Seeking once again the Lord's
gracious help to grant me the words to speak to you this morning,
I'd like to direct your thoughts to the chapter that we read together,
Luke chapter 10, and the text you'll find in verse 25. And
behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? Now I think every one of us will
know this story of the Good Samaritan, how the Lord Jesus Christ tells
a parable to explain to this lawyer the meaning of love thy
neighbor as thyself. The lawyer was a man who was
well versed in the scriptures. He would be a person who would
have dedicated his time to not secular law but to the law of
God, the holy law of God. And so he knows how to answer
the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells him what Jesus says
to him, what is written in the law, how do you read it? And
he answers, 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 neighbour as thyself. He knew exactly what the law
said. He knew exactly where to go to
answer the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a head knowledge of the
scripture and he was very proud of the fact that he could do
so. the Lord Jesus sets before him
a parable which humbles him, which takes away his pride and
shows him that he is lacking in some aspects of his understanding. He is lacking in the heart transformation
of the work. And so yes he's a lawyer and
he came to test the Lord Jesus Christ and he says, Master what
shall I do to inherit eternal life? So eternal life is the
object of this man's desire. This is what he wants. He wants
eternal life and he wants to know how he can get it. And it's something that many
people think about. It's something that many people
expect is going to happen to them. that even the secular world,
some believe that when they die there is nothing, some believe
everybody is going to heaven and some are actually trying
to receive eternal life in this world. There is a man by the
name of Brian Johnson who is a billionaire He sold a computer
company, Blue Chip or something it's called, for millions and
millions of dollars. And his goal or his slogan is
not to die. And he believes that by surgery, exercise, watching his
diet by having special lights and everything structured in
his life. He believes that he's extending
his life so that he will live forever. And contemplating that he says
nobody wants to die. He says we spend all of our time
avoiding death. We look when we cross the road,
we go to the hospital, we take medication and he says all the
time we're avoiding dying and so nobody wants to die and so
he says I am going to prove that through technology and advancement
in medicines and knowledge that we can become godlike and not
die. thinking about it who would in
their right mind want to live forever in this world of ours? Day by day it's trouble. Day by day our lives are altered. Things happen which change the
course of our lives. We hear news Think of the news
overnight with Iran and Israel and how things could escalate
completely out of control, naturally speaking. Who would want to live
here forever? Labour and toil, sweat and tears,
thorns and thistles, sins and sorrows are around about us. And so this man Brian Johnson
wants to live forever on this world. This lawyer is not speaking
about living forever on this world. He's after eternal life
in the eternal kingdom of heaven with God and with the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so it's a question which
many people ask. What can I do? to inherit eternal
life. It's the ultimate question we
can say that what is going to happen to me after my eyes close
and my heart stops beating? What is going to happen to me? Eternal life is at stake and
therefore it's a very important question to ask. What must I
do? Have you ever asked that question?
Have you ever thought about what could happen after you die? Or do you put it to the back
of your mind? Do you say like Brian Johnson
well technology is going to advance everybody else will die but I
am just going to continue living. That's foolishness. Even if you
extended your life up to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, you'd still be judged. We could
never escape the judgment of God. Even if any of us live to
the coming of the Lord Jesus, we'll still be divided, the sheep
and the goats. And so it is a question that
people think about, are pushed to the back of their minds. What
must I do to inherit eternal life? In Matthew chapter 19 there is
the same question that's asked by the rich young ruler. Matthew 19 and verse 16. And
behold one came and said unto him good master what good thing
shall I do that I may have eternal life. So it seems with these
people that they were striving for eternal life but something
in their mind acknowledged that they fell short of what they
could obtain. He says, what good thing shall
I do? The lawyer says, what shall I
do? In other words, I have been trying.
I've been studying the law and I've been seeking to obey all
of the commands. I've been seeking to love God
with all of my heart, soul, strength and mind and my neighbour as
myself. The rich young ruler says, what shall I do? And he
tells Jesus, All of these things have I kept from my youth but
what lack I yet? He understood that he hadn't
yet obtained that which guaranteed him eternal life. And they thought that all that
they had done was nearly enough and that they
wanted to add just one or two more things that would guarantee
them that place in heaven. They thought, you know, all of
these people are unworthy to go. But me, if I can just add
one more, I can get there. If there can just be one more
run in the ladder, one more step on the ladder, I'll poke my head
up into heaven itself. were filled with pride about
what they themselves had done and of course God was going to
accept them into heaven. Heaven wouldn't be heaven without
them there because he was the greatest lawyer and this rich
young man had completed all of the laws of God. All of these
things have I kept from my youth yet Just give me one more thing
that I can do that I can enter into heaven and be with God forever. My thought went to the apostles. You know we like to think. I say we as general. We like to think. we are good. That is what is programmed within
our minds that we are good and that everybody else is bad. It's
very easy for us to look at the faults of other people but to
turn our eyes within and to see our own faults we find very very
difficult to do and so we are programmed to think that I'm
good and that God will accept me on the basis of my goodness
into heaven and I might just need to do a few more other things
to add a few more runs to my ladder and then I will be accepted. You think of the apostles as
they were with the Lord Jesus Christ and they were arguing
amongst themselves who would be the greatest. In Luke 22 And verse 24, it says, and there
was also strife among them. Which of them should be accounted
the greatest? Even amongst the apostles, there
was that pride. There was that selfish ambition
that I'm better than you. Christ is going to accept me
because I can do this and I can do that. I haven't done this
and I haven't done that. they wanted to be the greatest. But the scripture tells us as
we looked at recently that it's not of works lest anyone should
boast. And so those who seek to inherit
eternal life by the things that they do, by adding runs to the
ladder, by their work will fall flat on their face and they will
never enter eternal life. They will never get the gift
that they have been craving after because they've been looking
at it in the wrong place. Jesus says, go to the law. Look at God's law and see what
you read. And he said unto him, what is
written in the law and how readest thou? And so Jesus turns him
from himself and says, look into the law of God. What does the
law of God tell you about inheriting eternal life? And so he replies
and says, to love God with all of your heart, with all of your
soul, with all of your strength, with all of your mind and thy
neighbor as thyself. That's what he says. What about
the Ten Commandments? He could have turned him like
the rich young ruler. What about the Ten Commandments?
Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt
not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honour thy father
and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
And so Christ presents to him the moral law written in stone
given to Moses. Here you are. How do you face
up against this? Oh yeah. I've kept all of those
from a child. I've kept them all. The lawyer. Of course I've loved God with
all of my heart, soul and mind. I've done everything. But that
was not the purpose of Christ showing them the law. Christ
showed them the law not so that they could boast of themselves
to tell them, yes I've completed all of that. He showed them the
law so that they would be ashamed at their failure. He didn't show
them the law to bring them any encouragement, to bring them
any comfort. He showed them the law to present
to them how sinful they are. And yet because they are blind
and filled with pride they said, yeah I've done all of that. The purpose of the law of God
was to reveal to them the holiness of God and their sinfulness. It was to show them how God was
so good and so holy and so just and so righteous. It was to show them that His
will had been laid down in stone for His creation and that they
presented with that should have crumbled and said, oh, forgive
me. But instead they boasted and
it had no effect upon them whatsoever. When the law was given, in Exodus
chapter 20, the first time when the law was spoken. And God speaks to Moses and the
people of Israel and he lays down the Ten Commandments and
in verse 18, all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings
and the noise and the trumpets and the mountains smoking. When
the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they
said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let
not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the
people, Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that his
fear may be before your faces, that you sin not. And the people
stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto God, unto the thick
darkness where God was. And so when the law was given,
the original people of Israel were filled with fear. They were
filled with fear. And immediately they said to
Moses, you stand between God and us. It's so fearful was the
sight of the Holy God descending upon the mountain and speaking
the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of God. were petrified and so they said
put a mediator between us. You speak with God and then speak
with us. But not with these rich young
ruler and the lawyer. They felt that they didn't need
anybody to stand between. They believed that they were
okay. They had achieved a righteousness
which was acceptable to God and they had completed all of God's
commandments. And they didn't need to fear.
They didn't need to be worried about facing a holy God. With the lawyer, sorry, the rich
young ruler. Verse 17. Why callest thou me good? There
is none but good, but one, that is God. But if thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments. So Jesus says to both of these
what is written in the law. If you keep the law you will
get to heaven. If you are unable to obey the
law of God you will get to heaven and if you will enter into life
keep the commandments. In verse 28 of the chapter we
read thou hast answered rightly This do and thou shalt live. But he willing to justify himself
said unto Jesus and who is my my neighbor. And so Jesus says you fulfill
the law you'll get to heaven. You obey the Ten Commandments
and summarise, love God with all of your heart, soul and mind
and your neighbour as yourself, you will get to heaven. But when
presented with the law, they didn't crumble and say, I can't
do that. They believed that they could
and that they were. Romans tells us in Romans chapter
three, the law is there to show us our sin. Romans 3
and verse 19. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith it saith unto them who are under the law
under the law. We know that everybody who is
born into this world is under the law of God. God is the sovereign
ruler of this world. He is the king, the lawmaker
and he has decreed that everybody who is born into this world is
underneath his law. His law is a universal law for
all people. Although we are under our own
nation's law but God's law supersedes our nation's law and so we are
all of us under the law of God that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may be guilty before God therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall no man flesh be justified in his sight
for by the law is the knowledge of sin And so the law of God when we
are presented with it should not fill us with pride. We should
not be able to say, well, I'm OK here. The law is presented
to us to reveal to us that God is holy and that we have sinned
against him. That we are pronounced guilty. We have nothing to say before
the law of God. We have no defence. We have no
excuse. Sometimes we catch children or
we are caught doing something that we shouldn't do. And there
is excuses that we say. Think of Adam and Eve, they made
excuses. And children and adults make
excuses when they are caught doing something. But there will be no excuses.
When we are presented with God's holy law, every mouth will be
stopped and we are pronounced guilty before a holy God. And so Jesus says to them, okay, you think
you've kept the whole law? You think you're doing quite
well? Well, what about this? He tells the rich young ruler,
go and sell everything that you've got. Give it to the poor and
come and follow me. He struck him in the heart where
his idol was. He loved money and he was sad
because he was rich. He didn't want to give it away.
He didn't want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not
willing to let go of that final idol and to lay hold of Christ
as his only hope. And what about the lawyer? the lawyer, the man who knew
the word of God, believed that he had had the ability to fulfill
the whole law of God and so Christ presents him with a parable. Now some have said or some have
thought that this parable could have actually taken place. It
was a common thing for the priests and the Levites to walk from
Jerusalem down to Jericho And it was a common thing for thieves
to be found on that road and people would have been attacked
and robbed and left half dead and it would be common or it
would have been known that the priests and the Levites bypassed
those who were laid in the gutter because they didn't want to be
contaminated or made ceremonially unclean. And so Jesus gives a
parable to strike at the heart of this lawyer to humble his
pride, to show him that he was not the great man that he thought
he was. He was not the holy man that
he thought he was. He was not the law keeper that
he thought he was because he was going to shame him by using
a Samaritan which he despised as his great example. Bible tells us that Jesus says
they went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. You know that Jerusalem is high up
and they went down. The priests and the Levites were
coming from Jerusalem. They had finished their work
and they were going back home. They were on their way and they
passed by a man who had also come from Jerusalem who had been
beaten and left half-dead, and they passed by him having no
concern. 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, came and looked on him and passed by on the other
side. They came down from Jerusalem. They had finished their holy
work at the temple. You would have thought they would
have been filled with the spirit having been blessed under the
ministry of working at the holy sanctuary and had their minds
filled with the thoughts of God and God's creation and yet on
their way home from doing so they see another human being
Another creation of God made in the image of God lying at
the side of the road and they have no concern. They were proud. They couldn't
stoop so low as to minister first aid to a dying man. They had
twisted the scriptures. You see the Jews thought that
their neighbor was only a Jew. That they couldn't administer
or worry about anybody outside of that and they only had to
treat their neighbor as their self, their fellow Jew and everybody
else. It didn't matter if they were
drowning in the sea or been involved in a terrible accident would
walk by them, they would have no concern, their hearts were
hard, they were just worried about following the law to the
letter rather than having a total effect upon their heart and having
a transformation to love all people as themselves and so they
twisted the scripture they would make excuses as to why they didn't
want to be involved in such a terrible accident or catastrophe. They
would pass by and say well it's not my problem, nothing to do
with me, I'm on my way home, I don't want to contaminate myself
by touching somebody who's nearly dead or maybe dead and ruin my
service for the Lord. Not my neighbor. I don't have
to worry about them. They're not a Jew. I've never
seen them before. I don't have any concern for
such people. And so they passed by on the
other side. The Levite came and looked on
him. and yet passed by on the other
side. Even naturally speaking most
people when they were to see a situation like that would have
some compassion in their heart. But when someone becomes religious,
they become hard-hearted They become selfish and only worried
about themselves and fulfilling the law for themselves and they
become religiously cold and angry. You see that's the difference
between religion and a true work of grace. Religion seeks to follow
a set of rules and following those sets of rules it makes
you hard-hearted And when you see other people who break those
rules, it riles you up in anger. And instead of love being the
motive, it is the law that is the motive. And it makes you
legal and pharisaical and angry. What about the Lord Jesus? And
he was on the cross, those who crucified him. Father forgive
them for they don't know what they are doing. Grace, undeserved
love, is the opposite to hard law. The law makes people angry. Grace fills people with love. The lawyer The Levite and the
priest are men who followed the law and they were hard-hearted,
cold, religious people, worried about themselves and their own holiness for the work of God. And Jesus shows them up by using
a Samaritan as his example. We know that the Jews hated the
Samaritans. They bypassed their villages
and cities. They called them dogs. They were
not pure Jews. This man had more grace than
any of them put together. He came where he was. He showed mercy and compassion. He came where he was and when
he saw him he had compassion on him. He was not worried about himself. If you remember he also was on
a journey, he was going somewhere. You don't know where he was going
but he was going somewhere and yet he stopped his journey to
take care of this man that was laid aside, beaten and left half
dead. He administered first aid to
him. It's one thing isn't it to look
at somebody who's injured It's another thing to stoop down and
to touch them and to begin to bandage up their wounds and to
do the necessary first aid for them. But he goes even further. He lays him upon his donkey and
he takes him to an inn. He takes out his money and he
pays the innkeeper and looks after him for the night and then
continues on his journey. Bible says that he gives the
man two pence and he took out two pence and
gave it to them. It said that one pence is a day's
money so two pence two days money for a labourer and today maybe
70 or 80 pounds per night he takes from his own money but
not only does he say to him this is the money but he says anything
that you spend anything more cost that you incur I will repay
when I come back and then Jesus says to the man Which of these three thinkest
thou was neighbour unto him that fell among thieves? And he said,
He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do thou
likewise. That was the command. He cut
him down, he showed him where his error was, that he had not
been fully following the whole law of God, that his heart there
in his heart was the root cause of his problems and that he needed
a heart transformation. He couldn't just love his own
people but he had to love all people as himself. and the Samaritan
showed more grace and more compassion than the lawyer and the priest
and the Levite. What does this teach us? We know
that Jesus' parables have spiritual meanings behind them. We know that the Samaritan be
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus was a Jew.
He was not a Samaritan. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
despised and rejected as the Samaritans were despised and
rejected. We by our nature as we are under
the under the law of God are like the man laying in the ditch.
We have been beaten and stripped of our arraignment and we have
been wounded and we have been left half dead. We are without
hope. We are destined to the grave. The law of God passes by like
the priest and the Levite with no mercy. It says you will not
live. The law of God does not have
any mercy. Do this and you will live. But we can't. and there's no
escape, there's no route out. The soul that sins, breaks the
law, it will die. The thunderings and the lightnings
and the fear that God's law brings are revealed to us as the priest
and the Levite passing by without any mercy. But then comes the
good Samaritan, the Lord Jesus Christ and binds up the wounds
of the brokenhearted. He binds up those who have been
convicted of their sin and wounded in a war with Satan. We've been
robbed of all hope, yet Christ comes and he picks us up and
lays us upon his beast and he takes us to the inn and he pays
all for us. He says whatever you spend more when
I come I will repay thee. As the priest and the Levite
pass by the Good Samaritan gives everything that is needed and
more that is provided for the man. And so Christ also does
all that is needed and more. We looked at recently of that
positive righteousness that he grants to his people credited
to their account and so Christ does more. Not only does he cleanse
from sin, not only does he bind up the wounds that sin has made
and pouring in oil and wine but he also carries us, sets us upon
the beast as it were and brings us on our journey and pays all
for us. In Romans chapter 10 it tells us there verses 3 and
4 they being ignorant of God's
righteousness going about to establish their own righteousness
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God
that righteousness which is of God is the Lord Jesus Christ
for Christ is the end of the law to everyone that believeth. And so as Christ points these
men to the law it was not meant to bring them any comfort They
were meant to trace out the law and to see their failings. Sinned
there, sinned there, sinned there, broken that one, failed on that
one, missed that one. And they were to come to the
bottom of that law and then they were to see failure. Then they were to be directed
to somewhere else. Christ who is the end of the
law. They were not to see themselves as righteous when they're face
to face with the law, they were to see themselves as sinners.
Then to be pointed to the righteousness which is God's righteousness
to be found in Christ. Christ obeyed the law. As we read he says, you complete
the law you'll live. Christ obeyed the law of God,
every line and every dot. Therefore he is counted righteous. If we can do that we also will
be counted righteous. Yet the scripture says, in sin
did our mothers conceive us. We are unable to perform one
righteous task and if we sin once we break the whole law of
God. But Christ completed that law and therefore is enabled
to justify and to make righteous each of his dear people. And so Christ then is like the
Good Samaritan, master What shall I do to inherit eternal life? It is not take all the pills
that you can to try and live forever. No, that won't help
because one day you will come face to face with Christ. It's
not by trying to fulfill all the law of God because you will
fail, you will just be miserable. Every day you'll be a failure.
You'll come to lay down at night and you will look back over the
day and you'll just see failure, failure, failure and you'll be
oppressed unless you think that you are doing well. Then you
will be proud. You are to ask yourself the question,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? What's the answer? Believe
upon the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I am come
that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly. Christ came to give eternal life. He says to the rich young ruler,
why do you call me good? There's none good but God. What
should he have said? You are God. You are God manifested
in the flesh and I believe on thee. I believe on you and I
want eternal life and whoever believes upon the Lord Jesus
Christ is granted eternal life not because they are good because
they see themselves as bad in the sight of a holy God. When
they compare themselves to God's law they see I've failed, I've
failed, I've failed, I've failed. Therefore God is right to judge
me. But I look beyond the law, the end of the law, and I come
to Christ. And we say give me Christ or
else I do. Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? What is written in the law? Don't
look to the law, look to Christ. Look and live. Dying sinner,
we sing, don't we? Dying sinner, look and live. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Our closing hymn is hymn number
418 from Gadsby's. To our Redeemer's glorious name,
awake the sacred song. O may his love, immortal flame,
tune every heart and tongue. Hymn number 418 to tune 260. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
again for Thy Word and for the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ
and we pray that we may be made to answer that question, what
must I do? to inherit eternal life and we
pray that by thy spirit's power we may be granted that ability
to respond, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. We pray Lord that we may be enabled
to confess like the hymn that the Saviour died for me. We pray that thou be with us
now then as we part from each other. Do dismiss us in with
thy blessing. Do watch over us in the interval
and do prepare our hearts to receive thy word this evening. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us
each now and forevermore. Amen.