Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
THE IMAGE WE BEAR
Mark 12:14-17, "And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him."
Every one of us is concerned with the image that we portray to others. We love to put our “best foot” forward so that other people will think more highly of others. Most of those of the female gender will spend a lot of time preparing their face and hair in the paint and scrape department so that they will look their best when they walk out of the house. None of us wants to go out in public in the morning until we have had time to brush our teeth, comb our hair, and put on clothes that are presentable.
That’s the way it should be. I fear that many of us may just scare people away if we didn’t take the time to get prepared and “fix” our image.
On the job we always want to have others see our best image. In the world of business, image is so important. How many of you have ever tried to apply for a job with dirty clothes, uncombed hair or without taking a bath and making yourself as presentable as possible? If a young man or young lady were to enter into an office to apply for a job wearing torn clothes, and appearing totally unkempt they wouldn’t stand much of a chance of getting hired.
Let that same person apply with a suit, coat and tie, or dressed in their best clothes with their appearance right and they will stand a far greater chance of getting the job.
With this in mind, I want to take a look at today’s scripture portion. It seems that the Pharisees and Herodians (a part of the Sadducees) had approached Jesus with some questions that were intended to trap Jesus into saying something wrong so they could bring an accusation against Him.
The question they asked Him now was intended to force Jesus to give an answer that would either turn the Roman governor against Him or turn the people against Him. Rome would be angry if Jesus said that the Jews should not pay their taxes and the Jews would be angry if Jesus were to say that they should give Caesar anything he wanted.
When You are out in the world, doing the things that you need to do everyday, there will always be those that Satan uses to try to trip you up and make you deserve God’s judgment.
There are people who will ask you these same types of questions. What do you think about separation of Church and State? What do you think about abortion? What do you think about politics? What makes you believe that Jesus is the only answer to the world’s problems, aren’t all religions the same?
These questions all are legitimate and answering them is important but beware of those who ask them because they most likely are not sincere in wanting to hear the right answers.
The main thing that I want to bring out in this message is not the questions, your answers or those who bring those questions to you.
The main point is What Kind of Image Are We Portraying to the World Around Us!
Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
2 Corinthians 1:22, "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."
Ephesians 1:13, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"
These verses tell us that we have sealed by the Spirit of God. We carry around the mark of the Lord Jesus Christ within us. His image is stamped into each of us. Our prayer is always, Jesus let other people see you in me. Let me to put forth that which is acceptable in your sight.
Just as the coin in Jesus’ day had the seal of Caesar upon it, our coins, in the USA have the seal upon them also. The words United States of America appears on all of them. That is the distinguishing mark that proves ownership to the entire world. Whatever seal that coin is identified by marks the power and value behind it based upon the power and wealth of the nation that minted it.
If you are sealed by the Lord Jesus Christ, it is His inscription that you bear and it is His power and wealth of righteousness, holiness and all the riches of Heaven that stand behind you and give you’re your real value. You operate under His authority and with all of the resources of God at your disposal. God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent, therefore, the seal that you bear, the Mark of the Lord Jesus Christ, makes all things possible to him that believes.
Matthew 10:7-8, "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."
That’s what we should be doing as a sealed Child of the Most High God of Heaven. Jesus told his disciples to do these things and I still believe that we have that same seal and power that they had. Through the power of the Lord Jesus we can pray the prayer of faith and see the sick healed. Through His Resurrection power, we can see those who are both physically and spiritually dead come to life. Through the power of the Blood and the Name of Jesus Christ we can resist the Devil and he must flee from us. We can cast out demons through that name.
The seal of God is on each of us and we represent His power and His love, therefore we should freely give of that gift with which God has blessed us so greatly.
As we walk through life, let us pray that the world sees the seal of Jesus upon our lives. We must act like Christ, talk like Christ, have the love of God for all men, exhibit compassion, mercy and grace to all we meet.
John 13:35, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Walking through the same places as many other Christians walk, I tend to notice a lot concerning how we react and how we act in many different circumstances.
Sad to say a lot of those who name the name of Jesus do not react the way I believe that Jesus would react!
Jesus would have great patience in the midst of temptation and trials.
Jesus would never loose faith in the middle of a storm.
Jesus would never revile those who made honest mistakes, even though He did get angry and drive out those who would cheapen the gospel or misuse and abuse the House of God for their own gain.
Jesus would ever have love and compassion on those who are hurting without bring more condemnation upon them if they turned to Him for help.
Jesus would give all that He had, even His very life, for those who did not deserve mercy.
Jesus would not waste time with trivial matters that had no objective of reaching a lost soul or those in need.
Everything Jesus did was to bring glory to the Father, to see the gospel go forth in power and might, to reach the lost, to heal the sick and to further the cause of the Kingdom.
HE KNEW HOW TO KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING! HE NEVER LOST HIS FOCUS! HE WAS NEVER DRAWN AWAY FROM HIS PURPOSE FOR COMING!
Jesus told those Pharisees and Herodians to give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and to God the things that belong to God. So my question to each of us is, to whom are giving what?
The life that you live and the things that you do will show the world and the church whose inscription in really on your heart and in your mind!
If you bear the real mark of Christ you will give of your time, your energy, your livelihood, and your whole heart to the work of the Kingdom.
If you spend your time in activities of pleasure seeking and personal gratification, you won’t bear the seal of Christ, you bear the mark of the devil, the god of this present world.
If you get involved in and take part in activities that are sinful, then you bear the seal of Satan himself for he is your father.
Remember this one thing, there are only two seals. Either we have the seal of Jesus Christ or we have the seal of Satan. Your life will show us all what seal you bear no matter what kind of appearance you try to put forth.
Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time?”
I want to add that you can’t fool God at any time!
When people look upon your life, what inscription do they see? Do they see a life that is given wholly unto the Lord in honor and service unto Him? Do they see a life that is confusing, that gives forth mixed signals?
One day we act like Christ and the next day we are ashamed to let anyone know that we are Christians because of our bad attitude or we let anger get the best of us!
What do we worship? Whom do we worship? Do we fall down before the Lord Jesus Christ, giving honor, praise and glory to Him through the actions of our life, or do we fall before the idols of this present world? Which is more important to us?
We may present an image, but rest assured the real us will shine forth. When the real me shines forth both in good times and in bad times, what image will that be?
Will my inscription read – Child of God, Heir and Joint Heir with Jesus Christ, Saved, Sanctified and on Fire for God?
Will my inscription read – child of the devil, sold out to the things of this world, a heart set on the things of pleasure
Will my inscription read – I don’t know what to think! One day they act like a Christian and the next day they act like everyone else in the world. That’s the lukewarm Christian.
Quit giving out the wrong image and inscription in your life!
Show forth the image and inscription of Christ! Let Jesus reign in your heart and life!
