Okay, now today we're looking
at a very familiar, familiar story. In Luke 10, if you look
up to the top of the page there, if you have the Cambridge that
I'm using, and probably most of your Bibles, it says the Good
Samaritan. This is a very, very well-known,
well-known story, but most people have missed the message in this
story. Most people have missed the primary
message in this story. Now, I'm taking the title for
the message from the portion of Scripture here in Luke 10
verse 33. We read about a certain Samaritan. A certain Samaritan. Now, the title of the message
will be, Lessons from the Good Samaritan. Lessons from the Good
Samaritan. Now this story is commonly called
the parable of the Good Samaritan. Most people only use this story
to show and to teach us how we should treat other people. Now
I want to treat other people kindly and graciously as the
Lord has been merciful unto us. But most people only use this
story to show that we should be kind and compassionate and
loving, even to those who are strangers, how we should go out
of the way to help our fellow man. Often we see this on the
news, don't we? There'll be a violent car wreck,
and those who stop by to help, they're often called, well, a
good Samaritan, stopped and helped. I know when I fell off the ladder
out here a month or so ago and was laying out here on the parking
lot, just beat up pretty bad, couldn't really move, one of
those Samaritans stopped and helped me. I was laying there,
laid out on the parking lot. I don't know how long I was there.
But a good Samaritan did stop by to see if I was still alive. And by the Lord's good grace,
he spared me. But I'm thankful for that man
who stopped by, really don't know him, never met him. He was
a stranger to me, but he did stop by. But this is not the
primary lesson here in this story. It's not the primary lesson.
Maybe, and certainly there is a secondary lesson that would
teach that, but the Lord Jesus Christ here is teaching us again
how He saves sinners. That's the lesson. This is the
most vital lesson that any sinner can learn, how God justifies
the ungodly. Now this poor man who was beaten
up and left for dead couldn't help himself. He was helpless. This good Samaritan came to where
he was and lifted him out. That's how God saves sinners. That's the message here. The
Lord is teaching us the most vital lesson that any sinner
can learn how God justifies the ungodly, and He's the one who
does it. He's the only one who can justify
the ungodly, and He does it by His grace alone. Romans 3, 24. being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're not justified by the deeds
of the law. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. It's never said in Scripture,
by the law is the removal of sin. The law exposes the disease. but it does not provide the cure. It points us rather to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now in this story here in Luke
10, we see the count of three certain men. Three certain men. The first one is found in verse
25 through verse 29. He's called a certain lawyer
stood up. He confronted If you get the
idea there, he confronted the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did
so to discredit his ministry. And then the second man we read
about here, down in verse 30, a certain man, a certain lawyer,
a certain man, and then here's the third one. The third man
we see in verse 33, a certain Samaritan. a certain Samaritan. That will
be our outline this morning, those three men. So let's look
first of all at the certain lawyer. In Luke 10 verse 25, here we
have in this man, here's what we see. This man is very religious,
he's very zealous of the law, but he's ignorant of God. He's
a lost religious man. Verse 25, Luke 10, "...Behold,
a certain lawyer stood up..." Now I can imagine, can you imagine
standing up before God Almighty, going nose to nose and arguing
with the Lord Jesus Christ? "...He stood up and tempted the
Lord, or tested, or tried the Lord, saying, Master, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life?" And the Lord said unto him, Well,
what's written in the law? How do you read the law? Now
this man was a religious scribe. He was a writer of scripture. And he answering said, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul,
he goes right to the book of Deuteronomy, with all thy strength,
with all thy mind, and then he goes down to Leviticus 19.18,
thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right. Do this and you'll have salvation. Now the Lord is setting a trap
for this man. But he willing to justify himself. Now here's this man's problem.
He has a justifying righteousness that he's produced. And God said,
be away with it, it's filthy rags. But he willing to justify
himself said to the Lord, well who is my neighbor? Who is my
neighbor? Now the Jews only thought the
Jews were the neighbors. A certain lawyer, this lawyer,
this man was a scribe of the Levitical law. One who knew the
letter of the law, he had all the books of the law, but he
did not know the author of the law, the giver of the law. He
knew the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law. He
knew not the meaning of the law. He wanted to seek eternal life
by doing the law. That's what he wanted to do.
What must I do? to inherit eternal life. This
man we know had a bad motive, he had a bad spirit in asking
this question. For it says in the text there
that he did this to tempt the Lord. Now can you imagine such
a thing? For a wiggling maggot of a man
to try to discredit and to test the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted
to trap him To discredit his ministry, trap him into making
a misstatement or a mistake, this lawyer considered himself
an expert on matters of the law. He didn't know he was looking
at the law giver in the face, the one who gave the law. What
shall I do? to inherit eternal life. And
the Lord does something very wise here, and it's something
we should always do. When we have any question, what
should we do? What does the scripture teach? That's where we should go. So
the Lord does something very wise. He says, what does the
scriptures teach? How do you read in the law? Verse
26. What does the law say? What does the word of God say?
The answer to every question about salvation about righteousness,
about how God's safe center is found in the book of God, in
the word of God. Every scripture we have about
how this center can be justified is found in this book. I want
to get familiar with this book. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the word of the Lord. We should always find the reason
of our salvation only based upon thus saith the Lord. Nothing
else Nothing less and nothing more. What does the Word of God
say about salvation? Well, it says salvation is of
the Lord. Now look at verse 27. He answering
said, well, the law says, Thou shalt, Thou shalt, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your strength, with all your mind. The law demands
everything of us. The law demands perfection. And
then he says, we should love our neighbor as ourself with
all of our mind, heart, soul, and strength. Do that one. Do
that one. And you'll have eternal life.
