Mark chapter 12, the Lord Jesus Christ as God's
righteous servant about the Father's business was in the temple teaching
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And all these
religious folks gathered around Him. Verse 10 of Mark 12, and
he declares, have you not read this scripture? And certainly
they were familiar with the word of God. The stone which the builders
rejected, and that's referring to the religious establishment
of the Jews. Rejected. God said this same
one he has made both Lord and Christ. This is God's business. This is God's doing and it is
marvelous. It is glorious in the eyes of
the believer. They heard God Almighty. This is no mere man. This is
no mere Jewish leader. This is God Almighty. God manifests
in the flesh. The God-man mediator. Declaring
unto these lost religious Jews the gospel of the kingdom and
Christ Jesus. Salvation in Christ Jesus. Now notice the response in verse
12. And they sought to lay hold on him. Not to receive Him, not
to embrace Him, not to kiss the Son. But they lay hold on Him
to put an end to His ministry, put an end to Him. But feared
the people, for they knew that He had spoken a parable against
them. And watch this, they left Him
and they went their way. Now the title of the message
this morning is taken from verse 17. Render to God the things
that are God. You see that in verse 17? The
Lord answering and said unto them, Render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's, and to God, you render to God, Almighty,
the Sovereign King, render to him that which is his due, that
which is rightfully His, all honor, glory, blessing, and power. As it says in Revelation 5, unworthy
is a lamb that was slain to receive all honor, blessing, glory, and
power, both now and forever. And they said, Amen. Amen. Now these most religious
Jews had this great privilege of hearing the gospel. of the
Lord of Glory from the lips of God. Yet they remained hardened
in their sin, and went away in unbelief, and went away in anger. It says upon another occasion
in Matthew 12, when the Lord in a miraculous way healed that
man who had a withered hand. He told him to stretch forth
his hand, and at the command of God he did, and his hand was
restored whole, You think someone would have given thanks unto
God. But that same religious rabble, the same religious crowd
got upset. Because the Lord did that on
the Sabbath day. And they thought that He had
broken the Sabbath day. No my friends, He is the Sabbath
day. He is the Lord of the Sabbath.
And it says there in Matthew 12, after the Lord had done that
marvelous miracle, the Pharisees went out and held a council against
him, how they might destroy him. How sad. How sad. Now we see
in verse 13 of our text, they send unto him certain of the
Pharisees and the Herodians to catch him in his words. They
are setting a trap for him, to embarrass him, to expose him,
so they thought. Now I'm not sure. how long they
took to reorganize, and to regroup, and to rearm, and then to amount
this assault against the Lord of Glory. But now we see these
haters of God again on the attack. It says in Matthew 22 of this
account, they took counsel how they might entangle Him Can you
imagine such a vain notion to try to trip up God, to try to
entangle God in His glorious majesty, in His wisdom, in His
preaching? What a vain thought that is. Look over here in Luke chapter
20, where Luke gives his account of this. In Luke chapter 20,
verse 19. Turn to Luke 20, 19. And the
chief priests and scribes the same hour sought to lay hands
on him, and they feared the people, for they perceived that he had
spoken this parable against them. Now watch verse 20. And they
watched him, and sent forth spies, spies, which should feign themselves
just men, that is, they pretended to believe. They pretended to
be his followers that they might take hold of his word that so
they might deliver him under the power and the authority of
the governor. They didn't have anything in
their heart but malicious thoughts and hatred toward the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, five things in this lesson
today, in this message today. Here's the first one. rebels
against God, lost men and ungodly men will always find common friends
among themselves and will unite in opposition to the Lord Jesus
Christ, His gospel, and His church. We see that in verse 13. The
Pharisees and the Herodians came together in alignment and became
allies against the Lord's Christ. Now this is what we see happening
here. The Pharisees and the Herodians were not partners in any other
matter at all. They were extreme opposites.
They were in opposition to each other. They were enemies to each
other. Yet they find common ground on
which to attack the Lord Jesus Christ. It's much like Herod
and Pilate and the Jews and the Gentiles as recorded in Acts
chapter 4 were gathered together against the Lord and against
His Christ to do whatsoever God's counsel and God's hand determined
before to be done. They gathered together against
Him. The Pharisees were the most strict religious moralists of
their day. The Herodians were the mere worldlings,
the secular crowd, followers of Herod the king. The Herodians
had no use for religion. They had no use for the Pharisees.
And yet they found common ground on which to attack the Lord Jesus
Christ. Yet when the Lord of Glory came
preaching the gospel of the kingdom and calling sinners to come to
Him for all salvation, they were united like blood can against
the Lord to stop His mouth, to end His ministry, and to put
Him to death. That's what they desired. That's
what they were determined to do. Now why is this? Why is this? Got any idea? Why would they
do such a thing? The Lord healed those who were
crippled. He gave sight to those who were
blinded. He fed the multitudes all the
miracles that He did. Why did they turn on Him in such
wrath and anger? Why? One word has three letters. You know what it is? S-I-N. Sin. Sin. The carnal mind, the Word of
God declares, Romans 8, the carnal mind is at war with God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, deep-rooted, deep-seated hatred. The carnal mind hates
the way of salvation by sovereign mercy in Christ Jesus alone. The carnal mind, it says in John
3, the haters of God, they love darkness, not light. Now let's
not fool ourselves. When the true gospel of God's
grace is declared in clarity and simplicity, those who are
not lovers of God and lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ, I expect
them to get upset. I expect them to get angry because
of who and what they are before God. The gospel of God's sovereign
grace in Christ Jesus is most offensive both to the religious
and irreligious. They despise God who is absolute
sovereign over all things. They despise the God of scripture
that says, I will have mercy on whom I will. I'll love whom
I will. I'll save whom I will. And the
carnal, fleshly, religious or irreligious man gets upset and
they would say in their heart, that's not fair. Or they would
say, that's not the God I worship. You're right. You've got another
God. Not the true and living God. Turn over here to John 19. John
19 and get a hold of this. Remember what they said over
here when they delivered him on the Pilate? John 19. And the Lord stands before Pilate
in verse 10, and Pilate said, Don't you speakest thou not unto
me? Knowest not that I have power to crucify you, or I have power
to let you go? You see it? John 19 verse 10.
And the Lord corrected him and said, You don't have any power
over me at all, except that we're given thee from above. Therefore
he that delivereth me unto thee hath the greater sin, from henceforth
Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying,
If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whosoever
makes himself a king speaks against the king of Rome, Caesar. And when Pilate therefore heard
that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment
seat in the place that is called Pavement, but in the Hebrew,
Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, about the sixth
hour, and he said to the Jews as he brought the Lord Jesus
Christ forth, he said, Behold your King! Notice, they said,
We don't want anything to do with this man. They cried out,
Away with him, crucify him. Pilate said unto them, Shall
I crucify your king? And the chief priests answered
and said, We have no king but Caesar." Isn't that amazing? We will not have this man to
rule over us. The preaching and the message
and the word of the gospel is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us is the power of God unto salvation. All the truth
of the gospel is offensive to the carnal, natural mind. No wonder the Apostle said, The
natural man will not receive the things of the Spirit of God.
He can't know them, their foolishness unto him, neither can he discern
them. But we insist upon preaching
the truth because it is the truth of God that sets sinners free. We must tell the truth about
S-I-N. What we are, not what we have
done or are doing. Sin is what we are in ourselves. We must tell the truth about
sin. We must tell the truth about ourselves. We'll never seek the
right remedy if we don't understand the disease. There is none righteous,
no, not one. We've all sinned against God. Because that's what we are. Born
in sin, shaping in iniquity. Do you understand that? I trust
I've declared that over the years unto you, what we are. Sin. Secondly,
we must tell the truth about God, even though it is offensive
unto the natural man. The believer in Christ Jesus,
he's glad to hear that he is sin. You know why? Salvation
is for sinners. Salvation is for the ungodly.
If you're ungodly, I've got hope for you. If you're a righteous
man, or you think you are, Had no hope for a righteous man.
But for a sinner? Oh, I got some good news. This
is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to save sinners. We must tell the truth about
sin. We must tell the truth about God. Who He is. Can you sum Him up in one word?
