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You could be seated in our new house. Yo, if you're in the overflow, shout out to God in the overflow. Oh, y'all crazy back there. Shout out to God in the overflow. Come on, we can see you. Give him praise back there. Come on. Go crazy back there. We can see you just. I just feel like it was a rough morning for me, but right now I just feel gratitude, and I don't even know who this is for. I just. One more prophetic word, and this ain't prophet lion, straight from the word of God. I like. I like this in Psalm 126, those who sow in tears in one season. I've shed some tears since January. You're gonna reap with shouts of joy. You believe that? That tears give way to joy. You believe that? Preach. Man of God. How old are. Before I jump into the proclamation of God's word, I just have a. I have three people I just want to honor really quickly. Four people, really. And then we're going to jump into the proclamation of God's word. You're going to get tired of me saying this, but there's new people here. And every time I say this, I just want to remind you that God is able and that he does not lie in his word. There is a woman in the room who the doctors told us she'll never have children because she had a damaged cervix. But she was a woman of faith and a woman of prayer. So she went home and she laid her hands on the prayers of Hann, and she believed God. And she said, God, if you give me a son, I will give him back to you. And God performed the creative miracle in her womb, and God gave her a son. Her name is Sharon Mitchell, my mother. And she's in the room right now. And the Lord ain't stopped there. He just embarrassed the devil and gave her. My sister Mary over there, Gary Mitchell, right there, Right here. One of the greatest gifts that's come into our lives. A 2819 consultant, one of the most brilliant minds in this generation. A global consultant for Corporations and Fortune 500 corporations. And she's a friend and family of our house and just brilliant. She's iconic, and she's a blessing to us. And she's here today, all the way from Houston. Would you help me honor the incomparable Ms. Ivy McGregor sitting right over there? And then lastly, one of my closest friends in this life is in this house. Mighty man of God. Similar testimonies. Used to be out in the street wilding out drugs, alcohol, shootouts. God saved him. He passed a great church in Florida called Celebration Church. He's one of the most godliest, one of the most integral, one of the. Listen. One of my closest friends in this life. One of the greatest blessings in my life. I couldn't even get through the season without him. I want you to help me honor one of America's greatest pastors. My friend, Pastor Tim Timberlake is in the house right here. All right, we're about that business. Now. If you are guests, we welcome you to 2819. If you are a digital disciple, watching me live right now across America and around the world, we welcome you 28:19. And if you are not a follower of Jesus Christ and you're in this room, in the overflow, watching me across that camera, we know that you're in here. We're thankful that you're here. We want you to know that you can belong before you believe. You could be amongst us before you believe. Our prayer is that as you're sitting in these holy gatherings, a day will come where you will hurl yourself on the altar of Christ and that you will come into this great family, that you would be saved and your name will be recorded in the Lamb's book of life before time has run out. Because time is running out. Okay. And we write now are in week eight of a brand new series called Entry and End Times. We are studying the final days of the life of Christ, his final actions and his final words. Today our text is coming From Matthew chapter 22, verses 15 through 22. Spirit of the living God, we feel your presence in this building. We thank you, Lord, that you are the God of the impossible. We thank you, Lord, you are our shepherd. You bring us through valleys into greener pastures. We thank you, Lord, for this divine moment where we break the seals on a brand new chapter of 2019 church. We thank you, Lord, for the miraculous thing you have done for us. We pause to give you honor and glory. And Father God, I come against every demonic force right now arrayed against 2019. Yes, I do. I come against every demonic force operating in the country, against this ministry. I come against every witch and warlock that's in this room. The curses are not more powerful than the Holy Spirit. I come against every plant of the devil, every undercover operative that's in this room in the overflow. We rebuke you in the name of Jesus. You have no authority here. The power of the Holy Spirit is greater than your witchcraft. And father, we pray you would save the witch that is in the room. Save the warlock that is in the room. Save the person that the devil sent to do incantations against. Save that person. God, let them come up against the iron dome of prayer that their stuff can't get through in the name of Jesus and falls flat on the floor. God, we pray, God, they will be throwing themselves on the altar saying they met a greater power before this time is ahead, before this time is over. God, I pray, spirit of the living God, you would walk up and down these new roads, these new aisles, that you would arrest the attention of the sons and daughters. Hey, pour out your spirit upon us, Lord, and help me even right now in my own weakness, I could confess to proclaim your glorious word. Ask for help now in the mighty look up that word. And the majestic. Look up that word. And the matchless. Look up that word. Name of our Lord and soon coming king Jesus Christ and all God's people said amen and amen and Amen. Now family, as I marvel at the implications of this text this week, I was reminded of one of the publications that I love so much. It's called the Voice of the Martyrs. And the Voice of the Martyrs is a publication that follows the persecuted church outside of the United States of America. It is