Gracious Heavenly Father, we
pray that You would be so pleased to open Your Word to us and stir
our hearts, give us a sight of the Lord Jesus Christ and His
greatness. Help us to understand how utterly
helpless we are and how much we need Him and find all of our
need in Him. Find Him to be all of our praise.
and thank you, and express our gratitude towards you in our
heart, with our mouth, and with our lives. In Jesus' name we
pray, amen. Matthew 17, verse 22. Now the
disciples and the Lord Jesus were more and more, as we're
getting later and later in the book of Matthew, spending less
time with the multitude and more time alone. And here we read
this in verse 22, and while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said
to them, the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of
men, and they shall kill Him. And the third day He shall be
raised again, and they were exceeding sorry. It says in one of the
other Gospels, they were afraid to ask Him. Peter had, the last
time, he said pretty much the same thing in verse 21 of chapter
16. Peter had said, far be it from
thee, Lord. He began to rebuke Jesus. And
remember, Jesus turned to him and said, get behind me, Satan.
And so maybe there was some thought of that in their minds as they
heard him say this. But in any case, he's telling
them again what must happen here and that it's about to happen
soon. Verse 24. And when they were come to Capernaum,
they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, does
not your master pay tribute? And he said, yes. And when he
was come into the house, when Peter was come into the house,
where Jesus was, Jesus prevented him. The word prevented is an
old English word. In this case, it means he anticipated
what he was going to say. Prevent sometimes means go before
or anticipate. So he anticipated what he's going
to say, and saying, Jesus said, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of
whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their
own children or of strangers? Peter said, Of strangers. Jesus
said to him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we
should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast and hook, and
take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast opened
his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, that take, and give
unto them for me and thee. It's amazing, isn't it? I don't
know how big the sea was near Capernaum. It's a big place,
remember? The Sea of Galilee, I'm presuming
that's which sea he's talking about here. Can you imagine telling
someone to go fish? Take the first fish you find
and you'll find the money that we need to pay our taxes there.
That's amazing. Well, there's really two things
in this scripture. First, the first thing is what
Jesus said He must do soon. Jesus tells His disciples again
that He must die and rise again. In Matthew 16, 21, He had emphasized
that He must. He must because God must be glorified. God must be glorified. God must
because God's will must be done. Nothing more certain than that.
There's only one thing that will be done in this world when it's
all said and done. It's the will of God. And He must because God
required it for the salvation of His people to bring them to
glory. And He must also do it because by His death He would
defeat all of God's enemies and the enemies of God's people.
And He must because it was God's purpose, His eternal purpose,
to glorify His Son as the God-man mediator to set Him on His throne
as God and man. And in Him, God would glorify
Himself. So He must for all those reasons.
God would show through the Lord Jesus Christ to chosen sinners
His great love and His mercy. His grace and His power to save,
God's power to save. We don't really think about it
so much about his power, at least I don't, so much as I do his
mercy. But it was his power to save.
And what way was it his power to save? Well, we think about
God's power because he had power over such strong enemies as our
sin and Satan. And that is power. But there
was something even more strong than those things. God's anger
against sin was powerful. It says in the Proverbs that
it is the It is the, I can't remember the
exact word, but it is the discretion, I think it says the discretion
of a man to defer his anger. God's power was displayed in
deferring His anger against those who deserved it and pouring out
His judgment instead on His Son. That took great power. Have you
ever restrained yourself from showing anger? It takes great
power, doesn't it? In God's case, it was a just
anger, it was a righteous anger, and God poured it out on His
Son in satisfaction to His justice. That took great power. And God
is also glorified in the death of His Son because in His wisdom
In God's wisdom, He found in Christ a ransom for His people. It was His holiness and righteousness
that required no less payment than the payment of His Son.
It was His love that willingly offered His Son. It was His grace
that did all for sinners, leaving nothing for them to do or contribute,
because He will have all the glory. Our salvation is certain
because God's own nature, His character, and His will determined
it and required it. Scripture foretold that the Lord
Jesus Christ would suffer and die. It was eternally in the
heart of Christ to perform this for His Father, to save His people
and for Himself, to glorify God and to glorify Himself in the
salvation of His people. This glory of God in Christ is
now made known to all for whom Christ died. In the preaching
of the gospel, Jesus Christ the Lord is lifted up, and God's
own Spirit gives sinners to see and believe Him alone. They find all their salvation
in Him. They rejoice, they glorify God for His mercy, they praise
Him, and they trust Christ, and they have peace and joy in believing.
