Life is full of troubles, isn't it? Is it ever? If you're not in trouble today, just wait until tomorrow, right? We all struggle with troubles, turmoils of one kind or another. Quite amazing when you turn on the news. It's amazing what goes on out there in the world today. All the troubles out there. Anybody here does not have any troubles? Just wait. Wait until tomorrow. We'll run into something tomorrow. Jesus summed it up, didn't he? He summed it up in his own words in John 16.33. Remember what he said? In this world you will have tribulations, but I have overcome the world. In fact, God is constantly overcoming evil. It's everywhere, and yet his program, his plan, his kingdom still marches forward. He still saves his people. He does not demand a perfect world to accomplish his goal. That should be a lesson for each one of us. We live in a far imperfect world, don't we? He will achieve his end, his perfect end, in this imperfect world. God is able to do that, and so he's on the march. Over and over we see him saying that. Satan stands in the way of God. Demons stand in the way of God. In fact, the world of religion, in general, stands in the way of God. In fact, even Christians, including myself, no doubt at times, stand in the way of God. But God has a way of overcoming all of that, does he not? Yeah. But our God is sovereign. He triumphs, doesn't he? He will accomplish his will. The psalmist says it like this in 39, 33 verse 9, for he spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood still. God speaks, it's done. No worries. 3310 of Psalms, the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the plans of the people of no effect. You worry what goes on in Washington. Turn your worries into prayers. And then you have praises, and in the end, God will get the victory. Psalm 33, 11, the counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Psalm 33, 12, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own inheritance. We fret and worry and all these things that go on, and you know what? Guess who's at the top? He's got this in his hands. You've read the last chapter, right? I've read the last chapter, too. Yeah, it's all together. So how many times does God have to say something before we believe it? Right there, it's four times. He says it over and over, doesn't he? Once should be enough. Five times? That should be more than enough. He says it actually hundreds of times in God's word, right? Over and over. The psalmist says in 115.3, our God is in the heaven. He does whatever he pleases. It's all going according to schedule, believe it or not. In fact, in Psalm 96, 3, he declared his glory among the nations and his wonders among all the people. From the beginning to the end, nothing in the Bible is more ultimate, nothing is more important, nothing is more critical, nothing is more underlined over and over than the glory of the Lamb, the glory of God. We see that time and time again, the splendor of God. In every point in God's revealed word, he makes it plain. The final goal is always the same. It's God's glory, to uphold and display his glory. Think of it. He predestined us, each one of us who are believers in him, for his glory. That's why we're here, Ephesians 1, 5 to 6. He created us for his glory, Isaiah 43, 7. That's why you exist. That's why you draw breath. We're here to glorify him. He created, he elected Israel for his glory, Jeremiah 13, 11. He saves his people from Egypt for his glory, Psalm 106, 8. He rescued them from exile. and for his glory, Isaiah 48, 9. He sent Christ into the world that Gentiles would praise God for his glory. Yes, Gentiles, the outside one, the unclean ones brought in, the wild olive branch grafted in to that beautiful covenant of grace, Romans 15, 9. He commands his people, whether they eat or drink, to do what? Do all to the glory of God. We're going to do a lot of eating over there at the park today. You're going to try to do it for God's glory? How do you do that? What's that look like? We'll discuss that later, okay? Eat for God's glory. He will send Jesus a second time to set up his kingdom on earth and all will marvel over his glory, Jeremiah 31, 31 and following. All for his glory. Therefore, the mission of the church is to do what? give God glory, to lift up Him, to lift up His name, His marvelous works to all the people, Psalm 96 3. Today Jesus will show us a coin, just a simple little coin. And it's all about the glory of the Lamb wrapped up in that little image. Augustine said it like this, Some people call him Augustine. If you had St. Augustine, that's Florida. Augustine is really his real name. One of my professors used Augustine, and he didn't have it quite right, so I struggle with that back and forth. But if you want to get it right, it's Augustine. And Augustine said, Christ is not valued at all unless he's valued above all. Again, the glory of the Lamb. So what do you value? Actually, you've already stated it, haven't you? You've already said what's your glory, right? You've already done that, right? How much time have you spent in His Word this week? That says much about the glory of God, right? What do you do on Sunday mornings? That tells you much about the glory of God in your life. How do you spend your thoughts? What goes on between those two ears? That deals with the glory of God, because as you think, so you are. Oh, that pocket, that pocketbook, that wallet, that purse. That money that's in it, that all reflects His glory or not, how we spend it, how we're wise stewards over it. You see, we've already have a perfect record of what really is important to us, just by looking back at what we've already done with those different items in our life. If God has to show us on that day of reckoning some things, we need to get that straight before we get there, right? All of us have done things, said things, thought things, had emotions, and they're all recorded. It's a crystal clear record. And may it be for God's glory. We haven't arrived, nobody's arrived, but maybe we'll all be moving in that direction, a positive step up. So today we come to the word of God, four steps here, four steps that reveal that we should serve only Jesus. In fact, it's interesting, what we're looking at here in Luke, all synoptic Gospels, synoptic, syn means what, S-Y-N? Same, optic viewpoint, same optic. Matthew, Mark, Luke, synoptic Gospels, they all speak from the same viewpoint. And all three of those Gospels report this same subject here. So the first point you want to look at here is the assault. I used to live like that, right? You did too, right? Before you knew Christ, we assaulted Him. So many ways. We took our food. We took our breath. We thought what we freely wanted to think never came in alignment with God. We assaulted Him. Well, the assault's on here in this text, isn't it? Why did the Pharisees attack Jesus? Now, let's get the context. Remember where we're at here in Luke. It's Passover week, right? The final Passover week, right? A few days from now, Jesus will be nailed to a cross, and according to these This record here, these three judgment parables that Luke has already outlined here, the parable of the two sons, the parable of the landowner, and the parable of the marriage feast, all three revealed faithless Israel. They're faithless. Religious leaders, really bankrupt, full of pride. They resented Jesus. They exposed their pride by doing that. They envied his popularity. They wish they had the popularity he did. They're incensed at his claim that the Messiah, that Jesus claims to be the Son of God. They understand what that means, and to a good degree. And they got a real problem with that. In fact, context here. Look at what he says in Luke chapter 20, verse 19. Luke 20, 19, and the chief priest and scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on him, but they feared the people for they knew that he had spoken this parable against them. Luke has a favorite term. If you're picking up on it, you read Luke, you see it often. It's always that term, those three words, that very hour. He's pinpointing it. This is the very hour now, right? The very hour itself. It's not in Matthew or Mark. We don't see that term show up. Dr. Luke puts it in here. Maybe being the physician that he is, he's precise. So that very hour, it shows that the Jews, what? Were angry enough to force the situation. They're ready for the cross. They're ready to charge him with something and get him out of the way. Now they've had it with him, the gloves come off, everything is thrown at our Lord Jesus Christ. They attack him with everything they got. What is the issue? They are incensed at his intensity of who he claims to be. Look at the last words of verse 19 here. It says what? They knew what? For they knew he had spoken this parable against them. You've heard it, right? If the shoe fits, what do you do with it? Wear it. The Pharisees know the shoe fits, what he's charging them with, but they don't want to wear it, right? Jesus fits it perfectly to them here. 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. Guess who the governor is? Remember, it's Rome's over them now. Rome dominates that whole Mediterranean theater. So Rome's here. Rome reserves the right to execute someone for capital causes. You cannot kill anyone unless Rome was involved with it. So Rome has to be involved. They're emperor. Notice the last words of verse 20. It talks about the governor. Who's the governor? Well, that's Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate, yes, headquartered. Where's his headquarters? He doesn't like it there in Jerusalem. You've been to Jerusalem. It's very hot in the summer. There's no lakes, nothing. He hangs out whereabouts? Over in the Mediterranean. He's over there. Still in Israel, Caesarea. Some of us have been there. Beautiful port city. Very nice layout, elaborate, lavish baths and all the rest. But he was in Jerusalem now for the Passover. When the Passover happened, he came over. The festivities, the festivals, all that goes on there, he would oversee now the trial of our Lord Jesus Christ in just a few days. Luke chapter 20, verse 20, look at it again here. 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. What do we got here? These are a bunch of sly weasels. They've weaseled their way in and listening to him and looking at him. They're ready to call out anything they can. Twist it and turn it if they must, but they've had it. The gloves are off. They've had enough of it. Three years of this pretend preacher who claims to be the son of God, which really means what? God come in the flesh. They've had it. They can't take it. So this proved how fanatic they are here, these Jewish leaders were. They resolved to some kind of diabolical tactic. to nail them down, to take care of them. It proves how their desperation doesn't. They could not find any legitimate reason. There's nothing obvious about Jesus. Think about it, right? You know, who is Lord Jesus Christ? Hebrews 4.15 says he was without sin. Have you ever tried to charge somebody who doesn't sin? How are you going to do that? Try it sometime. Imagine it, the sinless being. You know what you're up against? It's really enough to drive ones mad, and that's what they're dealing with here. They're going stark raving mad here. Luke 20, 21, then they ask him saying, teacher, we know that you say and teach rightly, and you do not show personal favoritism, but each teach the way of God in truth. Wow, did you hear what they said? Did you know that all false religious teachers are hypocrites? And there it is right there. God has given us a testimony within us, right? Romans 1. He's also given one outside of us, Romans 1. And there it is, a beautiful universe, the order of it. Every building indicates what? A builder. Every painting indicates a painter. Creation indicates a creator. You have to be literally blind, stupid, and dumb to deny the creator. I was that way for 27 years. That's how dumb I was before the Lord opened my eyes to put it together. Remember verse 20? It says what? They pretended to be righteous here. They're springing their wicked trap is what they're doing. They wanted to trap him, catch him in some kind of speech that would put him at odds with Rome. And if Rome was at odds with him, he'd soon be arrested and possibly put out of the way, executed. He's a rebel. So over in Matthew now, Matthew's a kind of this event. He said, Matthew says it like this in 2116. He calls them Herodians here. They're not the religious group. No, not the Herodians. These are more the political group here, politics. It's something like the Democratic Party or Republican Party or these Herodians here. They were not pro-Israel. They backed Herod. You could actually say they were pro-Roman. They're for Rome. Strange, isn't it? Pharisees are pro-Israel and the Herodians are pro-Rome, but they what? They work together in their plot to take this heretic out, or so they think, right? You've seen it, right? A common enemy makes strange bedfellows. Amazing how that works. We've seen that in the world scene today, right? As someone has said, flattery will just about get you everything. And so what do they say to Jesus? They butter him up. Can you believe those words they said to him, you know? We know that you're a teacher, rightly, and you do not show personal favoritism and teach the way of God in truth. Did you hear what, they're actually saying it, what he does, but they don't believe it, but they're buttering him up for the awesome question they're about to spring on him, right? See that, once one, Once they got him arrested, once they have a false charge against him, then Rome will take over and put him away. That's their whole plan going on here. So the Messiah was to rule and reign over the land, but if he's arrested and taken out, this one who claims to be the Messiah, he will be no problem for him. So once this would-be Messiah makes his blunder, Once they butter him up in his pride and he actually answers the question here about paying taxes, Rome steps in to what? Arrest him then. He's arrested, he's an anti-government one, and they put him away. Their problem is over. Rome really has no power over the Lord Jesus Christ, do they? By the way, the government really has no power over you. You want a Christ. And whatever he has for you is already in the plans, and he's got a perfect path for you to glide straight into heaven someday by faith alone in Christ alone. So the Lord Jesus Christ is, his popularity here with them is really at zilch, zero. No popularity with this group. So how are these religious zealots gonna pull this off here? They're gonna make the Lord Jesus Christ look like an insurrectionist, like a rebel, like a revolutionary. and that's how they will do away with him. We see that at the end there, verse 20, right? Look at what he says there. He sends spies there, and what does it say there? So that they might seize on his words in order to deliver him to the power and the authority of the government. They got it all worked out, don't they? They've been hatching this plan, figuring it out, their minds together, how do we take care of this problem? So they think they got it put together. So that's the assault. The assault on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's look at the accusation. Right there it is in chapter 20. Luke chapter 20, verse 22. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? One of the highest forms of praise is to ask someone advice on an important issue. And this is a critical issue. Ever since Rome has taken over, they've been asking this question. Should the Jews really be paying tax to Rome to help suppress them? Can you imagine? See, this is a no-win situation, all right? This is a no-win question. No matter how Jesus answers this, no matter what he says, he's gonna have problems one side or the other, isn't he? Think about this. Jesus is in a lose-lose situation. If he says, pay it, He would despise the Jewish people of the day. They know they shouldn't pay it. So all of a sudden this great following of his would be wiped away. The zealous were fanatical Jews. They were anti-Rome. They opposed to any Roman tax. But if Jesus said don't pay it, well then the popular uprising might not be so popular now. The ungodly Romans occupiers would bring Rome down upon their head. if Jesus said not to pay it. He'd be an insurrectionist, right? Rome would have all the more reason to wipe out those who were with Jesus, to destroy them. Religious leaders taught that Jesus would be forced to say, no, we should not pay tax. They're quite sure he would say that. He's got to keep the people on his side. He's got to keep them won over to him. So therefore, they thought they had this all figured out. Look at what he says in 20, 23, Luke 20, 23. He perceived their craftiness. Stop right there. What's the Lord Jesus Christ saying? Brethren, don't ever try to pull anything over on God. He can read you. He knows what you're going to say before you say it. He knows what you're thinking. He knows what you're going to think before you think it. He's got a perfect record of from the moment you entered this earth to the last breath you take. He's got a perfect record of it all. What he's saying there in 2023, it literally means put the mind down is what it means. Mark says knowing. Matthew says coming to know. See, they tried this new strategy, this hope. They buttered him up. They asked him this big question. They baited him, trying to get him to say something that's criminal, to get him arrested by Rome. It's self-incrimination, right? One of the most explosive questions of the day was this very question, right, this one right here. Should the Jews pay taxes to Jews? this Roman aggressor, this one who has come in and conquered our land. Should they pay taxes? So Lord Jesus Christ, he's really in a no-win situation. Whatever he says, he's gonna have problems on either side, right? He's going down, at least that's what they think. So what should Christ do? He should throw his hands up, right? Maybe walk away. Maybe that's a good tactic, right? If Jesus said no, he'd be in trouble. The Romans would come after him. If he said yes, he would be in trouble. The Jews would discredit him and he no longer would have a following. Perfect trap, perfect. No way out, right? That's what they thought. They knew they got him. They no doubt thought about this question, how to trap him, for months. In their little back rooms, these little weasels working together. But at the end of verse 23, notice what he says there. Five words. Why do you trust me? He's pulling a wool over their eyes. Nope, no one pulls a wool over his eyes, right? These unscrupulous religious leaders certainly were. Just that. They'd stop at nothing. They would stoop to any trick they could have, anything they could conjure up, no matter how wicked, how disaster it might be to the laws of the day, just to trap our Lord Jesus. They're thinking they're the ones with the only biblical answer. There's no other way. They know the truth. They have it. They're in charge. All Jewish people would certainly say no. Caesar is forcing us to pay, and therefore we should not pay our taxes. No Jew should pay their tax on the oil, on the grain, on the land, on the wine, on their income. They had to pay tax on all that. Can you imagine? Conqueror comes into America, Germany actually took over, Hitler won, and now we're paying those kind of taxes to Hitler? What would you say? No Jew should pay the tax. This is what? This is God's land, they said. And God's land is owned by God, and we should not give it to a foreign conqueror, we give it to God. We should not give it to a pagan gentile idolater who even stamps his coin with his image. You see the psychology they use here? They think they really elevate Jesus in his own mind, thinking they're gonna make him proud, feel this pride, and in his pride he's gonna have to answer it to please the people. Then Rome would come down on his head, their problem would be taken care of. Can we say it like this? Jesus is the very, he's in a very sticky situation, a situation you and I would never want to be in. In fact, it's really no win. Whatever he says, he's going to be in trouble. They got their man, they know it, they can't wait for him to trap himself by his own words. He's going down. They're sure of it. Can you imagine how long they thought about their plan here? The plan was well thought out, no question, but they fail to realize who they're up against, the master of the universe. Can you imagine? They got their man, they think. The last step to his demise, right? It's all over. All he's got to do is open his mouth. Whatever comes out, we got him. He's going down. Pro-Roman, pro-Israel, either way, he's out of here. Now they sit back and watch him hang himself, is what they think. So typical man, isn't it? He really thinks he can pull something off on God. How often do we thought like that? God doesn't know about this. Maybe in the old days before we knew him. Many people think that way. The impudence, the impertinence, the insolence, the nerve of puny man. Matthew says it like this in 1519, for out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts and murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies. And Paul said it. Paul said it in Romans 7.18, nothing good dwells in me. How do you like that? Nothing good, in and of ourselves, without Christ, nothing good. Can you imagine? Ephesians says it in 2.3, among whom also we also once conducted ourselves in the what? Lust of the flesh, fulfilling desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. There's the problem. Most people can't be honest with themselves until the Holy Spirit comes. And then we look in that mirror, and there's the real problem of life. We always think it's the other person, the boss, the government I have, neighbor next door, the relative, you don't want to believe my relative, you know, whatever. Look in the mirror, there's the issue, there's the problem. Look at that, lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, nature, children of wrath. Yes, that's me. It was me, and that was you, if you're a believer in Christ. So what do we do with all this? We've seen the assault, the accusation. Now we have the analogy. There's going to be a comparison here. Watch this. In 2024, the comparison. He says, show me a denarius. What's a denarius? That's a coin, isn't it? Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have? And they right away said, Caesars. I just happened to bring my coin with me today. It's a quarter. You know what a quarter looks like, right? Here's a quarter right here. That's legal tender. Yeah, commemorating Perry's monument on the back side. But this coin right here, in fact, it's one of the few coins, I don't know of any others really that actually has Ohio stamped on a coin, but this does on the back side here. But we could hold this coin up and say, whose image on it? And you would say, can you see it? Washington's image. Washington owns this. This was issued by Washington. It's under the government of Washington, legal tender. I can actually use this, go down and buy a quarter candy bar. Not that I ever would with this one. The image is asked by our Lord. Who's on it? See what Jesus is doing here? He's turning the tables, the master that he is, the one who knows everything. He knows exactly how the hearts tick of men. He turns the table. Remember when they asked him the question about the taxes? Now the Lord Jesus Christ asks them a question. This is typical rabbinic argument. That's often what you do. You find yourself in a situation, you return the favor. You ask the question back. And now who's going to hang who? Christ is going to hang them by his words here. This poll tax paid by every male person 14 to 65 years old and every female 12 to 65 amounted to one denarius. A denarius was a day's wage. Can you imagine paying your day's wage to the government that overtook your country? It was a silver coin minted by Rome, an engraving on it, had the emperor's picture on it. How the Jews must have hated that picture. In fact, no pious Jew would have a denarius in their pocket. It was image, it was idolatry of their king, because they, remember, they had to worship the king. They would worship the king of Rome, considered to be part of deity. So a vivid reminder of Rome's rule over them, under their thumb, so Rome was. The Pharisees regarded such images forbidden. how it must have rubbed them the wrong way when he held that coin up and pointed to it and said, whose image is on this? I mean, we're dealing with a master here. Don't ever try to argue with Christ. Don't ever try to give an excuse. It's not even worth it. Jesus takes the smallest coin minted by Rome on which there was a picture of Caesars and it was the poll tax that Mary and Joseph actually paid at Bethlehem when they made their travels there, same coin. Joseph tells us, before the birth of Christ, a man named Judas of Galilee, yes, another Judas, Judas of Galilee, leads an insurrection against Rome. Why? Because they were taxing the people, funding idolatry with the taxes, so there was an uprising over this very same issue. And Judas was put to death for that. So they got it figured out. If he was put to death for that, if Christ says the same thing that Judas says, guess what? He's dead, too, in short time. In fact, we know that to be the case, right? But not for those reasons. You see what they're doing here? If Jesus says the same thing, He's gonna be hung. So the Jews of the day, they saw the taxation as treason against God. If you said no, Rome understands exactly what you're saying. So now Jesus holds up the coin whose image is on it. Jewish leaders know they got him. Finally, their problem with Jesus is over. It's done away with. The authorities will arrest him. He'll be carted off and put out of our misery. Finally dealt with. By the way, a child could have answered that question. Anybody knows who's on that coin. Caesar's image, they were only too eager, right? And they said to him, what is it in verse 24 at the end there? They said to him, what? Caesar! Just think, the religious leaders spoke their own fatal words. Christ turns the table, this master here. How so? Jesus traps them. The master of the universe traps the wicked religious leaders with their own words. The very thing they want to do to Jesus is the very thing he does to them. Brethren, be careful if you ever think you know more than God. It doesn't work that way, does it? The heart of man. Oh, the heart of man. Remember Jesus in the early days there in John chapter 2? He wouldn't even spend the night. Remember what the text says? He wouldn't even spend the night in Jerusalem because he knew what? He knew what was in the heart of man. Not even spend night in a town. Does that tell you anything about what Jesus knows about us? In fact, he said it like this in 225, he had no need, John 225, he had no need that anyone should testify a man for he knew what was in man. Oh, the foolishness, the foolishness of man's heart. You heard the Russian parable, right? We've heard it, right? The man was hunting a bear. He wanted to get a big one, a big trophy for his fireplace. He wanted a fur coat to wear. Big head above the fireplace there. So he sees a bear in a clearing. So it's a little far away, so he sneaks up a little closer. And then he's just about there. And just as he's ready to squeeze the trigger, the bear says, wait a minute. Maybe we can talk this out. And the bear says, what do you want? I want a fur coat. The man says, what? I want a fur coat? Yeah, that's what he wants. And the man asks the bear, what do you want? He says, I want a full stomach. Well, he said, let's talk about this, the bears. Let's sit down and just talk this out. So they had a nice little talk, and their bear got up and walked away with a full stomach. And the man had his fur coat inside the bear's belly. You see, brethren, you compromise with the enemy, they will literally eat you up. Never compromise God's word. Hold to it no matter what the cost, and we have the glory of God there. So we've seen the assault, the accusation, the analogy, now we're coming to the answer. How does this all go down? Look at Luke 20, 25, right here it is. He said to them, rendered therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. Look at verse 26, but they could not catch him. Watch this. They couldn't catch him in his words. In verse 26, in the presence of the people, and they marveled. Look at that. They marveled at his answer and kept silent. Christ shut their mouths by just uttering up a little statement about a little coin. The master at his best. The enemies of Christ really thought they had him. They finally got their problem taken care of. Finally. He was on the horns of the dilemma. But verse 20, you see what it says at the end of verse 20? They what? They marveled. Interesting word, thamadzo in the Greek. It means astonished. It means to wonder. It means spellbound. They can't believe it. The mind, the mind of God. No matter how tight a box they tried to put him into, where you can't even turn, you're packed in so tight, Christ does what? No problem. So profound, so amazing, walks right out. No, not even an issue. Incredible, outstanding. But what would you expect from a perfect being whose God come in the flesh? But he handles them quite well. You see what Jesus is saying here in verse 25? There's two realms, right? There's two realms. What's the two realms? There's God's realm and there's man's realm, creation's realm, Caesar's realm, right? Clear distinction between the two realms, right? There's the church, there's the state. This country at the founding quite clearly understood that. That First Amendment quite clearly says the two states there, right? Yes, we give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Romans 13 is quite clear on that. We are to what? Pay our taxes. That's true. In fact, in Romans 13, 1, he says, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. So in the temporal realm, we're to obey our government. But in the spiritual realm, we're to always obey God, no matter what the government says. When there's outright contradiction, we know who to follow. We don't follow the pagans. We follow God. Yes, all governments are ordained by God. That's true. Isn't that amazing? even those over in China and Russia. Caesar is the Jews' ruler, right? And they must support his rule. They must pay the tax. See what Christ is saying here? You get it? Clear between these two, clear separation. Yes, we give to Caesar's what is his, but we give to God what is his. The image of Caesar is on the coin. Oh, by the way, whose image do you bear? You bear God's image. Who do you belong to? God. What are you to do? You're to follow God and his commands. We're to do that. Brethren, the first step in following God is what? Is pursuing him with all that we got. In fact, he says it here. in the first step of discipleship. Remember what it is, brethren, the first step of discipleship? He says it like this in Matthew 16, 24. If anyone, if anyone, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. You know what it means to take up a cross in those days? It was a way of death. People laugh at you, point at you, they throw things at you. They say you're getting your just desserts. That's what it means, the way of the cross. Sometimes we can't even go peep about Jesus in public because we're afraid somebody might have a scowl on their face. That's not picking up the cross. If I really want to follow Jesus, I pick up the cross and follow him. Now, wait a minute. Whom are you to deny? The Lord Jesus Christ? Whom are we to deny? Our Lord Jesus? It says what here? In Matthew, he puts it like this in 16.24, let him, what? Deny himself. No, I don't deny the Lord. Who do I deny? I deny me. What's that mean? Does that mean give up some bad habit, some fault, something that I wish I had and stop eating chocolates? for the month of June. That's not what he's talking about. It means give up on the old man, the old self, that old waywardness where everything is around me, where my life is centered around me. I want to do what's best for me. I die to that, and now I ask what? What's best for my Lord? How do I follow my Lord's step? How do I pick up the cross and pursue Him? That's what it means. Those are the true Christians. Churches today are packed with people. That's not the issue, though. The question is how many track Christ with their cross? How many follow Him? There's the real rub, there's the real evidence of one truly believing. See, the coin bears the image of Caesar, and you bear the image of Christ, the image of God. So do you. When others see you, when others hear you talk, when others see you conduct yourselves in public, is there any, they must be one of the lords? They gotta be a Christian by what they say, how they conduct themselves? Do they say that? Whether they see you react to the way you do, would they conclude that? You ever try putting on pride, arrogance, egotism on the Lord Jesus Christ? You ever see that on Christ, any of those things? Christ dies. He's found a father. He's a man who humbles himself. Do others say that about me, about you? Remember Moses? He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh. You know what you're denying there, in that kingdom? It's like the son of the president, but far greater, to agree to gay. Can you imagine that? All the worldly admiration, the honor, the prestige, he renounced it. The pride of self, he renounces that. How do you do that? Because you understand there's a far greater goal, a far greater one to please, the one who I'm going to live with forever and ever. All the worldly admiration, all the worldly honor, he renounced. Question, what's your life goal? What are you really doing here on planet Earth? Why are you taking up this space, this air, this food? What are you doing here? Do you have a clear answer for that? If one asked you what your goal is, what would you say? Jesus said it like this in Matthew 11, 29, take up my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Did you hear that? Take it up. Take up the cross, the way of shame, the way of pain, the way of humiliation, the way of death. In Ephesians 4.15, he says, what? We're to grow up, right? Your grandma and grandpa used to ask you, right, aunts and uncles, what do you want to do when you want to grow up, little Johnny? You have an answer, right? Christ says for us to grow up. How are we to grow up? We're to grow up in Him. Ephesians 4.15, grow up in Christ. Humility. That's an image. You know, they blindfolded Christ. They were ready to smash him. That's what they did is they blindfolded him. Tell us which one's striking you. And I can assure you those weren't little slaps across the cheek. No, no. They were full bent on destroying this one. What did Christ say when they blindfolded him? And, you know, he could have said exactly the birth date, what the name is, read their social security number to him. He could have done any of that stuff. What did he say? They blindfolded him, they're smacking him, probably bruising to the point of maybe breaking bones in his face, possibly. Ever been there? I haven't been there. And what did he say? Absolutely nothing. No pride in Christ, just humble humility of obeying his father above. You see, we must value every opportunity we have of sinking into humility. That's a gift we've got. I have an opportunity now. With reproaches, unkind treatment, poverty, loneliness, persecution, mental distress, seeming failure in our work, another is recognized for the work that I did, and they take credit for it, and the boss honors them. Those kind of things. Disappointments or anything disagreeable comes, I calmly face it, accept it, and what? It's okay, because where's your portion at? It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's everything you need and far more, if we can only get a hold of who He is and what He's done for us. How did Isaiah put it? Isaiah 53, 7, He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before its shearers is silent. So He, what? Opened not His mouth. If anyone had every right to open up his mouth, if anyone had every right to open up the ground, as in Korah's rebellion and swallow him up, if anyone had every right to call lightning down, Christ did. It's a picture. So I ask you, is that a picture of you? Is that a picture of me? Am I really one of Christ? You know the difference between a snake and a worm? You ever try approaching a snake? I've tried it a few times. They rear their ugly heads. They coil up. You know how a snake goes. You ever try approaching a worm? Take that worm. You could put it underneath the heel of your foot, roll it around, squish it, squash it. And the worm does what? Bites your ankle, right? No, worms don't do that. Question. When it comes to Christ, comes to serving Him, living my daily life, my workplace, with my relatives, with my neighbors, all the rest, am I more like a snake, or am I more like a worm? We know who Christ is like, but the question is, who are you and I like? It's a test. Lots of people profess Christ. Where am I really in this whole thing? A worm forfeits all its rights. Jesus became a worm for us, and now he asks us to, how do I say, squirm in his steps as a worm would? The picture of true brokenness. A worm forfeits those rights. Blessed are the poor in spirit. See, our yieldedness to Christ, how much I'm yielded to him, is a measure of my love, my value of Christ. May I follow in his steps. Do you see it here? Every humiliation you have, every rudeness, every vexing thing that comes into our life, no matter what the doctor said to us, God shows us a way, right? Shows us a way, conforming us, breaking us down, making us more like his son. Do you know him? Do you really know him? I'm not talking about where you come down in front of that church and just say a prayer and the preacher says, now I heard you say salvation, don't ever question it again. You never find that in the Bible. No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the way nobody's looking. You get in that internet, get in that phone, what goes on there? All those different things. Does it show I'm really with Christ or does it show something else about me? Is the Lord Jesus Christ your best friend? Your best friend? Or is he something else? How's it go, the song? Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus. You can be born in the freest country. You can live the freest life you want to. Beautiful in America. Yet the moment you die, you can find yourself in the greatest torment, the most unbelievable place you wish you never even existed, now that your experience has flamed forever and ever, chained in a lake of fire. See, it really makes no difference if you're a mailman or a murderer. It really doesn't. If you're a policeman or a prostitute or a teacher or a terrorist, it doesn't make any difference. It makes little difference if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we're all going to die in a few years. We're all out of here. A hundred years from now, none of us will be here. And then their fate is sealed from that time on, when you take that last breath. So I ask you again, have you a personal, intimate relationship with the Lord? Is there evidence in my life, I love for His Word, I love to live that Word out, I love to proclaim that Word, is there any evidence of that in my life? Titus 3, 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. There's nothing you can do. That's how bankrupt we are, but Christ has done it all and by faith alone and Christ alone. And then if I'm one of his, you ever notice that some from the same family, the kids from the same, they all have same different, not different, but same attributes, they're alike in complexion and even ways and moods. Are you in the family of Christ? Do you model him? To some degree, to a good degree. Have you a personal intimate relationship with him? See, faith looks to the works of another. Those who are religious looks to their own good works. We look to Christ, the objective one, the object of our faith. You see, Christ is a servant. He served us. He went to the cross and now we serve him. By faith alone and Christ alone we go to heaven. People think they have to be good, right? There's something I gotta do to get my baptism, I gotta live a good life, be a good member, give so much money. There's nothing we can do. It's all been done by Christ, but if I'm in him, those things will be evident in my life. The Holy Spirit makes it so. It's a subjective faith, a subjective faith that looks to the object outside. I believe I trust alone in Christ, who 2,000 years ago died for me. Let me end with this, there's a bell in Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell, right? You've seen it, right? Some of us have seen it. On that bell there's a particular verse, Leviticus 25.10, what's it say? Proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants. Do you claim liberty to all the inhabitants? Do I share my faith with anybody? I believe that's a litmus test. If you really knew this building was on fire and you ran out without telling anybody, I'd question what kind of person you are. Hell's on fire, have we warned anybody? Christ is coming. Let us be prepared. Let us believe Him, walk with Him, and declare Him. Let us pray. Father, how good You are to us. To think there's nothing we can do to get to heaven. We've done too much. We have a record of lawlessness, of sin. But in Christ alone, by faith alone, by mercy alone, by grace alone, We have life forever in Christ, he has the perfect record, we inherit that, he takes our perfect sin record and he takes that to the cross and pays for it for us. So we are the righteous robes of Christ even though we're not righteous. None of us have arrived, Father. We all struggle. We understand that. But, Father, may we make sure we're ready for that final moment today, tomorrow, soon. We'll all be taking that last breath. And may we glory, glory in going home to walk on those streets of gold with hand in hand with our Lord and Savior. We praise you. We love you. And all God's people said, amen.