I've often said that when I was
in false religion, I thought I knew most of the answers to
the questions of salvation and eternal life, a right relationship
with God. But when I began to hear the
true gospel, the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ
Jesus, and hear the truth concerning who he is and what he actually
accomplished, what I found out is not only did I not know the
answers, I didn't even know the right questions. It was only then that the Lord
opened my eyes, opened my mind and my heart to see what's really
important, what I needed to know and what to pursue. And I put
this in the introduction to this lesson. What are the important
questions? to which we need to know the
answers concerning salvation, concerning righteousness. That's
one thing, I didn't even know what righteousness is back then. I thought I did, but I didn't. And what's important concerning
eternal life? Right relationship with God.
And when I was hit with the question that's posed in Isaiah chapter
45, I remember this message so vividly. Brother Mayhem preached
that it was how that God is a just God and a Savior. And so it begs
the question, and I've got it written in your lesson, how can
a holy, a just, and a righteous, and a good God, how can he save
and forgive and justify and accept sinful people? Now most people
don't, I remember a man who used to go to church here, his daughter
was a quote preacher unquote, she was a false preacher. But
he asked her this question and she asked, you know how she answered
him? She said, well, what does that matter? And I thought, well,
what does it matter? It's the question of life and
death. It's the heart of the gospel.
And it goes on, it says, how can God do so? How could he forgive
me, a sinner, and accept me and declare me righteous and still
be true to himself." His attributes. You know, I mentioned last week
that one of the most terrifying statements that we can make concerning
the character of God is this, God is good. And I know people
would think about that and they'd say, well, why is that so terrifying?
It's because we're not good. And you remember how Christ approached
that when he taught the rich young ruler. He said, why you
call me good? There's none good but God. Romans
3, 10 through 12 says there's none good, no, not one. God,
if he saves a sinner, he must preserve his justice, his righteousness,
his truth, his goodness. He cannot deny them or he cannot
diminish them in order to save us. So how can he do that? And, of course, the Gospel provides
the answer. It's found in the revelation
of the righteousness of God, Romans 1, 16 and 17, which is
the entire merit of Christ's obedience unto death as the representative,
the surety, the substitute, the redeemer of God's chosen people. And it's on that basis that God
can be both a just God and a Savior. What we might say a righteous
judge and a loving, merciful father. And until you are confronted
with that question and find the answer as God reveals it in the
gospel, you're lost. Now that's just the long and
the short of it. And that's why that's so important. But false
religion does not know even the questions to ask. Now, of course,
what we're gonna see here, look at verse 15 of Matthew 22. Here we're confronted with a
group called the Herodians. Now, the Herodians were followers
of King Herod, Herod Antipas. And Herod Antipas, if you look
at history, he was a big follower of Roman and Greek culture. And he followed Rome. He urged
the people to bow to Rome. And so the Herodians, they were
followers of Herod Antipas, but they were also followers of Rome.
And of course, that didn't sit well with a lot of the Jewish
people, especially the Zealots who wanted to rebel. And even
the Pharisees and the Sadducees hated Rome, but they would bow
to it to get their own personal gain and all of that. But look
at verse 15. Then went the Pharisees and took
counsel, and here's their goal, look at, how they might entangle
him and his talk. Now you know that's a lot, there's
a lot of religious people like that. They're not, you know,
when they wanna talk to you about what they think is the gospel,
or they wanna question what we believe, they don't want, they're
not seeking answers. They're just trying to entangle
us in our thoughts and in our talk. They just want to catch
us up. It's kind of like what somebody said, an I gotcha argument.
I gotcha. And that's why a lot of times
my approach to people is to let them do a lot of talking and
I do a lot of listening. My stock answer to a lot of things
that false religions say is this, that's not in the Bible. When
they talk about free willism, or they talk about universal
redemption, or the universal love of God, I just tell them,
that's not in the Bible. And then they'll start going
to their verses, and that's where you can get them. I know, and
listen. I know it takes the Spirit of
God to reveal it. And you know that as well as
I do. No amount of talking that we do, no amount of preaching
I do is going to save a sinner except God give that sinner life
and reveal it. Now you know that. But we preach
because we're commanded to. We witness because we're commanded
to. Because that's the means that God uses to give them light. To open their eyes. through the
preaching that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word
of God. So they wanted to entangle him and verse 16 says, they sent
out unto him their disciples with the Herodians. So you had
the Pharisees and the Herodians here saying, master, we know
that thou art true and teach us the way of God in truth. Now
they're being sarcastic. Think about it. Publicly, they
had to say this because the multitudes were still following him at this
time. You remember when he came into Jerusalem and they said,
Hosanna, Lord save us. And they saw all the miracles
and all of that. So they said, we know that you're of God and
you teach the way of truth. Well, they didn't believe that
at all, especially the Pharisees. Because if he was teaching the
way of truth, then they would have to admit that they were
lost religionists. that they were seeking to find
righteousness before God by their works, and they didn't find it.
