Fear God, Honor The Emperor

These are significant decisions that the government has a hand in but religion must speak into and obviously the family is a big part of that. The second is education of children. Is it a state, a church, or a family who should determine what is best for a child?

There's two examples of many where there is significant overlap between what God has declared and what every governing body or a state must determine. Our text this morning gives us one of the most significant declarations to understand the separation of what we call the church and the state.

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Give to God what belongs to God.

While those are two statements, it's a three-point sermon. The first thing we'll look at is trust the God who speaks. Trust the God who speaks.

Trust the God who speaks

If you're new with us, we're walking through the gospel of Matthew and here we are we're in chapter 22 And we just ended a whole section where the chief priests have come to question Jesus authority and and then in response he Challenges their authority he gives three parables that makes clear to them They're the ones who have killed the prophets. They're the ones who have denied God. They're the ones who will kill him They are enemies of God and they will be replaced Now we have a new section.

Still in the very last week of Jesus' life, it's as if Satan is getting all of his armies to come together to fight the one true king. If you notice the way our text begins, and the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him. And if you look back over to 46,

And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare ask him any more questions.

Group after group, different sect after sect sought to question Jesus, entangle him, trap him, and every one of them were left silenced. If we were to think about how we might approach God, we want to be careful not to come in bad faith like these Pharisees.

They're gonna ask him a really good question. They're gonna ask him other questions that are gonna be asked of Jesus that are very important for us to meditate on and think about. But they're not coming to learn, they're coming to entangle, to trap. It's kind of an odd pairing of people here. Notice verse 15,

the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his own words.

They're trying to trap him into contradicting himself, or really get himself in trouble with one or two groups. Verse 16, their disciples are sent along with the Herodians. Now, if we were to step back, we're going to see the Sadducees next.

But for now, the Pharisees and the Herodians are people who do not operate together. The Herodians are pro-Roman government. The Pharisees are anti-Roman government. For these two to come together and work together would be a very odd mixture of oil and water. There would be very little they have in common apart from hatred of Jesus. The Herodians are actually named after the Herod. Their name is one who promotes that Rome should be ruling over the Jewish people, where the Pharisees are those conservative Jews who are most opposed to Roman government.

But again, they become friends with a common enemy. They've conspired together to trick Jesus. The foolishness. Let's trick the very word of God, who over and over again for three years has taught with such authority, everyone marvels. As we think about what they're doing, Jesus, he sees their malice, verse 18. They're seeking to trick him. We really see our own sin here, if we're honest. We find ways of coming up with our own qualifications, and maybe not trying to trick Jesus into a trap, but we like to play word games.

The author, Matthew, tells us all we need to know up front. They plotted to entangle him in his own words. The beauty of what God says It's straight, it's clear, it's right, it never contradicts. There's no entangling God. What he says is always true, always good, always righteous. Jesus knows their malice. He calls them hypocrites. He makes it clear that they are the ones entangled in their own lives. What's interesting is in verse 16, They say they're only to trick him and flatter him.

They sent the disciples in with the Herodians saying,

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.

While what they're doing is lying and flattery, they're actually saying what's true. Jesus is true. He teaches the way of God truthfully because he is the way of God. He is not swayed by opinions. He's not swayed by appearances. The idea of trying to attract with lights and smoke and mirrors, that's Satan's work. Christ is true, as we've been reading through Psalm 119 all summer.

His way is the way of light, the way that's good. God speaks as the most competent communicator, and he tells us all that we need. Now, there's a significant assumption that I've been giving the entire time, and I want to make it very clear. Jesus is God. He is the creator, sustainer, and savior. He is the one who has all power and authority.

He's come to be with us. He's took on our nature except for sin. He's come to be the fulfillment of all promises, and that's significant for Matthew because everything he does in the beginning is it was fulfilling the Word of God, fulfilling the Word of God. Everything about another layer. He is the very Word of God. He's the perfect revelation. Of who God is, he is the perfect manifestation of all the ways of God. He told us who he is. He tells us who we are and he tells us how we can know him.

Our God speaks. We take that for granted. Our entire worship service is designed to make sure we understand and are sitting under the very word of God. Our goal is to get out of the way of the word of God. Our God speaks. Christian, always be grateful for that. Do not take it for granted. Always pray that your heart and mind, your ears will be opened to receive the Word of God. Proactively listen to Him, recognizing that there's deceptive desires that confuse our minds, that keep us from truly knowing who God is Because we tend to always think we know a better way.

That is the greater context. They're trying to trick God. They're trying to confuse the very Word of God. They're trying to entangle Him. Now let's look at this plot and the two particular points. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. The bigger action, they've come in bad faith.

They've come asking not to learn but to trick. The Pharisees, the trick is if he says, yes, pay your taxes, he's going to possibly be in trouble with the people because the taxes to a governor would also be wrapped up in religion. The state had a significant way of implementing itself or connecting itself to religion. And if he says, do not pay your taxes, well, now they get to call Rome and say there's a revolutionary stirring.

Let's crush him. Caesar, like most rulers throughout the ancient Near East, took on divine titles and appealed to his people as if divine. Caesar means king, Augustus means revered one. When Jesus asked for the coin and says whose image is on this, it's probably Tiberius. The inscription would say the divine son of Augustus. On the back, it would say Pontiff Maximus, the supreme priest. And you can imagine, as you're giving your tax, you're paying that kind of honor and reverence while doing so.

And so for a zealous Jew, there will be a concern because you're to have no other gods other than the one true God, Yahweh. You're to make no images of God. So the question of is it lawful is paying your taxes, breaking the commandments that God has given us. It's a real ethical dilemma. There was even a rebellion 30 years prior over this very event. They're going back to this particular problem to raise issues. Again, if he says pay tribute, he could lose favor with the people who are praising him. If he says don't pay your taxes, Well, then they just call Rome and they seek to crush the rebellion. Jesus' answer silences them.

Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, tax. You are to pay your taxes to the government. That's what we're gonna call honor. Give to God what only belongs to God. Give to God what is God's, that's worship. You are to give the government that God has instituted over you what is due to them, that is honor, submission, and specifically here, a tax. But you're to give God alone who created you and who alone can save you reverence and worship. So think about these two parts separately.

Trust Jesus who rules over the government

Second point, trust Jesus who rules over the government. Trust Jesus who rules over every government, the Roman government, the American government, every government that's ever existed. He has all authority at all times and all places, and there's other smaller governing authorities that he has instituted. This is why he can say, give to Caesars what Caesars. Give to that temporary little king that's going to die, who's under Christ, what belongs to him. Citizens of a government have a responsibility to that government.

I want to frame the whole thing of paying your taxes under trust Jesus, because you don't always trust the authority here on earth, but you must trust Jesus, the king of kings. Every human authority is appointed and instituted and put in that position under God's authority. No one comes to power by accident or outside of God's will. We can't then confuse that to mean God condones everything every human institution does.

We have some real tension there we must hold. Let's say it a different way. Jesus is the King of kings. We just sung that. He is the one, true, final, full, forever king. His kingdom is here. His kingdom will come. His kingdom has no end. It has no limits. We're waiting for it to be fully realized.

But our great God and king has established other governments for our good. But they didn't always operate for our good. God has established governments for our good, but they do not always operate for our good. Every king or president or governor or sheriff was appointed by God. No one has authority outside of God's sovereignty. That means every governing authority will answer to God. That means every governing authority is also deterred by his common grace.

It's amazing that God's common grace has kept governing authorities to be more, he's protected us from them being even more evil than they could be. Important to go back, as we've studied Daniel a few years ago, those ancient Babylonian rulers, they were under God's authority. He could crush them. He gave them authority, he corrected them and told them to be like a tree that would protect other people. The goal of a governing authority is to protect the human beings. Many kings, rulers have not had a fear of God or respect for man. Again, we must understand God does not condone the evil of these authorities.

We can say this is supposed to operate in Israel. The kings of Israel were supposed to take the law of God, make their own copy of it. They weren't to make up their own laws, they were to steward God's law. They were to be a steward over God's people, using his law for their good. But it's amazing, if you read the Old Testament, how rare it was that even a king of Israel ruled well under God, well with the law for the good of the people.

Governments are given specific authority of the sword. That authority is meant to protect people and promote justice. If it is a just system of laws, and they recognize what is truly right and wrong, and they exercise the right measure of punishment for those who commit crimes, this is the good authority that governments are supposed to use.

If you were to think about governments, there was a government in the garden. There's God in us. There was one law. Don't touch, don't eat of the tree. That was the government and it was good. But because we've all sinned and now we're all turning ourselves and we all are full of malice, there needs to be human instituted governments that are supposed to protect us from the sin we have in ourselves towards each other. Again, this is a good way that God has blessed us to be protected. But governments do not always act with justice.

Just this past week, a video went out of a governor signing a bill that made abortion legal in her state to the point of birth. There were women circled around her celebrating this. That's bad government. That's celebrating death. There's all kinds of lies that go into that kind of government rule that is not protecting the most innocent. Governments are meant to be an institution ordained by God, but they didn't always promote what is good.

What are you to give to Caesar?

So what are you to give to Caesar? Well, there are at least four specific things in scripture that you we are expected to give as Christians. The simplest is here and in Romans 13, pay your taxes. April 15th is a day of worship. You pay your taxes to your governing authorities as a way of worshiping and obeying God. Now the facial expressions I got when I said that was worship is hilarious. I wish I could have taken a picture. The unhappiness, disgruntlement, and then like funny smiles was just fantastic. God says it, therefore doing it is worship. All right, you don't have to like everything your government's going to use those taxes for.

That's not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to trust God. Your responsibility is to pray that they would use those monies, the taxes that you give to them under obedience, and that they would use it for what is good. We think about this, it's not quite the same as tithing because, Lord willing, you're tithing to a church freely and happily because they are promoting the very good things of God.

You pray that the government would use the money that they take from you for what is good. You should pray that these two institutions would use God's money for good. So first, simply pay your taxes, recognizing that as part of your worship and stewardship. The second thing, pray for your governing authorities. God expects you to pray for your governing authorities. If you don't know what this looks like, you can go to 1 Timothy 2.

There Paul says,

I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings, and all who are in high positions.

And here the purpose,

that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life Godly and dignified in every way.

God desires us to pray for governing authorities, as James has already done this morning. Those in high positions, the kings, all the governing authorities, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified. Pray that we would be able to have peace to do what we're doing this morning, not out of fear of government intervention, as many other nations Fear.

Heard from one brother a couple weeks ago that after having grenades thrown at their church during the worship service a few years ago, they started having mobs attack Sunday mornings. They've had to disperse into smaller homes. We don't have that kind of pressure. No, our pressure is one from our culture that says, let's pull you away with entertainment, not press you over but not pressure over you with rules and unjust laws regarding worship.

If you're anxious about governing authorities, I encourage you to pray for them. No one is an authority outside of God. If you're thankful for your governing authorities, pray for them. Pray that they would fear God. What James just modeled, pray that they would fear God, respect all human life, and seek establish laws that will help every human life and every human citizen flourish.

An aside here, the government does not threaten the church. Our busyness does. Let's be very clear. We should be thankful that the government does not threaten us to do what we need to do as a church in godliness and in every dignified way. It's our busyness. The last two expectations of what we should give to Caesar, or to our king, our president, our government, come from the New Testament reading.

Be subject to. That's the same concept of everyone's favorite word, submission. Submit to.

Be subject to every human institution.

And, notice,

honor the emperor.

Those two things go hand in hand, those are the last two. And both those are the same, are two sides of the same coin really. You're submitting to that government and you're honoring the emperor.

I find too many Christians think they can submit without honoring and that just doesn't work. To submit is to show deference and act accordingly to what that authority says is right and good. To submit properly according to scripture, I believe it means you employ your resources towards the goal of that authority. So Christian, be subject to. We ought to be the best citizens of the government. Eager to promote what is good and obey what is expected as long as it does not contradict God's word.

We are to honor the emperors, the kings, the presidents, the governors. It means we demonstrate an honor for those in power. The whole idea here is stewardship. We do not honor them because of how good they are. We don't honor them based upon how much we agree with them. We honor them because God says honor them. We honor them on behalf of that authority they hold and the position they have because God put them there.

On Wednesday night, we've been walking through a friendship series, and it's David and Jonathan, and of course Saul is kind of that figure hanging over both of them. And almost all of them have pointed out, David could have killed Saul numerous times, but out of reverence for God, he would not lay his hand on the anointed, the king. He had a respect for the position and the authority of Saul. Even though Saul was not good, and even though Saul was seeking to kill David, his love and respect for God led him to respect the position. Christian, if you only love, submit, honor, base upon your opinions of someone's, you're not thinking God's thoughts after him. If you only love, honor, and submit based upon how you feel about somebody, you're not thinking God's thoughts after him.

Let me just run through a list of these kinds of commands.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The reverence for Christ is your motivation and measure for why you submit to one another.

Wives submit to husbands as to the Lord.

The Lord is the measure and the reason why wives are called to submit to their husbands not how much they value or think their husband is worthy.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.

Not as much as you think she's lovely, but as Christ is the measure and rationale. Submit to and honor the emperor as the authority God has instituted over you. Christian, those qualifiers are the weighty part of the command. It's your worship.

Do you have a hard time submitting to governing authorities, honoring governors? Do you respect their practice and policy? If you struggle with this, I have a simple instruction. Let's go back to the second one. Pray. Pray for those governing authorities that you're wrestling with how to submit to them, how to honor them. Pray for your own heart that you would know and have wisdom as to where you are supposed to submit to and honor them more. There is a significant qualifier for what to give to Caesar. You do not give him everything. You do not give him worship. But we do give him taxes, prayer, honor, and obedience. Here's an important assumption in all scripture.

We were designed to be ruled. We were designed to be ruled, not autonomous. That's a lie. We're designed to be under rule, and we're designed to be under good rule. God ruled us in the garden, in all of goodness, and as we were good, that was a blissful place, a blessed place. But now because of sin, because of our rebellion, governments are necessary to protect us from sin and sinners with a sword. We need to be under rule. There are all kinds of awkward tension when it comes to figuring out where we obey, submit honor, and where we protest quietly or loudly. We're all called to subject ourselves to governing authorities. That's the first posture. And as you're wrestling with that, let's just put it in light of the gospel.

These Pharisees are going to hand Jesus over to Pilate, the governor. And as Pilate is asking him questions, and Jesus refused to answer, he says,

Answer me, do you not know who I am and do you not know what authority I have?

Jesus says,

you would have no authority if my heavenly father would not give it to you.

They're in the gospel.

Jesus is submitting himself to this governing authority, fully recognizing only God has given him authority, and that authority is to be used for the most egregious act of all humanity, to put the innocent son of God death. Even in the midst of that gospel moment, Jesus is making it clear there is no governing authority that does not have it from God first. And even though they are wicked with it, God is sovereign to bring about what is good and right. Another way we can look at that is from that New Testament reading earlier. The emperor Peter is telling us to honor? He's probably Nero, one of the most wicked Roman governors or emperors. Question I have for you, are you anxious about our government?

Trust God as God

Pray. If you wrestle with what is going on and how God is sovereign, go back to that gospel where Jesus himself is making it clear Pilate has no authority apart from God, and God is even sovereign over that evil to bring about his good. The second point, or the last point, trust God as God. Trust God as God. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, tax, honor, prayer, submission, and to God the things that are God. Well, what belongs to God?

Well, if you go to 1 Peter 2, there's a nice contrast.

Honor the emperor, fear God.

Revere him. That's a greater posture. There's a greater obedience. You don't worship the king. You don't worship Caesar. You do not give him that Augustus declaration. Before God, you fear and tremble.

Just as we were designed to be ruled, we were designed for worship. We have a default setting. It's hardwired. We're worshipers. We are worshiping. We will worship. We have a worship hardwired system. The problem is, after the fall, we have a virus that's infected everything.

And so we're always worshiping, but never God, apart from His grace. We're always worshiping, but now as natural-born idolaters. We worship anything and everything but God. According to God's word, we exchange His glory for things that He made, that have a glory, a reflection of His glory, but are not truly His glory. We refuse to worship God His way. We want to insist on our own way. Worshipping God means we submit to and obey everything he says in the most absolute way. Worshipping God means we submit and obey to everything he says in the most absolute way.

We'll see this as we look ahead in our text. In a couple of weeks, we'll look at a good question. What is the greatest commandment? Jesus answers. Verse 37,

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.

Love God with all who you are, in every way that you exist, at all times, in every place. Worshiping God means we seek to order our thoughts We seek to think as God has taught us to think. We order our desires, our affections, our loves, our devotion are to be ordered according to God with him being supreme. And out of that flows actions.

Worship begins in the mind. Does the Lord have your attention? How much time are you submitting to things not of the Lord meditating upon them or letting them infiltrate your mind versus what God has said? How much time is filth entertaining your mind forming you versus God who brings his word that shines light, that reorders, that sets you free from lies and establishes you in truth? Worship begins with a mind and then affects the heart.

As you have better thoughts of who God is and what is right and good and true, your desires are transformed. You learn to love what is truly lovely. You learn to love according to what God has created you for. It's amazing. Your desires can be transformed. It's one of those freeing declarations in all of Christianity. The core of who you are, your desires, are transformed by the gospel. And with that, our behaviors, the words we use, how we speak, what we say, our calendars are redeemed, what we put in pen and what we put in pencil.

That really is worship. What are we most devoted to? The word serve. is one of those words in worship. Who are we serving with our time, our efforts? Give to God what belongs to God. All of your devotion. Fully delighting in who He is. We all belong to God. We all should give him all that we are because he created us for himself. That's the first most basic truth. God created us. We depend upon him. We belong to him.

Even though we've sinned against him, we should give him all that we are because he created us. That's true of every human being. Christian. you also belong to God with all of who you are in all of your being. Because if you believed in Jesus, he's bought you with his precious blood. He's redeemed you with his life. He's claimed you as his own.

He's come to to be with us, unite us with himself to take us all out of our sin and all of our sin. So that we can be his and enjoy him once again. We must see our days, commitments, time as all things to steward according to God's word. This is what is so fun about Christianity.

False religions weigh people down. False religions add weight. They take away human dignity. and make you think you've got to go through hoops and jumps and traps that really don't ever free you. God's true religion restores you to the glory God gave to you. God's true religion frees you to know Him outside of your sin. True religion lifts you up so that you delight in His law. That's so good and true.

The reality is we all want a little taste of the glory. We all want some sense of what glory is. God designed you for that and Christ gives it to you. Do you want to be more glorious? Whatever that means for you, more prestige, more power, more money, better looks, whatever your glory is, we all want something more.

Give to God what belongs to God

Christ offers it in his death and resurrection. That's where real glory is received and real glory is restored. Give to God what is God's. Trust Him. It goes back to our first point, listen to what Jesus is saying. To give God His right place, to give to God what belongs to God We listen to Him and trust Him above every voice. He determines what is right, good, and true. And then after listening to Him, we give Him faithful obedience. Not just hearing and acknowledging, but listening and doing.

Devoting yourself to Him. Committing all of your life to Him. What should you give God? Your love. This is where that great command is tied to the gospel. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your mind, your soul, your strength, your body, all of your being. How? Or why? Love God because He first loved you. You don't have to muster the strength to figure out how to love God. You simply have to receive that God so loved you in your sin that he sent his son to die for you.

That stirs up the love. The love we don't have for God, he gives to us as we simply receive his love. We simply receive Jesus who laid down his life for us. The power of the gospel is that you fix your love. The power of the gospel is that he loves us and then stirs our love back up to him. He does not love us because we're lovely. He loves us to make us lovely. He loves us so that we can love him.

And if you think that command is daunting, God's commandment is this. Love the God who is most loving and love the God who is most lovely. Find your freedom and glory in loving the God who is most lovely and loving. That's my challenge for you this week. Go ahead and do it for two weeks, because as we come back to that greatest commandment, we're gonna come right back here. God's high calling for you, Christian, to receive his great love so that you love him. Receive the greatest love ever given so that you can receive him and love him who loves you.

Will you pray with me? Father, forgive us for loving and worshiping things that we produce, or even ourselves more than you. Our priorities, our desires. Forgive us for not wanting to follow you in every way. We thank you that you are the God who has revealed yourself in such great love, We thank you that you've revealed yourself as a one God of all glory. Lord, may we know how to receive your love. May you stir up within us the love you've created us to have for you. May we know how to respect our governing authorities as we worship you. In Jesus name we pray, amen.