Yuku free message boards

Hi all, this is a sermon I wrote before the last one from Hebrews 6. You guys might find this one a little more palatable to you. It's not too long and I don't think it's too hard to read. Look forward to your thoughts.

To God the things that are God's

"And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him." Mark 12: 17

The Lord Jesus in his reply to certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians that were sent to tempt him and try to catch him in his words asked him if it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not. This was a simple yes or no question. However Jesus, knowing their hypocrisy gave this answer found in Mark 12:17. Now a question that comes to mind is how did they expect to catch Jesus in his words by asking this question? This is quite essential in understanding why he gave this answer.

So what if the Lord would have simply said, "Yes, it is lawful", what would they have had to say about that? First, we must look at what the tribute meant. The word "tribute" in Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language states that tribute is "an annual or stated sum of money or other valuable thing, paid by one prince or nation to another, either as an acknowledgement of submission, or as the price of peace and protection, or by virtue of some treaty." So, giving tribute to Caesar was an acknowledgement of their submission to the emperor and his lordship over them. Notice how they asked the question, "Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth:" They acknowledge that he does not regard men, but teaches the truth, no matter what men he would offend in doing so, even the emperor Caesar. This is true, however they state this in their hypocrisy, trying to catch the Lord in an error. So what would have been the seeming error? Well, remember the commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3. I had always understood that this verse is speaking of idols, or statues and things of that nature. However, correctly interpreted, the term "gods" has another meaning entirely.

So what does this commandment mean when it says not to have any other gods before the LORD? What, or who, are these gods? One definition of this title "god" that is found in Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language reads "A prince; a ruler; a magistrate or judge; an angel." So this commandment is saying that we are to not esteem any power or authority before the LORD, the supreme King and Ruler of all, and he is to be preeminent above all. In giving this tribute they would be acknowledging that Caesar was their supreme protector and ruler, which they confess with their own mouths in John 1:19 that reads "But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." So if Jesus would have given a simple "yes" they would have pointed out the commandment in Exodus 20:3. So then, is "no" the right answer?

Let's establish some principles of Scripture and the reason for his answer will come to light. What if the Lord would have said no? Then truly he would have been a transgressor of the law of Rome, and ultimately of God. For there is no power or authority except of God. It is written in the law "Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people." Exodus 22:28. We must not ever add to or take away from the word of the LORD God. He said "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Remember it says "before" the LORD. This is key in our understanding of this commandment. God never said that we would have no other gods after him. This is not the truth, for there will always be gods above us, or rulers so long as we are men on the earth. However, if we put them before the LORD, or esteem them more highly than our Creator, we transgress the commandment. That does not mean however, that they do not have their proper place under the LORD, or after him. A good way to illustrate this is to think of an army. If you are a lowly foot soldier, you do not fall directly under the king in the chain of command. There are captains and generals above you, and then the king, and ultimately the LORD. So your subjection to these men is ultimately your subjection to your king, and ultimately to the King of kings. So exactly what was Israel's sin with their other gods?

It all begins in Exodus 32:8. "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." First, they made a molten calf and the LORD had told them "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Exodus 20:4. Then they worshipped this molten calf when the LORD said "Thou shalt not bow thyself down to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Exodus 20: 5-6. Their sin was not in serving a god, it was in serving the graven image which they made and called a god, which was not a god at all, but just a piece of metal made by the hands of men. The commandment to the children of Israel wasn't to not bow down and serve other gods, it was to not bow down and serve graven images.

However, there are true gods which are not statues and idols made by men, these are to be served as long as the LORD had put them over us. In our service to these gods, the true gods, we serve the true God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Think of how the LORD had brought Israel out of the land of Egypt. In Exodus 3:2 it says "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." In the Old Testament the LORD never personally appeared before anyone, but always sent an angel, which always had the title "the angel of the LORD". If the LORD ever did appear then the heavens and the earth would be gone "For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." Deuteronomy 4:24. This creation being defiled with sin cannot stand in the presence of the Almighty, which is why he sends his angel. I believe that this is the angel that has power over fire, the same one written of in Revelation 14:18 "And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe."
Notice he gives the command with authority, and where does his authority come from? His authority comes from the LORD himself, for he speaks for the LORD. His words do not come from himself, but from God. Which is why in Exodus he speaks with Moses as the LORD, for truly it was the LORD himself communicating with Moses through the angel. So when Moses obeyed the voice of the angel, he was obeying the voice of the LORD. So, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, Moses, the angel of the LORD, or the LORD? Well, the LORD of course, and he used his angel with the power over fire and Moses and even Aaron to do it. "And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt." Exodus 6:13. So we see that the angel of the LORD, Moses and Aaron are gods that the children of Israel were under and they were the ones that brought them out from the land of Egypt, but ultimately it was God who brought them out. These are the gods that Exodus 22: 28 speaks of.

Now there are gods that are ordained of God to be such and we should obey them. However, Israel's sin was that they went after strange gods. "They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger." Deuteronomy 32:16. There are gods that are against God, these gods are to not be served, to do so would be to esteem them above the true God. Now these gods were never put above men, except that men willfully chose to serve these gods. We rebel against God and revile the gods he has put over us, and go to serve other strange gods. Remember the analogy of the foot soldier serving God by serving his king, and serving his king by obeying the officers appointed over him. Men worshipping these strange gods would be like that soldier going to fight for the other side, a traitor. So what are these strange gods? Are they gods at all, or just the imaginations of wicked men? "Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods." 2 Chronicles 13:9 "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit." Jeremiah 2:11 You see, the people of God had exchanged their glory for that which did not profit. They worshipped false gods, or the imaginations of the minds of fools that did not have any power at all therefore they worshipped them in vain. What was Israel's glory that they changed for that which did not profit?