And this glorifies God. They hope in Christ. They call
upon Him in the day of trouble. And in their salvation, God is
glorified. That's why it must be. And that's
why it was coming. And it was coming soon. And the
Lord tells His disciples before it happens, so that they would
know that He understands all things. He has all knowledge.
He has all power. And you think about that, that
He has all knowledge and all power, and yet He went to the
cross. It shows us the great love of
our Savior for His people. Now, I want to consider the second
part of this scripture here. It says that there was something
else that happened. There was this tribute money.
And I want to take the first part of what Jesus said that
he would do soon, that he would be betrayed, Judas was going
to betray him, into the hands of men, and he would suffer and
die and rise again. according to God's will, but
also here what we see is this matter of the tribute money.
Now, before we get into all the details of that, I want to give
you a summary, so you can keep your place, sort of, as we go
through this. So, to anticipate what is taught
here in this account, let me summarize it to you, because
it wasn't obvious to me when I read through this. in my own
studies. So, the tribute that is spoken
of here was actually not a tax by the Roman government. We're
going to see that as we go through this. Actually, it was a half-shekel
ransom money that God required in the Old Testament for all
of the Israelites to pay Every time that they were numbered,
so any time that they took a count of the people, each person counted
had to give a half shekel of ransom money. So the tribute
was therefore not a Roman tax, but a ransom price. It was paid
as an offering to God. to make atonement for the souls
of all who were numbered." The money was used then, that was
collected, it was used in the temple, in the service of the
temple, and it served as a memorial of the price God required for
the atonement of the children of Israel. Now, in this account
here in Matthew 17, Jesus asked Peter if the kings of the earth
collect taxes from their children or from strangers. Peter said,
of course, from strangers, and Jesus told him, then are the
children free. So understand that a ransom is
a price that's paid to a creditor who is owed a debt. And that
creditor holds the person owing the debt in prison until the
ransom is paid. But once it's paid, the creditor
is satisfied and the debtor is freed, just as the children of
the kings of the earth are exempt from paying taxes. So when a
king has subjects, he doesn't collect taxes from his children.
The king doesn't have to pay the taxes. His children don't
have to pay the taxes. His subjects do, and especially
foreigners have to pay the taxes. So just as the kings of the earth
and their children are exempt from paying taxes, even so the
King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His children are
exempt from paying this typical ransom money that was required
in the Old Testament. Because the true ransom was paid
by the King Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
He paid our ransom to God, and therefore we are free. You and
I contribute only our sin. Christ contributes his blood,
and he redeems us to God by his blood. What could be more secure
in our salvation than that the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the
God of glory, would pay with his own blood to ransom his people
from the debt that they owed to God as creditor for their
sins. So the word tribute in this passage
of scripture actually means a double drachma. That was a kind of money. A silver coin that was equal
to a half shekel. Turn with me to Exodus chapter
30, where God instructs Moses what to do when to count these
people. This is where the law was laid
down in Exodus chapter 30, beginning at verse 12. In verse 11 it says, "...the Lord
spake to Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children
of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man
a ransom for his soul unto the Lord." when thou number'st them,
that there be no plague among them when thou number'st them."
This, they shall give everyone that passes among them that are
numbered half a shekel." After the shekel of the sanctuary,
a shekel is 20 giras. A half shekel shall be the offering
of the Lord. Everyone that passes among them
that are numbered from 20 years old and above shall give an offering
to the Lord. The rich shall not give more
and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel. when they
give an offering to the Lord to make an atonement for your
souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children
of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle
of the congregation, that it may be a memorial to the children
of Israel before the Lord to make atonement for your souls."
So the first thing you see here is that a count is being taken.