that publication on social media and used to be in print, that chronicles for us the stories of our brothers and sisters all around the world who, who don't get a chance to enjoy the freedoms that you and I take for granted. The freedom to gather in safety, the freedom to worship in safety, the freedom to come into rooms like this and go out into parking lot and there's nobody out there waiting to chop off your head. It is that publication that chronicles for us the real stories of pastors who've been dragged out of their churches on Sunday morning and beheaded right in front of their families. It chronicles the stories of pastors and people who watch their buildings burned down by militia. Listen. It chronicles the stories of Christians all around the world who are wrestling with this very real tension, hear me, between God and government, that they're living in nations with tyrannical leaders who are hostile towards Christianity. And it's in those nations they have to fight with the laws they have to obey against the persecution for the spread of the gospel. And it's in those nations they are currently, right now, as I'm preaching to you this Sunday morning, they're on the other side of the world wrestling with that clash between God and government. I seen this firsthand when I was in Turkey, a countryman Where Christianity almost does not exist. Where we had to take off our shoes to walk into the mosque and we had to honor the laws of the nation to go into the mosque. And wrestling between do we obey God or do we obey the government? Man, people are wrestling with that all around the world. Here in America, you got a little taste of that during the pandemic when the government said in certain states you can't gather. Do we take the vaccine or not take the vaccine? Do we wear masks or not take masks? You got some churches gathered all the way through. You got churches like ours in Georgia when they say you can't gather. Two years with no gathering at all. And it's this real tension we felt during the pandemic between God and government. Hear me. That tension, I believe in America is going to heat up for a day is coming. I'm telling you right now. They're going to pass laws against the scriptures. They will say laws like man. If you preach that in the word of God, it is hate speech. If you say, man, this is biblical marriage, it is hate speech. If you say from the pulpit, a man can't marry a man and a woman can't marry a woman, it's hate speech. We in the United States of America. Watch me. A day is coming, but we're gonna feel that tension between God and government and that we're gonna have to make a decision. Do we obey God or do we obey presidents? And do we obey God even if it cost you? I'm talking to American. You know nothing about that. Do we obey God? Watch this. Even if it costs you your life? That's what they're going to deal with in the Great Tribulation, right? When the Antichrist comes to power. Read your Bible. But they will have to make a decision. Following Christ will cost the majority of them. Watch their life. Do we take the mark of the beast? Do we not take the mark of the beast? If we don't take the mark? Can't buy, can't sell. No house, no 401k, no job, no gas, no food. But I have Christ. Will Christ be enough for you? No. Some of you can't handle that heat. You can't choose between Christ and all discomfort Christ and eating out of a trash can. Or the Antichrist that have food in my fridge. How about that for a decision? The conflict between God and government. This is the tension at the center of our text. You recall that when this text began, I told you that Jesus rides into Jerusalem and what will be the final week of his life. He rides into Jerusalem on a Sunday. He will be crucified on that Friday. He curses a fig tree as a sign of his denunciation of the nation of Israel. He goes to the temple and he cleanses the temple of Watch. Financial corruption in the temple. He's trying to do that right now, trying to cleanse the American church of financial corruption. Listen, don't tell me the spirit of God said 28,000 of y'all gotta bring me a seed for $4,000 right now. No, you lie on the Holy Spirit. And he cleanses the temple of financial corruption. He heals in the temple. He teaches in the temple. And then the pastors of the day, the Pharisees, the spiritual sect that was responsible for leading the nation of Israel, watch closer towards God. But they was really leading the people closer to themselves. We see pastors do this all across the country right now. They're not leading people closer to Christ. They're leading people to themselves. We see ministers building altars to themselves and idols to themselves. And everything they're doing is unto themselves. So when you hear us speak, we are the gods of the story. We are Christ of the story. And our preaching eclipses Christ from being seen in the hearts of people. Christ is not exalted. Man is exalted. We don't read the Scriptures Christologically, we read the scriptures to just find your next blessing in the word of God, right? And here comes the pastors of the day, and they roll up on Christ in the temple and they confront him, who gave you that authority? And he confronts them back with a question, and they can't answer his question. And then what he unleashes on them is a trilogy of three powerful parabolic stories that all pronounce judgment on these Pharisees. You remember them. The story of the two sons, which is a rejection of God the Father. The parable of the vineyard, which is a rejection of Christ the Son. The parable of the wedding feast, which is a rejection of the Holy Spirit. Man, the Lord made sure he gave him three. One for the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they reject all three of them. They categorically reject all of God. And now they got to make a decision. They've heard truth. Watch. Just like us. They've heard truth. They've heard Jesus speak. You think in this moment, the right thing to do is repent, to turn. You just heard Christ pronounce eternal judgment on you. You think the right thing to do is repent. But no, they don't repent. They don't do that. No, they don't do that. They decide, hear me, we're going to clap back at the Lord Jesus Christ. And they will clap back at Christ with three questions as an attempt to trap him in his words. In front of thousands of people who are listening to this dialogue today, we unpack the first of those three questions. The other two are coming right behind me. Matthew, chapter 22, verse 15. This is in response to the parables. Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. Stop. No, they don't repent. They have a hardness of heart. They leave from hearing those parables. They go off and they have a private conference. And in that conference, they are plotting how we can entangle Christ in his words. Like they have not understand that he is the living word and that you have been subdued by his wisdom. But it's not enough. His wisdom is not enough. His teachings is not enough. They go off and plot how they can entangle him in his words. Family, listen to me right here in this text, we see, man, the great depravity of human beings whose hearts are so hardened they cannot hear truth. They will not repent. They will not turn. This is a dangerous place for people to be in. Hear me. When your heart is so hardened, nobody can correct you. I'm talking to some of you. You are in a dangerous place when you can't be coached, you can't be counseled, you can't be told what to do. Every time somebody comes to you, you have an excuse. You gotta push back, you gotta clap back. It is a bad thing to be a person who's not coachable. It's a bad thing to be a person who can't be confronted. It's a bad thing to be a person that can't be corrected. And what the Pharisees are, are people who are not coachable, can't be confronted, can't be corrected. Watch the Pharisees displayed to us in this text. And people watch who are lacking. Watch this word conviction, which is a gift from God, man. I was preaching in Dallas last month and a young man came up to me after I was finished, and he had tears in his eyes saying, man, pastor, can you pray for me? Why? I feel convicted. What are we praying about? Well, man, I was thinking things that wasn't right, and I was doing things that wasn't right. And the Lord was convicting me in my heart. I said, well, good. Then there's nothing for us to pray about. You are in a Good place. When you feel conviction from the Lord. Listen, I want to encourage some of you who are younger believers. Sometimes you feel conviction. You confuse that with condemnation. There is no condemnation in Christ, but there is conviction in Christ. Hear me. And every time you feel convicted by the Holy Spirit, watch this. That is a sign that God is being. Watch this. A father to you. That God has watched his Word loving on you. It is a loving father that disciplines his children. Hebrews, chapter 12. I'm just pointing the Scriptures to you. So whenever you feel convicted, that is a sign. Hear me. That your heart is in a good place. That your heart is palatable towards God, that your heart is sensitive to God. A more dangerous place to be in is when you can sin and go to sleep. When you could do people wrong and it don't bother you. You where you could do evil and be at peace. If you can sin and go to sleep, you are in a dangerous place. If you can sin and it not bother you, you're in a dangerous place. But I am thankful that the Lord loves me so much. He takes the time to punch me in my soul when I do wrong. Is there anybody else in this building today that is thankful that the Lord loves you so much he'll punch you in your soul when you do wrong. Go back and apologize. Say I'm sorry to that person. Go make it right with your husband. Go make it right with your wife. Watch this. Let's go deeper. Go apologize to your child. Go apologize to your children. Go tell the child you barked on unnecessarily. Mom and dad, we're sorry. Mom and dad is frustrated. Mom and dad is going through like. Children don't deserve that honor. I'm trying to. Right? So watch. It is a blessing from God when you feel conviction from the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees feel no conviction. Their hearts are hardened. Their hearts are seared. They are drunk on pride and envy, which dulls the heart to sin. They are so jealous of Christ they can't hear the word of God, right? So they go off and they plot. And look at the plot that they come up with. Verse 16. Everybody pay attention to the text. And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians, saying, stop. Look at verse 16, part A. They sent their disciples to them. So now they have just been embarrassed in front of a crowd of thousands. They determined in their minds, we can't go talk to him. Everybody's watching. Oh, we got a plot. We'll take our disciples. These would have been young men, teenagers, early Twenties. We'll send them to Jesus. Since the Lord never saw them before, we'll send them as covert operatives. Maybe he won't recognize them. Watch. Maybe he'll go easy on them because they're young. Maybe he won't treat them so rough because they're teenagers. So they send operatives to the Lord. That's why you got to be careful when you're dealing with people. You got to be careful when you're dealing with COVID operatives. They send these younger Pharisees. Watch. To the Lord, but not by themselves. They also send the Herodians. Now, this is crazy to me. Now, everybody pay attention. In the first century ad, The Pharisees and the Herodians were enemies with one another, right? The Pharisees was a Jewish sect. Watch. That. Hated Rome, hated the laws of Rome, hated the taxes of Rome. The Herodians descend from King Herod, who was a puppet king set up by Rome over Galilee, over Judea, over these areas in Palestine. The Herodians were pro Rome, pro taxes, pro everything Roman government. These two people watch. These two groups hated one another. But here they are going together to come against the Lord Jesus Christ. It's powerful because we see how truth can make friends who were formerly enemies together as one. That truth has a way of bringing enemies to become friends. Man, y'all see this all the time. When you see dudes, man on social media, always got something negative to say about a speaker, and then they got somebody else over here who hates them. But now y'all both are jealous of the same person. So now you end up on each other's podcast, and now you on each other's channel. And now y'all watch. Y'all have mutual sin against that person that you jealous of. Y'all get that when you go home, right? Y'all didn't like each other last month, but because you hate that one person, now you want each other's channel. Now you're doing each other's podcast. Y'all both are miserable in sin. Right? Here we also see something you need to protect yourself from. Something I call acquired offense. This is when someone you don't have beef with somebody else goes to you, sours your heart about that person. And now you hate somebody you had no problems with before. And what the. I'm trying to Sister. And what the Pharisees did, they go and they soil the hearts of the Herodians. We need y'all to come. Why they gotta trap Jesus either by law or force. So they go get a group that's Close to the king, so they could trap Jesus in his words. So here are these young men, the Pharisees and the Herodians. Now look what they say to the Lord. Verse 16, part B. Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully. And you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Stop. So these young men, they go to the Lord and listen to the first word they say. Teacher. Rabbi. They come with a word of endearment, a word of affection. And then everything they say about him. Watch. They try to now inflate his ego, and they try to inflate his heart, and they try to butter him up. Watch. We see people do this all the time. People. Watch. Who come to you with lips as smooth as oil. But inside their hearts they are wicked. I need to talk to some of you. Because some of you, you have affinity for people who are serpents. You deceived by their charm and you deceived by their smile, and you deceived by their title. They have lips as smooth as oil. They got a beautiful charisma. But inside their hearts they are wicked and evil and dark. Watch. Listen to me. This is why I'm going to tell you a thousand times. So long as I'm the pastor, this church, you need to have this gift called watch. Discernment watch. Which comes over time. The more time you spend in God's word, the more time you spend in prayer, the more time you spend with the Holy Spirit, the more you increase in discernment. So that when you talk to people who are serpents, you feel static in your soul. You'll be shaking their hand and be like, something is off with this person. Watch. They be gaslighting you, filling you with all that stuff, inflating your head. Gaslighting. But in your heart, you'll be like, I hear you talking, but I know you don't mean nothing that you say. See, this is why. Watch. This is why your discernment got to be stronger than your insecurities. See, some of us be so insecure. Somebody come and tell you you're beautiful, you're pretty, you're all of this in your bag of chips, scheming on the cookie jar, scheming on the box, right? But if you're weak on the inside and you're insecure on the inside, you get inflated by all of that flattery. And then the snake wraps around you and chokes the life out of you, sinks their fangs into you. And now, four years from now, you're saying about your heart was broken. I'm trying to, sister. This is why we got to be careful with flattery. Matter of fact, the scripture says something about flattery. In Proverbs, chapter 29 and verse 5, the Scripture says, a man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. That's why you got to be careful not to be ensnared by the words of people. Watch. Who butter you up on the outside, but don't have your best interests on the inside. You know, somebody that loves you, somebody that would tell you you're doing a good job. Watch. But they love you enough to tell you. Man, you need to get this straight. In this area, how do you have a best friend that can't tell you about yourself? I was in the back with one of my best friends. He was saying, yeah, I know in the first gathering, this didn't go right, and you didn't like that. But look at all the people walking in. But look at all of this. But look at what God has done. See, that's what friends are supposed to do. That's a gentle rebuke saying, Philip, fix your eyes on what the Lord is doing and not on the things that you're frustrated about. How do you have a best friend that can't correct you if your best friend is a yes friend? If they got to walk on eggshells to tell you you stink in this area? So we got to have enough discernment to not get bought into empty flattery. That's what they're doing. So watch and notice. Look, pay attention to the text. Watch the text. Everything they said about him is true. I'm almost done. They call him teacher. He was one. They say you are true. He is true. They say you teach the way of God truthfully. He did do that. He said you don't care about anyone's opinions, which means he's not swayed by what people say. He will tell the truth. He did that. They said you're not swayed by appearances. He was not. Everything they said about the Lord was true. But their lips was full of evil. Their hearts is full of evil. That's why it's not enough to just have conversations with people who tell you things you want to hear. Listen to me carefully, man. You got to be careful when you're talking to people you don't know well that keep telling you things you want to hear. Why are you trying to get close? Why are you trying to cozy up? Why you flattering me right now? Why you. But you Wasn't paying me any attention last year. Now all of a sudden, I'm awesome and I'm a bag of chips. Watch. Come on. What you really want? Oh, you want the box? You want a platform? You want a collab to get on my page? I'm just trying to help some of my sisters out. Especially with men who have bad motives. All they want is the box and