The Trap of Doubting God’s Word | Mark 12:18-27 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh | (Gospel of Mark Series)

Mark twelve eighteen. And I will wait for you. And Sadducees came to him who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question saying, 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, left no offspring.

And 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, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.

Jesus said to them, is this not the reason you are wrong? Because you know neither the scriptures know the power of God. For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And 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.

You are quite wrong. Lord, we thank you that we are in the truth, and we can know the truth because of this precious book. But Lord, apart from the Spirit's help, we can be left in error, and so we ask for his grace and bring us closer to the truth. Give us greater clarity understanding that we may worship you with greater accuracy and affection. We ask these things with a genuine heart, with desperation, oh, Lord.

We long to meet with you and hear your voice now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, two weeks ago, we were in Mark together in this very same chapter, And I hope you didn't forget, but just in case, before our standalone message last week, Jesus, in being confronted by different groups of people, reminds us of the nature of spiritual warfare. Because in the opening of that message two weeks ago, we discussed the nature of spiritual warfare.

And one of the things that we brought up was how we can expect challenges and oppositions as we follow Christ wholeheartedly. And sometimes those spiritual incursions are more fierce on some days than on others. And that is what we have before us in this chapter. Jesus illustrates that by way of example because this is not the first group that approached him with animosity. Christ is ready now at the final moments, approaching his fulfillment of his mission on earth, but it wasn't a smooth ride.

You had one group after the other coming against him to try to expose him, to try to condemn him in one way or another. And last time in Mark, we witnessed the Lord effortlessly. He just sidestepped so smoothly the trap that was laid before him by the Pharisees and the Herodians. But it didn't take much time for another enemy to make their move. They stepped up to the plate, and they took their own shot at a crafty question, hoping to entangle Christ in another way.

And let me remind you when the Sadducees came. Before, it was the Pharisees and the Herodians, but in the gospel of Matthew, you don't have to turn there, but listen to this verse in chapter 22 verse 23. The same day, Matthew twenty two twenty three says, the same day Sadducees came to him. So it wasn't a week later, it wasn't a few few days later. It was the very same day after the Pharisees came and the Herodians came that the Sadducees now arrived on the scene.

Sometimes when you're walking with the Lord and it rains, it pours. And you can expect those days. And you can be assured that though you may not anticipate what day things come like a flood, you can stand tall. And you can be prepared by the word of God and by prayer and by his promises being in the forefront of your mind. So the Sadducees come now on the same day, giving no breath to Christ.

They wanting to suffocate him, approach him at this critical point. What are they gonna do? What are they gonna try? What lure are they going to attempt? Are they going to try to cause Christ to stumble by flattering him?

Are they gonna try to cause his judgment to be impaired by their smooth words? Or are they going to try to cause him to be trapped by a discourse about politics so he can tarnish his testimony? It's none of those things. The Pharisees and the Herodians tried that and to no avail. But this time, you have the Sadducees who come, and this is their plan, to expose the weaknesses of what Jesus preached publicly.

They're coming after his belief system, namely the hope of the resurrection. They wanna try to dismantle it. They wanna try to put him in a corner. They wanna try to have him stumble over his words. And I thought to myself, well, what's the point of that?

I mean, I can see the trouble you can get yourself into by having a conversation about paying taxes to Caesar, but what kind of damage does this theological jab cause? Well, the worst that this conundrum can do is that by Jesus not being able to answer this question adequately, it would cause him to be embarrassed. And in the sight of the crowds, they would be able to now have a reason to question if he was really the Messiah, if he was really the teacher of teachers, if he was really the one that the spirit anointed and appointed to be the savior of this people. So in essence, they just wanna try to vandalize his reputation. They wanna try to wound his credibility by bringing this, difficult question, I guess, in their minds and make him fumble.

And so this is what is happening in this part of the bible. But you remember from the Pharisees and the Herodians that when witnessing them trying to trap Jesus, we're not just looking at a scene with no relation to us. We are looking at things that we can adopt in our own lives. They set a trap for Christ and their traps for us as well, and it's no different with the Sadducees. In the same way that the Sadducees tried to corner Christ, be mindful of this trap on this day.

There are people who skillfully aim to instill in your heart doubt, confusion, insecurity concerning the validity of the Bible. Truths that you believe. Truths that you hold to with your heart, with your life. Like the Sadducees, you have some who want to create in you doubt about the soundness of what the word has to say. And that has been the strategy of Satan from the beginning.

The very question that served as the doorway for sin to enter into our universe was what? Did God really say? That is the question that brought us into this mess thousands of years later, and it is the question that causes people to remain in sin and not find liberty in the truth of God's word. And it's even a question that causes genuine believers who believe the right truths to be saved, but not some truths to know greater peace and greater joy. Did God really say?

You think Satan just whisper that once in the beginning of creation and he never utilized that again? You're dead wrong. And let me remind you that in Genesis three one, that before Satan asked that question, we are told and we're given a description of the instrument that he used to ask it. A serpent. I don't wanna get into a discussion about that too much, but I wanna say this.

The Bible describes the serpent as the most crafty of all the creatures that the Lord had made. That's an interesting description, don't you think? And it's there to inform you of how Satan works. Satan uses crafty things to convey his lies in your life and mine. He's very clever.

He uses crafty people. He uses crafty means. He uses crafty packages. And so whether that be through politicians, the arts, philosophy, science, in the same way he used the craftiest things of them all back then, he uses them today as well. Be very careful.

He packages his lies in a very convincing way. And people think, like, how did Eve fall for the serpent? You remember the serpent, he he was the one that came to Eve and we're looking at a serpent. Most of us in here, I don't know anybody who likes snakes. I guess they're they're out there.

But this is pre fall. I I I'm under the persuasion that that serpent was beautiful. That serpent looked harmless. If a snake was slithering through here, we all be jumping on our pews and running for the doors. But when this serpent came to Eve, she was disarmed.

I'm sure there was something about that serpent was very attractive, very alluring, very winsome, maybe even comforting. Remember, pre fall, I know you can't imagine it now. Beware. Satan uses crafty things and sometimes he'll use unfair, crafty questions to make your faith wobble about the Bible that you love and believe in. And so I want us to look at this portion of scripture because it provides insights about how you and I also can evade the web of doubting what the Bible has to say and live in the glee the glee and the confidence of God's word.

But before we do that, let's think about who the Sadducees are. So if the Pharisees were exclusively religious and the Herodians were predominantly political, the Sadducees were a hybrid of the two. They were religious, but they were also politically involved. And the Sadducees were different in that they made up of the elite of their day. They actually occupied the most seats of the supreme court of Israel's time, the Sanhedrin.

So they were men of prominence. They were men of influence. They were wealthy. They had great pedigree. And their main responsible because they occupied the majority of the Sanhedrin, was to have oversight over the activity of the temple in Jerusalem.

And so that implies that they had some obvious religious belief and convictions, and they did, though they differed from the Pharisees. The Pharisees believed in the entirety of the Hebrew scriptures. The Pharisees had oral traditions that were passed down and, unfortunately, they held up those traditions even above the word of God. This the the Sadducees were different though. And I'll show you why they're different because we're told the main difference in Acts 23 verse eight.

It's a brief verse worth looking at if we're gonna understand why the Sadducees are asking this question and why Jesus answered in the way that he answered. In Acts twenty three eight, we're told, for the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. So the main difference between the Sadducees and their school of thought with the Pharisees is that they did not believe in a spiritual world. There are no angels. There are no demons that parallel our universe that interact with our world.

They denied an afterlife, which means that there are no eternal rewards that await nor there anything to worry about concerning eternal punishment. They were annihilationists, meaning when your body died, your soul died with it. You ceased to exist. And so in some great sense, these are kinda like the modern liberal theologians. They really dismissed a lot of the supernatural, though not entirely.

But strangely, these guys prided themselves in being, devoted to the writings of Moses exclusively. They didn't acknowledge the prophets. They didn't look to any other writings except for the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures. So they were Moses only kind of believers. So they did have some tie to the Bible, but not like the Pharisees.

And there is no way you can catch a sadducee take seriously any of the oral traditions that were passed down by their opposing school of thought. So these guys were at odds with one another, but they found a common enemy in Jesus. And understanding the Sadducees' theological framework helps us understand their way of life. Because, yes, they were theological, but they were also political. Actually, more political than they were spiritual, if you can call it that.

And it makes sense, doesn't it? Why were they so invested with Rome? Why were they so preoccupied with those things? Because they believe that this world is all that there is to life. There's no world to expect.

There's no investment to make in the world to come. And so what do they wanna do? They wanna pursue and they wanna secure positions of power and wealth and influence. That's their ultimate ambition because that's the fruit of their belief. And the worldview here of the Sadducees made them appease the Romans in a very heavy way, and they wanted to, in that, maintain their places of control and honor.

And with that, it's no surprise that they abused their positions of power and honor. If the Sadducees made up the majority of the Sanhedrin and the Sanhedrin in great part were responsible for the temple, then even what we saw with the merchants in the temple makes sense. They made the place of God a business. Why? Because again, what are we worried about?

This is all there is to life. There's no judgment. There's no hell. There's no heaven. This is it.

So eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. That's how these men lived. And this is why they weren't even like the Pharisees persistent opposers of Christ. Because they're not concerned about a Messiah. They could care less about the anointed one to come and deliver us.

Alright. Rome is here and so let's do the best with Rome and try to make the most of this life. But the Sadducees appear on the scene when they realized, like the Herodians, who are completely political, that this Jesus and his movement can now ruffle our ambitions. And so they're gonna step up to the plate, not wanting there to be any potential risk of losing what they prize so much by having Rome invade, by being provoked by Jesus. So they're gonna approach Christ now, and they're gonna do their best to give a shot at his reputation so that it would at least give a blow to the momentum in Jerusalem.

And in looking at this interaction, I want us to see three insights of how you and I can avoid the trap of doubting God's word. Let's read it again in verse 18. And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question saying, teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man brother 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. Pause. That's in the bible.

You're gonna find that in Deuteronomy chapter 25, specifically in verse five and six. You don't have to turn there, but it's a law concerning marriage, at least one law in the context of marriage. And what this law did is it provided for a family line that if a man died leaving no offspring, then that man's brother was responsible to marry that wife, give her a child, and then the deceased husband's name and property and land will remain with that family. And so this was a way to protecting widows. It was a way of protecting also the inheritance of that family of those tribes.

And, we may think that's unfair. What if, that brother doesn't wanna marry that woman for whatever reason? Well, there's a way out of it. It wasn't completely binding, but it was a thing of honor more than anything else. And so the the Sadducees are taking that law concerning marriage of the old covenant, under the old covenant, and they're applying it in a very strange way.

They create this ridiculous hypothetical situation. And you know the rest. Look at verse 20. There were seven brothers. And then they go on to describe, the first took a wife and when he died left no offspring.

The second also, and in verse 22, and the seven left no offspring. Last of all, the woman also died. So they're saying now, in connection to the resurrection, alright, if there is life after this life, then what's gonna happen to these seven guys who are gonna appear in the world to come and they all married the same gal? Figure that one out, Lord. And you get the impression that if this is the question that they asked Jesus, then it was probably like the best thing that they had in the chamber.

It it probably was. In fact, I would take it further. I don't want to speculate too much, but it could be that they've used this against the Pharisees and the Pharisees were not able to answer the question for themselves. So it was like their go to question in a debate. And they thought to themselves, we got nobody's been able to answer this.

Nobody's been able to let's do it. Let's try. So they come up and they say, what do you say, Lord? And you see in thinking that the scriptures were silent on this issue, namely marriage in the afterlife, these men thought that they had a valid reputation. And here's the point that I wanna make.

Similarly, there are some believers who argue in like manner. They try to discredit the word of God as being insufficient or contradictory by looking and pointing out realities that are not mentioned or barely emphasized in the scriptures. And so here's the thing to keep mind keep mind of if you are going to be one to avoid the trap of doubting God's word. Number one, some skeptics of the bible entangle others with speculation. Speculation.

And what that means is they try to bring to people's attentions things that are not highlighted or underscored directly in the word of God. Or they they they make these arguments and they they produce these unfair kind of hypotheticals to try to cause you to rethink the soundness, the validity, the accuracy, the sensibility of some of the things that you believe. But here's the thing that you and I have to do as believers. You have to be willing to humble yourself and be content with the truth that not every question given there is a direct answer provided in the Bible. I know that sounds shocking, but it really isn't.

Because the Bible was not designed to answer every single question that one can come up with. You don't find a cupcake recipe in a math book, do you? And we don't criticize that math book, do we? Oh, the Bible doesn't tell me how to make frosted cupcakes. Or excuse me, the Bible doesn't tell me to do this or do that.

Here's the thing. The Bible wasn't designed to answer absolutely everything. People have trouble reading the Bible as it is now. You wanna answer every single question in the Bible in the world? The idea of the Bible is that it has been given to us specifically to disclose redemptive history and how mankind can be saved.

That is the design. And every detail provided orbits around that central theme. And so you and I, even as believers, have to step back and apply Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty nine, which says this, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law. There is a category of truth and information and data that's under the filing of secrets. And the only one who has the passcode to it is the Lord.

That frustrates people, that makes people flustered, but that's something that we as creatures have to be willing to comply with. There are just some things that we will not know in great detail. Some things that we might not know at all. There are secrets that belong to the Lord our God, and the Bible tells us that in the book. But what has been given to us according to this verse is sufficient.

Sufficient for what? It says, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law. What has been granted is sufficient for us to obey God in the way that he wants us to obey him. To respond to God in the way that he wants us to that that is given. That is laid out for us.

We have no reason to doubt or question, are we exactly where God wants us to be in our faith, in our practice, in the way that we interact with him and one another. Everything pertaining to that has been disclosed, and there are other things that we will never know and we should be okay with that. But in this case, with the Sadducees, they're trying to create something that wasn't intended to connect. This law about what a man should do for his brother if he dies concerning his wife and his family line, what does that have to do with the resurrection to come? Instead, we have to see here that his revelation intends to renew us and change the way we live, and that's how we approach the word of God.

And your response with that is to rest, just rest in that truth and resist the enchantment of endless questions and irrelevant disputes. You know, the Bible more than one occasions tells Christians, be careful in the kind of theological debates and battles you get yourself into. Let me remind you in first Timothy one four, what we're told. First Timothy one four, nor devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. There are some people who just they just love talking about things that there aren't really answers for.

Philosifying and theological sparring, and you can devote yourself in such conversations where it becomes actually unfruitful. Instead of spending your energy and your focus on what has been revealed, becoming more godly and more accurate in your understanding of God, you're giving yourself to what ifs and what abouts and why nots. And that can drain you of the limited things that you do have to give yourself over to what has been known. So Paul, not not just here in many in many places, tell your people, pastor Tim, not to devote themselves to these things because it's dangerous, and it can actually lead to strange conclusions and theological beliefs. So how do I avoid the trap of doubting God's word?

Well, don't have conversations and don't entertain things that only lead to speculations. But here's the thing that's interesting about the Sadducees, because their argument didn't just prove that they were not engaging with the word as they should, they proved that they didn't really know the bible to begin with. Look what Jesus says in verse 24. Jesus said to them, is this not the reason you are wrong? Is this not the reason you are wrong?

Because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. The Lord impresses me. I mean, he tells the people that should know the Bible the most that they don't know the Bible. He told it to the Pharisees, have you not read? It's like, excuse me.

That's what we do. And now he tells this other group of religious people, you don't know the Bible. You don't know the scriptures. So before dismantling this apparent dilemma, the Lord deals with the underlying issue of their question, which is their outright denial. The outright denial of the resurrection.

And the reason why they denied the resurrection was not because they came to the bible and they were not persuaded by the argument, it was because they failed to see it. He's gonna point that out later. They thought it had nothing to do with where they stood concerning the scriptures. They thought it was a silly idea. This man made perhaps concept.

And so they mocked it and they scorned it. And they were ultimately ignorant of it. And because they were ignorant of this thing called the resurrection, they ended up what? Becoming ignorant of what God can do, namely, raise people from the dead. So you don't know the scriptures and because you don't know the scriptures, you don't know the power of God.

And so this is the indictment that he makes against them. And so the second insight in overcoming the traps that are laid before you by others, who wanna cause you to doubt God's word is this. Some critics of the Bible are critics because they don't know the Bible. Some critics of the Bible are critics because they don't know the Bible to begin with. And when you match that up with somebody who claims to be Christian who also doesn't know the Bible, then you got problems.

I have discovered in my conversations with people from different faiths, different cults even, philosophies, that a majority, if not all of them, who reject the truth, that is the truth, have not personally made an examination of the foundations of our faith. Have you ever discovered that? Talk to people long enough from this sect or talk to people long enough from that expression of religion. And what you'll discover is those people who represent that camp say the same things a majority of the time because they have a shared script. And what they receive a majority of the times, the things that they read from other authors who think like them or blogs that they found or some guy with a podcast, and they adopt these things.

And then when they find a Christian, they just shoot off thinking that it will trip them up, and it often does because of the third point that I'm gonna get to in a moment. So a lot of people just receive and repeat from talking points and other writings that they've discovered, but they haven't made a personal ambition to come to this holy book and discover the harmony of it. And how even with the basics of the faith even a child can understand, they haven't made that effort because of presuppositions already, because of their guard, because they're already set on wanting to disprove this truth, they haven't made the first step in effort to discover if it's true to begin with. And if you've engaged with people from different places and beliefs long enough, you'll discover that they pair it the same things in the same ways. And so that should comfort you.

That that should comfort you because some people are intimidated by what others say, but you shouldn't because of the third point. If you wanna overcome the trap of doubting God's word, and this is where I wanna stay for the majority and the rest of this time, is that you must be thoroughly equipped with what God has said. The more familiar you are with your faith, the more you have a grasp on this truth, the less doubt will torment you. People often ask, how can I grow my knowledge of the word? How can I increase in this belief?

How where do I start? Can I tell you something? In my, at least, experience in the first few months of walking with the Lord being very eager and anxious to tell people about Jesus Christ, I've been presented questions that I could not answer on the spot. And I'm so thankful for those moments. You know why?

Because in those moments where I was, it gave me enough motivation to lock myself in my basement apartment and discover that truth that I could not answer. And when I've come to this word in my personal study over the years and I've stumbled upon something in one account and then I compare it to another account, one description, I compare it to another description, my heart begins to race a little bit because I'm like, did I just find a contradiction in the Bible? And I wrestle with the text and I examine the text and I research about the text, I can't tell you the relief that comes over me when I realize, no, no, no, the Bible knows exactly what it is describing. God knows exactly how he authored this book, and I am more concrete in my faith than I was when I found a thing to begin with. Look what Jesus does in verse 25.

For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And 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. You are quite wrong. In verse 25, you're dealing with the one who descended from heaven.

You're dealing with the one who will be the king of the world to come. You're dealing with the one who knows all things, and he clarifies first the symptom of the bedrock of their faulty view. And he says, you guys don't know what you're talking about because you think that the resurrection is gonna be a continuation of the life as we know it, and it's not. It's not. There will no be no marriage in heaven.

I know the Mormons say otherwise, but it's not true because of what Jesus says. And some are conflicted by this, may just pause here to even just meditate on the life to come. Some are conflicted by this because they can't imagine a world void of the deep bond that one can know in the place of marriage. Some are baffled by this because they can't imagine a world where they can't have access to the ecstasy of a physical intimate relationship with another person that they've made a covenant with. Right?

Some of you who are in love with your spouse, and I pray that every person here is madly in love with their wives and their husbands. You have probably even thought to yourself and had conversations with your spouse, we're not gonna be married in heaven? That ain't gonna be strange. How am I gonna see you? How are you gonna see me?

And some might be disappointed by Jesus's brief description of the world to come, but be comforted to know that what this meant to describe is that there will be a bliss so intense that it will make even the joys of marital covenant relationships seem shallow. There will be such an intense enjoyment of the things of God, the glory of God, the people of God. And if if we're enjoying this now and we're still in this flesh, what's it gonna be like when we're all perfect? I know you're trying to find a perfect church. You ain't gonna find it, friend.

You gotta wait till heaven for that. But, oh, a day where we get along all the time. Isn't that a wonderful thought? A oneness in the presence of God that will be something that your body now would not be able to handle. It would combust if you even sipped of what the glory that awaits is going to do to you.

So Jesus talks about indirectly of something that is not gonna be known, something that's really sometimes even the chief goal of people, just to find that one person that I can walk hand in hand with and that's gonna be non existent. And for some it's not even that, for some it's gold and money and jewels and possessions. May I remind you the gold that people are killing and cheating about is gonna become pavement in heaven? We're gonna step on that stuff. And I can assure you that as awesome as the sight of golden streets will be, it's gonna be the glory of Jesus Christ that's gonna apprehend you and take your breath away for thousands upon thousands of years.

So though the scriptures does not, in the old covenant at least, in the old testament disclose every single activity that will take place in heaven, it does over and over provide this truth that the theme of heaven will be the absolute glory of God that you and I will know and enjoy. Let me read to you Psalm 17 verse 15. This is a verse about the resurrection right here in Psalm 17 verse 15. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Like awake from what? Awake from death. Psalm seventeen fifteen. As for me, in the verses preceding that, he's talking about the wicked and what they toil after. He goes, never mind that.

As for me, when I awake, I will be satisfied with your likeness. Satisfied. Like real eternal satisfaction. One might say, well, of course the Lord could be confident about this world to come because he's the king of the world and he created that world. But wait, he's also our example.

He's not just flexing his omniscience by answering the Sadducees. He wants to provide us a principle because in this moment, he's about the point of the Bible. And that's what he does in verse 26. As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses? And then he goes to Exodus chapter three and he speaks about the moment of the burning bush.

And he this is fascinating because he could have gone to Daniel, there's great verses in Daniel about the resurrection, could have gone to Isaiah plenty in there about the resurrection, could have gone to the Psalms, could have gone to some of the minor prophets, but instead he goes to the book of Moses. You know why. Right? Because you heard about the Sadducees. That's all they adhered to.

And so he he's gonna in some way, I don't think entirely, but in in one way, he's gonna he's gonna show them how they missed it even in what they exclusively believed in. K. You hold to only the books of Moses? Did you realize what God said to Moses in Exodus chapter three? And and here's the thing.

The Lord, who is the word, shows me here of how much he knew the word. Because who would have pulled a resurrection truth out of the burning bush and Moses having a conversation? Because we read here in that passage how God spoke to him saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Can I ask you something? When you read that in Exodus chapter three, do you think, okay.

There is a resurrection. How the Lord saw the scriptures, the depth that the Lord had and not just seeing things at face value. Yes. We should take the simplicity of the scriptures with joy, but also the implications of it. The implications of some of these truths there, I wanna see with that kind of depth because here's what the resurrection hinges on.

God telling Moses, I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Not I was. I am. Implying that though even in Exodus three, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were long gone, God could still say to his current servant, I am the God of these men. God is not the God of dead worshipers.

God is the God of living worshipers. And for him to say, I am the God of these men shows that they were alive though their bodies were in a cave. Did you not realize that you Sadducees? No wonder you're always sad. You didn't realize that what God was saying there was showing that he is the God of a living people?

And that the patriarchs and your fathers are alive and they're alive today. And so the Lord, many would say, in his brilliance accommodates to the Sadducees by meeting them where they were at in the books of Moses. But I I don't think he does, but not entirely. Can I show you why? You have some people who say, you know, if people don't believe the bible, don't try to prove the bible with the bible.

You know, if people don't use the scriptures, you gotta use other methods and means to try to get their conscious alarmed and awakened. Jesus doesn't do that even with these Sadducees who didn't believe in many things. So we read in Acts 23 that they didn't believe in the resurrection, they didn't believe in angels. Remember, they didn't believe in spirits. But go back to what Jesus said in his opening explanation of verse 25.

For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. You're talking about angels with people who don't believe in angels. Guess what? Jesus doesn't care. What do I mean by that?

Just because these men didn't uphold these truths didn't make them untrue. Listen. Don't doubt the power of the word of God. Don't doubt the power of the God with people who vehemently stand against the word of God. This word is God's word.

And when it touches the conscience, you never know what can happen. It can awaken even the skeptic of all skeptics. It can convict even the most hardened of sinners. Here's Jesus flawlessly answering yes, but not being intimidated by their skepticism still presenting the truth as it is. Not bending, not tiptoeing, not being cautious.

Yes, be wise. Yes, be careful. It all depends on who your audience is. But I love how the Lord here speaks about it being true whether they acknowledge it or not. I've had some conversations with some Asians who obviously don't believe in the bible.

But in those conversations I would say, but the bible says this. The bible says this. And you can sometimes see the conviction on their faces. Because even the scripture talks about how the law shuts the mouths of every person so that they're not they're not justified in the sight of God. This book has been meant to be heralded and to declare to all men, all creatures.

And so I love how the Lord here with these people who don't even believe in angels talks about it so casually. They will be like the angels in heaven. So yes, be wise. Yes, be strategic in how you present the truth, but don't ever doubt what the truth can do to those who don't even believe in it. Share it.

Declare it. Counsel with it, and people can be changed by it. I'm not sure if it did happen with these Sadducees, But I want you to see that in the pursuit of knowing the scripture, knowing the truth, being able to defend it, being able to deflect every objection that comes your way, that you never forget the personal ambition of the word of God in your life. So in this account, he talks about the burning bush and that passage. But I want you to see how the Lord describes it in Matthew 22.

Let's go to Matthew 22 verse 31. But in verse 29 of Matthew 22, let's read from there. But Jesus answered them, you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, in neither Mary nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you?

He didn't say that in Mark. Have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

But notice that phrase, what was said to you? And you've heard me talk about this not too far back, but I think it's worth mentioning again since we're here. Moses hearing a voice from a burning bush, God commissioning him, Though that is a historical event not to be repeated, that is something to be examined as a past event. Still, Jesus says, in that moment, God still has something to desire to speak to you. There's a truth even in that historical component of redemptive history that is meant tailor made to edify, convict, challenge you.

So when I come to the scriptures, when you come to the scriptures, don't just treat it as a collection of things that you should believe and be able to memorize and say and defend and argue and debate. You know people like that. That doesn't change. That that that might make you more confident in the place of back and forth dialogue concerning what true religion is there, but that won't change you. I love how Jesus sets the precedent here.

This is something meant for you. When you come to the word, no matter where you're at, even in Exodus, you're to believe that God wants to speak to me. God wants to challenge me. God wants to comfort me. What is it?

And then with the eyes and the help of Christ, as he was able to find a resurrection truth and God declaring that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Oh, may the Lord open our eyes to see deeper things in his truth. And so that is something that you have to constantly remember that I'm not just coming to this word to defend my faith, though that's important. I'm coming to this word to hear God's voice for me and to speak to me. And when you come with that expectation hunger, you'd be amazed to know how these eternal truths that have been set by God's promise that nothing will ever overtake or demolish or delete this truth.

It can speak into your life in profound ways in profound ways. And so Jesus was able to, again, divert what these Sadducees came up with, but it's not gonna be the only trap. There's gonna be another one that we're gonna discover next week. But for now, let's pray and ask God's help to find great courage in his word once again. We do ask, Lord, that you would help us believe that you have provided exactly what is necessary for us to be exactly who you want us to be.

We pray, Lord, that this word, through this message, would ignite a fresh desire to know what you would say to us through it. And so we pray for that desire to awaken again. Lord, we pray for those who might be frustrated in their ability to grasp the truth. We pray for those who might be shy, maybe even tempted to be embarrassed about what the Bible has to say. But, Lord, we pray that like the sun exemplified, that we would discuss these things knowing that they are binding on all men.

It is God's truth whether people believe it or not. We ask, Lord, that if we are tempted to get into speculative thoughts and arguments, rescue us from that. And when it comes our way, Lord, may we be prepared by what your word has to say to be able to stand strong. And so Lord, we just pray that as a people of the book, you would reinforce that conviction that we would indeed be people of the book. We look to you in Thanksgiving for giving us the example in this text.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.