LOOKING TOWARD HEAVEN
Pray – (1/2 minute)
Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “The Sadducees came to Him, who say that there is no resurrections, and they asked Him as question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.’ ” (Matthew 22:23-28)
Passage: Psalm 119:9-16
The Sadducee’s thought they had a gotcha question for Jesus. Sadducee’s were the party of religious leadership in Judaism that held the greatest power over the Temple and the ruling body, the Sanhedrin. They rejected the supernatural and any belief in angels, demons, heaven, hell and a resurrection. They didn’t want to lose their power or their wealth, so they were looking for a way to discredit Jesus and then be able to get rid of Him. It didn’t work.
God has placed an innate knowledge that there must be life after this earthly life into the spirit of man. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has put eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next.” Heaven is real. One of the most powerful things that we have to keep us moving forward with Christ is looking toward heaven and then living life in light of the reality that we will enjoy being in His presence for all eternity.
Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)