Turn to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. This song we just sang is a metaphor and if you've been here and we've sung it before, I've told mentioned it but let the lower lights be burning. There's some of these places where there is lighthouses. There were also smaller lights that were placed strategically along the rocky shoreline.

You could see the lighthouse from a long ways away but as the ship got ships got closer, they needed the lights along the shoreline to help guide them away from the rocks and into the harbor at night. As this metaphor goes in this song, of course, Jesus Christ is the lighthouse. He's the light of the world but we are the lower lights along the shore. And we are also the light of the world as we reflect the light of Jesus Christ, our savior. The title of the message this morning is dual citizenship.

Philippians three twenty says this, for our conversation or citizenship as it's translated in some is in heaven. From whence also we look for the savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray once more before we continue. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you Lord that we who know Christ as savior, have a citizenship better than that of Earth.

A citizenship in heaven. A place in God's family, a home reserved for us, a mansion, and Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ, our savior, and for what you did in coming down to this Earth to die for us that we might in turn become citizens of heaven and Lord, we pray as we live out our life as citizens of Earth that we would live them in light of being citizens of heaven and that we would fulfill our obligations both to God and man by God's grace and that you would guide and direct us to be the light and the salt here that we need to be in this world. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen. Alright.

So, Matthew 22 and we're going to start reading in verse 16. Matthew 22 verse 16. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians saying, master, we know that thou art true and teach us the way of God and truth neither cares thou for any man for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar?

Or taxes? Word for tribute means or not. But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why tempt you me? You hypocrites. Show me the tribute money.

And they brought unto him a penny. Denarius. And he said unto them, whose is this image and this superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's, then saith he unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God, the things that are God's. When they heard this, heard these words, they marveled and left him and went their way.

The Herodians were not friends of Christ. They were friends with the Pharisees and Sadducees and Scribes who were Christ's adversaries. They were hoping along with these others to trick Christ into saying something they could use against him. They figured he was doomed either way this time. No matter what he answered.

But again, they were what? They were disappointed. Because well, who's wiser? Well, Jesus is of course. Not only did he manage to avoid their trap but he also indicated by his answer that one's allegiance to God does not free one from earthly responsibilities particularly in respect to earthly rulers.

It is not only possible but virtuous in most cases to fulfill both. Sure, there are times when obeying God runs contrary to obeying men. In one case, Peter and John concluded, we must obey God rather than men. But in most cases, submission to God includes loyalty and submission to others. As Christ exemplified in his dealings with others while he was here on this Earth.

Including, his Hebrew rulers and his Roman rulers. He was not as he was accused a seditionist. He was not trying to lead a revolt against Rome. He came to die for the Jews and the Romans that they through faith in him might become citizens of heaven as well. You Christian have at least a dual citizenship as citizens of heaven and citizens of earth and as such you have obligations both to God and man.

Obligations with often often overlap. Being loyal to God does not nullify our obligations to man. Proverbs three, three, and four, let not mercy and truth forsake thee. Bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of thine heart. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Now, notice who comes first. Who comes first? God and then man but it does also include man. So, we do have responsibilities both as citizens of heaven and also as citizens of Earth, both to God and man. Here in Luke two fifty two, it reads this, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Again, God and man. Jesus conducted his life in such a way to bring glory to his father in heaven. And to be a good testimony in his relationships, in his dealings with other men on earth even at a very young age. To God, we owe our faith our love, and our service. To God, we owe our sincere worship.

And him only. We owe our sincere praise from our lips as we praised him in song just a few minutes ago. And hopefully, we praise him to our neighbors as well. To God, we owe our prayers for he is the only one to whom we pray. We owe our obedience and our undying loyalty for one who gave his life for us.

As stewards of heaven, we are to use our time and our talents and our God given provisions wisely to bring glory to God and our lips to testify of his holiness, his mercy, and grace. To lay up for ourselves treasure where? In heaven. And not just treasure. On earth.

We owe that and much more to the God who gave his son for us. We could never repay the debt. All he asks is that we love him with all of our what? With all of our heart. And yet as citizens of Earth, where God has placed us, we are obligated also to honor our earthly parents and those who are in authority over us.

What is the fifth commandment? Honor thy father and mother. The first commandment with promise. God does not take lightly how we interact with others in this world. We have responsibilities in regards to them particularly with those who are in authority over us.

