Alright, now we jump into translation. Matthew 22, verse number 15. We are getting out of parables at this point. We did the three parables in a row that are building on the risk of rejecting God. Each of those connect one to the other. And that's why we did them in a broader study and not a more focused study. However, the thoughts of this passage also go along with them. And set us up next week perfectly to talk about the resurrection. So while this may feel like a strange passage in the middle here, we're going to read verse 15 through 22 of Matthew chapter 22. Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth. Neither carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money, and they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Who is the image and superscripture? And they say unto him, Caesar. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's. When they had heard these words, they marveled and left Him and went their way. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank You and praise You, God, for all that You do. Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings and for Your goodness. I pray, God, that You would help us, Lord, just to be faithful unto You. I pray that, God, You would help us, Lord, to understand this passage better and get some things that will greatly help us in it. Father, we ask all this in Your Son Jesus' name. Amen. Now, continuing the idea of the risk of rejecting God, we've already seen three interactions to see that they are rejecting God. Now they're at the point where they're trying to figure out how they can kill him when they don't have the authority to do it. and the crowds are not supporting them doing it at this point. So their idea is to get the government to do it for them. That's why it mentions they brought the Herodians with them. Those are the followers and servants of Herod the king. Herod, who is loyal to Caesar because he likes his throne and his way of living. That's why God notes this specific group being present for the interaction. They're hoping he will say something that the Herodians can use against him to be able to go to Herod and present him as a man who's trying to stir the people against the government. And you see, they even lead him with the question to try to get him to do that. That's what all this stuff about you being, you know, not a respecter of persons and this kind of stuff is about. I can just tell you this, when somebody gives you a question, and they add a bunch of stuff that is not necessary to the question, it's because they're trying to lead you into an answer. And so in this case, you can see that, that they want him to say something that will get him in trouble. Now, if you just want to know what I believe about something, you ask me plainly, what do you believe about this? If you have to say, considering all this other stuff, and knowing that the Bible says this, what do you believe about this subject? It's because you already have an answer you want me to say and you're trying to get me to say that. That's what they're doing to him. That's why I really don't like, we've had it several times in the past, that somebody will come into the church and they won't ask, do you do this? They'll say, why don't you do this? And honestly, sometimes that's people's culture and the way they talk. But over the years I've been in ministry, that's been a pretty good indicator of which person's gonna come in and try to stir up trouble. Not always the case, but many times it is. Because they've come to you already assuming that you're just going to do church their way. And they're following a tradition instead of the truth. So that's why they ask, why don't you? Because they just assume that this is right and you have to follow what they believe. Now, saying all of that, Jesus' answer to them is very simple. And I'm going to give you two ways to understand this, one of which is very simplistic and clear in the passage. But you know Jesus' answers are usually far more deep than they seem on the surface. So I'm going to give you a deeper understanding as well, hopefully. Now the much more shallow one is that concerning government God expects you when you live in someone's land to as much as you are able abide by the rules. And that goes down to the simplest aspect of this. When you live in your parents home You eat their food. You use their electricity. You take all the benefits of living in their little world. It's expected that you honor them and do your best to respect their rules. It's relevant if you're smarter than them. It's relevant if you feel like you are better in any way. I guess it's why most of the, I got a few teenagers here, so I'll be nice to you guys, because y'all are awake. I was getting ready to use you as the example. But the thing is, God expects you, when you live in somebody's home, to honor that authority. Because it's their home. They have that ownership. Therefore, they get to set the rules. Now, that extends beyond that, though. I mean, let's take it out a step further to one of your next relationships. Local church. God has a church. Of course, that's the people. Those people meet somewhere, so they have a building. That building belongs to that assembly. That assembly is typically led by a pastor. And they have rules by which they conduct things. And maybe you believe something different. Maybe you think it would be better if it was done a different way. But God expects you to to the best of your ability, honor that and respect those rules. Step that out further to the government. And the same thing's true. You live in a land where God says he's ordained and let this power be over it. And you may not like them. I don't know many people who actually like any politicians. I know Christian politicians and half of them I don't like. I'm not talking about the ones who are like running for president and stuff in the US, I mean more local guys. And I put the difference because the big celebrity ones, they go to church once every four years at election time. I mean, I know people who are deacons in their