And the Lord said, you've answered right. Go ahead and do it and
live. Just do the law and you'll live.
Now this man willing to justify himself said, well, who is my
neighbor? Now this religious lawyer does
go to the book and recites what the law says. But he does not
know that he's looking at the one who gave the law. He does
not know that he's looking at Almighty God. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the only one who perfectly honored the law of God, and he
did that for us. The Father speaks from heaven
and said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Never entertain any notion of
you obtaining a righteousness by what you do, by anything you
do, by any work you do. Our best deeds in God's sight
are a filthy rag. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one as a God-man mediator who has honored the law of God,
and He did that not for Himself. He wasn't working out a righteousness
for Himself. He is the Righteous One. He's
working out a righteousness as the God-man mediator for His
covenant people. He did love the Lord God with
all of His heart, mind, soul, and strength. He did love His
enemies with perfection laying down His life for them. The Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Do we make void the law of God
through faith? God forbid. We honor the law. in Christ who satisfied every
precept and every penalty of the law of God for us. But this man willing to justify
himself said, who is my neighbor? Now, look at verse 30. We see here In verse 29, he's
willing to justify himself. Now, notice the reference there
to Luke 16, 15. Luke 16, 15. I pointed this out
many times before this Scripture. Sinners who are lost, who are
seeking to justify themselves before God, are always willing
to justify their own selves before God. Look what the Lord says
about that. In Luke 16, verse 13, no man, no servant, no servant
can serve two masters. Luke 16, verse 13. For either
he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. The Pharisees also who were covetous
heard all these things and derided him. And he said unto them, You
are they which justify yourselves before men. But God knows your
heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in his sight. Now the Pharisees,
remember, they always were going about trusting themselves, despising
others, and willing to justify themselves. Now, what is your
position? Do you go about to justify yourself
before God? My friend, don't ever do that. Guilty. I'm guilty. That's our
plea, is guilty. You see, mercy is for the miserable,
grace is for the guilty, salvation is for lost sinners. Now here
is the second certain man in verse 30, 31 and 32. A certain
man went down from Jericho to Jerusalem. The Lord is going
to show him who my neighbor is. willing to justify himself, who
is my neighbor? Well, the Lord says, okay, you
want to know? A certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among thieves and the thieves
stripped him of his raiment, wounded him, departed from him,
leaving him as good as dead, dying, and by purpose. By the Lord's purpose, chance,
it says here, 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. And now we see verse 33, the
Samaritan. Now, what is this certain man
that fell among thieves, what is that a picture of? What is
that a picture of? Well, it's a picture of what
we are by nature. It's a picture of our sad, ruined state, our
fallen state in Adam. And Adam all died. We see this
certain man, verse 30, who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Jerusalem was a place of peace,
the city of peace. And he went to a state, went
to total ruin in Jericho. Jericho was a cursed city, cursed
of God. Jerusalem was a high place. Jericho
was a low place. He fell from Jerusalem down to
Jericho, and that's us. In Adam, all died. In Adam, all
have sinned. He fell among thieves, which
stripped him of any goodness, and that's what the law does.
It strips us. It strips us of any righteousness.
It wounds us, leaving us and condemning us as dead. The soul
that sinneth, it must... What? Die! And that's what happened
in Adam, in that representative head. When Adam sinned, I sinned. When Adam fell, we all fell in
him. When Adam sinned, we sinned,
and Adam all died. All of this is a fit description
of our fallen state, spiritually dead in sin, without God, without
hope, and without Christ. Now, if you've never seen yourself
in this state, You've never been saved by the grace of God. If
you've never seen yourself totally lost, dead in sin, you know nothing
about the true grace of God. Because every sinner whom God
saves, first thing He does, He shows him he's lost, guilty,
dead in sin. And that causes that sinner to
cry out for mercy. The Lord be merciful to me, the
sinner. Now, we see here in verse 31
and verse 32, we see first of all that by chance, it says here
in the story, and we know that chance is the Lord's purpose,
that there came down a certain priest that way. When he saw
him, he passed by on the other side. He viewed that man as unclean. And according to the law, he
couldn't touch that man because that man was dead or dying. And
likewise, the Levite, when he was at the place, came and he
looked on him and passed by on the other side. Now, what does
this picture? The priest and the Levite took
one look and said, I don't want anything to do with you. What
does this picture, what does this represent? Well, it represents
the Levitical law. It can only describe our problem,
it cannot lift us out of the pit, and it cannot heal us, it
cannot justify us. What the law could not do, it
says in Romans 8, what the law could not do in that it was weak
to our flesh. Thank God He sent His Son. And
for sin, or by sacrifice for sin, condemn sin in the flesh. The law cannot lift us up. It
cannot heal us. It can only condemn us. It would
be like this. A man out in the water that is
drowning, going down for the third time. And someone says,
okay, I'm going to rescue you. And you sell that man a boat
anchor. And he lays hold of that anchor.