Paul writes in Romans 13, he says here, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. In other words, authority comes from who? Authority comes from God. There is no power authority but of God.

The powers that be are ordained of God. God ordained government. Mainly for our good. Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom is due, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor, owe no man anything but love but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Rather than stressing about out about every little detail of the law, Christ says, you just need to show respect and love.

For those around you. Including those who are in authority over you. Which means being compliant with the laws of your land. The rules of your home and the place where you work. Those are important to God.

This isn't the only passage that speaks to that. We are to respect the laws and rulers of our particular land. But most importantly, we are to be salt and light in it. Matthew five thirteen. Ye are the salt of the earth but if the salt have lost his savior, wherewith shall it be salted?

It is thence for good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of man. Jesus' day, the salt they had was often not purified very well. There was a lot of impurities in it. If it got wet or too humid, the salt would dissolve and what would be left behind were the impurities and the impurities. Well, they didn't accomplish anything.

They were ineffective. They didn't taste very good and well, they weren't going to preserve anything and so, not all they were good for was to throw back out in the street. We, Christ says, are the salt of the earth. We must not lose our what? Our savior.

We must not ignore the responsibility we are given. To be salt. And to make a difference. In this world in which we live. Matthew five fourteen through 16, you're the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. In this, we see our responsibility to God to be light in this world but we see that responsibility is also to men because we are to be light to them. So that they will see who? They will see God.

In us. As we live our life of service to Christ, we have an obligation to represent our savior not only in name or word not just in saying, well, I'm a Christian. But in every activity we perform, we are to do all to the glory of who? God. And to bring glory to God in this world.

We have a responsibility to our fellow man, to our world, our nations, our communities, to be the light of Christ to them, and speak up for the interests of our God. We must demonstrate and show Christ to them. We must be willing to speak up in representation for him. To declare the truth to point them to the savior, to warn them of the trappings of the enemy and the destruction which he brings as the scriptures so clearly reveal. Most of them aren't reading the scriptures It is up to us to tell them.

It is up to us to speak up. It is up to us to show them. To be the light. We must take the word of heaven and apply it to the daily activities of earth. So, as to please our father in heaven, but also to show the way of life and righteousness and blessing.

To our fellow citizens of Earth. We have responsibilities toward God but we also have responsibilities to others as citizens of Earth. To show them the way to life, to show them the way of righteousness. And the blessing for certainly, you desire that for your family member and your neighbor and your coworker. We are to love God with all of our heart but also our neighbor as ourself.

Neighbors who need to hear the gospel, who need to see the love of Christ and our kindness toward them. Who need to see the love of Christ in our care for them. It is said, they're not going to care how much you know until they know how much you want. You care. And they need to see and know that we care but they also see to see and know the truth which Satan is trying to rob them of in this dark world.

The light of the world in is in heaven. That's Jesus but he has called us and he's also empowered us to be his lights here and now on earth. You are the lower lights. We are the light of the world. We are also the salt of the earth.

Salt is an agent of preservation which holds back decay and corruption as well as making things taste better. And as we have been placed here to to hold back the decay of sin. We've been placed here to hold back the plans of Satan for this world. As ambassadors for Jesus Christ. Christ is in heaven but he sent us out to be witnesses for him, to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ in this world.

To be the salt of the earth that holds back the decay and holds back the plans of the enemy. And the lives of our fellow citizens. Family members coworkers we are to be the salt of the earth In second Thessalonians, before the antichrist takes hold of this world in the tribulation. The Bible says, there will be something that is holding him back that will be taken away. I believe with all my heart that that is the specific work of the Holy Spirit through the church that will be raptured.

Because we are the salt of the earth. And we have an opportunity to be that salt by our actions, by our words. How do we accomplish this? We accomplish it by being holy in all manner of conduct. To the best of our ability and growing more so every day.

As we draw close to our savior. Be holy, he says, for I am holy. In all manner of conversation or conduct in first Peter, be honest, be fair, Be righteous. In your dealings. In this world, with your neighbors, your friends, your business, be honest and fair and righteous.

Represent your savior well. Be holy. Be sharing the good news of the gospel with those who need it that they might be saved and changed Because the only thing that's going to change your coworker and friend, the only thing that's going to really have a long lasting impact on your community. The place of business where you work is the salvation of lost souls. The only thing that's going to make a difference in their lives for eternity Is their conversion being born again and you and I, we have we have the remedy.

We just need to what? We just need to tell them. We need to be salt. We need to be light to point them to the savior. So, he might change them.

Greatest thing that could happen to our nation is for some of those people in power to get saved and some of those people in power are around Christians. I hope they're giving them the gospel. We be salt, we can be salt and light by teaching others the truth. What is right and what is wrong and be willing to stand for the right and stand for the righteous one. I am unapologetically a Christian.

I believe in the authority of what? The word of God. Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior who came to this Earth and rose again from the dead. There is a right and there is a wrong We will give an account before him someday who is the judge of all men. We need to teach others the truth.

If we're not doing it, who's going to? Is the unsaved world? No. We are the salt and the light. We be salt and light by defending and helping the helpless and the weak.

The widow and the orphan. We have a responsibility to care for those that are hurting. For those who are in need to give of ourselves and sometime our provisions to help those who cannot help themselves to protect those who cannot protect themselves. We are salt and light by doing everything we can in our sphere of influence to keep this world as honoring to God as possible. We're to be salt and light in the world.

We read in Ezekiel this. God says, I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land. That I should not destroy it. But I found none. The Lord was looking for one to stand in the gap for him before the people of Israel.

They had turned to idolatry. They would not repent. Their doom was coming. Judgement was coming. God says, I look for one to take a stand to stand for me before the people He was looking for one who would be a leader.

He was looking for one who would speak up. He was looking looking for one who would get involved. One who would stick out their neck instead of sticking their head in the what? In the sand. As I'm afraid, we as Christians sometimes do.

He was looking for one who would step forward for God and lead the people away from the edge of the cliff but he found none. And over they went as a nation. And judgement came. Are you Christian obligated to get involved to the extent that you can, that you are able, that you have been called? If you haven't noticed, our society is teetering on the edge of the cliff.

And we're all about to go over and when it goes over, in some respects, we go over with it. It is not something to take lightly. God has been kicked out of our public square and are out of our education system. His word has been replaced with the doctrine of devils. And again, I do not say that lightly.

Teaching children that there is no god to whom they are accountable. There's nothing more destructive you can teach a child than that there is no god to whom they are accountable. For then, there will be no fear of God before their what? Before their eyes and the fear of the God, fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. The devil knows what he's doing.

Doctrine of devils. That sinful, immoral living is just a lifestyle choice And that any who would tell them different is a bigot. And just doesn't like them. That is not the doctrine of Christ. That's not what I read in this word.

We need to warn others We need to show them the blessing of doing things God's way and warn them of the consequences of doing things the devil's way. The doctrine of devils that men can choose to be women and women men That they might have been born in the wrong body but that's okay. We can fix it. We can't and it doesn't need to be fixed. What needs to be fixed is man's, not man's body, man's what?

Man's heart. Instead, young people's bodies and lives are being destroyed. By the devil who wants to ruin them forever We are to be the salt and light of the war in a world that devalues human life more and more every day. To where it would seem human life is of no more value than cattle. As such, its life can be ended without remorse or conscience before birth Or late in life?

Notice God didn't say, make things easier on you by taking the life of the would be orphan or the sick widow. But to help them to make their life better. We live in a very selfish world where lives of human beings are taken every day simply because they aren't convenient. It's not convenient to have a baby right now. It's not convenient to take care of my elderly relative.

There are places now in Canada where you can where elderly and sick and mentally disturbed people can make appointments to have a doctor assist them in ending their life. That is not the way of the Lord. That is the way of the enemy of Satan. There is a bill which if I understand correctly has been passed by the house called the Equality Act. I don't know if you've any of heard of the Equality Act.

But if it is implemented to its fullest, it would colleges as we know them, Christian schools, Christian daycares, Christian adoption agencies, other ministries possibly even churches that are not willing to bend the knee to the LGBTQIA plus plus whatever community. And we can't because we must stand with God and we must stand with Jesus and we need to speak the truth Have you noticed that violence is on the rise in The United States? If you watch the news at all, you have mass killings, murders every day in the streets of our inner cities. Given enough time, it will spread to the suburbs and it will spread to the rural parts of our country as well. The world economy is teetering on the verge of collapse and conflicts with mad dictators with their fingers on nuclear missiles are accelerating.

