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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . All right, everyone. For our second song this morning, we will be turning to song number 41. Sweet by and by, song number 41. On the first, there's a land that is fairer than day. And by faith we can see it afar. For the father waits over the way. To prepare us a dwelling place there. In the sweet by and by. We shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by. We shall meet on that beautiful shore. On the second, we shall sing on that beautiful shore. The melody as songs of the blessed. And our spirits shall sorrow no more. Not a sigh for the blessing of rest. In the sweet by and by. We shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by. We shall meet on that beautiful shore. On the last. To our bountiful father above. We will offer our tribute of praise. For the glorious gift of his love. And the blessings that hallow our days. In the sweet by and by. We shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by. We shall meet on that beautiful shore. Good morning everybody. Open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 17. Matthew 17. Matthew chapter 17 starting in verse 1. And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with them. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. While ye had spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed, for oft times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was coming to the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free, notwithstanding, lest we should offend them. Go thou to the sea, and cast and hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up. And when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, that take, and give unto them for me and thee. Brother Denver, do you want to pray for us? Lord, I thank you so much for this day, and for this warm weather, and for a chance to gather in your name. I thank you for today's message, and keep it in our hearts. I thank you and need to say my prayer. Amen. All right, amen. So we're at the end of Matthew chapter number 17 this week. We're going to actually be looking at verses 24 through verses 27. So just to start off, if you would, look at the last verse in Matthew chapter 17. It says, notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast and hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up. And when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, that take, and give unto them for me and thee. Definitely a supernatural thing going on here. Definitely something that you may have found strange in your Bible reading. Like, why did Jesus make Peter do this? Like, what's the significance here? What's going on? We're going to answer that this morning. We're going to talk about that. The title of the sermon is some facts about the temple tax. Some facts about the temple tax. And really what you're going to learn this morning are some principles on how to deal with offenses and how to pick and choose battles. You're going to see all of that come into play in this passage. I can tell you right off the bat what this is not talking about. This is not a picture of people having to work their way to heaven. That is definitely what this is not talking about. And it's also not saying that fish keep their money in the riverbank. So, yeah, kind of corny joke there, but you get the point. So, let's go ahead and start this thing off first here. In fact, if you would, back up to verse number 22. This here is going to really set the context for us and kind of give you the mind frame that the disciples were in. So, look at verse 22. It says, and while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men. And so, we've talked about this a couple weeks ago. How the disciples were like, well, specifically Peter was like, you know, this is not so, Lord. None of this stuff is going to happen. You're going to remain king and we're going to be a powerhouse on the earth. And so, they're starting to really feel the intensity of this message. They're starting to get a little bit anxious about this. Look at verse 23. It says, and they shall kill him and the third day he shall be raised again and they were exceeding sorry. Okay, so that's the mind frame that the disciples are in at this point. Now, if you would, look at verse number 24. So, and when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, doth not your master pay tribute. So, the last two verses we see that these guys just, they keep getting this bad news. Okay, and they're confused. They don't quite fully grasp what Jesus is talking about. They don't quite understand the significance of the death, burial, and resurrection yet. And so, they're trying to process this and figure out what this means. And of course, they don't want him to depart from earth. And so, they're a little bit sad here. You know, actually the Bible says they're exceeding sorry. Okay, we would call that being filled with anxiety. You're just very anxious. And so, they travel now to this town called Capernaum. And so, they get there and what happens? Well, some people come up to Peter and say, hey, does your master pay tribute? Does he pay tax? Does he pay money? And the last thing that these guys want to deal with is this type of conflict. Okay, they're trying to process what they were just told. And you know, they've got probably better things to do. And so, you can see here in verse 25, he sayeth yes. Well, that's his answer. He's just like, yes, he does pay it. Okay, just straight to the point. So, look at the rest of verse 25. He sayeth yes. And when he was coming to the house, Jesus prevented him saying. So, this is obviously very interesting here. Because Peter just walks in and Jesus immediately picks up on what he's thinking. Picks up on his thoughts. Knows the conversation that he'd already had with those that collect the tribute money. And by the way, if you study this out, that money was to be used to make repairs and things like that on the temple. Okay, it wasn't a tie. It wasn't something that you could go back to the law and say, this is something that you absolutely, positively have to pay. Okay. But yet, these guys are concerned about the tribute money. And so, it says in verse 25, Jesus prevented him saying. What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children or of strangers? Verse 26, Peter sayeth unto him, of strangers. Jesus sayeth unto him, then are the children free. Okay, so what does this all mean here? Well, Jesus wants Peter to understand the truth. Okay, that they are free. And I mean, you read this passage here, only God is going to be able to have a conversation with your thoughts. Only God is going to be able to have a conversation with you about a conversation that you had with somebody else before you even talked about it. Okay. And so, he's making this very clear statement here, this very clear point, that we are free from this. I mean, Jesus is God, fully man, fully God. He is the son of God, the Bible says. And so, he's letting Peter know, yes, this is not required. Okay, now what does that do for Peter? Well, it probably causes some relief. It probably causes him to be a little bit more comfortable. You know, the Bible does say, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. So, it's important here that we understand Jesus clearly wants Peter to know, yes, you are right. Okay. You are right in that we are free. We do not have to pay this. You know, God's like, I'm the one that created the universe. I shouldn't be required to pay this tax. Okay. But the question is, yes, there is a freedom in knowing when we're right. But the questions are, can you handle it and do you know when and when not to respond or to actually offend somebody? Because look what he says next in verse 27. Notwithstanding, okay, so he says, yes, you are correct in verse 26. But he says, notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea and cast and hook and take up the fish that first cometh up. And when thou has opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money that take and give unto them for me and for thee. Now, keep your place right here in Matthew chapter 17. But go back to the Old Testament and go to Proverbs chapter number 12. Go to Proverbs chapter number 12. So Jesus says, hey, notwithstanding, so yes, this is true, Peter. Okay. We're free because I'm the king. You're one of my sons. You're obviously born again. You're saved. But just because we're right doesn't give us the okay to always fight. I guess we could put it like that. Right. There's an important principle here this morning that we all need to just understand and just need to learn from. Just because you're right doesn't mean you always need to fight. There's a time and a place to fight. There's a time and a place to correct people, to rebuke people, to actually know that you're going to cause offense. I mean, Jesus said in Luke chapter 17 that it is impossible but that offenses should come. You're going to get offended. Okay. You come to this church long enough, I'm going to say something that offends you. Okay. It is. You know, you look around, this is a totally different crowd that we had six months ago. Okay. It's just offenses come and offenses go. He's not saying here that we should live a life to where we never offend anyone on earth. Right. Okay. Go read Matthew chapter 23 if you don't believe me. There are plenty of times where Jesus offended the Pharisees, where he offended the Sadducees, and where he just offended other people. He offended his own disciples. Right. Okay. I mean, and we need to remember and understand that. But why in this situation does he not offend these people that are collecting tribute? What's going on here? We're going to answer all of that this morning. Okay. But first, let's break down this interesting story here on why Jesus says, hey, you know, notwithstanding, what I want you to do, Peter, is I want you to go down to the sea and throw in your line. Okay. I want you to get that hook ready. I want you to start to start fishing and take up the first fish that you catch. And inside of that fish, there's going to be a piece of money, and that's going to pay for you, and that is going to pay for me. Now, when you really think about what goes into this, okay, it's like Peter now has to stop what he's doing. He has to go down to the sea. He has to go first, you know, before he even goes down there, he has to go find his fishing gear, take the time to walk down there. He has to, you know, who knows how long it's going to take to actually catch this thing, and he's got to reel it in, so fight with it as it's flopping around. Open the mouth, take the coin out, you know, he's probably not going to have time to cook it up. Then he's going to have to go back to the temple and then pay. You know, it's like Jesus could just say, here, here's a coin. You know, I mean, Judas had the money bag, maybe there was a coin in there, maybe not, you know, it just kind of depends. But the point is, why go through all of this trouble just not to offend somebody? And that's really one of the main points of this sermon, and that's part of not offending people means that we have to go out of our way. I think that's what this is clearly teaching us. Okay, we have to be the mature ones sometimes. We have to say, hey, is it really worth offending someone over a coin? Is it really worth offending somebody over something that is small that doesn't really matter when their soul's hanging in the balance? You see, that's the idea here, and that is what Jesus is trying to teach us here. Look at Proverbs chapter 12 in verse number 16. A fool's wrath is presently known, but a prudent man covereth shame. So a prudent man, if you're not sure, you know, you're not familiar what that word means, it's somebody who is wise. Okay, a prudent person is somebody who kind of looks out and kind of thinks like, if I do this, this is going to happen. Kind of like a chess mindset, you know, you're thinking a couple of steps ahead. If I say this, are they going to possibly take it this way? On the other hand, you have what's called a fool. Okay, what