[0:00] Let's now worship God and let us sing to his praise. And we'll sing from Psalm 8.! Psalm 8, verses 1 to verse 5.
[0:13] I think it might be into verse 6. Psalm 8, the words on the screen. How excellent in all the earth, Lord, our Lord is thy name, who hast thy glory far advanced above the starry frame.
[0:24] From infants and from suckling's mouth, thou didst strength ordain for thy foe's cause. That so thou mightst the avenging foe restrain. When I look up into the heavens which thine own fingers framed, unto the moon and to the stars which whereby thee ordained, then say I, what is man that he remembered as by thee?
[0:43] Or what the son of man that thou so kind to him shouldst be? For thou a little lower hast him that the angels made, with glory and with dignity thou crowned hast his head.
[0:55] These verses of Psalm 8, and we'll stand to sing to God's praise. Psalm 8, verses 1 to verse 5.
[1:29] From infants and from infants and from suckling's mouth, thou didst strength ordain.
[1:40] For thy foes cause hath so thou might, thee avenging foe restrain.
[1:52] When I look up unto the heavens which thine own fingers saved, unto the moon and to the stars which whereby thee ordained.
[2:18] Then say I, what is man that he remembered as by thee?
[2:30] Or what the son of man that thou so kind to him shouldst be?
[2:42] From thou a little lower hast him than the angels made, with glory and with dignity thou crowned hast his head.
[3:08] Let's unite our hearts in prayer together.
[3:22] Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity that you've given us once more to come into your presence.
[3:39] Lord, we thank you for this opportunity that you've given us the desire to be here. Many of us in the building, some who are at home and who have that same desire in their hearts to join together in worship.
[4:00] We recognize, Lord, that this is a desire that does not come from within us. It's a desire that you put in our hearts. You are the God who seeks us.
[4:12] You are the God who draws us. You are the God who awakens our hearts and shows us that we are sinners who are in need of a Savior.
[4:23] And we thank you, Father, that you have sent your Son, the Lord Jesus, into this world to be our Savior. We thank you that he came willingly in accordance with a plan that was formed before this world began.
[4:45] We thank you that he came to seek and to save us. We thank you that he came knowing that he would be despised and rejected, knowing that he would not be celebrated.
[4:59] We thank you that he came, the glorious Son of God, knowing that he would lay aside his majesty. And as the hymn says, give up everything for me and suffer at the hands of those he had created.
[5:18] And Lord, this message of the gospel is too high even for us to be able to fully comprehend. But we pray for the help of the Holy Spirit that we may see, even today, a little more of the love of God shown to us in Christ.
[5:42] We pray that we would see a little more, even as we sing, of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus. Help us to see a little more of all that he did, that we might be redeemed, that we might have our sin forgiven, that we might be freed from the grasp that the enemy of our souls would seek to tighten around us, that we may know freedom in Christ and the joy that comes from your salvation gifted to us, and that we may know the hope of eternal life.
[6:27] We thank you for the joy of your salvation. We are conscious that in this world there are many things that give us moments of happiness, but there are few things that give us joy.
[6:44] Our finances go up and down. As we work, we have good days and bad days. Our relationships can fluctuate from healthy to struggling.
[6:59] Everything in this world is so changeable and so fragile. And yet we thank you that in the changing scene of this world, we can know a steady joy and a lasting pleasure if we are in Christ.
[7:18] And if we know that we are loved with a love that is unconditional and eternal, if we know that we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother who will never leave us nor forsake us, if we know that we have a Savior who will be with us all the way through life and even with us in death and able to carry us through death into life that's everlasting.
[7:50] Resurrection life. And we thank you that on this day, the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, we are reminded of the fact that Jesus not only died for our sins, wages to be paid, but he rose from the dead and promised that because heroes, we too, will rise to everlasting life if we believe in him.
[8:16] So we ask, Lord, that you would give us faith. Many of us in the room here and watching online already have faith and we recognize it's a gift from God.
[8:27] Lord, we thank you, Lord, that we are believing and all the benefits of being in Christ are ours. But there are some present, some at a distance, some who are absent, who don't yet know the joy of salvation, who have heard the voice of Jesus saying, come unto me, but have not yet come.
[8:55] And Lord, we pray that you would draw them even today, that there might be someone or some people who will come to Jesus today and taste for the first time the joy of salvation, the blessing of eternal life, that they would taste and see that the Lord is good.
[9:19] We live in a world where we are told the opposite and sometimes we believe it. But help us, Lord, we pray, to taste and see that God is good and that we would know the blessing of being in Christ.
[9:33] So help us, Lord, we pray. Lead us and guide us in worship this day. Open our hearts and our ears and our eyes that we might see and hear and know the touch of Jesus upon our lives.
[9:49] Take away every distraction and cleanse us from sin, we pray. We are sinners and even as we think back over the past few days, we can think of things that we've done and not done, things that we've said and not said, things that we've thought, hidden from others but seen by you.
[10:10] And we know, Lord, that they are sinful. We thank you that there is cleansing from sin because the blood of Jesus was shed at Calvary. So cleanse us, we pray.
[10:22] Give us the assurance of being pardoned of our sin and give us new resolve to do the good works that you prepare in advance for us to do.
[10:34] We pray for those who are struggling today. We pray for a world that is so broken. We think of conflict in Ukraine and Russia tensions that continue in the Middle East.
[10:49] We think of a nation that we are part of that is so unstable at this time. And we ask, Lord, that you would be at work in these places and in these situations that we feel so helpless to change.
[11:05] But you are the God who is involved everywhere always. And so as we pray for these places and situations that come to our minds, we ask, Lord, that you would work out your will and purpose.
[11:17] We pray for those like Anthony who seek to become involved with speaking truth into government situations where laws are attempted to be passed that are contrary to your word.
[11:32] Give them strength and stamina to be able to continue to do that. We pray for those who go out with the gospel. we think of Gordon today in Graver.
[11:44] We think of Stuart as well preaching likely elsewhere today. And we ask that you would be with them. Pray for those who are overseas and who have been overseas.
[11:55] And we ask, Lord, that you would bless the seed and the witness that has been shared and planted. And we pray for those who struggle in hospital. We thank you for answered prayer as we think of Richard and what seems to be an amazing recovery so far.
[12:11] We pray on for that and ask that he would know your hand upon them. We pray for Shona Davidson as she begins treatment for cancer. We ask, Lord, that her treatment would be effective and that she and the family would know your loving hand upon them at this time.
[12:29] We pray on for Lydia in hospital and her family and ask, Lord, for healing and for your help. So hear our prayers. Take away our sin and lead us and guide us as we seek to worship you.
[12:42] And we pray these things in Jesus' name and for Jesus' sake. Amen. Boys and girls, would you like to come forward, please? How are you all today?
[13:09] That good? How are you all today? Good, good. Well, I have got two pictures, hopefully, that are hopefully going to come up on the screen.
[13:23] Tell me, what is this all about? Tell me, Benjamin. What? Scotland. So it's about Scotland and what about Scotland?
[13:37] What happened with Scotland this week? What's that, Finley? They won the World Cup. They won their match, didn't they?
[13:50] And, Callum? Like, Tom, when he scored a bicycle kick. We're getting into the details of the match. There you go, look at it. That's just like Stevie Price five years ago, isn't it?
[14:06] McTominay scored the first goal of a bicycle kick. Can you remember what happened in the game? Was that what goal was that? That was the first goal, wasn't it? And it was an amazing goal and then Denmark scored and it was level again and we were all going, oh, this is a nightmare because we had to win, didn't we?
[14:26] And then we scored another goal and Denmark scored again and then we scored a third goal and Denmark were pressing and pressing and pressing and do you remember what the last goal was like?
[14:42] Remember what the last goal was like? Yeah? Halfway line, lobs over the keeper and then we qualified. So we've qualified for the World Cup.
[14:53] Now, tell me this, who won the game on the night? Who won the game? How?
[15:05] Scotland. And who won the game? Can you give me some names of people who won the game? I mean, was it the whole of Scotland that won the game?
[15:20] Were you on the pitch? I wasn't on the pitch. But there was 11 players and then the substitutes and they were on the pitch and so really on Tuesday night I think it was, these are the guys who won the game but because we are from Scotland or we're living in Scotland, we all celebrated, didn't we?
[15:47] Did you cheer? Benjamin? Benjamin? Did you cheer? Did you make a big roar when they won the game? Did you cheer and put your hands up, Finley? Yeah, you probably did.
[15:59] I bet you were jumping all over the kitchen, weren't you? Yes, you were. Of course you were. When they won the game, although we weren't on the pitch, we all celebrated, we all shared in the victory.
[16:11] And that reminded me of a verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 57.
[16:24] Paul is writing and he says, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory, all of us, the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[16:38] Christ. So Jesus came to this world and he went to the cross and at the cross he battled against sin and against the devil and against death and he won.
[16:58] How do we know that Jesus won? Jesus died, but did he stay dead? What happened after that? He came back alive, that's right.
[17:12] He rose from the dead and he showed us that he'd won the victory against sin and against the devil and against death.
[17:24] He'd beaten them. And he promises that if we believe in him, we get to share in that victory. Our sins are taken away and we escape from death and we're given everlasting life if we believe in him.
[17:46] Now, last little thing. Scotland won the victory on Tuesday night and so we were really, really happy on Tuesday night and we're going to be really, really happy until next summer and then once Scotland get to the World Cup, do you think they'll win it?
[18:10] What do you think? Well, we can think positive. Do you think they might win it? They might win it. If only you were saying to Maddie, imagine Scotland won it 10-0.
[18:22] That would be amazing, wouldn't it? And if that was the case, we would be really, really happy for a long, long, long time. But just to put us on warning, they might, they might not win the World Cup.
[18:37] They might, but they might not win the World Cup. So although we're happy and we have the victory today, we don't know how long it'll last for. but the victory that Jesus won is forever.
[18:53] He can never be beaten. And if we're trusting in Him, the victory and the joy that we know is a joy that lasts forever. So, let's be trusting in Him and sharing in all that He's done for us.
[19:10] We'll pray. Lord Jesus, we thank You that You love us. We thank You that You went to the cross. and You battled against the devil and You beat him. We thank You that You battled against death and overcame it.
[19:25] We thank You, Lord, that You went to war with sin. You even became sin so that we can have freedom from sin and life that's everlasting. So give us faith, we pray, that the young ones might be believing in You and that they might know the joy of being in Jesus.
[19:44] And we pray that all of us would know that everlasting joy of being in Jesus and sharing in all that He has done for us. And we ask this in Jesus' name.
[19:56] Amen. We're going to sing now. We're going to sing Mission Praise 673. There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son. Jesus, God's own Son, Jesus, God's own Son, Precious love of God, Messiah, O Holy One.
[20:38] Thank you, O Holy Father, For giving us Your Son, A living Spirit, till the work on earth is done.
[21:00] Jesus, my Redeemer, name above all names, Precious love of God, Messiah, O Holy One.
[21:19] O Holy One. For giving us Your Son, O Holy One. Thank you, O Holy Father, for giving us Your Son, and we bring Your Spirit, till the work on earth is done.
[21:45] When I stand in glory, I will see His face, Let us serve my King forever in that holy place.
[22:08] Thank you, O my Father, for giving us Your Son, and we bring Your Spirit, till the work on earth is done.
[22:31] Okay, boys and girls, if you head through to Sunday school, remember to pray for them as they go. Amen. Amen.
[22:43] and if we could turn in our Bibles please to Matthew chapter 17 Matthew chapter 17 we're thinking about this peculiar conversation at the end of the chapter but I'll read in from verse 22 this is God's word as they were gathering in Galilee Jesus said to them that's the disciples the son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him and he will be raised on the third day and they were greatly distressed when they came to Capernaum the collectors of the two drachma tax went up to Peter and said does your teacher not pay the tax?
[23:51] he said yes and when he came into the house Jesus spoke to him first saying what do you think Simon? from whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax?
[24:02] from their sons or from others? and when he said from others Jesus said to him then the sons are free however not to give offence to them go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel take that and give it to them for me and for yourself Amen and may God bless that reading of his word to us we'll sing to from Psalm 8 again the last two stanzas of Psalm 8 I'll read I know the Gaelic and the English don't quite correspond here I'll read the last two stanzas in the English and the words in the Gaelic will be on the screen all sheep and oxen yea and beasts that in the field do stray fowls of the air fish of the sea all that pass to the same how excellent in all the earth
[25:03] Lord our Lord is thy name so the last two stanzas of Psalm 8 and Gaelic can go remain seated to sing to God's praise for his
[26:06] Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Play Thank you.
[27:36] Thank you.
[28:06] Thank you.
[28:36] heavenly father we come to a passage which we may not often come to and read and a passage that we need help to be able to understand and so we pray for the help of the holy spirit that he may be our teacher that he may press in on us the points of application that you would seek to seek for us to take into our lives teach us lord we pray and we pray for the children who've gone through to Sunday school and we ask lord that you would open their hearts that they would hear they would believe that they would follow the lord Jesus we pray for the children in the creche as well we thank you for them and we ask lord that as they begin to learn about the world and as they begin to learn about themselves we pray that they would learn from the earliest of years about the god who made them and who loves them and who calls them to follow him and so we pray for them lord and ask that they would walk with you from the early years all the days of their lives we know that we pray this week by week but we want to see lord these young ones coming to Jesus and we pray for not only the young we pray for those who may be those who may be well up in years and who may have heard the call of the gospel many many times who may not hear it many more times and haven't yet come and we ask lord that whilst there is time that they that each one of us would come to Jesus and that we would receive the forgiveness the salvation the salvation the life the rest the peace the joy that he alone can give so hear our prayers and help us we ask in Jesus name amen i remember a man i think i might have mentioned him here in the past a man called alex and uh he was from and he still is as far as i'm aware uh from kishon and he was a fish farmer but fish farming for him wasn't just a job he he just loved it he didn't just do it because it was a a thing that he had to do he just absolutely loved fish farming he loved and was interested in every part of fish farming and when you would speak to him it would take no time at all for him to start speaking about fish farming he just loved loved loved whether you were a fish farmer or not or whether you were interested or not he loved loved loved to speak fish farming it was a specialist subject not many people shared it but it was his specialist subject and he just loved it now if we turn back to
[31:50] Matthew chapter 17 and if we look mainly today at verses 24 through to the end we can find here that this encounter that's recorded it isn't recorded in any other gospel other than in Matthew and that's not all that surprising because a conversation about taxes and paying your taxes and whether or not you should be paying this particular tax it probably wasn't of massive interest to John or to Mark or to Luke but remember this is the gospel according to Matthew and if you think back where was Matthew when Jesus first called him to follow do you remember where he was he was in a tax collector's booth he was a tax collector so taxation for Matthew that had been his specialist subject taxation and questions about tax were of particular interest to Matthew and so he records what the other guys don't record and as we think about this although I hadn't really planned to say this this shows us here that that Jesus knew Matthew personally it underlines for us the personal knowledge that Jesus had of Matthew and Jesus uses Matthew's particular interest in tax to teach Matthew more about Jesus then Matthew as he records this conversation uses his particular interest in tax to teach us more about Jesus see Jesus knows us he loves us he calls us to follow him and when we start to follow Jesus he doesn't delete our past history he doesn't delete all our past interests and reform at us he uses us the way that we are
[34:30] I remember hearing stories in the past about people who who became Christians and they came forward to sessions to join the church and they were told well I believe you're a very good football player and you're playing for such and such a team well yes well that has to stop if you're going to follow Jesus that has to stop no more football for you I've heard of people who've come forward to sessions in the past who were excellent musicians or had a great voice and sang and were told if you're going to start following Jesus all that stops burn your violin get a new guitar set fire to your accordion no more of that now that may have been spoken by legalistic sessions I don't ever hear Jesus teaching such a thing he meets us where we are he knows who we are he knows our interest he knows our history and he uses us as particular individuals and asks us to use our interest to teach others about Jesus so don't get off the football pitch take Christ onto the football pitch don't leave your fish farming take Christ into the place where you're doing your fish farming that's the point anyway that by an aside we see here that there's this question about taxation and Jesus teaches Matthew and Matthew teaches us more about who Jesus is and what Jesus came to do through this conversation four points if we get the time to go through them point number one is Jesus is our redeemer point number two is Jesus is our God point number three is Jesus is our King and point number four is that Jesus is our example so first of all
[36:43] Jesus is our redeemer look at verse 24 when they came as the disciples came to Capernaum the collectors of the two drachma tax went up to Peter and said does your teacher not pay the tax Peter said yes so what's going on here well Jesus and his disciples have been out on tour they've been going all over the place and they arrive back in a place now that's familiar they arrive back in Capernaum having been away for some time and you know just like the traffic wardens in the city are quick to pounce the moment we turn the engine off the tax inspectors seem quick to spot Jesus and his disciples and they very quickly make a demand for the two drachma tax so what was this tax well it wasn't a Roman tax it was a Jewish tax and it can be traced back to Exodus chapter 30 so you don't have to go there but let me just read out the few verses that give direction over this tax and give the origin of the tax so Exodus chapter 30 verses 11 to verse 14 say this the Lord said to Moses when you take the senses of the people of Israel then each shall give a ransom of his life to the Lord underline ransom everyone who is numbered in the senses from 20 years old and upwards shall give the Lord's offering the rich shall not give more the poor shall not give less than half the shekel when the Lord's offering when you give the Lord's offering to make atonement for your lives you shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting that it may bring the people of Israel remembrance to remembrance before the Lord so as to make atonement for your lives so that was where it came from so what was this tax actually all about well this was a tax that was about atonement for sin people they made an offering and they were looking to God for atonement for their sin this tax was about the payment of a ransom so that there could be redemption so that sinners could be forgiven so that's where the tax found its origin now at the time of writing as this conversation was happening this tax was still being collected all these years later this tax was still being collected and they'd called it now the temple tax because in the temple sacrifices were made in the temple blood was shed why?
[39:57] well to make atonement for the sin of the people so that they could be redeemed so the question to Peter was will Jesus the master that you're following will he be paying this tax?
[40:17] will Jesus be paying the atonement tax? will he be paying the redemption tax? will he be paying the ransom tax? and the answer that Peter gave was was yes he will be and we don't know really too much about the conversation we're just given the bare details but I'm not sure Peter when he answered this question with the yes I'm not sure that Peter really knew for sure that this was the right answer he's just under pressure the tax inspectors are on him he's under pressure is he going to be paying?
[40:56] Peter says yes but it was the right answer because Jesus would be paying the tax but let's think about this just for a moment more why was Jesus paying this atonement tax this ransom tax this redemption tax why was Jesus paying this?
[41:29] because Jesus never sinned so Jesus didn't need his sins to be atoned for because he had no sin Jesus didn't need a ransom to be paid for himself Jesus didn't need redemption so why would he have to pay this tax?
[41:50] and the answer to that question was because he was identifying with his people one commentator Legg says Jesus identifies himself with his people with sinners by paying Peter's tax as well as his own and shows that his purpose in coming was to ransom others his obedience counts for others his suffering ransoms others so as Jesus determines to pay this tax he's pointing us forward to the cross where Jesus would pay the ultimate price for redeeming his people so what we can see here although we have to think about it a little what we can see here as Jesus answers this this question that Peter has asked we can see here that
[43:06] Jesus is a redeemer Jesus paid for our redemption and he paid it using more than drachmas and shekels he paid the price to the shedding of his blood and all the sacrifices that were being made all the sacrifices that had been made and were being made in the temple they were all pointing forward to Jesus because who was Jesus John tells us at the beginning of his gospel Jesus was and is the Lamb of God he was and is the perfect once and for all sacrifice and he came to take away the sin of the world Jesus is 1 John chapter 2 verse 2 the atoning sacrifice for our sin Jesus came
[44:11] Matthew 20 28 to give his life as a ransom for many and the question for you and I is have we asked Jesus to take away our sin we sang just a few moments ago there is a redeemer Jesus is a redeemer there is a redeemer Jesus God's own son but is he your redeemer have you asked him to pay the price for your sin have you asked him to make atonement for your sin Jesus is our redeemer the second lesson that Matthew teaches us about Jesus through this question is that Jesus is our
[45:12] God verse 25 and when he that's Peter came into the house Jesus spoke to him first saying what do you think Simon from whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax from their sons or from others so try and again just picture the scene Peter Simon Peter has just come back in after this conversation with a tax mate he's maybe a bit flustered he's got a red letter demand in his hand and he's maybe feeling a bit nervous about the fact that he's just given an answer that commits Jesus to paying this tax bill and so Peter comes in lightly flustered and thinking to himself I must speak to Jesus about this but in verse 25 we're told that Jesus spoke to Peter first and even though Jesus wasn't part of this conversation
[46:18] Jesus knew all about this conversation before Peter told him anything about the conversation so Jesus knew about this even though he wasn't there Peter doesn't have to explain it to him then if we rewind just a few verses verses 22 and verse 23 we hear Jesus telling the disciples ahead of time what will happen to him in the future Jesus tells the disciples that he will be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him and he will be raised on the third day none of this had yet happened but Jesus says at a future time soon this will happen he has foreknowledge of what hasn't yet happened and then if we fast forward to verse 27
[47:24] Jesus tells Peter remember who Peter was by his profession Peter was a fisherman in verse 27 Jesus tells Peter the fisherman how to catch a fish on the first cast with no bait just a bear hook and not just any fish but a fish with just enough money to pay the tax bill in its mouth and everything that Jesus tells Peter about what will happen when he casts out the line it happens so Peter and the disciples and we with them have to ask how did Jesus know all this how did Jesus know about this conversation that he hadn't heard how did Jesus know about the deliverance the suffering the death the rising before it happened how does
[48:31] Jesus know exactly the detail of what this fishing trip is going to look like and the answer that Matthew is teaching us is because Jesus is God not just a good teacher prophet but he is the promised Christ he is God the son and God is God is omniscient which is just a fancy word for saying he knows all things God knows everything in our past God knows everything that we may be able to hide from others that has gone on in our present
[49:34] God knows everything that hasn't yet happened in our future he knows it all now if you and I knew everything about each other everything that we've done in the past everything that we are doing in the present and everything that we may do in the future if we knew that if we had that knowledge about each other none of us would be speaking to each other there'd be a space between every chair all the relationships in this room would break down but with God he knows us through and through and yet he loves us and he wants us to know him not just as a distant
[50:50] God who's far away and remote he wants us to know him as our God our Lord Jesus is our God that's what Matthew is teaching us that he is Emmanuel that word that we'll think about over the month of December Emmanuel which means God with us and as we just think about this isn't all this just amazingly reassuring because we don't have to pretend we don't have to wear a mask we don't have to put on any kind of face when we're with Jesus because he knows everything about us nothing can be hidden and he still loves us and he always will and he promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us no matter what and because
[52:13] Jesus knows what's in the future as we've seen in this passage if you and I stay close to him if we listen to him if we let him lead us we don't have to fear the future there's great encouragement and reassurance and peace for us if we are able to say that Jesus is our God and if we can't yet say that Jesus is saying to us today come to me trust in me and I will be your God I will be your Redeemer Jesus is our Redeemer Jesus is our
