The Church of Eleven22 - Whose Image Do You Bear? - When He Asks - Wk 5

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

Do not fall for the shiny things of this world… only Jesus can satisfy you. You bear His image and you belong to Him. - The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to CoE22.com

Amen and amen and amen. Well, Merry Christmas Church. How are you? You look good. I hope your Christmas is going well. If you got your Bibles, I hope you do grab them. Go to Matthew chapter 22 is where we are going to be. And as you are on your way there, Matthew chapter 22, we are in the week five of this series called When He Asked.

And the question that we're going to answer, we're studying questions that God ask us. I know you have questions for God. That's adorable. But he has questions for us. He asks over 300 questions in the New Testament of his people. and Jesus only answers three. And so we're going to talk about this question that he asked, whose image is this?

That's what we're going to do. As you're on your way to Matthew chapter 22, we've got to handle a little bit of a little family business, okay? This past Tuesday, it's with a very heavy heart that I share with you, that Amen Frank passed away. Very suddenly and unexpectedly, he had a cardiac episode, and he went to be with the Lord. And the reason that I share this with you is because,

Amen Frank impacted our entire church. Amen? I mean, he did. Our whole church. And in fact, no matter what campus you go to, you know who Amen Frank is. And if you watch online, you know who Amen Frank is. And sometimes I would get emails from people like, hey, I'm from Ohio. But when I come to visit, two things. I promise I won't feed you seagulls and I'd love to meet Amen Frank. And as I was putting this sermon together, you're going to see it. We're going to talk about American history in a little bit. And that brother loves some American history. And, uh, and, uh, and I, and I, and, uh, and I was a lot of, There's about 10 times where I would know that he would be sitting right over there and he'd go, amen, right? In fact, sometimes I would get texts for people on Thursday night, but like, Amen, Frank was, well, he was on fire tonight, wasn't he?

I said, yeah, no doubt he was. And so he really did. He impacted our whole church. And sometimes he would come on Thursday night, and he was like, was that too much? I was like, no, I appreciate it so much. He goes, want me to be back Sunday? Both services, please. That's what I would do.

And here's what I know, man. It is sad. His children, all three of his kids, they were here on Thursday night, and we cried and we prayed and we cried some more. We shared some stories. Man, he loved Jesus so much. And he loved me and our staff in this church so much. And right now, he ain't crying.

He is in the presence of the great I am. And the thing that he said, I mean, amen for, let it be so is so. And so, he's impacted us all. And if you want to be known for something, what a thing to be known for. Right? I mean, I don't know what kind of legacy you're going to leave, but this brother leaves the legacy of amen. And so we're going to miss him for sure, but we don't grieve as those without hope. We grieve differently.

And you better up your amen game. Amen? Amen? Amen? All right, let's go. So when you know there's a place in here where he would say amen, then you better say it. All right, Matthew chapter 22, I don't believe you're going to be able to do the amen like he does, but. Good luck.

Matthew 22, beginning of verse 15, the Bible says this, and then the Pharisees went and plotted to entangle Jesus in his words. Now, the reason that they're going to entangle Jesus in his words is because at the beginning of Matthew chapter 22, Jesus shares this parable that takes a shot at the Pharisees, and it's not even like, it's not even hidden very well. it's not like you've got to be in the gifted class

to pick up that he's picking directly on the Pharisees he's calling them out specifically the the parable that he shares he says hey

a king wanted to throw a wedding feast for his son and so the king sent out messengers to all the invited guests and invited them all to be there and they all ignored the king's invitation and so he sent more messengers

and then not only did they ignore the invitation, but they actually beat up and killed the messengers. And so then God sent, or the king sent his only son to go and to invite the messengers. And everybody, everybody ignored him. And so he said, fine, forget those people. And so he squished them. He took them out, and he took out the cities that they lived in.

And then he invited anybody and everybody, not the VIPs, but anybody and everybody. and then the king showed up to visit the feast that he threw for his son, the wedding feast and a whole bunch of people were there, all kind of different people were there, and everybody had on wedding garments except one guy had on his own clothes. And so he walked up to that guy and said, what are you doing here in your own clothes? And so they took that man and they threw him out into the place of the gnashing of teeth. That's the way the Bible would say they threw him into hell.

And that's the end of the parable. and the reason that the Pharisees were offended is because that's who Jesus was talking about that all throughout the old covenant that God would send an invitation to particularly there was one group of people that the invitation went to first but then it was supposed to go to everybody and that group of people the religious Jewish people

they ignored it and when God would send prophets they would even come against the prophets and then God's going to send his very own son and they're going to crucify him and kill him And so he says, well, forget you, this invitation is going to go to every tribe, every tongue, every nation. And then when the king shows up and everybody's in their wedding garment, this is a picture of imputed righteousness. When you go to a first century wedding, everybody didn't have the clothes that would fit for that kind of event. And so the person that put on the wedding would give you a perfect spotless white robe for you to wear at the wedding so everybody could fit in.

This is a picture of imputed righteousness. Like, remember in Luke chapter 15, the parable of the prodigal? When the prodigal comes home and the dad sees him from a long ways off, he runs to him, and wraps his arm around him, he covers his face, his kisses, and then the next thing he does is he gets his perfect spotless robe and he wraps it around his kid. Why? Because the kid is covered in pig mess. And it's the perfection, the cleanliness of the dad that's going to cover over his nastiness.

This is what happens when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. that God made Him who was without sin to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of God. And yet there's one guy, and he thinks his clothes are enough. He thinks his garments are enough. He has not submitted himself to the thrower of the party. He says, I got this. And the king says, you ain't got this. Get out of here. You see, because the Pharisees thought that their own morality would be enough to earn a right standing before God. They deconted. They deconted. themselves righteous. And so this is who Jesus is talking about in the parable. So after hearing this, they're ticked. And the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle Jesus in his own words.

Verse 16. And they sent their disciples to him. So the Pharisees sit their disciples along with the Herodians. Now, if you knew first century politics, you'd be like, do what? The Pharisees and the Herodians? This would be like Democrats and Republicans coming together or bulldogs and gaiters. I mean, it's just unthinkable. These people hate each other. The Pharisees were a separatist group of people that hated Rome and what Rome was doing. Because Rome occupied Jerusalem and the Pharisees thought that the Jewish people ought to rule Jerusalem.

And the Herodians, you can tell by their name, they were a political party that supported King Herod, and yet now they have come together. Why have they come together? Because it worked for the Pharisees. Because it worked for the Pharisees. In order to be able to partner up with Rome, what had to happen is that the Pharisees had to tempt their hat to this claim that Caesar is Lord. And this is blasphemous. You see, because every Pharisee knows that the Bible claims, that there's only one true and living God. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the Lord of God, the Lord of God. The first commandment, you shall worship no other gods other than the one true God.

And yet, based on a relationship rooted in power, then the Pharisees kind of turned a blind eye to like the most important commandment and said, we will work with you because it gave them a position of power. They were obsessed with power. And so they partner up with the Herodians. And here's what they say to Jesus. They say, teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.

That's a lot of flattery, isn't it? That's a lot of flattery. You see, they're just trying to trap him. My grandma used to say, be careful if somebody's buttering you up. They're about to roast you. would say. I felt like it should be a proverb, right? Anytime I get that email, Pastor, I've been at this church a long time. You start giving me your resume, and then you start saying really nice things. I just scan the email for the big butt because I know it's in there somewhere. Right, here it comes.

They do. They call him teacher. That's a sign of respect. You're a true teacher. They don't actually believe that because if they did, they would do what he said. You're not swayed by opinion or appearances, yet that's what they're about to do. By the way, other people, you know, other people, opinions of us today is our social currency. And everybody I know thinks it's a bad idea to care what other people think about you. Everybody believes that or thinks that. I don't know if you believe it. You believe it in the Western kind of way. Like I acknowledge that's true. You don't believe it in the biblical kind of way. Like it's going to drive you to action. And here's what I mean. You would say it doesn't, man's opinion doesn't matter compared to what God thinks. But what do you

spend more time checking out other's opinions of you or God's opinion of you. I mean, we'll scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll and say things in certain ways online just to get people to like it and share it and follow it. It's been very little time diving in to see what God thinks about us. There's a lot of warning in the Bible about flattery. Proverbs 2628 says, a lying tongue hates those it crushes and a flattering mouthworks ruin. Proverbs 276.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. Proverbs 28, 23, he who rebukes a man will afterwards find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue. Proverbs 295, a man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps.

That's what they're doing here. They're flattering him because they are trying to set him up for failure. This one ain't knew about flattering. but I love you enough to share it with you. Proverbs 29-11. A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

You know what this means? You're a fool if you think just because I think it, I need to post it. Yeah. You think, oh, the world needs to hear this. No, they don't, man. Nobody cares about what you think. I read it.

It's dumb. Keep it to yourself. And you're like, well, it's true. Just because something's true doesn't mean you need to say it either. I hope you realize this. Do you know that? tells the church in Ephesus, he says this, don't let any corrupt communication proceed

out of your mouth, only that which is helpful for the needs of the hearer. So just because it's true doesn't mean you say it unless it's helpful for the needs of the hearing. We learned this from the great prophet Tommy boy. Remember this? He's like, does this coat make me look fat? And his buddy said, no, your face does. Now, is it true? It's true. May not be helpful. verse 12 so there it is after he butters him all up okay verse 17 here's their trick here's their trap here's where they think they're going to get him tell us then what you think is it lawful to pay taxes to caesar or not and they're thinking ha ha got him got him because now you were in a lose lose situation because if you say yes you should pay taxes then all of your Jewish audience which at that

time was like his primary audits, all of them were going to say, do what? This is a tyrannical government that uses, that takes our money to kill us and steal from us and destroy us. And not only that, they're going to take our money and they're going to take over other people. And so they think, ha ha, if he says, yes, then he's going to lose his audience. But if he says, no, don't pay taxes, then the Herodians are there to arrest him because it was a tax evasion was punishable by death. And they think we got him. Okay. But Jesus, let's look at this next part.

Aware of their malice. You see, God knows the thought of every man. He knows the condition of every heart. Remember in Mark chapter two is one of my favorite events in the whole Bible, when the guy's on the paralytic's on the mat and they get to the house and it's full and they can't get in so they tear a hole in the roof and then they're letting the brother down and jesus says son your sins are forgiven and again the people they're like well that's awesome but that's not why we came but the religious leaders are thinking who is he to say he forgives sins only god can forgive sins that's blasphemous

and then jesus answers not their question he answers their thought think about that all right the bible says god loves a cheerful giver he knows when you bring it if you're trying to put God in your debt or not. He knows if I guilted you into it or if you're actually doing it because you love God. How about when you sing? He knows the condition of your heart. If you're just doing this to try to impress people around you

or you're doing this to try to not embarrass yourself and people around you, that he knows the very condition of your heart. And he knows he's aware of what they're doing. They're not asking the question because they care about the purity of God. They're asking the question to try to entangle him. But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, why pull me to the test, you hypocrites? You can't juke Jesus. Like, you can't juke Jesus.

He knows. By the way, if you're a leader, if you're kind of ever find yourself in a public position, are you obligated to answer questions just because somebody asks them of you? Apparently not. This is really good news for me. especially, especially if the heart of the question is of malice and entanglement. If somebody's asking a question simply because they're trying to throw shade on you, then Jesus says, I don't play that game.

I don't answer every question of me. Listen, man, in the Christian world today, especially online, there's a whole group of people, and they call what they do ministry, but all they do is try to throw dirt on churches. That's all they do. So if I ever get the sense that there's a group of people that are just trying to accuse, the brethren. I've got an accuser of the brethren. His name's the devil, and I'm not giving him any more information than he deserves. You understand? So we ain't playing that game. And so there's a

bunch of little rag-tag groups like that. And even, listen, man, even like journalism today, that's the thing, isn't it? But I do feel like I need a little asterisk right here and say this. By the way, our experience at 1122 with our local news stations, all of them, really, has been, they have been nothing but fair and friendly to this movement for all people to discover a deeper in our relationship with Jesus. We have multiple news anchors that attend 1122 and over and over they have leveraged their platform

in our city, which is really, really big to share really, really good stories about good news in a city that needs some good news, amen? And so we appreciate that like crazy. But Jesus doesn't answer their questions. He answers their question with a question. He's like my wife, but whatever. That's a different sermon.

All right, so. Why put me into the test, you hypocrites? And he's not calling names. He's qualifying them accurately. Now, the master teacher, they think they have him in check. All right, Jesus, taxes, pay them or no, what say you, check? And he's like, ha, ha, ha, ha, he's going to turn this thing around on them in one second. Okay?

Verse 19. He says, he says, close, Jeremy McGuire, show me the money. That's what he says, almost. Show me the coin from the tax. That's what he says. Show me the coin for the tax. Now, there's a couple of things there. One, it means I don't have one of these coins

that you're talking about. And the moment that Pharisee reaches in his pocket and pulls out one of these coins, he doesn't know, he's like, ha ha, gotcha. That's what he's doing. All right, here's why. Here's why. There were several different taxes

that the Roman government put on all people, including the Jewish people. The one they're talking about here is called, it was called the existence tax, or it was called the head tax is what they called it. Like if you had a head on your shoulders, then you had to pay this tax. And what you paid with was a denarius. It's very interesting. Last week in the lobby, a guy comes up to me, and he's like, I feel like the Lord's telling you, telling me to give you these first century coins.

And I was like, shut up, man, that's awesome. I'm preaching on coins next week. He's like, really? I'm like, really, ain't he good? Right? And so I got a bunch of coins here from the very first century, all right? I got one right here. And it's like, oh, like this is for real, man, this is for real.

I got a cheat sheet here because it's written in a font for, I'd have to get our 1825 ministry to read that to me. But this is a coin from the first century when Herod the Great was on the throne. So like when Jesus was being born, this thing that we celebrate, that God became flesh and dwelt among us, that while that was happening, that there was a person that had this coin in their pocket or in their purse, this very coin.

I've got another one that he gave me from Pontius Pilate. 33 AD, this coin was in circulation in 33 AD. It's got a little picture on the front and on the back. And while Jesus was on the cross pushing up on his nail-pierced feet, somebody had this coin in their pocket or in their purse. Part of the reason I bring this up is because our faith is not built on faith. We don't believe in belief. Our faith is built on an actual event.

There were actual people in an actual place and an actual man named Jesus Christ claimed to be the Son of God. He died on an actual cross and then three days later, he resurrected from the grave. About a thousand years after the death of Jesus, during the Byzantine Empire, they made a new coin, and they put the face of Jesus on it. It's not a good idea, by the way. Christians have rarely done good with power.

I don't know if you know this. And when you begin to mix together the church and the state, it doesn't go very well. But they brought out a coin, and the coin that they brought out, obviously had a front and a back. It's called a denarius, and it was made of silver. and because the Roman government would make room for certain people for the sake of peace, they did not require the Jewish people to use it. So they had their own coins like Herod's coin or like Pilots coin. But the silver coin was Caesar's coin.

And on the front of it, it had Caesar Tiberius. But the problem with it is right under it, it had Son of God. And then when you flipped it over, it had Caesar sitting on a throne, and it had in Latin the great high priest. And so when Jesus says, show me the coin, in this Pharisee, who's in the temple, reaches in and pulls out this coin in his pocket, he is confessing and admitting to idol worship. He is in the temple where there's supposed to be no graven images that we only worship the one true God. But because it gave him financial and political power, he turned his eye to the

commandment about not worshiping other gods. And the fact that he's got the coin in his pocket lets everybody know that he's got one foot in each camp. Jesus is so smart. And so he says, show me the coin. And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to him, here's the question, whose likeness and inscription is this. Whose image is this? And it's not a trick question. I'm sure, like to you, when I ask questions from up here, they just look at it like, do we say it?

Do we say it? There's a big fat face of Caesar on it. And so they answered him, Caesar. And again, in this moment, they have declared themselves hypocrites. And they're telling the truth. That's the right answer. Caesar's picture is on it.

And he says to them, and this next verse, I think, is one of the most misunderstood, most misused verses, particularly in American history. And Jesus says, therefore, rendered to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are gods. Have you heard of that verse before? Even if you're brand new to Bible study

and you watch cable news, you'll hear give to Caesar with Caesar and God. God's what's God's. And Americans will look at that verse and be like, ha, see, there it is. Separation of church and stake. There it is right there. It's Jesus's idea back in the day. Well, maybe. Actually, not at all, but let's talk about it. Do you think Jesus thought that faith was to be private and it only rules your personal life, but your faith was not to influence your public life? Do you think that's what he meant? Do you think that Jesus thought that you shouldn't bring your faith into the marketplace

or into the government. Do you think that Jesus believes that Christians shouldn't be vocal about their faith in public places? No. Now, Jesus did not believe that we should force faith from the top down, but Jesus did believe that we all should have the freedom to receive faith that was offered to us.

And so, the modern idea of separation in church and state is, one, not biblical, and two, it's a complete misunderstanding of America's founding and ideals. That, yes, there is a separation of church and state, but not the way, not the common, not the modern day idea. All right, that phrase, by the way,

is not found in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. That phrase, separation of church and state was found in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson, check this out, to a bunch of Baptist. He was writing two believers to the Danbury Baptist. He had gotten a bunch of negative press, a bunch of negative campaign

press about him. And so he was writing a letter to a bunch of Baptists to let them know that he believed in religious freedom. And here's what he says, ready? He says, believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of the government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should, quote, make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. That's called the First Amendment. Thus building, here's the phrase, a wall of separation between church and state.

So here's what he was actually saying. Let me interpret for you. One, he was saying, the point is to keep government out of the church, not keep the church out of government. That's what he was saying. In England, they had the Church of England, and you didn't have a choice. and when they came and got your taxes, they also got your tithes. And the Foundy Father was like, that ain't good. You can't make anybody believe anything, so you get to worship how you want to worship and who you want to worship. But he was not saying that who you worship should not influence the way that we govern our people.

