Give to Caeser what is Caesar's

Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s

By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verse taken from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted
Luke 20:23-25

“He saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it? “Caesar’s” they replied. He then said to them, “Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
When Jesus said this I think he was saying something that in close analysis shows a far deeper meaning than what we see at simple face value. On the surface it appears that Jesus was talking about money. Today in America we call it the dollar, its yen in China, euros in Europe, drachma’s in Greece and I think it’s still the pound in England unless they have gone with the euro as has most of Europe which has a very heavy overcast of the end times. The Bible tells of when there will be one world government and one currency and it is quite evident that we are headed in that direction. It’s just a matter of time. That is the reason for urgency in my messages, it’s still not to late too accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Once the trumpet blows and Christ returns it’s a whole new day and things will be different but that’s not the direction this message is going so I better get back to the outline of today.

At that time and place when Jesus physically walked the streets and countryside of what we now call the “Holy Land” the monetary note of choice was the Roman denarius. The denarius was the printed or most likely a better term is, the stamped coin of currency issued under the authority of Rome and used for most types of transactions, and in particular the payment of taxes.

But one of the places where the denarius wasn’t accepted as a type of currency was in the Jewish temple. The Jewish priests issued their own coinage and it was the only accepted currency that could be used to purchase the animals or objects needed for the required sacrifices that needed to be purchased and offered for sin on the altar in the temple as described in The Law. The people would come to the temple with their Roman coins and have to go to the money exchangers who had little tables or booths set up in the outer courts of the temple known as the Court of the Gentiles. There the money changers would exchange the Roman coins for Jewish coins, for a fee of course; the people would then pay a priest for the article of sacrifice, and then offer the sacrifice back to the priest who took it and completed the sacrifice ritual.

The Jewish priests really had a good thing going in the temple if we were to look at this from a business point of view. Being the good godly men that they were, it was the priests that said the evil Roman coin was of no value and had to be exchanged for the good and acceptable Jewish coin. The priests were the ones whom under their authority ordered the issue of Jewish coins to be made for use in temple service. The priests were the ones that made the arrangements for the money exchangers to be in the temple to offer their exchange services, and of course the priest got a portion of the profits from this exchange service. It was the priests that made sure all of the Jews offered a sacrifice for their sins, and it was the priests that received the sacrifice offerings. From the beginning to the end of the transaction in sacrifice offerings, the priests made a profit from every angle to be implemented. A fellow has to make a living now doesn’t he?

Allow me to cover this one more time to make sure we all understand how this worked. The priests ordered the stamping of Jewish coins, for a profit of course; the priests then got the Jewish coins in the hands of the moneychangers, for a profit of course. The moneychangers then sold the Jewish money to the Jewish people taking in the evil Roman coins and charged a fee for this service with the priests getting a cut of the profits for this service. The people then bought from the priests an object for sacrifice, a dove, a bird, an animal of some kind; for a profit of course. And then the priests took the sacrifice to the altar and were able to retain a small portion of the sacrifice for their wages as was fitting for being a poor and humble priest. Now mind you, each time I’ve mentioned a profit being made, it was a profit paid in Roman coins, you remember those bad and evil coins that no good and godly priest would want to handle but did so out of the goodness of their hearts just to get rid of those nasty old Roman coins. The priests did this great and noble service for the poor and simple people because the Jewish coin was pretty much useless for any transactions outside of the temple; there the Roman coin was the desired and accepted coin of use. I think today we would call this a very slick and unique money-laundering scheme, which would most likely be quite illegal in our society. Unless of course you are the government, they do the same thing, they issue the currency, tax you when you get it, tax you when you use it and tax what’s left if you save it making a profit for themselves at every turn in the road. Jesus knew how this system of profit and exchange worked and now maybe you have a good idea why our dear sweet Lord Jesus got so mad when he saw what was going on in his Fathers house of worship. Now you can see why Jesus kicked the tables of the moneychangers over and drove the owners of the tables out of the building. Jesus knew they were crooks and he let everyone know that he knew it. I think it’s safe to say that Jesus wasn’t a bit bashful in addressing sin when he saw it. What our dear Savior did was follow a practice we today call “Civil Disobedience”. Jesus saw a practice of the ruling government, in this case the temple priests, Jesus saw a practice that went against the law of the Father and he followed the higher order; that of course being the order of God and he, Jesus, rebelled against the government edict that allowed this money changing system to function in God’s house.

