Another instance of our Lord's
amazing wisdom, power, grace, patience, pity, provisions for
His people. Another clear proof, too, that
this is God's Word when there's so much to be found in just a
few verses. Look at Matthew 17, verses 24
through 27. And when they were come to Capernaum,
they received tribute money. They that received tribute money
came to Peter and said, Does not your master pay tribute?
Peter said, Yes. And he went into the house and
the Lord Jesus walked in front of him, stopped him, prevented
him saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of
the earth take custom or tribute, of their own children or of strangers?
Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are
the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should
offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a 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 for thee. Tribute money. Either this was
money taxes required by the Roman government or tribute money required
to keep up or support the temple. Both were in effect at that time. Tribute. Contribute. You contribute,
pay tribute to support something. But whether it was the government
or the temple, we don't know. But our Lord provided the money
needed for both and for either. It's an amazing story. When they
asked Peter, does your master pay tribute, and Peter said yes
immediately because they'd been together for quite some time
and all were required to pay taxes, and I guess Peter saw
him. They'd paid taxes before. Where
did the Lord get the money that time? Well, probably from some
money that was given or contributed by others, and he just paid the
taxes. But this time, he's going to
show Peter and us his amazing, miraculous providence, how he
provides. He doesn't need the means that
you and I need, but he provides it in a miraculous way for himself
and for the disciples. It says that Peter came into
the house. We shouldn't necessarily make
a play on words, but I couldn't help but think this, that if
we dwell with the Lord where He is, He's going to meet our
every need. If we're with Him, He's going
to meet our every need like He did Simon and all the disciples.
They didn't provide for themselves, the Lord did. And we come into
this house, we come into the Lord's house, we'll find our
needs met and we'll see how pays it off. But verse 25, he came
into the house and our Lord stood in front of, stopped Peter and
said, what thinkest thou, Simon? Let me remind you that our Lord
never did call Peter, Peter. He changed his name to Peter.
Thou art Cephas, thou art a rock, Peter. But he never called him
that. He always called him Simon. And there's a reason for that.
And all his disciples, though they were apostles, he never
called them that. He called them children. Little
children, didn't he? The Lord will never let us rise
above what we are. Sinners. Simon. Simple Simon. Where you came
from. He'll never let us forget where we came from. And that's
good. It's good that we always realize where we came from and
what we are, little children, completely dependent on him.
Or else we will be lifted up with pride and think we're something
when we are nothing. So that's good. What thinkest
thou? He said, Simon, what thinkest thou? The Lord knew what he thought,
but he's demanding of Peter to make a confession here. What
do you think? What do you think? And I know
what Peter was thinking. That fellow or whoever it was
came up to him and said, you all owe money. Taxes. Pay your
taxes. I know what he's thinking. He's
walking away from there thinking, I hate taxes. Why do we have
to pay taxes? I hate that. I worked hard. I had a fishing business all
those years, and the government will come and take much of it. I hate this. Do you reckon he
was murmuring, complaining about what was required of him by the
government or whatever? Do we? Do you? Do we ever murmur and complain
and find fault with everything around us, the government and
so on and so forth? Who governs all things? Romans 13 says, There is no power
but of God. And he tells us, Submit. The
powers that be are of God. And these rulers are not a terror
to good works, to God's people. Oh, no. the lawless. And I know believers who are
always complaining about our government and so forth. And
I have done it, and you have done it, and we'll do it. But I know believers who seem
to always be griping and worrying about our government and complaining
about this and that and the other, such as Texas. Our brethren in Mexico would
love to earn the money in one year that we pay in taxes. They would love to earn the money
in one year that we pay in taxes for maybe a month, some of it. What a blessing it is if you
have to pay a lot of taxes. That must mean you make a lot
of money. It's understandable for unbelievers
to complain and protest and try to change this world. If this
is all you've got, I would. If I didn't believe who I believe,
trust the Lord, I'd get involved in all the political causes today.
I would be real involved in education, what they're doing and saying
to our children. I'd be real involved in political
causes, social causes. I've tried to save our planet.
If this is it, I've tried to save our environment. But believers have no continuing
city here. This is not where strangers and
sojourners. Our God reigns. We know that.
He orders everything. No authority but of God. It's
ordained of God. We're just pilgrims and strangers,
and our complaining and taking up causes brings a reproach on
our God, what we say. We say God is sovereign, God
reigns and rules, and our complaining about things brings a reproach
on Him. What we're saying is, I don't
believe God reigns. Is that not right? It is, and
we're all guilty of that. All right, verse 25. So what
do you think? Simon, of who do the kings of
the earth take customer-tribute? Of their own children or strangers?