Of course we should be involved, that we're supposed to be salt and light. We're not supposed to run and hide. In fact, here's how we know that Jefferson didn't mean what modern people say, that he meant. Because at the closing of the letter, you know how he closes the letter? He prays for the Danbury Baptist. You dummy, if you write separation to church and state and then you close your letter with a prayer, it doesn't mean you can't pray in public. That's not what it means. He also supported the endorsement of federal funds to build churches. That'd be neat. The support of Christian missionaries among the new America. The whole idea was that if we let the

government get involved in our church, it will corrupt the church. He doesn't mean if we we let the church get involved in the government, it would be bad. If all the godly people don't get involved in our country, then only the godless people will run it, and it won't go good. Amen. All right. So, if y'all make me amen myself, it's going to take longer, all right? A couple quotes from our founding fathers. This is Thomas Jefferson. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God, that they are not to be violated but with his wrath. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his

justice cannot sleep forever. James Madison, a signer of the Constitution, said this, before any man can be considered as a member of his civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the governor of the universe. Another founder, John Adams, says this. We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral

and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. George Washington, our first president, says this. It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of the almighty God to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection in favor.

Thomas Jefferson again says this, God who gave us liberty, can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are a gift from God? Abraham Lincoln says, and whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of the Almighty God to confess their sins in transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with the assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is our Lord. This is what he is saying, he is simply saying that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created

with certain inalienable rights, that our rights don't come from the government. Our government recognizes our rights which come from the Almighty God. And don't ever get that confused. And if godly people tap out, then the godless will rule the world. So the modern idea of separation of church and state, It's not, it's a complete misunderstanding of our America's founding ideas. And the modern understanding is not a biblical idea. Now the idea, the biblical idea is not, it comes by force from the top down. Like you have to go to church in order to participate in our society, absolutely not. The biblical idea is found, a lawyer comes up to Jesus.

By the way, every time I'd make fun of lawyers, Frank was a lawyer. And it was like, my, I was just poking in him. him because all he could do is say amen he couldn't like fight back and so i'd make fun him all the time okay and so it's not a lawyer comes up to jesus and he says what's the what's the greatest commandment and jesus says what do you what do you think it is and the guy quotes the shama shama israel the lord our god the lord is one and you shall love the lord your god with all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind and all of your strength and the second it was like it you should love your neighbor as yourself.

In other words, we don't live divided, bifurcated lives. You have one and only life. And when you see God for who he really is, then you love him with all, all of your life. You don't have a church life and a work life, and a family life and a social life. You just have a life. And all of those lives and all aspects of your life,

your voting life, your online life, your prayer life, that's just you. And in every area of your life, if you don't want to be two-faced, if you don't want to be a hypocrite, if you want to have integrity, which comes from the word integer, which means one, then you give your one and only life to the one true God in every area of your life. That's the biblical view.

So, he answers the question by saying, whose image is this? That's Caesar. We'll give the Caesar for Caesar's, and God was God. Okay. So, would, the way our country was supposed to be, to be set up. So basically says, so pay taxes. Now in our system, if you don't like it, who likes taxes? I don't like taxes. I did like the road I drove in today, you know. I like if

I call 911, somebody shows up real fast. I like that. And if you don't like the taxes, cool. We're supposed to be the bosses. So get some people that work for us to get better taxes. I bet I don't have time to get into that too much. All right. So, but we're not a theocracy. And we as believers, we can never force anybody to believe or act any way that we want them to. But we're saved by grace through faith. And in every area of our life, every area of our life, work life, public life, private life, church life, ball field life, every area of our life, we invite people by grace through faith to repent and surrender their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And so I think a part of the reason this verse is so misunderstood is because they

missed the actual point is the question that is implied. That's what Jesus is actually saying. Like, he's actually asking another question here in his response. He holds the coin, he goes, whose image is this? And they go, Caesar's. Correct. So give to Caesar's what's. So what is Caesar? Taxes. You know, be a good citizen, work hard, obey the law. That's what? That's what you do. Cool. But then he says, give to God's God's. Now this is not in the Bible, okay, but so this is, in my mind, this is the way I see it. He says, so whose image is this? Caesars. All right, give to Caesar what is Caesar's? And imagine, Jesus puts his hand on the chest of the man that's asking the question. And the question that he's implying is this,

and whose image is this? This coin has a face. on it. This body has fingerprints on it. This coin, the Caesar, determined how valuable it is. But whose image do you bear? Whose image is here? And this person, this Pharisee, would know, this image is, I bear the image of God. That every single human being, every single human being from the moment of conception bears the image of God. Listen, man, you were God's idea. That in the beginning, God speaks everything into existence. But when it comes to making image bears, he didn't just speak it into existence.