I think we can also see the wisdom Jesus displayed when challenged in regards to the Roman currency. Jesus said that if the Roman system or government of Rome wanted to collect taxes from their Roman currency then give them what they wanted. Jesus knew the recorded word of God, he wrote it. Jesus knew that in the Old Testament, which was the only Scriptures they had at that time; that it was clearly prophesied that when the people rejected God as their king and demanded a human king like the heathen nations around them, that that king would be demanding the payment of taxes to support his government and that under the order established and permitted by God that king then had the right to demand the taxes and the people under his authority were obligated to pay them. God warned the people about the problems they would encounter under the leadership and authority of human kings and what would be required of the people should they go with human kings over having God as their king and ruler which was the system they then lived with at that time. The people were unrelenting in their desires and said, “give us a human king”, which God did, the king said, “thanks for the job, now give me taxes” and the taxes needed to be paid. Pure and simple politics at it’s best. You can read for yourself the account of how this all transpired, the people’s demand for a king, God’s warning about not getting one because they would be under a heavy burden of taxes if they had a king and God’s walking away for the table when the people wouldn’t relent in their demands. It is all there in 1st Samuel the eighth chapter.

But the paying of taxes isn’t the only object lesson to be learned from this portion of scripture. There are other principles to be learned as well. There is more fruit to be harvested in this because the words of Jesus are seldom just a sandwich; usually they are a complete meal with everything from the appetizer to the desert, kind of like going to the buffet for seconds and thirds. In our opening reading, in the twenty-four red letter words of our Lord alone should the Holy Spirit inspire me I could glean a half dozen sermons, God does that all the time with people all over the world.

Yes, Jesus is saying that paying taxes owed to the government is the proper thing to do. It’s our obligation to pay taxes and in doing so we are being a good witness in the principles of Christianity. We are being obedient to the civil authorities that God has allowed to be established over us. The apostle Paul explains this in greater detail in the 13th chapter of the book of Romans. Starting with verse one Paul goes on to say, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves”. We need to remember this when we start to grumble and complain about our elected officials, there is no one; there is no person, not a one, in any office or position that is there against the will of God. Be it from the highest to the lowest, if they are in office; God allowed it, he may not like what they are doing, and he may not approve of their behavior while in that office, but God in His sovereign power and authority has allowed that person to be there. Sometimes we may question why, what is God’s logic in this? But it’s really a God thing, and it’s not our position to question God. If you are a reader of my materials or should you ever sit in on one of my teachings at some point you are going to hear me use a passage that I go to frequently from Isaiah. (Isaiah 55: 8-11) “8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

If you believe in an all powerful and almighty God, if you believe in divine providence and that God is omnipotent in all things, then you have to believe that it is by God’s authority that anyone and everyone is in office because God allowed it to happen. You see my friends, God has a plan and a purpose for everything and even though there are many times when we can’t see or understand what that purpose is; there are many times when it’s like trying to see the forest through the trees, it is right there in front of us but we just can’t see it. It is still within Gods plan and authority, God’s plan is being carried out regardless of our lack of insight or understanding of the situation. You may be thinking, “Pastor don’t tell me that God wanted President Bill Clinton to conduct himself in the fashion in which he did while he was in power!” No God didn’t want him to conduct himself as he did; nor did God condone his behavior, but isn’t it possible that God allowed it to happen for a greater purpose? Because of Bill Clinton’s lies and lurid behavior thousands of Christians rose up in righteous indignation and went to the ballot polls to cast a vote when in the past they just sat on their righteous moral behinds and complained and grumbled but they did little else. Because of Bill Clinton a message was sent to our political leaders that said, “we have a voice and it’s going to be heard” and that my friends is a good thing!

