Render to Caesar, Render to God

Well, opening our Bibles once again to Luke chapter 20, we are returning to the passage that we read in your hearing a moment ago, this being missions month. November every year is our missions month.

And during missions month, we emphasize the spread of the gospel to the ends of the world, breaking from our expository series, whatever it may be at that particular time. And this year, of course, it is in the book of Hebrews. But focusing on worldwide evangelization and upon financial stewardship, and the two do go together.

There is a connection, of course. The gospel goes as the church sends people to the ends of the earth and churches utilize what church members give in order to be able to do that and members give what God supplies. And we learn from the scriptures that money is a very important part of a Christ honoring life. In fact, there's a lot more in the Bible about how we handle money and our financial resources than most people realize. And so along with other areas of growing and developing, we should learn to grow in the area of giving, the grace of giving. And so to that end, we are coming today in Luke chapter 20 to a famous statement of Jesus Christ that probably all of you know well, and yet probably most of us have not really given a lot of thought to. All three of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke record that Jesus said, give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. We understand in general and in main application what that's talking about. Certain things belong to Caesar, to the government, to state, and other things belong to God.

But to delve into what that may be, we probably haven't given a lot of attention to that. And so we want to do that today to understand a little more fully what it means to give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar's and to God the things that belong to God. So making our way through the passage, we shall do so in the following order. First of all, the setting considered. Secondly, the entrapment attempted. Third, wisdom revealed. And fourth, defeat acknowledged. What is the setting of this statement of Christ?

Because I don't think it can be fully understood unless we do understand the setting. This was spoken on one of the days of Passion Week. Passion Week is the name that is given to that week between Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry, and the crucifixion of Christ on Friday and even on into Saturday until the following Sunday, the great and glorious resurrection from the dead. But everything in between, that triumphal entry and Christ's death on the cross and burial in the tomb, is included in this phrase Passion Week. And the first event in Passion Week was indeed the triumphal entry, Palm Sunday, when crowds, great crowds, acclaimed Christ, sang his hosannas, gave to him glory and honor. That, of course, had been done on other occasions throughout the three years of Christ's earthly ministry. But this is certainly the greatest occasion of them all, and this is certainly the biggest one that took place in Jerusalem. Some of the other times when the crowds were lauding him, maybe not this fully, not with palm branches and not with a procession, a kingly procession, but other times when the crowds applauded Christ, they were usually in Galilee, but on this time, this occasion, they are in Judea, yes, in Jerusalem, in the very center of Jewish worship, in the very center where the Jewish leaders held their power and authority. And so following that triumphal entry, we learned that Christ began to go to the temple every morning early, Monday morning, Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, probably Thursday morning as well, and spent a good bit of the day teaching in the temple.

That's what he's doing when he says the words that we find in our text for today. And in the course of that, he was confronted by the Jewish leaders who were not at all happy to have him in the temple. They were not happy that the crowds were listening to him. They were not happy with the authority with which he spoke and which people recognized as a legitimate authority. They didn't like any of these things, and so they confronted him and they demanded that he produce for them his credentials.

By what authority do you say these things? Who gave you permission to be speaking these things in the temple, they demanded. And Christ answered their demands, indeed answered their question as he often did with a question of his own. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men?

You tell me. Well, he had them on the horns of a dilemma. They weren't quite sure how to answer. They got in a little holy huddle and talked about it, and then they came back to him because they figured out if they said, well, it's from heaven, he's going to say, well, why didn't you believe him? Why didn't you pay attention to what he said? Why didn't you receive what he said if you acknowledge that what he said was from heaven?

But they said, if we say it was not from heaven, the crowds, and there's pretty big crowds around here at this time of year, the crowds are not going to be happy with us because they all believe that John was a prophet. So we can't really answer this either way without getting ourselves in trouble. And so they came back and said, well, we really don't know. We can't figure it out. We can't give you an answer to this question. And Jesus said, well, neither do I answer your question. By what authority I do these things.

If you won't answer my question, then I don't feel obligated to answer yours. That just made them all the more angry. But Jesus went ahead at that point and told the parable of the wicked vine dressers, as my Bible calls it, the parable of the unfaithful tenants. He told the story of a wealthy man who took a piece of land and he invested a lot of money into developing that into a first class vineyard. Everything was properly prepared. A tower was built. They stored tools at the base of the tower and they had lookouts at the top of the tower to keep marauders out of the vineyard.