Those who are counted are the children of Israel. Verse 12,
it says, when you take the sum of the children of Israel. All
who were counted contributed to the sum, the tally, the tally
of those that make up the children of Israel. Those are the people
of God. Now, the amount that was paid
was half a shekel. This is the word that's used
in Matthew 17, 24, where it's actually used in the Greek as
a double drachma. The ransom price God required
in Exodus, which was one half a shekel, is the same as the
money that Peter paid from what Christ provided for him and himself
out of the fish's mouth. So the same ransom price must
be paid for everyone. Everyone counted whether rich
or poor, young or old. No matter how young or how old
they were counted, how rich or how poor, there's only one price
that God will accept for the ransom. Look at 1 Peter 1. In verse 18 and 19, there was
a ransom prize that was paid. And the way that... There's another
word that's used. It's used even in our culture
today, but it's misused in our culture. I need to understand
what it means in the Bible. The word is redemption, or to
be redeemed. To be redeemed means to have
liberty because a ransom was paid. Someone who owes a debt
and is in prison lawfully because they owed the debt, has to pay
in order to be released from that prison. And the price paid
is called the ransom, and the liberty to which they're freed
is being redeemed or set free. So the whole thing is called
redemption. But in 1 Peter 1, verse 18, it says, For as much
as you know that you were not redeemed, with corruptible things
as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by
the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." We don't give
money to be ransomed. God set this up in order to teach
us that we had to be ransomed and also to look forward to the
fact that God Himself would provide the price of that ransom, and
the price was the precious blood of Christ. We don't give the
blood of Christ in ransom to God. Christ offered Himself. But we come to God by Him. In Hebrews 7.25 it says that
the Lord Jesus is able to save to the uttermost them that come
to God by Him. He is our ransom. By faith we
come by the ransom of Christ's blood. It says in Hebrews 10,
19, having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus. Since it is Christ who died,
and since all God looks for is the blood of Christ, then we
should come boldly. If He doesn't look for anything
but Christ's blood, and Christ shed His blood, then we should
come boldly. Is there anything that God looks
for in us? For ransom? No. He doesn't look
for anything in us. He has found a ransom in His
Son. So, when you and I have nothing
to pay, when you and yourself and I and myself are helpless
and hopeless, and when we see that what God has seen, and what
God has provided, and what God has received, that He's received
from Christ a payment to the uttermost farthing, as it says
in scripture, a farthing is one-fourth of a penny. When he's received
that from Christ for sinners, even the sinfulest sinners, and
he lets sinners go free, and he tells us about this in the
gospel. It should cause us to come boldly,
gladly, thankfully, and with full liberty to God by Christ. God tells us about our sin. We have failed in every way to
honor God. And He tells us that. But He
doesn't tell us so that we'll try to come with a payment. Men
spend eternity in hell and they'll never pay the debt they owe God.
So an eternity of your suffering will never pay the debt you owe
God. Nor does God tell us this so
that we will just wallow in the misery of our sin. He tells us
these things so our eyes will be lifted up to look at the Lord
Jesus Christ and find in Him everything that God desires and
looks for sinners who are justly under His wrath. So it was an
offering to the Lord. Back in Exodus, if you recall,
it was an offering that was paid to the Lord. Christ offered Himself
to God. Why was a ransom required in
the first place? Well, you see, sin is transgression
of God's law. We break God's law when we sin.
It's God's law. Because we break His law, our
sin is against God only. David said, "...against Thee,
Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight."
Because God's law is the law that was broken. We didn't break
the President's law when we sinned. We don't break the laws of our
parents. We break God's law. God's the
One. So, we have broken God's law. Now, in this arrangement, God
is our creditor. We owe Him our immortal souls,
but we robbed God of His glory by sinning against Him. We've
taken to ourselves what belongs only to Him, some merit for our
standing. When we put trust in anything,
or in anyone, or we take credit for doing something, or place
any hope for our acceptance before God in anything, but what God
requires and has provided, and what God has even accepted, that
is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, crucified for sinners, then we
rob God of His glory. If we take confidence in our
religious works, Or in philosophy of men. Or science. Or our spiritual
experiences. Or money. Or things that provide
security to us. Or our parentage. Or anything. Things that we serve to seek
our own pleasure. Or think. Things that we speak
and act for our own pride. We rob God. Romans 3.23 says,
"...all have come short..." of the glory of God. We have fallen
short in doing the one thing we were created to do, which
is to glorify God. And having fallen short, we cannot
see the glory of God. By this, because of this, we
owe God a life in return for the life He gave to us. and which
we forfeited by our sinning. Therefore, I and you are in debt
to God for our own soul. I owe God a life in repayment
for what He's given me. I cannot pay this debt, and no
man can pay it for me. Look at Psalm 49, verse 7. It
says in verse 6, "...they that trust in their wealth and boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches." Now, riches here
can mean physical riches like gold and silver. Men do trust
that. But it can also mean any kind
of wealth. We might consider ourselves wealthy
spiritually in what we've done. He says, "...but they that trust
in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches,
none of them... can by any means redeem his brother, nor give
to God a ransom for him." You can't redeem your brother, you
can't redeem yourself. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but the blood of Christ, the
Lamb of God. God's own dear and only begotten
Son. Christ Himself redeemed us to
God by His own blood. That's what they say in heaven.