The answer is found in this Scripture "For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear." Jeremiah 13:11. The house of Israel and Judah's glory was that they themselves would be the glory of the LORD. "A people, and for a name, and for a praise...." They should have been a people known to worship the God of gods. They should have been a name, or an authority, for they should have been directly under the King of the whole earth and had the power of the name of their King. They should have been the object of praise of all the nations, and ultimately the avenue of the praise of all the world to the King of kings. However, they chose to trade the truth for a lie. "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." Psalms 82:6. Many people have a hard time with this verse for they have the wrong idea of what a god is. A god is one that has true power and authority that is given him from the Most High God, just as Adam was made by the Creator to have dominion over all the earth (Gen.1:26). We see that Adam did the same thing as the house of Israel and Judah did when he ate of that tree and "changed his glory for that which did not profit". Adam was the god of the world, however he gave that over to the devil when he sinned against God and harkened to the voice of the serpent. In essence he obeyed the word of a strange god in opposition to himself and his God, the only true God, which is exactly what Israel did. God had restored to Israel what Adam gave up in the garden of Eden (according to the flesh) when he had chosen them. God had given man back the dominion of the earth in the nation of Israel. However, because of Israel's condition of being the sons of Adam they could not recieve this and were continually in bondage to the devil. They would "not hear" for "the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. What God did for that nation is a shadow of the spiritual authority he would give to whomever would receive Christ, which is all the more better and perfect. Remember though that God has not forgotten about that nation for he still has a promise to them to keep and one day he will "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Rom. 11:26-27. For Christ will accomplish for that nation what they could not, and in that day they will certainly be "gods", the children of the most High. Amen.

So we see the hypocrisy of these men that asked the question of whether it was lawful to pay tribute or not. They asked the question in hopes of getting a plain 'yes' or 'no' answer under the guise of seeking the truth to this question. Jesus could have given a simple yes, but instead cut right to the heart of the matter which was their hypocrisy. "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit." Proverbs 26:5. What was their folly? Well, simply put they did not fear God, but loved themselves more than they loved God. Their folly was and still is today what the nation of Israel's folly has been all along since the time they came out of Egypt. They were carnally minded, and judged according to their own understanding of things, which is why they thought they could catch the Lord in an error here. If only they knew that they were talking to the Author of the law they thought they knew so well! They did not understand that they were under this god named Caesar because they had put themselves under him by turning from their God. Sure they confessed him with their lips, but their heart was far from him. "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?" Isaiah 29:13-15. What truth when Christ told them "well did Esaias prophesy of you..." Mark 15:7! God had punished their fathers time and time again for turning to strange gods, and now they were no different, though they tried to show otherwise, but it was only eyeservice as menpleasers. They had a form of godliness, but they denied the power of it by their unbelief. They made a show to men of their religion, but lacked true faith in the true God which is why God turns their wisdom to nothing in this answer that Jesus gives.

So understanding their hypocrisy, we can see how the Lord adresses their hypocrisy in his answer. We see here that Christ has made a division as the Word came to do, "Caesar's things, and God's things". One would ask concerning this "Are not all things God's?" Yes, they certainly are and he will do with them as he wishes and that is the key to understanding what Christ says here. "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Psalms 24:1. So now that we understand that all things are God's,let us consider why he has no care for this "tribute to Caesar", but let's the devil has what is his...this world. It is for the fact that in the end all those things will perish as Caesar has. This world and the god of it will be consumed by God, who is a consuming fire. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:10. We see here the effect of sin whereas even the heavens are effected by the death it brings. "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Rev. 18:5. Truly, that penny and Caesar himself were God's, yet in the end they come to nothing for God will cast all that away. What will remain in the end? Only his beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased, and all they that are baptized by his Spirit into his body. "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." Ephesians 1:10-12. In this gathering of all things in Christ, everything of the flesh will be consumed in God and that includes the tribute and the one to whom tribute is given. This is why we see the hypocrisy of the question. They asked him a question they thought they already knew the answer to, or maybe they thought no man knew the answer to, hence they were blind-sided by the answer that he gave. They claimed they worshipped God, yet they did not even know what things to render to him. They did not understand the difference between spiritual things and natural things, eternal and temporal. So then what are the things that are God's and no one else's that we should render him?

Well, we know that they are not things of this world. They are not tangible things that you can feel, see, smell, taste or hear with your natural senses as the idolotrous pharisees supposed, for God already has what is his of that sort. So then, what are the things that we should render to God that are rightfully his and not man's? What could we possibly render to him that we have in our possesion at this time? "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Matt. 4:10. There is our answer, he alone should have our worship and our service which are rightfully his for he made us for his pleasure. Even when we serve our masters according to the flesh, we know that only one is our Master, and that is the Lord Jesus, and we serve our masters according to the flesh because for the present time the Lord would have them over us in the world, but not in the Spirit for there is none above our Lord save the Father himself. This is why we can obey our evil masters in all things as if they are for the Lord himself, why we can honour evil kings as if honouring the King himself for ultimately he is the King of kings and Lord of lords and we should not please with eyeservice, but as unto the Lord. "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;" Colossians 3:22. So one may ask, what if I have a cruel master? "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully." 1 Peter 2:18-19. Understanding that ultimately, there is no power except it be of God, a man can now "render to Ceasar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." For when you render to every man according to his works and give them what is rightfully theirs, you will have the heart to give to God what is rightfully his, your loving him with all your heart. Let us not be hypocrites and serve our masters, whether it be a king, a government, a boss at work, our parents, or anyone God has put in authority over us with singleness of heart, knowing that we are serving our God first and only and not men. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John 2:15-17.