A wall was built to protect it from animals and others who might come in in order to steal. Everything was prepared for a first class vineyard and after that had been prepared, the owner then engaged tenants. He engaged what we call in our days in the history of our country sharecroppers. People who would be responsible to do the work of the vineyard to produce, to make the vineyard produce and they would share in the produce that was forthcoming. It was a good arrangement both for the owner and for the tenants. Both of them had opportunity to profit, to be well rewarded for this particular arrangement. The owner to get back a return on his investment, the tenants in order to make a good living from the opportunity that had been given to them. Land which they could not have bought, tools which they could not have afforded, buildings and improvements which they could not have possibly done to their advantage but now it's been done by another and they can do the work and they can produce a crop and they can share in the produce and all the owner requires is that they give him the agreed upon rent.

Whatever it was, fifty percent or we don't know, whatever it was. And so the owner who went away into a far country sent from time to time messengers to collect the rent that was due. But the tenants weren't happy with their condition, their lot in life. They weren't content to be tenants. They weren't content to be sharecroppers. They wanted to own the vineyard. They wanted all of the produce. Their pride said we ought to have what he has. Their covetousness said we want to have it all, not just a portion and so owner, I mean a messenger after messenger they rejected, some they abused and even when he sent his son they killed him and said now the vineyard will be ours.

The heir has been killed. Jesus said what do you think the owner of that vineyard is going to do to these tenants after they have abused his messengers and killed his son? And the answer is he will take the vineyard away from them and give it unto others depending upon which of the three versions you read, the three accounts you read.

He will give it to a nation that will yield the fruit of the vineyard to him and they said may it never be. Jesus said you know what then did the psalmist mean when he said the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and they understood what he was saying. They understood that he was talking about them and their unwillingness to yield to the rightful owner of the Jewish religion what was due unto him, that they were to manage it for his glory and they were to render the fruits of that unto its rightful owner, namely God above, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that he had sent messengers to them, prophets from the Old Testament and they had been rejected and abused and he had sent them his own son, the one who is standing before them right now speaking to them and they are about to put him to death because they think if they can rid themselves of him then they can claim all of this as their own.

They have been acting as if it is their own all along but they know it isn't, it belongs to another but they want it for themselves and so they want to control the Jewish religion, they want to have all the positions of prominence, they want all of the rewards that come from that and so they are determined to rid themselves of the son. That is Christ's exposure of these Jewish leaders who are described to us, who are identified for us as the chief priests and the scribes. The chief priests would fall into the category of the Herodians, you've heard about them and the scribes would be the Pharisees.

In the days of Christ there were different, we might call them political parties in Israel. The Herodians were at the top of the heap economically and in position because they made arrangements with the Roman governor to favor them if they would go along with Rome. They were the Herodians, they were cooperative with Herod the king that Rome had sent upon the throne. They were smaller in number but they were the most influential group because they held the high priestly office and they held other chief offices in the Jewish system because Rome appointed those offices because Rome of course was the ruler of Israel at this time.

The Pharisees were a larger group and they had the loyalty of a majority of the people because they were seen to be exceedingly pious, exceedingly righteous. They kept every detail of the law meticulously but as we know in so many cases they went beyond what the law said and for some reason, I guess a rather understandable reason when we understand its fallen human nature, it was thought that those who were extra righteous, extra careful, those who went beyond the word of God were actually more righteous than others when the fact of the matter is you can fall into error on either side of the road, you can fall into the ditch of antinomianism, not keeping the law of God, you can fall into the ditch of legalism and keeping things as if they were the law of God that are not the law of God. The Herodians were antinomians. They rejected things. They rejected what the Bible said about the resurrection from the dead and so forth. They rejected a lot of things from the word of God.

In fact they only acknowledged the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament as actual truth from God inspired scripture. But the Pharisees were on the other side of the ditch. They just added laws upon laws upon laws upon laws upon laws upon laws and lived these lives ostentatiously outwardly as meticulous law keepers when actually in private they were anything but and in their hearts they were far far far away from pleasing to God. But they were the ones who came together interestingly, normally they were political enemies, the Herodians and the Pharisees, but they certainly joined together in one common goal and that is get rid of Jesus. And so they came together, the chief priests and the scribes of Herodians and Pharisees and they wanted to arrest Christ right now. They've been trying to do this off and on throughout his earthly ministry and as time went on their anger grew and as the time went on their frustration grew and as time went on their determination grew. We are going to arrest this man and eliminate him and that is all coming to fruition in our text for today in Luke chapter 20. They would do it right now but as the Bible tells us they hesitated because they feared the people. Verse 19 and the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on him but they feared the people for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.

And so moving from the setting this background is necessary to understand what's going on. We come secondly to the entrapment that was attempted. Verse 20, so they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be righteous that they might seize on his words in order to deliver him to the power and authority of the governor. Then they asked him saying teacher we know that what you say and teach what you say and teach that we know that you say and teach rightly and you do not show personal favoritism but teach the way of God in truth.

Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? They we read in verse 20 are the same ones that were identified in verse 19 the chief priests and the scribes the Pharisees and the Herodians. They were sent by they sent spies by the scheming party who were part of their groups and they pretended to be righteous my translation says. Some translations say they pretended to be honest. They pretended to be sincere seekers of truth. They pretended to be people who were interested in what Jesus had to teach. They prepared to be those who had come to hear his words and to receive them and to benefit from them and to learn by them but they were anything but that. They were there to entrap him. They were hypocrites pretending to be something that they were not and their plan in verse 20 we are told is to seize on his words to catch him in one of his statements to trick him into endangering himself. They thought they had a question that if he answered it one way would cause him to lose favor with the crowds. They were afraid to seize him because they feared the people. The people had just claimed him.

The people had sang his hosanna as he came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The people were all excited about him and they couldn't really safely arrest him when the people had this sentiment so if he answered it one way he was going to lose favor with the people but if he answered it another way it would give them a statement that they could turn over to Pilate and to the Roman authorities to arrest him and to put him to death for treason. The question is this the famous question the famous statement well it leads to the famous statement that Jesus made but the question is is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Obviously the law they are referring to is a Jewish law. There would be no question that it was lawful in Roman law to pay taxes to Caesar so that's not the question. The question is as good God fearing religious Jews is it right is it lawful is it scriptural is it God honoring for us to pay taxes to Caesar that Gentile tyrant who is illegitimately ruling Israel is it lawful to pay taxes to him? Now the particular tax they had in mind was the poll tax which had to be paid annually by every Jewish man. It was especially hated because it was paid directly to Rome and was transported directly to Rome. Other taxes generally customs that were collected at the border or religious taxes like the one that Jesus told the Jews that his or told Peter that the disciples paid and they caught a fish and had the coin and went and paid it for Peter and for Jesus that was a religious tax that had to do with the temple.