Our glorious God. The God of the Bible? God is
holy. Holy, holy, holy. God that's
revealed in this world is absolute sovereign. Whatsoever the Lord
please that he did he in heaven and earth, seas and all deep
places. God is God over all things. Creation, providence, and salvation. Our God is not only sovereign
and holy, but our God is the eternal God. This is a God with
whom you have to do from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God. He said and declared throughout
the book of Isaiah, I am God. Beside me there is no other God. Thirdly, we must tell the truth
about salvation. Now listen to me. Who He is. Salvation is a person. It's you
being found in Christ. Not joining the church. Not turning
over a leaf. Not certain ceremonies. Not religious
traditions. But being found in Christ. Salvation is in Him. The Lord
Jesus Christ is all of our salvation. He accomplished salvation for
us when He bought us with His own blood. When He put away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself, we are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. Not by what we have done, not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy, sovereign mercy, He saved us. So don't get upset when the Pharisees
and the Herodians try to catch you in your words. Try to discredit
the gospel that you love in your heart, and the God who is the
absolute God. Here's the second thing we see
in verses 14 and verse 15 in our text. Notice carefully their
flattering hypocrisy. In verses 14 and verse 15, when
they come to him, they found him and they addressed him as
master, teacher. We know that you are true. Look
what they say here. We know that you're true. Did
they really believe that? No. And you care of us for no
man, you regard us not the person of men, but you teach us the
way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute
to Caesar? Or not? Shall we give or shall
we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy,
said unto them... You know what this word hypocrisy
means? Play acting. They were acting
out of play. They were acting out of scheme.
You remember we read they feigned themselves to be just men? They
were acting out of play. They were acting out of scheme.
That's what hypocrisy is. It's being something that you're
really not. But he said, knowing their hypocrisy,
why do you tempt me? Bring me a penny, that I may
see it. Our all-knowing Lord sees right
through their rotten scheme into the depths of their heart. It
says in Matthew 22, in Matthew's account of this story, the Lord
perceived their wickedness. It said, why do you tempt me,
you hypocrites? Job in Job 8.3 said, the hypocrites'
hope shall perish, because it's not a good hope through grace. When the psalmist David writes
about his friends who were really his enemies, he writes of them,
the words of his mouth were smoother than butter. But war was in his
heart. His words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn with swords. Notice the words of their hypocrisy.
As it says in Luke 20, they famed themselves. They acted as if
they were just men. They said, look what they say
here. Master, we know you are true.
You're not a respecter of person, but you teach the way of God
in truth. What they said was true, but they certainly didn't
believe the truth. Turn back to Mark chapter 7,
and notice this for a moment. Mark chapter 7, verse 6. Mark 7, verse 6. He answered
them, and to them, well hath Isaiah. prophesied of you hypocrites,
as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship
me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. For laying
aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men,
as washing of pots and cups, and many other such things, like
things that you do. Now, let's look at these things
that they say here. They say, first of all, Master,
you're true. He is the truth. Everything about Him is true.
He is the true and living God. He is the true vine. He said,
I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father
but through me. And then secondly, they say that
you're not a respecter of any man's person. Beyond the intimidation
of men, unimpressed by the power and influence of men, he was
not impressed with Pilate's authority, Pilate's power. Not even the
kings of the earth intimidated him, who is the King of kings
and Lord of lords. He has all power and all authority. And then thirdly, they declare,
you teach the way of God in truth. And he did. He did declare all
the counsel of God. He did declare unto him all that
would hear the testimony of God as God's prophets. He said, the
words I speak are not mine, but I speak the words of my Father
that hath sent me. And he did declare the will of
God in salvation. Thirdly, notice this. And verses 14 and 15 again, their
question by which they intended to trap him and to humiliate
him and to embarrass him. And verse 14 and 15 again, but
is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? You think they
would have come up, if they were really serious about their soul's
salvation, you would have thought they would have said, Master,
how can we know the way of truth? How can we have our sins forgiven? How can we be just before God
who is holy? But they were interested in a
question about secular things, about paying tax. rather than
the spiritual truth of the gospel. Is it lawful to give tribute
to Caesar or not? Shall we give or shall we not
give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy,
said, Why do you tempt me? Bring me a penny, that I may
see it. Now, here's what they're asking. Should we pay tax to the Roman
government? Should we honor The law of room. Now their question was designed
to make him answer yes or no. But he's not going to fall into
that trap. The Lord is far too wise to be entrapped by their
wicked designs. If he said yes to the question,
give and pay your tax to religious Pharisees would accuse him of
being a traitor to the Jews. And you know what? Turn and read
this with me. You're not going to believe this.
