Hello and welcome to the broadcast ministry of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Darlington, Maryland where Dr. John McKnight is the pastor. Today's message comes from Luke chapter 20 and discusses the state of our being in our eternal destination, heaven. Here is Dr. John McKnight. Let us return together to Luke chapter 20 as we look a little more carefully at the account of the Sadducees tempting the Lord Jesus Christ And we come to this passage in continuation of our study of the destination of those who believe the gospel. For a number of months, we have been dealing with the gospel of Jesus Christ, what that gospel is and how it is presented in the scripture. And this is the third Sunday that we have focused on the destination of those who believe the gospel, namely heaven itself. We looked two weeks ago in the book of Revelation, the 21st chapter, at that description of the New Jerusalem, that city of God, descending from heaven that John saw, which will be the abode of God's redeemed people forevermore. And then last Sunday we considered what happens at the moment of death when a believer dies and leaves this body. What awaits them and what is the state of their existence? Today we want to continue with that a little further, considering the state of being of those who are in heaven. And this account of the Sadducees, which was not intended by them to have anything to do with heaven or with the state of the believing dead, yet has ever since provided a point of beginning for our study of how people in heaven are, what they are like. The question is asked in a variety of ways, what will we be like in heaven? And this begins to answer that. But in endeavoring to answer that question, we must be satisfied to recognize that while Scripture gives us everything that is needed to satisfy our faith, it by no means gives us everything that is needed to satisfy our curiosity. John the Apostle writes in the Gospel of John that if all the works Christ had done on earth had been written down, he supposed the whole world could not contain them. Now, he was speaking metaphorically there without a doubt, but the idea being that during Christ's 33-year lifespan, so many works of godliness and good were done that they cannot be recorded. Now, if Christ did that in 33 years, what will eternity be? in the presence of God, the Creator. And so I say that only to underscore the fact God has given us enough to satisfy our faith, but not our curiosity, for there is no end. There is no end to an infinite being, Almighty God. Now, let's look at several of the facts in this 20th chapter of Luke, verse 27. Then came to him certain of the Sadducees. Let's talk about them for a minute. The Sadducees were the equivalent of the theological liberal of Christ's day. They did not believe in an afterlife. They believed the here and now is all that there is. But they were recognized as one of the sects among the people of Israel, among the Jews. There were the Pharisees, who were a much larger sect of people, and who were very strong in their faith and in their legalism, their manufacture of rules intended to interpret and apply the law. And the Sadducees and Pharisees were at each other all the time. And in this case, these Sadducees, who were unbelievers, religious, oh yes, no doubt about it, but unbelievers nonetheless, had no doubt received word how Christ had answered the Pharisees, also his enemies, in a way that shut them up. And so they decided they would come to Jesus and try to win a double victory. Number one, present to Christ a question which would make him look foolish and silly. And in so doing, they would not only humiliate him, but they would also outdo the Pharisees, whom he had just answered to the point of silencing them. And so here march the Sadducees in an effort to trick Almighty God. What fools men make of themselves. And so these unbelieving Sadducees, which it says deny that there is any resurrection, they don't believe in the afterlife, They asked him a question, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, if any man's brother die having a wife, and he died without children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now let's talk for a minute about this provision of the Old Testament law. This is called the Leverite law. You don't have to remember that, of course, but this is what it was about. The people of Israel were God's own chosen people. He loved them. He would keep them. He would protect them. Even as we've sung from the 91st Psalm this morning, his people would be kept. And one of the means that God had established and given through Moses in the law to protect and keep the nation of Israel was this. If a man died, without having produced a son, leaving a widow without a son. In order to protect the inheritance of that man, and in order to keep things together in terms of the family goods, and the passing along of that inheritance to future generations, yea, in order to ensure that there would be future generations. Recall the people of Israel were very small among the millions upon earth. And lest they be consumed, lest they be wiped out and cease to be, in order to ensure that there are future generations, if a man died leaving a widow and no son, his brother was obligated, or his next of kin was obligated, to marry his widow in order to produce a son. And that son, produced by the brother marrying the widow, would then be heir of the father's share of the family inheritance. And the whole matter of the genealogy of Israel could continue, and that man's name not be lost. And so in Deuteronomy 25, that instruction is given. And so the Sadducees seize upon this portion of scripture and they come to Jesus and said, now there was a man that married a woman and then he died without a son. And so his brother married her and he died without a son. And so his brother married her and he died without a son. And you begin to get the idea that the genes of that family were pretty weak and that you had perhaps a family that shouldn't have continued in perpetuation because they couldn't hang on long enough to continue. But that's another story. Christ could have come at him from that standpoint. He didn't. But as it all turned out, there were seven in this imaginary story who died and then the woman died. And the Sadducees who do not even believe there is a heaven say now in heaven. Which one will be her husband? Whose wife will she be? And Jesus, having let them mutter their folly, answers them, verse 34, The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Neither can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels. and are the children of God being the children of the resurrection. Now, this is what Jesus is saying. Those who are a part of this world, marry. And we can fill in between the lines. What is the purpose for marriage? The purpose for marriage is to perpetuate the human race. The purpose for marriage is that there might be yet another generation on earth and another following it and another. And so God has ordained that on this earth there be such marriage and the perpetuation of the race by means of marriage. But in heaven there is no death. No one dies in heaven. Everyone will live forever. In other words, the race is perpetuated by eternal life in heaven rather than by the begetting of another generation. And so while marriage is necessary in a sin-cursed earth in order to perpetuate the human race, once death has been put aside forever, The race will be perpetuated by everlasting life in all of those who believe and are with Christ in heaven. And therefore, in heaven, there is no need for marriage. That was an answer that silenced the Sadducees. And I think it is amusing every time I read that, where it says in verse 40, and after that, they dare not ask any more questions. They decided, hey, we're not going to win at this game. And so they took their marbles and went home. No more questions. Now, what does this tell us about heaven? It tells us that the family relationships in heaven are not going to be what we know them to be here in earth. Now, we often imagine the family life of earth to be something that is in heaven, but there is not biblical support for that. It is understandable. that we are inclined to take the very best of our experience on earth and in imagination impose that upon heaven, which we believe will be the best of the best. But the fact is that the best on earth does not measure to what there is in heaven. I've said to you a number of times now, The idea that came to me suddenly when I contemplated my mother's death several years ago and was thinking for a moment of how much she would like to have stayed here to see her granddaughter's weddings, her grandson's weddings and graduation. But after about 15 seconds of that kind of thinking, it struck me she's not wanting to check out of heaven and come back for any of them. She is not concerned for those matters. And if there is such a thing as heaven's least, heaven's worst, it is so much better than earth's best, that to abide in the least of heaven is far, far beyond continuing in the best of earth. And while we sit with our family, and rejoice in the family God has given us, our loved ones, whom we embrace with our arms and continually with our hearts, and enjoy the best of the best of life, our own flesh and blood, our family, our children, our spouses. Yet that which is so tremendous and indescribable will be so far superseded in heaven. as to be unthought of. In heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage. Think with me as an illustration and a sidelight of this very truth. Here is a family with two children. The father and mother are believers in Jesus Christ and they are in heaven. One of their children is a believer, the other is not a believer. The believing child in time dies and joins them in heaven, but the unbelieving child is lost forever. Are the parents there in heaven with their hearts ringing and their cheeks streaked with tears, mourning over the loss of a child? Not if I understand what scripture says, when it tells us that God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. That there'll be nothing entering there to interrupt the joy and the bliss of being in the presence of Christ. When I was growing up, there was that popular song, I think a country western song, the family circle won't be broken by and by Lord, by and by. You all heard it, I'm sure. Daddy sang bass. Mama sang tenor. Me and little brother, we joined right in there. And as the song goes on, it says, little brother's now done gone on, but we'll rejoin him in a song. Well, that's a nice sentimental thought. And heaven in our imagination generates many nice sentimental thoughts, but not necessarily a biblical thought. For as I trust we will see a little later this morning, that the focus of our adoration and love, the focus of our family union in heaven, will be in a totally different direction than it is here on earth. It will be a different dwelling, a very different setting. If you'll turn with me to Revelation chapter 19, and we'll stay at this passage, this portion of Scripture for a few minutes, as the book of Revelation comes toward its conclusion and the consummation of the ages is described in John's prophetic vision, we read in chapter 19, verse 7, Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, that is, to Christ. For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready This is the marriage that will be in heaven. We have the expression that was a marriage made in heaven. Well, this is the marriage made in heaven. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who once hung bleeding upon Calvary's cross in order that he might redeem a people unto himself, Jesus Christ thereby redeemed to Himself the Church of which we've sung today when we said the Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. She, interesting that the writer uses the feminine term, She is His new creation by water and the Word. From heaven, He came and sought her to be His holy bride. With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died. Christ came to earth to get a bride, and that bride is made up of all the believers in Jesus Christ from every nation, every tongue, every tribe, All of them from all ages who are saved by Christ, they together make up the body that is called the Bride of Christ. And one day, one day, in the presence of God, Jesus Christ the Lamb will be married to that Bride, the believers of all ages, and that is the marriage made in heaven. And that is the only wedding in heaven. And as on a wedding day, a bride is consumed with the occasion, so Christ's bride will be consumed with that occasion, and with the groom who has paid a dowry for his bride, even the price of his own life and blood. And I cannot imagine for a minute that as we are united there, the bride of Christ, we will be thinking about cousin so-and-so or uncle such-and-such. The things of earth will have vanished. The tears and the sorrows and the afflictions and the defilements of this life, thank God, will be forever behind us. Our sins buried in the deepest sea and separated from us. Our souls washed with the pure and cleansing blood of Christ. Us clothed in the very righteousness of Christ to be wed to Him forever. And it will be forward-looking, not backward-looking. Now the Sadducees didn't intend for all this to be said, but this is what comes out to us from Christ's words and those of the New Testament concerning the fact that our popular notions of heaven and families in heaven, I don't think, are biblical. You see, when a man and a woman marry on earth, it is a picture of that glorious marriage in eternity. Marriage is not simply a sociological or anthropological phenomenon that man has invented. Marriage is a revelation of God. He put Adam and Eve together, performed the first wedding, and from that time on marriage has been a sacred thing, a gift of God. And just as all of the Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies were sacred and handed down to man from God for them to observe, yet every one of them was only a picture, a shadow of good things to come. So our marriages on earth, the grandest they may be, are but shadows and pictures of a far more glorious wedding when Christ marries His own bride forevermore. And when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. And when the consummation of the ages has come and the saints of all time and all nations are together with the Lord, they will look upon the face of their bridegroom with a love and an adoration and a joy that this world has never known. For it will be a love and an adoration and a joy that is devoid of sin. That is liberated forever from the horrible curse of sin. And so that brings us to our second consideration this morning. The fact that in heaven, the curse of sin is entirely removed. And we live in that state of being. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, the curse of sin came crushing in upon the human race, and under the burden of its weight, the race has struggled ever since. God, infinite in grace, determined that he would deliver a people from that burden, that crushing weight, from that curse. And so he sent Jesus Christ, his own Son, to earth to redeem that people unto himself. The Apostle Paul described it in the terms of two Adams. There was the first Adam, who was the head of the human race inasmuch as he was the father of everyone to ever be born. And Adam sinned. And when he sinned, he brought upon the entire race of which he was the head the devastating, disfiguring consequences of sin. And though he was created in the image of God, The curse of sin so marred that image that man's actions became more like those of the devil himself. And so God determined to send a second Adam who would be the head of a renewed and regenerated race. Christ being the second Adam. And Christ would take out of Adam's race a people whom he would redeem with his own blood and make his own people in order ultimately to deliver them from every effect of the curse of sin. And he does it by this means. First, he saves their soul. And in saving their soul, His blood cleanses away the stain of their sin, removing from them forever the penalty of sin. Having saved their soul, He then sends His Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, who sanctifies them, separating them throughout life from their sinfulness. And so thereby, they begin to be delivered from the power of sin. And ultimately, He takes them to heaven to be with Him forever, where He delivers them from the very presence of sin. And Christ thus delivers a race of people from the curse of Adam's sin. And eventually, they will be delivered from its penalty, from its power, and from its presence forever. And in the meantime, God's people are exhorted in Scripture to be renewed, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, renewed in the spirit of their minds. And Paul exhorted the Galatians, or rather the Romans, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, so to God, holy, acceptable, which is your reasonable service. And he says, and be not conformed to this world. but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. There is to be the continual transformation and renewing of the mind of the believer. That is the process of sanctification by which God sets us apart for Himself. But when we finally enter Heaven, that renewing of the mind will be complete. The effects of sin's curse will be completely taken away so that our minds will be clear and will be pure. For that day, when we no longer struggle with sin, with temptation, with the effects of the curse of sin upon our bodies and upon our minds. I was talking with Brother Hunter Reimer a few weeks ago, and he said to me, Pastor, the longer I live, the more I'm thinking about the hereafter. I go from one room into the next, and I wonder what I'm here after. Well, forgetfulness. Any of you have suffered that? Forgetfulness in our minds. An effect of sin's curse. And how many more items can be laid to that? No, when we enter heaven, the curse of sin will be entirely removed, and we will be free from everything that contaminates and that defiles. Turn with me in the scripture just over a page in Revelation chapter 21 and verse number 27. It says there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defile it. Neither whatsoever work of abomination or make of the lie. But they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. It's telling us that in heaven there will be nothing that defiles. Our thoughts will be pure. Our motivations will be above any reproach. Have you ever had someone approach you wanting to talk with you, but somehow or another in the process of the conversation, suspicion has been aroused on your part that they really have a hidden agenda and they are coming to you for some reason other than what they are saying. I received a phone call a year or so ago. from a lady that said, Dr. McKnight, I've really had a burden that I'm carrying and I was praying about it and the Lord just laid you on my heart. I need to talk with you. Can I come and see you? And so, of course, we made an appointment and she came to my office at the time of that appointment, assured me at the beginning of the conversation that she had some money and intended to make a gift to the church. but then proceeded to tell me about the great burden that was on her heart and how the Lord had laid my name on her mind concerning that burden. And as it turns out, the burden was that she wanted to know who was paying the tuition in Harford Christian School for the neighbor's boy because she knew that woman didn't have the money to do it herself. And evidently, a man that she had an interest in, she suspected, was paying the tuition for this woman's son. Well, I might have been born at night, but it wasn't last night. And such motivations, impure motivations, craft, scheming, deception, a false front, a facade, never in heaven. nothing that defiles. Won't it be a wonderful day when truth is enthroned? And when truth alone is the standard of the day of every communication, of every motivation, of every relationship, when there no longer is suspicion of another's motivation, fear, when greed has been forever slain. And name whatever you will when all of the vile affections of these rotting bodies have been cast away forever and we are beyond the reach of anything that defiles. That will be our dwelling in heaven. That is what will make it heaven. Everything that has brought turmoil, disappointment, tears, grief, war upon earth, forever gone, as the light of the world, who is the Prince of Peace, who is the captain of our salvation, who is our elder brother and our husband to be, is wed to his bride, the Church. There will be The removal of every effect of sins. The state of our being in heaven. Will be that we will enjoy an entirely renovated and glorified comprehension. Turn with me to first Corinthians chapter 13. This is the great love chapter. First Corinthians, the 13th chapter. The Apostle Paul writes in the 12th verse, For now we see through a glass darkly. And I described to you before what this image is. It's not the glass like we look out a window through, but it's the old looking glass, the mirrors that the ladies in that age would have. And the manufacture of glass was not a refined industry at that day, and so the looking glass was not glass at all, but it was a piece of brass, highly polished, so that you could look into that piece of brass and receive from it a reflection of your face. But as you know from looking into such shining metals, it is not a perfect reflection. And given the way that these brass plates would be made, perhaps with some waves in them, be they ever so small, the reflection that would come back to the viewer would be somewhat distorted, which is why Paul says, now we see through a glass darkly. Just as you look into such a mirror and get a distorted vision, so our perceptions of the eternal are somewhat distorted. Distorted by the curse of sin, which then will be removed completely. Now we see through a glass darkly, but he says then, face to face, there will be then That clarity of vision which I have when I look into the face of another person and I can see that face. There it is. Every feature of it clearly discernible. No questions at all. We will see face to face. He says, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known. By which he speaks of a knowledge that is beyond. anything I can describe, I cannot fathom in my limited, earthly, sin-cursed thinking what it is to know even as I am known. But it is profound. It is wondrous. It is glorious. You see, our thinking will be renovated. Our perceptions will be glorified. And so as we come into the presence of God, the tears are wiped away from the eye. It is nothing but glory and our whole comprehension. is restored. That comprehension which Adam lost when he sinned and lost for the entire human race, that will be restored for Christ's purpose in coming was to destroy the works of the devil and to redeem from among the cursed a people who would be blessed by him forever. And so that will include a mind that is clear, that is not forgetful, and that comprehends with such all-consuming and comprehensive comprehension. Along with this, in 1 Corinthians 13, the 13th verse tells us, And now abideth hope, faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. Now that word abideth is a Greek term which means it abides on and on and on continually. It doesn't end. In other words, hope, faith, and charity will not come to an end when we finally enter God's presence and see him face to face. Hope, faith, and charity will continue forever as well, charity being love. Only the love that we know when we enter his presence will be a love undefiled and undiluted by sin. It will be the purest of pure loves. Charity, faith. That will not end when we enter his presence. Though we will see him and be like him, yet we will believe in him. And faith will be more faithful then than it has ever been. And hope. Hope. is not hoping like we hope for things here on earth, but in the Scriptures it speaks of a confidence, an assurance. And it is an assurance of that which is yet to come. Hope is anticipatory in all of its ways, anticipating what is coming. And it says that that hope will continue forever, which implies that new revelations will continue forever. As we noted earlier, God is infinite. There are no limitations to him at all. And if he is infinite, then his creativity is infinite. They tell me that no two snowflakes are alike. That's amazing. I'll take their word for it. Although I doubt that anybody has sat down and examined every one of them to see, but the creativity of God. Hope will never be disappointed. Every day, in other words, if there were day and night in heaven, will be lived in the anticipation of yet new revelations of God, of His glory, of His creativity, of His wonder, of His grace. In other words, heaven will not be a place where we like angels sit on cloud-strumming harps but where we are actively engaged in the continual anticipation of another revelation of the glory of an infinite God, a glory that will never be exhausted, that will never fade. Eternal glory. Forevermore, we will live, as we would say it, sitting on the edge of our seats. What is next? Why, consider that He has already done for us, exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think who could ever imagine of redemption by the blood of Christ. It's already done. And that is within the veil of a sin-cursed earth. Now enter the glory of heaven. and an infinite God whose creativity knows no boundaries and whose glory is the only glory and all glory forever. I doubt that we're going to be thinking about things back here. What's happening in Dublin today? I doubt that we will be consumed with Earthly family thoughts we will be part of that glorious sanctified pure family of God in heaven and All our attention will be upon him and as John wrote there in the fourth and fifth chapter revelation He saw the multitudes around the throne and they sang a new song and the song was worthy is the lamb that was slain and Forevermore the redeemed bride of Christ will be in heaven Rolled with joy and shouting hallelujahs unto the lamb of God Glory to the lamb that redeemed us with his blood and forever and ever and ever without end in that absolutely pure and glorious Tearless setting we will be one with Christ in glory rejoicing in him And I'm sure We have not begun to scratch the surface of comprehending what heaven is. It gives us enough to satisfy our faith. Curiosity will continue forever. Now abideth hope, anticipation. What's next? Will you be there? Have you, by faith, embraced Jesus Christ as your Savior? If not, behold, now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Now, here, today, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ And thou shalt be saved. And I invite you to come to speak with me with the men of the church at any time. Concerning believing. And being saved. Shall we all stand together as we pray? Our God and our father, we thank thee for the everlasting mercies reserved for those who know Christ. We thank you that Christ has gone to prepare a place for us. We thank you that eye has not seen nor ear heard nor has entered into the heart of man. Those things which God has prepared for them that love him. We thank you for the eternal duration of hope, faith and charity. and for the eternal glories of Christ, which all his redeemed will enjoy and partake of with him. Bring these truths to each of our hearts for the comfort of your people and for the salvation of those who are outside of Christ and excluded from these glories, except they believe. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.