50:24

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Jesus, Sadducees, God, Pharisees, resurrection, Bible, question, verse, Scriptures, people, Word, Herodians, angels, false teachers, brother, read, heaven, teacher, Moses, temple grounds

Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

The challenge by the Sadducees. - 2 -

The correction by the Savior. - 7 -

 

Resource: Map of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

Introduction

Mark chapter 12. Next to the day that the Lord saved me and gave me the gift of eternal life, May 26, 2007 is the greatest day in my life. It's the day that the Lord gave me the next greatest gift. My wife Sarah. And it was on that day that we said our vows to one another, which she actually wrote for me as I was really sick during that time. But we said our vows, we got to the front there with the pastor, we said our vows. And as we ended our vows, we, as I'm sure you did with your vows you ended with these words, till death do us part. But have you ever wondered, what happens after that? What happens after that? The marriage union between the two of us, as husband and wife, is over at death. What comes next? Obviously, as believers, we know that we will be spending eternity in heaven with one another.

 

But what will our relationship look like at that point? Will we still be married? Will we live together in heaven? Will we even know each other in heaven? Maybe that'll be her opportunity to get away from me in heaven.

 

But what will it be like for us in heaven? Well, essentially, that's the question that is posed to Jesus in our passage here this morning. And so if you haven't already, I would encourage you to open your Bibles to Mark chapter 12. Mark chapter 12. And follow along, as I read our passage for us this morning, beginning in verse 18. Mark chapter 12, and verse 18.

 

18 Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that IF A MAN’S BROTHER DIES and leaves behind a wife AND LEAVES NO CHILD, HIS BROTHER SHOULD MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. 21 The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; 22 and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.” (Mark 12:18-27)

 

If you remember from last week, I told you that there would be three different confrontations with Jesus. And as three different groups of the Sanhedrin come to question Jesus, there on the temple grounds. Again, this is Wednesday of the Passion Week. And their goal is to put Jesus to the test so that they can trap Him and get rid of Him. Jesus was a threat to them. They want to get rid of Him.

 

And if you remember from last week, we saw the first confrontation with the Pharisees who had teamed up with the Herodians. And they try and trap Jesus in a question about paying taxes to Caesar. But these guys failed. They weren't able to trap Jesus.

 

And instead, they were amazed by His answer as they walked away from Jesus, in silence. But Jesus is still a threat to the religious elite, to the Sanhedrin. And their goal is to trap Jesus to arrest Him, and ultimately to kill Him. That's what they're after. But they need to get Rome turned against Him and they need to get the people turned against Him because as we saw last week, what did the people, how did the people view Jesus? They viewed Him as a prophet. And He was a prophet. So they need to get the people turned against Him.

 

And since plan number one didn't work for them, with the Pharisees and the Herodians, coming to trap Jesus, they try again with another sect of the Sanhedrin. They try to trap Jesus now, with the Sadducees, the Sadducees, we're gonna break our passage up this morning into two simple points, two points.  

1. First, the challenge by the Sadducees.
2. And second, the correction by the Savior

 

The challenge by the Sadducees, and the correction by the Savior. And so let's look at our first point here this morning.

The challenge by the Sadducees.

 

Look at verse 18. What it says there.

 

Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, (Mark 12:18)

 

Now, even though the Pharisees that we looked at last week were very devout religious men, their confrontation didn't really have to do with religion. It had to do with the state it had to do with government, should we pay taxes to Caesar or not? That was their attack on Jesus. That's how they came to confront Him by bringing a political challenge to Jesus.

 

But the Sadducees come to Jesus, and they don't want to get political with Jesus. They want to challenge Him with, notice this, a theological question. They want to challenge Him with a theological question. Now, who are the Sadducees? Who are these guys?

 

Well, let me just give you a few facts about them, so that we can better understand this passage here this morning. The Sadducees were those who served mainly on the temple grounds. They oversaw the operations there at the temple. And what did Jesus just do to the temple the day before? He destroyed it, right? He came in and turned over tables. He destroyed their entire operation and all that they had going on there on this Passover week.

 

The Sadducees were also wealthy religious leaders. Think about all the money that these guys would have made during the Passover week, as people came from all over to purchase costly sacrifices for them to go and worship there at the temple. These guys would have made millions of dollars on this one week. They were wealthy religious leaders, but Jesus has just stopped their entire operation. He's just destroyed their pocketbook.

