Jesus Proclaims the Resurrection Life
Matthew 22:23-33 | April 21, 2019
Good morning! I invite you to turn with me to the gospel of Matthew this morning. We are going to be looking at a section located in chapter 22.
As you turn there, let me give you some context. Jesus is just days away from his death. He has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and he’s on the last week of his life. He’s doing some teaching in the temple. And in this chapter, he’s being questioned by the religious leaders. They are making their last ditch effort, so to speak, to discredit him.
And the passage we are going to look at records for us his run in with the Sadducees. The Sadducees were something of the liberals of their day. They denied most of the Bible and only took the first 5 books of the Bible as being semi credible. They were materialists in that they denied the existence of angels and demons. What’s more, they denied the resurrection. And it is this little tidbit that leads to into our passage.
In our passage today, we are celebrating Easter by remembering that Jesus is Lord of the Life. He is the resurrection, and (as a result) we have a future beyond the grave. Let’s read together Matthew 22, verses 23-33.
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.' 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her." 29 But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 '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." 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Let's pray: Father in Heaven, Grant that we may grow in your grace and be more grounded in your word. Help us to hear these words, apply them to our hearts and lives, and to glorify you by them. May your eternal word be written on our hearts, for this we ask in the strong Name of Jesus. Amen.
It is always interesting when people want to debate things that they don’t believe in, isn’t it? I used to have a lot of different interactions with an atheist who lived over in Mansfield. As a matter of fact, he formed a little atheistic church, so to speak; a fellowship of atheists. He organized this little gathering and they would get together weekly. So I called it the Atheist’s church.
But he would frequently email me or interact with different things I’d written. And of course, the things I wrote were spiritual in nature. And he would bring all these objections and questions; he’d mock it and spend a lot of grief talking about this subject that he did not believe in.
You got to wonder what you don’t believe in if you’re so interested in talking about it.
It’s interesting that in this passage that something very similar happens. I mentioned just a moment ago, and we saw it in the first verse that we read this morning, that this particular sect of Judaism (known as the Sadducees) did not believe in the resurrection. Yet, what we find is that they are very interested in talking about the subject that they so vehemently denied.
But that’s just what makes them so very sad-you-see.
But Jesus is happy to have the conversation because it just gives him another opportunity to proclaim the truth of the gospel and make his people more enriched by it. Most of the time we don’t recommend arguing with fools. The Bible says that it’s better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs. But we are very glad that Jesus didn’t write this off because this passage is great for considering the blessing of our future state.
We believe in the resurrection. Christianity is distinct among all the world religions because we say that one day the dead will rise again. The graves will be forced to submit to Christ and those who have perished will stand again—some will rise to everlasting life, and some to everlasting condemnation.
And the passage before us this morning helps us remember this core doctrine of our faith. Jesus proclaims the resurrection life. And this morning I want you to see the hope we have for it, the advancement we make in it, and the means we have to it.
What I want to do today is start at the bottom of the passage and work our way up. The end is a great place to begin because we find the hope we have for the resurrection there.
I. The hope we have for it [31-33]
Jesus drives home his argument for the resurrection in the final few verses of this passage. And he points to Scripture. Jesus believed in Scripture Alone. Jesus believes that the Bible is the final authority for all matters pertaining to life and faith. And he says to these disbelieving Sadducees that we know that the resurrection is true because God has revealed it to be true. He says,
“As for the resurrection of the dead, 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.”
Notice what Jesus does, as he points to the validity of the resurrection, he also proves the doctrine of the Inspiration of Scripture. We believe that the whole of God’s word is inspired by the Spirit. Every jot and tittle, every word, is breathed out by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, and training in righteousness. We don’t believe that just concepts are inspired or that the Spirit gave a general idea to the prophets of old and left them to fill in the blanks.
This is what we call, “Verbal plenary” inspiration. Plenary means “every and verbal means word. Every word is inspired.
And look at what Jesus does…he proves the resurrection on one, tiny word. The word “is.”
Jesus is quoting from the book of Exodus. It’s that account of Moses at the burning bush. God comes to Moses and says, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Now notice what God does not say. He does not say, “I was the God of Abraham,” as if it was past tense. As if it was something long ago and far away, but not anymore. He says, “I am the God of Abraham,” meaning presently.
Currently, God is acting as the God of Abraham. How can he say that? It’s because Abraham is still alive. Though he has died, Abraham now lives with the Lord in heaven and enjoys perfect communion with him there. And as such, Abraham is awaiting the fulfillment of the promises which will occur at the resurrection.
