Well, it's good to be back with
you. I don't know whether you realize it or not. Excuse me,
I've got sinus issues. But I don't know whether you
realize it or not, but in between the services, the camera stays
on. And my wife last night, she was informing
me that as people walk, in front of the camera, she can see people. And she said, would you help
people this evening if they would wave? And so I indicated that
to some. And so for the benefit of those
who are watching the live feed, the wave was not for you. It
was for my wife. Don't take it personally. But
I also want to inform the congregation here that the microphones are
also on. So when you come down and fill
out these lists, you need to be careful what you say. They're also listening to you,
to your remarks, and what you said about so-and-so, what she
wrote down that she's going to bring for food. You shouldn't
have said that. You just never know who's listening. No, I'm kidding. You didn't say
anything too bad. Let's look at Luke 10. Luke 10. I'm going to read a story that
our Lord gave, and then we'll investigate the context. The story is one that's very
familiar to you and I know you've looked at it several times. Luke chapter 10 and it's in verse
30 is where we're going to begin. Luke chapter 10 and verse 30. Our subject, and I got this from Gary's message
last night, Do or Done. That's the title of the message,
Do or Done. I got that from his message last
evening. And Jesus answering said, a certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves
which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed,
leaving him half dead. By chance, there came down a
certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when
he was at the place, he came and looked on him, he passed
by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion
on him, and he went to him, and he bound up his wounds, pouring
in oil and wine. He set him on his own beast and
brought him to an end, and he took care of him. And on the morrow, when he departed,
he took out two pence, he gave it to the host, He said to him,
take care of him. Whatsoever thou spendest more
when I come again, I will repay thee. Now, let's get the setting. It's very important in every
Scripture to understand the setting, especially when we're considering
one of our Lord's parables. Our Lord is in the final stage
of his public ministry. And I'm sure you recognize and
realize that our Lord's public ministry lasted somewhere between
three, three and a half years. The first stage of his public
ministry was his Judean ministry. And then he started his Galilean
ministry, which Luke goes into in chapter 4 of his Gospel narrative
when our Lord goes into Nazareth. And Luke deals with that. Luke
doesn't deal with his first or his early Judean ministry, but
rather Luke is led by the Spirit of God to go right into his Galilean
ministry. And Luke deals with that as our
Lord virtually goes through canvassing, saturating Galilee, preaching
in all the towns and villages throughout Galilee. performing
many miracles, establishing Himself to be the true Messiah. And then
we get down to chapter 9. If you'll look back in chapter
9, verse 51, He now finishes His Galilean ministry. His Galilean
ministry lasting roughly a year and six months, give or take. So He is now beginning His final
stage of His earthly ministry. In verse 51 of chapter 9, and
it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received
up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. He's finished
his Galilean ministry. And now he steadfastly sets his
face to go to Jerusalem. He goes to Jerusalem. He's heading
toward Jerusalem to die. Now, of course, he's going to
Jerusalem to die that God might be just and justify the ungodly. This has been his ultimate goal
not only from the beginning of his public ministry, not only
from the beginning of his life on this earth, this has been
his ultimate goal since before the foundation of the world.
He has been headed to the cross. as was ordained in the covenant
of grace. After all, it's the only way
that God can save sinners in a way that is consistent with
His justice. Our Lord must give His life,
the one who lays down His life, the innocent one, dying for guilty
sinners, those of us who fell in Adam's fall. So our Lord Jesus
sets His face steadfastly toward Jerusalem. He has a fixed steadfastness about Him. As He
says in Isaiah, He set Himself like a flint. He can't be turned
away from it. Though His disciples didn't want
Him to go. But He said the Son of Man must
be lifted up. Even as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness. How often did the Savior say
to His disciples that He must go, He must be betrayed. He must
give His life a sacrifice for sin. And though they didn't want
Him to go, He now sets Himself like a flint. He sets Himself
steadfastly to go to Jerusalem. Having finished his Galilean
ministry, he sets himself to go. We get into chapter 10. And
as we get into chapter 10, he chooses 70 disciples that will
go out and preach the gospel of the kingdom. Chapter 10, verse
1, after these things the Lord appointed also 70 also. He sent them out two by two.
before His face in every city whither He Himself would come."
I get great encouragement from this. Because you see, He says,
as you go forth preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, then I
will come. then I will come." And that's
the way it always is. As those who are commissioned
by the Lord to preach the Gospel, He says, as you go forth setting
forth the Word of the Kingdom, then I'll come forth on your
heels as it were, blessing the Word that you preach. Now to
these men He gave unusual gifts to verify their ministry. He
gave to them the gifts of miracles, healings. He gave to them the
gifts of casting out demons and devils. And so they go forth. And then they come back. And
He gave them unusual authority, so much so, look in verse 16,
He says to them, just before they go out, chapter 10 and verse
16, He that heareth you, heareth Me. That is, as you go forth
preaching My Word that I give to you, My Gospel, My message
of good news that I have taught you, that I have commissioned
you to go forth. I have sent forth you. You go forth with My authority,
empowered by Me. So when they hear you, they hear
Me. He that despises you, despises
Me. He that despiseth Me that sent
Me, despiseth him that sent Me. Read on, verse 17. And the seven,
they returned again with joy. So they go forth. I don't know
how long they're gone. It must have been quite some
time. Because they go forth preaching
the Gospel in Judea, and our Lord goes after them. Because
here are 35 couples, 32 men going forth preaching the Gospel, and
our Lord follows them. And so after several weeks, maybe
a couple of months, and remember, our Lord is in the final stage
of His public ministry. We're talking about, I'm going
to say, and I'm estimating here, maybe six or eight months before
the cross. So we're talking about the sand
is going through the hourglass quickly now. And so as the weeks
go by, they go forth preaching the gospel, and our Lord follows
them. And then in verse 17, the 70
return with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto
us through Thy name. And He said unto them, I did
behold Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I given
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not. that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice. Let me tell you why you should
rejoice. Because your names are written
in heaven. Rejoice that your names are written
in my book in heaven, Which means they're written in, we know,
the Lamb's Book of Life. And there are no new names written
in the book. These names were written before
the foundation of the world. And of course, our Lord is taking
these men back to the covenant of grace. To the election of
grace. When the Father gave Him a people
more numerous than the sands of the seashore, than the stars
of the sky, when He stood in that covenant of grace as our
surety, and in that election of grace, the Father gave them
to the Son, and He accepted full responsibility for the salvation
of those that the Father gave Him. They were entrusted to Him. And He fully accepted accountability
for them. And all the indebtedness that
they brought into the relationship that He would have with them.
Because he knew, according to the purpose of God, of their
fall in Adam, which was in God's eternal purpose, which would
happen in time. And all we brought into that
relationship was liabilities. Correct? That's all we brought
into the relationship. But the indebtedness, really,
he accepted as his own. And that indebtedness has never
been our responsibility. It's always been the responsibility
of the Lamb. And all those whose names were
written in the Lamb's Book of Life, we've never borne responsibility
for our indebtedness. And the Savior says, in this
rejoice not that you have power over the demons and the devils,
but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven,
which means everything. Because there's a lot involved
in this. There's eternal salvation wrapped
up in this. There's eternal justification
wrapped up in this. There's redemption wrapped up
in this. There's reconciliation wrapped
up in this. There's imputed righteousness
wrapped up in this. There's forgiveness wrapped up
in this. There's all of our salvation
wrapped up in this. Don't rejoice that the demons
are subject to you. Rejoice in God's eternal salvation
for you. That's what He says to these
men. Verse 21, and in that hour, Jesus. And you notice that Luke
uses that name from Matthew 1.21. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And this is
the name that the Spirit of God uses in Luke. to use, or leads
Luke to use. In that hour, Jesus Himself rejoiced. He tells them to rejoice, and
now He rejoices in His Spirit, in His soul, as the Son of Man. And this is in private, in his
spirit, in prayer. And he says, I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. And
as the servant of Jehovah, he's rejoicing in the Father's sovereign
grace. And if He rejoices in the Father's
sovereign grace, let us rejoice in the Father's sovereign grace. Lord of heaven and earth, watch this, that Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and the prudent, I rejoice that you hide these
things from some and hast revealed these things
unto babes. I rejoice that you hide these
things from some and you reveal these things to others. And why
is that? Well, because some are more deserving
Because some are more intelligent? Because some are more worthy?
Who makes the difference? If you understand this glorious
gospel, if you understand how it is that God can be a just
God and a Savior, if you understand how God can save sinners without
compromising His law and His justice, through the death and the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why is it that you understand
and rejoice in this gospel and your neighbor doesn't? Who maketh
thee to differ from another? Look what the Lord Jesus says.