church and faithful every Sunday. And I'll just be honest, half of them I don't like, but it's not about politics, it's just personal stuff. But my point is this, I don't have to like them. I live in a land, now we'll focus here because it's where I live now, I live in a land where that governing body has been given authority over it. As much as people want to pretend Romans 13 is not in the Bible, it is there. It's amazing to me that in COVID that was everybody's favorite passage. But here we are a couple of years later and everybody's like, oh, no, that's not in the Bible. That's fake. It tells you how people weaponize the Bible to get what they want, just like the Pharisees are doing here. So here's the thing. While I'm here, God says that the powers that be these higher powers God's ordained the idea of government. And He's allowed these powers to be over these lands. And yes, He removes them and brings new ones in. He does that. You see, the Bible's full of that. So it doesn't mean just because He puts someone in authority, they'll always be there. I mean, Belgium still hasn't actually decided on their official government yet after 200 years. And you're on, what, your 10th, 20th name in this area? I'm joking with you, but there's been a lot of names for this piece of land right here. A lot of people know you were actually the United States of Belgium at one time. That goes very far back. But the point is, there's been people living here for a very, very long time. So that some of the oldest cities in the world can be found around this area. And governments have come and gone. But while they were there, God has always expected the people in that land To honor as they are able. Or I should say obey as they are able. To honor regardless. You should have respect and not say things inappropriately. Now, so you understand what are you as you are able means? the highest authority in your life gets to set the rules. And everybody who is under that authority cannot override the rules of the higher authority. So what that looks like is that in my home, I'm the head of my home. I can make my rules, and I can make some pretty silly rules if I want to. But I can't decide that it's legal to lie or murder just because I want to. I'm still subject to a higher authority above me. Same thing here in the church. I can't just decide that the church is free from every law. There's been a lot of pastors end up in prison because they thought the church was exempt from taxes. And many times the church is, but the pastor wasn't. And so he decided to do something illegal and he got in prison for it. Now, here's where the line ends up. God is the highest authority. And so just like I can't tell my children to steal and use the Bible to say they have to obey me. because I'm trying to teach them to go against the higher authority. Just like in a church, I can't teach you to lie and then try to tell you I'm the pastor, you have to listen to me. Because then I'm going against the higher authority. Governments can't tell you that you're not allowed to meet and worship or even many times how you worship God. Because God's already given His commandments of how to do that in the Bible. So anytime they give you a commandment that requires you to disobey God, Daniel is your great example of that. When he was told it was illegal to pray, He was not rebellious. He was not stubborn. He was not proud. He just said that God is my authority. Like what Peter said, you judge whether it's better I obey God or man. Or when they didn't get the point, he said it again this way. We ought to obey God rather than man. So Daniel went and prayed. Because God already told him to do it, so there was nobody who could supersede or go against God's command. Now, saying that, that's the understanding you're supposed to take away from Romans 13, is that God put governments in order for a reason. And if you're against government, then you're disobedient to God. If you're against paying taxes, you're disobedient to God. We may joke about politicians, but if when you're actually seeing them, you're disrespectful to them, you're disobedient to God. Now, if they ask you to do something that requires you to disobey God, well, you have the higher authority. So you know whose command you're to obey. But as long as you can obey them and obey God, you're supposed to listen. Because God's given them the authority to set their speed limits and all this kind of stuff. No. Where all of that comes back into our passage is He's also given them the right to charge you taxes. Because you live in their land. You may own your home, but God gave them authority over that land. And honestly, you only own it because their law allows that. We've lived so long in countries that allow ownership, we forgot that that was not a thing in many times in the past. So, the point is this. God gave them authority over this piece of dirt. And you may not like everything they do, but you're expected to honor it and obey it as much as you are able. That's why the verse leading into this says, as much as lieth in, you live peaceably with all men. So again, that doesn't mean disobey God and use the government as your excuse. But that does mean that if they have a regulation that God allows them to have, to honor that. And I know in Belgium, it's a lot harder to preach paying your taxes than it is in the US. I mean, you have the benefit that you actually see your taxes go somewhere other than paying for people to not work. I mean, they use it for that, too. But you actually do get to see something from it. Well, you pay, what, around 50%? We pay you around 10%. But we also see nothing. You can never complain about your roads being broken until you go drive in certain parts of the US. You can never complain about health insurance or getting medical procedures unless you've been in a country like that. Now I'm speaking to the Belgians, not people who come from other places when I say that. Or the people who've lived here so long you forgot what it was like anywhere else. So my point is this. What they ask is crazy. And it's