 

The Sadducees also didn't mingle much with the people. That's what the Pharisees did. The Pharisees would go and mingle with the people. They were serving in the synagogues that were outside of the temple, where the people live. But the Sadducees serve there in the temple, and they didn't mingle much with the people.

 

But the Sadducees wanted people to know that they were the elite ones in the land. They were on top. They also wanted people to think of them as being superior to the Pharisees. We are better than these Pharisees. In fact, Josephus, the historian says that the Sadducees were educated men, and many of them held prominent positions, prominent positions there in the temple. And that's how the Sadducees wanted to be known by the people. They were the best. They were the greatest. They were on top.

 

Now, the Pharisees were strict Jews. They were strict Jews who held to the entire Old Testament, and also to the oral traditions of the rabbis that had been passed down as their source of authority. For the Pharisees, their authority was the Old Testament, all the Old Testament Scriptures and the rabbi's teachings, the oral traditions that were passed down, but the Sadducees were different.

 

The Sadducees held only to the Pentateuch as inspired Scripture. That means they only held to the first five books of the Bible, what we call the Torah, the Law. That is Genesis through Deuteronomy. That's what they saw as the inspired Word of God. That was their authority. Only the first five books of the Bible.

 

And so the Pharisees and the Sadducees, although they serve together as a Sanhedrin, they have major differences, right? Major differences... they didn't get along. Why? Why didn't the Pharisees and the Sadducees get along? Well, because both of their political and their theological beliefs.

 

Politically, the Pharisees did not like Rome, although we saw last week who did they team up with? The Herodians, who were in favor of Rome. The Pharisees didn't like Rome. The Sadducees though they were okay with Rome. They were fine with Roman law. So politically, the Pharisees and the Sadducees they don't get along.

 

Theologically, though, they don't get along, either. Why? Well, because the Pharisees held to a belief in the resurrection, and a belief in angels. They had a belief in the supernatural. But the Sadducees, the guys who come to confront Jesus right here. They deny all of that. They don't believe in the resurrection. They don't believe in angels, or demons or anything supernatural. In fact Acts 23 verse 8 says,

 

“For the Sadducees, you say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledge them all.” (Acts 23:8)

 

The Sadducees denied not only the resurrection, and angels, but they also denied the existence of demons and anything else that would be supernatural. They were basically -- listen to this annihilationists. They were annihilationists. They would believe, "Eat, drink and be merry," which is exactly what we just read in 1 Corinthians 15. Right? Eat, drink, and be merry, and that's it. That's all to life. It's this life and nothing else. There's no resurrection. And so theologically, the Sadducees thought that they were greater than the Pharisees because they didn't believe in what they thought were just oral traditions that were passed down by the Rabbis.

 

They thought the resurrection and angels and all this stuff, were those were oral traditions passed down by the rabbis and you Pharisees are wrong for believing those things. They held to a strict view of the Pentateuch, first five books of Moses. And they said that their Scriptures did not teach the resurrection.

 

Let me read to you though, some Old Testament passages that talk about resurrection.

Listen to Daniel chapter 12 and verse 2,

 

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

 

Or Job 19:25,

 

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will take his stand on the earth, even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh, I shall see God whom I myself shall behold, and who my eyes will see, and not another, my heart faints within me. 

 

What does Job say there? I'm going to see Him, in my flesh, resurrection.

 

Ezekiel 37, verse 5.

 

Thus says the Lord God to these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.

 

What's that talking about? Resurrection? These verses here are talking about resurrection. But did you notice where all of these came from? Not from the Pentateuch. Not from the first five books of Moses, they come from the prophets. They come from Job, which is known as wisdom literature.

 

So the Sadducees believe that Moses did not teach the resurrection in the Pentateuch, and therefore, they did not believe in it. So to them, they were more theologically sound than the Pharisees were, because of what they had said, Moses taught or what Moses didn't teach in the Pentateuch. And what did they say? They said, Moses did not teach a future resurrection.

 

Now, that's why Mark gives us a footnote in verse 18, that the Sadducees say there is no resurrection. That's where their belief comes from. Notice what it says in verse 18, as well. It says, they came to Jesus.  The Sadducees they came to Jesus.

 

Edmond Hiebert, who's written a commentary, notes about this word came here is a historical present. And he says that it pictures them as confidently approaching assured that their question will confound Jesus. Hiebert says they felt themselves superior to Jesus and intended to expose His inadequacy as a teacher in theological matters. That's what they do as they come to approach Jesus boldly, confidently thinking, we've got Him. We got Him trapped.