Getting the Christian to voice their opinion is a good thing just as obedience to the civil authorities is a good thing. Remember, we have established government because God wants it there. But … is this to say that we are to follow the edicts of the government blindly in everything that it says or directs and never question that authority? Is this to say that there is no place for civil disobedience under any circumstance? And the answer to that my friend is a loud and resounding NO! I’m not trying to say that and neither do the scriptures, go back to our reading of Luke. What are the words that Jesus used? “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. We are to give the government their just due but we are to give God his just due as well, and God should come first in the equation.

If government is established under the authority of God, who’s authority is higher, the government or God’s? In this equation, who’s authority do you think should be supreme, God’s authority or the governments? And of course the answer to that question is God’s authority because in all reality there really isn’t much of a question to be found is there? And since God is the higher authority and government is established under God’s authority; when there are times of conflict or disagreement between the two would not common logic tell us that we are to advocate to the will of the one who is in the highest position? In times of conflict when the will of the two authorities are at odds with each other man must submit to the will or desires of God over the will or desires of the ruling government regardless of what that government structure may be.

Our founding fathers knew and understood this concept of government and submission to the higher authority. Look at our system of courts. Should we be in conflict with another person or people what is the process for settling the disagreement? We engage the court system starting with the local or town court. Should we disagree with that court’s ruling we then advance to the court of higher authority, which is usually the county court. If no satisfaction is reached at this level we continue to advance in the system through the various levels of state court, moving onward and upward until finally we arrive at the U.S. Supreme court, this journey exhausting several years and thousands or millions of dollars. Most disagreements are brought to a closure before we arrive at the U.S. Supreme Court, which is our highest level of justice, and it is hoped that by this time all parties have had their chance to voice their opinion and we trust that the judges will render a fair decision.
In our military there is a well established chain of command going from the lowest ranking enlisted man and going up to the highest ranking officer and should you violate that chain of command you open yourself up to charges for that violation. This holds true in the department of corrections as well. You have the correction officer; this is the level I worked at during my career in law enforcement. Next in line were the sergeants who were under the authority of the lieutenants, who were under the authority of the captains who were under the authority of Deputy Superintendents of Security who reported to the final authority in the prison, the superintendent. And of course all the superintendents of the various prisons scattered about the state are under the authority the Department of Corrections. And thus we can see that with each level from officer on up, there is always someone to whom we are accountable to, we are always under the authority of a higher power or authority regardless of who we are and ultimately that higher authority, no matter who they are or what title they carry must come under the final authority and that being God. Once we reach the level of God there is no further appeal process, there is no other place to go and God’s rulings must be obeyed, God’s word is final and complete, God’s rulings are final and complete. There is no higher authority over God!