You remember he told them, he says, you do indeed appear righteous.
Of course, that's over in Matthew 23. But he'd already told them
things like this. Just like John the Baptist said,
you know, you're vipers. You're teaching the people a
way of death, and you think it's the way of life. You're lost. He said, you need to bring forth
the fruits of meat for repentance. You need to repent of your religion.
That's what we tell people, isn't it? Somebody says, well, there's
a drunk over there. Well, he needs to repent. Well,
yes, he does. But I'll tell you, even the drunk
has in his mind salvation by works, even though he may flippantly
put it off. But what we tell people, just
like Christ told the Pharisees, you're of your father, the devil.
And you do the deeds of your father. He was a liar from the
beginning. And when you open your mouth
and preach that false gospel of salvation by the works and
the wills of men, you're spreading poison. You're spreading death
like a poisonous snake. So they're sarcastic. And they
say here in verse 16, it says, for thou regardest not the person
of men. Well, that's true. Now, all what
they said is true, even though they didn't believe it. Now,
we know they didn't believe it because what was said in verse
15. They were sent there to try to entrap him, to try to trip
him up in his words, try to get him to contradict himself. But
think about it. He is the Christ Jesus. is one who is true. He is faithful
to the Father. He's faithful to the Word. He
is the Word of God, the embodiment of the Word. He told the truth. They told lies. And he is the
way of God in truth. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And he did not regard the persons of men. Salvation
is of the Lord, and it has nothing to do with anything in us, whether
we're rich, poor, noble, or plain, or whatever. God is no respecter
of men's persons, and God the Son, along with the Father and
Spirit, was no respecter. So they did speak the truth.
But look at their question, verse 17. Tell us, therefore, what
thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute?
Now that's tax. Tribute is a tax. Is it lawful
to pay taxes unto Caesar or not? Verse 18, but Jesus perceived
their wickedness and said, why tempt ye me? Why are you testing
me, you hypocrites? Now, he didn't read Dale Carnegie's
book. You can see that right off, how
to win friends and influence. Of course, that wasn't written
then, obviously, I know that. But that's not what he's there for.
That's not what we're here for. You remember one time when he
was talking to the Pharisees and the disciples got him aside
and said, you offended them. Well, yes, the truth offends
them. And that's the way it is in our
day. Now, I'll admit to you, I want to be gentle with people. I want to be kind, but I want
to be honest. And the world hates this gospel.
The Bible says that men love darkness and hate the true, hate
the light. And there's no amount of human
wisdom or reasoning or human language that can take the edge
off of it. And when we try to take the edge
off it with human reasoning and language, we actually deny it. Did you know that? We really
do. What would you do if you went
to a doctor and you had a deadly disease, and he told you, he
said, oh, just go home, take some aspirin, you're all right.
Because he didn't want to offend you. He didn't want to make you
angry or sorrowful. You see what I'm saying? You
need to know the truth, especially if there's a cure. And that's
what we have. We have the great physician who
has the cure. Now granted, man by nature doesn't
want this cure. He wants another way. He wants
his own way to give him some glory. So he just spoke the truth,
you hypocrites. Look at verse 18. But Jesus perceived
their wickedness and said, why tempt ye me, you hypocrites?
Show me the tribute money. Show me the money that you pay
taxes to Caesar. And they brought unto him a penny,
a penny. And he saith unto them, whose
is the image and superscription? What's etched on that coin? And they say unto him, verse
21, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, render
therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and render
unto God the things that are God's. So if you're looking to
get out of paying your taxes on the basis of the gospel, you
can't do it. That's not right. You say, well,
should we pay taxes to a wicked government? Huh? What government's
here? Caesar, was he a godly man? No,
he was a wicked man, called himself God. Doing wicked things. Some of them were more wicked
than others. Well, that belongs to Caesar, give it to him. Give
him what he owns. But make sure you do this, give
God what he owns. And what is that? All glory in
heaven and earth. All worship. Don't worship Caesar. That doesn't belong to Caesar.
That coin does. Give him the coin. It's going
to perish anyway. It's going to melt in the fervent
heat. But you give unto God what belongs to God. And I'll tell
you what, our salvation, the salvation that we enjoy and thank
God for, that belongs to God. And He gives it freely and fully
to whom He will. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. How can He say that? Because
mercy belongs to Him. He said, I'll be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. How can He say that? Grace belongs
to Him. Sovereign grace. Okay, now look
at verse 23. Well, it says in verse 22, when
they heard these words, they marveled and left Him and went
their way. He shut their mouths. So here's the next one, verse
23. The same day came to him the Sadducees. Now, you know,
the Sadducees were like the liberal wing of the Jewish religion. They didn't believe in the resurrection.
It says, which say that there is no resurrection. And they
were more political. They actually had control of
the temple during this time. Not the Pharisees, but the Sadducees.
But they were in cahoots together. But they were actually political
enemies, kind of like the Democrats and the Republicans today, something
like that. And he says in verse 24, saying,
Master, Moses said, if a man die having no children, his brother
shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now
that was a law under the old covenant, to perpetuate the family. If a man died and had no children,
or if a brother die having no children, his brother shall marry
his wife and raise up seed, raise up children. And then verse 25,
it says, now there were with us seven brethren and the first
when he had married a wife, deceased and having no issue, left his
wife under his brother. Likewise, the second also and
the third unto the seventh. Think about this complicated
issue that they're trying to raise here now. And the last
of all the woman died also, verse 27, therefore, verse 28, therefore
in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? Well,
they all had her. Well, look at his answer. Jesus
answered and said unto them, you do err not knowing the scriptures
nor the power of God. Think about that. You do err. You know, we don't know a whole
lot about life in glory. We know what the Bible teaches
us in, for example, 1 Corinthians 15 and all that. But he says
to them, he says, you don't know the scriptures. And this is what
I do know. I know what the scriptures say
about our life in glory, when we go to be with the Lord in
glory. I know what the scriptures say. But I gotta leave it there.
I remember when I wrote that book, What Is Salvation, when
I talked about the glorified realm, One of the things that
I said at the introduction of that chapter was that when I
finished this, and I mainly went through 1 Corinthians 15, I said,
when I finish this, you'll still have more questions than answers.
But I can't answer them because the Bible doesn't tell us. But
Christ said, whatever the scriptures say about all these situations,
that's the key. And that's where we've got to
go to. We can't debate them, can't argue. And he says, you
don't know the power of God. They didn't know the power that
God has to create in the new heavens and the new earth conditions
that are, as I put in your lesson, same as conditions that are not
the same as conditions here. It's gonna be different. It's
gonna be better. And even though we don't know
a lot about it, here's what he says. Look at verse 30. For in
the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but are as the angels of God in heaven. So the institution
of marriage will be gone. I don't know what it's going
to be like. And you probably have some questions you may ask
me after this, and I've got your answer. I don't know. All right? I just don't know. But I do know
this. There's not going to be any sorrow.
There's not going to be any sadness. The joy that we'll have will
so far surpass the joy that we have here on Earth, even in marriage. in any of this. And he says,
verse 31, but as touching the resurrection of the dead, have
you not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying, I am
the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Now, what's
he doing? He's referring to the covenant. The covenant, he's emphasizing
that there is a resurrection of all who die in him as indicated
by the covenant promise he gave to Abraham and that was run through
Isaac and Jacob. And it's the promise of eternal
life conditioned on Christ for his chosen people and the result
is the perfection, the joy, the bliss that we'll enjoy in the
spiritual glorified body. Read about it in 1 Corinthians
15. I think I've cited here 1 Corinthians 15, 35 through 49. And it says in verse 33, and
when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. In other words, they were like
turned to stone. In fact, I think one, I think
it's in Isaiah 52, it says, puts it this way, it's the word astonied.
And so they didn't know what to say, so they left. Well, look
at verse 34 now. Here comes the Pharisees, And
it says, but when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the
Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Now I'm sure
they were overjoyed that he shut the Sadducees up, but they met
together. Verse 35, then one of them, which
was a lawyer. Now, Robert, it's not a lawyer
like you. The lawyers back then are those who were students of
the scripture. and they interpreted the law
of Moses. That's what they called them lawyers. And they weren't
litigators, they were those who interpreted the law of Moses.
