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Isaiah 45:1-7

45Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,

whose right hand I have grasped

to subdue nations before himand strip kings of their robes,

to open doors before him

and the gates shall not be closed:2I will go before you

and level the mountains,*

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron,3I will give you the treasures of darkness

and riches hidden in secret places,

so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,

the God of Israel, who call you by your name.4For the sake of my servant Jacob,

and Israel my chosen,

I call you by your name,

I surname you, though you do not know me.5I am the Lord, and there is no other;

besides me there is no god.

I arm you, though you do not know me,6so that they may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is no one besides me;I am the Lord, and there is no other.

7I form light and create darkness,I make weal and create woe;

I the Lord do all these things.

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Grace to you and peace.

2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you

in our prayers, constantly 3remembering before our God and

Father your work of faith and labour of love andsteadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4For we

know, brothers and sisters*beloved by God, that he has

chosen you, 5because our message of the gospel came to you

not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit

and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of

people we proved to be among you for your sake. 6And you

became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite ofpersecution you received the word with joy inspired by the

Holy Spirit,7so that you became an example to all the believers

in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For the word of the Lord has

sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but

in every place where your faith in God has become known, so

that we have no need to speak about it. 9For the people of those

regions*report about us what kind of welcome we had among

you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and

true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised

from the deadJesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is

coming.

Matthew 22:15-22

15Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he

said. 16So they sent their disciples to him, along with the

Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and

teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show

deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the

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emperor, or not? 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, Why

are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the

coin used for the tax. And they brought him a denarius. 20Then

he said to them, Whose head is this, and whose title?

21

Theyanswered, The emperors. Then he said to them, Give

therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperors,

and to God the things that are Gods. 22When they heard this,

they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

True Loyalty Belongs to God Alone15Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he

said. 16So they sent their disciples to him, along with the

Herodians. Two opposing groups sought to trick Jesus. One

group the Pharisees saw true loyalty and rule belonged to

the Jews. The Herodians thought rule came from Herod and

allegiance to Caesar. No matter how Jesus answered their

questions it wouldnt be the rightanswer. It was truly atrick question.

20 pigeons sat on the branches of a tree. A man shot 1 pigeon

with his gun. How many were left on the tree?

None. The rest flew away.

Why is it against the law for a person living in New York to be

buried in California?

He is alive

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A clerk at a butcher shop stands five-feet ten-inches tall and

wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?

Meat.

Where they afraid of the true answer? Or did they truly

wish to know the Christ who was the Messiahthe only true

King. Would their allegiances to other things besides God

get in the way of true faith?

True authority comes not from human sources but from the very

God that grants life. How misguided we can become and

trapped by the temptations of those who seek to rule over usthose in Jesusday feared the rule of othersyet Jesus makes it

clear that we must give to God what is Gods (that is ourselves

as we belong to God through the sacrament of Holy Baptism)

and give to Caesar what is his.

O Father of all grace preserve now our rulers in their

knowledge of you and your pure word. May they knowthemselves to be in the midst of wolves, and surely not

altogether free from dangers influence, especially in these evil

and perverse times. Guard them against all abuse of their

authority. Since they have the means to assist many sad,

forsaken, and sinning souls, send your Spirit upon them that they

may accomplish many great things to the praise and glory of

your Word, Amen. (Luther)

Application

1.

Truly, we give you Lord all that we have knowing it is a

trust from you alone.

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a.

Then he said to them, Give therefore to the

emperor the things that are the emperors, and to

God the things that are Gods. 22When they heard

this, they were amazed; and they left him and wentaway.

b.We give thee but thine own, Whater that gift may be;

all that we have is thine alone, A trust O Lord, from

thee.

2.In spite of the wickedness and contrary work of the world

serve God and God alone.

a.

3remembering before our God and Father your work

of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope inour Lord Jesus Christ. 4For we know, brothers and

sisters* beloved by God, that he has chosen you,

5because our message of the gospel came to you not in

word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit

and with full conviction; just as you know what kind

of people we proved to be among you for your sake.

6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, forin spite of persecution you received the word with joy

inspired by the Holy Spirit,

3.May we earnestly pray for God to aid us in truly giving to

God what is His and order our lives to give honor to His

name.

a.The First Commandment You shall have no other

gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love and

trust in God above all things.

b.

, Give therefore to the emperor the things that are

the emperors, and to God the things that are

Gods. 22When they heard this, they were amazed;

and they left him and went away.

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