So those taxes were a little more tolerable some more than others but this poll tax that was collected and sent directly to Rome to carry out the oppression that Rome holds over us that one we hate above all others and is it proper for us to pay that tax at all is the question. Which brings us thirdly beyond the entrapment attempted to the wisdom of Christ revealed in verses 23 through 25. But he perceived their craftiness and said to them why do you test me show me a denarius whose image and inscription does it have they answered and said Caesars and he said to them render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are God. We see wisdom possessed wisdom displayed and wisdom declared. Wisdom possessed he knew what they were doing he had insight he perceived their craftiness why do you test me he said he understood their methods their craftiness their deceit what they were doing their flattery as they flattered him with their words we know you teach correctly we know you're not partial to anybody there's no personal favoritism with you we know you don't shake your message in order to make it acceptable and pleasing to the audience we know you don't change your message depending on who your audience is as so many others did then as so many others do today. You know the question isn't really do I like what he says is it pleasing to me as you're considering a particular teacher or preacher the question is is it right is it true is it biblical as a matter of fact as fallen sons and daughters of Adam we're not going to like everything that the Bible says and if it's a Bible believing preacher we're not going to like everything that he preaches the question is not do I like it the question is is it true and so they said we know we know you preach and teach truly you're not favorable to one group over another you teach the way of God in truth and we might pause and say really do you know that if so why don't you follow him just like the question about John the Baptist if his message is from heaven why don't you follow him if you know that what I say is true and right and that I don't show partiality toward anybody then why don't you believe me why don't you receive me why don't you follow me but of course the answer is clear to tell the reason is because they didn't mean what they said it was empty flattery it was lies it was hypocrisy it was deceit they didn't think he taught the way of God in truth they didn't think he was impartial toward others they were just trying to butter him up so that he would give them an answer that they wanted but Christ perceived all that he perceived their craftiness why do you test me he knew exactly what they were doing he understood their methods he understood their motives as he understands mine as he understands yours as he knows my heart as I'm preaching to you today as he knows your heart as you're listening to me today as he knows your motives as you go about your daily life not only what you do he certainly knows that every word every action yes even every thought he knows your motives why you do what you do or why you don't do what you do he knows all of that he has wisdom and his wisdom is on display in verse 24 he said all right just give me a denarius show me a denarius somebody reached into his bag and pulled one out a denarius was a small roman coin silver coin which as most of us know was day a day's wages for a common laboring man it was a day's wages for a common roman foot soldier and the denarius was the amount that was required to pay the hated poll tax one day's wage for a common laboring man that went to rome to caesar but interestingly christ and asking them to show him a denarius didn't he have one well probably somebody's got the bag judas may have been there at that time or someone else has got the bag and there was money in the bag why didn't jesus as it were reach into his own pocket and pull out a denarius he said show me a denarius what did that prove they were using this coin that had been minted by rome and they found it convenient to use it in their own day-to-day lives they weren't so scrupulous that they weren't willing to use a denarius they weren't willing to participate in the roman system to their advantage now as we know they had ways of getting around using roman coinage when they wanted to when people came to the temple to to um bring their sacrifices and they came from a distance so they couldn't easily bring their own animals and they had to purchase animals in the temple for the purpose of doing that what did they have to do first they had to change their roman coinage into jewish coinage before they could purchase sacrificial animals animals because it would be considered sacrilegious to use this dirty roman money for that and so not only do you have sellers of animals in connection with the temple but you've got money changers that's what they did they exchanged roman money for jewish money and christ drove them all out of the temple on two occasions but that demonstrates that it was not absolutely necessary that anyone use the roman coinage but jesus says well let's see and answer this question give me a denarius and sure enough somebody pulls it out of his pocket and hands it to him and a point has been made silently before jesus says another word you hypocrites you're using it but whose image is on it well on one side of the coin was at this particular time in history was the image of tiberius caesar the present roman caesar i'm told that his head was on one side and on the other side he was sitting on a throne dressed as a high priest in priestly garments but his image was on that coin it must have been a little expensive for the roman empire to withdraw all of the old coins and mint new ones every time the new caesar came along but apparently that's what they did every caesar wanted to be recognized in this way and so they produced the coin and on one side there is the image of tiberius exactly what you would expect and on the other side there was this image of tiberius on a throne and on one side there was this inscription if i can find it in my notes that said that he is the son of the divine augustus i don't find my exact wording here but it's here somewhere where the world did that go um yeah it doesn't matter now well here it is the inscription said tiberius caesar son of the divine augustus clearly he was claiming to be some kind of god wasn't he so not only was there a roman image on this coin but there was a sacrilegious image on this coin this was an idolatrous coin this was some a coin in which the caesar was claiming to be some kind of a god tiberius caesar son of the divine augustus and they answered correctly the question whose image is this and they said is the question that jesus gave whose images on it they said caesars and then comes the famous statement render therefore to caesar the things that are caesars and render to god the things that are gods his wisdom is declared he said give to caesar what rightfully belongs to him now elsewhere in scripture we're taught that if caesar demands something that belongs only to god and that we cannot give to caesar without disobeying god then we must obey god rather than man but there are things that rightfully belong to caesar and apparently this coin and the tax that's being questioned is part of that render to caesar therefore the things that are caesars even though you cannot render to caesar what god forbids you must