Matthew 22. Matthew chapter 22. One of the
surest evidences that a person is saved and believes God, is
born of the Spirit and trusts the Lord Jesus Christ fully.
One of the surest evidences is that person receives and believes
the Word of God as it's written, as it's spoken. Paul summed that
up in Acts 27, 25 when he said, Sirs, I believe God. I believe God, that it shall
be exactly as it was spoken to me. It seems to be characteristic
of religious people to argue. Argue the scriptures. Debate
the scriptures. Question the scriptures. Find
ways to discredit the scriptures. Trying to find in the scriptures
what they call inconsistencies and errors. Just reading the
word and believing the word is not what they do. They read
the Word and they question the Word and argue the Word. But
a believer reads the Word and believes the Word, that which
he understands and that which he doesn't understand, because
it's the Word of God. And as one great preacher said
many years ago, I don't need a God that I can understand. I don't need a God that I can
comprehend. If I can understand and comprehend
my God, then my God is no bigger than I am. Moses said the secret things
belong to the Lord. And they will remain secret until
he is pleased to reveal them to us. And the revealed things
belong to us, the sons of men. But we believe God. Now let's look at these religious
Pharisees in Matthew 22, verse 15. It says, "...then went the Pharisees
and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk, that
might find error and inconsistency in his talk." Let's pick a dangerous
and difficult subject. Let's ask him some questions
that might get him in trouble with the government. or get him
in trouble with the people. Let's see if we can find some
inconsistencies in what he has to say. Things that do not agree
with other things. So they went out unto him. They
sent out unto him. They sent some people. The Pharisees
themselves on this occasion didn't go. But they sent unto him their
disciples. They sent unto him men, young
men, trained. by them, by the Pharisees, trained
in their schools, trained in their traditions, trained in
their doctrines and in their works, young men, zealous young
men, who were crafty and skillful and enjoyed argument, who were
zealous and who would appear to be sincere to the people.
The Pharisees didn't go themselves, they sent these young men. that
these young men might appear to the people as being sincere
men seeking answers for their questions. It reminds me of these
young men that I see out on the streets sent by schools and denominations
to come into your home and argue the scriptures and debate the
scriptures and teach you their traditions and question you about
what you believe. The leaders themselves don't
come, they send these young men, seemingly zealous young men,
sincere young men. And that's what the Pharisees
did, and they sent with these disciples the Herodians. Now this is strange. The Herodians
were friends of Herod. They were people who supported
Herod and supported the rule of Herod, like Zacchaeus, before
the Lord saved him. collector of taxes in Herod's
name. They believed in tribute to Herod.
The Pharisees didn't, but these Herodians did. So they sent these
disciples and these Herodians and listened to them. Master? They allowed him to be a teacher,
a prophet, a truthful person. They said, Master, we know that
you're We know that you're an honest person. We know that you
teach the truth, in truth, the way of God. We know that. We know that you need to care
for any man. You speak the truth whether men
are pleased or not pleased. And we know that you regard not
the person of men, but tell us. Tell us, what thinkest thou?
your personal sincerity and frankness, honesty, what do you think? Is it lawful for we Jews to pay
tribute to Caesar, a pagan, an idolater, or not? Is it lawful, is it according
to the law of God, for his chosen people, the kingdom of The people who worship the living
God. Is it lawful for them to pay
tribute and taxes to a pagan king like Caesar? Now these Jews,
the Pharisees, believed they were children of God. That they
were in bondage to no man. Do you remember them saying that?
We are in bondage to no man. We are the kingdom of God. We
are the children of God. We are the people of God. We
are the sons of Abraham. We are a free nation and a free
people. Therefore we don't even recognize Caesar. and which wrong
to support an idolatrous cause and king." And they asked him,
what do you think? Now they knew if he said yes,
it is lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar. That he was going
to be in trouble with the Pharisees and in trouble with most of the
Jews, the people. But if he said no, it is not
lawful for the Jews to pay tribute to an idolater like Caesar, then
he's going to be in trouble with the government. And they'll go
immediately to Herod and tell him these Herodians are there
for that purpose. Just as soon as he says it's
not lawful to pay taxes or tribute to Caesar, he's in trouble with
the government. But our Lord answered, verse
18, he perceived their wickedness. And he said, why tempt ye me,
you hypocrites? You hypocrite. They said, you're
a true man. He said, you're a hypocrite.
You're an honest man. He said, you're dishonest man.
You pretend to honor me, calling me master. You pretend to represent
the people, and you don't represent the people. You represent yourself. You seek your own glory, you're
hypocrites. Hypocrites. Now read on, verse
19, show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny,
a piece of coin, with an inscription on it of Caesar and writing.
And he says to them, he says to them, whose is this image
and inscription, superscription, inscription? They said Caesar's.
It's Caesar's inscription. Then said he unto them, you render
therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and you render to God the things
that are God's. Obedience to civil leaders, whomever
they are, good or bad, but elected or chosen or crowned civil leaders
Obedience to magistrates and rulers is not inconsistent with
reverence and worship and fear of God. Actually, civil leaders
and magistrates and rulers and officers, whether they are believers
or unbelievers, are themselves in ministering justice and love,
they are ministers of God. for our good. Let me read that
to you in Romans chapter 13. In Romans 13, actually, a man
who is a ruler, elected official, chosen official, a man who is
an officer, a person who has authority, whether in the town
or the national government or the city or the state or the
school, or the factory, people with authority and position,
they are officers of God. Let's read you that in Romans
13. Let every soul be subject to
the higher powers. But there is no power but of
God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resists
the power, resists the ordinance of God. And they that resist
shall receive to themselves destruction. Rulers are not a terror to good
works. Rulers are a terror to evil works,
to people who do evil, people who resist the law, resist the
rule, resist the standards laid down for an orderly society.
To buck those officers and rulers and laws and taxes, it must be
collected for the education of children, fire department, police
department, the highways, the roads, all these things. Will thou then not be afraid
of the power that God ordained? Now you do that which is good,
and you'll have praise of the same, for he is the minister
of God to thee for good. How is he the
minister of God? Well, he's not a preacher, he's
not a pastor, he's not a teacher of spiritual things, but he's
an Person God uses for order. He's a person, she's a person
God uses to keep order. Chain of command. Now if you
do that which is evil, you'd be afraid. For he beareth not
the sword in vain. He's the minister of God. He's
a revenger to execute wrath upon them that do evil. You've got
to have jails if you have evil men. You've got to have judges.
You've got to have men who enforce law, or we're going to have a
chaotic society. So our Lord said, you render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. True believers make
good citizens. Because they're obedient to God.
True believers make good children. They're obedient to their parents.
True believers make good students. They're obedient to the laws
and rules of the school. True believers make good workers
because they're obedient to their bosses. True believers make good
neighbors because they obey the rules. So you render to Caesar
the things of Caesar. Now here, don't skip this. Here's
the important part. Render to God the things of God. They asked him one day, they
said, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
He said, this is the work of God that you believe, that you
believe on Him whom God sent. That's the work of God. Render
to God the things that are God's. Believe Him. Render to God the
things that are God's. Have faith in Him. Believe His
Word. Trust Him. Worship Him. Oh, come, let us worship. Let
us bow down. Come, let us exalt the Lord together. give thanks. Enoch pleased God. How did he please God? He believed
God. He walked with God. How can a
man walk with God? Believe in God. Two can't walk
together except they be agreed. And God's not going to agree
with us in our wrong thoughts and ways. We agree with Him.
It says here, and listen to this verse, "...by Him therefore,
by Christ, let us offer unto God the sacrifice of praise,
the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, and do good,
and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God
is well pleased." 29, 20, 23. That same day came to him the
Sadducees, which say there's no resurrection. And they're
going to try to track him too. They said, Master, and they told
you that story. You heard the story a while ago.
A man married to a woman, has no children, and he dies. She
marries someone else, and he dies. And he marries seven different
men, and they all die. And they said, now in the resurrection, We hand you a little problem. Whose wife will she be? And our Lord answered, now listen. Jesus answered and said unto
them, you do err. What is it to err? It's to take
the wrong road. What is it to err? It's to be
mistaken. What is it to err? It's to depart
from the truth into error. And you're in deep, deep trouble
and error for two reasons. This is the master. I love the
simplicity of the word. People talk about, I can't understand
the Bible. They don't try to. They don't
really want to. This is pretty easy to understand.
He said you're in error for two reasons. You do not know the
scriptures. You do not know the Word of God.
You haven't taken the time to read the Word of God, to study
the Word of God. You haven't taken time to look
into the Scriptures, to find out what they say. You do not know the Scriptures. And the second reason why you
are in error is this. You know, let me show you a Scripture
in John 5. You do not know the Scriptures, he said. In John
5, verse 39, he said, search the Scriptures. John 5, 39. In them you think you have life,
eternal life. But there they which testify
of me. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
key of the Scriptures. He's the key of the Old Testament
Scriptures. Christ is the Passover. Christ is the brazen serpent.
Christ is the priest, like Melchizedek. Christ is the king, prophet like
Moses. He's the king. And they testify,
so you're in error because you don't know the scriptures. And
secondly, you're in error because you don't know the power of God.
The power of God, the sovereignty of God. You talk about there can't be
a resurrection, God, who is able to make a man from dust, as He
did Adam, is able to raise a man from dust. It's the power of
God. God is able. God, who can make
a world out of nothing, can make something out of me. People do not know that God,
he said, my arm's not short that I can't sail. He said to sailors,
anything too hard for God? He said, let there be light,
and there was light, a sun. Let the dry land appear, and
it appeared. Let the sea come to the shores,
and no farther, no farther. Two-thirds of this world is water,
and yet God has appointed boundaries for that water, and it can't
come any further. Oh, it can get all excited and
foam up and wash a few houses on the beach away, but it can't
come any further. He lets it. And this is what's wrong in the
pulpit today. Men who are in the pulpit do
not know the scriptures. They do not know the key. They
don't have the key. They don't have the person, Christ.
He died for our sins according to the Scripture. He was buried
and rose again according to the Scripture. And they don't know
the power of God. They say, God can and He will
if you let Him. God wants to do this and people
won't let Him. Wait a minute now. They're ever learning and never
coming to a knowledge of the truth. And they have a form of
godliness and deny the power. That's it. Deny the power of
God. That's your problem, he said.
But let's read on. That's your whole problem. And
nothing else I say is going to help you until you know those
two things, the scriptures and the power of God. But I'll go
on. Listen. In the resurrection,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven. In heaven They do not marry. They do not produce children.
Everybody there is the children of God. God is the Father. There are no fathers and mothers
and husbands and wives in heaven. They are a family of God. They
do not stand in need of sustenance as food and drink. They can certainly
take it, but they don't need it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, after
He arose from the grave, He ate honey. and fish. But he didn't need it. We don't
need in heaven. They are neither married nor
given in marriage. They do not produce children. They do not
require sustenance such as food or drink. They have no sickness.
They have no pain. They have no death. Their perfect
body. A key to what our bodies will
be like in heaven is this. We'll be conformed to the image
of God's Son. conformed to the image of God's
Son, would be like Christ. And that will answer your question
about marrying and giving in marriage, would be like Christ.
But read on. But as touching the resurrection
of the dead, now these fellows didn't believe in the resurrection.
But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read
that which was spoken unto you by God? This is in Exodus 3,
verse 13 to 15, at the burning bush. He said to Moses, I am the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At that time, all three of those
men were dead. And their bodies were in the
grave. They buried every one of them. Isn't that right? When
Moses was there, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead men in the
grave. But they weren't dead. They were
living because God says, I'm their God. I'm Abraham's God. And God's not the God of the
dead. The dead are nothing. The dead are lifeless. The dead
have no being. So he says, I'm not the God of
the dead, I'm the God of the living. And Abraham's living,
Isaac's living, Jacob's living. I'm the God of the living. That's what Martha said when
she came to the Lord Jesus. Her brother was in the grave.
Her brother's body was in the grave. He's dead. And she said,
if he would have been here, he wouldn't have died. The Lord
Jesus said, he'll rise again. She said, yes, I know he will
in the resurrection. But right now he's dead. Christ
said, no, he's not dead. I'm the resurrection and the
life. And he that believeth on me,
though he were dead, he still liveth. I'm not the God of the
dead. I'm the God of the living. And
that's your basis for resurrection. He's the God of the living. He's
not the God of the dead. And they were astonished. at
his doctrine. They were religious people. They
had their doctrines, but they were astonished at his doctrine.
I've had this trouble for 40 some odd years. People astonished
at my doctrine. Well, my doctrine is his doctrine.
And they're astonished at his doctrine, they'll be astonished
at your doctrine. The next question, listen. Verse
34. Well, when the Pharisees heard
that he put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together,
and one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
him. Oh, tempting him, trying to get
some inconsistencies in him, trying to trap him. Why don't
we give up trying to find inconsistencies in the Scripture? Why don't we
give up? Heaven and earth will pass away.
He said, my word shall not pass away. Not one jot and piddle
shall all be fulfilled. This is our only foundation.
Well, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? In all the ceremonial law and
the moral law and the Levitical law, which commandment is greater
than the rest? Which is most important? Pharisees. law here. I think we might find a key if
we'll sneak into the temple and listen to the Pharisee as he
prayed. This is the way they think. Lord,
he said as he prayed with himself, I thank you I'm not like other
men. Listen to his catalog. I'm not
an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer,
I pay tithes and I fast." That was his order of importance,
the law. And that's what this man's asking.
Which among all these laws is the greatest, of the most importance
to me and to all the people? And our Lord answered. And he said, verse 37, Jesus
said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with sincerity, with soul and heart and mind,
in sincerity. Love God. What are the commandments? Thou shalt have no other God
before me. If you love him, he's your first love. There certainly
will be no room for any other God. I shall not make unto thee
any graven image, any likeness of anything in heaven or earth
or the seas or under the earth. Not if you love Him. Not even
in your mind. You're not going to bow to any
graven image. I shall not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain. I shall not use His name recklessly and carelessly
and meaninglessly. People don't do that to someone
they love. I love my mom. But I wouldn't use her name blasphemously. I love my father. I love my wife.
I love you. If you love a person, you don't
speak evil of them. You don't use their name in a
derogatory fashion, do you? That's the key. Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy. We do. Christ is our Sabbath.
We rest in Him. We rest in Him. We're not working
our way to heaven. That's what the Sabbath is an
emblem of. Rest. Rest. Rest in God. Cease from our labors and enter
into His rest. And Christ is our Sabbath. We
rest in Him. We love Him. We rest in Him. We worship Him. We'll bow before
Him. We love Him. He said, that's
the first and great commandment. The second is likened to it.
The second, and listen, worship, worship is the key. I mean, love
is the key to worship. Love is the key to obedience.
The second is likened to it. Listen to him here. The second
is likened to it. How is it likened to it? Because
it springs from it. The second is the effect of it. It's the results of it. If you
love God, you love those who are of God, your neighbor, your
brothers and your sisters. John said you can't love God
and hate your brother. He is born of God, love it, because
he's begotten of God. And you see the second is not
really the second, it's the whole commandment in one. Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all your sincere heart, mind, and
soul, and love your neighbor as yourself, because it is the
effect of your love for him. And you take the other commandment,
steal, commit adultery, kill, covet, bear false witness on
someone you love. You love them. That orders your
life. A believer doesn't need a set
of rules. He has one rule. Love God and
his neighbor. And that's his motivation. And any other motivation is false. It just honestly is. You know,
Enoch walked with God. You know what Scripture says?
Enoch walked with God, didn't he? The law wasn't even given
in the days of Enoch. There was no Ten Commandments
in Enoch's day. Well, how in the world did he
walk with God? He didn't have a... He loved God. He believed
God. That's the basis of his walk
with God. Isn't that right? Laws are made for lawless people. Locks on the doors are not for
believers. Locks on the door are for thieves.
People are thieves in their hearts. But people who are believers
in their heart, who love God, who love each other, they don't
need a set of rules telling them how to act towards one another.
They love each other. I often say that in a home where
a husband, wife, and children love each other, you don't need
a set of rules and laws. Because they love. They love
each other. The law is for lawless men. It
was given to a lawless nation, Israel. That's right. I'm not discrediting the law
of God. You know that I'm not. I love the law. I love the law. I delight in thy law, O God.
But the law is not a summary of the character of God. Love
is a summary. Holiness is a summary of the
character of God. God is love. I'm sure glad He
is. He's not just just and lawful. He's merciful. If that weren't
true, I'm a goner. Law won't help me. And a God
of law won't help me. But God who is love, he'll help
me. And then, verse 41, verse 40
said, on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Now verse 41, while the Pharisees were gathered, still gathered
together, Jesus asked them, this is interesting, Say, what think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Now, when he
says, what think ye of Christ? He's asking, what think ye of
the Christ? He's not saying, what do you
think about me? They didn't believe he was the Christ. His disciples
did. Peter said, thou art the Christ.
You see, the Christ is promised by Moses. The Christ is the Messiah,
the Redeemer, promised all the way through the scriptures. The
Christ, that's what the woman at the well said, the Messiah's
coming. He was standing there, but she
didn't know him, didn't recognize him. But she said, the Messiah's
coming, the Christ is coming, and He'll tell us all things.
He'll be a prophet like Moses. Christ said, I'm He. So He asked
them, the Messiah, the Christ, whom you're looking for, whom
you're looking, whom you expect, whose son is He? They said, He's
the son of David. And they were half right. But
that's far as they went, just the son of David. But they were
half right. Turn to Romans 1. Romans chapter
1. It says here in verse 1, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to
the gospel of God. which he had promised afore by
his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh. The Messiah, the Christ, is the
son of David. He's the seed of David. He came
through the house and lineage of David. He is born of a daughter
of David, great, great, great, great granddaughter of David
called Mary. And her husband, the foster father, was also a
great, great, great, great grandson of David. They were in the house
and lineage of David. He was born of the seed of David.
Promised seed of David. But now read the next verse.
And declared, he wasn't born the son of God. He wasn't made
the son of God. He was declared to be what he
is. He was made of the flesh, made of a woman, made under the
law. Our representative who came here
in the flesh, the Messiah, to be our Savior, our Redeemer.
To work out a perfect righteousness for us. To die on the cross and
satisfy the justice of God, bear our sins away. He's got to be
a man. See, God can't suffer. Man can't
satisfy. But the God-man can suffer as
a man and satisfies God. So he became a man. But this
verse said he was declared to be. He was announced to be the
Son of God with power unlimited without measure according to
the Spirit of God, the Spirit of holiness. And he was declared
to be the Son of God when he walked out of that grave by the
resurrection of the dead. Everything He did from the time
God, well, clear through the Old Testament, from the time
God hung a star over that manger, announced His birth for the angels,
kept Him throughout this life, pleased God to bruise Him on
a cross. They buried Him and God raised
Him from the dead and declared Him to be Lord and Christ. So let's read our text now and
close. Matthew 22. And they said he's the son of
David. Verse 43 now, Matthew 22. He said unto them, How then
doth David in the Spirit, by the Spirit of God, inspiration,
call him Lord? Saying, Thee, Lord, the Father,
said to my Lord, the Messiah, Sit thou on my right hand, till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. If David calls him Lord, How
can it be David's son? And these scholars, scribes,
Pharisees, lawyers, students of the Word, were not able to
answer him a word. Neither did any man from that
time ask him any more questions. And there's a summary of the
Gospel. There it is. He's man. God. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. And when you know that, and you
know the Scriptures, all these other questions will just fall
in line. And what you don't understand
and what you can't comprehend, if you'll just wait a while,
now we see through a glass dimly. Now we know in part and we preach
in part, but then, face to face, I shall know, even as all along
I have been known. God bless His Word to our prophet.