And this is, what's the king, who's the king our Lord's speaking
of? Who's the king? Somebody tell me who the king
of the earth is, who the king of the universe is. Who's the
king? Somebody say it. All right. King
of kings and Lord of lords. Here is an example of our Lord's
infinite condescension, infinite longsuffering. and forbearance,
when the King of glory came down to this planet that he owns. Everyone in it is a squatter,
a trespasser in his earth. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The one who made it, he was in
the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him
not. He came down here. He should
have received tribute from everybody. He should have received, but
what does he do? He pays. He pays these squatters. He pays these trespassers. He
submits to the laws of this land. Do you understand that everything
our Lord encountered on this earth was unfair? Everything that man did to Him
was unjust, unfair, extortioners, unjust, unfair, unright, unreasonable. Everything they did to His disciples
was not right. Then what did He do? He submitted. Why? Because we live here. And that's what he tells us to
do. That's what he tells us to do. He didn't open his mouth.
The only one who had a right to complain about everything
never complained about anything. Do you understand that? I don't
think we understand that. You know, we are subject. We need to do this, do these
things. But he didn't. He made the law. He shouldn't have been subject
to it. Right? But he made himself under the
law. Because we are. All right, he said, do the children
of the king pay taxes? No. No, they don't. They're free. Notwithstanding,
he said, Notwithstanding, this doesn't stand in the way. We're
not going to let this stand in the way of doing what we should.
Then verse 27, lest we should offend them. Go to the sea and
cast a hook. Stay with me because this is
just marvelous. The King is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was in this world, yet here he is submitting to man's laws
and paying money for what belongs to him, paying his subjects,
the king, great condescension of our Lord, the King who became
a servant, he who was rich, yet for our sake became poor, he
who was a judge under the law, he who was the son put himself
under tutors. And I always like to think of
our Lord sitting even as a boy before those scribes and Pharisees
and listening to them butcher his law, listening to them teach
Things that weren't right. Things they were ignorant of.
Experts. Asking them questions now. We must sit under fallible men.
We must submit to fallible, sinful men. He did. Why? He's our covenant head. He's
the second Adam. He's going to come, and he did
come. to represent us. He's our substitute.
He's our sin-bearer. The Lord came to pay all that
we owe, all the obedience we owe to God, all of the duty that's
required of us, all that God requires of us, Jesus Christ
came to pay to God and to man. God and to man. Both tables of
the law. The first four to God. The last
six to man. All the laws fulfilled, and he
did it. He did it. And what an example
in patience and faith and submission. If we don't get anything from
this, let's get that. Lest we murmur and complain. The only one who had a right
to never did. The only one who could have changed
the social order of things and righted what was wrong in this
world did not. He said, My kingdom is not of
this world, and neither is ours. Where is our faith? Where is
our faith? All right. He said, Now the children
of the king are free, but they're not without offense. I mean,
they're to be without offense. They're free, but they should
be without offense. Notwithstanding, let's not offend
the people around us. Children are free. Free children
of the King. Now, how do you become a child
of God? You are born of God. You are
adopted of the Lord. That's how. You're made a child
of God by the Spirit of God, by the Word of God. In the next
message, we're going to look at that. Go to Galatians 3. And
the children of God are free. They're not under the law. Galatians
3. Children of God are not under
the law, they're free. Galatians chapter 3, look at
this. Verse 22 through 26. Scripture hath concluded all
under sin. You remember Romans 3, 19. Whatsoever
the law saith, it saith to them they're under the law. Everybody
born on God's earth are under his law, aren't they? under his
requirements. What does the law say? Guilty. The law never commends
any of us, does it? Why? Because we break every one
of them. Because the law is spiritual. The law requires perfection in
thought as well as action, in attitude as well as deed. That's
what the law requires. We're all guilty. We've broken
them all. Keep one single law, or you don't. It's concluded, all understand,
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe the promise of eternal life, the promise
of being accepted by God, the promise of being justified from
all things by which you could not be justified by the works
of the Lord, by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, by him faithfully
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. The law requires everything of
us. We can't pay it. Jesus paid it
all. All the debt we owe. Before faith, verse 23, before
faith came, before the Lord showed us Christ, before the Lord revealed
to us Christ, our law keeper, We're kept under the law, shut
up under faith. That is, it shut our mouths.
Should afterward, faith ought to be revealed. That is the faith
of Christ. So the law was our schoolmaster.
And boy, was he a rough one, a strict one. Kids today don't
know what schoolmaster is. The law won't let the schoolmasters
do what they used to do. We used to get whipped. Spanked
in school, didn't we? I'm telling you what. The football
coach was the worst. He had a paddle and he drilled
holes in it. So it hurt worse. Honestly. Whack! Boy, they'd be in jail
right now for that. Or much further back than that.
