I thought you did that for yourself.
Oh, okay. Good morning. Oh, it's great
to be here again. When you guys start getting older
in years like some of us, we might prize it a bit more. Want you to open your Bibles. to Luke chapter 10, Luke 10. The 10th chapter of the gospel
of Luke. It's been many years since I
tackled this text, I think, according to my records, which may not
be accurate, I assure you. I think I've got to turn something
on down here. Luke chapter 10, beginning at
verse 25 and reading through verse 37. The title this morning is Christ
the Good Samaritan and the only Good Samaritan. Let's bow now for prayer and
we'll read shortly. Lord, we are grateful that by
your divine providence We're unable to be in this place this
morning. Lord. If all we hear is what the preacher
says. We have missed. The wonderful. Person. Savior redeemer. our precious Lord Jesus Christ. And in our study this morning
we are attempting to find what our Savior says in this section
of verses as they come to us in other ways in different parts
of our Bible. But surely If we have a Bible,
if we read the Bible at all, surely we are familiar with the
four Gospels. And here we are this morning
with the Gospel of Luke in front of us. But Lord, a miracle of grace
has to take place in order for us to believe. It is indeed a
miracle that never ends. It is from one eternity to the
next. And we beg for your mercy upon
us and that you would bless the reading of your word and the
hearing of your word that we might give ourselves now to a
serious opportunity in front of us of
finding in these precious words and others that we shall mention
the wonders, the miracle of your grace to us in Christ. Help us,
we beg, as we attempt to follow your leading. Only if you lead
us will it be profitable to any of us. including the speaker. Lord, we thank you for many wonderful
times in this place. Oh, how we beg for another this
day. We ask it in our Lord's dear
and precious name. Amen. Luke chapter 10, beginning at verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him, that is the Lord Jesus, saying, Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? He said unto him, By the way,
this man is called a lawyer in verse 25 as we just read it,
but it's not a lawyer in our sense of the word. It is a person
who is well-versed in all of the Old Testament scriptures.
And when this event transpires, that's all the written scriptures
that they are in this Bible because the rest of our Bibles in the
four Gospels and forward record for us actual events such as
this one. So this man is a fairly smart
guy. The problem is that your IQ ain't
got nothing to do with believing the gospel. It is rather a hindrance
instead of a benefit. You look through the four gospel
accounts and see whom it is that God saved. and you'll find a
ragtag bunch. The higher people are in society,
the more difficult it is for them to admit that they have
no righteousness of their own. We're going to cover a lot of
these things, I hope, if it doesn't leave my brain and my paper in
front of me. Let me start again. Behold a
certain lawyer. stood up and tempted Christ,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And
our Lord said to him, what is written in the law? What do you
find written in the Old Testament scriptures, the only Bible that
was then in existence? How read you How do you read
this book that you have and are so well versed in? How read you? And the man is not stumped for
an answer. And he answering said, You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your
neighbor as yourself." And he said unto him, our Lord
said to this lawyer, you have answered right. This do and you
shall live. The problem is No human being
except Christ wearing human nature mixed in with his divine nature
is the only one to ever attain this. You have answered right. This
do and you shall live. But this man, this lawyer, willing
to justify himself, trying to take our Lord's words off of
what he has just quoted as being the essence of all of the Ten
Commandments. And so he said to the Lord Jesus
in verse 29, and who is my neighbor? A better question would be, who
is this God of whom this law speaks? But no, He wishes only
to defer from himself the outward act of showing kindness to people. And so our Lord answers him a
second time in verse 30. Jesus answering said a certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves which
stripped him of his raiment, of his clothes, and wounded him, and departed,
leaving him half dead." Half dead. And by chance, there's no such
thing as chance, but our Lord condescends to the language of
a world that hates God. By chance, there came down a
certain priest that way, and by the way, this road leads from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and it's a fairly steep road. I forget the distance, but there's
some 12,000 priests and Levites that work in the temple in Jerusalem,
but they live in Jericho. We'll meet those characters now
immediately. By chance, there came down a
certain priest that way, and when the priest saw the man,
he simply moved to the other side of the road. He passed by
on the other side. He's too busy about important
things. He has no use for this man, largely
because this man is a Samaritan, a Gentile. And by chance, There came down
a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. Verse 32, and likewise a Levite,
when he was at the place, he came and looked on him and still
passed by on the other side. Oh, but here's the kicker now.
But a certain Samaritan, a specific Samaritan, The Jews hated the
Samaritans with a purple passion. But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion
on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil
and wine, and set him on his own beast brought him to an inn
and took care of him. And the next day, on the morrow,
when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the
host and said, take care of him and whatever you spend more when
I come again, I will repay you. Which now of these three do you
think was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he
said, he that showed mercy on him, then said, Jesus, go you
and do likewise. Likewise. Now, still in Luke,
I'm going to have a couple of scriptures in John. And I, I
don't remember if I go back to, to the, I think it's just Luke. I'm not positive. I may have
to beg for your forgiveness. All right, let's go to chapter
7 in the Gospel of Luke. Now we are attempting to try
to find out ourselves what it is
that enables us to not be condemned by the law of God, but to be
A Samaritan might be a difficult task indeed. All right, verse
29, Luke chapter 7. And I'm looking straight at 8,
no wonder. All right. And all the people that heard
him, this him is John the Baptist. And the publicans, the Roman
tax collectors who were Jews, justified God being baptized
with the baptism of John. So they heard John the Baptist
preach and they consented to be baptized by John the Baptist
because of that identification between them. Verse 30. But the
Pharisees and our friend the lawyers rejected the counsel
of God against themselves being not baptized of Him. Verse 35, I don't think I have
time to read all of this so I'll have to skip. But wisdom is justified
of all her children. And now we turn to the Gospel
of John, chapter 3. And while we're on our way there,
I should like to ask you to think about a particular
thing between Christ and this lawyer in regard to the Ten Commandments. What is the purpose of the Ten
Commandments? Most people would say we're supposed
to keep them. Yet this book teaches that nobody
can, nobody has, and nobody does except Christ. He's that certain Samaritan. Did I tell you John chapter 3
verses 19, 20, and 21 And this is the condemnation,
that light has come into the world. What is that light? It is the Lord Jesus Himself. He says plainly in our Bibles,
I am the light of the world. This is the condemnation, that
light has come into the world, And men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. Ah, but he that doeth truth,
what a powerful expression, he that doeth truth, comes to the
light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought
in God. God must give us this as a gift,
and His Son must pay the penalty of all the times that we've broken
the Ten Commandments, and still do. But the Ten Commandments are
for a very good purpose. It's like a mirror held in front
of us, showing us our deformities and all that is wrong with us
about everything from A to Z. One more scripture now in John
before you leave it. I'm hanging on to Luke chapter
10. Chapter 5 verse 44. Our Lord says, how can you believe which receive honor one of another
and seek not the honor that comes from God only? Now I want to try to ask you
a question or two if I can find my, you know, there we go. What use did the Lord make of
the Ten Commandments? Christ, the alone Good Samaritan. Here's a quick answer to that
question. The Lord Jesus sends this lawyer
to the law. He sends him to the Ten Commandments. Why? So that the man would condemn
himself before Christ and plead for mercy. And that's always
been the purpose of the law. And it still is. And yet people
proudly suggest by putting up banners and signs that they have
no problem keeping the law. Yeah, because they got both eyes
shut and their mind is turned off. They think if they honor
this physical object, put it in a courthouse or wherever,
and certainly plastered in churches around the world, but America
probably leads the pack. Our Lord sent this lawyer to
the law in order to wake him up. so that he would condemn
himself and become a candidate for mercy at the hands of the
Son of God. And what is it now? How are we
to use the Ten Commandments now? Oh, you people are so wonderful.
You keep the Ten Commandments with no problem. And that's a
lie. And I know it because I have
to live in this flesh too. We couldn't go 30 minutes without
sinning. Not even three minutes without
sinning. So what is it now but this same certain Samaritan is
sending proud sinners to the law so that we will condemn ourselves
and become candidates for God's grace? That's why it has to be
by grace. Salvation is by the grace of
God. It is that which God does in
the Trinity of His persons. Ah, let's see, I bet you left
John, but maybe not. If you'll flip over and find
John chapter 20. John chapter 20, verses 30 and
31. The very last two verses of John
20. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written
in this book. But these are written. John is
talking about His gospel And all the other books of the Bible
are included, even though he didn't mention it and doesn't
specifically refer to it. But these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing you might have life through His name. And one of
those names, He's the Good Samaritan. And it is an exclusive right.
No one else has it except Him. These people that passed by this
Samaritan that lay half dead on the road to Jericho, these
three people, the priest, the Levite, and the Lord Jesus. They represent the patriarch
such as Abraham, the prophet such as Moses, and the priest
such as Aaron. But why are all these, all these
people, all these generations of time that have passed on this
earth, why are all of these priest,
the Levite, and any other office in religion. Why are they just
unable to help? Or perhaps we should say, in
some cases, unwilling to help. And here's the answer. The reason
we do not help people that God puts in front of us is because
we ourselves lay wounded in this wounded man. God must help us before we can
help anybody else. We're dead in trespasses and
sins And that's a serious matter that
only God can cure. A preacher can't do it. He's
in the same boat everybody else is in. Though very few of them
admit it. So how is this, how do we affect
this? How do we carry this out? It is by revealing how holy God
is to whomever will listen. And if the spirit of God is there, he can open our eyes
to what we don't want to see, that I'm lost and undone. And
only by divine grace and mercy can real sinners find any help
or hope. Secondly, It convinces me of
my need, just like this wounded man, half dead. Further, it is
by revealing Christ as the only hope for real sinners. I'll cite you just one verse,
and I'll tell you the reference after I quote it to you. Of course,
I didn't trust my memory, so I wrote it down. sometime before
day this morning, I don't remember. Christ is the end, E-N-D, the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Now that, my friend, is a statement. You can find it in your Bible
in Romans chapter 10 verse 3. Maybe I should read a bit further.
Let me take you in John's gospel if you happen to hang on to that. Let me find my reference. I don't remember if we did, let's see. In John 20, is that where you
were? Okay, I want to read it again
then. Verses 30 and 31. Many other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this
book. You wonder why that is? Wouldn't you like to know what
else he did? My soul, we have enough problem
with what John has recorded. But he says, these are written,
verse 31, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Messiah. the Son of God and that believing
you might have life through His name. Now how are you going to
believe? You must receive from God the
gift of faith. Now I know everybody and his
brother tells you if you'll have faith God will save you. But
what if you can't muster faith and you can't? Neither can I. but preachers everywhere telling
their congregations you take the first step and God will take
the second one no sir if you can take the first one you can
waltz all the way into heaven but you ain't gonna be there
because you can't do it you cannot do it neither can I how we twist
this Bible to tell us stuff that was just pure bunk junk I'll
never understand about myself or anyone else. Let's go back to Luke for just
a bit. We'll stop by chapter 16 Verse 15. I'll start with 14. Luke 16,
14. And the Pharisees also who were
covetous. You'd have to have the parable
of the unjust steward that goes up to verse 13, ends at verse
13. And the Pharisees also who were
covetous. heard all these things, and they
derided or ridiculed him. And he said unto them, You are
they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your
hearts. For that which is highly esteemed
among men is abomination in the sight of God." And I want you
to take that statement, that last statement at the end of
verse 15. and look at modern day religion
through those glasses. God knows your hearts for that
which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight
of God. Lord have mercy. I'm at a loss as to what to say
and what to do. Would you turn to Galatians chapter 3? I'm trying to get there. There
it is. Galatians, what did I say? Chapter 3 and verse 21. Galatians
3, 21. Let's back up to 19, get the
full statement. Galatians 3.19, wherefore then
serves the law? What is the law for? We've tried
to answer that already, but we need to try again. What purpose then does the law
serve? Now, I'm just adding words. I'm
not trying to read it verbatim. It was added because of transgressions. If the human race had not been
sinners, we wouldn't need this law. We'd be perfect in God's
sight. Adam was made perfect. Didn't
last very long. It was added because of transgressions. Now watch this. Till the seed
should come. What seed is that? It is the
seed of the woman. The only instance of it in the
entire history of this world. Eve had a son. Till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made. and it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator." We go all the way to the New Testament
and find our Lord Jesus being born of a virgin, conceived by
the Holy Spirit of God. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, amen, verily,
righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture
has concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith, and
notice it does not say faith in Christ, though there is such
a thing, but that's not how it's put in this statement. It is by faith of Jesus Christ
might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster. And you notice the three words
to bring us are italicized, the translators are telling you that
we just put this in here because we think it reads and sounds
better. So I just take it right out in
my mind and skip over it. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after
faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. If you do religion like you do
any other subject that is studied in school, and today's churches
are chasing that rabbit and have done it for a long, long, long
time. But this law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after
faith is come, after a person is saved after meeting Christ
in His blessed glory and Him giving us life in Himself. After that faith has come, verse
25, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. So religion is not something
you can teach like arithmetic and English and a thousand other
things. But it is given for a very specific
purpose. That Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Now, where is
that text that I told you this morning? Huh? Romans. Somebody said it with
their mouth back there. That's the smart corner back
there. Romans 10, 3. Well, that's all I got to say.
I'll collect on these minutes another time.