All right. When I sent my title back to the guys in tech, I don't know if they understood it or not. I think it's a great title. It's called, it's SADUC. Okay? S-A-D-U-C. Okay, you get it too. How many was here this weekend? yellow line in the middle of the road. Okay, come on guys. You see, we're going to be talking about people that I think are very sad. We're in the 12th chapter of the book of Mark. And I'm going to set what we're going to see today up. Jesus had made the triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Monday. Thousands, thousands of people lining not only the streets, but before he was able to come in. Cutting palm leaves, laying clothes in the road, shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna. They were acknowledging that this Jesus was Messiah. Thus began the last week in the life of Christ. So the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, all the political parties of the Jewish religion, they viewed all of this. And we're going to look at their, one of their, what I would call final runs at Jesus. And when you read the gospel, you always read of confrontations between Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and Jesus. They did not accept His Messiah. He was not the Messiah. He was not the one they look for. And you need to understand that. It wasn't that Jesus was just rejected for what He was offering. Jesus was rejected for who He was and His character. And it did not match what the religious leaders had thought would come as this Messiah. And so they rejected him. And they made his life miserable. And there comes a point in time in this three and a half years that they just give up. And they said, we just got to kill him. And yet one thing held them back. They were afraid of the crowd because of the following that Jesus had. And that, many times they read that. They wouldn't try to take him into custody because the crowd. And so even when, if you remember his arrest, it was late at night when the crowd was asleep. But these three stories we're going to read about. We're going to read about the hierarchy of the Jewish religion. We're going to talk about Pharisees and Herodians. We're going to talk about Sadducees. And we're going to talk about scribes. These were your three levels of authority, the three levels of the respected leaders of the... And when they came, They had one purpose in mind in this 12th chapter, and it was not to challenge Jesus or his authority. It was Passover week. There was a crowd of people that always followed Jesus. The audience, the Herodians, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Sadducees wanted was the ear of the people. They wanted to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people. They wanted them to question His authority, His character, who He was. And you see, that's kind of an old tactic. If you go all the way back to the garden, that's exactly what Satan did with Eve. She attacked the character of God. Did God say with the implication of what He had said was foolish or perhaps simply untrue? How many of you have read the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis? Anybody good? I see a few hands. Those are good. There was a guy named Screwtape. That's why they call them Screwtape Letters. Right? Sounds obvious to me. He had a young, underling devil. Screwtape was an old devil, wise devil. Wormwood was a young one. And it was Screwtape's job to pass on effective strategies for tempting the human that was assigned him to make sure that this human continued his path to damnation. Now folks, there's a lot of truth in that. If you don't think you have an enemy, think again. Whenever you're saying things are going great, the first thing you probably need to do is check what direction you're going in, okay? Now, I'm not saying bad things will always happen, but we have an enemy. We each have at least one devil assigned to keep us going the wrong way. And so Wormwood was one of those guys. And Screwtape advised them not to depend on logic, but instead to keep the person distracted and confused. Does that sound familiar? You ever been distracted and confused? Yeah, just this morning. In other words, what he was trying to do is to engage the human into ordinary matters, life, the stuff in life, instead, in order to hold that person from trying to seek something higher. Listen, when you get bogged down in the mundane of this life, That's when your spirit walk and your walk with the Lord suffers. You see these guys and Jesus was well aware of the hatred that this religious group had for him. And they were well aware of the tremendous, the thousands of people that adored him and followed him. He had just given a parable about an absentee landlord who sent his sons to check on his property, and his only son was taken by the crowd and killed. At that point, these religious leaders knew Jesus was talking to them. And from that point on, it said they looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd. And so what I see in three stories we're going to look at today is this last-ditch effort of the leaders of the Jewish community to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people and the Roman government because they could not kill Jesus by themselves. And in fact, they were so goody-goody they wouldn't. They wanted the Roman government to. And the only way to do for the government to approve that is to discredit him. So are we all ready? Are you there with me? If you are, say amen. If you're not, say oh me. All right, here we go. We're going to look at some strange bedfeathers. Do you know this guy? Bring up that picture. Do you know who this is? That's not me in my later years. This is a guy called Charles Dudley Warner. Now, how many of you know Charles Dudley Warner? I didn't think so. But he was a writer with Mark Twain. And he was kind of famous for sayings. And one of his sayings was, everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Pretty good, right? But he also had another one. Politics make strange bedfellows. And what we're going to see in this story is the beginning of politics and strange bedfellows. You see, the first group that we're going to challenge him