Thank you, Brother Frank. Luke chapter 20 is where we're going to be back walking with Jesus through the Gospel of Luke through the most of the end of this year. And this morning, let me ask you, church, are you ready to hear from God's Word today? And we're going to turn our hearts and attention to the Word of God this morning and look at the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because, church, If we as the body of Christ are going to matter as we should, then we need to be like Him. Amen? He's our hope. He is our help. He is our way home. Now, let me give you the context this morning from Luke chapter 20. nearing the end of Jesus's earthly ministry. This is what we call the Passion Week. It's that time between his triumphal entry and his crucifixion and resurrection. And what we find here is that the religious leaders of Israel are actively trying to find a reason to justify killing Jesus. Now, in our particular context this morning, they are seeking to kill Jesus because He had just called them out in the previous parable on their spiritual entitlement and their refusal to submit to God's plans and to God's purposes. And they knew that Jesus had called them out. Verse 19 shows us as much. They sought to lay hands on Him. Why? for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. But I want you to note by way of introduction this morning that God loved them enough to call them out on their sin and not just let them drown and die in it without warning. By the way, when the Holy Spirit calls you out on your sin, don't get mad. Get right. When the Holy Spirit calls you out on things in your life that are wrong and that are against God, don't get mad. So often we get our toes stepped on and we cross our arms and we huff our nose and we throw a little spiritual pity party and temper tantrum. When God gets all up in your business, don't get mad at Him. Get right with Him. Get right with Him. But we find here in this interaction between Jesus and the religious leaders, a very helpful scenario. Jesus here ministers in a time and place where the system on all sides hates him and wants him gone. He is ministering in great difficulty and in great hostility. But I love what Jesus does when confronted with difficulty, When confronted with hostility, Jesus doesn't retreat. Jesus doesn't restructure the message. He rather continues to faithfully minister, loving people, helping people, and drawing people to himself. And what we're gonna find in both the content of what Jesus teaches this morning and the example that he sets, we're going to find that Jesus provides for you and I a master class in how we can rightly apply and live our faith even in the most difficult and nuanced situations when life gets a little bit tricky. So let's look at this this morning beginning in verse 19. The Bible says, And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him. And they feared the people for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. They watched him and sent forth spies, which should feign or fake themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, so that they might deliver him under the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly. Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar? Or no? But he perceived their craftiness and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? I want you to note this morning the tension that presses us. You know, brothers and sisters, if we are going to live for Christ in this world, We desperately need to live with wisdom and discernment. I remember what Jesus said to his followers in Matthew 10 verse 16 as he sent them out, that he sent them forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, that they were therefore to be wise as serpents and harmless. as doves. You know, I feel like though we fail to grasp the depth of our need for God's wisdom and discernment. I feel like if we did every other breath, we would be praying James 1 in verse number 5, that if we lack wisdom, we lack wisdom, that we're going to ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. You know, as we seek to live for God in this world and we consider this tension, this strife, this hostility and opposition around us, I'm reminded here from this story this morning about our need for discernment and how we evaluate the situations and people around us. Did you notice this morning that not everyone who acts friendly is your friend? that the scribes and Pharisees got together and sent spies which would feign or fake themselves just men that they might trap him in his words and hand him over to Rome for execution. Christian, not everybody who acts friendly is your friend. I'll give you an example. The car dealer is not your friend. My apologies to any car dealers in the congregation this morning. But when you walk on that lot, he will greet you or she will greet you with a smile and a handshake, offer you coffee, juice, soda, something to drink. They're going to make you as comfortable as possible because they want a deep and abiding friendship. Christopher and I went on a trip this week. We walked into the hotel. We walked up to the counter to check in, and the person behind the desk goes, I've seen you somewhere before. I know. I've seen you on a screen somewhere, haven't I? I've seen you. You are somebody. And Christopher's looking all bewildered. And I'm like, no, no, I'm not anybody. I'm not anybody. You haven't seen me anywhere. But they went on and on and on. And then they proceeded to tell me all the ways I could upgrade my experience while I was there. I said, son. Let it be a lesson. Not everyone who acts friendly is your friend. By the way, Satan has had great success in doing that. You remember how he started back in the garden? He told Adam and Eve, he said, oh, he told Eve, Eve, I got to let you in on a secret. If you eat this fruit, you're not going to surely die. Oh, no, Eve. If you eat this fruit, your eyes will be open. You can be just like God. Oh, Eve, I'll be the friend of you God never was. Oh, Eve, I will tell you all that you can have. Boy, Satan has made an effective career of pretending to be the friend of humanity. of having Adam and Eve's best interest at heart. Church, we have to have discernment as we live this life for Jesus. It grieves my heart to see Christians and churches selling out for all sorts of things. We sell Christ for political influence. We sell Christ for comfort. We sell out on Christ for all of these things. Hear me, hear me. Not everybody that pretends to be the friend of the church of God is actually the friend of the church of God. We have to have discernment as we evaluate these things. Discernment and wisdom as we navigate these things. I'm going to draw out this a little bit. The scribes and the Pharisees had done a fantastic job of putting Jesus in a no-win situation from an earthly standpoint. The way they phrased this question, the way they sent people, it really put Jesus in a position that no matter how he answered it, he was going to offend somebody. You see, the Pharisees, they hated Rome. They hated the oppression of Caesar. The scribes or the Herodians, they on the other hand were very pro-Rome. They were very much orchestrated with Rome so that they could have ruling power. delegated to them. So this is in essence to like the Republicans and the Democrats getting together and agreeing on something. These guys never agreed on anything. But buddy, they got together to try to put Jesus in a no-win situation. No matter how Jesus answered this question, boy, if Jesus said, no, you're right, Pharisees, we should not pay tribute to Rome, then the scribes, the Herodians would be able to say, well, aha, he's a traitor to Rome, crucify him. But if Jesus said, well, no, no, we'll just give it all to Rome, give it all to Rome, the Pharisees could go, you're a traitor to Israel. Put him in a situation that no matter how he answered, in their minds it was truly a no-win situation. There's a tension here to this scenario. There's a trickiness to the ground that Jesus was asked to walk upon. Have to navigate a lot of things. God is obviously the ultimate authority, but government also wields legitimate authority. Both God and government call for measures of allegiance. Government can be both God-ordained and satanically influenced. The prospect of paying taxes to Rome, Israel would be both funding their prosperity as Rome built roads and maintained certain things, and funding not only their prosperity, but their pain and oppression. But I love what Jesus did here. You know what Jesus didn't do? Jesus didn't retreat from the hard question. Jesus didn't have to go back to an echo chamber to be in a small group where everybody just agreed with everything he said. Now aren't you glad God's not afraid of the hard questions? And you need to know that in your life. God's not afraid of the hard questions. Jesus didn't retreat from the hard questions. Jesus didn't go to an echo chamber. No, he met it head on. And let me point this out about the tension that presses us in this life. Tension and trouble in this life, hear me church, is not always avoidable. Now, what I didn't say is that we should go look for it. I say it often. And I think it bears repeating. There are no crowns in heaven for those who have joined the Jerks for Jesus Club. And my friend, if that is you, you need to resign that membership and you need to get right. Because there's not a crown in heaven for being a jerk for Jesus. The way of the transgressor is hard, amen. The way of the fool is hard. And if that's the path you choose to walk, when you find tension and trouble in life, friend, it is your own fault. But tension and trouble in this life is not always avoidable. And we also should not avoid it at all costs. Because when we follow Christ, we have to recognize that we are necessarily walking in a way that creates friction and tension with the lost world around us. What did Jesus say about the light in John 3 in verse number 19? Jesus said this, this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world. And men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were John 15 in verse number 20, Jesus said this, Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And if they have kept my sayings, they will keep yours also. What happens, church, is that when we bring Christ into the lost culture, when we bring Christ into the workplace, when we bring Christ into the neighborhood, when we bring Christ into the ballot box, when we bring Christ into the restaurant or into the grocery store, it will inevitably create some tension and conflict that cannot be avoided. But the tension that presses us, church, hear me, is not so much a problem as it is an opportunity. It's an opportunity. And we have to learn to embrace these moments. I don't know, church, that it's going to get easier to serve Jesus in the years to come. I mean, are you with me this morning? Let's just think logically. I don't think that it's necessarily going to get easier to serve Jesus in the years to come. That means as we seek to serve Christ and walk with Christ and shine for Christ, these moments are going to be unavoidable. But church, we cannot shrink from them because these are opportunities to shine and to show that Jesus really has and that Jesus really is the answer. And I love the example of Jesus here. Jesus did not fall prey to the trap or get pushed out by the tension because He held the truth. So we see the tension that presses us. But look what Jesus' answer was, verse 21 onward. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar? Or no? But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt or test ye me? Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they answered and said, Caesar's. And he said unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and render unto God the things which be God's. So we see the tension pressing us as we seek to walk for Christ and live for him in this world. But secondly, Jesus shows us the truth that's propelling us. Jesus masterfully destroys this trap by proclaiming God's transcendent truth. Now, I'm going to do a little teaching this morning. You with me? Say amen. This is so important. We do not allow our situations to contextualize or change God's truth. Rather, we allow God's truth to clarify situations. In other words, the tension that's on us, I don't make God's truth subject to that. I make the tension, the problems, the pain, I make that subject to God's truth. Why? Because God's truth is powerful, amen? God's truth sets us free. God's truth makes us like Christ. Jesus prayed in John 17, 17 to the Father that he would sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word, Jesus said, is truth. Psalm 119, 105 reminds us that thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Church, I don't care what comes up in culture. I don't care what comes up in society. God's truth is not slave to the tension of this world. Nor does God's truth change or stand subject to the whims of culture. And Christian, that is why it is so important that we each know God's truth for ourselves. As Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2.15, that we, say it with me in unison, ready? That we study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So as Christians, when life gets tricky, when I'm not sure what to do, when it feels like a no-win situation, when the world feels like it's against me, we can be propelled forward, guided by God's truth that transcends the tension of this world. Jesus here in our passage this morning teaches the transcending truths of image and ownership. So in this question about taxes, Jesus asks for a coin. And they brought it to him, and there was an image on the coin. Good. I got a whole dollar. So in a similar sense, the money that is minted by our government, what does it do? Whose image is on our currency? $1 bill. Who is it? George Washington, good old George Washington. In a similar sense, the Roman coin had Caesar's image on it. And Jesus here begins to teach a transcending truth about image and ownership. The Roman money bore the image of Caesar, the Roman ruler. And so Jesus said, if it's got his face on it, Let him have it. It belongs to him. So thus and so in the United States, this has got old George Washington's face on it, in February, March, or April, we're gonna file our taxes, amen? But whose face is on the money? I don't think George would approve, by the way. That's a different conversation for a different time. But in other words, Jesus is saying, pay your taxes. Pay your taxes. Pay your taxes. I like a lower tax rate, but having a lower tax rate is not a biblical right endowed by our creator. Just pay your stinking taxes. You know, a couple of thoughts you can drive from this application. Did you know you can be a good citizen even with a bad government? Maybe our country would be better benefited if we spent less time whining about how bad the government was and we spent a little more time trying to be a godly citizen. You can be a good citizen even with a bad government. Pay your taxes, obey the laws, pray, have some allegiance. Let me give you some more truth that we can kind of derive from what Jesus is teaching. You know, government has its delegated sphere of authority. We find that Jesus teaches us here. We find it back in Genesis chapter 9. We find Paul teaches it in Romans 13. We find Peter teaches it in his epistles. Government has its God-given delegated sphere of authority. And church, we have to recognize that God has delegated governmental authority. I may not always like the form of it. I may not always like the party in charge of it. That doesn't change my responsibility to it. But you know, we also see the fact that while government does wield legitimate delegated authority, may we never forget that God wields supreme authority. and that where man's laws would violate God's laws, that our response has to be the response of the apostles in Acts 5 in verse 29, that we ought to obey God rather than men. And by the way, this is not an argument, this is not a debate, this is not up for discussion. This is Bible fact and Bible truth. Can I make another note about how Jesus handled this? I think this will help you, okay? Hopefully it'll help you. If not, just don't tell me, okay? Jesus did something that I think we could really learn from. Jesus completely rejected the premise that was brought to him. Did you notice that the scribes and the Pharisees, they sent their spies and they framed the question in such a way that they gave him an either-or question, that desired a simple either-or answer. Jesus did not engage in their false either-or. He rejected the premise entirely. He did not let them drag Him into the weeds. He did not let them trap Him in a no-win situation. He did not let them subjugate God's truth to their trap. Rather, He rejected their trap and gave them God's truth. Church, God's truth transcends the trickiness and the tension that we find in this world. Which by the way, in case you're wondering, they still do this to us today. One of their favorite ways to do it to Christians today is they will bring out some form of culturally accepted sin, or desired mode of oppression. And they will say, Christian, don't you love your neighbor? You heard that one? Well, if you really loved your neighbor, And they present it in such a way that they get to define what love is. I'm sorry, you don't get to define what love is. I reject the premise because God has defined what love is. God is love. You want to see what love is? Study who God is. Amen? Oh, they do it to us. Don't you love your neighbor? Give you another way. They'll tell you, oh, well, your faith is your faith. And so, Frank Wiesner, your private faith has really no place in the public square. Oh, you have your faith, Frank Wiesner. That's good for you. But faith doesn't belong in the public square. I'm sorry, but Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. You don't get to define where my faith goes. And the crazy thing about my faith is I follow Christ as I take my faith with me everywhere. And so I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it home and I'm going to take it to work. And I'm going to take it to the ballot box in November. Why? Because I'm a Christian. And I can't separate that. Christ is all in all. And I am going to take my faith with me to work. And I am going to take it with me to school. And I am going to take it with me. But they tell you, oh, you're private faith. Or I love, there was an article, I think it was CNN, ran recently, where they took great pains to define what CNN believed was true Christianity. I'll just leave that there. They do it to us as parents. Well, you gotta let the experts help you raise your kids. Now, they're saying the quiet part out loud. You stay out of the way and just let the experts do it for you. I'm sorry, but that's not even a conversation to be had. I'm not getting down in the weeds of that. I reject the premise entirely. Because the Bible says parents, fathers, moms and dads to train up your children in the way they should go. To bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Mamas and Daddies, hear me. It's not the church's job to raise your kids. It's not the school's job to raise your kids. It's not the government's job to raise your kids. When you stand before God one day, the doctor is not going to answer for your child's health and physical well-being. You are. The Sunday school teacher is not really going to answer for your child's spiritual well-being. You are. You are. And yet they frame these discussions in a way where if we engage in their premise, I'm going to tell you, it's a no-win sum. But I love what Jesus did. He absolutely rejected their premise. I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer in that way. I'm going to reject the trap and just give God's truth. We need to hear something this morning. In October of 2024, God's Word is still sufficient. This world is not so complicated. Your life is not so nuanced that you can't find the answers you need to glorify God in this book. It's here if you want it. 2 Peter 1, 3 reminds us He's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. God's wisdom, God's truth is available if you want it. Here's the problem. Very often we don't want God's truth as much as we want comfort. As much as we want acceptance. As much as we want safety and security. As much as we want prosperity. God's truth. If you want it, it's right here. The tension that presses us, the truth that can propel us. Finally this morning, let's see how it ends. Verse 25, And He answered them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, unto God the things which be God's. And they could not take hold of his words before the people. And they marveled at his answer and held their peace. You're still with me this morning, say amen. Church, we're not going to escape the tension. The farther this world goes, the more we're going to be confronted with it. But the reality is God has still given us the truth that we need, amen? I want you to see thirdly this morning the triumph that's promised us. You know, the enemies of God had no answers for God's truth. They could not outsmart God's truth. And they could not overcome God's truth. Christian, I got good news for you this morning. God's truth shall stand. This world will continue to attack God's truth. This world will continue to attack God's people. This world will continue to persecute, claiming that God's truth and God's people have no place in society. And church, I want to warn you this morning. This world may appear, at times, to temporarily defeat God's truth. You know, sometimes we've all been conditioned by enough Disney movies to think that, well, if we just hold true that in the end all the bad guys go away and we get all the money and happiness and health and wealth and all that good stuff. But you know, sometimes it does appear that this world may temporarily defeat God's truth. I'll give you an example of this. What were they plotting to do in verse number 19? They wanted to lay hold on Him. Why? So they can give Him a hug? No, so they could kill Him. You flip over a couple of chapters. Chapter 23, chapter 24. What did they do? They got a hold of Him. And they nailed Him to a cross. And He bled and died on that cross. You know, I bet in that moment, they thought, you know what? We got Him. We won. We got Him. Sometimes the world may appear to temporarily defeat God's truth. But hear me, church, they cannot overcome God's truth. Here's the thing, they nailed Him to that cross, but three days later, what did He do? He got up and He walked right out of that tomb. I'm going to tell you, they cannot overcome God's truth. Their lies and their hatred will die and end, but God's truth shall stand. This truth, render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that be God's. This truth cuts way deeper than we might initially think. And cuts in a way that we cannot afford to miss. Look at your neighbor. Say, neighbor, are you still awake? Elbow them if they're not. Gently, gently, gently. Here's the key. The coin bore whose image? Caesar's. Caesar's image was on that coin. By the way, Caesar was the reason the coin had any significance to begin with. You know, I could print something with George Washington's face. But if I took it to Miller's, they would take me to jail. Caesar, his image was on the coin. Caesar was the reason that the coin had any significance. Ultimately, the coin belonged to him. Ultimately, Caesar could utilize it according to his will and pleasure. But church, hear me, that's only one half of the equation. And that's the less important half of the equation. We are to render to Caesar the things bearing His image, but we are also to render to God the things bearing His image. Let me take you back to the beginning this morning. Genesis 1, beginning in verse 26. And God said, let us make man in... Come on, church. God said, let us make man in... Our image. and after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image. In the what? In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Marred though it was in the fall, the image still remained in Genesis 9 in verse number 6. The Lord says this, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he men. I want you to hear me this morning. This is what made Jesus' message here so effective, was this reality, that mankind is God's special creation made in and bearing His image. And just as the issuance from Caesar gave the coin significance, so our Imago Dei being created in the image of God is the only reason that you and I have any significance. Because we are created in God's image. And we are called to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. and to render unto God the things that are God's. You see it this morning, church? Do you see it? We are called to render, to give, to yield ourselves back to God. Because I'm going to tell you, life has no real or lasting value apart from Him. This morning if you're here and you've never made a decision to put your faith in Christ and trust Him as your Savior, You need to know this, that the image of God you were created in is marred by sin. But Jesus came to redeem you, to buy you back, and to restore you and give you a new birth. And Jesus came, He died on a cross, He was buried and rose again, and He comes to give salvation to whosoever will receive Him in faith. This morning, Would you render yourself, give yourself to God in faith? Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and His death, burial and resurrection for you. Life has no real or lasting value apart from God. You're here this morning and you've never received Christ, trusted Him. In just a moment, we're gonna have an invitation, and I wanna encourage you, come get my attention, get someone's attention. Let us take God's truth and show you how Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life came to give you victory over sin, death, and hell. But Christian, hear me this morning. Christian, we have to get this. When life gets tricky, this is what we gotta know. Christian, you are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6, 19, and 20 reminds us, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Christian, you are twice over His. You are made in His image, and you are made new in the image of His Son. Romans 8 verse 29 gives us that glorious truth. Christian, you and I are not our own. And I'm going to tell you this is so helpful, because life is going to get tricky, and there's going to be tension, and there's going to be hurt, and there's going to be pressure, and there's going to be problems. And when those things come, I can allow myself to spin out of control, or I can start in the same place every time and consciously render, surrender myself to God in those moments. As Paul beseeched us in Romans 12. And we would present our bodies a living sacrifice. Wholly acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. You see, here's the thing. When I render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, I don't get to track where it goes, do I? I don't get to see, Well, 10 of my tax dollars went to Ukraine this week. Oh. 100 of my tax dollars went to a grant to a company in Nebraska. Oh, I paid $2 of the president's salary this month. I don't get to track it. I don't get to designate it. I simply get to what? I simply get to give it. And Caesar uses it according to his will and good pleasure. You still with me this morning? I give it. And the great King of the universe gets to use it according to His will and good pleasure. Can I ask you this morning? Christian, have you actually rendered yourself to God? Have you actually given yourself to God? I'm gonna tell you that's something we ought to do on a daily basis. Are you actually rendered this morning? Have you given to God the things which be God's? I'm gonna tell you when life gets tricky, that church is the one thing that matters most.