Turn to Luke 23. I want you to see this. If he
would have said yes, the Pharisees would accuse him of being a traitor
to the Jews. But you know, they accused him
anyway. Notice Luke 23, verse 1. The whole multitude of them arose
and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him,
saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is a king. They
lied! He said you give to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's. If he would have said no to this
question, the secular Herodians would have accused him of being
a rebel against Rome. They did anyway. If he's silent
on the issue, they both would have accused him of being a coward.
Why don't you answer us? Now I want you to listen to this.
We as a gospel-believing church must not allow, must not allow
ourselves to be taken up with the political wrangling and worldly
strife in our day. We cannot be too careful about
these things. Our business as a gospel-believing
church, our business is to declare the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the Sovereign Lord will overrule and control the
deeds of the ungodly. God will take care of those things.
Our Lord said in John chapter 8, my kingdom is not of this
world. If my kingdom were of this world then would my servant
fight. Our business as a gospel-believing
church, our business is to preach the gospel. Our Lord said, go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Paul on his last word before he took his head off to the young
preacher Timothy, he said, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus
Christ to preach the word. Preach the word. Preach Christ. Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our
business as a gospel-believing church is not to put the abortion
clinic out of business. God will take care of that. Our
business as a gospel-believing church is not to try to straighten
out the political situation in our country or to rise up and
revolt against our government. That is not our business. Our
business is preaching Christ. and him crucified. Do you understand
what I'm saying? Now I receive a constant barrage
of emails from various folks including preachers about political
issues and worldly issues. I have a special place for such
emails. Delete. Empty the delete can. Recently someone sent me an email
about The President of the United States being a Muslim and wanting
me to get on the bandwagon and put the video on Sermon Audio
and go through all this convoluted issue about rising up against
the President because he's a Muslim. My friend, I don't care. I don't
care. I don't care if he's a Hindu,
a Buddhist, or a Papist. He is President of the United
States by God's decree. Is that right? Now we are playing
a game if we think and we preach and we say we believe in the
sovereignty of God and then when someone is put in office by the
decree of God we sit and complain about it. I'm not going to get on that
bandwagon. My business, as God's servant, is to declare the gospel
of God, and He will take care of these other issues. Who is
the king anyway? Proverbs 21 says this, The king's
heart, do you believe this? The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As rivers of water, he turneth it wheresoever he
will. The old king Nebuchadnezzar learned that lesson. He says,
the God who is God does according to His will in the army of heaven
and among the habitants of this earth and none can stay in His
hand or none can say in Him, Lord God Almighty, what are you
doing? The psalmist declared this in
Psalm 37, Threaten not thyself because of evildoers. How many
presidents of the United States have we had that are believers
of the gospel of God's grace? Maybe. George Washington. The rest of them, I don't know. Threat not thyself because of
evildoers, neither be thou envious of the workers of iniquity. For
they shall soon be cut off, cut down like the grass, and wither
as a green herb. Trust in the Lord. and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land,
and the Lord shall feed you. Delight thyself in the Lord,
and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your ways
unto the Lord, and trust Him, and He'll bring it to pass. Now
let the political issues end outside that door. We're here
to worship God, and we're here to preach His gospel. That's
what I think the lesson that we need to learn. These folks
were taken up with other issues. Our issue is the gospel, my friend. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God helped us to preach the gospel, committed to the
gospel. Here's the fourth thing. We see
the marvelous wisdom by which the Lord shows in this answer
to His enemies in verse 16 and verse 17. He said, you bring
me a penny that I may see it, verse 16, and they brought it.
And he said unto them, well whose picture is on this penny anyway? Whose image is this? Whose inscription? Whose writing
is on this? And they said unto him, they
were forced to answer and confess with Caesar. Tiberius Caesar
was a ruler in that day. And Jesus answered, verse 17,
unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and
to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him. He
made them supply the answer to their own question. You bring
me a penny. And they did. They brought their own confession
when they brought him the coin. Show me your money." The Lord
asked, well, whose image is on it? They were forced to answer,
they were under the dominion of Rome, whether they liked it
or not. And the Lord said, then you render
or give back and you pay the things to Caesar that are under
his authority. Let me show you something interesting.
I want you to find Matthew 17. You know the Lord Jesus Christ
as a God-man mediator paid taxes to Rome? You know that? Find
Matthew 17. He did it in a most unusual way. Since Peter fishing, he caught
a fish that had a coin in its mouth. In Matthew 17 verse 24,
And when they were come to Capernaum, Verse 24, Matthew 17, they that
received tribute money came to Peter and said, Doth not your
master pay tribute? Doesn't he pay taxes to Rome?