It was even worse. Well, I survived. You survived,
didn't you? But the schoolmaster's tough. What's the schoolmaster say?
You're breaking all the laws. Here's what you do. Verse 24.
Get to Christ. Verse 24. That you might be justified. Run to Christ. Now, after faith
has come, verse 25, we're no longer under a schoolmaster.
You're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Justified without keeping the
law. Justified from all things. Righteousness
imputed without the law. Without us keeping the law. How? Somebody had to keep it. Jesus
Christ. And then somebody had to pay
the penalty. Death. The soul that sinned will
surely die. His soul was made an offering
for sin. Substitute. Christ paid the price. We're free. Free from the law. Oh, happy condition. The Lord
Jesus hath bled. There is remission. Cursed by
the law. bruised and is unable to keep
it by the fall, but Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Not under the law. Anybody that knows anything about
the law loves the sound of that. Paul did. Romans 7, we'll read
that later. He said, I was alive without
the law, or thought I was. Oh, when I heard it, finally,
when I really heard what it was saying, it killed me. It slew
me. It slew me. Free from the law. But we should be without offense. Free from the law. And I had
so many things here. Free from the law. Free. Our
Lord has come. Leave captivity captive. Free
from sin. He said, sin shall not have dominion
over you. Did you read the article? It
shall not have dominion over you. What a comfort that will
be if you read it. It shall not have dominion over
you. Satan, who leads captive the people of this world, he
came, Christ came to lead captivity, captive his people, to be there
for them to be willing bond slaves to him. The world that holds
people captive? Not God's people. Not God's people. Christ came to set them free.
Free. Free children. Free from ignorance.
All the many things we don't know, but if we know Christ,
we know all we need to know. Free from darkness. We're not
in darkness. Free from superstition. Free
from men. Free from corruption. We're not
going to die. Free from death. Free. The children
are free. Free. Liberty. Oh, Paul talked
about the glorious liberty of the sons of God. But Romans 13, I quoted to you. Go over there quickly. Romans
13. Romans 13. No power but of God. Romans 13. And it says here in verse 5, look at Romans 13, 5. It says
you must needs be subject not only for wrath, that is, it's
going to come down on you, but for conscience sake. as obedient
children. We used to be children of wrath,
even as others. God's people, like everybody
else, were children of wrath, complainers, murmurers, angry,
rebels against everything. You know, out for themselves. No, not anymore. Servants, so
meek, submissive, humble. Like our Lord. You say, I'm not
that way. Well, yes, you are. You're just
not as completely as you should be. But the world, people are
children of wrath, anger. Men and women are angry at everybody
and everything. Why? Who are they really mad
at? God. He reigns. Not anymore. Children of wrath. Thankful. Read on. He says in verse 6,
pay tribute also. For this cause, pay ye tribute
also. They're God's ministers. See that? That boss we work for,
he's a tyrant. My job, they're killing me. Who gave us a job? Where would
we be without it? Where would we be without it?
Tough job. Our Lord told that to Adam. Adam,
you rebelled against me and I ought to kill you right here. But I'm not. I'm merciful. I'm
kind. I'm going to provide for you. Yet you're going to earn
your bread by the sweat of your brow. Twelve hours in a day. Our Lord did that. As a man,
he came down here and worked from sunup to sundown. Why? For us rebels. for us no good
children of his, thus prodigals, to provide all that we need.
Oh, what mercy, what grace. Read on. He says, pay tribute,
render, verse 7, to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute
is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom
honor. Oh, no man anything but to love one another. He that
loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Be ye perfect. That's
what our Lord said as your Heavenly Father. Pray for your enemies.
Don't curse them. Pray for them. Don't rebel. No, submit. That's the key to
happiness. Now, here's a wonderful gospel
picture in closing. Look at our text in Matthew 17. He said we're free, aren't we,
Simon? I'm the king, you're my child,
we're free. We don't have to pay taxes, but
hold on. Notwithstanding. That's a wonderful word. Notwithstanding. Man does not withstand God's
providence. Nothing man does withstands hinders
God's reign or rule. It works his purpose. Everything
man is doing works his purpose. Alright, Joseph. There's a man
named Joseph with his wife Mary, and she's pregnant. And now all
of a sudden, Herod says, everybody's got to go to their hometown to
pay taxes. The consensus. Joseph says, we've
got to travel for three months. My pregnant wife. Yes, he's got to go to Bethlehem. He's got to go to Bethlehem.
That baby's got to be born in Bethlehem. From all eternity,
it was predestined that they go to Bethlehem. How's he going
to do it? How's the Lord going to make
everybody go home where they were born, to their family? How's
he going to do it? Herod, this evil king, said,
taxes. I need a bigger palace. I need
more chariots. I need more wine or something. Tax everybody. Tax them. It's not fair. God did it. And it's working his purpose.