they out. I know she said, dang, I should have brought my boyfriend today. Like, y'all gonna have to have a conversation when you get to Chipolay. We going to Chipolol when this is over. Y'all gonna have to talk when y'all get there. All this stuff you've been telling me, is that really in your heart? Now watch the text. Watch. Now that they think they have Christ inflated. They think they have inflated his mind and inflated his heart. Neither. They think he's swollen with all that inflation. And watch. He let his guard down. Now they think his guard is down because they have. They have inflated him so high with all of this flattery. They think his guard is down. Now they pull out the knife, the dagger of deceit, and they just try to stick in a knife. Here comes the first question of controversy. And then they say to him in verse 17, Teacher, tell us, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Now, family, on the surface, this question means nothing to you. But in the first century, this question is a bombshell. Why? Because in the first century, the Jews are living underneath Roman occupation. And one of the things the Jews hated the most was the heavy taxation system of the Roman government. The Roman government enforced a very heavy, burdensome taxation system that the Jews hated to pay these taxes. They had a tax for everything. And although that tax was used to fund the Roman Empire, that everybody would enjoy the graces of the Roman Empire, like mail and roads and a military and peace, like the Pax Romana and aqueducts that brought in water. Some of those taxes was used to educate, inflate the pockets of the Caesars. Some of those taxes was used for things that was blasphemous. Some of those taxes was used to support temples to false gods. And the people of Israel will feel crushed and weighted down by these taxes. This was the issue of the day. It was big. It was huge. It was monumental. Now, everybody pay attention. They ask him. Now watch. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Now pay attention. If he says, pay your taxes, watch. He sides with the Herodians. Gosh, it's so Powerful. He angers the Pharisees and then all of the people who are listening. He loses credibility with all the Jews, thousands of them who hated paying taxes. So he can't say that if he says, don't pay the tax, he sides with the watch with the Pharisees. He angers the Herodians who now will instantly go back and tell the king, there is an insurrectionist down here who doesn't want to pay taxes. Now he has to be punished by the Roman government. So either way, he's trapped. If he says pay the tax, he's trapped. If he says don't pay the tax, he's trapped. We got him. But Christ is more than a man. So watch. Everybody pay attention. I'm almost done. He's trapped. Either way he answer, he's going to be in trouble. Either in trouble with the people or in trouble with Rome. Now, not everybody watch the wisdom of Jesus very carefully. How does the Lord respond to this question? This trap verse, Pay attention. Verse what verse am I on? Okay, you're paying attention. Verse 18. But Jesus, watch this word aware. You know, that's called discernment. You know what you need discernment. Jesus, aware of their malice, said, why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Just stop for a second. I just got. I got. I don't. I gotta just talk about that. He's talking to young men, but baby faces, right? But, but he. He calls them out for what they are. God forbid anybody talk like that. You say, are we judgmental? We self righteous? He didn't say, why do you put me to the test, you young Pharisees? Why do you put me to the test, you Herodians? No, why do you put me to the test, you hypocrites? You deceitful men. He calls them exactly what they are, that you. Sometimes you can't be afraid to call people exactly what they are. Man, come on, man, y'all playing around with me. Not that long ago, we was working on a ministry project and there was a man who was giving us a hard time blocking the church from doing this project. And one of my staffers who was wary, called me, said, pastor Phillip, we got an issue. This man is blocking us from doing what we got to do. He told me the whole story and I said, listen to me. He said, man, we should just pray for him. I said, nah, we ain't praying for him. I said, no, he's a son of the devil. He's a plant of Satan. Satan planted him there to block us from Going forward. So I called up Rhonda. True story. I said, rhonda, we got a son of the devil trying to block us from moving forward. Get the whole prayer team, and y'all start praying against that son of Satan. True story or no, y'all start praying. I called him exactly what he was. I ain't call him friend, I ain't call him brother. I ain't call him none of that. I said, he's a son of the devil, and we're gonna pray against him. And we got down on our knees that night and we said, lord, we pray against this operative of the devil. We pray you would remove him from that place. We pray you would expose his evil. We pray you pull a skirt up on him. Shine the light. In that moment, God, let the work of the church go forward, Lord, in the name of Jesus. And we pray. The next day we found out he lost his position. Thank God we got a God that hears his children when they pray. The next day, he lost his position. And the people he worked for found out that he was a liar and a deceit, and they removed him from his position. And the work of the ministry continued seeing. But if you want to be so soft, you. You want to. You want to be so emotive. You love reading your little. Your little cupcake devotionals. So when, so when. So when the devil sends somebody into your life in the form of a penis or in the form of a woman or in the form of somebody on your job, you don't have enough discernment and enough strength to pray against that right? Because you think everybody's your friend. And you think, man, come on. You think everybody's your friend. You think everybody. Everybody got your best interest at heart. No, you better. You better know that there's some people the devil plants. Let me say that again. There are some people the devil. Watch this word plants. Did you not hear the parable of the wheat and the field, the tears and the wheat. You got to wake up. There's some people on your job. Up. I'm about to go deeper. There are people in your family. There are people in your family got your last name. Who the devil has planted to frustrate you. And you gotta know how to pray. It ain't bless them, Lord, it's remove them, Lord. Somebody give Jesus praise in this house. We pray your little soft cotton candy cupcake. Bless them though they are son of Satan, Lord, we pray you would deal with them. Break their flesh. Remove them out the way, God, we pray you pull up Their skirt reveal all of their evil. Lord, what we talking about? Expose every song of the devil that's trying to operate in my circle. I pray you would expose them. I pray you pull up their skirt. I pray God, you let the light shine in God. A demonic plot that's brought to the light is already halfway defeated. I'll be praying like that all the time. When people come around me, I'll be feeling what's on them. They don't even know. Shake their hand, won't be their friend. Because you owe everybody love. You don't owe everybody access. Now, I don't owe you that. Your motives ain't right. I don't owe you access. I owe you love. I don't owe you access. Access got to be earned through consistency and faithfulness and godliness. We don't owe nobody access. We only owe you love. Stop letting your heart be a freeway for every single person. Your heart ain't no freeway. You got to know how to watch what the Bible says. Guard. You guard it with the word. You guard it with prayer. You guard it with discernment. You guarded with accountability. Come on, man. You guarded with Tim Timberlake. Yo, shout out Tim Timberlake. That man be having dreams like, yo, man, be prophesying to me like, Philip, I see this happening around you. You better watch that person. Thank you very much, Tim Timberlake. Pray a circle around that person. You better have a friend with a prayer life. You better have a friend that know Jesus for real. Now watch. I'm landing the plane. Now pay attention to what happens next. Watch. Jesus says in verse 19, show me the darn coin for the tax. And they brought to him a denarius. Now everybody watch. Pay attention. Everybody pay attention. He says to them, show me the coin. So powerful, he already knew what was on it. He said, show me the coin. They put in his hand a denarius. A denarius was a silver coin that circulated around Rome. It was worth a day's wage. On one side of the coin was minted the figure of the emperor Caesar. And the other side of the coin was minted inscriptions that said, caesar was the son of God. Now watch. The Jews hated carrying this coin. I'm almost done. The Jews hated carrying this coin because this coin was blasphemous. And every time they used this coin, it reminded them that they was under Roman oppression. And it reminded them that they was watched. They had in their pocket the idols of Rome. On one side of the coin, the face of Caesar. While he's alive, we mint Coins today. But the coins that we've minted, the faces of people who are dead in that time. The Caesars were so prideful. They will mint their coins with their own faces while they was alive. And on the backside, an inscription that says, the Son of God. Watch. So this violated for the Jews the second commandment that God gave them. You should make no graven images. So every time they carry that coin, they know they're carrying something blasphemous in their pocket. And they hated that coin. Watch this. And they hated taxes. How does the Lord respond? Now, this is monumental. One of the most famous statements of the Lord Jesus Christ in church history. Verse 20. And Jesus said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? And they said, caesar's. Then he said to them, therefore, watch. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's unto God the things that are God's. Now stop right there, man. This statement is one of the most famous statements of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this statement during the Reformation that gave rise to the distinction of the authority between the Church and the government. It is this statement that the founding fathers created the doctrine of the separation of church and state, which was not designed to help the government. It was designed to keep the government from infringing laws on faith. Watch. Jesus said to them, watch. Give me the coin. Whose image is this on the coin? Now pay attention. They say caesar's image on the coin. He says, render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Now, everybody pay attention. He did not say, give Caesar taxes. In the Greek, the word render means give back to somebody what you owe them. That is, since Caesar minted his image on the coin, the coin belongs to Caesar. And since the coin belongs to Caesar, give back to Caesar what you owe him. That coin belongs to him. Give it back to him. Watch. This was Christ creating the Christian ethic. Watch. Of being submissive to God, governmental authority. That what we owe the government. Watch. Is taxes and compliance with laws and following ordinances like traffic laws. Like not parking in a handicap if you're not handicapped. Like not cheating on your taxes, not bending documents to get more money in your pell. Grant. This is. Watch this. This is Jesus teaching all of us who are followers. Watch. I want y'all to be. Watch this word. Model citizens. I want you to be the type of citizens under any government that you obey the government to such a degree that when people see you, they say something is different about that person. Man. The laws are tough, but they obey the laws are difficult, but they obey this. The Lord was Creating the ethic watch. Of being submitted to authority. He was teaching us. Watch. Not to be rebellious towards authority, but to give Caesar what you owe him. To not be rebellious towards authority. That we have to learn to be model citizens that follow ordinances. Like, I remember when I was 15 and I was walking down the Avenue Hollis. I'm walking out Hollis and Queens. And I remember an Italian officer, man, he drove by me in his car. He looked me in the eye, and I looked him in the eye. We made eye contact and I kept walking. He came around the block, jumped out the car, grabbed me by my neck, smashed me up against a brick wall. And he put his Glock to the back of my head. And then he said to me, watch. Say something. No phones, no iPhones, no cameras, no recording. And his Glock is pressed up against my head. Say something. Watch. Now, in that moment, I hear the voice of my mother all the time harassing me. Oh, son. She turned it down. Oh, son, obey the Holy Spirit. Oh, son, obey God. Oh, son, obey authority. Oh, son, obey the cops. Oh, son, stop getting in trouble with the police. Oh, son, obey your elders. Obey your elders. Obey authority. My mother and father constantly trying to teach me to obey authority. And in that moment, I hear her voice, and in that moment, I got to decide which one will be stronger, my ego or my submission, right? I could flex in that moment and not obey the authority because my ego will be stronger than my logic. Or I can submit and walk away with my life. And if I don't submit in that moment, man, I'm hurled into eternity by a cop's bullet. And I know there's bad cops out there. We know that. We know there's cops. Who's evil? Man, there's evil people in every. In every industry preaching all that stuff. But, man, not every killing of a black man was because of a bad cop. Some of that is because we have not taught our children to be watch. Obedient to authority. That some of the stuff that we bring upon ourselves when we provoke authority. And what the Lord is teaching us in this moment is to be model citizens that obey the laws of the land even when they hurt. Listen. After Jesus is resurrected, we see the evidence of this in the teachings of his followers. Romans chapter 13 and verse 1. The apostle Paul writes to a church he did not found. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. Listen, be a model citizen. For there is no authority except from God. And those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities, resist what God has Appointed. And those who resist will incur what judgment. For the rulers are not a terror to those who have good conduct, but to those who are bad. Would you have no fear for the one who's in authority? Then do what is good. Be a model Christian and you will receive his approval. For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you better be afraid. Prison is coming. Jail is coming. A bullet is coming. A ticket is coming. The IRS is coming. Be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger man who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection. Don't have a spirit of rebellion. Not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes to the authorities and ministers of God attending to this very thing. Pay to all what you owe them. If you have debt, pay it. Stop trying to carry debt to your grave. Pay your taxes. Stop cheating on those documents. Pay taxes to whom taxes are owed. Revenue to whom revenue is owed. Respect to whom respect is owed. Honor to whom honor is owed. You know what the Lord is saying. You know what Paul is saying. Watch. Be a model citizen. He is establishing for us this truth. That you are citizens of a nation and citizens of heaven. And while we are citizens of a nation, I want you to be model citizens. Pay your taxes, obey authority. Don't have a rebellious spirit towards authority. Teach your children to be obedient towards authority. Man. First Peter Man, I'm just quoting the Scriptures to you. First Peter, chapter two. We see this in the evidence of Peter, verse 13. Be subject to the Lord's sake for every human institution, whether it be the emperor as supreme or to governor is sent by him to punish those who do evil, to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God. By doing good you should put the Silence ignorance for foolish people. I'm quoting the Bible to you. Live as people who are free. Not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, Honor the Emperor. He says be obedient into authority. Is there a time when you should not obey authority? Yes. I don't got time to read it. You can go read it for yourself. It's in Acts, chapter four. You can go read Acts chapter four. Peter and John goes up to the temple. They pray to heal a man. The Pharisees see the man heal. They confer to themselves what are we going to do? If everybody see this man healed, they're going to believe the preacher they call Peter and John and says, listen, stop preaching in the name of Jesus. They say back to him, whether it's good for us to obey you or not, we don't know. But we cannot stop preaching the name of Jesus. So when do we disobey authority? We disobey authority when the laws of the land. Watch. Cause us to disobey God. Now, family, watch. Watch. Everybody pay attention. Don't move. Watch this. But the Lord ain't stopped there. He didn't just say, render unto Caesar the thing that is Caesar's. He said, render unto God the things that are God's. Now, follow the text. This is a parallel verse. He takes a coin and he says, whose image is on the coin? Caesar's. That since Caesar's image is on the coin, give it back to him. There is a hidden question in the text. Since it's a parallel verse. The question you should be asking, asking them, whose image is on you? You already know the answer. Genesis 1:26. In the beginning, God said, let us make man in our image and after our likeness. So since Caesar's image is on the coin. Caesar minted his image on a coin, therefore the coin belongs to him. Here is the parable. Since God minted his image on you, you. Therefore, you belong to God. And he said, because you belong to God, you need to give him back what you owe him. And what do you owe God? You owe Him. Everything that Caesar wanted. That you cannot give the government. Worship, praise, homage, loyalty, allegiance. Watch