Even so, Father, For so it seemed good in thy sight." This is all
owing to the sovereignty of God. It's God who makes the difference.
He says, all things are delivered to me of my Father. And no man knoweth who the Son
is, but the Father. and who the Father is, but the
Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him." Oh! There must be a revelation of
who the Son is and who the Father is. Now we're talking about revealing
grace. Now look at verse 23, Then He
turns to His disciples, to these 70 disciples now. And He turns
to them privately. So what I would conclude from
this is that there are other people around. Wouldn't you conclude
that as well, privately? So He kind of pulls them off
to the side. I would also say, and maybe I'm
wrong, but most of the commentators agree with this, the commentators
that we would have some confidence in, they also say probably the
Twelve Apostles as well. And they are pulled aside also
for a time of private instruction. Away from the crowds. Away from
the multitudes. Because remember, Again, and
this is why I think this needs to be stressed. Our Lord is on
His way to the cross. Could I put it this way? The
last leg of the journey. Just a few months left. And then
He's going to die, be raised again, and then be ascended.
And then the responsibility for teaching the people of God is
going to fall upon the shoulders of these men. This is going to
be a time of intense instruction. I have a little problem sometimes
with these red letter editions because it gives people the idea
that maybe only the words in red you know, inspired of the
Lord. But I did pick up a red letter
edition where it has, you know, words of our Lord Jesus in red.
And you look through the rest of the book of Luke, almost all
of it's in red. And the reason I looked at it
was because I wanted to see how much more of Luke's Gospel are
the words of our Lord. And it's almost all of it. Because
our Lord is going to be really teaching His disciples. It's not so much more His miracles. They've been set forth earlier
in Luke in His Galilean ministry. And as He went through saturating
Galilee for about 18 months, and He did that. And that's why
He established and proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that He's
the Messiah and His deity. And that's why they're held without
excuse. That's why He said, Woe unto
you! Chorism! Capernaum! All those miracles. But the rest of His later Judean
ministry is going to be spent in intense instruction for His
disciples. And this right here, this is
a time of intimate communion with these brethren who loved
Him. And He loved them. And that's even more important. And He's teaching them. Well,
look what He's teaching them. He turns unto His disciples.
He said unto them prophetly, blessed are your eyes. You're
blessed. You're highly favored. Happy
are you. You're to be envied. Happy are
the eyes which see the things that you see. Can you imagine? Here is the Lord Jesus. Never
a man spake like this man. He is the prophet greater than
Moses. And here are these 70 men and
they gather around Him and probably His 12 apostles. And here He's
teaching them and they're hanging on every word. I know there's
a devil there if the twelve apostles are there. There's Judas. But
these other men, these seventy disciples, He picked them. He
chose them. He sent them out. He gifted them. And they're hanging on every
word. And He loves them. He's always
loved them. With an everlasting love, He
came to redeem them. He revealed the truth to them. He says, your eye, you see because
I revealed these truths to you. Look at verse 24, for I tell
you, many prophets and kings have desired to see the things
which you see. Listen, many prophets and kings,
they've looked for me. They've looked for me for centuries. And now you see me. You see,
they've seen me in types and pictures and shadows, and you
see me! And you hear me! They saw me
in shadows. Now you see me in reality. And you hear me. They heard a
voice from heaven. They heard me in dreams. They
heard me in visions. You hear me in person. Oh, how
glorious this was. Wasn't this special? In this
intimate setting? Gathered around our Lord Jesus? What a blessed time this was
with our Lord Jesus. And then in verse 25, watch this. And behold! And behold! That word, behold. Lo! See! How amazing! A certain lawyer stood up. He
dared to just thrust himself right in the middle of this intimate,
precious time of instruction. You're talking about a seminar.
You ever go to a seminar in your job? You know, you go to a seminar
and it's a time of instruction. You go to your classes, you know.
It's just intense learning. What a seminar this was! With
the Lord Jesus being the teacher. No CDs to be sold or anything
like that. Just sit there listening. And
just with their mouths open. And here's the master. Here's
the teacher. And their ears are open. Who
opened their ears? He did! And their eyes are open
and the knowledge is coming in. And they're listening. And then
all of a sudden, somebody just stands up and walks right in
between the Savior and His students. And Luke says, and behold, a
certain lawyer stood up. This is not a lawyer like 1-800-SueMe.
or call me and I'll sue somebody for you." This is a man who's
an expert on the law of Moses, so he thought. And he's up to no good because
it says he tempted him. He's trying to trip the Savior
up on the law. And he says, What shall I do? What shall I
do? That's a key word in all of this. To inherit eternal life. What
shall I do? And our Lord, you know this,
whoever asks a question is usually in control of a conversation.
And our Lord Jesus answers a question with two questions. Because he is always in control. And he said unto him, what is
written in the law? And then he says, how readest
thou? What is written in the law? How
readest thou? The man is interested in doing
something. He is interested in doing something.
I want to inherit eternal life. What must I do?" Now, if it had
been most of our churches today, we'd just believe on Jesus and
join up and get baptized. Here's a box of envelopes. You know, come to choir practice,
join the choir and come to visitation. We will go out on visitation
on Thursday night and we will be glad to have you. Our Lord Jesus says, what does
the law say? You want to do something, what
does the law say? Well, what does the law say?
Let's look. Look at Deuteronomy 6. What does
the law say? Again, the key word in this is
do. What must I do? Look at Deuteronomy 6. Starting
with verse 3. Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy 6, verse 3. Here, therefore, O Israel, and
observe too, here's this word again, do it, that it may be well with thee.
This is conditional now. There's a couple of covenants
for you. One's a covenant of works. Another
one's a covenant of grace. And you're going to have to deal
with one or the other. I'm really interested in a covenant of grace,
aren't you? Where all the conditions are on somebody else. If you're
interested in a covenant of works, if you do, then it will be well
with you. But the conditions are on you.
I like a covenant of grace where all the conditions are on Christ
Jesus and have already been met. But that's right, isn't it? It's
got to be one way or the other. I read on, that it may be well
with thee that she may increase mightily as the Lord God of thy
fathers hath promised thee in the land that floweth milk and
honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, all thy soul, all
thy might. And these words which I command
thee this day, it's not a suggestion, it's a command, shall be in thine
heart, thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.
Thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house."
When you sit down to talk in your house, this is what you
talk about. You don't talk about other things, this is what you
talk about. When thou walkest by the way, this is what you
talk about. When thou liest down at night,
when you and your wife go to bed at night, this is what you
talk about. When you rise up in the morning,
this is what you talk about. Thou shalt bind them upon thine
hand." This is what you put on the back of your hand to remind
you. You love God with all your heart, your soul, and your mind. Put it upon the front and it's
between thine eyes, so that when you see your neighbor, you read
between his eyes, you're reminded, I've got to love God that way.
Thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy
gates, so that when you walk out the gates of the city, you'll
be reminded, this is the way I've got to love God. He commands
me to love that way. The Lord said, this is what you've
got to do. Go back to our text. It's very important that you
get this. Our Lord sent this man to the
law. I'm going to tell you why. This man approached the Lord
on a purely legal basis. So our Lord answered him on a
legal basis. You see, if you're interested
in mercy, we're going to send you to Mount
Calvary. We'll send you to the Christ of Calvary. There's mercy
for sinners. If you're interested in forgiveness,
we'll send you to the Christ of Calvary. If you're interested
in salvation by another who did all the work, we'll send you
to the Christ of Calvary. If you're interested in you doing
something to be accepted by God, we're going to send you to Mount
Sinai. And that's where the Lord sent
this man. If you want to do something,
you've got to go to Mount Sinai. You see, if you want to make
some contribution to your salvation, hang on now. If you want to make
some contribution to your salvation, you've got to make the whole
contribution. That's exactly right, isn't it?
You see, it's either all of grace and all in Christ Jesus by His
death and resurrection, or you're going to have to do the whole
thing. That's why the Lord Jesus knows
this man's motive because this is his motive. See verse 29?
He willing to justify himself. That's what this is all about.
This man wants to justify himself. And if you want to justify yourself,
you're going to have to go to Mount Sinai where the mountain
shakes, where the earth is quaking and
billowing forth smoke. And there's thunder and lightning
and voices. And if animals touch the mouth,
then they die. And you can have it. You can
have that. I don't want any part of it. No part of it. What our Lord is saying to those
of us who have some spiritual understanding, to those of us
that He has given a revelation of His grace is this. We can't
render to the law that which it demands. We need substitute. We need a Savior. We need a sacrifice
of God's providing that God accepts. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so He gives this story. I'll just read it again quickly.
Look at verse 30. Jesus answering said, and here's
the Gospel story. He said a certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho. And he fell among thieves. There's Adam. Our representative. who fell among thieves, sin and
Satan. Fell among thieves. Which stripped
him of his raiment. We've been stripped, folks. We've
been stripped. And wounded. We're just full
of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. And departed leaving him
half dead. You say, what's that? We're physically
alive and spiritually dead. And by chance, there came a certain
priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed
by on the other side. The priest looked at him and
went to the other side of the road. The priest can't help him. What does the priest represent? Well, I think he represents,
first of all, the moral law of God. A law can't help you. The law can't show you any pity. The law of God is strict and
unbending. You see, even when God saves
by His mercy and grace, that's not the law showing any pity,
is it? When God saves a sinner, it's
according to justice. Right? It's always according
to justice. Listen, God always deals with
every sinner according to justice. In salvation and in damnation. God never lessens the requirements
of His law. Not in the salvation of a sinner.
He took out His wrath on our substitute. Our sins were imputed
to the Lord Jesus before the world began. Then He died in
our room and our place and our stead. Law wasn't compromised. It was satisfied. That's propitiation. The satisfaction of divine justice. And law is not going to pity
you. Law is not going to shed any tears over you. You can weep. You can repent. You think law
is going to be moved by your repentance? It's not going to
be moved by your repentance. It's not going to be touched
with your tears. Never! Never! It goes the other
side of the road. Another reason the priest couldn't
help is because he'd be defiled if he touched him. According
to Numbers 19.16, You see, the law can only terrify. It can't give you any comfort.
The law can condemn, but it can't give you any hope. It kills.
It can't give you any life. It's the ministration of death.
You don't want anything to do with the law. It brings despair. It can't heal. And there's the Levites. Likewise, the Levite, when he
was at the place, he came and looked on him and he passed by
on the other side. That's the ceremonial law. He
couldn't put away sin. He had to go to the other side.
The Levite's the ceremonial law. All the washings, the offerings, the blood of calves and bullocks,
goats, they couldn't put away sin. But this man, After he had offered
one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down. Because he got the
job done. And the priest and the Levite,
they also represent false religion. They can't help you. False religion
can't help you. Watch this. But a certain Samaritan,
Yes, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. You say, well, He wasn't
a Samaritan. Well, the Jesus called Him one. Thought they were mocking Him
and degrading Him. He's the friend of sinners. A
certain Samaritan, as He journeyed, He came down here. That's His
incarnation. He came where He was. See, the man who had been stripped,
who fell among thieves, been stripped and wounded, that's
us! What can we do to help ourselves? Nothing! If help's going to come,
it's going to have to come from above! Christ came where we were. He had compassion on Him. Oh,
what compassion! Oh, boundless love! Christ came
and died. He lived, you say, He lived a
perfect life. Yes, that showed He is qualified
to be sacrificed. Verse 34, He went to Him and
bound up His wounds, poured in oil and wine. He sent His Spirit
and sent His blessed Gospel, the wine of His Gospel. Set Him
on His own beast. What's this beast? That's His
Gospel. Our Lord always rides upon the
Gospel. The white horse of His Gospel.
Read Revelation 20. Brought Him to an inn. Brought
Him to a local church. Took care of Him. He always takes
care of His people. And on the morrow when He departed,
He took out two pence and gave it to the host to take care. Of course, our Lord paid our
full debt. He says, whatsoever thou spendest
more when I come again, I'll repay thee. Which now these three
thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves?
And he said, he that showed mercy on him, then said Jesus unto
him, go and do. And here's another time our Lord
said, do. Do thou likewise? The word do
again. Look back in verse 25, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life? In verse 28, He answered him,
thou hast answered right, this do and thou shall live. In verse 37, our Lord Jesus leaves
him as He found him. He said, go and do. Well, you
go and do then. You still want to be accepted
on a legal basis. Go and do. And if you want to be accepted
on a legal basis, go and do. Go and do. However, there's a better word than do,
and it's the word done. And we'll have nothing of that
do-do religion. It's done. Our Lord Jesus said
it is finished. And if He said it's finished,
well, it is finished. It's done. No matter who speaks
to the contrary. It's done. It's done as God Himself
would have it to be done. And nothing can be added to it,
nor taken away from it. And your faith doesn't add to
it. Your faith, your regeneration is the result of it is finished. And your faith is the result
of it is finished. And knowing that, we bless the
name of God. That it's done. It's done. It's all to the praise of the
glory of His grace, isn't it? Amen.