He could have just said, everybody and there'd be a bunch of everybody's. Just all kind of different by accident. There are no accidental humans. The Bible says that he forms together, the Adam, it's the Hebrew word for dust. That's where we get the name Adam. If your name's Adam, means dirt, that's what it means. And he gathers together, the Adamah, and he forms together.

It's like a shell of a human being, but the Bible says, but he's not yet a living creature. Because we're different than the birds. We're different than the dogs and the animals. We're different, man. We're unique. And the Bible says that God gets nostril to nostril with his very first image bearer and breeze into him, the ruah of life, the breath of God. The spirit of God. Ruat means breath or spirit.

And he does it close, face to face. And when he breathes in, the very first man opens his eyes and he is face to face with his creator who is also his heavenly father. And that gets imprinted on the heart of every single human being. And just like when Caesar created the Denarius,

he mined it, he formed it, he fashioned it, and he put his face on it. And then he determined this is how valuable. this is. And when the almighty sovereign king of the universe knit you together, you realize everything else, he spoke into existence, but with you, it was different. Psalm 139, 14 says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. That word fearful means reverently, not accidentally, not haphazardly, that he, on purpose, knit you together in your mother's womb. And everything, that he makes is wonderful and you should know that full well. And because you are an image bearer

of God, you have intrinsic value. A part of the reason that we fight for the abundant life of every single image bearer of God from womb to tomb is because every single image bearer of God deserves us to go to war for them so that they may have abundant life. And if you're a believer, it's even better than that. If you're a believer in Jesus, 1st Corinthians 6 says this, you are not your own. You were bought at a price. You know how you determine the value of something? It's based on what somebody will pay for it. This is the gospel according to eBay. If eBay taught us anything, it taught us this. You're like, baby, I'm about to make me some money. I got some stuff in the garage, and you made $3. Why? Because your stuff in the garage was worth $3. I don't care

what you feel about it. Your feelings are highly overrated. Do you know what you're worth? If you've put your faith in Jesus Christ and your soul goes up on eBay. You know what? You know what? The God of the universe who formed you and created you was willing to pay for you to get? He paid with the blood of his perfect son, Jesus Christ. He poured it out for you.

You are valuable because God paid for you because God made you. That's how valuable you are. Okay. So Jesus says, who image? Cesar's. All right, cool, man. Pay your taxes.

And whose image is? that. I bear God's image. Okay, then give to God what's God's. What do I give to God? You. What else can you give him a ride? He's already there. You're going to give me advice. He don't need it. You're going to give me some money. You're going to leave all of it to him anyway, regardless of whether you want to or not. It's all his. So what do you give him? You can only give him you. How? At least three ways, first and foremost, is you put your faith in Jesus. That's it. You put your trust, not in you, not in your circumstances, not in your own morality, not in your church attendance, but you put your faith in him and you trust, you believe that when he pushed up on his nail, pierce feet, and he says, it is finished, and you trust that that counted for you.

He uses the word render. He says, render under Caesar. That means payback. and so you render to God what is God's. You give him what you owe him. What do you owe him? You're one and only life. But that's not like a one-town thing.

As believers, we continuously render unto God what is God. So we give him our faith, first and foremost. And we give him our worship. Do you know why we make such a big deal about worship around here? It's what God desires from us. Listen, man, when we get together like this and we see, thing. This is not Christian karaoke in a little TED talk to try to help you out this week. Worship is war. We're declaring war on this broken world. We're declaring war on the devil of

hell. You know what got the devil kicked out of heaven? He wanted to be worshiped. And what we say when we worship, we go, hell no. That's what we say. Heaven, yes. Jesus is worthy, you ain't worthy. Go back to hell. You're the only one worthy of my worship. And it's a constant reminder that we ain't worshipping you or me. Sometimes people I don't like that song. Neat. We ain't singing to you. We give him our worship and we give him our obedience.

Why? Because obedience is abundant life. It's not like if you're obedient, then he'll give you the abundant life. The abundant life is obedience. That the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. But Jesus says, I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.

I am the good shepherd, shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, my sheep hear my voice and they do what I say, and they will not obey the voice of a stranger. Every single time we obey the voice of a stranger, the devil, the world, or our flesh, it always leads us to death. Death of a relationship, death of innocence, death of peace. And every single time, even when it doesn't make sense, you hear the voice of the good shepherd and you trust him and you obey. You're always marching towards abundant life and obedience is the abundant life. We give him our obedience. Now here's where it gets real. That's the end of Jesus' sermon. It says when they heard it, they marveled and they left

him and went away. And the whole rest of chapter 22, they just continuously plot how to get him and they can't get him. But let me ask you this question. Let's get for real. Okay, here's the uncomfortable part. Ready? Have you given yourself to something other than God? He says, give to Caesar was Caesar's. And give to God, what's God's? Have you given to Caesar, what's God's? Have you surrendered your life? Have you given yourself?