render to caesar what is not forbidden by god and therefore this in itself is enough to tell us that taxes are a legitimate claim of human government upon the people the citizens of that government upon christians keep that thought in mind there's a lot of sentiment that taxes are illegitimate the taxes are thievery the taxes are things that we ought not to pay just remember what jesus said you know this statement just think about what it means jesus said you are to render to caesar the tax that is in question indeed all the things that are rightfully caesars but but you've got a higher obligation than that and that is to render to god the things that belong to him and it's clear that we must therefore determine these claims from scripture unless we have the bible and are willing to study it and to obey it we're not going to always know when we wonder does this belong rightfully to caesar or not but the bible helps us with that doesn't it we might make a case we might hear somebody on the radio talk radio that that convinces us that taxes are illegitimate but that's contrary to the bible and what is our authority talk radio or god's holy infallible word render to caesar the things that are caesars and to god the things that are god's and god's word must determine which is which because the truth is everything rightfully belongs to god and god delegates limited rights to others he gives certain rights to the family structure he gives certain rights to the church structure and to those who have positions of authority in that structure he gives certain rights in the economic structure these tenants that weren't willing to pay the pay the rent to their owner were disobeying the structure that god said is correct and honorable and ought to be acknowledged and god gives certain structures for human government and tells us how we are to relate to that and so everything belongs rightfully to god but god delegates to others certain limited rights that we are to acknowledge we must submit to god's instructions and that answer by jesus put them on the horns of a dilemma they were they were amazed at his wisdom they tried to put him on the same horns of a dilemma that he put them on with the john the baptist question they tried to put it back on him with the is it lawful to pay taxes to caesar question and jesus just answered so wisely that he just slipped right off the horns of the dilemma and they didn't have a single thing to say they were left as it were with their mouths wide open but no sound coming out of their mouth how do you know that because i read verse 26 they could not catch him in his words in the presence of the people and they marveled at his answer and kept silent they didn't have another thing that they could think of to say they were finished their entrapment schemes were now ended they kept silent all they did was crank up their determination to kill him without trying to catch him without any trickery let's just do it up front let's just send soldiers to arrest him because they could no longer utilize this kind of entrapment he was smarter than they were he had all wisdom but then that brings us therefore to consider and hopefully properly answer several questions and the first one is what belongs to caesar jesus said render to caesar the things that are caesars what is that it's something that we clearly must do and obviously some things rightfully belong to caesar the idea that government is illegitimate just in general it's illegitimate can't be right because jesus talked about rendering to caesar the things that are rightfully caesars didn't he so some things belong to caesar government is legitimate unless it crosses certain clearly marked boundaries in fact it's good for us to consider a couple of texts that we tend to forget at times sometimes in our political zeal sometimes in our unhappiness about having to pay taxes and sometimes in our unhappiness to obey certain laws that we don't think are good laws and so forth but remember what paul said in romans chapter 13 listen to these words carefully let every soul would that include all of us here today every soul let every soul be subject to the governing authorities you say well yeah as long as they're legitimate but the ones i've got in mind aren't uh keep reading for there is no authority except from god and the authorities that exist are appointed by god we don't have to obey caesar we don't have to pay taxes to caesar he has usurped the rightful authority of god he has has made it impossible for us to have the son of david upon the throne in israel that's an illegitimate government oh no no no no there is no authority except from god caesar couldn't have that power if god hadn't given it to him the authorities that exist are appointed by god caesar appointed by god therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of god and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves this is pretty serious isn't it to resist the authority the rightful as god tells us it's rightful whether we think so or not as god tells us it's rightful because it couldn't be there if god hadn't permitted it if god hadn't designed it god hadn't hadn't determined it it couldn't couldn't exist this authority is where it is because god put it there and god says we have a responsibility to obey it and if we don't we're disobeying not just human authority we're disobeying god you say i don't like that hey there are times i don't like it either but i have to bow to god don't i and don't you because this is what god said i'll skip a few verses in romans 13 and jump down to verse 5 therefore you must be subject not only because of wrath not only because of the punishment that may come upon you if you don't but also for conscience sake in other words some people only obey government because they fear the consequences they get away they disobey if they could get away with it but god's word says you have a conscientious responsibility to obey it even if nobody knows whether you obeyed or disobeyed you obey for conscience sake or because of this you also pay taxes there's that tax issue again verse 7 render therefore to all their due we're trying to figure out what belongs to caesar render to caesar the things that are caesars well render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due custom to whom customs those are two different kinds of taxes fear to whom fear honor to whom honor we're not only supposed to pay our taxes and obey the laws of government we're supposed to render honor respect to government officials sometimes that's the hardest part of all but i didn't say it god said it listen to first peter chapter two verse 13 therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the lord's sake doesn't sound like there are too many exceptions there whether to kings as supreme or to governors different levels of government as for those who are sent by them for punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good for this is the will of god that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free yet using yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice but as bond servants of god honor all people love the brotherhood fear god honor the king have i got to yep the bible says it so what are we talking about at this point what belongs to caesar well obedience and honor respect as well as taxes why because god said so that's the only reason we need because god said so so that's what belongs to caesar what belongs to god render to caesar the things that are caesars and to god the things that are gods what belongs to god well the short answer to that is everything everything belongs to god he's supreme above all else he created it all he governs it all he's the rightful ruler of it all he owns everything everything belongs to god and therefore we owe him our worship and our love and our honor and our faith to believe his word and our obedience our surrender to his revealed will and that means in in missions month as we focus on it that we owe to god participation evangelism and missions why because god said so that's why i said well i can't figure out how and why and doesn't matter if god said it i'm obligated to do it i'm rendering to god the things that are gods i render to him obedience when i'm involved in evangelism and worldwide missions and it also means that i honor god by handling my money according to god directed stewardship some people have been taught that the tithe is the lord's and the rest is yours nope got it wrong it's all gods it's all gods and he tells us how to use it it's all gods but he doesn't tell us to give it all to the church or all to the work of the gospel he tells us that we use money that he supplies for the necessities of life for food and shelter and clothing for ourselves and others and especially our families remember what paul said in first timothy 5 8 if anyone does not provide for his own and especially for those of his household he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever worse than an unbeliever christians can do this fail to provide for their families fail to provide for their extended families this is a section about widows and the church has responsibility for widows that don't have families that can take care of them but if families are available to take care of them the first responsibility is falls to the family well what is that these are god-ordained uses for the money that he gives to us he tells us how to use it we are to use some of our money for benevolence that's what we're told in ephesians 4 28 let him who stole steal no longer he's talking to people who were saved out of lives of thievery and god saved them so let him who stole formerly steal no longer but that's not the end of it don't just stop stealing but rather let him labor working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has need in other words we work hard to supply the needs of our family but our our goal is to have a surplus to have more than we actually need so that we can give some to others that's a god-appointed purpose for our money isn't it what else well as we've already seen god has ordained that we pay our taxes i had to realize good many years ago when i had some of the anti-tax feelings hate paying these taxes and god had to remind me number one you pay them because i told you to and number two i promise to supply all your needs and if i told you to pay your taxes that becomes a god-ordained need so i take responsibility to supply what you need to pay your taxes well that puts it in a different light doesn't it of course i pay my taxes and god supplies what i need to pay my taxes and some of what god has supplied to me is designated for that purpose it's not ten percent is god's and ninety percent is mine it's a hundred percent is god's and some of it goes to this purpose and some of it goes to that purpose and some buys food and clothing and shelter and helps others who are in need and some pays taxes and that's all part of god's divinely appointed purpose for our money and of course giving to god tithes and offerings are a big part of it as well and i'll just read a few verses here without much comment because i'm coming close to closing time but here's what jesus said do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither rust nor moth moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also how do you lay up treasures in heaven well by giving to god's work and it's a spiritual matter because if you're not willing to do this then you're going to drag yourself down spiritually where your heart is there will your treasure be also or where rather i got it backwards where your treasure is on earth or in heaven there your heart will be also hmm luke 16 at the conclusion of the parable of the unjust steward jesus said and i say to you make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon you know what mammon is don't you that's money you know what unrighteous mammon is it's the purpose for which most people use their money for unrighteous purposes money in itself isn't unrighteous but it tends to become that we know that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil but he says to his disciples make to yourselves friends by unrighteous mammon well what who are these friends how do i make these friends that when you fail they may receive you into your everlasting home oh these are people these are souls that i have had a part in winning to the lord in salvation some of whom will die and go to heaven before me and will greet me when i get there and say thank you thank you thank you for sending that missionary to me thank you thank you thank you for supporting that gospel radio program that the lord used to to save my soul thank you thank you thank you for for your support of a gospel outpost that god used to save my soul i'm so glad to see you here in heaven with me and to be able to thank you personally for what you did make to yourselves friends by unrighteous mammon that when you fail they may receive you into your everlasting home evidently god is telling us to use a portion of the money he supplies for these purposes gospel purposes or as paul said in second corinthians 9 6 but this i say he who sows sparingly reluctant to give will also reap sparingly don't say you weren't warned and he who sows bountifully gives generously will also reap bountifully don't say you weren't encouraged to do right god says he'll reward people who use their money the way he tells them to and especially those who sow their money for gospel purposes if they do that sparingly grudgingly of necessity they won't get much reward if they do that cheerfully generously they're going to be rewarded in other words you've heard it said you can't outgive god that's what this means if you give to god generously he will return and and if your heart motive is right sometimes talking like that makes you sound like a health and wealth preacher it's close but it's not the same a lot of it has to do with that motive why are you giving to god are you giving to god because the preacher said you'll get more in return you're looking for money that's what it is and this is the way to get it or are you giving to god out of a heart attitude of gratitude and love and obedience and surrender without you do this without any return and god says that's the motive i'm looking for and i'm going to reward you so that you can be even more generous in your giving and the cycle just goes on and on so what belongs to god everything and we learn from him how we are to handle our financial resources let's pray father teach us your ways show us your paths this give us lord hearts to render to cesar the things that belong to him our hearts aren't eager to do that but oh lord give us hearts that render to you all that belongs to you and sometimes our hearts aren't eager to do that either forgive us and help us we ask in jesus name amen