A.B.C.’s 70th Anniversary
On Sunday, March 1, 2009 we celebrated the 70th Anniversary of Alameda Bible Church. I preached from Psalm 48. The theme of this Psalm is Jehovah, the one true God of Israel and His holy city, Jerusalem.
Whereas, Jerusalem and the Temple were the glory of God’s people, Israel; Christ Himself is our glory as His Church. Let us, His Church, glory: not primarily in a church, a building, or a location; but in Christ Himself.
ISRAEL GLORIED IN JERUSALEM
Israel gloried in Jerusalem and in their temple location, Mount Zion. They gloried in Jehovah who dwelt with His people in Jerusalem, the city of Jehovah.
In Isaiah 6:1-3 we learn that Jehovah’s glory filled the temple. In fact, His glory fills the earth. The major theme of Psalm 48 is that Jehovah God is the glory of Israel.
At the same time, Israel was God’s glory, as we learn in Isaiah 46:13
The world boasts that Rome is the “eternal city”. The Bible teaches that Jerusalem is the eternal city. Founded about 1400 BC, it has been in existence for over 3400 years. For one thousand years after religious and political Rome is destroyed, as prophesied in Revelation 17-18; Christ will be reigning over the whole earth from Jerusalem. So with 1,000 years to go, it will have been in existence for at least 4400 years.
ISRAEL REJECTED THEIR GOD
Though Israel gloried in the Temple and in their city, Jerusalem; they rejected their God throughout Old Testament history. As early as 700 BC they were trodden down by gentile nations in this order: Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. As Jesus prophesied in Luke 21:24, since Israel has been back in her homeland, she has continued to be trodden down by her neighboring nations. Most horrible was the brutal attempt to annihilate them by the Nazi’s during World War II.
In spite of that miserable treatment, Psalm 48 prophesies that the day is coming when Jerusalem will be the mountain of God’s holiness, the joy of the whole earth and the city of the great King, referring to Jesus. Zechariah prophesies in chapter 12-14 of his prophesy that in the Millennium, Jesus will reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem.
THE CHURCH’S GLORY
Zion as Jerusalem, referred to in this Psalm, is a type of Christ’s Church. As Israel gloried in their city Jerusalem as the joy of the whole earth; so in this Church Age, we His Church, glory in Christ alone. We share Paul’s testimony in Galatians 6:14. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.”
We are thankful for our Church and for those who years ago sacrificed that we might have this prime location and this church plant debt free. We’re thankful for those who built this church on God’s Word and passed on to us a church that stands faithfully on the Fundamentals of the Faith, in particular,
Our primary glory is in the eternal, unchanging God of Israel, who by God’s grace. is our God today.
WHO IS THIS GOD WHO WILL BE OUR GOD FOREVER AND EVER?
He’s certainly not the God of our imagination or opinion; but the holy, eternal God revealed in Scripture. This God we have made our God by personally receiving His Son as our Saviour from sin. With Thomas, who met Jesus after the Resurrection, we gladly acknowledge Him as “our Lord and our God.”
When we trust Christ as our Saviour and as we begin reading and studying His Word and attending a Church where it is faithfully taught, we grow in our knowledge of God.
1. We recognize the God of the Bible as our God, our Lord, our Shepherd and the foundation for our lives. Without Him we have nothing and are nothing and can do nothing.
2. We begin to understand that He is great and sovereign in the affairs of men and nations and in control at all times.
3. We understand that Christ is Holy and that His spiritual Kingdom is His Church, according to Colossians 1:13. At the same time, we understand that His literal, holy Millennial Kingdom will one day be a reality.
4. As God, He demanded holiness from His people Israel. Leviticus 20:7 So in this Church Age, He demands holiness from His people today, as He taught in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:48. Since none of us has any ability to live that holy life of ourselves, He graciously provides it.
First He imputes His holiness to our account when we trust Him as Savior.
Then He imparts it to us by His Word and by His Holy Spirit.
5. We understand that He desires and is worthy of our praise continually, even when we don’t feel like praising Him. Learn the secret in Hebrews 13:15.
6. We understand that God is immutable. That is, He is unchanging in this constantly changing world. The changes in our world are usually for the worse. Rejoice that He never changes. Malachi 3:8 and Hebrews 13:8. His moral standards do not change. His plan of salvation does not change. It’s always been by God’s grace through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sins. In Old Testament times, Israel was also saved by faith in the promised Saviour. In accordance with God’s laws, they sacrificed innocent animals for their sins, which sacrifices pointed to the coming sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God,
the perfect and final sacrifice who takes away the sins of the world.
7. We understand that God is eternal. Deuteronomy 33:27 assures us that “The eternal God is our refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Because He is eternal, we are eternal. Each of us will spend eternity in Heaven or in Hell.
8. Thank God for His eternal, inspired, infallible Word, the Bible to which we all have access. Proverbs 29:18 speaks of its importance. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The vision is not speaking of dreams, but of God’s Word. Those who know His Word and feed on it are growing. Those who ignore and rebel against His Word are perishing.
The Bible and Christianity were the foundation upon which our nation was founded. In recent years the Bible has systematically been removed from school classrooms and from our national life. As a result, America is in rapid decline. America is crumbling before our eyes: morally, economically and politically.
Into such a nation, state and city, Alameda Bible Church was planted seventy years ago in 1939. I was a first grader in the pubic schools of Toronto, Canada. Little did I dream then that I would one day be a pastor in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Such has been my privilege for these last almost twenty years. We were planted here to be a light in the midst of spiritual darkness.
THE GOD OF OUR PAST
Years ago a Christian family donated land on El Pueblo Rd. in the North Valley of Albuquerque to be the home for a Gospel preaching church which was named Alameda Community Chapel. Years later the name was changed to Alameda Bible Church.
This church was born at a time when Bible believing churches were departing from the Faith to compromise with Liberalism. I don’t know what battles this church fought then, but I know that in the mid fifties and sixties, I was fighting battles with Liberalism. As a result two churches left a liberal denomination to become thriving, growing churches, faithful to the Word of God.
Almost thirty years ago God led this church to found a Christian School as a ministry of the church. Over the years we have operated a K-12 Christian
School and have graduated over 100 students.
The God of our Fathers, is our same God today. Thank God that although we are far from perfect saints and won’t be until we stand glorified in His presence; yet we are growing in love and unity. By God’s grace, our church stands just as true to the Bible as it was when it was founded seventy years ago.
We never want to forget what God has done for us, nor forget the sacrifices and the steadfastness of our forefathers. At the same times, we don’t want to get stuck in a rut of living in the past. As we remember and are grateful for our past, at the same time, we are open to what God wants to do through us now and in the future.
We don’t want to ever get in the depressing mental and stagnant state of thinking, “It can’t be done! or “We never did it this way before!”
THE GOD OF OUR PRESENT
We must learn the balance of staying true to unchanging Biblical truth; and at the same time, learning to relate to and reach this generation with the uncompromising Truth of God’s Word.
As Jerusalem at over 2500 feet in elevation and surrounded by mountains, was pictured in Psalm 48 as “beautiful for situation”; so our church has been strategically placed in the beautiful North Valley at 5000 feet and bordered on the east by 10,000 feet mountains. We are accessible to two major arteries of Albuquerque. It’s less than a twenty minute drive from just about any part of the city. We must reach out to people as Ambassadors for Christ.
THE GOD OF OUR FUTURE
Let us never forget that it is Christ who is building His Church and we are privileged to be a part of His work as well surrender to Him. No matter what happens politically, we have Christ’s promise that He is building His Church and the gates of Hell cannot stop our onward progress.
Wesley’s Mother on Sin
John Wesley’s mother wrote to her son at Oxford University. “Whatever weakens your reason, Impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away the delight for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin.”
Making Great Time!
A pilot came on the loud speaker of a plane and said, “I have good news and bad news. The bad news is we have lost all instrumentation and don’t know where we are. The good news is that we have a tail wind and are making great time. So relax, think positively and enjoy your flight.”
David’s Son and Lord
As we conclude our study of Luke 20:27-47, we continue dealing with Jesus’ final week of earthly ministry before He went to the cross to die as the sacrifice for our sins. We’ve observed the mounting attacks against Jesus by the religious leaders in Jerusalem as they sought to destroy His credibility among the people and to deliver Him to the Roman authorities for crucifixion.
The scrutiny of Jesus’ life and words intensified after His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. followed by His cleansing of the temple the next day. For examples of how the religious leaders were attempting to trap Him note Luke 19:47-48, 20:1-2, 19-23, and 26-33.
In verse 27-33 the Sadducees who did not believe in a resurrection, asked Jesus a question about the Resurrection to attempt to trap Him. They presented a case of a woman who had been married to seven different brothers, as described in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 and illustrated in the story of Ruth’s marriage to Mahlon and then Boaz in the Book of Ruth. They asked whose wife she would be in the Resurrection? Jesus answered that there is no marriage in Heaven, as He clearly states in Luke 20:34-36. Furthermore, there is no death in Heaven.
What does the Bible teach about our resurrection bodies?
Job 19:23-27 teaches that we will know one another in Heaven, even to having the same recognizable eyes. Of course, our bodies will be glorified. There will be no sin in Heaven and not even any temptation to sin. We will eat and drink, but our glorified bodies will not have the organs needed for digestion, elimination nor reproduction.
In fact, I do not believe we will have blood. Jesus’ resurrection body apparently did not have blood, when He instructed Thomas to put his hands in the nail holes in His hands and thrust his hand into the spear hole in Jesus side as recorded in John 20. I’m not saying that we will not be men or women. That’s not clear to me, but it appears from Jesus’ resurrection body that those who saw Him recognized Him as the man, Jesus, whom they had known and with whom they had walked on this earth.
There will be no disease, pain nor death in Heaven. Revelation 22:2 speaks of an interesting curiosity. It speaks of the Tree of Life being in Heaven. We first learned about the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. There in Genesis 3:22 Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat of that tree after they sinned, lest they live forever.
In Revelation 22:2 it speaks of the leaves of the tree as having therapeutic value. We know that in this life that roots, leaves and fruits of tree have therapeutic value. Why this is mentioned in Revelation 22:2 I am not sure.
We know for sure that there will be no sickness, pain nor death in Heaven.
One thing for certain is that our glorified bodies will bear no evidence of the curse of sin. Revelation 21:27 makes clear that there will be no sin in Heaven.
Our bodies will be just like Jesus resurrected body. He was recognizable, yet different in a glorified form. He ate fish and a piece of honey comb in that new body, as recorded in Luke 24. There will be no pain, no disease and no death in Heaven, as taught in Revelation 21:4 In our resurrection bodies we will travel at the speed of thought.
Our bodies will have an altered atomic structure so that we can pass through solid walls and doors just as Jesus did in His resurrection body. We will not be controlled by natural laws such as gravity; nor will we need air to breathe, food to eat or water to drink. Of course, all disease and deformities will be a thing of the past.
Our relationship with men and women will be pure and chaste as was Jesus when He walked on this earth as a man. We will have all eternity to get to intimately know one another; not just our friends and family on this earth, but all the saints through all the ages of time. Of course, our relationship with Jesus will be the most wonderful relationship of Heaven.
The assurance of our resurrection is based on Jesus’ resurrection, If Jesus never rose from the dead, then according to I Corinthians 15 we have absolutely no hope and we who call ourselves Christians are living in delusion. Yes, Christianity is just a dream if Jesus never rose from the dead.
But thank God, we have all the evidence we need to be assured of Jesus’ resurrection. Go to the RESURRECTION category for proof of His resurrection.
How will we receive these resurrection bodies?
Read I Corinthians 15 and I Thessalonians 4 for all the details. Basically the glorification of our bodies will take place when Jesus returns for us. The dead in Christ, that is, those whose trust is in Jesus for salvation, will come forth from the graves and from the dust of the earth in their new bodies and immediately we who are living at that time will join them to meet Christ in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. That’s all I need to know about the resurrection to satisfy me.
After the Kingdom Age which you can learn about in my series on PROPHECY. The unsaved will rise from the dead to meet Jesus to be judged for their sins and cast into the eternal Lake of Fire where the Anti- Christ, False Prophets, Satan and all his demons will be. That is described in one of the most awesome and terrifying passages of Scripture, Revelation 20:11-15. Every unbeliever should read this and decide if that’s really the direction he wishes to continue.
Jesus’ states His final question for his enemies to ponder.
After Jesus answered the scribe’s resurrection question, His enemies became silent. They ceased asking Him anymore questions. They realized that they were no match for Jesus’ wisdom.
Jesus’ enemies were getting no where with their attacks on Him. If Jesus was ever to be executed, God Himself would have to do it. That’s exactly what happened. God the Father executed His own Son, using the Roman soldiers to carry it out. Isaiah 53:4 prophecies that Jesus would be “smitten of God and afflicted.” Yes, God the Father poured out His fury on His Son, the fury that should be poured out on everyone of us as sinners. God poured it out on His innocent, sinless Son as He bore the guilt and penalty for our sins in His body on the cross. Those who reject His Son as Saviour, will one day have to bear God’s fury in Hell for eternity. Each of us has that choice to make: Receive the Son and be saved, or reject the Son and be damned.
In Luke 20:41-46 in the presence of all the people Jesus asks a question of the scribes who hand copied the Scriptures and were authorities on the subject. “How can Christ, the Messiah, be both the Son and the Lord of David?” The same question is recorded in Matthew 22:41-45. Jesus, referring to a statement in Psalm 110:1 questions these people who denied that Jesus was God, Here David is referring to the Lord as His Lord.
It was common knowledge that Jesus was born into the Davidic line, which would make Jesus a Son of David.
That gave His enemies something to ponder. Of course the answer is that Jesus is God in human flesh. Born into David’s line, Jesus was God come down in human flesh. Therefore Jesus was both Son and Lord of David.
Because they rejected Jesus as God in human flesh, they had no answer and at that point they were silenced. They ceased asking Jesus questions.
How about you? Have you received Jesus as your Saviour? Have you bowed to Him as your Lord?
When do you plan to receive Christ into your life? If not today, there is little chance that you will ever be saved. The only promise you have of being saved is to come to Him NOW. See II Corinthians 6:1-2 and decide NOW or NEVER?
God’s Justice will not Sleep Forever
“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice will not sleep forever.”
Thomas Jefferson 1781
A Love Story
The story of Boaz and Ruth is one of the most beautiful love stories in the Bible and is a picture of our relationship with Christ, who is our Kinsman Redeemer as we, His Church, are His spiritual bride.
Let me give you a little background on how I came to include this love story in this message from the Gospel of Luke, which just so happened to be preached on February 15, 2009, the day after Valentine’s Day. I did not plan this in advance.
Actually, for the last six years we have been working our way through the Gospel of Luke and as I write this, we are in the 20th chapter dealing with the events that occurred as Jesus prepared to go to the cross to be sacrificed for our sins. Many of the messages from this Luke series cover a wide variety of topics that can be found on this web site under the following links: Beatitudes, Discipleship, Hypocrisy, Kingdom, Lost and Found, Prayer, Prophecy, Service, Stewardship,and others. I’m constantly amazed at the wide variety of topics I cover just by preaching through books of the Bible verse by verse; sometimes, topics that I would normally try to avoid.
In Luke 20:27-36 we observe the continued efforts of the Pharisees and Sadducees to snare Jesus in their traps and find reason to turn Him over to the Roman authorities for crucifixion.
A SILLY ‘WHAT IF’ QUESTION OF THE SADDUCEES
The Pharisees were the Legalists and the Sadducees were the Liberals of His day. The Sadducees, as the Liberals today, did not believe in a literal, bodily resurrection.
Though the Pharisees and Sadducees were enemies, they were united in their common hatred of Jesus to have Him killed. In the Luke passage before us the Sadducees asked a silly “what if” question concerning the Resurrection. These “what if” questions, usually a waste of time and a distraction from the more important issues of life, were presented to Jesus to try to trip Him and find a cause to destroy Him and His powerful influence.
This “what if” question concerned a woman whose husband had died and she married his brother. The brother died and this was repeated until the woman had been married to seven husbands. “In the Resurrection,” they asked, “which husband of the seven will she have?”
A STRANGE MOSAIC LAW
They are referring to the Mosaic Law in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. It concerns a man who marries and then dies childless. It was the responsibility of the next marriageable brother to marry his deceased brother’s widow to give her one child in the name of his deceased brother so that his descendents could receive their inheritance.
To refuse to take this responsibility was considered shameful and it was the custom for the rejected widow to remove a shoe from the one who rejected her and spit in his face. Yes, that sounds crude to us, but that was the law according to Deuteronomy 25:5-10
One selfish drawback to fulfilling this responsibility was that by raising up a seed to receive his brother’s inheritance, he was diminishing his own inheritance as it was divided among more people.
Of course, the Sadducees were taking this law to ridiculous extremes in order to try to trap Jesus. Jesus takes the opportunity to teach important truths concerning the resurrection which we will consider in the next message.
THE LOVE STORY OF RUTH AND BOAZ
The story of Ruth and Boaz is a wonderful love story, illustrating some facets of the Deuteronomy 25 law concerning marrying widows. Let’s enjoy and be blessed by the love story of Ruth which occurred in Bethlehem a thousand years before the baby Jesus was born there in a stable.
I encourage you to read the story directly from the Book of Ruth. Let me summarize it for you.
Elimelech and his wife Naomi of Bethlehem went down into Moab to escape a famine in their region. They took their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion with them. Their sons married Moabitess girls: Mahlon married Ruth and Chilion married Orpah. Then trouble and grief came to the family. First, Elimelech died leaving Naomi a widow; and then the two sons died, leaving their wives as widows.
Distressed, Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem with Ruth and Orpah. As she began her journey, she turned to her daughters-in-law and encouraged them to stay in Moab with their families. She was growing old and had no other sons to offer them as husbands.
Orpah agreed with her mother-in-law and decided to stay in Moab. Ruth, on the other hand, had a special bond with Naomi and with Nomi’s God who had become her God. Listen to her beautiful soliloquy in Ruth 1:16-17, often used at weddings.
“Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God. Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.”
So Ruth returned to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law. Back in Bethlehem she was providentially led to glean grain in the fields of Boaz, a wealthy young man who was related to Elimelech, the deceased husband of Naomi.
Note Ruth’s prophetic statement of faith in Ruth 2:2 ”Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find grace.”
Note in Ruth 2:3 that “her hap was to light on or to glean in the fields of Boaz. There are no happenstances with God. Every detail of our life is important to God and He orchestrates and guides all our steps.
BOAZ SMITTEN BY LOVE FOR RUTH
It didn’t take Boaz very long to discover this new gleaner working in his fields and he asked his workers about her. It was not difficult to see that he had a very special interest in this young lady.
He invited her to continue gleaning in his fields and gather all she needed. He was also concerned about her safety among the workers and instructed her to stay close to the other women gleaning in the fields. He also commanded the male workers to leave her alone and to allow her to drink the water they drew for themselves. Ruth bowed herself before Boaz and was amazed at the grace and love he bestowed on her, a Moabite stranger.
The reasons Boaz was drawn to Ruth is found in verse 11. He was impressed; not only by her beauty, but by the beautiful relationship between Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi. He was impressed that Ruth loved Naomi and Naomi’s God enough to leave her Moabite family and friends to come to the people of Israel and to Israel’s God.
Boaz blessed Ruth in verse 12. “The Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” Ruth responded to him in gratitude and humility and they had dinner together.
Boaz instructed his workers to leave handfuls of the barley untouched on purpose to make it easier for her to glean more. One thing was obvious about this young lady. She was a hard worker and continued gleaning until evening and harvested over a bushel of barley for her own needs.
NAOMI, A WISE MOTHER-IN-LAW
Naomi was very aware, as most mothers are, when their daughters are in love. In Ruth 3:1-4 Naomi instructed Ruth concerning her next very delicate steps in regard to Boaz who at night was winnowing barley on the threshing floor and sleeping there. She was to wash herself, anoint herself with perfumed oils, put on a clean dress and make her way down to the threshing floor. She was to keep hidden from the men, including Boaz.
After he had eaten supper, he would lie down on the threshing floor, cover himself with a blanket and go to sleep. Before dark she was to take note of that spot. Then in the darkness, she was to slip into the room quietly and gently uncover his feet and lie down at his feet. When Boaz awoke, he would tell her what to do. Ruth followed Naomi’s instruction and crept into the room when all were asleep and uncovered Boaz’s feet and laid down at his feet, sharing his blanket.
Can you imagine Boaz’s shock and fear when he awoke at midnight and found a woman sleeping at his feet? He asked her who she was.
She replied that she was Ruth, a near kinsman to him. Boaz may have been a brother of Mahlon, her deceased husband. She asked Boaz if he would spread his skirt over her, reminding him of his responsibility as a near kinsman- as though he needed to be reminded!
In Ruth 3:10-11 Boaz blessed her for her virtuous reputation and he admitted that he was her kinsman and had a responsibility to her; however, he said, “there is a nearer kinsman than I.”
Boaz said to her, Let’s get some sleep and in the morning we will check with the nearer kinsman and see if he is willing to take his responsibility. If he is not willing, then I will fulfill my responsibility.
Next morning Ruth returned to Naomi with more grain from Boaz. With excitement she told her mother-in-law all that had happened that night. Both Boaz and Ruth were honorable and pure. They were simply following Jewish custom under those circumstances. Naomi gave her daughter-in-law some valuable advice, advice that every mother should give her daughter at times like this.
She said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall.” She knew Boaz and recognized the signs of love for her in his eyes. She continued, “This man is not going to rest until this matter is settled.”
THE WEDDING CEREMONY
Next morning Boaz went up to the city gate, known today as City Hall. He gathered ten elders of the land together to witness a legal transaction and instructed everyone to sit down.
Acting on behalf of Naomi, he was about to sell some of her land that had belonged to Elimelech, her deceased husband. This land would have been inherited by her deceased son, Mahlon. Because Ruth had been Mahlon’s wife, marrying her was part of the land deal.
Just then, the nearer kinsman of Mahlon came by, as Boaz expected. This nearer kinsman had the first chance to buy the land. Then Boaz explained to the elders Naomi’s sad story of losing her husband and sons. He told about Ruth, her widowed daughter-in-law. Then he spoke to the kinsman. “Naomi is come again out of the country of Moab and she needs to sell a parcel of land which was our brother, Elimelech’s.
The kinsman agreed to buy it. Then Boaz explained that the one who buys the land must also marry Ruth and raise up a child in Mahlon’s name to carry on his inheritance in Israel.
The Kinsman answered just as Boaz hoped he would. “I cannot redeem it for myself lest I mar or diminish my own inheritance. I cannot redeem it!
Part of an interesting custom took place, as we read in Deuteronomy 25 earlier. Because Ruth was not present at the proceedings, she did not remove his shoe or spit in his face. The kinsman took off his own shoe and gave it to a neighbor as a testimony that he could not, nor would not redeem the land and take his responsibility as near of kin.
Boaz immediately did what he so wanted to do. He bought the land and he took Ruth as his wife as these proceedings were witnessed by the elders of Bethlehem. Boaz and Ruth were now married. He took her to his home and in time Ruth bore a son who became the grand-father of David. Now Ruth the Moabitess, was in the royal line of whom Jesus was born one thousand years later.
Not only were Boaz and Ruth blessed with their baby boy, but Grandma Naomi was also blessed. It was as though her beloved son Mahlon was in her arms once again. Would you note that her friends and neighbors observing her joy, named the baby, Obed, a Hebrew word that means worshipper.
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For a very interesting sequel to this story, go to VIRGIN BIRTH on this web site and learn of the significance of that list of names in the genealogies found in the last five verses of the fourth chapter of Ruth.
The Plot Thickens
In this article we are dealing with Luke 20:19-26. Earlier in this chapter we saw Jesus revealing the plans of the Jewish religious leaders to bring Him to trial before the Roman authorities as an insurrectionist. Jesus used the Parable of the Vineyard to expose the evil religious leaders who hated Him and wanted to have Him executed.
The leaders understood the meaning of the Parable and this intensified their desire to see Him dead. They were furious that this Parable of the Vineyard exposed them as the evil vineyard keepers who would kill Jesus, the Son of the Vineyard Owner, God. If you’ve not yet done it, it would be well to read the erlier articles in this series, before you continue any further.
THE JEW’S TRAP
These Jewish leaders were doing everything they could to catch Jesus in something He said that might sound treasonous against Rome, so that the Roman Empire would bring Jesus to trial and execute Him. So in Luke 20:19-22. they confronted Jesus on the matter of paying taxes to Rome.
These enemies of Christ hated paying taxes to Rome as much as anyone in Israel; so this attack against Jesus was rather hypocritical.
They approached Jesus and attempted to flatter Him by addressing Him as Teacher, a term of high respect, even though they despised Him and wanted Him dead. So they addressed Him as “Teacher, we know you are a true teacher come from God.” That statement was true, but they said it as flattery with utter contempt for Him. Then they asked the question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
They hoped this would provoke an anti-Roman statement from Him so they could report Him to the Roman authorities and have Him arrested. Once arrested, the people would realize He was not the Messiah and they would quit following Him.
Jesus perceived their craftiness it says in Luke 20:23. In Matthew’s account of the story in Matthew 22:18 their craftiness is called wickedness.
JESUS’ ANSWERED THEIR QUESTION CONCERNING TAXES.
Jesus called for someone to show Him a denarius, a Roman gold or silver coin, worth about a day’s wages. These coins were minted between 300 BC to about 300 AD, a period of about 600 years. The coins bore the likeness of the long line of Caesars and were considered idolatrous to carry.
When someone produced a coin, Jesus announced in Luke 20:25, “Render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s and unto God the things which be God’s.” The word “render” means pay back to whom it is owed.
WHAT DO WE OWE OUR GOVERNMENT?
We must support the government under which God in His sovereignty has placed us; whether it is an anti-Christian government which we eschew or whether it is a government which reflects our Christian values. Romans 13:1-7 clearly teaches us that we are to respect, honor and pray for our leaders and pay our taxes, even if we are opposed to how the money is being used.
Of course, we must do all in our power to elect leaders who most reflect our values and we must follow the instructions of II Chronicles 7:14 and plead with God to return our nation to the godly intent of the founders of our Republic.
WHAT DO WE OWE GOD?
Our allegiance is to Him first. We owe Him our bodies and our lives, Romans 12:1-2 and I Corinthians 6:19-20 teach us. When it comes to a decision between God and man, Peter reminds us in Acts 5:29 “We ought obey God, rather than man”, even if it means our lives.
Daniel and his three Hebrew friends, Shadrack Meschach and Abednego, were willing to die for God before they would bow to an image, even though the Emperor Nebuchadnezzar commanded it. Read of their boldness and courage and loyalty to God in Daniel 1:1-14, 3:13-21, 6:10.
The Apostles and early Christian preachers were willing to die as martyrs before they would disobey God. See Acts 5:18-19, 7:54-60. 16:19-23. For the glorious end to this last story finish reading Acts 16.
We not only owe God our allegiance, but we owe Him our families. God gave our children to us and not to the State. In this anti-God environment in the school system, it is imperative that we teach our children at home or in Christian schools, rather than delivering them to the anti-god philosophy of the State. Read in Exodus 2:1-10 and again in Hebrews 11:23 of how Moses’ mother protected her child as long as she could from the evil influences of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Read in I Samuel 1 of how Hannah gave her little boy to God’s leaders to train and prepare for his ministry as a prophet.
BEWARE OF BEING SPOILED, (ROBBED) OF YOUR CHILDREN
In Colossians 2:8 we are warned to beware lest anyone spoil (rob) us of our children through philosophy or vain deceit. We owe God, not the State, our life, our family, our church, our Christian school. They belong to Him and not to the State. We derive our authority from Him; not the State. Sunday School, church worship services, prayer meetings, evangelistic efforts, Bible studies, are all authorized by God and not by the State.
Thank God that we still live in an America where our religious liberties are protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
JESUS BOLDLY SET HIS FACE AS A FLINT
Thank God that though Jesus could have escaped His enemies and His crucifixion in any number of ways, He boldly set His face as a flint to go to the cross and endure His sufferings and death for our sins. It wasn’t the Roman soldiers nor the Jews who took His life. He laid it down in submission to His Father’s will. God, in His sovereignty, accomplished it, using the Roman empire and the Jews to carry out His will. Isaiah 53:4,10 teaches this. I Timothy 2:5-6 teaches us that Jesus willingly gave His life as a ransom for our sins. Then He arose from the tomb three days later for our justification. Rejoice in our salvation God has given us through His Son. Do you know Him as your Saviour and are you rejoicing in Him today?
What kind of preaching attracts you?
“Carnal believers often find great pleasure in listening to Dispensational and eschatological discourses, attending what are called “prophetic” conferences; but what such really need is the trumpet-like call to consider their ways, rather than eloquent and beautiful discourses about things to come.
The Haggais may not be so popular with the crowds as the Zechariahs, but their ministry is ever a much needed one. He who goes on with God will welcome Truth, and will thus hold the Truth in its right proportions.”
H.A. Ironside, beloved Bible preacher of the early 20th century.
