven.
Now, think about it.
God instituted marriage
to provide companionship
on earth. Remember in Genesis,
is it chapter two?
He said, it is not good that man be alone.
Therefore, he will make a helper that is suitable
for him and he creates Eve.
And together, he provides something in marriage
that would cause the family on earth
to flourish in the complementary roles
of men and women.
It was all a part of God's plan.
It was necessary for life here.
Necessary for this life.
Marriage is also
to be a shadow
pointing us toward the intimacy
that we will experience
with God
and Christ
in eternity.
Marriage was never meant to be
eternal.
If you spoke of an eternal bond
at your wedding ceremony,
you misspoke
because Jesus says
there is no marriage there.
It was never meant to be eternal.
It's meant to be a foretaste
of the immeasurable glory
of perfect union
with God.
Do you understand that?
As wonderful
as a companion
as Julie is to me,
Christ is far better.
As wonderful
as marriage is
in this life,
as much of a blessing
as it is for us
in this life
to have someone
to be with,
someone to love,
someone to continue on
in life with,
someone to bear
your burdens with,
someone to enjoy intimacy with,
as much,
as wonderful
as a thing marriage
is in this life,
it cannot compare
to the glory
of being with God
and being in personal
and perfect union
with Him
in eternity.
It doesn't compare.
It's only meant
to give us a foretaste
of what will be
far greater
in heaven.
James Edwards said,
the glorious realities
of the life to come
can no more
be accommodated
to the pedestrian
routines of earthly life
than can butterflies
be compared
to caterpillars.
Present earthly experience
is entirely insufficient
to forecast
divine heavenly realities.
We can no more
imagine heavenly existence
than an infant
in utero
can imagine
a Beethoven piano concerto
or the Grand Canyon
at sunset.
And we need
to be careful.
We don't think
that what God has
for us in eternity
will be a disappointment
if it doesn't include
what we have
now.
You've heard of people
that are so heavenly minded
that they're no earthly good.
I think for most of us,
we're probably
so earthly minded
that we're no heavenly good.
And we understand, right?
Why do we feel that way?
When we find goodness
in this life,
we cling to it.
Why?
Because this life
is saturated
with evil
and suffering
and destruction.
and we find glimpses
of goodness
and glimpses
of grace.
We grab on
and we don't want
to let go
even if it means
that we might get
something better.
I want to encourage you
to think for just a moment.
Think about all the things
that you love
in this life.
Think about all the things
that you enjoy
in this world.
Your family,
the beauty of creation,
the blessings of God,
the things that we love,
just bring them
to the forefront
of your mind
for just a moment.
The things that you love
the most in this life.
And now I want you
to recognize
that the things
that just came
to the forefront
of your mind,
you enjoy
in a fallen state.
You enjoy them
in the midst
of a sin-cursed world.
And think about
the goodness
and the grace
and the beauty
that God has provided
in the midst of sin
and in the midst
of devastation.
Now can you imagine now
what awaits us
in heaven
where there is no sin,
where there is no decay,
where there is no disease,
where there is no death,
where there is no war,
where there is no suffering.
All the things
that you love here now.
Imagine if God
can give you
that kind of grace
in this life,
what can he give to us
in the next life
which is removed
from all hardship
and trial
and tribulation.
What a wonderful thought.
You don't have to dread heaven.
It will be far greater
than this earth.
That doesn't really answer
the question I posed
which is what will
my relationship
with Julie
be like in heaven?
Will we be like strangers
to one another?
No, I don't think so.
And I'm going to read
to you a quote.
It's a long one.
It's just,
it's written much better
than what I could write it.
It's by a man named
Edward Donnelly.
And I want you to consider
this for a moment.
He writes,
we will certainly
know one another
in heaven.
King David
looked forward
to being reunited
with his dead son there.
I shall go to him,
he said.
Paul urges
bereaved Christians
not to sorrow
as others
who have no hope
for God will bring
with him
those who sleep
in Jesus.
The reason
for not grieving
like unbelievers
is that their parting
is not permanent.
They will meet again.
And then he says this,
we cannot know
less in heaven
than we did on earth.
And so we will
recognize there
those known to us.
And surely
that is comforting.
We're also told
that many aspects
of marriage
will no longer
be appropriate
in glory
where there will
be no reproduction.
The husband
will not need
a helper
nor the wife
someone to cherish
her protectively.
children
will not require
parental care.
The relationship
between Christ
and his church
will be so obvious
as to render
unnecessary
a human illustration.
But does this
mean then
that your husband
or my best friend
will be no more
to us
than anyone else
among the multitudes
of the redeemed?
I don't think so.