In Revelations 5-9 it says, Thou hast redeemed us to God by Your
own blood. That's what we'll sing. Out of
every kindred and tongue, nation and people throughout the world. Christ gave himself to God in
offering for his people as payment in their place to pay our debt. And it was a ransom. That ransom
that he paid obtained an eternal redemption. Look at Hebrews chapter
9. In verse 11, he's talking about the old priest that didn't
accomplish anything. He says, "...but Christ being
come, and high priest of good things to come." Hebrews 9.11.
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, is a tabernacle in heaven, neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us." If He obtained eternal redemption for us, it means a
ransom was paid. It means a liberty was granted
to the prisoners. He entered once into the holy
place. He entered with His blood, and
He obtained redemption for us, and it was an eternal redemption. We are eternally set free. from the condemnation of sin.
Eternally set free from the guilt of our sin. Eternally set free
from the dominion of sin. We don't experience in ourselves,
it doesn't seem like we're free from the dominion of sin, does
it? But what if God says, sin shall not have dominion over
you? You're not under the law, but under grace, in Romans 6.14. Or in Romans 5.21, where it says
that the Lord Jesus Christ has... I'm trying to remember what it
says there. Let me turn there just quickly.
He says in Romans 5.21, As sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life."
God's grace reigns to eternal life because of the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. What if God says these things?
Or what if He says in Romans 6, 17, "...but God be thanked
that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." Who
are you going to believe? Are you going to believe your
experience or God's Word? You see, faith is all about seeing
those things that are invisible. It's about seeing things that
we can't tangibly lay our hands on because God has said it. And
what God says is as good as what God does. What He says is as
good as done. You know, it used to be that
men would give their word, and that was good enough. You didn't
need any kind of a signature. You just gave your word. It doesn't
work that way nowadays. You have to not only sign about
40 copies of everything, but you also have to put down a huge
payment to protect, and insurance on that, to protect the creditor
so that you won't default. Because man's word is worth nothing
nowadays. Men have gotten smart. They realize,
yeah, man, he's not trustworthy. But God can be trusted. If He
has said it, He will also do it. And God has said His people
are not condemned, and sin shall not have dominion, and I believe
it. The half-shekel ransom price made atonement for the souls
of the numbered people. It was a sign to show that atonement
is by ransom. When we talk about atonement,
it means that God has received full satisfaction. in payment. And not only that he's received
satisfaction, but the cause, the debt, the sin that caused
us to, that required our atonement to be made, that sin has been
put away. And God now forgives. That's
the result of redemption. He forgives that sin. So atonement
must be made, and it must be made by a ransom. A ransom must
be paid, an offering to the Lord to atone for all those counted
as children in Israel. All who were part of Israel must
pay a ransom to the Lord. The same amount was required
for everyone. Christ gave His life for all
those in the Israel of God. That's what atonement is. The
Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest, offered Himself to God to make
atonement for all who were in the Israel of God. It says in
Ephesians chapter 1, let's turn to that one too while we're turning
to these. Ephesians chapter 1, God in verse 3 says, He's blessed
us in Christ with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. And then in verse 4 He says,
according Those blessings are according to what He has done
before the foundation of the world. According as He has chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world for this purpose
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. According
to this purpose, it says, "...having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom," in
Christ, the Beloved, We have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. That's
the freedom. We have this liberty. We were
bound before God in the prison of our own sin and unbelief.
And the guilt of our sin cried out to God for our condemnation.
