Materialism and the Resurrection
Thomas Binney. Mark 12:18-27 Then come to him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,… I. THE ARGUMENT. It may be presented in three aspects. 1. After the three patriarchs were dead, and had been in the grave for centuries, God spoke of Himself as their God. If the words assume their then conscious existence as spirits, then it followed(1) that the negative portion of the system of the Sadducees was destroyed. There are spiritual existences. 2. Supposing they do not exist in a state of consciousness, still God considers Himself as sustaining relations to them; He is their God. This, again, disposes of materialistic Sadduceeism. For God cannot sustain that relationship to what has been annihilated — to what has ceased to be — to nothing. 3. The emphasis may be put on the term "God." "I am the God," etc. What is it to be God to a being who has a religious nature, is capable of worship and happiness through Divine relations? How had He shown them He was their God? He called, led, educated, tried them, and taught them to rest implicitly on His word. He promised them a wonderful possession. What seemed to be conveyed by the words was never actually enjoyed. Yet they lived in faith, and died in the exercise of this faith — that in bestowing this possession He would prove Himself to be their God. If the Sadducees were right, there was an end of them and of the Divine faithfulness. It was a commencement without a conclusion, a porch without a temple, a beginning of promise without the termination. II. Now, THIS SUBJECT WILL CAST LIGHT UPON TWO OTHERS. 1. The manner in which Christ threw light upon the future condition of man. He did not bring life and immortality to light as a new thing. There were indications of it in the ancient Church. He brought out in distinctness, and clearness, and fulness what was involved in mist and fog. Speaking with Divine authority, (1) He took the affirmative side — always took it: resisted the objectors, threw against them arguments from the power of God, and the Scriptures of God. (2) He raised men from the dead. (3) He threw light upon the resurrection — the life of men in glory — long after their bodies had passed away. (4) Then He illustrated and embodied in His own Person everything He taught. He died, was buried, was raised, was changed, was glorified. (5) But greatest of all, by His redemptive work He shows how all could be done according to, and in harmony with, the principles of the Divine government, and the perfection of God's nature. 2. Light is cast upon the state of the pious and holy dead. They live.Martyred saints committed their spirits to the Lord Jesus. 1. If men choose to live "without God" here, they will find hereafter that there is a sense in which the actual relation between Him and them has not been destroyed. 2. The dignity and glory of a religious life. They are to be glorious immortals who love God, cherish religious faith, cultivate acquaintance with the infinite, and walk in holy obedience. The character of faithful worshippers is to be perpetuated and become eternal. 3. It is of infinite importance that all possess this Divine faith, and live the real life based upon the truth of God and the Gospel of Christ. (Thomas Binney.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, WEB: There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying,