Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Luke, chapter 10. Luke 10. In the first service, I dealt
with a question. out of this chapter at Luke 10. And it was a question that was
asked by a lawyer. One that is supposed to be learned
in the law of God. And this lawyer in verse 25 stood
up, tempted the Lord. And I asked him, Master, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now it appeared, I'm sure,
that that was a heartfelt question. And the Lord answered him, knowing
the heart of the one that asked it, according to the spirit of
his question. Knowing that this lawyer was
trying to catch him, in the very law given by the Lord Himself. And he brought that religionist
right back to the law that he claimed to know. He said in verse 26, what is
written in the law? How readest thou? He asked him,
now what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said, well,
what does the scripture say? And thinking that he had the
answer down pat, the lawyer rightly quoted Deuteronomy 6.5 and Leviticus
19.18, and this is what he said when the Lord asked him what's
written in the law concerning eternal life. This is what he
said. He answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all
thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And then the Lord commended
him, told him, verse 28, thou hast answered right. This do,
and thou shalt have life. Well, the Lord told this Jew
that life was to be had. by perfectly loving God Almighty
and loving his neighbor. But the only problem was that
we can't do that. And this Jew, wanting to justify
himself, in verse 29, knowing that He's probably been told in his
mind, he's figuring the Lord just told me that I can't do
that. But he's going to justify himself anyway. And he asks this,
well concerning that latter part, who is my neighbor? See now to
a Jew, only a Jew was his neighbor. Gentiles were not neighbors.
He said you love your neighbor as you love yourself. And so
the Lord, in answering that question, well, who is my neighbor? The
Lord is going to give now a story, a parable. It's named some specific
cities and this, that, and the other, and I've read some commentators
said they didn't know, but the answer that the Lord gave him
started in verse 30. So that's where we're going to
pick up, verse 30 through 37, concerning who is my neighbor? And the Lord said, verse 30,
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. Now, this is probably
a very real story. I've read where that strip of
land, that highway between Jerusalem and Jericho is a very dangerous
highwayman there. And some of the accounts are
saying, even to the time of the writing of that account, they
said it was still very dangerous. And these robbers could swoop
down, rob you, beat you, and get away. And before anybody
really even knew, so many places to hide. But the Lord is going
to Talk about this man, but actually he's answering this lawyer based
on that lawyer's false thinking that the law could be that which
gave a man life eternal. What must I do to have life eternal? And who is my neighbor? Well,
the Lord is going to answer who his neighbor is and the fallacy. of thinking that you can attain
salvation by the law. This man, this certain man, going
down from Jerusalem to Jericho is a picture. He's a picture
first of all of every man in Adam's fall, but in particular
in this story. He's a picture of those that
have been everlastingly loved in Christ, in Adam's fall, but
God's elect, God's people, those that have been chosen unto salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.
Now I want you to notice this certain man, he was going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now, do we not see the awful
fall of man in the garden going down? Adam was created, the scripture
says, Adam was created upright. What does that mean? Well, he
was created straight, exempt from vanity, morally good, upright
in mind. And he was placed in a garden
of peace, a place of God's making, a paradise to Adam to keep and
to dress. And by Adam's one act of disobedience,
he fell from that place into spiritual death. That's what
the Lord told him. He said, in the day that you
eat, don't you get up all the trees of the garden? the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. And the day you eat of
it, you're going to die. And he did. And he fell from
that place into a place that was fallen, dead. So he's going down from Jerusalem,
a picture of Adam's state before the fall down to Jericho, a place
according to Joshua 6.26 that's cursed. Jericho was a cursed
city. So going down to Jericho, this
certain man, the scripture says in verse 30, he fell among thieves
and they stripped him of his raiment, wounded him, departed,
leaving him half dead. Mankind, by his willful disobedience
to God, fell prey to the hands of his enemies, Satan, sin, pride,
self, and was stripped that innocence. Scripture doesn't say that he
was holy. He wasn't holy. He was upright. He was morally good. Straight
is actually the definition of it, but he was stripped of his
covering of innocence. He was stripped, he fell among
thieves, they stripped him of his raiment, and that innocence
being lost, and obviously it was susceptible to be lost, and
it was lost. And he was wounded. That's what
it said, fell amongst thieves, stripped him of his raiment,
wounded him, wounded... Actually it means pounded and
inflicted with calamity. And oh, how mankind was wounded
in Adam's fall. How bad? How bad was his wound?
Well, the scripture says, Isaiah 1, 6, from the sole of the foot
even to the head, there's no soundness in it. Wounds and bruises,
putrefying sores, they've not been closed, neither bound up,
neither mollified or soothed with ointment. And like these
thieves that beat this man, our innocence was stripped and we
were wounded. And the scripture says that they
departed, leaving him half dead. Mr. Gill described that half
dead meaning near death, which I don't doubt one bit. Robert
Hawker said this. half dead. He described it as
being physically alive, spiritually dead, but this man was wounded
near death and physically alive, you know, that's the way we are
right now, but subject to that a physical death that is going
to come in time, but immediately, spiritually dead, in trespasses
and sins, and now subject, and lest the Lord, in His mercy and
compassion, to save this fallen creature from Himself, will be
eternally cast out, an eternal death. Well, the Scripture says,
in verse 31-32, by chance, Now remember, this lawyer that
asked the Lord, he's one that's trusting in himself, he's going
to tempt the Lord, he's going to test the Lord on his knowledge,
on the law, and the Lord's teaching him something. Now listen, by
chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he
saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite,
when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed
by on the other side. Now, here's this priest and this
Levite priest. Who were they? Well, they were
the descendants from the family of Aaron. And they actually ministered
in the tabernacle doing the sacrifices and their obligations. They were priests. What was a
Levite? Well, the Levites were from the family of Levi, and
what they were actually doing is they were assistants. They
assisted in the work of the priest, but they're pictures of the law. That's what they are. They're
pictures according to the law of Moses. And this priest and
this Levi, these were people that you would
think would have been friendly, kind, merciful to this wounded
man. Look, I'm telling you, everybody
and their brother that gets in trouble, what are they going
to do? They're going to call a preacher. They're going to
call up, you know, if somebody's out of gas, they're always going
to Ohio. Everybody's on their way to Ohio, wanting to call
and want to know if I can, you know, fill up their car with
gas or, you know, they'll call me and their electricity's turned
off and can I, you know, or can I, you know, buy their groceries
or something like that. You would think that here were
two, a priest and a Levite, they would be Merciful, kind, but
these two men, this priest and this Levite, they represent the
demands of God's law. Again, I'm gonna say this again.
Remember who the Lord's talking to now. This one's gonna tempt
the Lord, a lawyer. He's a professional, he's a professional.
And he's going to tempt the Lord concerning what the Lord's going
to say about having eternal life, having life, being rescued from
this wound, being beaten, getting stripped. And now the Lord said,
they've got a priest and a Levite. And they come by and these two,
the scripture says that priest, when he saw him, he passed on. The Levite, when he was at the
place, he came over and looked at him and passed on the other
side, did the same thing. What is the Lord saying to that
lawyer? What he's saying is Romans 3.20,
Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified
in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. You know what that priest, that
Levite, came to the conclusion of, yep, he's tripped. Yep, he's beaten. Yep, he's half dead. The law declares God's holiness
and God's demand for righteousness. The law shuts the mouths and
declares all of us guilty before God. The law reveals the depth
of our sin, our depravity. The law is that which brings
God's people as the schoolmaster to Christ that they might, by
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, have life eternal. But listen
to me. The law cannot save us. The law cannot justify us. The law cannot give us righteousness. Why? Because of the weakness
of this flesh. for the law to demand any man,
any woman just. The law has got to be satisfied
and kept. That priest and that Levite exhibited
what the law can't do. It cannot relieve us of our misery
of sin. It leaves a man, leaves a woman
spiritually wounded, spiritually naked just like it found them. That priest and that Levite,
they pictured the helplessness because of the weakness of our
flesh. Now, it's not the law's fault. It's our fault. Those two, like
I said, they saw the man's sorrow, they passed by. The law is unbending. It makes no allowance for the
weakness of our fallen nature and condition. It cannot show
mercy. It can't do it. And that's what
the Lord's teaching them. You think, how unmerciful. Now, I'm not saying that we're
to take a scripture like this and we're supposed to be insensitive
to others. But you remember who the Lord's
talking to. He's teaching this self-righteous
lawyer. They're supposed to know everything
about law. How can I inherit eternal life? Well, what does
the law say? How do you read it? Quoted that
scripture out of Deuteronomy, out of Leviticus. You're right. You do those things
and you'll live. But if you don't do those things,
you're gonna die. The law is death to the cries
for mercy. The law demands perfection. What can the law do? Condemn.
It never gives hope without perfect obedience. It just, no. What'd they do? They looked at
him, saw his condition, and they kept going. Verse 33, but a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw
him, he had compassion on him. Now, here in our Lord's parable,
we find the only hope for hopeless, in ourselves, sinners. This Samaritan is a beautiful
picture and type, you know this, of the Lord Jesus Christ. the
one who has satisfied the law. The law he kept. The law was honored. The father said of the son, this
is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. You hear him and
hear this Samaritan, good Samaritan. The scripture says, as he journeyed,
here is a revelation of the assumption of our Lord Jesus Christ to take
unto himself flesh. God Almighty. The Word made flesh
who journeyed into this world to seek and to save that which
was lost, those that had been given Him by the Father. The
One who shows mercy, who can show mercy, and never at the
expense of justice, never. He's going to bear all the guilt.
That priest and that Levi, they pictured what the law, the demands
of the law is gonna do. It's gonna leave a man right
where he found him. But he who can have mercy and
does have mercy, who delights to have mercy, as he journeyed,
the scripture says in verse 30, he came where he was. Boy, isn't
that good news, friend? Came where he was. I couldn't
go to Him. What could that man, fell among
thieves, what could he do? You think he's going to pull
himself up by his own bootstraps and go find somebody? I don't
need to go find somebody and have mercy on me. I'm going to just
look around until I can. It says, he came where he was.
The Lord of glory came to where his sheep are. They couldn't go to Him. Dead
in trespasses and sins, how are they going to go to Him? How
are they going to call on Him? They don't have a heart to call.
They don't want to call. They can't call. He knows His sheep
and He knows where they are. They're scattered. The Scripture
says throughout all the world, every nation and kindred and
tribe and tongue, on every place on this earth, He's got a people
out of every Every, you think about that. Every nation, kindred,
tribe, tongue. There's not a tribe in the darkest
part of wherever that God doesn't have one. There may be children
that die in infancy, but they're everywhere. All of them, every
nation, kindred, tribe, tongue. Brother Henry said, every family,
every family, God's got a people in all of them. We don't know
who they are. But he does. And he came to where he was.
And he knows them. They're all completely visible
to him who he's ever loved. He said, I know my sheep. I know. I know. And the scripture says,
when he saw him, he had compassion on him. How long do you think
the Lord's had compassion on his own? He said, I've loved
you with an everlasting love. He said, I've betrothed you to
myself in loving kindness, mercy, love. Therefore, I called you. Here his people, his chosen race
that he saw before the foundation of the world, He saw them in
the fall. He saw them in their rebellion
when we were yet without life and sight. He knew us when we
were all children of wrath, even as others. He had compassion
coming to him. And here he was, pictured by
this good Samaritan. Well, you know, the Lord wasn't
a Samaritan. They accused him of being a Samaritan. But he
wasn't. He was a Jew. He was a Jew. But he was treated and acted
by the Jews because of their hatred for him, resentment to
him. And this wounded man, who is
a gift, a picture of the gift of the Father to the Lord Jesus,
a picture of the one or all of the ones for whom he lays down
his life, suffers and dies, that half-dead Man, like pictured
by the prodigal son that had taken all and wasted it all,
that's what we all did, came to himself by the grace of God. And the father who had compassion
on that boy, he fell on his neck, kissed him. Oh, how the Lord
has everlastingly loved and had compassion. I think about when
the scripture says, I'm God, and I change not. If Lord's had
compassion ever, He's always had compassion. He's always seen
it. His delights were always with
the children of men. He's always loved His own. And having come to this wounded
man, this Samaritan, the scripture says in verse 34, He went to
him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil, wine, set him on his
own beast, brought him to an end, took care of Him. Here's that one that came by
all those wounds that I read about over in Isaiah. And here
our Lord has come to us and bound us up according to the riches
of His grace. Hold your place right there,
just turn back there. Luke 4, just a few pages here. Luke 4,
16, 19. Remember when the Lord came into
that temple He was going to read. Luke 4, 16, 19. He came to Nazareth
where He had been brought up as His custom was. Went to the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And there
was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when
he had opened the book, he found the place where it is written,
the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor, has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
preach deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind,
set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. And he told them, he said this
day. It's fulfilled right here. Here's what he's done. He went
to him in our Lord's story, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil
and wine and giving this wounded man help. He helped him. Didn't ask him, didn't wait on
him to exercise their decision. Would you like for me to help
you? He saw the man's need. minister to Him, just like He
does to us. He comes to His people. Here
we are in that state right there, stripped, wounded, and our Lord
seeing the need of all of His people because of sin, having
compassion because He loved us, poured in the oil of His grace
by His Holy Spirit and applied the wine of His atoning shed
blood by His Spirit and in that effectual work of grace took Him, healed Him. And the
scripture says, He put Him on His own beast and brought Him
to an end and took care of Him. I think about that scripture
when the Lord talking about bearing up, this would put him on his
own beast. Our Lord said in Isaiah 41 10,
fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. And then after the passage that
Brother Mark just read out of Isaiah 46 4, and even to your
old age, I am he. And even to whore hairs will
I carry you. I have made I will bear, even
I will carry, and will deliver you." What did he do? He brought him to an end, the
scripture says. Took care of him. Now here we
behold, even to this day, the marvelous provision of our Lord
that He's made for His sheep in this world. He has come to
where His sheep are. He regenerated them by His Holy
Spirit, and now, The scripture declares that he's placed them
in the inn. I looked up the word, just a
place of public lodging. Symbolic of the church, the assembly,
where they're taken care of. Think of the mercy of God that
back in the mid-fifties that God raised up an assembly and
sent a pastor. What? To teach his people, take
care of them, to minister to them. In this public assembly
of God's people, where they're fed, this man, this innkeeper,
the host, he was going to take care of them. You take care of
it. I poured in some oil and some wine, bound up his wounds,
just, you know, Take a regenerated image, a picture of regenerating,
now you take care of it. Where we eat of the bread of
heaven, drink of the fountain of the water of life, and we're
taught of our rest from the labors of the law, trying to establish
righteousness, and we're comforted with each other's fellowship,
and rejoice in the company of the sheep, but rejoice in His
company. Two or three are gathered together,
I'm there, in this inn where they're being taken care of.
And this one, that host, he's a picture. He told them in verse
35, on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, gave them
to the host, said unto him, take care of him, Whatsoever thou
spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Who is this
hope? The pastors. I'm going to give
you pastors after my heart. And I'm going to instruct them. They're going to feed you with
knowledge and understanding. And to these pastors, those that
have been placed under the care of a pastor, Here's what the
Spirit of God moved upon the Apostle Paul to say, Hebrews
13, 17, Obey them that have the rule, listen to them, as they
instruct you in God's Word. That's what he's saying. Obey
that which they're setting forth out of God's Word. And submit
yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must
give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief,
for that's unprofitable for you. Listen to what The pastors, as
God's raised up, listen to what they say, they're there for the
care of God's sheep. A great responsibility. Not as
lords over God's heritage, but as pastors. Under shepherds. In obedience to the Lord. And
so, the good Samaritan, now he's going to depart. On the morrow,
when he parted, he took out, there's a picture of the Lord,
and his ascension back into heaven, took out two pence, gave it to
the host, you take care of him, whatever I owe you if you spend
any more, he said I'll pay you back. What was that two pence?
Well, it was the adequate means, whatever, you know, whatever
is needful. gave him that which was needful
to cover the expenses of that wounded man's care. The means
of God's provision. I don't have anything personally. The only thing I have is what
this book says. We make much of this book. These
are scriptures. And everything that is needful,
the Lord has provided. And he told that housekeeper,
he said, whatever else, whatever you spend, whatever time, whatever
energy, whatever is done, when I come back, he said, I'm going
to repay you. Oh, you know, oh, the mercy of
God. to take care of us and not leave
us to ourselves. And what we need, what do we
need? I'll tell you what, I need assurance. I need to hear these scriptures
again. I think how many times I've thought to myself, man,
I've said that so many times. They're gonna get so tired of
hearing that. That's just foolishness on my part. That's just, you
know, I'm reminded of Paul, the apostle. He said to say the same
things to you. He said to me, he's not grievous.
It's safe. It's safe. You know what I need? I need
to hear again of pardon. I need to hear again of the mercy
of God. I need to hear that how the Lord
has washed me in His blood. Tell me Romans 8, 1 again, how
does that go? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. He said, I've chosen you in Christ
that you should be holy and without blame. I see myself as a wretched sinner. I don't see that, but Lord, I
believe you. Lord, I cast him that cometh
to me. Lord, I want to come again. The
scripture says, Philippians 4, 19, but my God shall supply all
your needs. according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. And the Lord told that host,
and he said, when I come again, I will repay thee. And according to his word, he
shall. Everything that any of us have
is by the mercy of God. But he said, when I come back,
I'll repay. I'll repay. Oh, the compassion
of Almighty God that bids us to put all the expenses of our
labor, our cure, on his account. He said, I'll repay you. I said,
Lord, what you've done for me, what you've done for your people,
every act of kindness and compassion toward others that we've been
made willing, and desiring, you promise to repay? Verse 36, 37. He asked that lawyer that was
trusting in himself, thinking that he was an authority, thinking
that he could be justified by his own works. He said, now,
which now of these three? That priest, that Levite, and
that Samaritan. He said, now, Which of these
three thinkest thou was neighbor? He asked him, he said, who's
my neighbor? Which of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto
him that fell among the thieves? And he said, he that showed mercy
on him. Then said Jesus unto him, go
and do thou likewise. That last statement of the Lord
to him is one that in closing I realized that every believer
desires, I would desire to do that. I would desire to be merciful
to my neighbor. Who's my neighbor? Every human
being. We're all cut out of the same
lump. Picking and choosing, well, I
tell you what, you're not worthy of me being merciful to you.
Really. Aren't you glad the Lord doesn't
treat us like that? If we look at ourselves, who
is worthy to have mercy shown? Mercy is to those that are guilty
and need mercy. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by
the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. I pray that the Lord be pleased
to bless this word to our heart, causing us to see afresh. We won't be justified before
him by what we've done. But what he's done, charged to
our account, for God's glory and our eternal good.