Personally, I don't think they're going to push the button. But, we live in a world that is unraveling morally, spiritually, economically, and in so many other ways. Because it has turned its back on the Lord. We must not turn our back. We must not keep silent just to get along.

We can't. We must be salt and light because whether the world wants it or not, they need it. And we're in. What can we do to stop it? What are you obligated to do to stop it?

Are you obligated? Yes. Say, well, there's nothing I can do to go over in that country and stop that wicked man. There's nothing I can do to go stop those senators or governors or whatever the case may be. Well, wait a second.

Before you just write yourself off. You are obligated to care. To be ambassadors for Christ and representatives of heaven and there are some things you can do. You are not powerless. Particularly in The United States Of America.

But even more so as children of who? As children of God. You can take a stand in your family for the truth and for the savior and represent him and his interest there. You can lead them, guide them, teacher, teach, and nurture your children in the way of the Lord. And maybe help to do the same with your grandchildren.

You can take a stand at church for uncompromising truth, contend for the faith. And not give in to the world. You can take a stand and be a light at work. You might lose your job. You might not.

But you need to be salt and light. Back here a few months ago, they had a celebration or someday or month for gay pride or whatever and the Tampa Bay Rays all wore pins to comply but there were about, I think there were three pitchers on the rays. Who's claimed to be Christians, who said, we're not wearing the pins. Now, praise the Lord. They still have their jobs but you know now, they also have a bit of a testimony for Jesus Christ and sometimes, it's just little things like saying, no, I can't participate in that.

I can't do that. That we can be salt and light. For Jesus Christ. You can take a stand in your community. Maybe even seek a place of service therein on the city council or the school board.

Jules isn't here today so I can pick on her. She's on a cruise with Dennis. But she's on the city council and little town there on the what's that called? The inner the intercoastal area there. Yeah.

And she's been on it for a while. I'm not sure if she's on it right at the moment but she's been on and off of it. Gives her opportunity to be a light for Christ. There's an acquaintance of mine. She teaches a few classes at Keswick Christian.

She's running for the school board in Saint Pete. Now, I can't vote for her because she's not in my district. But that's a good thing. We need people, Christians who are saying, well, I have this opportunity I'll be salt and light on the school board. You can take a stand and be salt in a voting booth or as some of us do in our mail in ballot.

You can vote as a representative of who? Of Christ and heaven, not of party or family, earthly heritage, not of your own ease or pocketbook, but as a representative to of Christ, to protect the opportunity of Christians to worship and service and serve God in this society, it is under fire. To protect the opportunity of others to hear the good news, especially the young. To protect the lives of your fellow citizens from harm, particularly the old and the weak and the young and the innocent. To protect them from the lives of Satan and those who would destroy them.

We have that opportunity and that most in this world have never have to be salt and light just by casting a vote as representatives of who? Of Jesus Christ. Now, if you're going to do that, you need to do your homework. So that you know for whom you are voting and what they stand for. To do your part, to hold back the tide of wickedness, to push our society away from the edge.

And you can pray. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth what? Much. You can pray for your neighbor. You can pray for your senator.

You can pray for your president. You can pray for their salvation. You can pray that God will work in their life and direct them even despite themselves. You can pray. Senators and congressmen and presidents will not save our country.

Revival that will make a difference. Christians praying and being salt and light. That will make a difference. God will make a difference. But God will hold us responsible for our world.

We are part of it. We have the opportunities to be salt and light in it. If we turn our back on our responsibilities as citizens of Earth, we're also turning our back on the responsibilities of heaven. What can you do to be salt and light? Get involved.

Get involved with your neighbor. Show them what it means to be a Christian. Get involved in your place of work. Don't be afraid to let them know that you are a Christian. And sometimes there are things you just can't go along with.

Get involved in your community. And with your vote, in your church, in your prayer life, and affect this world as citizens of heaven. For the sake of Jesus and for others. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for this day.

Thank you Lord for this opportunity. This opportunity will not come again as it is this day. Lord, I pray as we live and work and play in this world that we would not abandon our responsibility to it. Or just write it off and wash our hands of it. Lord, we have responsibility to be salt and light for Jesus, to be the ambassadors of Jesus Christ and the representatives of heaven here.

Help us to approach every aspect of life, every every dealing with others. As representatives of Jesus Christ. And help us to be that light to a dark world that needs it so desperately this day. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen.