Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.We have lived our lives on this spinning oasis created by the hand of God having no problem giving to the emperor what is the emperor’s.
We understand the emperor,the emperor is mom or dad,the emperor is the school teacher or instructor,the emperor is the city council and mayor, the emperor is the governor, the congress, President, the IRS,the emperor is anything or anyone finite, mortal, that has authority over us during our limited stay on this revolving rock rushing throughthe reality of the physical universe.The emperor is three dimensional, it has height and width and depth,but it is also the fourth dimension, it is time.
Time rules our mortal flesh.Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's.If we buy food, we pay the emperor.If we want gasoline, we pay the emperor.If we work, we pay taxes..... we pay the emperor.When we see time age our bodies, we are paying the emperor.Who among us isn’t thankful to see a 50% off sale orwho wouldn’t be happy to have their taxes lowered....Thank you, thank you, thank you .... all hail the emperor.
This authority can be good or it can be bad ...it can be evil,but we understand the emperor. How well do we understand,“give to God the things that are God’s.”God created this universe, all the physical things that we can see and touch and hear and smell,but God also created love, joy, kindness, grace and salvation.We can define these things, but they have no height or width or depth.They aren’t bounded by time.
They have no limits.I have heard people say, “no more cake please, I’m full.”But, I’ve never heard anyone say, “ No, thank you, no more joy or kindness for me, I’ve had enough.”We’ll never be able to pay our taxes with love.and God will never take a 20 dollar bill (despite the fact His name is on it) as penance for a sin.Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.So what should we give to God?The things that are God’s.
What are the things that are God’s?The things that are God’s are the boundless unlimited concepts that existed before the creation of the universe.Love, joy, praise are not made of molecules, held together by ionic orcovalent bonds.They bond us to God and to each other. They existed before the first flash of light .... before the first sin of man.Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and withall thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatcommandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shaltlove thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandmentshang all the Law and the Prophets.
We need to give God our love and praise, in a reverent and respectful manner. We need to give our neighbor our love and praise, in a reverent and respectful manner. We need to attend Sunday School and Church together andexperience the love and joy and fellowship that God has given us andthat we can give back to him, as we praise Him and worship Him in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.The grace that He gives us can’t be purchased with all the wealth of the world. Yet, the poorest man can afford to give to God the things that are God’s. Amen
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2 comments:
Amen, brother. This is a wonderful sermon. Thank you for it. Brings to mind some words by Charles Spurgeon:
"Where the Holy Ghost implants divine life in the soul, there is a precious deposit which none of the refinements of education can equal. The thief on the cross excels Caesar on his throne; Lazarus among the dogs is better than Cicero among the senators; and the most unlettered Christian is in the sight of God superior to Plato."
There are temporal things and there are eternal things. Only one thing is needful. We should choose the better part.
Oops. The above comment is by Br. Rick.
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