[53:14] God third point Jesus is our King so verses 25 and 26 Jesus just draws down a little more with Simon Peter he begins to quiz Peter about this conversation with the tax men and he says in verse 25 what do you think Simon from whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax from their sons or from others and when he said from others Jesus said to him then the sons are free so Jesus uses a really simple argument here he says to Peter when kings and those in authority impose taxes and tolls who pays do they tax their own family or do they just require that others pay and the answer from that time was very obvious it was others who paid they were building up the finances and the security of their own families so they didn't tax their families that would be nonsense they're taxing strangers they're taxing others and so
[54:32] Peter says well it's others who pay and Jesus says well that's the correct answer Peter and then Jesus says so the king and the son of the king they're free from paying this temple tax that's the that's the logic that Jesus is using those in authority the king the son of the king they don't pay that tax do they it's others who pay the tax and who was Jesus well Jesus was and Jesus is the king Revelation chapter 17 and chapter 19 make clear that Jesus isn't just the king he's the king of kings we could also say in the context of this chapter that he's the son of the king he's the son of the living God Hendrickson the commentator says was not
[55:36] Jesus the son of God by nature was not the temple remember this is the temple tax was not the temple his father's house so Jesus uses this question about tax to teach Peter and the disciples and us about his kingship about his sovereign authority and then Jesus shows his sovereign authority his kingly authority over all creation as he sends Peter out to go fishing verse 27 Jesus says to Peter however not to give offense to them go to the sea cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up and when you open its mouth you'll find a shekel now
[56:44] I've fished many times but it's never been like this it involves sitting at a bank or a river side for hour after hour hoping hoping hoping with a hook and bait to lure the fish towards the hook and I spend hours there and nothing happens first cast thousand thousandth cast nothing happens Jesus says down you go to the sea cast a hook no bait just a hook take the first fish that comes up when you open its mouth you're going to find a shekel I've never found enough money either in any fish to pay a tax bill any year but Jesus says this is what's going to happen and the question then we have to ask is who has this kind of sovereign control who can order the movement of the fish who can order the movement of the water who can order the timing of the hook who can in providence insert the shekel into the mouth of the fish who can do such a thing!
[58:03] And the answer is only the one who is king over all creation J.C.
[58:17] Ryle says he only who first created could at his will command the obedience of all his creatures and so he does it because he is king so Jesus is king but the question is is he our king?
[58:50] Have we bowed the knee to him? Have we submitted to him? Are we submitting to his authority?
[59:06] Or are we shaking our fist at him? trying to negotiate with him? Do deals with him? As if we were on an equal level with him?
[59:21] He is lord and king and our calling is to submit to him.
[59:32] Day by day hour by hour situation by situation we submit to him. and if we have and if we are submitting to Jesus as our king we can relax.
[59:52] To put it negatively first, if we are not submitting to Jesus as our lord and our king we may battle our way through the days but there's coming a day when the knee will bow and it will be a terrifying day when he says depart from me to a place of suffering because you would not submit but if we have if we are submitting to Jesus as our king eternity is secure and day by day we can relax we don't have to worry we can sleep at night because the one who is on the throne as king the one who is eternally on the throne as king the one who is ruling over all creation is reigning over every detail of our lives that's an amazing peace giving truth to consider
[61:18] Jesus is our redeemer Jesus is our God Jesus is our king and finally very briefly Jesus is our example so verse 27 Jesus says to Peter take that shekel and give it to them the tax collectors for me and for yourself so as we finish we see that Jesus he pays the tax one shekel equals four drachmas two for Peter two for Jesus and Jesus says take the money Peter go find the guys pay the tax there's a gospel picture in this because what we see here again is that Jesus pays the price that
[62:19] Peter was required to pay and that's what Jesus has done for us he has paid the debt of our sin he has paid the wages of our sin remember our death Jesus who was the life determined that he would die the only one who didn't have to die chose to die he willingly died so that the debt the wages of our sin might be paid so that we can be forgiven and have life so there's a gospel picture in this as Jesus says to Peter go and take the money pay the tax paid yours as well but Jesus also paid the tax and he tells us this because he didn't want to cause any unnecessary offence to the tax men or to anyone else who was watching him
[63:25] Jesus didn't want to put any obstacle in the way of anyone that might stop them coming to him and if that meant for Jesus paying a bill that he actually wasn't required to pay so be it just pay it Simon!
[63:49] he says! he says we must be ready to pay not just with a four drachma coin but with restricted liberty so that others may not be put off but encouraged to inquire further about Jesus like says Christ for our sakes did not please himself Romans 15 3 we must be ready not only to rely on the Messiah the Son of God but also to follow in his steps so Jesus has left us an example that as we go back into our lives we are required to follow so if we are professing to be disciples of
[64:53] Jesus maybe we can ask this question as we go from here is there any area in my life where I am pleasing myself and insisting on my own rights rather than putting myself out in order to make it easy for people to come to Jesus we're all about our rights I don't have to do this I don't have to do that Jesus wasn't like that remember the wrist bands the kids used to wear I don't think they wear them anymore they used to wear these rubber wrist bands and on the wrist band it said WWJD which was the acronym for what would
[65:57] Jesus do and that's a helpful thought that's a challenging thought for us to take into this week you know in the messy relationship sometimes that we try to manage let's keep asking the question what would Jesus do when we have fallout sometimes with people and it's not my fault and I shouldn't be the one who has to say anything I shouldn't be the one who has to make the first move to make peace maybe it's not your fault but what would Jesus do and when we're asked to do jobs and we think quite rightly perhaps well I shouldn't have to do that somebody else has been slack why should I have to take up their slack well what would
[66:59] Jesus do Jesus is our example he is our redeemer he is our God he is our king and we'll sing that as we finish this is our God the servant king he calls us now to follow him to live our lives as a daily offering of worship to the servant king let's pray just before we sing Lord God we thank you for your word and we pray Holy Spirit that you would press it into our lives that you would take what I have over complicated and make it clear and simple in our minds and in our hearts help us to see that
[68:05] Jesus is our redeemer as we see him paying the redemption the atonement the ransom tax even though he needed none of that help us to see that he was pointing forward to the cross where he would pay with more than money that he would pay with his blood for our redemption for our sins to be atoned for for the ransom to be paid on our behalf to us eyes we pray to see that Jesus is God and our God the one who knows all things who knows us past present future yet loves us and always will forgive us when we find ourselves going to other people looking for the love that only Jesus can give we pray that each one of us would come to him help us to see that
[69:11] Jesus is the king the sovereign over all creation the one who did not have to do anything for us but willingly volunteered to lay down his life and his rights and his majesty so that we could be saved and help us if we are Christians to be like Jesus as we go from here not to be insisting on our rights and our preferences to help us we pray even when it costs us to lay aside our rights and to do everything that we can to cause people to look to Lord Jesus and we ask this in his name and for his sake amen we sing to finish mission praise 162 this is our
[70:15] God the servant king from heaven you came helpless babe from from heaven you came helpless babe and turned our world your glory name to serve but to serve and give your life and leave my dead this is our God the servant king he calls us now to follow him to make our lives a daily offering of worship to the servant king in the garden of tears my heavy load he shows to bear his heart with sorrow was torn in not my will the church he said this is our
[71:57] God the servant king he calls us down to follow him to bring our lives a day offering!
[72:14] of worship to the seventh king come see his hands and his feet the stars that scream of sacrifice!
[72:35] hands that form stars into space! to do to surrender! this is our God the seventh king he calls us now to follow him to bring our lives to him day of the servant king so let us turn out to stand him and in our lives to him each other's needs be fair for it is Christ preserving this is our
[73:41] God the seventh king he calls us down to follow him to bring our lives the day of the rain of worship to the servant king now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forever more Amen