Christ paid the ransom price. Our sins are forgiven us for
His sake. God sets us free from the debt
we owed. We have no sin because of what
Christ has done. That's the gospel. To be the
children of God, to be the children of Israel, we must be numbered
and ransomed. We must be chosen and given to
Christ. Christ must redeem us by His
blood. God's choosing is our adoption. Remember what the word adoption
means? Adopt is a word that's made up of two things. Ad and
opto, it means to choose. It's an option. God made the
choice. And in that choice, God chose us to be His sons. He put us among the children
by giving us to Christ. But we cannot be His sons unless
we're also redeemed. all sons must be redeemed by
ransom, and that ransom price is the blood of Christ." That's
why he says here in Ephesians 1-5 that we were predestinated
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. And so, Because by God the Father we
were adopted, chosen, and numbered among the children, therefore
Christ ransomed us by offering Himself in our place, His life
in payment for our life." Remember, we owe our creditor an entire
life which we cannot pay, even by the eternal sufferings of
our own self, besides the fact that we owe Him a perfect obedience
to glorify Him, and we can't provide any of those. Because
Christ paid Himself as the ransom, God has forgiven all of our sins
for Christ's sake. And having been redeemed by the
blood of Christ, by the blood of Christ, God gives His Spirit
to us to know that Christ is our all. That He is the full
ransom price that has obtained our eternal redemption. Look
at Galatians, back a couple pages from Ephesians. Look at Galatians
chapter 4. In verse 4 through 6, he says,
"...but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons." How did we receive the adoption of sons? We had
to be redeemed. God sent forth His Son to do that. He first
had to be born, made of a woman. He had to be under the law. He
was made under the law by God making Him a man and putting
Him under that law. And He was made under that law
in order that He Himself might redeem those who were under the
law. that they who were redeemed might receive the adoption of
sons. And in verse 6, And because you are sons, sons by God's choice,
sons by Christ's redemption, God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, My Father. That's what it means. Oh, my
Father. We speak to God as our Father,
looking to Christ as our Redeemer, and trusting that all of our
acceptance is in Him. Now, all who are numbered in
Exodus 30 are ransomed. Did you notice that? All who
are ransomed are also numbered. There are none counted for the
seed who are not also numbered. I mean, those who are counted
are numbered, but there's none who are counted that are not
also ransomed. So look at Romans chapter 9. You see this word counted here. In Romans chapter 9, you've probably
heard this verse a number of times, but it's good to see it.
The question was raised, well, if God made all these promises
to the nation of Israel, and if they failed, why did they
fail? Was there something deficient in God? And the answer comes
back in verse 6 of Romans 9. It's not as though the word of
God has taken none effect. It's not like God has failed.
At that point you might think, well, yeah, it's us that failed. God's Word can only go so far. He can only save those who help
Him, or have something to work within them. But that's not what
He means here. He's actually saying, no, if they were sinners
and God's Word couldn't save them, then God was unable or
something deficient in God's Word to save them even in spite
of their sins. But he says, the whole nation
of Israel was not part of God's intentions. He says, for they
are not all Israel which are of Israel. That's the reason
why they're not all saved. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham, physical seed, are they all children, children
of God. But, God says this in the Old
Testament, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children
of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Now here we have the truth in
Exodus 30, that all those who were numbered had to be ransomed. A redemption price had to be
paid. So I want to emphasize this for a moment. Whenever the
children of Israel are counted, each person counted must pay
a ransom for their soul to the Lord. None could be counted for
God's people unless they were ransomed. And none paid the ransom
but those who were counted. The sum of the total ransom price
was the sum of the number of those counted as the children
of Israel. You know, if they had this big
box and everyone's throwing their shekel into the box, half-shekel
into the box, the ransom price. If they want to know how many
people there were, all they have to do is count the half-shekels.
Because there's got to be a half-shekel for everyone in Israel. The same
people who are counted are those who are ransomed. All who were
chosen by God are counted for the seed. All ransomed by the
blood of Christ are counted by God as His children, the children
of Israel. So all who are ransomed by Christ's blood are the children. And that's what we just read
in Romans 9, 8. I can't be numbered unless I'm ransomed by blood.
That's what Exodus is teaching. If I am ransomed, I am numbered. Jesus said in John 17, 10. Look at this with me in John
17, 10. These things, I actually wrote
a little thing on this in a bulletin last week. It might have been
too long to read, so I'll try to condense it. He says in John
17, 10, to his father, he says, Jesus speaking to his father,
all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified
in them. Now, it's easy to say that if
If I was one of nine children and my dad was the father and
my mom was the mother, I could say, mom, dad, everything I have
is yours. And that would be fine for me
to say that. But it doesn't mean that everything
they have is mine, does it? But here, the Lord Jesus Christ
is saying, everything that is mine is yours to His Father.
And then He turns around the other way and says, and everything
that's yours is mine. What that means is there's no
difference between what belongs to the Son and what belongs to
the Father. There's nothing outside of that
thing. Those who belong to the Son also
belong to the Father. And He says here, and I am glorified
in them. All that belong to the Son and
the Father, Christ is glorified in them by His salvation of them. And so, that's what I wanted
to point out. Not all in the world are numbered
as God's Israel. Therefore, not all in the world
are ransomed. Not all in the world were chosen.