 

The Pharisees and Herodians they failed with their political question, but we'll get Him with a theological question. Watch. What are these guys out to do? They're out to make Jesus look foolish. They want him to look foolish in front of the crowd. In front of all these people that are there on the temple grounds, the Pharisees and Herodians weren't able to do it. But the Sadducees they come boldly, confidently thinking they can. Didn't work out with you guys. But don't worry, we'll take care of this situation.

 

So they approached Jesus. And they say, first of all, in verse 19, notice what they say they're verse 19. They say, Teacher, teacher, does it sound familiar? If you were here last week, this should sound very familiar. Back in verse 14, that's exactly what the Pharisees and the Herodians said, when they approached Jesus, they call Him, Teacher, Teacher. And those guys, the Pharisees and Herodians, they did it to try and set Jesus up, to set Him up on a high pedestal, so that they could trap Him.

 

Teacher, meaning honored rabbi, we come and honor you. That's why you would give that name teacher to somebody, that's why you would call someone teacher. But the Sadducees don't use it in that manner. They're not trying to lift Jesus up so that they can bring Him down. The Sadducees use it in a different manner. They call Him teacher, which they think would make Jesus think that they would want to learn something from Him. That's what they're after. They're thinking, we're going to call Him teacher so that we're here to sit under this amazing teacher so we can learn something from Him.

 

But that's not what they're there to do. In the introduction, I said that they essentially asked Jesus what heaven will be like, but they don't ask it with the same heart that you and I would ask that question. Their goal is not to gain some knowledge about heaven. Their goal is not to gain some knowledge about marriage in heaven. What is their goal? Their goal is to humiliate Jesus, and to show the people that He is a fool who doesn't know the Scriptures.

 

And therefore, they want to prove to the people that He is a false teacher, and this then discredit Him and His entire ministry. That's what they're out to do. And so they give Jesus this far-fetched story. A story about a woman whose husbands keep dying.

 

I would say poor men, not poor woman, poor woman, right? She continues to remarry her first husband's brothers. And she marries all seven of these brothers, and they want to know whose wife will she be in the resurrection. Now notice in verse 19, your Bible might have all capital letters there. Notice that there? Why would it be there? Why are there all capital letters there? Because that's a quote from the Old Testament. When you see that in the New Testament, all capital letters, it's telling you that's a quote from the Old Testament.

 

And what do these guys actually, quote? They quote the Pentateuch. They quote, Moses, why would they do that? Because that's what they believe is their inspired Scripture, right? And where do they quote from, they quote from Deuteronomy, chapter 25. And I want us to turn over there in your Bible with me to Deuteronomy chapter 25. Because we need to understand why these guys would ask a question like this, Deuteronomy 25, this is the last book, in the Torah, in the Pentateuch, the last book of Moses, in Deuteronomy, chapter 25. And look at what it says in verse 5.

 

 5 “When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. 7 But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to establish a name for his brother in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he persists and says, ‘I do not desire to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall declare, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10 In Israel his name shall be called, ‘The house of him whose sandal is removed.’ (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)

 

Now you don't want that to happen to you, right? Take your sandal off, spit in your face. You don't want that happening to you. Now why does God have Moses write this in Deuteronomy, chapter 25? Well, God wanted to make sure that the widow was taken care of. Does God care about widows? Yes, He does. That's true religion, right? James tells us. He cares about the widows. And He wanted to make sure that the widow was taken care of. Because if she wasn't taken care of, she would be left as a beggar. And God says, No, I don't want the widows to be left as a beggar, I want them to be taken care of. But God also wrote this, had Moses write this, so that it would keep the property and the inheritance of that first deceased brother in the family line. So that the land and everything that man owned would stay in Israel, so that you would keep that line. Now, we must also note in this passage here that this passage has to do with brothers who were living together, notice what it says there in verse 5,

 

 when brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no son.

 

These are brothers who would be living together or within the same vicinity of one another. Which would mean that these are brothers who were single. These men were single, God was not telling a married brother to add a wife or to divorce his wife and go marry his brother's wife. This was only for brothers who were single.

 

Now let's go back to Mark chapter 12. Because that helps us understand the context here of what the Sadducees are doing, and why they would ask the question that they asked. Look at their question in verse 23,

 

“In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.” (Mark 12:23)

 

And why would all seven have married her? Because that's what God said to do in Deuteronomy 25. Right? Implied all these men were single men. When one dies, the next one comes and marries that woman. Now why would these guys ask this question to Jesus, if they don't believe in the resurrection?

 

Well, again, they're trying to make Jesus look like a fool. They want to make Him look stupid. But they're also making fun of the doctrine of the resurrection. That's what they're doing. Remember, these guys are hotheads. These guys are know-it-alls. These guys are the educated ones who think they've got all of their doctrine down. We know the things of God, we're theologically sound. They're the hotheads. And so they come up with this silly story to try and pin Jesus and make Him look like a fool, and get people to turn on Him. And so they challenged Jesus, theologically.

 

How does Jesus answer? Point number 2, the correction by the Savior,

The correction by the Savior.

 

Now I would have answered this question. And I would have said brothers three through seven are fools for marrying this woman, right? Do you see your brothers before? And what happened to them? Why would you keep marrying this woman? It's not gonna turn out for you. But I wasn't asked the question, Jesus was, and He doesn't answer that way. What does Jesus say? Look at verse 24,

 

Jesus said to them, is this not the reason you are mistaken that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?

 

Notice what Jesus does here, He confronts the ignorance of these Sadducees. And He confronts their theological error. And He tells them to their face, they are mistaken. You are mistaken. That word mistaken there in the Greek is the word "planao" and it means to be mistaken or to deceive oneself. And that's what these guys have done. They have deceived themselves.

 

How have they done it? How have they deceived themselves? Well, first, by mishandling the Word of God. They've mishandled the Word of God, they have wandered away from the truth. And now they have displayed it in front of Jesus and the crowd. They don't know the Scriptures, they actually don't know what the Scripture teaches. They claim to, they claim to know, but they really don't.

 

And these guys are showing that they are unbelievers who don't actually know what God's Word says.

 

Second, they also don't know the power of God. They don't know the power of God. They don't believe in the resurrection, which is only possible by the power of God, right? It's only the power of God that resurrects dead people. Remember, these guys denied the supernatural. They think that they're the elite, that they're on top. And therefore, they think that they have all the power. They're in control of this whole theological system here. They're in control of the temple. They're the theological teachers of the day. Jesus says here, not only do you not have power, but God has all power. And you don't even know the kind of power that He has. You don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.

 

And then Jesus goes on to explain what it will be like in the resurrection. And one of the most popular questions that people have about the resurrection is this... Will I be married to my spouse in the resurrection? Answer, no. No, you won't be married. Jesus says in verse 25,

 

“for when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

 

No marriage. Now notice what Jesus does here. Notice what He does in this answer here, He confronts, and He corrects their theology head on. Not only does He affirm the resurrection by saying when they rise from the dead, meaning the resurrection is a fact. And you guys are wrong about what you believe. But He also affirms the doctrine of angels. Notice that. 

 

They neither marry nor given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven whom these guys don't believe in. They don't affirm that there are angels, they deny angels. And notice He says that those who are in the resurrection will be like angels. Now that doesn't mean that we will be angels. There's a lot of bad theology out there on the doctrine of angels. I hear it a lot, people saying, I'm going to go to heaven and, and I'm going to be an angel -- or people will say, Oh, so and so passed on, and they're an angel who's watching down on me right now. No, no one becomes an angel. It doesn't happen.

 

He says, “we will be like angels”, we will be like angels, in what ways? In that we will be eternal. Angels are eternal, eternal beings, we will be without sin. Angels have not sinned, the demons sinned, but angels have not. We will not procreate as angels do not procreate. Basically, we will never die. We will be like the angels in that we will never die. And we will not be married. Because angels are not married.

 

Now, I know that this saddens some people. In fact, this was really hard for me to understand when I studied this and found out this truth because I just can't imagine life without Sarah. But I know that whatever Heaven will be like, it will be even greater than the relationship that we have now. Now, this is not to put down Sarah, hear me out. I'm not saying that we have a bad relationship, we have a wonderful relationship. But in heaven, it will be even greater. While we won't be married in heaven, the relationship that Sarah and I and all people will have, will he be even greater than what we have now, think about the relationships that we have now.

 

They are tainted by what? Sin.  Yes, selfishness rises up in me, and it causes something to go on in this relationship between the two of us. But in heaven, that won't be there. It will be a perfect relationship. amazing relationship. And it's incomprehensible to think about that, but that's what we have to look forward to. Because that's what God's Word says. And so if you're struggling with this truth here, if you're struggling with this fact, just realize that the relationship that you have now or have had with your spouse will be infinitely better when you see them in heaven.

 

Well, Jesus is not finished with these guys. He's not done correcting their theology. Look at verse 26. And what he says there, he says, but regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?

 

Now, this is amazing. This is amazing here. Look at what Jesus does here. Where does Jesus quote from? The Pentateuch, the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, the book of Moses, He quotes from Exodus chapter 3 and verse 6, which they consider to be inspired Scripture. He quotes from their inspired Scriptures, and he shows from their Scriptures, that the resurrection is a fact.

 

How does he do it?

 

He points to Exodus 3:6 where God is speaking with Moses. And what does God say to Moses? What does He say there? I am. Notice, not I was, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And where were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at this time in Exodus, chapter 3? They were dead. They were no longer walking on the earth. They were dead. They were physically dead here on Earth. But what is Jesus saying? They're still what? Alive. Because God is the God of the living, not of the dead. Jesus says that in verse 27, He is not the God of the dead but of the living. Which means since God is the God of the living, then there is life after death, which means the resurrection is true.

 

And listen, the resurrection is true not only for believers, but also for unbelievers as well. And unbelievers will be resurrected one day, and they will stand at the Great White Throne Judgment, and they will stand before God, and He will cast them into the eternal lake of fire.

 

It's not just believers, that will be resurrected. But unbelievers will be resurrected with the physical body, and they will be cast in to the eternal lake of fire.

 

What is Jesus doing here? Jesus is proving to them from their own inspired Scriptures, that the resurrection is true that the resurrection is a fact. And He corrects their false doctrine.

 

And He also shows these Sadducees have made up their own theology. Which is exactly what all false teachers do, right? They make up their own theology. They make up their own theology, and they use the Scriptures to create their own false doctrines. And listen, these Sadducees would have even named the name of God. They would have named the name of God, they would have agreed with the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 which says,

 

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

 

It's in the book of Deuteronomy in their inspired Scriptures. They would have named the name of God, but here's the thing. They didn't know Him. They didn't know this one God. Why? because they'd created their own God. They created their own theology, their own religion, that led them straight to hell.

 

One commentator points out, Jesus didn't say, hey, "it really doesn't matter what you guys believe just as long as you're sincere." He didn't say, "I love you guys. You're my brother's even if we disagree over this little matter of the resurrection." He didn't say, "I respect your views, everyone's entitled to his own opinion." Jesus doesn't say that. You're not entitled to your own opinion. You're not entitled to your own feelings, your own knowledge, what you want to believe about the Bible. The question is, what does the Bible say? What does God's Word say? And then my mind must be conformed to exactly what God's Word says. That's how it works.

 

And Jesus here tells them notice this, Jesus tells them, they are wrong. They're wrong. They are false teachers who don't know the Scriptures, and therefore they don't know God. And He reiterates again, to the self-deceived Sadducees, not just you are mistaken, but look at what He says at the end of verse 27. But you are greatly mistaken. These guys were greatly deceived, because they were believing in their own intellect, and their own understanding. They were believing in themselves instead of what the Scripture says about God.

 

Now, if you notice in your bulletin, I've titled this sermon here, The Mistake of False Teachers, but I could have titled this message, the mistake of Christians. The mistake of Christians. Why? Because there are a lot of Christians today who are mistaken about what the Bible actually says.

 

There are a lot of Christians who know more about politics, and about pop culture than they do about the things of God. Why is that? Because they don't study their Bible. They don't read their Bible. They don't hunger for the truth of God's Word. Remember the Bereans in Acts chapter 17? What did they do when the Apostle Paul came to town preaching the Word? What did they do? They went to the Scriptures. They didn't just believe everything that Paul preached, although they could have. And they did. But they said, wait, wait, wait. We're going to check the Scriptures. We're going to go to the Word of God, and to see if everything that you are preaching lines up with the Word of God.

 

And I believe that we are living in a time where Christians have the greatest access to biblical truth through Bibles in their hands, how many Bibles do you own? How many Bibles on your bookshelf? We have Bibles in the back table over there, you can pick one up and take one with you on the way out. We got Bibles everywhere. We have Bible teachers. We have apps and podcasts and sermon downloads, and on and on it goes. And yet the church is the most illiterate of what the Bible actually says.

 

Think about the access that you and I have to God's Word. Yet How well do we know it? There are far-reaching implications for not knowing God's Word. For the Sadducees, although they could quote the Bible, their lack of understanding meant that they didn't know God, and therefore they didn't have eternal life.

 

For Christians today, it's why many struggle in life not knowing what God wants them to do, or why the world is the way that it is. But God gives us the answers right here in His Word. It's all here. Every answer is here in the Word of God. That's why I encourage you often to join us in the yearly Bible reading plan. How many of you have read through the Bible, the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation? God has given us His Word. And He says, Here it is, it's all wrapped up for you...in really nice leather too. Read it. Know It. Because when you know the Scriptures, that's how you come to know God. And that should be our desire, right? To know the God who has saved us.

 

Let me quickly give you three reasons why it's important to know your Bible.

 

1. First, because the enemy wants to take you out. The enemy is after you, you realize that? Believer? The enemy wants to take you out. In Ephesians chapter 6, we see the armor of God. Right? Now, if you read through that list of the armor of God, it's all defensive stuff, except for one thing, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. That's our offensive tool. We must know the Word of God. You can defeat the enemy, but it's only through the power of God's Word.

 

2. Second reason why it's so important to know your Bible is because false teachers want to deceive you. False teachers are after you. All false teachers use the Scriptures in some form or fashion. They do. They'll either have a Bible up in front of them, oftentimes closed. But they'll have it up there. They'll quote from it, but they mishandle it. Why do they do that? They twist it because they want to deceive their audiences. They want to lure them in and get people to follow after them. That's what false teachers are after. But by knowing the Bible, you will have discernment. Discernment and understanding to know how to spot a false teacher, false teachers like Joel Osteen. And Steven Furtick. And Benny Hinn, and the list goes on and on. Popular ministries, these guys that are out there, they are all false teachers who are after you, because they're all about themself. That's what their ministry is all about. And they want to get you. But the way that you can spot a false teacher and say, No, I'm not going to listen to that man is if you know this right here. You've got to know God's Word.

 

3. And third, a third reason why it's so important to know your Bible is because that's how God speaks to you. That's the only way that God speaks to you. Do you realize that believer? Church? That's the only way that God speaks to us is through His Word. Don't you want to hear from God? I want to hear from God. Don't you want to know the truth of God Himself? God doesn't speak through still small whispers. God doesn't speak through visions and dreams. God doesn't speak through your own personal feelings. That's not how God speaks to you. You know how God speaks to you? Through His Word, the written Word of God. And oftentimes, we don't listen. And the reason we don't listen is because we don't even know what it says.

 

That's why on Wednesday nights, the majority of your worksheets that you do are centered on the Bible, you realize that? You notice that? There are more questions in your worksheet about the Bible than there are application questions. In verse so and so according to verse so and so in verse, so and so. Why? Because I want you to get into God's Word. That's what you need. You don't need to hear from me. You don't need to get my opinion. You need to hear from God and His Word.

 

Listen, church, I love you. I love you. And my job, my responsibility that God has given to me is to protect you, to love you and to protect you. And I'm telling you, the way that you can be protected is right here, by knowing this. By knowing God's Word, I want the best for you. And the best for you is God's Word. So, I'm here this morning to encourage you, to read it, to be in it, to meditate upon it. To plant God's Word deep in your hearts, so that you can know the great truths of our God. And therefore, think Biblically, think Biblically, and then live obediently to what God says in His Word.

 

Let's pray. Father, thank You, for Your Word. Father, forgive us for not knowing more than what we do know. Lord, there are so many things in this world that seek to distract us from the truth of Your Word. Father, I pray that You would give us a hunger and a thirst and a desire for Your Word that we might know You in a greater way.  Father as we think about the history of the church, going back to the Reformation. The men that died so that we could have a Bible in our hands. They knew the importance of Your Word. They knew how important it was for us to have Bibles in our hands so that we could read it and know You. God give us a thirst and a hunger that we might eat up Your Word and plant it deep in our hearts. God, we thank You for the power of Your Word. It is active. It is living. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. Father, help us to know it. And to recognize and to realize the power of it, so that we can know You in a greater way. We thank You for our time here this morning in this passage. We pray that it would sink into our hearts, that we might live for Your glory and Your glory alone, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.