All right, Luke chapter 10. Each of the four Gospels is written
to show us a different view of the same Savior. We saw a few
weeks ago, Matthew, show us Christ the King. Last, or two weeks
ago, we looked in Mark and we saw Christ the servant. This
morning, we'll look at Luke, who presents to us Christ the
perfect man. The Apostle John wrote to show
us the Son of God, Luke writes to show us the Son of Man. Luke
writes to show us that God became a real man in the person of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And that's very important. If
the Son of God did not become a real man, if he did not come
where we are, do for us what we could never do for ourselves,
salvation is not possible for anything. God had to become a
man for sinful men to be saved because only a man can represent
other men. Only a man can be the sacrifice
for other men. And the whole point of the passage
that we'll look at this morning is this. Salvation is impossible
by our law keeping. Can't be done. Salvation can
only be accomplished by the man, Christ Jesus, keeping the law
for us and saving us from our sin. And the second thing that
I want us to see is that Christ in the heart, will affect a believer's
conduct, will affect a believer's walk through this world. So let's
begin in Luke chapter 10, verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him saying, master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? Now this lawyer is not an attorney
like we typically think of a lawyer. He's a Pharisee. He tried to
interpret the law of God and to keep the law of God. He tried
to enforce that on the other Jews that they would keep the
law. But you know, he's not asking this question in sincerity. He's
not asking about eternal life because he wants to know where
eternal life is found. This is a, it's a dishonest question.
If he really wanted to know how to have eternal life, he wouldn't
have asked, what can I do to have it? He would have asked
the Savior, what can be done for me that I could have eternal
life? But this man must have thought
there was something that he could do, or maybe he thought he'd
already done it. I don't know, but to earn eternal
life. But I really don't think so.
I'm just confident that this question is asking dishonesty.
Anybody who thinks that they can do something to please God,
anybody that thinks that they can really earn eternal life
by keeping the law is simply not being honest with themselves.
I'll show you that in 1 John 1. Anybody who thinks that they
don't sin and they can keep the law, they're just being dishonest
with themselves. They're being dishonest with
God and with themselves. 1 John 1 verse 8. If we say we
have no sin, now you notice that sin is singular. He's talking
there about a sin nature. If we say we have no sin nature,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we've not sinned, if
we say we have not committed sins because we have a sin nature,
we've made God a liar and his word is not in us. Now, since
we have a sin nature, we can't save ourselves. We can't do anything
to earn eternal life. So if sinners like us are going
to be saved, someone else is going to have to do the saving,
aren't they? And that's who Luke is writing to tell us about,
about the man Christ Jesus who came to save his people. Now,
the Pharisee in our text, he's asking this question, Luke says,
to tempt the Lord. He's trying to trick the Lord
into saying something that will violate the scripture so that
they can discredit him. And look at the wisdom, how our
Lord answers him in verse 26. He said unto him, what's written
in the law? How readest thou? How do you
read the law? You know, the Lord will meet you on the grounds
that you desire to come to him on. This man wanted to come to
the Lord on the ground of the law, and the Lord met him right
there. What does the law say? How do
you read it? You tell me what the law says,
how you can earn eternal life. Well, look at verse 27. And he
answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with
all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. Now this lawyer knew
what he was talking about. He wasn't just a lawyer in name.
He'd studied the law, and he did indeed give the exact right
answer. exactly the right answer. Here's
a warning for us. Salvation is not in having the
right answers, is it? This man knew the right answer
and he wasn't saved. Where's salvation found? Not
in the right answers, in Christ. Now look back at Deuteronomy
chapter six. I'll show you, this man gave word for word the right
answer. Deuteronomy six, we'll begin
in verse four. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all
thy might. These words which I command thee
this day shall be in thine heart. That's where he got that, love
the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, and mind. He was
right, wasn't he? Well, what about loving your
neighbor? Well, look in Leviticus, back in Leviticus chapter 19. Here's where he got this about
loving your neighbor, Leviticus 19 verse 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother
in thine heart. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor
and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge nor bear
any grudge against the children of thy people. But thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. He had the right
answer. This man, a Pharisee, he gave
the right answer. And if you look at Matthew chapter
22, our Lord himself said the exact same thing as this lawyer
did. Our Lord said the whole law is
summed up in what this Pharisee said. Matthew 22 verse 35. Then one of them, which was a
lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him to do the same thing
as this other Pharisee. and saying, Master, what is the
great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment,
and the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. So again, I say, this Pharisee,
he knew the right answer, didn't he? But he didn't know Christ,
he wasn't saved. Knowing the right answers, having
all the right doctrine is not salvation. Salvation is literally
being perfect. Look at verse 28 in our text.
This is what the Lord told him. Luke 10, verse 28. He said unto
him, Thou hast answered right. This do and live. Do you want eternal life by what
you do? Then keep the law perfectly. That's so. If you keep the law
perfectly, God will accept you. God will always accept perfection. But our problem is this. We read
it in 1 John. We're sinners. We've got a sin
nature. So we can't keep the law. We
need somebody else to keep the law for us. We need someone else
to do a work of grace in our heart and give us a new nature. And that's what the Lord is getting
ready to teach here. Now I can't get away from thinking
this man must have had some idea about the very innermost depths
of his heart and the secret things he wouldn't even tell his wife.
Deep down he knew he couldn't keep the law. And I really don't
think anybody with any sense whatsoever thinks they can keep
the law. I just don't think this Pharisee thought he could keep
the law perfectly because when the Lord says this do and live. You know what he does? He starts
looking for a loophole in the law. That's what lawyers do,
right? They start looking for a loophole in the law. He's looking
for some excuse not to love people and not to be kind to people
and still satisfy the letter of the law. Look, he says in
verse 29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
and who is my neighbor? Now you notice right off, he
skips completely over the part about loving God, doesn't he?
And that's our problem. We always ignore who God is. We always ignore the character
of God and what God requires. Possibly he thought he did love
God. I don't know. But I know he knew
he didn't always love his neighbor. His neighbor did something, maybe
they didn't cut their grass on time, or they played loud music
or something, and it got on his last nerve. This man's self-righteous. It's easy to get on the last
nerve of a self-righteous man, and he knew he hadn't always
loved his next-door neighbor. So he says, well, then who is
my neighbor? Tell me who it is that I've got to be nice to. That doesn't mean everybody does
it. I mean, does it just mean I've got to love my next-door
neighbor? Surely that doesn't mean I have to love the Gentiles.
Surely my neighbor only means the Jews, right? And surely I
don't have to love all these Jews. Surely I just got to love
these other Pharisees that people are as good as me, right? That's
what he's asking. Well, then our Lord gives a story
that gives him the answer to his question. Verse 30. In Jesus
answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho
and fell among thieves. which stripped him of his raiment,
and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And 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. But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion
on him, and he went to him, and 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. On the morrow, when he
departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host, and
said unto him, you take care of him, and whatever thou spendest
more when I come again, I will repay thee. Now this story is
given to us not to teach us to be nice to people, This, remember
how, why did this man come to the Lord? Seeking to justify
himself by his own deeds of the law. Our Lord gives us this story
to teach us. It's impossible for us to save
ourselves by our works. Now the certain man here who
went from Jerusalem to Jericho, that's a picture of Adam. Adam
was created upright. But Adam sinned. In the garden,
Adam sinned. And when Adam sinned, Adam died
spiritually. He went from Jerusalem. He went
from the place of peace. He went from the place of worship. And he went all the way down
to Jericho. Jericho is the city of perpetual curse. God cursed
Jericho. Adam went from being perfectly
holy to perfectly sinful. Adam went from being upright
to being under the curse of sin. Now you might ask, how does that
affect me? I mean, that's what Adam did. How does that affect
me? Because when Adam died, all of us died in Adam. Whatever
Adam did, all of us did too. When Adam sinned, every one of
us sinned. When Adam sinned, his guilt was
imputed to us. God counted us as guilty in Adam. And when Adam sinned, his nature
changed. Adam became a sinner. And when
Adam became a sinner, every one of us became a sinner, too. Adam's
nature, his sinful nature was imparted to us in the garden.
That's why we're born with a sin nature. That's why we come forth
from the womb speaking lies, because Adam's nature was imparted
to us. It was put in us. Now, somebody
might say, I don't know if anybody here would say that, but if you're
thinking, I don't like that. I don't know why not. Really and truly, I don't. If
we're made guilty by by representative, then we can be made righteous
by representative, too. That's what Romans chapter six
is all about. The only way Christ can make
me righteous by being my representative is if Adam could make me a sinner
by being my representative. That's what our Lord's teaching
here. So this man, this is the certain man is Adam. And when
Adam fell, He fell among thieves. He fell among Satan who came
and deceived Eve. He robbed them of their standing
with God. And when Adam fell, he was stripped
naked. Adam was stripped of his innocence. That's why Adam and
Eve went looking for fig leaves. They were stripped of their innocence.
It wasn't really their naked bodies that was the problem,
but they felt naked before God because they were naked before
God. And they tried to cover it with the physical thing. It
didn't work. Even Adam and Eve knew those
fig leaves didn't work. It's because when God came in
the garden, where were they? Hiding over there in the bushes.
The fig leaves didn't do them any good. Adam was left without
innocence. He was left without righteousness
and naked before God. Now, the man in our Lord's story
was left half dead. Now, always remember this when
you read parables and you read the pictures of Christ in the
Old Testament. No story can walk on four legs.
When Adam fell, you and I died. I mean, we were completely dead
in Adam. Scripture says in Adam all died. The man in the story, this is
just a story. He can only be left half dead so that the good
Samaritan can come along and do something for him. But you
and I are not born half dead. We're born dead in trespasses
and sins. And since we're dead, I'll tell
you what that means. We cannot come to Christ. We lack the ability to come to
Christ. We lack the ability to come to
Christ to the exact same extent a dead man lacks the ability
to get up out of his casket. He can't get out of the casket.
He's dead. And you and I can't do anything
to please God because we're dead. We lack the ability to do those
things. And then our Lord says, by chance.
Now when he says by chance, he doesn't mean luck. It's just
what it seems like to us. It seems like by random acts,
some things started happening. But they weren't random acts.
These were things ordained of God to accomplish God's purpose. By what seemed like to us chance,
some people started passing by this fella down there in the
ditch. And the first man to pass by was the priest. Now who's
the priest? Well, the priest is a picture
of the sacrifices and the ceremonies of religion. That was the priest's
job. And this priest, he came by the ditch and he looked at
that poor man down there in the ditch, naked, bloodied, half
dead. And that priest crossed the road
and went on, just went on, on the other side of the road. And
you know why he didn't get down that ditch and help that man? The priest cannot help. If that
priest got down that ditch to help that man, that priest would
have been defiled. He couldn't go to the sacrifices.
He couldn't go through the ceremonies. That man would have defiled the
priest. The priest didn't help him because he can't help him.
And this is what the Lord's teaching by this story. All the motions
of religion that we go through do not do our souls any good. Religion without Christ. Does
our souls no good? The law required many sacrifices
and ceremonies, didn't it? But they never removed sin. The
only way those sacrifices and those ceremonies of the Old Testament,
all the duties of the high priest, the only way they're of any use
to anybody is by pointing us to Christ. They can never take
away sin. If you look at Hebrews chapter
10, I'll show you that. Hebrews chapter 10, verse one. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually, make the comers there unto perfect. For then
would they not have ceased to be offered? Because if the worshipers
once purged, should have no more conscience of sins. But in those
sacrifices, Not only do they not remove sin, there's a remembrance
again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. That's why that
priest couldn't help that man, because the sacrifices and the
ceremonies couldn't help him. God never gave those sacrifices
and those ceremonies as a way to take away sin. He never did.
They were always given to point us to Christ. So those sacrifices,
those animal sacrifices and all those ceremonies were useless
without Christ. Again, let me make this applicable
to you and me. Man's religion in our day is
even more useless than what they had in the Old Testament. All
of the ceremonies and the rituals that man has made up is an abomination. They're an abomination. Not only
do they not help us, they add to our condemnation. I'm telling
you the truth. This decision-making, where in
this world did that come from? It came from somewhere in the
world. It didn't come from God. I promise you that. This decision-making
and walking an aisle and telling somebody they're safe is an abomination. It's an abomination before God.
All this religious activity that men do that's supposed to impress
God just adds condemnation to our soul. It makes us worse off,
not better. I'm telling you the truth. That's
what this priest represents. He could not help that poor fellow
down in the ditch. He couldn't do it. The law and
the ceremonies can't help our soul. Well, there's a second
man to pass by. That man was a Levite. He saw
that naked, bloody man down the ditch. He did the same thing
priest did. He crossed the other side of the street and went on
his way. He gave wide berth to this bloody
fella down in the ditch. And he didn't help him either.
Well, who's the Levite? The Levite represents the law.
And I wish we could get this through our heads. We cannot
save ourselves by keeping the law. We can't improve our standing
with God by keeping the law. You and I don't have any ability
to keep the law. Our nature that we receive from
Adam is opposed to God's law. It's a nature of sin that loves
sin. And you may as well quit trying
to get people to choose to quit it. Their nature can't choose
to quit sinning. It's what we love by nature. What we need to do is quit looking
to the law because the law cannot help us. That's why the Levite
went on. He couldn't help that man either.
If he would have gotten down in the ditch and try to help
that man, you know what he'd have done? He would have defiled
himself. And if the law tried to help
you and me, the law would do the same thing. If God's holy
law tried to help us by somehow ignoring our sin or passing over
it, God's holy law would be defiled if it touched you and me. The
law can't help us, can it? The whole purpose in God giving
the law was not so that men could be saved by keeping it. God gave
the law so the law could hold up a mirror and show us what
we're doing. The law The purpose of the law
is to show us how sinful we are so that we'll lose all hope in
ourselves and we'll be driven to Christ, who did keep the law
for his people. That's the purpose of the law.
And if the law tried to somehow help us by changing its holy
demands, the law would be defied. That's why the Levite didn't
help this man down in the ditch. Oh, but there's a third man.
There's the third man that passed by. Our Lord says he's a Samaritan. This Samaritan is a picture of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, who's a Samaritan? You know,
the Samaritans were the natural enemies of the Jews. The Jews
hated the Samaritans. When our Lord talked to that
Samaritan woman at the well, she said, what are you doing
talking to me? The Jews don't have any dealings with the Samaritans.
They hate the Samaritans. The Lord Jesus, now he was a
Jew, he was not a Samaritan. But didn't the Pharisees accuse
him of being a Samaritan? That was an insult that they
said, you're a Samaritan. This man in the story, he's a
Samaritan. He pictures man, or the man down
in the ditch. The Samaritan's a natural enemy
of the Jew down in the ditch. Yet that Samaritan's a picture
of Christ. God sent his son into this world to come where we are
to save people who declared war on God. That's what this story
is telling us. Salvation and life can only be... You want eternal life? This man
said, what can I do to have eternal life? Let me tell you where eternal
life is found. It's found in this man, Jesus
of Nazareth, who's hated by the religious world. I want you to
look what our Savior did for this naked, dead man. First,
he came where he was. The Levite and the priest looked
down the ditch and went over to the other side. The Samaritan,
a picture of our Savior, came where this man was. God, the
Son of God, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he became
a man. And he came incarnate. He was born in Bethlehem as a
man. He came where we are so that
he could save his people from the mess we're in. He came where
we are. And not only did Christ come all the way down where we
are, he was made what we are. He was made to be a real man
so he could be the representative of sinful men. Second, Christ
saw this man. He saw him and is naked. dead,
stinking, polluted state down there in the ditch. He saw him. And he had compassion on him. You want to hear an amazing statement.
Christ loves sinners. He had compassion on him. Now
he hates the proud, self-righteous Pharisee, but Christ loves sinners
like nobody else. He saw him. came where he was,
he had compassion on him, and he bound up his wounds. You imagine
that man half dead, bloody, beaten and naked down in that ditch,
and somebody tenderly and carefully picks him up so it doesn't cause
him any more harm. And he begins to bind up those
wounds, to cleanse them and bind them up to relieve his pain. That's what Christ does for his
people. He heals all of our spiritual diseases. by taking our diseases
into Himself and giving us His health. What did Isaiah say? How are we healed? By His stripes. He took our iniquity and gave
us His health. Not by our doing. We're not healed
by our doing now. By the sacrifice of Christ. By
His wounds we're healed. By His stripes. And then our
Lord poured in oil and wine. He poured in oil to soothe. Wine
to cleanse. The oil is a picture of the Holy
Spirit. And you notice our Lord said, he poured it in. He didn't
just pour it on him, he poured it in. You see, when God saves
a sinner, he gives that sinner new life. The oil is a picture
of the Holy Spirit. When God saves a sinner, the
Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of that man. This is the righteousness
of Christ being imparted to his people in the new birth. Remember,
we received a sinful nature. When Adam sinned, didn't he?
Well, God's elect received a new holy nature because our representative,
Christ Jesus, was perfect. He poured in oil and wine. What they used wine for as medicine
was to kill infection. And the wine is a picture of
the blood of Christ that was shed to pay for the sin of His
people. The wine is a picture of Christ's work for us. His
blood was shed to cleanse us from all sin. to pay the sin
debt that made God angry. The wine is a picture of Christ's
work for us. The oil is a picture of Christ's
work in us. And God's salvation requires
both, a work for us and a work in us. Salvation, then, can only
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, can it? And then the Lord took
this poor man to an inn. And the inn is a picture of the
church here on earth. An inn, you've got plenty of
room for six sinners. An inn is a place where you can
find some rest, where you can get something to eat, and you
can have fellowship with other six sinners. That's the church,
isn't it? That's what the church's function
on this earth is. And the inn has an innkeeper.
The keeper is the pastor and elders who feed and clothe and
care for God's people by preaching Christ to them. And then the
Lord gave the innkeeper two pence. Now, whatever amount of money
that was, it was enough. It was enough to pay for anything
that man would need it. And the Lord said, if you need
more, don't you worry. When I come back, I'll repay you. You write
this down. You won't suffer loss ever for
serving the Lord. Never suffer loss for serving
the Lord. But I know what this two pence is a picture of. Two
pence adds up to half a shekel. And you know what half a shekel
is? It's the price of redemption for an Israelite. What this is
teaching us is the redemption price is paying. Who paid it? Not us, the Samaritans. Christ
our Savior. He paid the debt we could never
pay. Salvation is in Christ. It's accomplished. Now look at
verse 36. Our Lord says, now, Which now
these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among
the thieves? Oh, I bet he just gritted his teeth when he answered
this. He said, he that showed mercy on him, then said Jesus
unto him, you go and do likewise. And what the Lord is teaching
this Pharisee and teaching us by this story is if you want
to earn salvation by the law, you go do it. But you be warned,
your efforts will never work. It'll never be good enough. And
that's why this story is given. The story is given to teach us
that salvation is in Christ. Not by our attempt to keep the
law. But to the believer, I say this. This story, seeing the
mercy and kindness, salvation that's accomplished by our Savior.
When you see that story, you cannot help but be inspired to
be merciful as our Savior is merciful. After the wedding yesterday,
I preached on marriage and several people came and said that that's
the gospel. But you know, that inspires me
to go home and be a better wife. I'm going to go home and be a
better husband. That's what the gospel does. It affects the heart
of a believer. It does. Mercy is our doctrine,
our doctrine. Salvation is by God's mercy alone
and that's our doctrine. But mercy is also our practice.
Now we're not merciful in order to be saved. We don't try to
go out and be merciful and kind to people so God will be pleased
with us and accept us. Don't get these two things backwards.
First, mercy is our doctrine. Then it's our practice. We go
be merciful and kind to people because the Lord's been merciful. The result of God's mercy in
the heart is we'd be kind and merciful to other people. Christ
first is our Savior. Then he's our sacrifice. And
this story inspires a believer to go love your neighbor. But
who's your neighbor? Well, it's not just your next
door neighbor. It's not people who agree with
us. It's not only people who are just like us. Even our enemies. Isn't that the Samaritan? Even
our enemies. Pray for your enemies. Be kind
to them. When you see them, be nice to
them. What inspires you to do that?
The Savior's kindness to rebels like us. That's what helps us.
If you desire to show mercy and kindness to somebody, don't wait. Don't use the excuse, well, you
know, they didn't ask me to do anything, so I didn't do anything.
Don't wait. Seek ways to be helpful. Seek it. You know, I often say
this, if you need something, let me know. I only say this
because I don't know what to do. If you hear me say that,
it's because I truly don't know what to do. If somebody asks
you, what can I do? Tell them. Give them the opportunity
to show some kindness. But if you know the Lord lays
something on your heart, a way to be kind and merciful to somebody,
do it. Just go do it. Not because you're
looking for a reward, but out of a thankful heart. Because
God's been merciful to you. Isn't that motivation enough?
His mercy and kindness and love to us. All right, I hope you'll
bless that.