And he says, there was a lawyer and asked him a question, tempting
him, testing him and saying, master, which is the great commandment
in the law? Now, you know, that's really
not a bad question, but it was a question that had already been
answered. When God gave the law, when he gave the law, this question
was answered. And of course, Christ says it,
verse 37, Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy
mind. And this is the first and great commandment. And the second
is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And
he says, on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. If you wanna know what the law
says, it's the perfection of love to God and the perfection
of love to our neighbor, realizing that our neighbor includes our
worst enemies. The perfection of love. If you
look at the law, the first four commandments, that's our responsibility
to God. Love God perfectly. If you could really love God
perfectly, which we don't, we're sinners, That's why we need salvation
by grace. But if you could love God perfectly,
you would not break any of those four commandments. If you loved
him perfectly. And then the next six commandments
are love to our neighbor. Again, even our worst enemies.
And if we could love our worst enemies, if we could love our
neighbor perfectly, we would never break any of those six
commandments. But we've broken them all. And we can't say we
love God perfect and love our neighbor as ourselves. As believers,
sinners saved by grace, we can say we love God and love our
neighbor, but not perfectly. Love our brethren. And that's
because of the spirit of God and he's given us a new heart,
a new mind. And we can say that and it's
realized within us as we look to Christ and rest in him. But
that's what he said, on these hang the whole law. Well, before
they could respond, here we come to the meat of the matter. And
this is, I'm gonna say a little bit about this, and then we'll
pick up with it next week. And he says, while the Pharisees,
verse 41, gathered together, Jesus asked them, now I've got
a question for you. And I think about that, you know.
Now, you've asked your questions, you've tried to trap him, you've
miserably failed. Now I've got a question for you.
And Jesus asked them, verse 42, saying, what think ye of Christ? Now the word Christ is his title. That's the Messiah. That's the
anointed one. They all claim to believe in
the anointed one, in the Messiah. What do you think? What's your
thoughts? Boy, what a question. That's
the question of questions. You know, the gospel hangs basically
on two truths. And I'm being simplistic here.
I don't think over simplistic. Because if you know these two
truths, you understand everything we need to know about the gospel.
And number one is the person of Christ. And that's what he's
dealing mainly here. Whose son is he? Who is the Messiah? Who is Jesus Christ? What do
you think of him? And they say unto him, look at
verse 42, they say unto him, well, he's the son of David.
Well, is he the son of David? Yes, sir. He was made of the
seed of David according to the flesh, the Bible says. Unto us
a son is given, unto us a child is born. The child is born, speaks
of his humanity, which in genealogy was descended from King David.
Going all the way back to Abraham, So he had a perfect, sinless
human nature. Christ did. And it was in that
day that he conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the
Holy Spirit and he united his deity with that human nature.
That hypostatic union. What that means is there's no
mixture. We'll talk about this next week a little bit more.
Christ is not a mixture of deity and humanity. because there's
no mixing the two. And his deity had no beginning
and no end. He's the second person of the
Trinity. His deity was not created, but his humanity was. Human beings
have a creator, and his humanity was created, but without sin,
like us. We were born in sin, Christ was
not. So they said he's the son of
David. Well, they spoke the truth. Well, Christ followed up, verse
43, How then doth David in spirit, now that means, I believe actually
that the word spirit there should be capitalized, because he's
talking about David as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit in
the Psalms, and he was, we'll talk about that again, but David
by the spirit, call him Lord. Now the word Lord there is only
a term that would be used for God. How could David call him
God? If he's David's son, David's
offspring, how could David call him God and worship him? And that's what David was doing.
The Lord said unto my Lord, that's what he's talking about. You
can read about that in Psalm 110 and verse one. Look at, I've
got it quoted in your lesson. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
That's messianic language. That talks of God manifest in
the flesh. And so he says, well then, if
he's David's offspring, David's child, according to his humanity,
how then did David call him Lord? Because no human being is to
be worshipped. No mere human being is to be
worshipped. I think I told you the time that
I was talking to a Jehovah's Witness. And I asked him, I said,
do you believe in Jesus? He said, I sure do. You believe
Jesus is your salvation? He said, I sure do. I said, do
you believe Jesus is God? He said, no, I don't. I said,
well, you're an idolater. Because if you don't believe
he's God and you worship him, that's idolatry. Well, it says
in verse 44, he quoted that Psalm. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And verse
46, and no man was able to answer him a word. Neither durst any
man from that day forth ask him any more questions. He shut their
mouth. Now the answer to that is that
Christ is both God and man in one person. He's the God man. He's God manifest in the flesh. And that's how he could be David's
son in his humanity and David's God in his deity. And that's
the kind of person it takes to save you and me from our sins. God manifest in the flesh. And
I'll deal with that next week in more detail.