does the fool do? Well, the fool just spouts off whatever they think at the drop of a hat. Okay, they say whatever they want, whatever they think, you know, and there's just no shame in their game. We don't want to be like that. We want to first always try to take the opportunity to cover something up. So for example, you see somebody doing something that's just not maybe, not maybe great, not maybe wise. Okay, you don't want to just blurt that out to the whole church, for example, you know, and just be like, oh, I was at the store the other day and I saw someone so wearing this shirt or whatever. Right, that's something a fool would do. Okay, what the prudent person would do is maybe come up with a tactful way to actually approach that person and say, hey, you know, have you ever thought about this? You know, or maybe just be quiet about the thing and just pray for the person. You know, that works too. That works wonders. That is maturity and that's where this story is leading us. Go back in the Bible, if you would, to the book of Leviticus. Go to Leviticus chapter number 19. So a fool's wrath is presently known, but a prudent man covereth shame. And that's where we want to be. We want to be on that level. We want to start to mature. Okay, because obviously, you know, we need to understand it is a hard thing to not offend people. Okay, it really is. It's a difficult thing, especially if you're a preacher. Very difficult. I mean, think about it. You know, you guys would go out and knock doors and go soul winning. You know, just your presence there, just the questions you ask are offensive on some level, but guess what? They're needful to be asked. We have to find out what a person believes so that we can know how to help, know where to start, you know, know what verses to show them, so on and so forth. Now look at verse number 18. Leviticus chapter 19. Look at verse number 18. This is what God is saying here in the law. It says this, Now, one of the first things I want to say here is it really is a bad thing. It really is a sin for us to constantly allow others to offend us. You know, especially in the kingdom of God, because look at the verse here, right? What does it say? It says, Okay, this was a law giving to the nation of Israel made up of 12 tribes, a physical nation. So when God was in charge of a nation, he said, hey, in this group of people, these 12 tribes, these people who reside here in this land, in this nation, this is my law, this is what I want from you. I want to make sure that you guys don't continually become a people that's just bearing grudges against one another. I want you guys to handle your problems, talk them out, work them out, and move forward. Okay, that is what he's saying. And look what he says, So who's the neighbor here? Well, the children of thy people, okay? So how do we apply that today? Well, the Bible says that if you're born again, you're saved, you're in the Israel of God or the body of Christ. And so in other words, we want to make sure that we are not a type of people that's constantly bearing grudges one towards another. If you have a problem with somebody, if you have an issue, you want to talk that out. Okay, and like we just read in Proverbs, how do you want to do that? Do you want to just start blasting emails and making videos and just, you know, standing across the street and yelling and screaming and things like that? Or do you want to do that maybe privately? Right, because what is a prudent man? A prudent man is a wise man. What does a wise person do? A wise person covers shame. A wise person wants to keep that in-house unless it's some major big deal, okay? Now to some people, small things are a big deal. You know, those people around, there's not really a whole lot you can do about it. The point is here, though, that we don't want to be a people that's just constantly bearing grudges, oh, you sat in my seat. I always sit there. You know, and it's funny, but we've had that here in the past. I've literally seen that, where people become so petty, oh, you sat in my seat. I didn't like the way you looked at me during that sermon. Well, it's like, you know, I'm sitting here trying to, you know, regurgitate the stuff that I study. I'm not like looking at you, you know, in your face. This isn't just, you know, one sermon for you, but, you know, we don't want to get offended over things like that, you know? And of course, you know, let's also bring this up. The people are going to say, and, you know, this has been thrown our way several times, well, you're a hate church, you know, this is hate speech. You know, honestly, that phrase hate speech, you know what that's designed for? It's designed to eradicate free speech. That's basically what that is, okay? We're going to naturally offend the world. The Bible said, I mean, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. That's what Jesus said. He is the only way to get to heaven, plain and simple. You tell people that and you're going to cause offense. That's okay. In that situation, that's a battle that you want to fight because we have that authorization, okay? But again, let's go back to what the twofold mission of the local New Testament church is. It's to evangelize the lost and to what? Edify one another. And part of that edification process is really understanding different laws and principles in the Bible so that we can get along with one another, okay? And one of the ways that we do that is by not bearing grudges towards each other over certain things. Now, you can leave your place there in Leviticus chapter 19. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. I heard somebody say this a long time ago and I think it's applicable. And I understand what this means. I'm just going to say it. You know, it's better to offend people into heaven than to flatter people into hell. You know, think about it that way. Now, obviously, you know, we're not out there like sticking our foot in people's doors and like, you know, first thing out of the mouth. You're going straight to hell, okay? We don't do stuff like that. That's not how you win somebody to the Lord, okay? You win them to the Lord by first of all finding somebody who's receptive. Second of all, by just using the Word of God and explaining to them where they're at and where they need to be, that they need to put their faith and trust in Christ. And if they do that, they receive the gift of everlasting life. You're saved forever. It's a very simple process, very easy to understand. You know, there is going to be some level of offense in that presentation. You know, it's just the price of doing business. So look at this here. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Now, look at verse number 4. It says, charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not, charity vonteth not itself, is not puffed up. So if you ever want to know whether or not somebody's personality or somebody's, the decisions that they're making and the things that they're doing are really of God, you can use this kind of as an audit, okay? Is what they're doing, you know, did it display long suffering? Was there any patience involved? You know, is what they're saying puffed up or full of pride? Like, you know me, I do all the soul winning in this church. I do a lot of the soul winning and I do a lot of the work. You know, that's not somebody who's doing something by love or by charity, is it? No, that's the exact opposite. Now, look at verse number 5. Doth not behave itself unseemly, okay? Coming undone, just coming unglued. Seeketh not her own, and here's the main thing I want you to see here, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Now remember, what is evil in the Bible? It means to hurt, okay? That's what it does, it means to hurt. So in verse number 5 here, what do we see? We see that charity, or you could say love, is not easily provoked. And this is the level that we need to attain to, where we get to a place where we have enough love for the things of God, enough love for one another that we're not easily provoked over small things, like the temple tax, or like you sat in my chair, or I don't like the color of the bulletin, or I don't like the way the mailbox is positioned, or I don't like these hymns, you know, stupid things like that that just don't matter. In a hundred years, none of this is going to be here. And none of us are going to be here, okay? So think about that. You will always spend more time where? In eternity than you will here. So let's make the best of the time that God has given us in the here and now, so that we can get as many people into the kingdom of God as possible. And the way that we do that is by taking care of ourselves first here, so that we can go out there and teach other people the truth about the gospel. Same book, but go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. And Paul literally teaches this very principle here, this same thing here. Look how Paul says it. So 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. Let's see here, look at verse number 19. So Paul says this, For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. What is Paul saying here? He's like, hey, I'm free from other men's judgments. What one man says about me, whether I'm saved or lost, doesn't matter, because I know that I'm saved. No man is going to come here and make me do X, Y, and Z. That's what Paul's saying. He says, however, I made myself servant unto all. Why? That I might gain the more. So Paul's mind frame is, yes, I'm free to do this because I know the truth. I'm free to do that because I know the truth. But however, people that don't have this knowledge, I want to make myself like unto them. And I don't want to do anything to offend them because I want to win them to Christ. Look at verse 20. He says, and unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. Now you could do this very simply today. If you knock on someone's door and they say, hey, I'm a Jew. I go to this synagogue here. You say, well, I'm a Jew too. And you take them to Romans chapter two and explain what a Jew is. And then now you have that in common. I've done that. And I've gotten chuckles out of these people. They're like, okay, all right. Well, they start laughing. But hey, it's a good way to break the ice. It's a good way to kind of level the playing field, so to speak. Why? So that you can get them saved. That's the idea. Look at verse 21. Now let me just say this before I forget. You don't want to lie. Somebody's like, oh, I worked down at Micron. I'm an engineer. Oh, me too. I'm an engineer. No, don't do that. If you don't have anything in common or you can't think of anything, just keep moving forward with the gospel, okay? Paul had many trades, okay? Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was also a mixed, you know, he had a Gentile father, that sort of thing. So he had a lot of different cards to play. It's kind of like me. I'm half, you know, my mom was Mexican. Dad's white. You know, so to the Mexicans, I become as Mexican until they start laughing at me. And then, you know, to the Americans, I become American. Whatever. Verse 21. He says, to them that are without the law, as without the law, being not without the law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without the law. So all he's saying here is, hey, you know, to them that are without the law, to them that are just completely lost, you know, he would probably say something like, hey, I was in your shoes too. There was a time and place where I didn't know that I was saved. I didn't know if I was gonna go to heaven. You know, and I say that to people all the time. You know, say, hey, I was in your shoes. Oh, you go to the Catholic church? I used to go to the Catholic church, which is true. I'm not making that up. Oh, you're a Nazarene? I used to go to the Nazarene church. Oh, you're from South Africa? Hey, we got a guy that's from South Africa in our church. I do that one a lot too, okay? Trying to make common ground for the reason to win someone to Christ, to not offend them, okay? Notice what Paul's not doing here. Oh, you're a Jew? Oh, well, guess what? You know, and start hammering