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. We call it “Civil Disobedience” when we find ourselves in dispute with man’s authority and we then go against that authority even if we find that authority be our form of government. And although we are instructed in the scriptures to obey our governmental leaders is there ever a time when disobedience is acceptable, is there ever a time when disobedience is not only accepted but required? And does the Bible address this situation? The answer to this question is “yes, the Bible does address this very situation”. Look at the book of Galatians in the 1st chapter, looking at verse 10. “Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ”. You see my friend, if there is a discrepancy between the will of man and the will of God and we want to be servants of Christ then it is the will of God that we must submit to even when it violates the will of man, even when it violates the will of the government because the government isn’t the final authority, God is. I may be bias but I’d venture to day that in America we have the finest form of government to be found on this earth. I think our form of government is superior to every other form of government even though it’s not perfect. We will never see perfection until Jesus Christ returns in all power and authority to rule this world but until that time what we have is the best to be found even with its flaws and imperfections. By and large, in theory our government is directed by the will of society, and at times the will of society, the will of the government is in opposition with the will of God. And it’s within these times that the Christian has the responsibility to be in or practice civil disobedience to the government. Allow me to give you a few examples.
In our present situation in America today what is the biggest discrepancy between the will of man and the will of God? I would think abortion! There may be many others but in my mind abortion is the largest of all the divisions to be found between man’s government and God. Our government, our society, our elected leaders and appointed judges have taken a stand for abortion that is in direct violation to the recorded will of God. Our society and our leaders have said that it is alright it kill unborn children and to use this process of selected murder as a form of birth control eliminating a entire generation of people to cover over or mask our sinful lifestyle. It is more acceptable in our society of today to eliminate the results of a sinful lifestyle than to speak out against the sin that creates this result. Our society now says that each individual has the right to do with their own body whatever they desire and should the results of that use be a unwanted child then it is alright and acceptable to kill that child without consequence.
But this is not what God says, not in regards to children .God tells us that children are a blessing from Him and that they are a gift, given by God. Psalm 127 says; “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of the mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them”. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them, full of what? Why children of course, the man with many children is to be happy that he has them. Children are to be a blessing to us, where is the blessing if we kill them off? Proverbs 17 says; “Children’s children are the crown of old men and the glory of children are their fathers”. Not only are children a blessing from God but grandchildren as well. The children’s children are the crown of old men. We are to delight in our children and our children’s children, the children are a blessing and the grandkids are an extra blessing, for every child aborted, for every generation aborted there is the future generation aborted as well. When a child’s life is ended so likewise the ending of the potential prodigy that child may have created had they reached adulthood. God tells us that children are his blessing, that we are to love them, protect them, educate them, nurture them and watch them grow to maturity that we may be blessed with their children as our heritage. Jeremiah 19 tells us the mind of God in regards to child abuse, “They had built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal, something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind”. The killing of children doesn’t even enter God’s mind, so why does it enter ours? If this thought isn’t from God then where did it come from? I’ll let you answer that for yourselves, I think you already know the answer to that one. We should all know that there are two spiritual forces at war in this world, God and the evil one, and if the thoughts didn’t originate with God then it had to come from the other spiritual force and our society has fallen victim to the evil one’s way of thinking. And although our society says it is all right to kill our young with the flawed logic being that because they haven’t really been born yet and come out of the womb, consequently they can’t be real humans either. It is in this flawed logic that we as a society face a real conundrum. On the one hand where we’ve said the child isn’t really a child because it hasn’t been born out of the womb, and on the other hand society says that should you kill a woman who is pregnant you’ve then killed two people and are responsible for two lives, the mother and her unborn child. This friend just doesn’t make any sense. We can’t have it both ways, either the unborn child is a person and represents life in all situations or they do not and God does address this topic and God’s word on this is very clear. Listen to what the Bible says in the book of Psalms in the 139th chapter. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”. God sees us before we are even formed in the womb, and he knows us … intimately. He knows all of our days, he knows all about us; and all of this knowledge about us comes before we are even born. That my friends, tells me that from the moment of conception I was a person, I had life and I had a future. This scripture tells me that God knows us from the moment the cells of our male and female parents first unite in the woman’s womb, from that first instant on, from that first new union of what will be a new life, we are a person and as a person we have a spirit. We may not be complete, we may not have all the parts developed yet, but we are a person with a spirit that God knows. If we weren’t a person, even if we are only a small and incomplete person, would God have made mention of us in his word were it not true? Would he have given us this place in his book of instruction and direction?

Let me approach this from a different perspective for a bit. Can a non-person sin? A rock isn’t a person right? So can a rock commit a sin? We all know the answer to that is “no, a rock can’t sin”. But what about other things, I’m an animal lover, I love animals, in particular dogs, and I have to tell you “I really love dogs”. But dogs can’t sin! If I have a dog and that dog chews up something of mine it isn’t a sin, granted I’d be angry about it but I couldn’t say that the animal sinned, they just did what comes natural to them and it comes to be an aggravation to me, but no sin has been committed. Why? Because the dog doesn’t have a soul and a spirit, the dog doesn’t have that spiritual connection to God that man has. Man has soul and spirit, that’s where the connection to God comes from, the spirit of man and God the Spirit, two unique spirits in communication. You don’t find that with a dog, love them as we may, they aren’t privy to or don’t have the same attention of God as man does because there isn’t that spiritual connection. Be honest now, have you or do you know of anyone that has had a dog or for that matter had any animal that has done something we perceive as wrong and said to the animal; “look at how great your sin is!” I doubt it. We may have told the pet that they were bad, “Bad boy, bad boy, look what you did”. But we don’t tell them that they sinned because they don’t have a spirit and sin is a spiritual thing. Pets, animals, when they do wrong; it’s a physical act and it’s declared “wrong” in a physical sense but that’s where it stops, in the physical. But we humans, when we do wrong in the physical we sin in the spiritual. The physical action is the wrong doing, but it’s not sin, not in the physical part of the equation. But in our spirit … here’s where the two, the physical and the spirit are interwoven, the physical action although wrong is not sin but creates the sin factor, the sin is in the spirit part of us and the two can’t be separated, that’s why this is such a hard concept to grasp. In our human minds we can’t separate the two, we can’t conceive us as having a physical and a spiritual part without uniting the two as one and that’s how God made us. Animals have the physical only, we as humans have the physical and the spiritual because we, and not animals are made in the image of God.

To give you a clearer idea of what I’m saying try thinking of it like this. The physical man does something wrong and sins, say grand larceny; they’ve taken something that wasn’t theirs. The taking of the item was the physical action, it was the wrongdoing. The spirit now is in a state of sin because of the physical action of the taking of the item. The person is now arrested and convicted in a court of law and given a jail sentence for their crime. They do their time in jail, they are released from custody and their obligation to society has been met. If we were physical beings without a spirit like the animals this would be the end of it, the entire situation would be over at this point, a crime was committed, a time was served for that crime and the laws of the land have been fulfilled. But the story doesn’t end here because there is still a part of this act that still exists … in the spirit of the person. They still carry the sin in their spirit, man has been appeased by the incarceration, but God hasn’t because the person is to this point unrepentant, they haven’t acknowledged their sin and they haven’t asked for forgiveness from God.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. Man has been given what he desires, in this case a jail term for a crime. But God hasn’t been given what he desires, a repentant spirit.

Now … the person realizes that what they did was also against the will of God so they repent and come to God and ask for forgiveness. Again… they have truly done so with a repentant heart and being the kind and grace giving God that we serve, God in his mercy forgives that sin, the sin is no longer sin, it is no longer there, it is no longer remembered, God’s word tells us that God not only forgives but he forgets sin so it’s gone, the slate is wiped clean, it’s like it never was and the person’s spirit is now free from judgment for that now forgotten sin. Now, Caesar has what he deserves, time served for a crime, and God has what he deserves too, a soul, which is back in union with God without the division of sin between the spirit of man and God the Spirit. I hope through this illustration you can see that man is more than one-dimensional; I hope you can see that man is physical and at the same time; that man is spiritual, and the two can’t be separated from each other, what one does the other either enjoys the consequences of or suffers the consequences of that action. I hope I’ve made my stand on this a little clearer and now I’ll return to where I was before I made that little detour for clarity’s sake.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. I want you to remember that we aren’t talking solely about financial matters; this command of Jesus talks of much more than just money. We are still talking about civil disobedience and giving to God what is God’s even if it goes against the law of the present day society. And now we are going to look at civil disobedience from a different perspective, and yet it will still be with children in the middle of the focus.
I’m an advocate in the belief of prenatal sin, I’m an advocate, or it is my belief that a child can sin in the womb, that a child can sin prior to birth. You may not believe in this or maybe you’ve never even given it a thought, and that’s okay because I’m not here today to try to change your thoughts or get you to think along the lines my minds goes to. I’m not here to argue about it with anyone because in the final analysis whether you believe it’s possible for a child to sin prior to birth or not, it’s not going to have any effect upon our salvation. Lets go to the Gospel of John reading in the 9th chapter. “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Look what it says here people, the man was born blind from birth and the disciples are asking who sinned to bring this to happen, the man or his parents. The disciples were with the understanding that the blindness was the result of sin, either the mans, or his parents, and since the blindness was present at the time of birth and that since it could have been the man’s fault or the result of the man’s sin, his sin had to be prenatal. I think you’ll find the words of Jesus to be quite interesting here. Jesus didn’t say, “Well the man couldn’t sin because he hadn’t been born yet and it’s not the result of the parents either”. But what Jesus did say is that neither the man nor his parents sinned resulting in the blindness, thus indicating while not actually saying; that it was possible for either the man or his parents to have sinned and the sin to be the possible cause for the blindness. And in my mind that opens the door to the possibility of pre birth or prenatal sinning.

By now you may be saying; “okay, you’ve got my attention, I may not be buying all of this but you do have my attention. So how can a child sin before birth? How can that be possible?” Although this sounds like a complex question the answer is actually very simple and we have already talked about it. Even before the child is birthed from the womb it is still a person, it is still a little tiny people/person with a spirit and a soul, and remember you have to have a spirit to sin. At the moment of conception that spirit was there and from the moment that spirit was there the ability to sin was there as well. But you don’t have to take my word for it, go to the Scriptures, what do the Scriptures say about this? Psalm 51:5-6 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surly you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” Look at psalm 58:3 “Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.” When a child exits the womb the ability to speak lies is already present. We come with a sin nature already installed, it’s a standard part not an option that is added on later. It’s something we inherited for our farthest removed relatives, Adam and Eve. They are the only humans other than Christ to be born without the sin factor already in their being. Still not sure, look in Genesis in the 6th chapter. “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” That’s very strong language friend, “I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me”; “Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time”. Although modern science is usually at odds with the Holy Scriptures, strangely enough in this case modern science proves the Scriptures out to be correct. Through the marvels of modern science we can measure the brain activity of the youngest embryo in a mother’s womb, through the marvels of modern science we can now see and register the effects of voices on the unborn fetus, man can prove that the unborn child responds to music and to the sound of the parent’s voices while still in the womb. Today parents are encouraged to talk to their unborn child while that child is still in the womb, to sing to the child, to have conversations with the child and the child responds … while still in the womb the unborn child knows and recognizes their parent’s voice. And after birth, the child shows that it has already established a bonding with the parents because it knew them from their voices before the child was born, and that applies to both the mother and the father. It was always known that there was a special bond between the child and the mother because of the mother carrying the child inside her body, but now there is proof that the child can have a bonding with the father and the mother at the time of it’s birth because the child recognizes them from hearing them as they talk to that child. Friend, if that child is capable of thinking about its parents before birth it is capable to make judgments and in its mind conceive sinful thoughts as well. A child developing in an abusive situation, a situation where the mother is being abused by the father or where the mother is in a violent or vile surroundings that child will exit the womb and enter the world with anger or fear or both already in it’s mind, it will already have a predisposed nature to negative emotions and sinful conduct. And I’m not the only one saying this, the Bible is saying it too, the Word of God is saying it. God is saying that every thought is sinful until the proper Word of God is planted in that child’s heart.

If you question this, think for a moment about a small child and their actions. If left to their own design will not a child automatically go to the wrong thing or do the wrong things until they are instructed to do differently? Without any instruction a child is going to run into traffic if not instructed against this behavior, if left alone a child is going to play with fire, stick things in an electrical outlet, fight with other children, scream just for the sake of screaming, take toys from other children and the list goes on and on. Come on now, you know I’m right don’t you? If you don’t instruct a child, if that child isn’t shown the right way or correct way to behave, if that child isn’t trained or instructed in behavior, it is going to be one little monster in activity, in behavior and character. Go to any store or public place, go to any school function or any activity where there is a gathering of children and it won’t take long before you are able to make a distinction between the children that have received proper instruction and correction from the parents in the home and from those who have not. If you study the children’s behavior for just a few moments you will be able to see the ones who behave well in public and the ones who do not, you will be able to see the children that have received instruction and the ones who have not. If left uninstructed little children do little nasty things and bigger children do bigger nasty things and it doesn’t change with age. If you doubt these words just look at the prison systems in the United States, the jails are filled with people who were never filled with the word of God and who were left to their own design and to find their own way in the world. They didn’t gravitate to the right or godly way of doing things, they gravitated to the wrong and ungodly way of doing things and now they are a burden on society and on God’s heart.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. Remember what we have already established, God’s authority is to be respected over the authority of government, it’s called “Civil Disobedience” and it’s not only acceptable but required when man tries to usurp God and go against God’s commands and laws. I’ve talked a lot about abortion and correctly so because it is one of the biggest contradictions between man and God, but there are others and we will address just a few and most likely not in the same amount of detail as the abortion issue. Time won’t allow for that.

In our society today it is far more acceptable to kill a child through abortion … and talk about it openly … than it is to talk about the circumstances under which the child was conceived if those circumstances were outside the bonds of legal marriage. If we talk openly about abortion in our society today well that’s acceptable, the law said it’s okay to have an abortion and that’s an acceptable practice … because the laws of the land say it’s acceptable, and for the most part, no one gets offended, as long as you aren’t saying that it’s killing children, even though it’s the truth, that’s a no no, then people get offended, they don’t want to hear that part of it. If you say “abortion” well that’s okay, if you say “killing”, well that’s not okay, strange isn’t it how one word is acceptable and the other isn’t? But heaven forbid don’t even talk about how the pregnancy came to be, not if it was through un-matrimonial sin, not if it was through relations outside of the bonds of marriage. Now if you want to offend someone try talking about sexual relations without the marriage bond or a wedding ring. Our society of today, the same one that says abortion is acceptable; also says sexual relations without the ring, God’s blessing and the license are acceptable as well, and I dare say that this is a far more touchy subject and will get you in more hot water than talking about abortions. Why? Because there are a lot more people having sexual relations without the marriage license, God’s blessing and the ring on the finger than there are people having abortions. Although abortions still remain somewhat taboo, having sexual relations in a sinful state is not, not in the society in which we now live, today having intimate relations with someone is almost as common as dating. I hate to have to admit it but it was my generation, the generation of the 60’s that really ushered in this new free lifestyle that has flourished into what we have today and I have to be so ever thankful for God’s grace and mercy in forgiving past sins.

I’ve talked with many young people and if there is one common thread to any of their conversations in regards to the dating process it’s having sexual relations as soon as possible, many times on the first date, before you even know the other person. In our society today the people are intimate with each other before they even know the other person’s last name. In talking with many of these younger people I was amazed to hear that not only is intimate relations a part of the early dating process but it is almost expected, and that’s the opinion of both the men and the women. In regards to our society today I have found out through talking to the young adults and pre-adults that both the men and the women, with the women rapidly becoming the dominant aggressor, intimate relations are integrated into the dating process as early as possible and if one of the partners objects, be it the woman or the man, that person, the one holding back or practicing morality, is then deemed a misfit, and is usually dismissed as a potential partner.

And one of the truly sad parts of this is that our government doesn’t care any longer. Our government and society now turns a blind eye and looks the other way when people enter into intimate relations with each other. Not only does the government and society look the other way, they actually encourage unholy relations between people. Where marriage was once the only acceptable way for a man and woman to cohabit together and should that couple do so without meeting the legal requirements of the law they could find themselves in legal troubles were it reported and if they did cohabit together without falling under the repercussion of the law, after seven years they were considered married under the status known as “Common Law Marriage” this practice was once looked down upon as shameful but it was tolerated and the legal consequences and benefits of marriage then applied to the couple after the seven year period had ended.

But oh how things have changed. All of that is now passé, obsolete, old-fashioned, and out-of-date. The government now allows instant recognition of any relationship as “Domestic Partners” and each partner is allowed the same rewards as the legally married couples. Insurance benefits, medical coverage, shared property, and where is this all headed? The new rage is accepted domestic partners of the same sex; the rewards of marriage now can be applied to homosexuals and lesbians following their perverse lifestyle and demanding “their rights”.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. As Christians are we to follow the laws of the land when those laws go so terribly, so appallingly against the Word of God? Are we to follow a government edict or decree when it is in clear violation of God’s word or, are we to follow the higher power and enter into civil disobedience? We’ve talked about this earlier in this teaching; the answer now is the same as it was before. The answer to this question is that we are compelled to enter into civil disobedience just as Jesus did. The answer is that we are to follow the ruling of the highest authority and rebel against the lower authorities ruling just as Jesus did when there is a division between the lower authority’s ruling and God’s ruling.

We call it “Civil Disobedience”, it’s a form of rebellion, and that’s exactly what we are to do. In a civil fashion we are to be disobedient to the edict of the government when that edict violates the word of God, in a civil fashion we are to rebel against the government if the government places its self in a position that violates the will and word of God. So how do we go about this civil rebellion against the lawful government, the government established by God and placed in its position of authority over us and over the land? To start with, we don’t form or fashion our rebellion or civil disobedience as the world does, we do so in a fashion that does not harm or taint our Christian image. We do so with respect of persons and property, we do so without anger or violence, we do so in humility and gentleness of spirit. We start with prayer, heartfelt and sincere prayer, prayer in our private life and in our corporate gatherings. We offer prayer in your homes and we offer prayer in public, we pray in our family settings and pray in public gatherings. After prayer we voice our opinion to whoever will listen wherever we can, and at times even when they don’t want to listen; but we do it in proper respect. Contact the politicians of your area, contact the news media, let everyone know that you are taking a stand for God and that you want to follow God’s word over mans word if the two are at odds with each other.

If the violation of God’s word is being promoted via the television or some other form of media, the newspaper, the radio, contact the sponsors of that media and tell them that you intend to boycott their products until they stop supporting this misguided cause. If enough people talk to the bottom line of these big companies, take my word for it; you will get their attention. If enough people talk to the bottom line, the almighty buck, and those bucks stop rolling in you will get someone’s attention and it won’t take very long. These sponsoring companies keep a very close eye on the bottom line; they monitor the flow of cash very closely. They are not in business to just provide a product or a service, they are there to make a buck and if anything interferes in that flow of money they will stand up and take notice real fast.

Contact the politicians who are making the decisions, we need to let them know how we feel; we need to express ourselves clearly. Let the politicians know that we are the voting public and that we have a long memory. Remind them that they are there to serve us and if they can’t they can be replaced in the next election. We need to show ourselves in numbers and let the politicians know that we are watching and we are going to be heard, let them know that we intend to be heard in their offices, in their meetings and in the elections polls as well. Always do so with respect, in the book of Titus, in the 3rd chapter we read; “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.” This is not to say that we walk blindly and are to follow no matter what, remember, God’s authority is the highest authority and we are mandated to follow the highest authority. Again in the book of 1st Peter, in the 2nd chapter we read; “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.” Our elected officials, and those appointed, like them or not, we are to show proper respect. We are allowed to protest, but we are not allowed to show disrespect to our leaders.
Gather together in public places for prayer and petition, let our numbers be seen, there is power in numbers, there is strength in numbers. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Also if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken”. The Rev. Doctor Martin Luther King knew and understood this concept, using godly principles and acting under the direction of the Holy Spirit Doctor King was able to usher in the greatest change in our nations history since the Civil War.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. All of us are called by God to be able to understand and divide what belongs to whom. I believe that if you’ve made it to this point in this teaching and I haven’t lost you each of you all have the mental capability to read the scriptures and then make a proper judgment as to what belongs to God and what belongs to man. I believe in my heart of hearts that each hearer of this teaching is able to look at the topics I’ve covered and then has the ability to say with clear conscience “Either this is or this is not in agreement with God’s will and I know that I must stand on the side of God in my support of this topic”.

I’ve only covered a small few items that fall under the “What is God’s will about this” category, money, marriage, children, but there are far too many other items that need our inspection and for those things, time now will not allow. Get out your Bible, if there’s dust on it, blow the dust off and open the pages, get involved with God, read his words, look at what he has to say about pollution, the environment, conservation and use of our natural resources, read what God’s word has to say about war, feeding the hungry and homeless, education, taxes, think of a topic and you’ll find that God has addressed it in his word. It’s all there for our use; it’s all just a turned page away. Hosea 4:6 reads; “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”. We can’t allow a lack of knowledge to destroy us, with the availability of the diverse amount of educational resources found today there is just no good reason for anyone to not know what God has to say about any subject if only they the person are willing to take a little time and look into God’s word and see what it has to say. I won’t even try to list the resources that are but a fingertip’s touch away because the list grows daily and is so even as I speak. But it’s all out there if we will but only look for it.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” Each has the right to what they deserve, give what is required and give with joy knowing that when we do our God looks down on us and smiles because we are doing his will.
Grace & peace