this word. Surrender. Watch this one. You know what the Lord wants from you since you've been minted in his image. He wants your whole life. Watch these two words in totality. But that's not the case, though, for this thousand of us. Listen to me right now. You have not rendered unto God everything that belongs to Him. He can't tell you what to do with your money. He can't tell you what to do with your marriage. He can't tell you what to do with your kids. He can't tell you what to do with your dreams. Your will is stronger than him. Your dreams are stronger than him. Man, you have all these areas of your heart. You won't let God in you. Holding people in unforgiveness for years. But the scripture says, forgive. You got past trauma. You won't let God heal. You won't let him to tell you to handle your budget. You won't let him tell you to do what? Your husband or your wife, all in this room right now. I already know that people all across this room watching right now. You have not rendered unto God your whole self. You have not given yourself to God in totality. Look at me. You know what I am today, Philip Anthony Mitchell? I am a free man. And you know I'm a free man. Because you know what? God has burned out of me? He's burned out of me, my will, everything I desired that's outside of his will for me. Me. He's burned that out. And you know what? I am right now a free man. God, you have your way in my marriage. Have your way with my children. Have your way with my ministry. Have my way with your. Listen, Lord, have your way. And there's people in this room right now wrestling with brokenness that God could heal if you would just watch. Fully surrender. His image is on you. That's why every person has worth and value. The person with the microphone and the prostitute that got off the pole last night all got value. And some of you, you have no idea the freedom, the blessing on the other side of a full surrender, you already know. You preach, you sing, you talk, you post. But you got areas of your heart that's not fully rendered unto God. You got people in there. You got unforgiveness in there. He can't tell you what to do with your money. You don't serve, you don't give. You don't pray. You don't read. You don't listen to his word for your marriage, man. You do a little bit of God and a little bit of you, you have not rendered unto him. Listen, his image is on you watch. You belong to him. And since he minted his image in your face, the only response to the one who minted his image on you is a heart fully surrendered totality. And right now, in this room, right now, I'm telling you right now. I see you, brother. It's okay. He ain't the only one. He's just the only real one. There's people in this room, people in that oval. I see you, brother. I see you, sister. I see. I see. Yo, I see you. There are people all across the. It's all right, brother. Right? There's people all. I want to pray right now. You know what? Something about to break in this room. I want to pray right now for every person who knows that there is an area of your heart where you know, I have not fully surrendered this area to God. I have not rendered it to Him. I know I still got unforgiveness. I'm still angry with somebody. I still got trauma. I won't let him heal. I still won't tell him what to do with my money. I still won't let him disciple me into everything he's told me. In his words, you already know who you are. I want to pray for everybody that says, you know what? There is an area I want to lay on the altar today. If that's you, I want to pray for you or just standing to your feet. I didn't even tell you to do that. If I'm. If I'm talking to you and you want this prayer, it's going to cost you something. Everybody I'm talking to in this room, in the overflow. If there's one area you say, you know what, God, I'm about to render this area completely to you. On the other side will be healing and a greater sense of freedom. If that's you, stand to your feet. If I'm not talking to you, stay in your chair. After they heard the teaching of Jesus, the last verse says, they went away. They was astonished. They marveled. How long would you keep back from God what belongs to him? He wants to heal you. He wants to forgive you. He wants to work in that area of your life. And so, Father, right now, in the name of the Holy One, I pray over every son and daughter who has some area of their heart they need to lay on the altar before you. Something with their marriage, something with their friends, something with their finances, something with unforgiveness, something with that, some business, some ministry, something that they have not fully surrendered to you. Lord, in this moment, would you draw them to yourself? Would you give them the grace to fully surrender that part of their heart to you? Father, we want healing. Father, we want freedom. Father, we want revelation. Father, we want to walk out of the prison we've been in so many years. Give them the grace to surrender right now. Lord, I pray the brothers and sisters would hurl themselves on the altar and be fully surrendered to you. Let their wills be surrendered, their businesses, their families, their children. Let it all be surrendered. I pray freedom and healing in areas we've kept back from you. Doors opening, cages opening. People running out of here free. Catch the tears that are falling in this room. Today's the day you forgive somebody you've been holding for a long time. Today is the day you forgive that trauma you've been holding on for a long time. Today is the day you say, lord, not my will, but yours be done. I pray that over them in the mighty Jesus and the majestic hey. Hey. And the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father, bless the gift and the giver and those who will be faithful to sow into this ministry that we could continue to push the gospel out to the ends of the earth. Bless them now in Jesus mighty name, I pray, if you receive something from God, I want you to give him a thunderous, thunderous, thunderous, thunderous praise right now.