What Are You Giving?

N.T.#253 "What Are You Giving?"

Feb. 28, 2024 

Matthew 22-Part 5

Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. (verse 21)

LET IT GLOW 

On the Roman coin was the image of Tiberius Caesar, the emperor at the time of Jesus. Are we Christians walking in the image of our Savior? We owe Him our everything. God is more concerned with what we do with the spiritual, eternal, heavenly dimensions of our lives than our trinkets. To give God the things that are God's means to render to Him our whole being.

Render means to give away; yield.

Surely, we are to pay our taxes due, but our heart belongs to Jesus. To which do you yield?

 God is sovereign and King. It is His kingdom and His wedding feast. He sends out the invitations, makes the rules, and chooses the attire. He takes our ragged garments of sin and replaces them with His own righteousness. That is the only way we can come to the feast. We owe our greatest love, highest honor, and humblest obedience to God, not to a political leader, boss, or church. 

[Resource: Swindoll's Living Insights on Matthew 16-28]

The things that are God's do not belong to Caesar and should be given only to God. (MacArthur)

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deut. 6:5)

There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim.2:5)

Are we giving God our total obedience in hoor of the daily benefits He gives us?

LET IT GROW 

Jesus barely had time to catch His breath when a group of Sadducees showed up. This group was a powerful religious sect associated with the high priests and aristocratic families. Also, they rejected many theological views of the Pharisees.

Wave after wave of attacks were from every angle by the Messiah's enemies. They believed that the soul perished with the body at death and that the concept of resurrection was a myth. So they didn't believe in heaven or hell, eternal rewards and judgment. 

The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. (Acts 23:8)

No hope of the resurrection after death-how sad they must have been. Jesus had the power to rise from the grave and He will raise us, too.

Do you have this hope, dear one?

LET IT GO

Thank You Jesus for being our hope of eternal life.

Help us share this hope with others, so they can have eternal life in heaven.