Now, granted, the resurrection can be found in many other places in the Old Testament. For instance, in the book of Job. Job says, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”
We read in the Psalms how the meek shall inherit the earth. Daniel 12 says in very clear terms that “those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”
And while all these are true Jesus goes to the very sources that the Sadducees themselves use. And he gives them a double punch: He proves the inspiration of Scripture and the doctrine of the resurrection. And he does it by drawing from one single word “I am the God of Abraham.”
And for us this morning, Jesus reminds us of the hope we have for the resurrection.
Keep in mind that all these patriarchs, at the time of Moses’ conversation with the Lord, had been dead for quite a long time. Abraham had been dead for just under 330 years. Isaac had been deceased for over 220 years. Jacob was just shy of 200 years. No matter how you slice it, their bodies had long rotted away. Yet the Lord speaks of still being their God. The Lord speaks of Abraham still being in fellowship with God.
Some will say that, “It depends on what your definition of is is.” But we know that the word “am” or the form of “to be” is very important. We have hope because of the word “to be.” There is life because God is the God of the living. When you die, your body may rest in the grave for a time, but your soul will go to be with the Lord. And then, when the Lord ordains, we shall be raise up and reunited to our bodies for all eternity.
Today, you can be assured that death does not have the final say. You have hope because God is a resurrecting God. He gathers the souls of his people unto himself and holds them dearly until that day when he sees fit to unite them again.
Jesus proclaims the hope we have for the resurrection, he proclaims the advancement we make in the resurrection.
II. The advancement we make in it [30]
Again, we are working backwards through this passage. What Jesus says in verse 30 is of special interest. The Sadducees say, “All these guys were married to this one lady. So who’s wife will she be?” Jesus responds by saying, “You all are dopey.” That’s my translation. He says regarding the believers who die, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
In other words, Jesus says two things: First, marriage is not something that will exist in the world to come. You see the Sadducees forgot the nature of a covenant. A covenant lasts as long as you are alive. That’s why we say, “until death do you part” in our wedding vows. The Sadducees made the mistake of thinking that marriage was an indisovlable relationship, one that lasts forever.
It is true, marriages should not be severed in this life. But when you die, you are released from that relationship.
But more than that, Jesus speaks of the transformation and the advancement that is made in the resurrection. He says that our future state will be different than it is now. We will be akin to the angels.
The thing about angels is that they were not designed for marriage, like we originally were. God had created us so that we would marry, procreate, fill the earth, and work. Keep in mind that marriage, originally, was linked to the idea of dominion taking.
Now, God created all the angels at once. Myriads upon myriads of them. But he only created two people. So there was no need for procreation among the celestial beings.
And Jesus says here that in the resurrection, we’ll have this new state and we won’t have the need for marriage.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 indicates something of this advancement too. In talking about the resurrected body he says it will be radically different to some degree. It will be the same body, but there’s going to be something unique and grand about it; something that transcends our current experience. He talks about it in terms of germination of seeds. He says we are sown in dishonor, we are raised in glory. We are sown in weakness, but raised in power.
So there is some sort of transformation that happens; a progression that may be likened to a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I was younger I was praying that Jesus wouldn’t come back until after I was married. There were certain things in life that I REALLY wanted to experience—if you know what I mean.
As a matter of fact, Elizabeth and I were watching the story of Rich Mullins this past week. Mullins was a contemporary Christian musician back in the 80’s. And he was at a concert and he was talking as was his custom. And he was talking about Jesus coming back and the need to get ready for it. And he said that the only one’s who would be disappointed when Jesus returns were the wicked and single people.
So I understand that there may be some reticence about this doctrine. But I just want to say that this is where the significance of this resides. It’s not just that we are all going to be asexual creatures all of a sudden. But the relationships of the eternal world are going to be this great. There’s going to be and experience of love and satisfaction that far transcends the highest expression of love and satisfaction in this world.
And for this reason, I don’t know that I can describe this advancement sufficiently. We can talk about what Jesus says here, but it really far surpasses any sort of comprehension. We can merely state the teaching and stand in wonder of it: What the future will be like for us is going to be far beyond what we can currently imagine. Immortality and glory and pleasure and happiness are going to be so intense and wonderful and so incredibly exhilarating, that the best thing we can say now is that it is going to supersede the best and most enjoyable relationship we could ever experience in this present world.
While I’d like to end the message there and just leave us puzzling over that, there’s one more point that needs to be made. While it is good to acknowledge the hope we have for the resurrection and the advancement we’ll make in it. We should also note something of the means we have to it.
III. The means we have to it [29]
By that I mean, “How is it that we get to participate in it?” We know that there’s a resurrection of the living and the dead, the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are raised unto eternal life and the wicked are raised unto eternal damnation. And you may be thinking that this resurrection unto life and salvation sounds pretty intriguing, even if we don’t grasp the whole of it. Even if it is shrouded in a bit of mystery, it sounds much better than eternal death. How is it that I can gain it?
Well, this passage helps us with that question.
This is where the first words that Jesus speaks come into play. After the Sadducees put their question to Jesus, he responds by saying that they do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. Jesus makes sure to tell these Sadducees that they have completely misinterpreted the Deuteronomistic law.
This law that they quoted, it wasn’t really about marriage. It was about children and the preservation of the inheritance. If a man died without having any children, then what happened is that he and his family would lose their portion of the land that God had given them? Their place in the Promised Land would be lost, so to speak.
In order to keep the family line going and maintain that portion of the inheritance, the brother was charged with the job of raising up offspring. So in marrying his brother’s widow, he’d be acting as a redeemer. He’s be securing the future of his brother. So his family’s place in God’s kingdom would be saved because of the act of another.
And really, what this pointed to was the need for a Savior; a Redeemer who would give life to those who were perishing and who had no ability to gain a place in the future world for themselves.
And when Jesus says, “You do not know the Scriptures,” he’s really talking about how these Sadducees had completely twisted the meaning of this passage and were missing out on the true significance of what it was saying.
Really Jesus was signifying that this OT law was about Him. He was the one who had come as the Redeemer. He is the only one who can ensure your place in the future world. He is the only one who can guarantee your inheritance in the kingdom.
And this is the message that Jesus was preaching to these Sadducees. They were in deep danger. They were on the road to perdition. They were missing their chance to gain a place in the world to come by their rejection of Jesus.
And this morning it is important that we here today not make that same mistake. In this passage God is calling to you to embrace Christ and all that he offers. We are those who will die, and as sinners we have lost our ability to gain any portion in the eternal world with God. If we die in our sins, we will be lost forever and consigned to eternal damnation.
But we have here a reminder that there is indeed a Savior. There is one who has come to give life and salvation to those who cannot get it themselves. And you are invited today to receive this gift. Receive this right of inheritance and assurance of the resurrection by receiving Christ himself by faith.
As you turn there, let me give you some context. Jesus is just days away from his death. He has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and he’s on the last week of his life. He’s doing some teaching in the temple. And in this chapter, he’s being questioned by the religious leaders. They are making their last ditch effort, so to speak, to discredit him.
And the passage we are going to look at records for us his run in with the Sadducees. The Sadducees were something of the liberals of their day. They denied most of the Bible and only took the first 5 books of the Bible as being semi credible. They were materialists in that they denied the existence of angels and demons. What’s more, they denied the resurrection. And it is this little tidbit that leads to into our passage.
In our passage today, we are celebrating Easter by remembering that Jesus is Lord of the Life. He is the resurrection, and (as a result) we have a future beyond the grave. Let’s read together Matthew 22, verses 23-33.
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.' 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her." 29 But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 '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." 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Let's pray: Father in Heaven, Grant that we may grow in your grace and be more grounded in your word. Help us to hear these words, apply them to our hearts and lives, and to glorify you by them. May your eternal word be written on our hearts, for this we ask in the strong Name of Jesus. Amen.
It is always interesting when people want to debate things that they don’t believe in, isn’t it? I used to have a lot of different interactions with an atheist who lived over in Mansfield. As a matter of fact, he formed a little atheistic church, so to speak; a fellowship of atheists. He organized this little gathering and they would get together weekly. So I called it the Atheist’s church.
But he would frequently email me or interact with different things I’d written. And of course, the things I wrote were spiritual in nature. And he would bring all these objections and questions; he’d mock it and spend a lot of grief talking about this subject that he did not believe in.
You got to wonder what you don’t believe in if you’re so interested in talking about it.
It’s interesting that in this passage that something very similar happens. I mentioned just a moment ago, and we saw it in the first verse that we read this morning, that this particular sect of Judaism (known as the Sadducees) did not believe in the resurrection. Yet, what we find is that they are very interested in talking about the subject that they so vehemently denied.
But that’s just what makes them so very sad-you-see.
But Jesus is happy to have the conversation because it just gives him another opportunity to proclaim the truth of the gospel and make his people more enriched by it. Most of the time we don’t recommend arguing with fools. The Bible says that it’s better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs. But we are very glad that Jesus didn’t write this off because this passage is great for considering the blessing of our future state.
We believe in the resurrection. Christianity is distinct among all the world religions because we say that one day the dead will rise again. The graves will be forced to submit to Christ and those who have perished will stand again—some will rise to everlasting life, and some to everlasting condemnation.
And the passage before us this morning helps us remember this core doctrine of our faith. Jesus proclaims the resurrection life. And this morning I want you to see the hope we have for it, the advancement we make in it, and the means we have to it.
What I want to do today is start at the bottom of the passage and work our way up. The end is a great place to begin because we find the hope we have for the resurrection there.
I. The hope we have for it [31-33]
Jesus drives home his argument for the resurrection in the final few verses of this passage. And he points to Scripture. Jesus believed in Scripture Alone. Jesus believes that the Bible is the final authority for all matters pertaining to life and faith. And he says to these disbelieving Sadducees that we know that the resurrection is true because God has revealed it to be true. He says,
“As for the resurrection of the dead, 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.”
Notice what Jesus does, as he points to the validity of the resurrection, he also proves the doctrine of the Inspiration of Scripture. We believe that the whole of God’s word is inspired by the Spirit. Every jot and tittle, every word, is breathed out by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, and training in righteousness. We don’t believe that just concepts are inspired or that the Spirit gave a general idea to the prophets of old and left them to fill in the blanks.
This is what we call, “Verbal plenary” inspiration. Plenary means “every and verbal means word. Every word is inspired.
And look at what Jesus does…he proves the resurrection on one, tiny word. The word “is.”
Jesus is quoting from the book of Exodus. It’s that account of Moses at the burning bush. God comes to Moses and says, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Now notice what God does not say. He does not say, “I was the God of Abraham,” as if it was past tense. As if it was something long ago and far away, but not anymore. He says, “I am the God of Abraham,” meaning presently.
Currently, God is acting as the God of Abraham. How can he say that? It’s because Abraham is still alive. Though he has died, Abraham now lives with the Lord in heaven and enjoys perfect communion with him there. And as such, Abraham is awaiting the fulfillment of the promises which will occur at the resurrection.
Now, granted, the resurrection can be found in many other places in the Old Testament. For instance, in the book of Job. Job says, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”
We read in the Psalms how the meek shall inherit the earth. Daniel 12 says in very clear terms that “those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”
And while all these are true Jesus goes to the very sources that the Sadducees themselves use. And he gives them a double punch: He proves the inspiration of Scripture and the doctrine of the resurrection. And he does it by drawing from one single word “I am the God of Abraham.”
And for us this morning, Jesus reminds us of the hope we have for the resurrection.
Keep in mind that all these patriarchs, at the time of Moses’ conversation with the Lord, had been dead for quite a long time. Abraham had been dead for just under 330 years. Isaac had been deceased for over 220 years. Jacob was just shy of 200 years. No matter how you slice it, their bodies had long rotted away. Yet the Lord speaks of still being their God. The Lord speaks of Abraham still being in fellowship with God.
Some will say that, “It depends on what your definition of is is.” But we know that the word “am” or the form of “to be” is very important. We have hope because of the word “to be.” There is life because God is the God of the living. When you die, your body may rest in the grave for a time, but your soul will go to be with the Lord. And then, when the Lord ordains, we shall be raise up and reunited to our bodies for all eternity.
Today, you can be assured that death does not have the final say. You have hope because God is a resurrecting God. He gathers the souls of his people unto himself and holds them dearly until that day when he sees fit to unite them again.
Jesus proclaims the hope we have for the resurrection, he proclaims the advancement we make in the resurrection.
II. The advancement we make in it [30]
Again, we are working backwards through this passage. What Jesus says in verse 30 is of special interest. The Sadducees say, “All these guys were married to this one lady. So who’s wife will she be?” Jesus responds by saying, “You all are dopey.” That’s my translation. He says regarding the believers who die, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
In other words, Jesus says two things: First, marriage is not something that will exist in the world to come. You see the Sadducees forgot the nature of a covenant. A covenant lasts as long as you are alive. That’s why we say, “until death do you part” in our wedding vows. The Sadducees made the mistake of thinking that marriage was an indisovlable relationship, one that lasts forever.
It is true, marriages should not be severed in this life. But when you die, you are released from that relationship.
But more than that, Jesus speaks of the transformation and the advancement that is made in the resurrection. He says that our future state will be different than it is now. We will be akin to the angels.
The thing about angels is that they were not designed for marriage, like we originally were. God had created us so that we would marry, procreate, fill the earth, and work. Keep in mind that marriage, originally, was linked to the idea of dominion taking.
Now, God created all the angels at once. Myriads upon myriads of them. But he only created two people. So there was no need for procreation among the celestial beings.
And Jesus says here that in the resurrection, we’ll have this new state and we won’t have the need for marriage.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 indicates something of this advancement too. In talking about the resurrected body he says it will be radically different to some degree. It will be the same body, but there’s going to be something unique and grand about it; something that transcends our current experience. He talks about it in terms of germination of seeds. He says we are sown in dishonor, we are raised in glory. We are sown in weakness, but raised in power.
So there is some sort of transformation that happens; a progression that may be likened to a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I was younger I was praying that Jesus wouldn’t come back until after I was married. There were certain things in life that I REALLY wanted to experience—if you know what I mean.
As a matter of fact, Elizabeth and I were watching the story of Rich Mullins this past week. Mullins was a contemporary Christian musician back in the 80’s. And he was at a concert and he was talking as was his custom. And he was talking about Jesus coming back and the need to get ready for it. And he said that the only one’s who would be disappointed when Jesus returns were the wicked and single people.
So I understand that there may be some reticence about this doctrine. But I just want to say that this is where the significance of this resides. It’s not just that we are all going to be asexual creatures all of a sudden. But the relationships of the eternal world are going to be this great. There’s going to be and experience of love and satisfaction that far transcends the highest expression of love and satisfaction in this world.
And for this reason, I don’t know that I can describe this advancement sufficiently. We can talk about what Jesus says here, but it really far surpasses any sort of comprehension. We can merely state the teaching and stand in wonder of it: What the future will be like for us is going to be far beyond what we can currently imagine. Immortality and glory and pleasure and happiness are going to be so intense and wonderful and so incredibly exhilarating, that the best thing we can say now is that it is going to supersede the best and most enjoyable relationship we could ever experience in this present world.
While I’d like to end the message there and just leave us puzzling over that, there’s one more point that needs to be made. While it is good to acknowledge the hope we have for the resurrection and the advancement we’ll make in it. We should also note something of the means we have to it.
III. The means we have to it [29]
By that I mean, “How is it that we get to participate in it?” We know that there’s a resurrection of the living and the dead, the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are raised unto eternal life and the wicked are raised unto eternal damnation. And you may be thinking that this resurrection unto life and salvation sounds pretty intriguing, even if we don’t grasp the whole of it. Even if it is shrouded in a bit of mystery, it sounds much better than eternal death. How is it that I can gain it?
Well, this passage helps us with that question.
This is where the first words that Jesus speaks come into play. After the Sadducees put their question to Jesus, he responds by saying that they do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. Jesus makes sure to tell these Sadducees that they have completely misinterpreted the Deuteronomistic law.
This law that they quoted, it wasn’t really about marriage. It was about children and the preservation of the inheritance. If a man died without having any children, then what happened is that he and his family would lose their portion of the land that God had given them? Their place in the Promised Land would be lost, so to speak.
In order to keep the family line going and maintain that portion of the inheritance, the brother was charged with the job of raising up offspring. So in marrying his brother’s widow, he’d be acting as a redeemer. He’s be securing the future of his brother. So his family’s place in God’s kingdom would be saved because of the act of another.
And really, what this pointed to was the need for a Savior; a Redeemer who would give life to those who were perishing and who had no ability to gain a place in the future world for themselves.
And when Jesus says, “You do not know the Scriptures,” he’s really talking about how these Sadducees had completely twisted the meaning of this passage and were missing out on the true significance of what it was saying.
Really Jesus was signifying that this OT law was about Him. He was the one who had come as the Redeemer. He is the only one who can ensure your place in the future world. He is the only one who can guarantee your inheritance in the kingdom.
And this is the message that Jesus was preaching to these Sadducees. They were in deep danger. They were on the road to perdition. They were missing their chance to gain a place in the world to come by their rejection of Jesus.
And this morning it is important that we here today not make that same mistake. In this passage God is calling to you to embrace Christ and all that he offers. We are those who will die, and as sinners we have lost our ability to gain any portion in the eternal world with God. If we die in our sins, we will be lost forever and consigned to eternal damnation.
But we have here a reminder that there is indeed a Savior. There is one who has come to give life and salvation to those who cannot get it themselves. And you are invited today to receive this gift. Receive this right of inheritance and assurance of the resurrection by receiving Christ himself by faith.