Therefore, not all in the world were redeemed. All who are chosen
are redeemed and numbered. All of those are the Israel of
God. And all of them believe. Every
soul ransomed by Christ is preserved. Look back at Exodus chapter 30. See this there? I read it, but
just to point out the details of the verse one more time to
you. In Exodus 30 verse 12, look at this. He says, When you take
the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then they
shall give every man a ransom for his soul to the Lord, when
thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them when
they are numbered." You see, if we are plagued because we're
either numbered without a ransom, we try to conclude ourselves
as God's people, but we don't have a ransom prize. We come
to God apart from Christ, we come without a ransom. And if
we come as if we're numbered, but we're not numbered because
we're not looking to Christ and we're not part of God's people.
And so he says you'd be plagued. If you try to number yourself
in Israel without a ransom, you're going to be under the plague.
And actually this happened later. If you remember, God moved David
to number Israel. And when he did, God plagued
Israel because he didn't take a ransom price for each person
numbered. And that was a great sin, and
David confessed it, and God received his offering. It's a different
story, but just to make reference to it here. So, the poor and
the rich all had to give the same ransom. It didn't matter
how many possessions you had, because our possessions make
no difference to God. He will have the same ransom
price to atone for every soul He redeems. And that price is
the blood of Christ. John Gill said this, Though some
sins and sinners are greater than others, and some are redeemed
from more sins than others, yet all sins, being infinite, as
committed against an infinite God, but one price is paid for
all, and that is the precious blood of Christ, the Son of God,
an infinite and divine person. Hence, all the ransomed ones
have the same faith, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life. Christ gave himself a ransom
for many. The ransom was offered to the
Lord. By our sin we forfeited our lives. Christ offered himself
to God. We're not redeemed with silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. He offered himself
in the place of God's chosen people. He paid the debt God
demanded for our sins. Christ assumed our debt when
He took our place as our surety, and God looked no more to us
for the payment of our debt. He only looked to Christ and
received it from Him. This is the wonder of God's salvation
to us. Notice in Exodus chapter 30,
it says that this would be a memorial to the children of Israel before
the Lord to make atonement for your souls. Now, what this means
is that the Lord, by this ransom money, was putting the children
of Israel in remembrance of the fact that A. they were sinners
and had forfeited their lives and B. God had made an atonement. Typically, through the ransom
money pointing to Christ who would actually pay with His own
life. And then the other thing is that the money was collected
in order to do the service of God. I want you to turn to 1
Corinthians chapter 6 with me. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. On your way to 1 Corinthians,
stop off at Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. Look at this
in verse 28. It says Paul is speaking to the
elders, the pastors in Ephesians, the church of Ephesians, in the
book of Acts, chapter 20, verse 28. He says, "...take heed therefore
to yourselves, these pastors, to all the flock, over which
the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which
He has purchased with His own blood." You see that? The purchased
price was the blood of God. It says the blood of God. You
think, well, how does God have blood? Well, God doesn't have
blood. God doesn't have a body. He's
Spirit. Well, then why does it say the blood of God? Well, because
the Son of God, who is God, took a human nature to Himself in
union with His own divine nature. And when He had that human nature
in union with His divine nature, He Himself paid the ransom price. So that God can speak of it as
God's blood. It was the blood of the Son of
God. That is correct language because
it was His human nature, Himself. He offered Himself to God. Look
at 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 20. Actually, yes, let's read
verse 20. He says, "...for you are bought
with a price." Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God's. God has purchased His people
with the blood of His Son and saved us to His glory. What should
we do? He tells us here, you're bought
with a price in body and soul, in life and in death, you belong
to your faithful Savior. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your soul, which are Christ's. There's another
verse I want you to turn to if you don't mind. Look at Psalm
86. Psalm chapter 86. Sometimes I know the verses that
I'm going to use, and then I just write them in there. But this
one, I hadn't seen it until I was doing this study. I love this
verse here. Look at Psalm 86 verse 12. I
will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will
glorify thy name forever." Don't you desire to do that? In the
Psalms, in Psalm 119, it says, "...make me to go in the path
of thy commandments, for therein do I delight." I delight in them,
but I have to be made to go in those ways. And it's my delight
to praise God for all of my salvation. Now back to Matthew 17, if you
want to turn back there. When the disciples came to Capernaum,
those that collected the tribute, which we've talked about here,
asked Peter if his master paid that double drachma, that tribute,
which is the half-shekel ransom. And Peter replied, yes he does.
And when Peter returned to the house, I think it was his house
where Jesus was staying, Jesus asked Peter, He asked him that
question, of whom do the kings of this earth collect this money?
