Calvary Road Baptist Church

“YE DO ERR”

Matthew 22.29 

I will follow the development of an issue between the Lord Jesus Christ before His crucifixion and some men who opposed Him. After we have followed the development of the particular issue the Savior and some of His enemies were in disagreement over, I will apply to you who are unconverted today.

While it is true that each human being is a unique and different individual person, with no one else who has ever lived being exactly the same as you are, there are some amazing similarities we all have in common, and we are all afflicted with an identical condition called sin. We have only one Bible, not a different Bible written for each of us. God designed the one Bible to benefit every man and every woman. But how is it possible for one Bible to benefit every man and every woman when each of us is unique and individual?

To illustrate: We all have a common origin. Not some pre-human female ape in Africa. Our common ancestors were a man named Adam and a woman named Eve, who were created in God’s image and after His likeness, but who sinned and whose Fall has adversely affected every one of us, giving us a common nature.[1]

To illustrate again: We all have common experiences.[2] As a direct effect of Adam’s Fall and our common sinful nature, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”[3] So, while you may sin slightly differently than the person next to you, your common experience resulting from our common nature is that you commit sins, just as every other person commits sins.[4]

To illustrate yet again: We all have a common end. Every man and every woman, and every child will die.[5] It is the fate that awaits each of us. You have never met a person who has not died or will not eventually die. Some die suddenly, while others die gradually. Some die accidentally while others die from disease or by their own hand. But all die. It is our nature to die because of our sinfulness, therefore everyone will die, including you. “For the wages of sin is death,” Romans 6.23. But dying isn’t the end of it all. In a way, it’s the beginning. Eternity will begin for you when you die.

In Matthew chapter 22 there is recorded a conflict, a disagreement, between the Lord Jesus Christ during the last days of His earthly ministry and some of those who opposed Him: 

23  The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:

26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

27 And last of all the woman died also.

28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,

32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 

There are three things I would like to point out to you by way of introduction: 

First, THERE IS THE APPROACH OF THOSE WHO OPPOSED CHRIST 

This is almost self-explanatory, but let’s read verses 23-28 again: 

23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:

26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

27 And last of all the woman died also.

28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 

Our Lord’s antagonists were members of a small Jewish sect called Sadducees.[6] And though they denied the fact of the resurrection, which is clearly taught throughout the Bible, their kind also denied so much more than the resurrection. Matthew here refers to their denial of the resurrection only to point out that single issue they had chosen for their point of contention on that particular occasion.

The Law of Moses encouraged but did not require a man to marry his brother’s widow if he died without children. The Sadducees took this provision to the exaggeration of seven consecutive brothers marrying the same woman after each of her husbands died without siring children. They then asked the Lord who her husband would be after they had all died and were raised in the resurrection.

Of course, the Sadducees were not interested in this hypothetical woman’s situation in the afterlife. They had simply constructed the problem in the hopes that the Lord Jesus Christ would be embarrassed and the doctrine of the resurrection could be made to look silly and unsophisticated. 

THE APPROACH OF THOSE MEN WHO OPPOSED CHRIST DID REFLECT A PREVALENT ATTITUDE 

Attitude does determine action. Behavior is dictated by belief. And though attitude and behavior are not exactly the same, they are interrelated. I would like you to be mindful of what transpired that led up to their approach.

In Matthew 21.23, we see that the Master and His disciples were in Jerusalem, where the priests and elders (many of whom were Sadducees) challenged His authority to teach in the Temple. But could they refute Him? No. Could they withstand His words? No. And had they not been afraid of the people they would have tried to take Him by force, we are told in Matthew 21.46.

Does it alarm you that the Lord was opposed by these Jewish groups who opposed each other, calling for a truce only so they could oppose the Savior? The Pharisees, a sect distinct from the Sadducees, had discussed how they might with the Herodians, a third group of sworn enemies, entangle Him in His Own words, Matthew 22.15-16! The plan was to trick the Lord into a mistake or misstatement they could use against Him. They reasoned that if He were to make one kind of mistake, the Pharisees would charge Him with heresy and bring Him before the religious court of the Sanhedrin. But if He were to make another kind of mistake, the Herodians would file criminal charges against Him to the Romans. Their plan didn’t work, Matthew 22.22, so they “left him, and went their way.”