them on that, okay? Because they're not saved. They don't understand. To them they're without the law. Oh, you're not following this? Oh, you got a beer in the fridge? Oh, guess what? You know, he's not doing that. The idea here is to get them saved. This is what we're talking about, okay? We're not talking about compromise. We're not talking about throwing out the truth or hiding the truth. You know, for example, you know, a lot of times you'll be talking with somebody at the door and you'll be asking questions that are not even closely related, but you have the answers. And, man, it's so easy to want to deal with that. Here's what I do. I just say, okay, that's a great question. Let me come back to that later, okay? Because, honestly, if you answer some of those questions, you might offend them before they get saved. Get them saved first, you know, and dwell with the Holy Ghost, because that's what happens when a person gets saved, and then they have the ability to comprehend the Bible, to understand the Word of God, okay? So that's what we want to do. We want to get them saved, and then they can understand the rest. Then you can add all that other stuff in there. Now look at verse 23. It says, In this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Last verse, verse 24. Know ye not that they which run and erase run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. Okay, that's the idea, and that's the mindset that we want to have, okay? Whether we're out soul winning, or whether we're, you know, with a brethren inside of church, you know, we should be willing to want to go out of our way to not offend somebody over something that is petty and just not worth fighting over, okay? We need to pick and choose our battles. So let's see here. Go to 2 Chronicles, Old Testament, 2 Chronicles chapter 35, and I want to just kind of show you an example of this, because we're kind of talking about picking and choosing your battles today as well, you know? And Jesus says here to Peter, you know, this battle's not worth fighting over. Now, is salvation worth fighting over? Of course. Preservation of the Bible? Absolutely, okay? Now, what about Bible prophecy? I do think it's worth risking offending somebody as long as you have the Scriptures, you know, available and ready to believe. But we also need to kind of understand on some level all of us are wrong on something about prophecy, because it just hasn't happened yet. There's, I guarantee you, and I'm not talking about the rapture, I'm just saying there's some intricate details when you really get into prophecy. There's some things that I have theories of that I've taught that I might be a little bit wrong on, okay? All of us just need to kind of understand that. So knowing that, we need to have a little bit of compassion and grace to those that come in here that are a little bit different on prophecy, okay? We don't want to offend somebody, you know, and prevent them from, you know, getting plugged in or prevent them, you know, God forbid, from getting saved because they're not right on the, you know, prophecy and things like that, and they don't even know if they're on the way to heaven, okay? This story here, 2 Chronicles chapter 35, okay? I'm just gonna give you the background real quickly. You know, if you're with us on Sunday nights, you know, where we're talking about the kings and the divided kingdom, and we're at the point now in our study of the kings where the nation of Israel, or, you know, it got divided into two. So you had the northern kingdom made up of 10 tribes. You had the southern kingdom of Judah made up of the tribe of Judah, some Levites, and some of Benjamin, okay? Now we're at the point in the divided kingdom where the northern kingdom of Israel is completely gone. They're done for. The Assyrians have taken them captive. And so we're literally just studying the remainder of the kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. And this passage here beginning in verse 20 in 2 Chronicles 35 is about a king named Josiah. Josiah was an awesome king. Josiah, his men found a copy of the Bible amongst the rubble. They got it out, and they realized, whoa, we're not even following the Bible. This is why we're, you know, under judgment. This is why God's not happy and pleased with us. And so he basically just lines everybody up and says, we're following this to a T. He brings back the Passover. He brings back all sorts of things. I mean, this guy just goes on a rampage, you know, of following the Bible, okay? Has a great start, has a great middle period of his kingship. But at the end of his life, he does something that I think will shock a lot of people if you're not familiar with it. And this really is about picking and choosing which battles we ought to fight. But let's get into the story here real quick. Look at verse 20. So 2 Chronicles 35, look at verse number 20. It says, after all this, so after all that great stuff that Josiah did, okay, it says, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Nico, king of Egypt, came up to fight against Karkamesh by Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him. So here, Josiah's going along, getting the nation back in order, trying to get them, the people following God, they're doing right. And then he sees a battle taking place that has nothing to do with him, okay? It has nothing to do with him. And he goes out against this guy. Now look at verse 21. But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, what have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I am come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war. Now look at this. For God commanded me to make haste, forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. So you have the king of the southern kingdom of Judah, Josiah, okay? And then you have the pharaoh in Egypt, Pharaoh Nico, King Nico, and Nico's telling Josiah, hey, God told me to do what I'm doing, so just go away, okay? Your presence is not required here. You don't need to be here. In fact, just forbear, just stop, okay? And just go back and keep serving God and do your own thing. Now look at verse 22. Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself that he might fight with him and hearken not unto the words of Nico from the mouth of God and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. Now in about four weeks from now, five weeks, we will get into greater detail in this story on Sunday nights. And I'll explain what these pictures mean. All I want you to see here now is that Josiah the king, who had a great start, a great kingship, is now faced with a position. He's faced with a challenge here. Do I get involved in this battle or not? Okay? Look what happens to him. Verse 23. And the archers shot at King Josiah and the king said to his servants, have me away, for I am sore wounded. His servants, therefore, took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had and they brought him to Jerusalem and he died and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. You say, what in the world does this have to do with anything? Well, there are consequences for misfought battles. There are consequences that you and I have to face and I've been there many times myself, trust me, okay? Where we pick battles to fight or maybe we shouldn't have picked battles to fight, okay? And what's the result? Well, the result is oftentimes damaged relationships, okay? I mean, Nicos tell him, hey, God sent me to do this. I mean, if you really think about that, it's like most of the pharaohs in Egypt were pretty bad people, like wicked, you know, just pagans. But yet, you see in this story here that Nicos is doing what God says. So if Josiah hadn't been so hell-bent on wanting to fight him, maybe they could have had something in common. Maybe the gospel could have got to Nico. I mean, who knows? I'm just saying that relationship is now damaged just because Josiah figures, well, you know, I don't care. I'm on the Lord's side. I'm going to steamroll you. I'm going to take you out. So you have that to deal with damaged relationships. Now you have damaged reputations. Think about it. Josiah starts off following the Lord. They find the copy of the Bible and they start following it even more thorough, okay? They start rebuilding Judah and undoing the damage that Manasseh did and all the wickedness, they're getting all the idols out. I mean, they're just doing great things for God, okay? And then he ends his life prematurely because he picked the wrong battle to fight when he could have simply just gone out of his way, okay? And of course, in the story here, he dies. Now the Bible says that these things are written for admonition. The Bible says that if you're saved, you are a king, you are a priest. So we're supposed to take a look at these kings. And say, what can I learn from this and apply to my life? Okay? Well, you may not die by picking and choosing the wrong battle. You might. It just depends. But what about the spiritual death of someone else in the community? You get what I'm saying? Because look, I've had people, and this is many years ago now, where I've knocked on doors with them and they'll say, oh, I don't go to church but I was just watching Joel Osteen on TV and they're just like, he's a reprobate devil and it's like, whoa. Okay, whoa. You know, again, what do you think that person's gonna do? They're gonna listen to the gospel? Oh, he is? He's a devil? No, you just insulted them. Okay, so what should that person have done in that situation? What that person should have done is, oh, okay, well, hey, more important than church, you know? Are you 100% sure if you died today that you'd go to heaven? You know, you wanna go out of your way to try to not offend somebody in that situation so that you don't cause them to maybe never hear a true gospel presentation and actually get saved. Go to the book of Psalms again, Psalm 119. We're gonna go deep into this book. We're gonna go over to 165. Psalm 119. So if you're not familiar with this chapter here, it's one of the largest chapters in the Bible. Might be the largest, I always forget. But the point is, it's all about the Bible. It's all about the word of God here, okay? And this verse here, I've quoted many times and it's applicable here. And I just want you to see this. Psalm 119 verse 165, look at this. Great peace have they which love thy law, and what does it say next? And nothing shall offend them. We need to be above this mindset that is in the world today. You know, we were warned by Paul that in the last days, people would be by Paul, that in the last days, people would become extremely selfish. Men would become lovers of their own selves. And one of the things that drives that and one of the symptoms of that are people that are just constantly being offended over everything, okay? We need to just leave that out there and inside the kingdom of God, when we're dealing with each other, we need to make sure that we don't act like that. That we're not always getting offended over every little thing, okay? And again, yes, there is a time and a place, but the mindset is this verse here. Great peace have they which love thy law. So the question is, do you love God's word? If you do, then guess what? You're going to find yourself in a position where things like that are not going to offend you. And that, my friend, is gonna bring you a lot of peace and a lot of joy. And that's what Jesus is trying to communicate to Peter here. Because look, he's already down and out because he keeps hearing about this death and that Jesus is not gonna be with him anymore, sad. And all of a sudden he's got these guys, does your master pay tribute? Does he pay tax? He's like, great, now I've gotta deal with this. You know? And Jesus is like, no, you're right. We don't have to. We are the kingdom of God. However, in this situation here, it's not worth losing somebody who's hanging in the balance over a coin. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. Let's go out of our way, be the mature ones, and love God's word and make sure that we're not offending other people, but also that we're not easily offended ourselves, okay? And the hallmark of a person who is not easily offended is somebody who loves the word of God, okay? So if you're ever dealing with somebody who's Christian, saved, and they're just constantly getting offended, okay? Obviously you want to pray for them. Obviously you want to help them. But you need to understand the symptom, the root cause, the problem is they don't love the Bible. I'm not saying they're not necessarily saved. I'm just saying they don't love the word of God. There are other things above that that they have placed above that in their lives, and that needs to be brought up. That needs to be exposed, okay? Matthew chapter 10. So go back to the New Testament. Matthew chapter 10. We're getting close to being done here. Matthew chapter number 10. And let's take a look at just some application here real quick. Matthew chapter number 10. Look at verse number 14. We talked about this a few months ago, but let's look at it again. Matthew 10 verse 14. So Jesus says this. This is where Jesus is sending the 12 out on a very special mission strip to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And he says this. He says in verse 14, And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Okay? Now we spent a lot of time talking about this, but I feel like it really fits in good with what we're talking about this morning. Because look, the Bible says it's impossible, but that offenses should come. You're going to get that feeling of offense from somebody at some point. The idea here is that you need to let it go. Okay? We need to be more mature and just shake that stuff off, just let it go, not dwell on it. Because when you do that, then you can go to the next town, then you can go to the next city, then you can go to the next level with that person and just move on. Okay? Let's let go of the selfish attitude. No, you owe me and you need to pay me because you sat in my seat. You owe me. Okay? No, that's how the world acts. We don't need to be like that. Go to the book of Philippians, New Testament, Philippians chapter number three. So go past Galatians, Ephesians, go to Philippians, Philippians chapter number three. Philippians chapter number three. Look at what Paul tells the brethren over in the churches at Philippi, Philippians 3, 13. He says, brethren, I count myself, I'm sorry, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. Okay? So what he's saying there is you never want to be in this mind frame like I've already done enough for God. I've already done enough for the kingdom of God. And you always want to be like there's more to do because there's always more people to get saved. There's always more Christians that we can help and edify. So he says, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, and this is very important. Look what he says, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Okay? You will never make it in the Christian life if you're just constantly bothered by something that someone else said or did. If you cannot let it go, you will never be able to move forward. Well, I mean, think about it. If somebody offends you out there, you knock on the door and boom, they slam that door in your face and you're like, oh boy, lucky you didn't do that to me while you weren't here. You know, I mean, you're going to feel like that inside. Like, I'm not going to lie to you. You know, these people out there, some of them will make you want to do some stuff. Okay? But we got to suppress that. We've got to be bigger than that. Okay? And we want to forget about that because if you let that eat at you and just chomp you down, what are the chances you're going to go out the next week? What are the chances you're going to go to the next door? I had a guy one time tell me, you know why I don't go? Because I'll knock someone out. Someone says something to me, I'll just go off and knock them out. It's not real Christ-like. I mean, come on, you know? Do you really want to go to jail because someone said something mean to you at a door because they didn't want your church invite? No. No. Now you're out of the mission field. You know what I mean? And that's a big blow to the kingdom of God. So we don't want to be like that. We want to forget those things which are behind. The moment someone offends you, guess what, a few seconds later, it's behind. Hey, talk it out if it really bugs you and let it go. Let it go. Reaching forth unto those things which are before. And so this is another key piece of the mental battle. Okay? Is understanding there are more people out there to help. You can take that friendship, you can take that brother and sister in Christ to the next level. Okay? So look forward, find something. So let's say you have a beef. Let's bring it back to this whole chair thing. And it's kind of silly, but it's happened in the past. You know, let's say you get offended because someone says you're a chair. It's really a big deal. Okay? Obviously you should let it go and not even bring it up. That's what I think. But if it really bugs you, something like that is really bothering you, wouldn't it be better to just, I don't know, talk it out and just maybe look at that person and say, hey, you know, what if in the future, you know, you and I can become better friends? You know, pick something about that person that is positive that you can think of or maybe think of a way that you can help that person out. You know, you're gonna pray for them or just something to get your mind thinking on the future. And that way you can let go of the past. That's how you do that. What are you looking forward to? See, that's the problem with a lot of people today is they're just stuck looking at the past. Oh, I can't believe what they said to me five years ago. I'm gonna, you know, I'm still gonna get mine. I'm still gonna do something about this. Okay? That is what keeps people from growing. That is what keeps people from maturing as God's people. And again, I said, we're almost done and that's true. Go back to Matthew chapter 17 and let's finish this out here. So again, the reason why Jesus says, hey, I want you to take some time, go down to the sea. Once you grab your fishing gear, get the hook ready, throw it in, start fishing. You know, it's not gonna be that bad. The first fish that you catch, you're gonna pull up and you're gonna take a piece of money out of its mouth and that is gonna be sufficient for me and for thee. That is what Jesus says. Let's look at it again. So he says, verse 26, Peter saith unto him of strangers, Jesus saith unto him, then are the children free, notwithstanding, lest we should offend them. Okay, remember, Jesus has already determined that those people are not a threat. Okay, they're not a threat to doctrine, they're not a threat to salvation, they're not a threat to truth. Okay, they're just hanging in the balance. He says, notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go down to the sea and cast unhook and take up the fish that first cometh up. And when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money and take and give unto them for me and for thee. Now, what I find interesting about this is that other times when Jesus takes the disciples fishing or he shows up while they're fishing, you know, they use the net. Jesus says, hey, cast the net over here, right? And they pull up a lot of fish. So the quality is in the quantity. Whereas in this story here, it's all about one fish. So what this is teaching us here is that the quality is not important, okay, but that one is, I'm sorry, the quantity is not important, but the quality still is important even though it's one fish, okay? And so what Jesus is demonstrating to Peter here is he's saying, hey, you're a fisherman. That's the skill that God has given you. Okay, go down and fish for this piece of money. You know what this principle is that Jesus is trying to communicate to him is that God always provides. He's always going before us to help us, okay? And so, of course, in that is another principle that we should never try to be something that we're not. You know, whatever skills and abilities and gifts that God has given you, he has already gone forth in your life and placed just blessings and things that are already done for you in these situations. And, you know, I think that's just a very important thing to extract from this and to take from this that we need to be true to ourselves and whatever gifts and abilities that God has given you. You know, maybe you say, well, you know, he didn't give me the ability to, I don't know, to be able to do video or to be able to song lead. You know, that's okay, can you do this? You know, what did he give you? And once you start to function in that capacity, you're gonna see that he's already gone before you in that and there is blessings and there is sufficiency because notice what Jesus doesn't do. He doesn't say, you know, in that fish is gonna be an endless stream of money coming out of it. It was just enough and we need to be content with what God has given us. So, again, you know, we could stand here all day and just keep talking about that. But I think that's the main, or one of the other points, if you will, of the story. So, first and foremost, we need to go out of our way to not offend each other. As long as we realize that the truth is always gonna offend some people out there. That's okay, that happens. You know, it's just what it is. But also, there's a peace at knowing that we're right and that we can suppress that, okay? And that we don't have to offend somebody just because we're right. So, remember, just because you're right doesn't mean you have to fight. There's a time and a place for that. And, of course, you know, when you take a look at the fact that Peter was a fisherman, that was his trade, that was his skill, and you see that, you know, he goes down there. God already paid for both of them. God already provided sufficient funds for him and for Peter. And we're gonna go ahead and stop right there and we will come back tonight. And next week we'll be in Matthew chapter number 18, so let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for allowing us to be able to gather here this morning and just pray you help us to remember these things and that we might apply them to our lives so that we can continue to grow as a church and to win people to Christ. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, everyone. For our final song this morning, we'll be turning to song number 65. Just Over in the Glory Land, song number 65. On the first. I've a home prepared Where the saints abide Just over in the glory land And I long to be by my Savior's side Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land I'll join the happy angel band Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land There with the mighty hosts I'll stand Just over in the glory land On the second. I am on my way to those mansions fair Just over in the glory land There to sing God's praise and His glory share Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land I'll join the happy angel band Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land There with the mighty hosts I'll stand Just over in the glory land On the third. What a joyful thought That my Lord I'll see Just over in the glory land And with kindred saved Thereforever be Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land I'll join the happy angel band Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land There with the mighty hosts I'll stand Just over in the glory land On the last. With the blood washed throng I will shout and sing Just over in the glory land Glad Hosannas to Christ the Lord and King Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land I'll join the happy angel band Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land Just over in the glory land There with the mighty hosts I'll stand Just over in the glory land All right, let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for this time we had to hear your word be preached. I ask that you please help us to remember these things and that you bless the fellowship and soul winning after the service. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Amen.