Fairview family It is It is snowing hard outside
and we've made the call About today's service
and so I know you're listening to this online
and that's just not the same Certainly we miss
being together our second Sunday in a row, but
I do pray that this sermon would be edifying
for you and that it would help you to know even
more about your Savior and who you are as a disciple
of Christ. And I pray that as we are separated
from one another with these wintry conditions
that this would cause you to yearn and long even
more for together worship. and prayerfully we'll
be back at it for next Sunday and prayerfully
we'll have Wednesday together as well. Before
I preach I want to direct your attention to some
announcements here and so if you want to have
your Bible open to Matthew chapter 17 we're looking
at verses 24 through 27. While you do that I
want to highlight just some announcements that
were in our bulletin. And the first one I want
to announce is that next Sunday is a second Sunday
of the month, which means it's our normal time
for observing, having the Lord's Supper. And
so I pray that you would take time within this
next week to prepare yourself for that sacrament.
It's very important that we prepare our hearts,
that we examine who we are in Christ, considering
what we're doing before we come to the table.
And if there are ways in which we need to further
prepare ourselves, maybe from the last time that
we took it. And so I encourage you to do that.
And looking at passages that may help you, 1
Corinthians chapter 11 is a great help in considering
how we prepare for the Lord's Supper. Also just
some other announcements, things that are coming
up or events. We last Sunday were again not together,
but we are supposed to have our fourth Sunday
evening worship service and after that was going
to be a missionary presentation from Corey with
the dinner and I was really looking forward to
that. We're going to postpone that and I will
let you know when we're going to have that. Also,
please note that Prayerfully, we'll be back to
having table talk this Wednesday at 5 30. I don't
know how we're going to do sign ups for food.
That's OK. I'll probably just order a bunch of
pizzas and salad and whatnot, but I hope you
can come out for that as we are able. You'll
you'll notice that we sent out communication
earlier this week about the memorial service
for Mike Williams that was supposed to be yesterday.
at 1 30 p .m. That's been rescheduled to March
the 7th at the same time of 1 30 there in the
afternoon. I want to encourage you to To write
letters and cards to Joe and Pat Payton their
address change is listed in the bulletin. They
are at 3727 Wade Cobble Drive Apartment 210 in
Burlington, North Carolina 27215 again see your
bulletin We sent these out in the Fairview columns
our weekly newsletter And so you can see that
listed in the bulletin if you're not getting
our newsletter You can go onto our website And
there, go to Resources. And under Resources,
you'll see a tab, a page for the Fairview columns,
and you can actually subscribe yourself. You
can also reach out to Amy Lawless, our admin
assistant, and she can get you added on there.
Her email address is FPC1786 at Gmail. And so
let her know if you're not subscribed or subscribe
yourself by going to our website Just a few things
that are coming up our wick evening circle Meeting
is on February 8th at 5 p .m So that would be
next Sunday. And then Men of the Covenant, that's
actually on February 14th. However, stay tuned
whether or not we're going to have that. I recognize
that's Valentine's Day and you may wish to stay
home. Just stay tuned for further announcements
on if we're having Men of the Covenant. And then
February 22nd is fourth Sunday evening worship
at five. And looking forward to that. and then
we didn't get to go to FIKE, Fountain Inn Kid
Enrichment. We didn't get to go to that in January.
The one for February is February 23rd at Capstone
Church at 3 .30 p .m. And I hope you can participate
in that if you would like to. Well, let's take
some time now to read the text that we've actually
had scheduled for the last two Sundays here as
we continue in our sermon series through some
of the miracles of Jesus. And so the text, as
I said earlier, Matthew chapter 17 verses 24
through 27 I'm gonna read this text for us and
then I'm gonna pray and then we'll get into it
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 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? 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 offense
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.
This is God's holy word. Let's pray. Father in
heaven, we thank you that in your word, we have
what we need. We know that we don't live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from your
mouth It's the Lord you have given us this you
have nourished us with your word And I pray that
you will continue to do so through the preaching
of this word that you would open up our hearts
and our minds to understand what is here and
to apply it and that Through this word you will
continue to sanctify us to grow us in the grace
and knowledge of our Savior Jesus in whose name
we pray amen I Don't know who might be listening
today who is a fisherman But if you are have
you ever caught a fish and found something strange
inside? This week I ended up doing a bit of a
deep dive on the internet about Fish that were
caught and the things that were found inside
of fish People talked about finding other animals
with inside fish People talked about finding
jewelry inside of fish one man shared that he
found a spark plug in a fish that he caught Even
one man if you can believe this He said that
he found his car keys in a fish which Naturally
surfaces questions like well How did the car
keys get there and how thankful if he's telling
the truth? How thankful was he to find his keys
inside the fish that he caught those questions?
We may ask her actually the questions we may
ask similarly about this text How in the world?
Did the coin get there inside of the fish and
how thankful was Peter to catch that fish? Friends,
what we're looking at, this is not a wacky tale.
There is real truth within this episode about
who Jesus is and who we are. But what we're really
going to see from this is that Jesus does more
than just pay the temple tax for us, for all
of his disciples. Jesus pays it all. Now, this
is a sermon series on some of the miracles of
Jesus, as I said, and you might look at this
and say, well, where is the miracle? It's not
actually recorded. It's just that there is instruction
from Jesus to Peter to go fishing, and then the
miracle, if you will, will be inside of the mouth
of the fish. Now, just because we don't see Peter
do that. Think we should rightly assume that
he does out of obedience. It doesn't take away
from the miracle Because if it did Why would
Matthew even include this? Additionally, I think
Matthew is very interested in this episode about
taxes because who was Matthew? Matthew was a
tax collector. It kind of makes you wonder what
stories Matthew heard From people about not paying
for taxes the excuses that they made the dog
the dog ate my drachma, you know But you see
within the text there is this question from the
collectors to Peter Now the setting of this is
they are in Capernaum. It's perhaps likely that
they're in Peter's house Peter was from Capernaum.
And this may explain why the collectors go to
Peter to ask about Jesus. They go to the homeowner,
not to the guests. And so they ask this question.
Your teacher pays the temple tax, doesn't he?
There is something clearly behind that question.
And we're perhaps wondering if Peter understands
the weight of the question. He simply answers,
yes. Now let's think about this. Is there any
reason why Jesus would not pay the temple tax?
There could be three that I've come up with.
Three possible reasons, and some of them more
possible than others, why Jesus would not pay.
First of all, some groups disagreed with paying
the temple tax. Some groups of people thought
in Jesus' day that the temple was corrupt and
therefore were just not going to pay that. I
don't think that that's Jesus, do you? Secondly,
there were charitable groups that were not required
to pay for this. So we're thinking of rabbis
and priests who were not required to pay this
tax. So perhaps Jesus falls into that category.
After all, he is called a teacher, a rabbi throughout
this. As for the third reason, maybe just hold
on to that thought because the third reason I'm
going to give to you relates to who Jesus is.
It's also important for us to say this. The temple
tax was not... bad. It was not a Roman tax. There's
really no problem with paying for most people
because it supported the work of the temple.
Matter of fact, we can see in scripture that
this tax was commanded by God. I'm going to take
you to Exodus chapter 30. I'm going to read just
a little bit of this starting in verse 11. The
Lord said to Moses, When you take the census
of the people of Israel Then each shall give
a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number
them That there be no plague among them when
you number them each one who is numbered in the
census shall give this half a shekel According
to the shekel of the sanctuary the shekel is
20 garaz half a shekel an offering to the Lord.
Everyone who is numbered in the census from 20
years old and upward shall give the Lord's offering.
The rich shall not give more and the poor shall
not give less than the half shekel when you give
the Lord's offering to make atonement for your
lives." And so people have called this and I
think rightly a ransom. It's symbolized salvation
for people and their need for God. Additionally,
it wasn't all that expensive. We're talking about
half a shackle or two drachma. And so it's not
like Jesus couldn't pay this, as we're gonna
see. Jesus is not limited in his resources. And
so what does Peter say to the question? He simply
replies, yes. But let's think about the implications
of this. What would be the implications if Jesus
says no to this? Well, it could imply that Jesus
is in these groups of exemption. Perhaps that
he is a rabbi or a priest, which he kind of is,
but how would that sit? with other priests back
in Jerusalem, they might not like that. Also,
the tax is commanded again by God, just like
I read from Exodus chapter 30. And so if Jesus
doesn't have exempt status, but he says no, this
would appear to be a disobedience to scripture.
But let's think about this. If Jesus says yes,
which you see here, Peter answers for him. If
it's yes, well, what does this imply about Jesus?
To the tax collectors is Jesus just a regular
guy with no special standing before the tax collectors
even though the collectors are asking and So
there's a kind of a lot on the line here Peter
as you see he says yes and Then Jesus talks to
Peter look if you will back into the text at
verse 25 So he says 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? from their sons or from
others And Peter answers rightly from others,
but you might think well Why is Jesus suddenly
talking about kings and sons? What's going on
here? Jesus is laying out the case for why he
and his disciples don't have to pay. Remember
how I said there's a third reason. Jesus is giving
the real reason that he is exempt and yet he's
going to pay the tax anyway. This relates to
a couple of discussions from Paul. his letter
to the Romans in chapter 14 of that book and
1st Corinthians chapter 8 this discussion from
Paul on food sacrifice to idols and whether Christians
should eat such food so I want to take you to
1st Corinthians chapter 8 verses 3 through 9
and it reads in this way But if anyone loves
God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the
eating of food offered to idols, we know that
an idol has no real existence, and that there
is no God but one. For although there may be
so -called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed
there are many gods and many lords, yet for us
there is one God, the Father, from whom are all
things, and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom are all things, and through
whom we exist. However, not all possess this
knowledge. But some Through former association
with idols eat food as really offered to an idol
and their conscience being clean is defiled or
being weak is defiled Food will not commend us
to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat
and no better off If we do but take care That
this right of yours has not somehow become a
stumbling block to the weak and I included there
in verse 9 what's What what does this have to
do with the temple tax you may asking what Paul
is saying here is It wasn't wrong to eat the
food sacrificed to the idols because the idols
are what they they are nothing And so he essentially
says go for it Unless and unless is an important
word here unless you are around a weaker believer
He is getting at Christian Liberty people confuse
Liberty with the freedom to do whatever you like.
You say, well, I've been saved by Jesus. I've
punched my ticket to heaven. But Christian liberty
isn't really that. Christian liberty says you
have freedom and that you are freed from your
enslavement to sin. But you're not just freed
from something, you're freed to something. You
are freed in Christ to serve him and his church.
And so even though you may not be under this
obligation or that, there are other considerations
at hand. Jesus, he's considering other people.
He's considering the tax collectors, and he's
not looking to bring unnecessary trouble upon
him or his disciples. The text says not to give
offense, and so seeking not to give offense,
Jesus seeks to pay the temple tax. Consider these
words from a commentator who said Even though
Jesus could exercise his right to kingship He
did not want to give offense Especially not by
cute excusing himself as well as Peter from paying
taxes Jesus did not want to cause any trouble
from the tax collectors and their superiors They
certainly would not have accepted his claim to
kingship They wouldn't have accepted it, right?
Jesus is not looking to cause, as I've said,
trouble for the sake of trouble, right? Jesus,
he'll ruffle feathers at times sometimes, but
not without reason, not without cause. Jesus
seeks to keep the peace, doesn't he? He shows
he has a great concern for tax collectors. He
doesn't seek to offend them and there's something
here for us. Do you Christian bring unnecessary
trouble on yourself or upon others with your
speech or your actions? Do you Christian enjoy
offending others or are you considerate of others?
Do your actions, do your words make it easy or
more difficult to share? the gospel. Do you like
to stir the pot for the sake of simply stirring
the pot? Friends, Jesus did not behave in this
way, did he? There's purpose to every single
thing that Jesus does. Think of the times that
Jesus does ruffle feathers when it was necessary,
like the time when he drives out the money changers
and he says, you've made this place a den of
robbers. That was necessary to doing something
very wrong. Or Matthew 15, where it says the
Pharisees were offended by Jesus' teaching on
uncleanliness and uncleanliness. Why does he
offend them? Well, the people were leading, the
leaders were leading people astray, and so Jesus,
he corrects their teaching, and they're offended
by that. But he doesn't do it unnecessarily.
And so please see that this episode is not that.
Jesus pays the tax. Even when he didn't have
to Really what Jesus is doing is he's upholding
the law and beyond that and so are we? Looking
to offend unnecessarily Friends the gospel will
offend because people don't want to hear that
they are sinful They don't want to hear the truth
But we're gonna get we're really not gonna get
very far in our evangelism for looking to offend
unnecessarily. I like how another commentator
put this, who said of this, a miracle is worked
rather than offend a tax collector. A miracle
is worked rather than offend a tax collector.
And so we need to learn here from Jesus. It's
also interesting here is we've looked at other
miracles of Jesus. This time we actually see
the miracle benefiting Jesus, which we really
don't see very much in the other miracles. Because
who was supposed to be paying this? The tax collectors
are asking, does Jesus pay this or not? And so
when he sends Peter to go fishing, he's saying,
go get this money to pay the tax. But really,
Jesus is not looking to benefit himself. What
I think Jesus is really doing here is making
a statement about his deity. Since the tax supports
the temple and the temple is for the worship
of God, think about it. Would God, the father,
require the tax of his son? Think about it this
way. Think about restaurant owner real nice restaurant
really good food reasonable prices doing pretty
well for itself popular place let's say the son
of the restaurant owner comes for a meal is the
father gonna charge the son for the meal probably
not right well Jesus here he is the son of God
and therefore is exempt but he pays it anyway.
Now notice something when he talks about sons
the word sons here is plural and so we should
think that this includes the disciples specifically
here in this story Peter. But please see this
Jesus does something far greater than pay the
temple tax for himself and for Peter. What this
should illustrate to us as sons of the King is
how we can become sons. How do we join the family?
Today, if we were working our way through the
entire liturgy, the service, we had our affirmation
of faith from Westminster Shorter Catechism number
34, and it asks this question, what is adoption?
And the answer is this, adoption is an act of
God's free grace, whereby we are received into
the number. and have a right to all the privileges
of the sons of God. We join the family by God's
grace as the Holy Spirit applies Christ to our
lives as we have faith. I was in a discussion
recently with somebody who told me that all people
who are created are God's children. And maybe
that sounds nice, but it's just not true. We
are made children of God by Jesus' redeeming
effort. Consider some verses to back this up.
1 John chapter 3 verse 2 puts it like this, beloved,
we are God's children now. and what we will be
has not yet appeared. But we know that when he
appears, we shall be like him, because we shall
see him as he is. We are, friends, we are God's
children right now. John's writing to believers,
but also consider just from the gospel of John,
chapter one, verse 12. But to all who did receive
him, who believed in his name, He gave the right
to become children of God who were born not of
blood Nor of the will of the flesh nor of the
will of man but of God we are made children of
God by God as He justifies us with the righteousness
of Christ and adopts us into his family We are
only children of God if Jesus is our Savior and
our brother So please see as this as Jesus is
telling what Peter what to do. He's he's teaching
him Isn't he he's teaching all of us as we as
we examine this great word from him Jesus turns
this simple question from these collectors into
a teaching moment right now look at verse 27
as Jesus tells Peter to do something He has done
probably hundreds of times, I'll read it again.
However, not to give offense 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. Jesus tells Peter to
do something he's done. So many times, go fishing.
And as this instruction comes and we see what
is really miraculous, we see something about
Jesus, his sovereignty over creation, right?
You kind of wonder. What is Peter thinking about
Jesus with this instruction is Jesus losing it
here perhaps remember this is chapter 17 So we've
seen a lot of things happen here Peter's seen
it all so he's trusting in Jesus Friends this
is not a weird story about catching fish with
money inside Jesus is demonstrating his divine
knowledge and power and the accomplishment of
adoption for his people. Remember the point of
the story. Jesus is making this claim that he
is the son of God. And so Jesus doesn't simply
remind Peter of this. He shows him this by doing
something that would have hit home with Peter
as a fisherman. That Jesus has unlimited resources.
And this will be crucial. This will be crucial
because Jesus is preparing his disciples for
when he will go to the Father and they will continue
his mission. Jesus is saying through this miracle,
trust me and I will supply your needs. Perhaps
Philippians chapter 4 is one that you've memorized.
Perhaps it's one that has given you comfort in
the past. Philippians 4 .19 says this, and my
God will supply every need of yours according
to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And so
Christian, what do you need today? Do you trust
that Jesus can meet your needs? Do you really?
Jesus tells Peter to cast that line and find
that shekel. But also consider this, the tax
is only two drachmas. So why the shekel? Well,
clearly Jesus isn't paying for himself only.
He pays for Peter too. And inside that fish is
the exact amount needed for one shekel equals
two drachmas. Jesus indeed provides exactly what
we need. And Jesus exhibits humility in paying
when he didn't have to. It's not expected that
a king would pay his own taxes. It's actually
beneath the king. And so this whole thing is
showing the humility of Jesus. and the presence
of God because this tax went towards the work
of the temple and the temple represents God's
presence. We've just gone through the Christmas
season, Emmanuel, God with us. Rick Phillips
at Second Pres says, why pay for the symbol when
he himself is the reality to which the symbol
points? Jesus lowered himself for us. Jesus lowered
himself for this and for so much more. Consider
Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4. Do nothing
from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility
count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests
but also to the interests of others and let's
keep going verse 5. Have this mind among yourselves
which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he
was in the form of God did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself
by taking the form of a servant being born in
the likeness of men. being found in human form
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death even death on a cross and therefore
God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him
the name that is above every name so that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven
and on earth and under the earth and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father And so you see all of this
is more, it's more than just about paying taxes,
isn't it? I said how Jesus is really preparing
his disciples for the cross. And this is very,
very true because what appears just before this
episode, if you still have Matthew 17 open. Go
just before our sermon text and look in chapter
17 verses 22 and 23 as they were gathering in
Galilee Jesus said to them 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 He
doesn't want them he doesn't want peter any of
them to forget that He, Jesus, is the Son of
God. And so what is the Son of God doing on the
cross? Well, we saw it from Philippians 2. He's
securing our salvation. Remember the very thing
the temple tax pointed towards, atonement. This
is what Jesus accomplishes for us. And He's free
to do it. Jesus had the power to call down the
angels. But He doesn't do it. Because... He went
to the cross because it was the only way. He
goes to the cross to exclaim, it is finished
for God's children. What this story means then
is really that because of Jesus, his life and
his death and the gift of faith and being adopted
into God's family, that we have special status
as God's children, that God gives us what we
need. You see, Jesus doesn't just pay the temple
tax for us. No, friends. We should understand.
We must understand that Jesus paid it all. You,
Christian, were bought with a price. And Jesus
pays the exact amount. Nothing more and nothing
less. He paid it. He paid it with His own blood.
Christian, you indeed were bought with a price.
Jesus has purchased you to bring you into his
marvelous light. Let us praise God for that today
and every single day. Let's pray. Glorious Father
in heaven above, how we do thank you. How would
he praise you and bless your name for salvation
in Christ alone he Who has set us free from all
the power of the devil and taken us out of darkness
and into light father Thank you that jesus would
pay Pay it all for us Lord help us to be more
and more Thank you and thankful and would you
give us the humility of Christ the mind of Christ?
Help us not look to offend unnecessarily But
help us to look out for others And share the
gospel these things we ask in Christ name. Amen
The The hymn of response in your bulletin is,
I surrender all, number 366. And I would encourage
you to look up the lyrics for that. Take time
today to sing that. What a great hymn that is,
because quite frankly, as we sing those words,
I surrender all, we realize that Jesus really
surrendered Himself for us. And so the reason
that we can sing that is because of Him, right?
And so take time, if you will, to sing that.
It's okay. It's a good thing to sing in your
homes. I know that you do. And so we can sing.
We should sing good, good hymns, even from our
homes, even on a day like today. Well, friends,
thank you so very much for listening today. and
prayerfully we will be back together on Wednesday
and certainly on the next Lord's Day. If you
have any needs that we can help with, please
reach out to a shepherding elder, reach out to
a deacon, reach out to just one another. Let's
bear one another's burdens. Let us be there for
one and all, for each other. And now would you
just give attention. To this benediction from
2nd Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you
all Amen