were the Pharisees and the Herodians, all right? Pharisees and Herodians. These were two religious parties. The Pharisees was, say, the West, and the Herodians the East. And they, you could go as East as far as you want, and East would never met West. Because while the Pharisees were very, very liberal, the Herodians were worse. You see, the Pharisees, They were devoted to the Jewish law and to Israel. Very liberal view of scripture, but they devoted to the law and to Israel. Secondly, the Herodians were devoted to Rome and the Roman law. So these guys have nothing in common. They didn't eat together. They didn't go shopping together, play golf, nothing. In fact, they hated each other, each one trying to overthrow the other. But here we go, Jesus is here, and strange bedfellows come together to challenge Jesus. Mark 12, verse 13. Later, because of the prior parable that we talked about, They sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch Him in His words. They couldn't catch Him because of His stance. They couldn't catch Him because of His lack of being law-abiding. They could not catch Him in any other thing than to make out His words so that the people would be angry. Okay? They came to Him and said, Teacher, now I want you to look at this honey dripping from lips. You have to read it this way. Teacher, we know that you're a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by others because you pay no attention to what they are. But you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? So smooth, recognizing him for what he was, but thinking Jesus was a fool, really. And they ask him a dumb question, a simple question, an ordinary question, a question that if they had said to the crowd, Should we pay taxes? The crowd would have shouted, no. Right? Should you pay taxes? Oh, there you go. So that's where they are. And see, they're hoping Jesus will come up and just simply say, yeah, you got to pay tax. Then they're going to be mad at him. Jesus is a little smarter than that. Here's what he said. Jesus knew their hypocrisy. Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a Daenerys and let me look at it. They brought the coin and he asked them, whose image is this? And whose inscription? Caesar's, they replied. Then Jesus said to them, give back to Caesar, what's Caesar? To God, what's God? You see, you really can't quibble with that because it's exactly what the law would say. It's exactly the truth. And the truth can stand on its own two legs. Sometimes we think we've got to help the truth and add some stuff. No, just speak the truth and truth will stand on its own two legs against any opposition. And so these Herodians, the Pharisees, they came and they threw the first ball and it was strike one to them. All right, they left. Here comes the next group. These were the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a sad group of people. Let me tell you what they believed. They didn't believe in resurrection. They didn't believe in angels. They didn't believe in the spirit world. They didn't believe in any form of afterlife. Nothing survived. Therefore, there's no penalties for bad behavior or reward for good behavior. This world is all that there is. And you and I know people who live that way. They're not only making, not making preparations for a life after this life, but they don't even believe there's one. They are living like they want. In fact, Screwtape and the boys are doing a good job in the world because never before across the realm from the poorest to the richest, the oldest to the youngest, have people been taking their lives for one reason. They believe you die and it's over. And that's what the Sadducees. Now here's my question. If I believe that, I wouldn't be a part of a religion, would you? The religion of nothing? To believe in nothing? And walk around and be against everything? I mean, we got some people in the world who are part of that religion today. But these guys come and ask this question. Now, what did that question today ask? Let's pick it up in verse 18. Then the Sadducees, who say there's no resurrection, came to him with a question. I gotta stop. You gotta love this question, okay? I don't know if you've ever read it, but you gotta love this question. They said, Moses wrote us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up the offspring for his brother. Here's what Moses had written. That's what they say, okay? Now, there were seven brothers. The first married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. Now that's about as sad sack of a situation as you've ever... That's not even believable. Man, can you imagine the fear in those brothers? You know, this woman may have been bad ugly. You know, you never know. But the law said they had to get married and each one did. Now that's where they are. So what is Jesus going to say about this to answer a question about the resurrection to people who don't believe in the resurrection? You seeing the foolishness now? Here's his answer. At the resurrection, who will she be? Since the seven all married her. Here we go. Jesus arrived. You're not an Arab because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God. Or are you an Arab? When the dead rise, they will neither marry or be given in marriage. They will be like the angels of heaven. Now about the dead rising. Have you not read in the book of Moses? See what Jesus does? He says, you people are lawyers. You know the law. The law was scriptures, the Pentateuch. They ask him about Moses' law, he comes back at them and said, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken. Can't you just see all those Sadducees? First of all, see, Sadducees don't like Pharisees and Herodians. So it's like playing one-upmanship. We'll take care of this for you. Hang in. And they go and they walk away because they said nothing. The crowd did not understand. They hadn't stirred them up yet. Well, here they go. This is strike two on them. And here comes the cleanup matter, okay? He's called a teacher, but in reality, he's a scribe. Now, a scribe is a Pharisee who teaches the law. In other words, he is a professional scholar. He actually teaches. He's kind of like Gamaliel was, remember? Gamaliel was Paul's teacher. And he specialized in the interpretation of the law. So he knew the law. And here he comes. Mark 12, 28 through 34. One of the teachers, scribes of the law, came and heard them debating. He's standing over here. He's the cleanup batter. Y'all watch baseball? You know, you got the guy in the box and you got one kneeling down right here in the batter's circle. That's where he's at. He was on the on-deck circle. And he watched these two groups. And then he came about and he heard them, noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer. He asked him, of all the commandments, of all the commandments, which is the most important? Here's the issue on that. The scribes, Pharisees, even the Herodians, the Sadducees, There was, some say 613, some say 900 laws that had been written off of the 10. And what this group of religious leaders did, and I'll tell you what we need to do, they recognized no one was able to keep the law. And so they said, let's just bring a few laws in here that if you keep these laws, you're okay everywhere else. You understand? Keep these, this will be okay. So I guess the scribe's thinking was this. I'll ask Jesus which is the most important, and if it's not one that we've told the people that they need to keep, then the people get mad because he's just added to their loss. That's the only thing I can figure out this guy's thinking. But I want to tell you something before we get into it. I think he's the only real honest man that came to see Jesus. Even though he was there to trick him, we're going to see the guy was honest. All right, what's the most important? The most important one, answered Jesus, is this. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our Lord is one. Love the Lord, your God, with all of your heart and with all of your soul. and with all of your mind and with all of your strength. The second one is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. Jesus had answered that question before. Think about it. What is the law that will keep you centered? What law? And it's what Jesus said it was. It applies then, it applies to us. And the question we bear from this is this. Do we love the Lord God with everything that is in us? Or is there something we hold back? Because to see when you love with your whole being, there's nothing you hold on to. There's nothing you have that's more precious than this love of Almighty God. And when this love permeates in your heart, naturally you're going to love God's creation. Who is that? It's your neighbor, whoever that is and wherever that is, because the one leads to the other. And when you hold nothing back in your love for God, you'll hold nothing back for that neighbor. This is the great commandment. This is a commandment. It's kind of like the linchpin in a cornerstone. Do you know what that is? If you look at an arch, there's one pin or one stone that when they put it in there, it holds everything else together. loving God with all of our being and loving our neighbor. It's that linchpin, that stone in our life. What was his answer? Well said, teacher. Can you see? Well said, teacher. You are right in saying that God is one and there is none other but him. To love him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all of your strength. And to love your neighbors as yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifice. This was a religious leader verifying what Jesus said many times. And when he said it's not by the offerings, the sacrifice of the bulls and the lambs and the goats, This man came to trick. Now this is just my opinion and it's worth right now I don't have any money in my pocket so it's not worth much but it's mine. I think this was a reluctant good teacher because he knew the law. He didn't argue. He didn't try to twist it. He simply acknowledged and Jesus said to him you're close to the kingdom of God. What did that mean? It was pretty simple. You can believe there's a Jesus, and you can believe that there is a moral law, and you can believe all the teachings of Jesus and die and go to hell. Why? Because you've not received the sacrifice, Jesus Christ Himself. And to so really to believe in Jesus is to receive what Jesus has to offer. And what He has to offer is that new life in Jesus Christ. And not only the new life, but how do we build that life? I'm going to give you the building blocks. Peter and Paul attested in their writings, we have received everything that we need according to life and godliness. Jesus has not demanded anything that he has not supplied the way, the truth, the ability to become. His commandments are not tough commandments. He's saying, do this and I'm going to help you. Now let me bring this down to 21st century, okay? You and I are hit with the same adversity. We're hit with the same temptation today as Eve was in the garden and every person who's ever suffered. And here's what it comes down to. Not whether we believe there's a God or not. To me, and again this is me, I think that's the dumbest argument you can get into. Is there a God? To me, I mean, before I was a Christian, the answer was yeah. You know, I wasn't there with him. Mama was, that was good enough. But I knew there was a God. Because this stuff we live in just don't happen. So is, what have we done with this Jesus? Have we rejected Him? Do we, are we led astray when the world in its theology begins to discredit who Jesus is. Well, how do they discredit? Well, they say anybody can be a boy or girl, whatever you want to be. When no science, no doctor has ever proved that, and then they say to you, well, you're just a bad person and hate people if you don't believe that. Because I woke up this morning feeling like a lady. And we're supposed to say, oh, I'm sorry, it's okay if you believe that. No, it's not. No. Because when you allow yourself to be ashamed of your belief in God, you discredit the character of God. See, I don't hate anybody. But I sure hate the sin that entraps people. It's not all right to disregard a baby because maybe the mother was raped. That's not right. You need to understand if the child is a human being, when conceived in a mother's womb by a mother