The Image We Bear

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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!