Have you given your trust? Have you given your worship? Have you given your obedience to something that's not him? What do you mean? Jesus' example was a coin, right? Many, many, many of us have given ourselves to the coin. We actually put our trust in money, not in God. We do.

That's why you check your 401k more than you pray. We've given our love and our worship and our devotion to stuff. Jesus says no one can serve two masters. No one can serve both God and money. Our relationship with the Lord is exclusive. You can't love God and money. Because if you do, if you start to love money, then you'll use God and use people to put your worship on what you actually love,

which is money. Nothing wrong with money. Money's just a tool to help us love God and love people. And you can't be like, I know, I know what you want to do right now because your inner lawyer is rising and like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, well, I love God and I kind of love some money. Can you imagine I went to Gretchen? Like Gretchen. I mean, I haven't been faithful, but I love you the most.

Not going to go good. It's not going to go good. Why? Because my marriage is an exclusive relationship, and I have vowed my life only to her. Your relationship with the Lord is an exclusive relationship, and it drives everything else. Paul instructs Timothy. He says this, in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 9, he says, But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation. Write down the Greek word. Uh-oh. Who doesn't desire to be rich? I want to be rich. I don't want to be poor. If I am poor, I want to decide to be poor by giving it all away, making sure I can make some more.

You know what I'm saying? I don't know. is like, I hope I have less next year. Well, okay. So warning, he says, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation into a snare. It means it's a trap. You ever use a mousetrap? They think they're getting cheese and they get dead. That's the temptation.

You're like, ha, ha, got it, got me. And you're like, not me. Okay. Into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. We all know people like this.

How many of you know people and like two brothers started a company and they loved each other when they had nothing because they couldn't lose anything. And then there became a money dispute and they hate each other now. How many of you know families that don't do Thanksgiving together anymore? anymore because they had a dispute over the inheritance. We all know, we see it all the time in the ministry. Why?

Because instead of loving God and loving people and using money, they begin to love money and they have wandered away from the faith. Some of us have surrendered our life to stuff or security. It's so dumb. So where have you given to Caesar? What is God's? Some of you, it's the applause of man. The opinion of everybody else matters more to you than the opinion.

of God. Some of you are in a major right now that God has not called you to because you're afraid of your parents' opinion or the opinion of the public instead of being obedient to what God called you to do. Do not get the wrestle, man. When I surrendered to go into ministry, I wasn't afraid of what God thought. I was afraid of what my dad would think. It's a serious struggle. Some of you are in relationships and they're not godly. And you know they're not godly. and the problem is is that you believe a lie about this relationship Jerry McGarre is a liar

she does not complete you she can't he can't and the problem is is when you put that expectation on somebody else you are damning that relationship to hell 100% of the time because they can't do for you what you want them to do for you

which is be your functional savior and the moment you idolize somebody when they let you down you will demonize that person And Jesus is the only one that can receive the pressure of being your Savior because he did it right. And some of you are in broken relationships because you don't care about what God thinks. You care about what people think.

And some of us are wrapped up in people pleasing. You're so concerned about the applause of man and one day you'll stand before God at the great white throne judgment and he will be the only opinion that matters. And you're giving to Caesar what belongs to God. and for some of you this is a heart you've given yourself to yourself

and you are your Lord and God you belong to God and you've given yourself to Caesar but the Caesar here is you. For some of you it's work man men you're the worst of this you're the worst me too

and your identity is all just wrapped up in what you do and here's why we're the worst because you actually blame the people that want you for neglecting them in the name of them. Here's what I mean. I did high school and college ministry for about 15 years. And I never met the kid that hated their dad because their car wasn't nice or they didn't do sweet vacations. I never met the kid. It was like, I hate my dad. Why? Toyota, Corolla, and Myrtle Beach.

I wanted a defender in Mexico. No, no, no, no. I got a, I'd met gobs of teenagers and kids. they didn't know their dad because he was always at work trying to give them nicer things and they had very nice cars and very nice vacations yeah be very careful when you give yourself to your work and it becomes who you are some people have given themselves to self-improvement your whole life is dedicated to a better version of you that's okay if it's unto the glory of god but your problem is it's unto the glory of you listen man there's something out there in this world to fix every physical problem i mean you can take a pill or take a jab or stretch it and tuck it and nip it and clip it and improve it and add to it and take it away when you want to.

I mean, you can go down that road. You can trick people for a minute. After a while, you look like a trash bag full of water. And you're miserable. Miserable. Some people literally, they're like, if I could just get to my ideal weight. Have you met people at their ideal weight? They're the most miserable people.

But what should mean you can't eat birthday crate? It's the birthday party. I can't just, you don't want to be that. It's miserable. somebody's like is he talking to me i'm talking to you this one's a dumb one man some of us this is a man thing usually too you get lost in a hobby listen man you're more obsessed with your handicap than your holiness you're not going to be that good dude you didn't make the tour get over it you don't even tell the truth you don't even tell the truth you don't even play from where the plur's you play way up

there you make up new tees and kicked back played with you you're a liar and give you whole life to it and you think it's the club it ain't the club it's actually your heart anything wrong with a hobby no i'm gonna go hunting this afternoon if you're a grown man you need a hobby if you got kids you get one choose wisely but can you imagine if the men of the church all over the america were as obsessed with a great commission as we are our hobbies i'm telling you the whole world would be different the whole world would be different and you're giving yourself to this thing and women i would pick on you, I just don't know what to pick on on that one, okay? Whatever. Some of us are, you've given yourself to the passions of the flesh, that your own self-identity and self-discovery

and what you think and what you feel and your lived experience and your passions and your temptations are your Lord. And you're trying to, you're trying to say, I'm doing what I'm doing because I feel this way. And then you're trying to invite God to come and be a part of that. He will not play your idolatrous game. Jesus stands before these people and he says, whose image is that? That's Caesar's. Give it to him.

And whose image is this? Every single one of us were created by God and for God. And we are called to give us, give him ourselves. And listen, man, here's what so good about the gospel. He's not sitting back in heaven with his arms crossed. When you can get it together, Then you can come set an appointment. That's not what it is.

You know what we celebrate at Christmas? That Jesus, the almighty sovereign king of the universe, came on a rescue mission for you and me. He's not sitting back waiting for us to get our act together. That he stepped out of heaven, did he put on flesh. He lived the perfect life that none of us could pull off. He went and he died on a cross, not just for us, but instead of us, he rendered unto God what was God.

What did he render? He rendered the perfect, sacrificial lamb. behold the Lamb of God who's come for the salvation for all people and he pushed up on his nail pierced feet rendered as a banking term Jesus uses another banking term on the cross he says to tell us die paid in full it is finished and because he did that you and i can render unto god what is gods we can render ourselves so god i give you me by faith because I'm just going to trust that when you died on the cross, somehow it counted for me. So, to use Jesus' words, church, may you render to Caesar what is Caesar's.

Pay your taxes, be a good citizen, obey the law, sweet. But render to God what is God's. And here's the thing, man, if I could, I wish I could rend the heavens. I wish I could rip the sky open so you could see the face of your heavenly father, right now, if he was talking to you, if you could hear him, he would say, I want you. I want you. He ain't mad at you, man. He wants you. He wants you so much that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, and he wants you so much that some of you right now are thinking, oh, no, he's talking to me. That's right. The God of the universe is talking to you right now. Right this

very moment. And what he's saying is, won't you just give you me? Just surrender your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Would you bow your head? to close your eyes. And if you're ready to do that, if you're ready to put your faith in Jesus, if you're ready to Caesar can have what's his, that's fine. But I want God to have what's his, and what is God's is me.

It's in this moment. You're like what we talked about last week, like Peter, sinking in the water, and you cry out, Lord, save me. The Bible says, immediately Jesus reached out his hand and saved it. And so if you're ready to put your faith in Jesus Christ, I would invite you to lift your hand as high as you can, and by faith just simply say in your heart, Lord save me.

And that is a prayer that he answers 100% of the time. And it is the beginning of the rest of your life, rendering unto God what is God. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. And God, this season, we celebrate that you came on a rescue mission. God, we live in a world that wants to entangle us, that wants to give what He's your yours, our lives to the things of this world. Whether it's stuff or status or sex, whether it's passion or position or possessions, God,

this world is trying to entangle us to take our eyes off of you. Would you remind us that we are yours? And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, would you please stand as we respond? We're going to do, this is the most part of the service, by the way. We're going to do what Jesus just said do. I don't know if you ever thought about this, but we're about to give God what's God's.

We're going to worship. We're going to sing the song, because he lives. I can face tomorrow. That's what we're going to sing. And we're going to bring our ties and our offerings. Yeah, pay your taxes, and then bring first and best to God. So, God, I worship you, and I'm not going to love money. Where my treasury is there, my heart will be also.

And I want you to be first in my life, so I'm bringing my first and my best. And we are going to pray. because we have the kind of God that hears and wants our prayers because he's the kind of God that wants us, he wants to help us give him what's his. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond.