Again, turn with me to Luke chapter
10, beginning with verse 25. This morning I want to talk about
my neighbor. And he's a glorious neighbor.
There's no one like him. You'll not find anyone like him
anywhere. Now some of us have good neighbors
at home. helpers. I have one that every
time he sees me go out mowing, he has to come over and help.
That's all right. That's a neighbor. Neighbor does
things like that. But I have a neighbor that's
so much greater, so far greater than my neighbor that's next
door to me. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. Let's just look at this real
quick in the context and then I have a few things I'd like
to say about it. In verse 25 it says, and behold
a certain lawyer, a lawyer, this is one of those guys that studied
the Mosaic law from the time of his youth. He had memorized
it. As a matter of fact, many of
the Jews, the Israelites, from the time they were born were
taught the Word of God, so much so that they were taught to memorize
the first five books of the Old Testament. That's the books of
the law. Now that's a great feat in itself,
isn't it? And these guys, these lawyers, They knew the law. As a matter of fact, they had
gotten to where that they made interpretations of the law. They called it the Talmud. They
make these interpretations of the law and so they have all
these different laws that these guys have memorized and put into
action as far as religious, ceremonial, and civil law among the Jews. Now this certain lawyer stood
up Every time you read about somebody
who really sees Jesus Christ, what do they do? They fall down. They fall down. This guy stood
up. He didn't fall down before the
Lord, and he tempted the Lord. He stood up and tempted him. He tested the Lord. Let's just
see if you know anything about the law. I'm a lawyer. We'll
see. And so he asked this question
of the Lord. He said, Master, what shall I
do to inherit eternal life? Well, let me just tell you, he
was on the wrong footing. It's not what you do, it's what
he did that brings eternal life. But he asked, Master, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life? And the Lord said to him, what
is written in the law? How read is that? Well, this
man knew what was written in the law. The second question
was, how read is that? You know, you can read the Word
of God, and there's only one right way to read it. Only one
right way to read it, and that is, let God be true, and every
man a liar. That's the only way you can read
the Word of God. And when you read the Word of God, it's all
about one person. the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
as we read the Word of God, as we get ready to read the Word
of God, or as we meditate upon the Word of God, we should be
thinking about Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you see Him there? I had read this so-called parable,
the Good Samaritan, so many times until just recently I saw the
Lord there. He does that to us. He reveals
it to us in His time. You may not see Him in every
passage as you read through the Word of God or as you meditate
upon the Word of God, but He will reveal Himself to you in
all these passages. There's only one right way to
read the Word of God. Many wrong ways. Many wrong ways. People leave out Christ in the
reading of the Word of God. They leave out the blood that
was shed for His people as they read the Word of God. They read
it out of context. And many of them read it to confirm
their own prejudices. They'll find a phrase, take it
out of context, and confirm their own prejudice about what they
think the Word of God ought to say. What is written in the law? Well,
this man answers. He answers in verse 27. And he
answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all
thy mind. He quoted Deuteronomy chapter
6 verse 5. Then he said, And thy neighbor
as thyself. He quotes here Leviticus chapter
19 verse 18. He quotes from the law. When asked about this one time
toward the end of our Lord's life here on earth, he said,
on this hangs all the law and the prophets, these two things. He said it another time about
these two laws here, There's none other commandment
greater than these. These are the greatest of all
the commandments. James called it the Royal Law. The Royal Law. I confess, and
if you are honest with yourself you'll do the same thing, I confess
that I cannot love God like I ought to. Like I want to. I confess that I cannot love
my neighbor as myself like I want to, like I ought to. It is not in me. I have this
body of flesh that causes me problems all the time. But the Lord Jesus did. The Lord Jesus fulfilled the
law perfectly. He loved his father perfectly. He loved his own even unto the
end. He loved them perfectly. And
you know what? In Christ, I have fulfilled the
law perfectly. Not in me, but in the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a neighbor. What a neighbor
we'll see. The Lord says in verse 28, He
said unto him, Thou hast answered right. You've said the right
thing. This do and live. This do and
live. Paul said, For Moses describeth
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doeth
those things shall live by them. If you're going to live by the
law, you've got to live by it all. From beginning to end. He said to the rich young ruler
who quoted several of the Ten Commandments, he said
to him, if thou wilt be perfect, if thou wilt be perfect, Paul
said, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy, He saved us. It's not what we do. The only
righteousness the Father will accept is the righteousness of
His own Son, who worked out that righteousness in His 33-some
years on earth, who lived a perfectly obedient life. that he might be the perfect
Lamb of God who could be the sacrifice for his people. As a matter of fact, the scripture
says all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. But notice this guy, verse 29. But he, willing to justify himself,
doesn't that just about take care of everybody in this world?
He willing to justify himself. I'm going to show you how righteous
I am, Jesus. I'm going to ask you another
question. Who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? The lawyer chose to justify himself. tried to tell the Lord Jesus
how righteous he was. He asked the question, who is
my neighbor? I don't know if he asked it arrogantly. He might have in his pride. I don't know if he asked it sarcastically. I don't know, but he might have.
I don't know if he asked it belligerently in rebellion. That, I would guess,
was probably the case. His attitude was, I'm just as
good as any man here. His attitude was, I'm better
than most. He was like the publican of the
Pharisee we read about later on in Luke 18. The Pharisee stood
up and told how wonderful he was, how many attributes he had,
how many good things he had done. The publican got over far away,
smote himself on the breast and said, God, be merciful to me,
a sinner, the sinner. And the Lord said, the publican
went down to his house justified. You know why? Because he knew
he had no righteousness. He knew he had no help. He knew
he was ungodly. He knew he needed this mercy
from God himself. And then in verse 30, we begin
this story, so-called Good Samaritan. Here's the Lord's answer to,
who is my neighbor? In verse 30, and Jesus answering
said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and
fell among thieves. which stripped him of his rim,
wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. As he lay there
dying, by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and
when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And then there
was a Levite, Likewise, a Levite, when he was at the place, came
and looked on him and passed by on the other side. He could have said to the priest,
well at least I looked at him. There's no mercy from the ones
that you would have thought would have shown mercy. These were
ministers of God. They ministered in the temple,
they ministered in the synagogues, they ministered in their towns. These are ones you would have
thought would have shown this man some mercy. These are ones
who knew the Word of God. They did their ceremonies by
the Word of God. They did their work by the Word
of God. But I wonder, will we ever get
help? from those religious people who
know not the truth. No. No. We'll never get any help
from them. I wonder if it was beneath them
as they passed by this poor man who was robbed, wounded, and
left for dead. And as they passed by, I wonder
if it was just beneath them to go do something for such a one
as he. I wonder if they did not want
to soil themselves. My little buddy. Might be a little running sore
by now. Might get that on me. I wonder if it is that they just
didn't want to soil themselves. I wonder if maybe they were too
holy to touch such a one. They were like that Pharisee
in the temple. They were just so great and so
wonderful in their own eyes. As a matter of fact, there is
a law that says that if you touch, according to poor Israel, if
you touch a dead person, you have to remain separate for seven
days. Maybe they didn't want to do
that. Maybe it was just the fact that there was nothing in it
for them. They'd have to give out. There was nothing in it
for them. Maybe they were just too busy
to stop and to help. I don't know. But if they do not tell and live
the truth, what good are they? What good are they? I spent 40
years telling lies. I only tell you because I'm ashamed
of it and I'm just illustrating here. I spent 40 years telling
like I told people that God loves everybody. You read the scripture
you find out he doesn't love everybody. I spent 40 years telling everybody
that God did the work. Now he's standing back waiting
for you to make the decision to come to him. That's a lie. That's a lie. I taught people in the church
to tell people just to let God do His work. When have you ever
let God do anything? He's God. He's sovereign. He does as He will. He does according
to His own pleasure, according to His own purpose. Nine years ago, I was sitting
right over there, actually almost, well, let's see, ten years ago,
ten years ago, and a little before that, I had listened to Brother
Donnie preach a few times. The sovereignty of God, he mentioned
every message. And I thought, well, isn't there
something more to that? I got my Bible, I started taking
notes, and I'd go home and I'd read over it. And one day God
said, I'm God. I'm God. You're nothing. If you're going to have anything,
I'm going to give it to you. That day he gave it to me. He
gave me life. He gave me what I required. He
had already done it. He had already done it. Then verse 33, But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw
him, what did he do? He had compassion on him. He had compassion on him. Do
you know what a Samaritan was? Samaritan, a Samaritan was a
half-breed Jew, intermarried with the Gentiles around them. As a matter of fact, the Jews
hated the Samaritans so much that at one time, in John chapter
8, these Jewish leaders said to Jesus, aren't we right? You are a Samaritan. In this case he was. We'll talk about this as we go
along and the points that I want to share with you. He went to
that traveler in verse 34. And he went to him and bound
up his wounds pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own
beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. He paid
for everything. He took care of everything. This
guy couldn't do a thing for himself. Matter of fact, he was laying
there dying. But the good Samaritan, this
Samaritan came by with compassion and did everything that man needed. And then paid for it all. Look
at the next verse. Verse 35, And on the morrow,
when he departed, He took out two pence, and gave them to the
host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou
spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." Sounds like
what Paul wrote in the book of Philemon. There's Philemon, Onesimus,
who was the slave, And Paul uses the name Onesimus
to teach Philemon about his slave that came all the way to Rome,
got put in jail. Evidently he was pretty near
Paul, so Paul preached the message and Onesimus received the gospel. Paul sent him back. Sent him
back to Philemon. and said, no longer call him
onesimus, which means unprofitable, but call him nesimus, profitable,
to thee and to me. And then Paul said, if he owes you anything more,
put that on my account. I'll take care of it. Then the master asked this question
in verse 36. Which now of these three thinkest
thou was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves? Which of these was neighbor to
him to the one that was left dead? And the correct answer,
this law you're gave. In verse 37, and he said, he
that showed mercy on him, then he said, go and do thou likewise. Show mercy. A neighbor is one
that shows mercy. The master says, go and do thou
likewise. Be neighborly to those that need
mercy. We are neighborly every time
we preach the gospel to all those who are in need. We're telling them of God's mercy. And that's why they preach. And
the gospel is the greatest comfort to anyone who's in need. This is how the Lord Jesus loves
sinners. God commended his love toward
us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He's the good shepherd that giveth
his life for the sheep. Now I want to make a few observations
about this story and hopefully they'll be a blessing to you
as they were to me. Number one, I've already mentioned
that my neighbor is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who
had compassion on me. He loved me before the world
ever began. I was one of his before the world
ever began. I didn't know that until that
day. that He revealed Himself to me.
And when He did, what a blessing. I'm one of His. I've always been
one of His. I always will be one of His.
And if He gave everything in His life for me, don't you think
He'll make sure that I'll be with Him forever in glory? He's able to perform it, isn't
he? God is aging. We're kept by the power of God. This man was a Samaritan, a half-breed,
half-Jew, half-Gentile. I'm stretching just a little
bit here, I think, but I'm going to say it this way. There's a
picture of the Incarnation, God and man. They hated him because of who
he was. They hated him because he was
always right. I've often said to my children
as they were growing up, I said, and they'd be fussing at one
another, I said, wouldn't it be something if you grew up with
Jesus who never did anything wrong? What would you say about
that? Well, I'll tell you what we say
about that. In rebellion we say, we'll not have this man reign
over us. Great is the mystery of godliness. God became a man. But you know
what? Compassion. He loves sinners. He loves sinners. Now if you're not quite a sinner,
or you've done some good and maybe the rest of it's been bad,
or you think pretty highly of yourself, You're not the sinner
we're talking about. The sinner we're talking about
is one who is totally unable to help himself. He is ungodly,
without strength before a holy God. Number one, my neighbor is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Number two, my neighbor is merciful
to his people who need mercy. Here's his sovereign mercy. I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. One that does not
need mercy, one does not need mercy if he has no need. If he's not guilty. May have
some need but can handle things yourself. You're not, this is
not what we're talking about. That's not right. Guilty of some
things, all right, and others, no. Total inability. You're a sinner without hope
and without God in this world. If God's revealed that to you,
then by all means, confess Him because He revealed it. The God of heaven, the God of
this universe, the sovereign God, the only one who can show
mercy, has shown you mercy. to show you that you're a sinner
before a holy God. This man could not help himself.
He was totally wiped out. Sin robs a man. He was robbed. Robs him of his
innocency. Puts him on the same plane as
Adam and the old Adamic nature. We sin because we're sinners. We're not sinners because we
sin. We sin because we're sinners. That's who we are. He was robbed. He was stripped. Left Him nothing. Left Him naked. And we are naked
before a holy God. He sees through your facade.
He sees who you really are. He sees the truth about you and
me. Sin wounds, man. The wounds of
sin. Isaiah said, from the sole of
the foot to the crown of the head, nothing but putrefying
sores. Sin wounds. Aren't you glad that
he was wounded for our transgressions? Bruised for our iniquities. Seeing wounds, the man. He was
left. They departed, it said up there
in verse 30. They departed. He was left. He was left to himself. And oh,
if we're left to ourselves, the only thing we can hope for is
death. Because they left him to die.
They left him half dead. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die. But my neighbor delights in mercy. He delights in it. Everyone that
we read about who ever called for mercy, he stopped and gave
it to them. Oh, that we would call upon.
I need mercy every day, don't you? Every morning, I go out
on my front porch and I say to the Lord, Lord, I need mercy
today. I'll not make it without you,
didn't I? I need your mercy. That publican showed us how.
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Number three, my neighbor went
to where the need was. My neighbor went to where the
need was. He came to this earth. He left the lights and glories
of heaven to live in this dark world of sin. He left his father
knowing that he would become the darkness of sin and God's
wrath would be poured out on him. He came knowing all this
would be done to him. It had been covenanted. before
the world was ever framed. So the Father sent His dear Son
into this world. The Son willingly came to do
the Father's will. Why? Those people, the Father gave
the Son. They couldn't make it themselves.
There was no hope for them. So he came for his people, for
his sheep. And he loved his God perfectly,
so he did his Father's will. And he loved his neighbor. My
neighbor loved his neighbor. He had these people perfectly. My neighbor went to where the
need was. This morning in the preaching
of the gospel, in every service we have the preaching of the
gospel, the Lord is coming to where the need is. He's preaching to the heart.
He's preaching through the pastor. He's speaking to us of God's
mercy. My neighbor willingly helped
the one in need. He didn't just come to him. He
had help for him. He had help for him. This is
God's sovereign purpose who has saved us and called us with a
holy calling not according to our works but according to his
own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. He bound up the wounds. He poured in oil and wine The
oil of the spirit for healing and life. The wine of his blood
for cleansing. And he set him on his own beast. He walked to the end of the fellow
road, underneath of the everlasting arms. We don't have to carry
ourselves. He carries us. By his stripes
we are healed. He gave his life a ransom for
many and he is the once for all offering for sin. My neighbor willingly helped
the one in need. Are you here in need this morning?
Do you need mercy? Number five, my neighbor expected
nothing in return. This guy didn't ask for a thing.
when he helped this poor traveler out. He didn't ask for a thing.
My neighbor expected nothing in return. That's sovereign grace.
That's sovereign grace. He expected nothing in return.
He did it all. And then he makes us willing
in the day of His power to come to Him. And we come to Him believing
because the Spirit of God has given us life. What could we pay? What could we pay for our ransom?
We have nothing. The Lord would not accept any
payment, but the blood of his own son, Jesus Christ. That's the only payment required,
that's the only payment necessary, and that's the only payment he
will accept. The only payment. If men could
pay a little or pay their way in this thing of salvation, first thing they'd do is start
boasting about it. Isn't that what they do? I've
done this and I've done that. Man came into the shop the other
day and told me that they had had a revival meeting. And they
had this is how he put it. They got some number I forget. They got a number of people say
and I looked at him and I said you didn't get anybody say if
anybody got saved God did the work. Not you. My neighbor expected nothing
in return. Number six, my neighbor had all
that is needed to pay. He had everything necessary. He had everything necessary,
all that was needed to pay. That's redemption. He redeemed
us. We're redeemed through his blood
and that is called even the forgiveness of sins. Think about it. The riches He has. Oh yes, I
know we own the cattle and a thousand hills and the wealth of every
mind that song goes and the scripture says. But that's not the riches
we're talking about. There's the riches of His grace.
You cannot deplete the riches of His grace. His grace is sufficient. There's the riches of His glory.
Think about Him in His glory now, seated at the right hand
of the Father. And in Revelation chapter 1,
it gives us a picture of how He's clothed. And what a glorious,
majestic Christ He is. The riches of His goodness that
led us to repentance. You see, His riches is in this. He was made to be sin for us.
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Therefore you are bought with
a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit,
which are God's. We're bought with a price. And
that we give to Christ was His own precious blood. Number seven. Something else I noticed about
this. My neighbor left me in the care of the host. He said, if I go away, the Spirit
of God will come. If I go not away, He won't come.
But if I go away, the Spirit of God will come. And He'll guide
you into truth. He'll tell you all things. He'll
testify of me. He'll show you things to come.
I will not leave you comfortless. He left me with the host. That
host is here today. I'm in His hands. And in His
hands, He takes care of me. Even when I blunder. Even when
I fall. Let's just tell it like it is.
Even when I sin, He takes care of me. He never stopped. never will stop taking care of
me. You see, on the morrow, verse
35, when the Samaritan departed, he took out two pets and gave
them to the host and said unto him, take care of him. And whatsoever
thou spendest more when I come again, I'll repay thee. I'll
take care of everything. And he did. He took care of everything. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches and glory. Another thing I noticed, my neighbor
intercedes for the needy. He talked to that host. He interceded,
he mediated. We have one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. He sits now at God's right hand
making intercession for us. My neighbor is praying for me.
I have the Son of God praying for me. If I had the Son of God
praying for me, what more would I need? What more could I ask? If He's praying for me, don't
you think the Father will answer that prayer? Well, He answers
the prayer of John chapter 17, I want those that Lord that You've
given me to be with me where I am. And so when every believer,
when every saint dies, That prayer is answered. They'll be with
Him for all eternity. And one of these days we will
be, because that prayer is for us too. And number nine, and I'll finish
with this. Number nine, I am accepted on the merits of
my neighbor. I am accepted on the merits of
my neighbor. Do you see what he said? He interceded
for him and said take care of him and whatsoever thou spendest
more when I come again I will repay thee and the host kept
him there. Didn't put him out. It was on
the merits of this Samaritan fellow that that guy was taken
care of. He is my surety. He is my surety. And he's already
there. As a matter of fact, according
to Paul in Ephesians, that we are already in him in the heavenlies. I'm already there. In Jesus Christ. I'm already there. Just waiting
for the time that He calls and I unite with Him forever. I'm
in Him in the heavenlies. That's pretty sure stuff, isn't
it? He is my surety. He is my safety. He is my strong consolation,
both steadfast and sure. I'm accepted in the beloved on the merits
of my neighbor. My neighbor is the Lord Jesus
Christ who loved me and gave himself for me. And when he brings
us to the place that he is our only hope, he is all we need,
and we're unable to help ourselves, Then He'll show us what a neighbor
He is and what a wonderful, gracious, merciful, marvelous neighbor
our Lord Jesus is. Let's pray.