And Peter said, Well, yes. And when he was coming to the
house, Jesus 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. And well, Peter says unto him,
Master of strangers. And Jesus said unto him, Then
are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should
offend, go to the sea, cast and hook, take up the fish that first
cometh, and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a
piece of money, that take and give unto them for me and you. Believers ought to make and do
good, obedient, loyal citizens to their country. Obeying the
laws of the land. Now listen to me. Obeying the
laws of the land as long as they do not violate the Word of God. If laws in our country are past
forbidding preaching and public worship, then we like Daniel
and the three Hebrew children must disobey the king. You remember
they were under the king of Babylon and would not give up their worship
to the true and living God and would not bow down to idols.
Now if they legislate laws preventing preaching and preventing worship
and legislate laws that are contrary to God's word, then we're going
to rise up in opposition. When the law of the land and
the law of God come into conflict and opposition, the law of God
is the final authority. Now let me give you an illustration
of this. When the early church, Peter and John and James, when
the early church was strictly commanded not to preach the gospel
anymore, matter of fact they were beaten and told and imprisoned
not to preach the gospel anymore. Do you know what it says? It says they filled Jerusalem
with their doctrine. See, it was contrary to the Word
of God. Peter said we ought rather to obey God than man. We are instructed in 1 Timothy
chapter 2, we are instructed to pray for our leaders. Pray
for kings and magistrates. Pray for them. God help us to
do so. They are but men. Oh, the weighty
responsibility that's on them. We are instructed in Romans 13,
we are instructed to be in subjection unto them. Romans 13 declares
the powers that be are ordained of God. Is that right? The old writer
John Gill said, Subjection to civil authority is not inconsistent
with fear and reverence to God. Peter sums it up in one verse.
1 Peter 2 verse 17. Fear God and honor the King. Fear God and honor the King. So render the things to Caesar. Render, give back, pay to Caesar
the things that are his. The second part of this is render,
give back to God the things that are His. This commandment is
given to all men. But especially to those who find
all their salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to give
unto our great God and Savior all reverence, all respect, all
admiration due unto His glorious name. Salvation and all spiritual
blessings find their origin and beginning in Him. We owe so much unto God. We are
a debtor. We are a debtor unto God. We
are mercy beggars at His throne. And we owe a great debt of gratitude
unto our God. And by His grace, believers do
in their heart render unto God the things that are His. His. Three things. All thanksgiving
and praise are due unto Him alone. Turn to Psalm 115, all thanksgiving
and praise is due unto him alone. Verse 1, not unto us O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name do we give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. Not unto us, But unto him all
thanksgiving and praise are due unto God alone. The apostle wrote
this, In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Secondly, all worship is due
unto his name. All worship is due unto his name. Find Philippians chapter 2. Philippians
chapter 2. All worship is due unto his name. Philippians 2. Verse 9, Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father. All thanksgiving and praise are
due unto him. Render unto Him things that are
due unto Him. All worship is due unto His name.
Thirdly, all glory for His salvation by His free and sovereign grace
in Christ Jesus are due unto His glorious name. Find 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The Apostle said, God forbid
I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at verse 30 carefully. But of him
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that, according
as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. The Lord gives us this word in
Jeremiah 9, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not
the rich man glory in his riches, but let him glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which
exercise lovingkindness, and judgment, and righteousness in
the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Now here's the last thing. Look back at the text again.
I'm almost through. Stay with me just a minute. I
want you to see this. Verse 17, the last sentence in
verse 17. You see it? It says, And they marveled at
him. They marveled at him. They never
submitted to him. They were wondering about him. They never believed Him. They
never trusted Him. They never submitted to Him.
They simply marveled at Him. Same thing happens so many times
today. Frequently when the gospel of
God's grace is preached with the power and blessing of God
upon it, men may be impressed for a while, but they never come
to trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all their salvation. May
you not only marvel at His glorious person, but also may God give
us grace to believe the gospel, to receive Him, to trust the
Lord Jesus Christ for all of our salvation, and render unto
Him, and say unto Him, Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord. Our Savior declared in the Gospels,
He said, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light. I point you to the Lord Jesus
Christ. and find salvation in Him. I'd
encourage you. Bow to Christ. Remember what
we read in Psalm 2? Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.
But blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. In Him. God give us grace to do so.