Notwithstanding. Nothing withstands or works against
his purpose. The lot is cast in the land,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Don't complain. Notwithstanding. The Lord said.
Let's not offend them. Be without offense. Let's not
offend them. Go thou, verse 27, go thou to
the sea. The sea is anything deeper. There's no mountain on earth
deeper than the deepest part of the sea. Deep, unfathomable,
full of life and riches. The sea. Go thou to the sea,
and you're going to find what we need. What is the sea? Oh, the depth, both of the wisdom
and the knowledge of God. Oh, how unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out. Go to the sea. Go to your
God, and of His fullness, His Word, you'll receive just what
you need, payment for all you need. Go to the sea. Oh, my. In the ages to come, our Lord
is going to show us the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness
toward us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Cast a hook. Peter, Simon,
Simon go and cast a hook into the sea. Now, he did not say
go dig up some earthworms or cast your net and find some minnows,
some shad, some bait. Listen to me now. He did not
say cast your net and find some bait and put that bait on a hook
and cast that hook and entice this fish. No, sir. Cast a hook. Has any fisherman in here ever
caught a fish without bait on it? It's not possible, is it? Not
possible. I never have. Hold on. These lures you've got now, and
our brother will make fun of one another, if you gas one with
a treble hook, you know, on the side, trying to get away. And
we kid each other saying, you didn't catch that fish. He snagged
it. But our Lord, the point is, cast your care upon Him. He'll care for you. How am I
going to provide? How am I going to get there? What can I do? Go to the sea
and go to your God. Go to His Word. And I don't know
how I'm going to meet this. Cast all your care upon Him. Lean not on the flesh. Lean not
on Egypt. Don't look anywhere else. It's
impossible to catch a fish without bait. Yes, with man, it's impossible. But not with our Lord. Cast your
care upon Him. He careth for you. This is what
he told Simon to do. Can you see Simon now going to
fish? Just cast his hook? A net, yes, but a hook? Nevertheless,
at his word, this is what I'm going to do. Cast your bread
upon the water. You're going to see it again
after many days. It's going to come back to you. Multiply it. In fact, it takes about $8,000
a month to support this gospel ministry. A lot of money in it. Nothing
compared to somebody the other day told me, asked, what's the
budget at your church? Ours is $2 million a year. I
said, well, it's not that. And they have fundraisers. See,
they lean on the arm of the flesh. They have fundraisers. They bait.
They use baits to get people in. Why? To give us their money. That's not what the Lord said.
He said, cast your bread on the water. You cast your, bring the
first fruit, the first fish that comes up. First fruit, cast it
on. But I need that. You just watch. Just watch. Watch what comes
out of that. Cast your hook. And he said,
the first fish, you won't have to weigh, you'll see, the first
fish that comes up, When you open his mouth, you're going
to find a piece of money. Take that and give it unto them. That's all those that require
this tribute of you. Give it unto them for me and
for thee. For me and for thee. Our Lord came as a man, the God-man,
to do something for himself. became a man, because man cannot
glorify God, cannot keep God's law. Man must. Man is not going
to give God his due. Man is not going to pay the tribute
God requires. He's not going to love God with
all his mind, heart, soul, and strength. Christ came and he
did. He did that for himself. He kept
the law for himself and for me. And from there, he paid it off.
And this is a glorious picture of how our Lord provides all
our needs, both spiritual, this is the main thing we need. Christ had to do something for
us to God, Godward. He had to do it for us to Godward,
keep the law, to free us, to free us. He mailed the handwriting
of ordinances that were against us. Mail them to His cross, and
don't let anybody tell you. Don't let anybody bring you under
that law, because it's a curse. It's a curse, and you will feel
like you're in bondage, right? Some of you have been under that
law of preaching. You'll be under bondage, and
it's no peace there at all. Christ, if He sets you free,
you're free indeed. And it says He's given us all
things necessary for life. and godliness, not only toward
God, but toward man. You and I have never provided
one thing for ourselves or for our family, ever. Never provided
one thing. Like the disciples of old. He
showed us. They lived with him for three and a half years. They
never worked a day, never earned a dime. The Lord led men and
women to provide whatever. He led men and women to give
them their food, to give them their clothing, to give them
their money for taxes or whatever. These were the means. The people
weren't doing it, though. Christ was doing it. The Lord
was doing it. And He led men and women. But He showed them here, when
you're going to come to a desperate need and you don't know how you're
going to pay it, whether it be Spiritually, you feel just totally
bankrupt. Or materially, you think, how
are we going to make this next payment? Stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. Cast the hook in the depth of the sea. Thank you.