And Peter said, well they collect it from strangers, not from children. And so then He says, then are
the children free. And then Jesus said, notwithstanding,
in verse 27, lest we should offend them, Go thou to the sea, and
cast in a hook, take up the first fish, and open his mouth, and
you'll find what we need to pay them." And take that and pay
them. That's amazing, isn't it? This is one of those accounts
where we can read it quickly and we don't think too much.
We tend to do that because we're used to just reading things because
it's the newspaper or magazine or something insignificant. And
we pass over it because there's so much information. But this
is amazing here. The Lord Jesus Christ sends a
man to the sea, tells him, cast in your hook, take the first
fish that you bring up, open its mouth, and you'll find a
whole shekel in there, because we need two half shekels to pay
for us, and take it and pay that money. Amazing! The whole sea
of fish. And the Lord Jesus Christ directs
His one fish, by His sovereign authority, to come to the hook
that Peter's going to cast in. And Peter's going to catch that
one fish, that first fish, and there he's going to have this
money in his mouth. How could the fish even afford to get a
hook in his mouth? He's already got this money in his mouth.
Too many things here. Why didn't Jesus just pull this
coin off of the dirt or something? Because He wants to show us His
sovereign authority over all things. He has complete knowledge
of everything, even the smallest thing, the fish of the sea. Psalm
135, verse 6 says that the Lord has done whatsoever He has pleased
in heaven. And in the earth, and in the
sea, and in all deep places. Whatever He pleases, He does.
And all these things. Known unto God are all His works
from the foundation of the world. This is incomprehensible. The knowledge that the Lord Jesus
Christ has. It's complete. It's perfect.
About everything in the past, in the present, and in the future.
Nothing is hidden from His eyes. It says in Hebrews 4.13, there's
nothing hidden from His eyes with whom we have to do. Everything
is open to Him. And it's all known to Him as
if it has already happened. The future is as the past to
Him, because He has directed the future by His will. So in
Acts 2.23 it says, "...by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God." The determinate counsel is what God has determined in
His counsel to be done. And His foreknowledge is what
He knows will be done, because He determined it. He knows everything. There's not one thing God doesn't
know, and there's no time when God doesn't know all things.
And He never loses this knowledge. It's amazing. So the Lord Jesus,
when Peter walks in, He says, Peter, let me tell you, I heard
the conversation you had. I know the words. I know what
you're thinking and about to say. And now I'm going to ask
you a question. And based on his answer, he sends
him to the sea to get this fish with the money in its mouth.
This is the Lord who just said to his disciples that he's going
to go and be betrayed and be put to death and killed and rise
again. So that's why I've entitled this
message ransomed by my sovereign Savior." This is the one who
ransomed us. Everything is in His hands. And
He knows what it takes to ransom us. He knows what God requires. He knows our condition. Sometimes
you think, oh man, I've committed a sin. I don't even know if God
can forgive me. He knew what you were going to
do before the foundation of the world. It's all present in His
eternal now. And so, The Lord Jesus knows
all this and so it's meant to lift our eyes from the filth
and shame and corruption of our sin to look at our Savior. That's
what the gospel is meant to do. To take our eyes off of our nothingness
and look to Christ who is all. Now here, the Lord Jesus says
His people are exempt. Jesus Christ is the King of Glory. Psalm 24 calls Him the King of
Glory. In Psalm 2, it says, I will set
my King upon my holy hill of Zion. In Hebrews 7, He's called
the King of Righteousness, the King of Peace. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the King in the Kingdom of God. He's the Lord of Lords
and the King of Kings. He's exempt. He's exempt from
paying this ransom. And His people are exempt because
He has paid the ransom for them. He paid it with His own blood.
Therefore, the children are free. And yet, the Lord here says to
Peter, He says, I want you to go and I want you to pay this
ransom lest we offend them. Isn't that what He says here?
Lest we offend these men. It was his father's house that
they collected the money to repair the temple, but the temple was
his father's house. In John 2.16 he says, don't make
my father's house a house of merchandise, when he drove out
the money changers. And it was his temple Remember,
in Malachi 3, God says, I will send my messenger, he'll prepare
the way before me, John the Baptist, and the Lord, Jesus, whom you
seek, shall suddenly come to His temple. So it's His temple. And He's greater than the physical
temple. Matthew 12, verse 6 says, and this place is one greater
than the temple. So, He's exempt. And in Hebrews
3, 6, it says, We are His house if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. It's not an
if as if it's a conditional thing that God's people won't. It's
an if that God's going to fulfill. But we're identified as God's
people by holding fast this confidence that Christ is our all, that
God has provided and accepted Him for His people. And we come
as sinners trusting entirely to Him and nothing to ourselves. And He says, That confidence
in Christ. If you look to Him, to the end,
you are the household of God. You are the children of God.
You are the children of Abraham. And so we are also free. And
yet the Lord says, lest we offend them. Now, this was a matter
that had... Jesus had not yet gone to the
cross. He had not yet paid the ransom price. So the law, in
actuality, hadn't yet been fulfilled, but in God's purpose, and in
His Word, it had been fulfilled. Even though it hadn't been fulfilled,
the children were free, the king was free. And yet, because the
law had not yet been put away here, Christ is not going to
offend these men who are doing this because they think it's
required by the law. It's a matter really of indifference
at this point. And anytime there's a matter
of indifference, what should we do? Well, we shouldn't offend
them. We don't offend them. If eating
meat offends my brother, then I'm not going to eat meat. So that's what it says in Romans.
And so we're not going to do that. In Proverbs, listen to
a couple of verses here in Proverbs. Proverbs 13.10. It says, "...only
by pride cometh contention." How many times do you find yourself
in a squabble? And you wonder, how did I get
into this squabble? It must be that other person's
fault. But it says here, only by pride cometh contention. Don't
think it's the pride of the other person. If you're squabbling,
by pride comes this squabbling, this contention. And then in
Proverbs 17, 14 it says, The beginning of strife is as when
one lets water out, therefore leave off contention before it
be meddled with. Once you let water out, it's
impossible to regather it. You can't get it unless you pour
it into a basin or something. But if you pour it on the ground,
you can't scoop it up again. Therefore, like that, don't let
contention even get started. Suppress it. Don't offend when
there's no cause to be for offense. If the gospel is at stake, then
by all means stand firm. If the truth of God, the truth
of Christ, and the truth of the gospel is at stake, then stand
up like a lion. But if it's only a matter where
you can step down and even take humiliation in order to avoid
offense, then by all means, step aside. Don Fortner said this,
there's only one matter over which we must never compromise,
that is the truth of the gospel. We must never give up God's rights
as God, but we must always be willing to give up our own. Look
at a couple of verses here, and we'll close. Look at Philippians
chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 is a good
chapter to go to whenever you have an issue with contention. Whenever there's a fight, whether
it's in your family, in your church, or on the job, or whatever,
politics, or whatever, just think about these things. Philippians
chapter 2, he says, I'm just going to direct your eyes to
specific phrases. Look at verse 3, "...let nothing
be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind
let each esteem other better than themselves." That's the
problem. We think we're better. We think
we're right. And we've got to have our way.
And so we assert ourselves. And that's needless. It's just a cause for that is
pride. We can't let it go. And I know
a lot about this because I experience it every day. Look at another
verse over here in the same chapter. Look at verse 14. Do all things
without murmurings and disputings. that you may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day
of Christ." So what Paul is saying here, and you can read the whole
chapter if you want to see the motivation, is what Christ has
done. He humbled Himself. When He was innocent, when He
was right, He humbled Himself and He took the blame. for his
people's sins in order that he might remove their contention
with God. That is humility. And let that
mind be in you and me, which is also in Christ Jesus." So
Jesus says to Peter, just pay the tax. We don't want to offend
them. There's no point making an issue
of this right now. The Lord would make an issue
of it later. When in Hebrews chapter 8 he says, "...that which
is decaying and waxing old is ready to vanish away." That's
the law. If you trust in the law, then you're not trusting
Christ. But Christ has paid it all. And
all to Him we owe. We owe Him our life. We owe Him
our soul. And we owe Him everything because
He ransomed us by His precious blood. Let's pray. Father, thank
you for this price that was required. It reflects your holiness and
justice that you wouldn't let any sin go unpunished. And thank
you for this price that was paid because it reflects your grace
and your mercy and your love for your people. That you would
let no barrier come between you and those whom you had chosen
in Christ and love from eternity. But you found a way to save us
for your glory. and for our salvation to bring
us to yourself and to make known your glory to us both by faith
now and in eternal glory hereafter. Lord, we pray this mercy on all
here today. We pray, Lord, that you would
give us a sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us see the glory
of God in his face in the gospel and change us into that same
image from glory to glory as we behold him And Lord, we pray
that you would take all honor and praise for doing this. Let
us not only in our hearts be glad, but with our mouth and
with our lives, live to your glory. In Jesus' name we pray,
amen.