a evil thing at some points that a man works and half his work goes to somebody else. But as of right now, they have the authority to do that. So God says to pay tribute to whom it's due. That's taxes. Now, you want to apply that to your spiritual life. They get to charge you a percentage of your income because you live in their land. God also has a percentage of income, he asked, because you live in his world. It's the tithe. He asks 10%. And before you say, well, that was under the law, tithes were paid way before there was ever a law. Probably the first five times you ever hear the word, there was no law. He even defines that it's 10% before there's ever a law. telling us that Jacob gave the tenth. And we see it practiced in 1 Corinthians 16 1 in the New Testament as well. In a Greek church in the middle of Greece. So it's not a Jewish thing only. It's a you live in his world This planted earth was created by him. The earth is his and the fullness thereof. And there's nothing that you'll ever eat that's not taken from his creation. There's not one breath you'll ever draw that you're not taking from his creation. Every ray of sun you've ever seen, you took from his creation. Unlike the government, he's not going to put you in jail for not paying it. But he does tell you in Leviticus 2730. That it's as it's supposed to be wholly unto him. And in Malachi 3, he tells Israel they robbed him by not giving it to him. That they stole from him. Because that was his property. That 10% is like a tax that he expects. And there's a lot of good spiritual reasons why he wants you to do that. Teaches thankfulness for all that he provides. Teaches faith as you trust him to take care of you as you give away part of it to him. It teaches you how to love God more than things. There's a great many reasons spiritually why He would ask such a thing. But thankfully for you, I'm not here to preach on the tithes today. I'm just showing you how this principle applies to whatever authority you are under. I mean, I don't charge my children rent, but I could in most points if I wanted to. The problem is they don't have money. So instead, I just make them do stuff around the house and contribute. And whenever they ask me to open food for them, I take a bite and tell them that's my 10%. Now, in the church, it belongs to God, and that's why He uses the tithe to support it. So it's all tied back to what I've already said about God and His land. Now, I've already told you that's the basic understanding of what He's saying. He says, you're using Caesar's currency. You didn't make that coin. Caesar made that. That's why his face is on it. He's the authority behind that money. Why is he the authority? Because he's the one who is, first of all, in control of the land. But it's literally his currency. He produced it. You're using someone else's product and then complain about the rules they put on it? I mean, every website you ever use, you agree to the terms and agreements and don't even read them. So don't tell me you have problems using people's products on their terms. Honestly, when you start talking about things like Facebook and their censorship, that all applies. It's their product. You pay nothing for it. They're not obligated to let you say or do whatever you want on it. I don't like censorship. But you have to understand, you live in a free country, that doesn't mean every platform is free. You're free to go say most anything you want in the center if you'd like. But you're not free to stand up here and say it. There's a whole lot of stuff that people aren't allowed to say on this property. Because this is a church and it's not the place for you to promote whatever you want. Do you understand? All those rules are normal. They're typical. God expects you to obey Him because there is an authority. There is a governing body. And as you're taking the benefits of that, God expects you to honor that. Otherwise, we're rebels. I mean, that's what the word means. But where does the deeper understanding begin? Jesus asked them to bring Him the coin. And He asked them a simple question. Whose image is on this coin? And they said, well, it's Caesar's. He said, well, if Caesar's image is on this, then it's Caesar's right to do what he wants to do. Because it bears his image, and it is therefore his property. Now, he just said this to a group of people who we've spent the last three weeks understanding that they're rejecting his authority. And every one of them were supposed to be scholars in the Word of God. So if the object lesson is this, the person whose image you bear is the authority over you, then whose image do they bear? Whose image do they bear? Are they not made in the image of God? I mean, surely they ought to know that much of the Bible. You don't have to finish chapter one to get that. Let me give you some verses real quick. As I've mentioned verses, but I haven't actually read many to you today. Genesis 1, 26 and 27. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Genesis 1.26, you have it on your verse list. Go to the end of the verse list. Genesis 1.26 and 27. I stay up half the night to make verse lists for people to ignore them. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He Him, male and female created He them. Genesis 5 verse 1 and 2. This is the book of the generation of Adam, and the day that God created man in his likeness, God made he him, male and female, created he them, and blessed them and called their name Adam in the day they were created. Part of what's intended when God says he made man in his own image is the idea that we are a triune being like he is. That's why he suddenly begins to speak in the plural in that verse. Let us make man in our image. to emphasize that. And you are a body, a soul, and a spirit. But so many times we focus on that that we forget the word image means a physical appearance. I mean, a graven image is a picture carved in stone, an appearance that's been carved for you to look at it like a statue. And that's why he says in the second passage there in Genesis 5.1, he created man in his likeness. He's giving you a synonym. So make sure you understand this, that He's not only talking about your, like, being a triune being, but the idea that God has an appearance like unto you. We don't believe that God has an appearance like unto man because we're men and so therefore He must look like us. We don't believe he looks like any of the animals. We don't believe he looks like some crazy idea floating out in space. We believe that he looks like us because he made us look like him. And that is what's being said here, plainly. You only struggle with that because some preacher told you that it doesn't mean that. Because the word image means an appearance. You use it that way everywhere else in the Bible. It's only when it's about this that people struggle with it. The proof for you is very simple. When Israel saw the outline of God sitting in heaven, what did they see? It was the outline of a man sitting upon his throne. When he told Moses, you can't handle seeing the fullness of my glory, what did he say? I'll put my hand over top of the stone. I'll pass by and you can see my back. Every time God's described in the Bible, He's described as having an appearance similar to us. The thing that's important to understand is we don't believe that because we're men, so therefore He must look like us. We believe that He made us in His image. that He set us separate from all of creation in this point. That like Him, we are a body, a soul, and a spirit. And like Him, we have a certain appearance. 1 Corinthians 11 actually takes that as one of the main points of the passage. It says, for man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. Try looking at the other side of the paper. 11-7. Now, I'm giving you a verse that's taken completely of its context, so understand that. So I would greatly encourage you to sit down and read the whole chapter. But what the passage is about is about women letting their hair grow a certain way. Because your own nature tells you that there's a way a woman should look. And men not letting their hair grow long. Because your own nature tells you that it's shameful when a man has long hair. And if you want any proof that you already understand that no matter how much you don't like it. In Revelation, When he's describing that army, he says they have hair like women. What does that mean? You already know what that means. It doesn't speak to color. It doesn't speak to being decorated. You read that and you know automatically he means they have long hair. because your own nature tells you that. So that's the context where he's making this statement. Now before you get upset because he mentions man being made in the image of God, the woman being the glory of the man, there's an explanation in the passage what he means there as well. He explains that the woman was created from the man. Now men are born from women, but it's a balance in all of it. But the point he's making is that God has the appearance like a man as a male in that passage. He doesn't look like a woman when he's sitting on his throne. Now, this shouldn't offend you. I mean, God refers to himself as he and him every time he speaks in the Bible. He's not insulting women in the passage. He's just saying if you looked at him physically, he's going to look like a man and not a woman. He doesn't have long hair. Catholic church can draw it that way all they want, but he doesn't have it. His muscular structure is going to be much more in line that with a male. So much that when they see just his outline in the heavens, they know that looks like a man sitting on a throne. Because when he says we're made in his image, he means that he gave us an appearance that bears resemblance to him. And he's not saying women don't have that. He's saying that if you're arguing the difference between does he look like a man or a woman, he looks like a man. But that shouldn't surprise you if you've read the Bible. It would only surprise you if you got a lot of doctrine off of YouTube and stuff like that. So saying that The question remains. If the coin belongs to Caesar because his image is on it. If God's image is impressed upon you, who do you belong to? That's the object lesson he's given. Yes, surface speaking, he tells them about governments and honoring governments. But deeper, he's making the point to you. You don't look like animals. You don't look like the angels. You look like God, your creator. And if you bear his image, then who are you supposed to belong to? Who is intended to be the governing body over your life? Who are you supposed to be serving? The one whose image you bear. The reason why he's the authority is because he's the creator. He made you. And he has every right to expect you to obey him. So long as you bear his image, You carry His likeness, it's expected that you will obey Him. Just like I expect my children that look like me to obey me and the ones that look like Laura to act like her. When I see Eliana, she looks just like Jonas, I don't expect her to listen to me for nothing. No, I see whose image she bears. Never been a child look more like their parent. In appearance, not in attitude. She gets that from her mother. Her closest competition I know may be Emily and Lori, but... But the point is, I can look and tell who's supposed to be the authority in her life. I see who she looks like. Every person, just about, who's ever walked in this church and sees Josiah, He says, oh, I met your son. They don't know that I have a son. They've had no formal introduction. And there's a whole lot of difference between me and him. At this point, I have my teeth, he doesn't. That'll change in a few years. I don't have hair, he does. There's a big weight and height difference between the two of us. But there is a clear image that he bears. And you know who's supposed to be the authority over him. So this goes even one step deeper. Not just how you naturally look. but how you submit to appearing and acting as if you are a Christian. How do you submit to letting God be the authority in your life? So that you look like God's the authority in your life.