and father, however that child is conceived, it is a child. And if you don't believe that, we discredit our Lord. You see, we're listening to the Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, who are throwing junk out in our head. And it causes us to doubt something that at one time we knew. Now I'm not talking about picking up signs. I'm not talking about charging. I'm just saying every day love God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your being. Love your neighbor as yourself, and if God says it, that settles it. And we are moving today in a time when most of the gospel delivered, I'll say this, the garbage gospel that's delivered in pulpits across the land is just that, it's garbage because it moves from situation to situation to situation. I want to tell you the law of God, the morality of God, And the gospel do not change from situation to situation. Man trips and stumbles over them on their way. First Peter 5, 8 and 9. Be alert. Get your head out of the sand. Be sober-minded. Your enemy, the devil. He's not a clown in a red suit. Okay? Get that out of your head. He is one of the most beautiful of all God's creation, but he is an enemy, an enemy of you. He prowls around like a roaring lion. looking for someone to devour. And you don't care who it is. Resist them standing firm in your faith. See, that's the only way. You stand in a belief, and it's like when that line comes toward you, you stand in your faith whether you can smell his breath or not. Because he has an enemy who has defamed him, and that's Jesus. because you know that the family of believers throughout the world undergoing the same kind of stuff. You're not by yourself. You see, that's what the devil tells you on Monday morning. Things are bad. Oh, I'm just by myself. Got a great prophet named Elijah. He believed the same thing. It's cause he just got wore out. Maybe doing a lot of stuff he didn't need to do. You see, you got to trust God's character whether you understand what he wants you to do or not. You know, the greatest example of that is this. I believe Noah was obedient, okay? And for 120 years, built this boat in the middle of a desert. And I bet you every day when he got his hammer and walked to work, in his mind he was going, what is this thing and why do I need it? But for whatever reason, I better build it. And then one day, a big drop of rain hit him right in the head. And as he began to watch rain hit the ground and the water rises, he knew. See, folks, that's the same thing we need to understand. God's law, God's will, and work he has us do is not going to make sense to you sometime, but you do it anyhow. because he's smarter than you and I. Second thing is endurance. Listen, just because you're serving God, don't make it easy. I've had people come in my office, Pastor, I gotta talk to you. I serve here, I do this, I never miss church, and all this bad stuff is happening. Why? I'm serving God. Well, duh. You got an enemy. Satan has never been successful in what he did because he was shy. If you begin to be a tool in the hands of God, he's going to come after you with everything he's got. What do we do? We just stand firm and we endure it. James chapter 1. Consider it joyful, brothers and sisters, whenever you face the trials of many kinds. Here's why. You are not joyful over the trials. I've had people stand up in church and say, Lord, Pastor, I want to testify. I went skiing and fell down, broke my arm and leg, and I thank God for it. I just feel with joy. And I'm thinking, you got to be some kind of nut. See, that's discrediting God. That's not what he's talking about. What he's talking about is when you get there, Jesus is there with you. He's your defense. He's the strength of your life. So, oh boy, I'm gonna get to see the hand and the power of God. That's what this means, because you know the testing of your faith produces Perseverance. And that's what we need. Keeping on, keeping on in spite of stuff. Let's look back in the Old Testament, 1 Chronicles 28 20. Now this is when Solomon's going to be building the temple. David said to Solomon, his son, be strong and courageous and do the work. Listen, there is work to be done. We get excited, I'm excited thinking back to rapture, all this stuff being over with, getting a new body and trading this old thing. I'm just glad about that. But I'm not happy that there are millions upon millions of people that are gonna be left on earth to go through tribulation and trials and may never come to the Lord. So there is work to do. And if you're bragging because of your involvement, you need to understand something. Remember the story of the servants who, when they came in from the field, washed, put on new clothes, fixed supper for the master, served him, ate later. And they were not congratulated. Why? Because they did what they were supposed to do. Be courageous, do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord God, my God is with you. So here's the deal, folks. As long as there's a God, that doesn't really help you, does it? I know there's a lot of things that I've not seen and they don't help me. But if it's the Lord God, that's my God. See, that's a whole different ball game. Is the Lord God your God? Is it you, as you listen online, do you know this Savior? If you don't and you want to hit, I have decided, even if you haven't, someone will contact you, will be glad to talk through you. We're gonna have some people here for prayer, but also room three. We'll have counselors there. If you really want to take this thing and look at it, there are people there that would love to talk to you. But you know, guys, no matter what it is, we're all going to have to make a choice. And we're going to have to decide that when we choose, we're not going to back off. We're going to endure, and we're going to endure by faith. And by the grace of God, we'll overcome. Father, Your word is precious because it's true. It doesn't move. It's there. It's a rock to stand on, a life to live on. So I pray today, whatever the need and hearts are, Lord, let us put down foolishness. Let us run to the source of the issues of life, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, amen.