For every good
thing
will be better
in heaven
than on earth.
If God
has given you
a Christian husband
or wife
parent
or child
brother
or friend
you can be sure
that whatever
the parameters
of your future
relationship
with them may be
the friendship
will be closer
there
than it is now.
you will know
them more
intimately
love them
more intensely
delight in them
more fully.
It is impossible
that we should
lose
anything good
in that place
where good
abounds.
We can look
at Christians
whom we
love especially
and praise God
that we will
continue to love
them more
and more
forever
and
ever.
Is that not
awesome?
Yeah Jesus
says
there's no need
for marriage
in heaven
we won't be
given in marriage
in heaven
but that doesn't
mean I won't
know Julie
that means I
will know
her better.
I will love
her more
she'll love
me more
our intimacy
will be
greater there
than it's
ever been
before in
this life
why?
Because
we have
stripped away
all the sin
all the decay
all the
destruction
we are in
the place
of God's
perfection
where he
pours out
blessing
after blessing
can you
imagine
loving your
wife more
than you
love her
now?
Don't answer
that.
Grandparents
can you
imagine
loving those
grandbabies
more than
you love
them now?
Mark
can you
imagine
loving Adeline
more than
you love
her now?
Can you
imagine
that?
You
will
you
will
be
greater
it
won't
be
the
same
but
it
will
be
greater
it
will
be
better
and
the
testimony
of
the
church
in
history
is
that
Christians
have
longed
for
heaven
they've
longed
for
eternity
and
we
could
use
a
revival
of
that
longing
today
because
we
find
all
the
things
that
we
love
most
and
cherish
most
on
this
earth
and
we
think
if
this
isn't
in
heaven
I
don't
want
to
go
we
wouldn't
say
it
out
loud
but
we
live
that
way
that's
why
it's
so
easy
for
us
to
give
up
worship
for
a
family
day
because
we
love
our
family
more
than
we
love
worship
it's
why
it's
so
easy
for
us
to
give
up
the
things
of
God
in
order
to
have
the
things
of
this
earth
because
we're
clinging
to
things
that
will
pass
away
and
we're
failing
to
recognize
the
beauty
!
that
will
be
heaven
the
beauty
that
will
be
eternity
and
it
will
be
real
and
it
will
be
glorious
and
we
need
to
pray
that
the
Lord
would
give
us
a
fresh
longing
for
heaven
finally
let's
look at
resurrection
affirmations
here
resurrection
affirmations
verse
26
as
for the
dead
being
raised
have
you
not
read
in
the
book
of
Moses
in
the
passage
about
the
bush
how
God
spoke
to
him
saying
I
am
the
God
of
Abraham
and
the
God
of
Isaac
and
the
God
of
Jacob
he
is
not
God
of
the
dead
but
of
the
living
and
then
he
reiterates
you
are
quite
wrong
the
Sadducees
assumed
that
one
would
have
to
cite
books
outside
of
the
book
of
Moses
to
prove
any
form
of
future
resurrection
so
Jesus
proved
it
from
Exodus
chapter
3
a
passage
that
they
would
have
affirmed
as
divinely
inspired
two
ways
that
this
little
verse
in
Exodus
3
affirms
life
after
death
and
they're
simple
the
first
is
this
God
uses
the
present
tense
rather
than
the
past
tense
he
didn't
say
I
was
the
God
of
Abraham
I
was
the
God
of
Isaac
and
I
was
the
God
of
Jacob
no
he
says
I
am
the
God
of
Abraham
I
am
the
God
of
Isaac
I
am
the
God
of
Jacob
simple
yeah I
know
but
there's
a
second
reason
Jesus
used
this
text
to
emphasize
the
eternal
!
nature
of
God's
covenant
with
Abraham
and
Isaac
and
Jacob
now think
about this
for a
moment
what
would
be
the
purpose
in
those
glorious
covenants
made
with
the
patriarchs
those
extravagant
promises
of
progeny
and
prosperity
and
land
and
peace
what
would
be
the
purpose
of
giving
all
of
those
promises
extravagantly
to
these
three
men
knowing
that
they
would
utterly
cease
to
exist
in
only
a
few
years
it
wouldn't
make
sense
if
there
was
no
existence
after
this
life
why
would
God
be
so
concerned
about
the
lives
we
live
here
and
now
and
the
answer
is
he
wouldn't
William
Lane
said
this
it's
inconceivable
!
God
would
provide
for
the
patriarchs
some
partial
tokens
of
deliverance
and
leave
the
final
word
to
death
if
the
death
of
the
patriarchs
is
the
last
word
of
their
history
!