So, the priests failed to trip Him up. The Temple elders failed to trip Him up. The Pharisees failed to trip Him up, along with the Herodians. Why do you suppose the Sadducees decided to then challenge Him about the doctrine of the resurrection? Were they attempting to resolve a theological dispute? No. Were they seeking answers to the perplexing problems of life? No. Were they concerned about their own destinies and were looking for direction? No. Did they really want anything from Jesus? No. Then what were they doing and why?

What they were attempting to do is easy to understand. Nothing complex about it. They wanted to catch the Lord Jesus Christ in His Own words. They wanted to embarrass Him and make Him look bad. Though the priests, elders, Pharisees, and Herodians had failed in their attempts, the Sadducees were convinced they were better, more sophisticated, smarter, and holding to a stronger position.

Why they attempted to do this is also pretty easy to understand, though it’s a bit more complex than what they were doing. At the core of it all, they were simply wicked men who were enemies of God. Therefore, they were also opposed to the Son of God. But what may have passed through their minds is that their lives had been pretty stable and ordered. Then Jesus came along and disrupted everything, throwing their lives into turmoil. In their own minds, they opposed Him because they saw Him as a threat to the status quo, upsetting their regular and accustomed way of doing and thinking.

They were proud and arrogant men who felt they needed nothing, who felt they lacked nothing, who felt they were in an excellent position to judge their own situations. Of course, they were wrong. Thus, their attitude was one of obstinacy, stubbornness, and a refusal to consider what Jesus had been saying and doing.

How like most people those Sadducees showed themselves to be. Amen? “Leave me alone and let me go to Hell. Just don’t get me upset by showing me how erroneous my views of life and the hereafter are on the way.” Isn’t that the way most people think? 

WHICH WAS WHY THEIR APPROACH AND THEIR ATTITUDE REQUIRED AN ANSWER & AN EXPLANATION 

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,

32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 

The answer and the basic explanation Jesus gave is found in verse 29: 

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” 

The more detailed explanation is found in verses 30-32, which I have not the time to deal with.

Why did those men have the attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ that they displayed? What would cause some resurrection-denying men to publicly challenge someone Who had worked many miracles, displayed incredible wisdom, and exhibited a vast knowledge of God’s Word? They erred. Simple. They were wrong. Why is it so difficult for people these days to accept that some people, many people, most people are just wrong? Those men were just wrong, and Jesus told them they were wrong. “Ye do err,” He said to them. You are wrong. Pointed. Direct. Honest. Correct. They were wrong.

But why were they wrong? Things could get complicated here. And Jesus Himself could have gotten complicated. But instead He went straight to the presenting problem. He told them that they were mistaken because they were ignorant of the Scriptures and, second, because they did not know the power of God. They did not know the Bible, and they did not know God’s power.

The tendency when considering the Bible is to limit its application, overlook its applicability to your life’s situations, and assume the Bible is speaking to someone else. Be careful to avoid that common mistake. Recognize that God’s Word provides both understandings of everyone’s condition and correction for everyone’s condition. And by everyone, that includes you.

You might think the passage we’ve just looked at deals only with a group of individuals who lived long ago who denied, among other things, the resurrection, the doctrine that people will someday be raised from the dead by God to stand before Him in judgment. But you will see that, at the root of it all, the Sadducees weren’t much different than many people today who are not converted. Perhaps not much different than you.

In Ecclesiastes 1.9, King Solomon correctly observed that “there is no new thing under the sun.” In the next verse he asked, “Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?” Not really. The whole point of Solomon’s statement, and the rhetorical question that follows, is that things do not change. Human beings are all alike in certain respects, and there is, therefore, a certain predictability when it comes to dealing with people.