There
has
been
a
breach
of
the
promises
of
God
guaranteed
by
the
covenant
it
is
in
faithfulness
to
his
covenant
that
God
will
resurrect
the
dead
he
says
still
not
convinced
Sadducees
wouldn't
have been
either
not
because
the
evidence
is
weak
but
because
their
hearts
were
so
hard
they
didn't
believe
Jesus
words
because
they
didn't
want
to
but
this
argument
is
not
just
Jesus
opinion
on
Exodus
3
so
how
can
we
know
that
it's
true
how
can
we
trust
what
Jesus
says
and
think
that
the
Sadducees
are
wrong
or
anyone
else
for
that
matter
the
ultimate
guarantee
of our
resurrection
is
Jesus
his
own
resurrection
that's
it
his
resurrection
not only
proves
that
eternity
is a
reality
but
only
Jesus
has
the
authority
to
provide
eternal
life
to
us
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
changes
everything
you
say
how
do
we
know
that
the
Bible
is
true
our
first
answer
is
because
Jesus
rose
from
the
dead
and
Jesus
affirmed
it
he
affirmed
the
scriptures
he
was
testified
to
by
the
scriptures
they're
true
because
he
rose
and
he
lives
again
how
do
we
know
that
we
can
have
life
after
death
because
Jesus
has
proven
himself
that
he
has
life
after
death
and
he
has
power
over
death
and
he
has
authority
over
life
now
I
want
you
to
turn
with
me
as
we
finish
to
I
would
encourage
you
to
do
that
on
your
own
the
whole
chapter
is
about
this
same
subject
it's
the
resurrection
of
saints
because
of
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
and
I
want
you
to
read
with
me
beginning
at
verse
20
we'll
go
verse
20
to
verse
26
1
Corinthians
15
verse
20
but
in fact
Christ
has
been
raised
from
the
dead
the
first
fruits
of
those
who
have
fallen
asleep
for
as
by
a
man
came
death
by
a
man
comes
also
the
resurrection
of
the
dead
for
as
in
Adam
all
die
so
also
in
Christ
shall
all
be
made
alive
but
each
in
his
own
order
Christ
the
first
fruit
then
at
his
coming
those
who
belong
to
Christ
then
comes
the
end
when
he
delivers
the
kingdom
to
God
the
father
after
destroying
every
rule
and
every
authority
and
every
power
for
he
must
reign
until
he
has
put
all
enemies
under
his
feet
and
the
last
enemy
to
be
destroyed
is
death
what's
Paul's
point
we
will
live
on
because
Christ
lives
on
we
will
have
life
because
Christ
has
life
we
will
conquer
death
because
Christ
has
conquered
death
for
us
his
resurrection
changes
everything
it guarantees
ours
notice
why
stay
there
in
1st
Corinthians
15
we're
going
to
come
back
to
it
but
remember
what
Jesus
said
at the
very
end
to
the
Sadducees
he
is
God
of
the
living
not
God
of
the
dead
which
begs
the
question
as
we
close
are
you
living
or
are
you
dead
and
of
course
we
don't
mean
physically
we
mean
spiritually
do
you
have
life
or
are
you
in
the
category
that
Paul
talked
about
in
Ephesians
chapter
2
that
you
are
dead
in
your
trespasses
and
in
your
sins
because
if
you're
dead
you
receive
no
blessing
from
the
God
of
the
living
to
receive
his
blessing
to
receive
his
life
you
must
be
alive
Daniel
chapter
12
reminds
us
that
not
just
Christians
will
be
raised
but
so
will
unbelievers
Daniel
said
many
of
those
who
sleep
in
the
dust
of
the
earth
shall
wake
some
to
everlasting
life
some
to
shame
and
everlasting
content
the
truth
is
that
we'll
all
spend
eternity
somewhere
but
not
everyone
will
spend
it
in
the
perfect
beauty
and
goodness
of
heaven
some
will
be
raised
to
eternal
death
separated
from
God
in
hell
so
how
can
we
know
where
we
go
if
there
is
an
afterlife
and
if
there's
only
one
of
two
places
that
we
can
spend
that
time
in
eternity
how
can
we
guarantee
that
we
go
to
the
good
place
and
not
to
the
bad
place
Jesus
said
in
John
11
I
am
the
resurrection
and
the
life
whoever
believes
in me
though
he
die
yet
shall
he
live
and
everyone
who
lives
and
believes
in
me
shall
never
die
Jesus
is
the
answer
he
is
the
answer
the
bible
says
that
it's
appointed
unto
man
once
to
die
and
then
after
this
comes
the
judgment
do
you
understand
what
that
judgment
is
it
is
when
the
creator
of
all
the
creator
of
you
judges
you
on
the
basis
of
whether
or
not
you
fulfilled
the
purpose
for
which
he
created
you
to
fulfill
you
have
a
purpose
given
to
you
by
your
creator
that
purpose
is
his
own
glory
and
how
do
we
glorify
God
kids
by
loving
him
and
obeying
his
commands
and
laws
the
problem
is
none
of us
have
done
that
none
of us
have
loved
him
perfectly
none
of us
have
obeyed
him
perfectly
so
when
we
stand
before
him
in
that
judgment
we
cannot
possibly
hope
to
receive
blessing
on the
basis
of the
good
that
we
have
done
Isaiah
said
our
goodness
to
God
is like
a
filthy
rag
it's
worthless
because
his
standard
is
perfect
foolishness
on those
who think
that their
good
outweighing
their
bad
will somehow
earn
merit
with
God
is
perfect
how could
you ever
earn
merit
from
perfection
it
doesn't
work
but
you
will
answer
to
him
that's
why
Jesus
is
so
necessary
Jesus
as
God's
son
lived
the
life
that
we
cannot
live
he
is
perfect
he
loved
God
perfectly
he
fulfilled
the
law
perfectly
he
lived
the
life
that
we
cannot
live
and
he
died
the
death
that
we
should
die
that
is
the
death
of
facing
God's
wrath
in
eternity
he
took
that
for
us
why
so
that
at
that
judgment
so
that
at
that
judgment
God
the
father
can
look
at
us
and
say
I
put
your
sin
on
my
son
so
that
I
could
put
my
son's
righteousness
on
you
that's
why
it
matters
so
much
your
acceptance
with
God
has
nothing
to
do
with
you
will
never
be
good
enough
you
will
never
be
faithful
enough
you
will
never
give
enough
you
can
give
everything
you
have
to
Val
and
Angela
if
you
want
and
still
go
to
hell
because
it's
not
about
what
you
do
it's
not
about
who
you
are
it's
about
what
Christ
has
done
it's
about
who
he
is
and
he
says
all
who
will
believe
me
and
turn
from
their
sin
the
father
takes
their
sin
and
puts
it
on
the
son
and
then
he
takes
the
righteousness
of
the
son
and
he
puts
it
on
filthy
sinners
so
that
when
we
stand
before
the
judgment
it
is
not
our
own
goodness
that
we
claim
it
is
that
we
claim
the
goodness
of
Christ
because
the
sinless
Savior
died
counted
free
for
God
the
just
is
satisfied
to
look
on
him
and
pardon
me
and
this
whole
issue
in
Mark
chapter
12
is
all
about
eternity
the
Sadducees
didn't
realize
what
they
were
going
to
get
from
Jesus
when
they
came
prepared
to
mock
him
that
day
and
they
gave
us
something
in
their
ignorance
that
day
that
is
far
more
valuable
than
what
they
could
have
ever
understood
because
of
their
foolishness
Christ
delivers
for
us
in
his
word
a
wonderful
truth
of
the
reality
of
the
resurrection
and
then
he
says
that's
why
I'm
here
to
make
that
resurrection
a
reality
for
you
and
if
you
will
believe
me
and
you
will
follow
me
your
sins
will
be
forgiven
and
this
life
will
be
yours
but
it
takes
all
of
you
not
apart
it's
not
about
your
church
attendance
it's
not
about
what
you
do
in
the
church
ministries
it's
about
are
you
in
Christ
and
is
Christ
in
you
that's
the
resurrection
life
now
you're
in
first
Corinthians
15
look
with
me
at
verse
50
we'll
finish
with
this
as an
encouragement
I
tell
you
this
brothers
Paul
writes
flesh
and
blood
cannot
inherit
the
kingdom
of
God
nor
does
the
perishable
inherit
the
imperishable
behold
I tell
you a
mystery
we
shall
not
all
sleep
but
we
shall
all
be
changed
in
a
moment
in
the
twinkling
of
an
eye
at
the
last
trumpet
for
the
trumpet
will
sound
and
the
dead
will
be
raised
imperishable
and we
shall
be
changed
for
this
perishable
body
must
put
on
imperishable
and this
mortal
body
must
put
on
immortality
and when
the
perishable
puts
on
the
imperishable
and the
mortal
puts
on
the
immortality
then
shall
come
to
pass
the
saying
that
is
written
death
is
swallowed
up
in
victory
oh
death
where
is
your
victory
oh
death
where
is
your
sting
and he
drops
his
mic
here
the
sting
of
death
is
sin
and
the
power
of
sin
is
the
law
but
thanks
be
to
God
who
gives
us
victory
through
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