How many of you have met someone, or have observed someone, and have mused in your mind about that someone, “I’ve seen his kind before”? This is true in each of our experiences. Because of the similarities that exist between us, even though we are unique individuals, our one God-given Bible is a valuable and reliable guide to every aspect of human behavior and a road map to a sinner’s salvation. That’s why “All Scripture,” which is given by inspiration of God, “is profitable.”[7]

That said, look at Matthew 22.29, my text for this message: 

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” 

My remarks are directed to those of you who are not converted. I want to show you what similarities exist between you and those Sadducees who lived so long ago and how you are not much different from them. 

First, LIKE THE SADDUCEES, YOU HAVE AN APPROACH TO JESUS CHRIST 

Notice that I did not say that you have come to Jesus Christ. Everyone who comes to Jesus is received by Him and is forgiven all your sins. But you have never come to Jesus. Like the Sadducees, you have only approached Him to take issue with Him, consciously or unconsciously.

Because of the infinite variations of each of our personal experiences, I leave it to you to fill in the blanks from your own life that show how very much like the Sadducees you are. Consider how very much like their approach to the Lord Jesus Christ has been your approach to the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, the Sadducees approached the Lord Jesus Christ with a series of hypothetical what-ifs. And haven’t you done similarly? Come on, now. Admit it to yourself, even if you’ll admit it to no one else. They conjured up some nonsense about a woman married to seven different brothers who each died without giving her a child. Then she dies, too, and they wonder whose wife she’ll be in the resurrection. What nonsense! Other men just like them engage in speculation, vain jangling, old wives’ tales, or the philosophies of men. But it’s all the same, really. Isn’t it? The wicked attempt to distract themselves from a serious consideration of their sinfulness and their eternal destiny. You do the same thing. You may gripe about the hypocritical Christian you once knew or how much you hate Church. Perhaps you fasten onto the doctrine of election because it’s been irresponsibly waved in front of you by an immature believer. Or it could be that you’ve observed a child of God commit a sin. Well, guess what? Christians sin. Admit that you use anything to distract yourself from focusing on the real issue. And what is the real issue? The real issue is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of sinful men’s souls. Why don’t you deal with Him? But you don’t want to do that, do you? So you distract yourself in one way or another, just like the Sadducees did.

Next, the Sadducees’ approach to Christ was based on an ignorance of Scripture: 

“Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.” 

And you err, too. You simply do not know what you are talking about when you voice your opposition to the Gospel, when you attempt to justify your reasons for not carefully considering Jesus Christ, and explain why you do what you do. I promise you that every lost person, including you, has an error that has its root in some misunderstanding of the Bible. 

The Sadducees were wrong about one thing: they didn’t know the Bible. You’re wrong about something else, but for the same reason. You don’t know what God’s Word says. For that reason, you err.

Third, like the Sadducees, your approach to Christ is based on ignorance of God’s power. The Sadducees couldn’t imagine how God could bring back together the decayed and scattered remnants of a dead body for more than a thousand years. It may be a different dilemma you can’t imagine a remedy for. Perhaps it’s evolution. Perhaps, you can’t imagine how God could create the universe and everything in it in six days. Or maybe you just can’t reconcile in your mind how God is sovereign in predestinating those He foreknows to be conformed to the image of His Son, while at the same time able to invite whosoever will to come to Christ for salvation. But don’t you see? You, like the Sadducees, limit the power of God. God is infinitely powerful. His power is infinitely infinite and beyond the wildest imagination of any human being. And because you are ignorant of God’s power and God’s Word, you do err, and you approach Christ in unbelief rather than come to Him by faith. 

AND, LIKE THE SADDUCEES IN YET ANOTHER WAY, YOUR APPROACH TO JESUS CHRIST REFLECTS AN ATTITUDE 

It’s an attitude that is quite typical of those who are lost. It’s an attitude that is no different now than was displayed by the Sadducees 2000 years ago.

First, you have drawn wrong conclusions about yourself. 

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” 

Jesus said, “Ye do err.” Listen to those words, “Ye do err.” You cannot afford to be wrong about Hellfire and eternity, but “Ye do err.” So much is at stake, but “Ye do err.” It’s time, don’t you think, that you relied upon One Who has never made a mistake, not even one?

Next, like the Sadducees, you are wrong about Bible truth. Would you dispute this to anyone? Do you dare claim to know God’s Word and to understand the truths of the Bible? How can someone claim to understand the Bible, which speaks of the lake of fire, while he is so foolish that he will not flee to Christ for the forgiveness of his own sins? How can anyone claim to understand God’s Word when they don’t even know how to be saved? How can you claim to understand God’s Word while not knowing something simple enough for a child to understand? “But I know how to be saved, pastor. If I will come to Christ He will save me.” True. Yet you will not come to Christ to be saved, so you don’t even know what coming to Christ is. If you did, you would come to Christ now.

Nor do you, like the Sadducees, know the power of God. If you knew God’s power, you’d know His power to change wicked hearts and make them anew and inclined toward Him, including your heart. If you knew the power of God, you’d know His power to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by Christ, including you. If you knew God’s power, you’d know His power to damn to Hell and punish for ever more those who die without Christ, including you. If you knew the power of God you’d fear Him and not rest until you were reconciled to Him through faith in His blessed Son. So, you see, you’re not that much different from the Sadducees, after all. Ye do err, like them. You do not know the Scriptures any more than they did. And you are ignorant of the power of God, just as they were. Like them, you display an arrogance born of ignorance, a pride revealed by the fact that you are at odds with God and yet you are not worried about it, rejecting His Son and yet not scared about it. Their issue was the resurrection, while yours is something else. They erred because of ignorance, and your error is much the same. 

SO, FINALLY, YOUR ATTITUDE REQUIRES AN ANSWER JUST AS THEIRS DID 

You are wrong about yourself, just as they were wrong about themselves. You can’t be right about anything that’s set against the Lord Jesus Christ. Why can’t you see that? Does it bother you that you cannot see that, or that you do see that and it does not bother you? Nothing about the Lord Jesus Christ is presently set against you, so why are you set against Him? He’s come to seek and to save that which is lost, so why do you resist Him, why do you oppose Him, why do you refuse Him? To be sure, considering Him upsets many apple carts and disturbs your notions about a number of things. But it’s for your own good. If you continue on without Him you’ll burn for sure. Ye do err.

Like them, you do not know the Scriptures. Perhaps you can recite certain facts but have no handle on the Spirit of God’s truth. You run from His goodness, and you hide from His deliverance. You oppose His kindness and you refuse His Son. You don’t understand that Scripture shows Him to be a merciful God, and kind. How can you possibly hope to gain by continuing on the course of life you’re on that sets you so stubbornly against Him?

And, finally, you’re ignorant of the power of God. Do you think you can escape God’s wrath? Do you think there won’t be room in Hell for you if you refuse Christ in the end? If His arm is not shortened that He cannot reach you to save you, do you think you’ll be able as a reprobate to hide from Him come Judgment Day? Do you think this One Who spoke the universe into existence can be escaped, that this One who threw the stars into the midnight sky will be so easily put off? 

Ye do err if you think there is any advantage in remaining lost.

Ye do err if you think there is any hope of gain in remaining lost.

Ye do err if you think there is any benefit from refusing Christ.

Ye do err if you think there is any loophole that you’ll find to enter heaven apart from coming to Christ.

Ye do err if you think you can be God’s enemy and not be doomed in the end.

Ye do err if you think sin will profit you and not damn your soul in the end.

Ye do err if you think God will acquit you because you’ve found a hypocrite to blame for not being saved.

Ye do err if you think you have any control over the events of your life so that you need not at this moment come to Christ with humility, submitting to Him before all is lost.

Ye do err, ye do err, ye do err.

And the only way to correct the error is to come to Christ.

__________

[1] Genesis 2-3

[2] 1 Corinthians 10.13

[3] Romans 3.23

[4] 1 John 1.8, 10

[5] Hebrews 9.27

[6] “The Sadducees were Nationalists and did not believe in angels or any invisible powers, nor in the resurrection.” J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words & Works Of Jesus Christ, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), page 389.

[7] 2 Timothy 3.16

 

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