What's it going to do? It's going to take him down.
That's what the law of God does. It's the boat anchor that condemns
us to death. The soul that's in it, it shall
die. And that's what the priest here
And the Levite represent, we know the blood of bulls and goats
cannot take away sin. Only the blood of Christ, only
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. Now, I thought I had my notes mixed
up, and I do. I thought there was a page, totally
a page that I missed, and I did. I'm sorry to have to confess
that. But I've gone too far to cover it up. But I think I've covered most
of what I wanted to say here about that first man, that lawyer.
That poor sinner had no idea what the law demanded. If righteousness
is by the law, then the Lord Jesus Christ is dead and vain.
Well, that brings us down to point number three. you'll have
to overlook my frailty." Here's the certain Samaritan, and this
is really what we want to camp on this morning. The certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw
him, now the priest and the Levite wanted nothing to do with him.
But this certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.
When he saw him, he had compassion on him, went to him, bound up
his wounds, pouring in the oil and the wine, and set him on
his own beast, brought him to an end, and he took care of him."
Now you see the contrast? The law couldn't do anything,
but this good Samaritan went where he was. This is a picture
of Christ in the gospel. He came where we were and lifted
us out of the pit of sin and showed us mercy. He is the friend
that sticketh closer than a brother. He is the friend of sinners.
We know this. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Now, as I pointed out earlier,
I think it most interesting that the Lord chooses a person to
represent Him in this story that the Jews hated. They hated the
Samaritans. Hold your place there and find
John chapter 8. John chapter 8. They said to
the Lord Jesus Christ, O Jews who cried out, Abraham is our
father. In John chapter 8, look at verse
48. John 8, 48. Then answered the
Jews and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan,
and you have a devil? You see, they hated the Lord
Jesus Christ, and they hated the Samaritan, so they said,
you're a Samaritan, and you have a devil within you. So the Lord
picks the very character that they hated and despised. And we read in Scripture that
He is what? A man of sorrow, acquainted with
grief. He despised of men, and He was. The Samaritans, who are these
Samaritans? These Samaritans were brought
from Babylon 500 years ago and planted in the land of Samaria
when those ten northern tribes were taken away into captivity.
The king of Babylon populated that area with those Babylonians. They hated the Jews and the Jews
hated them. Now, what's most interesting
If you'll turn to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. John chapter
4. Remember the Lord said, I must
need go through Samaria? In John 4. Then came He. He must need go to Samaria. Then
cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near
to a parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's
well was there, and Jesus, therefore being wearied with his journey,
set thus on the well. And it was about the sixth hour.
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, and the Lord said
to her, Give me to drink. for his disciples were gone away
into a city to buy. Then said the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, hast drink of me,
which am a woman of Samaria? Now watch it. For the Jews have
no dealings with the Samaritans. The Lord went through Samaria
to save this woman at the well, and he did it by his grace, and
gave her that water of life. Now in our story, The Lord Jesus
Christ uses this character at the Samaritan to show mercy on
this man who was left for dead. He showed mercy to a Jew. The
Lord our God is merciful and He delights to show mercy to
those who are in need. Now, this certain Samaritan,
let's read verse 33 again. As he journeyed, Now the Lord
Jesus Christ took a journey. From the throne of glory, the
Lord Jesus Christ took to himself humanity and became a real man. That's quite a journey, is it
not? He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but took
upon himself the form of a servant as he journeyed. From glory down
here, He came in the fullness of time to save sinners. As He
journeyed, He came where He was, and He came to where we are as
the real man to redeem us. And when He saw this man, He
had compassion on him. He loved him. And we read in
Scripture that the Lord has loved His people with an everlasting
love. We only love Him because He first loved us. As He journeyed,
He came to us. When He passed by us and saw
us polluted in our blood, it was a time of love, and He said
unto us, Live! And that's what we read in Ezekiel
16. He journeyed where He was, He
came to us, and He did so out of love. Hereby perceive we the
love of God, because He laid down His life for us." He had
loved us with an everlasting love in Christ Jesus. He came where we are, and then
it says there, He bound up His wounds, treating the problem
with oil and wine. What does the oil and the wine
represent? Well, we know the wine represents
His blood. The Lord Jesus Christ put away
our sin by the shedding of His blood, and the oil here represents
the work of the Holy Spirit. He shed His blood for us, and
He quickens us by His grace. Now turn to Luke chapter 4. Luke
chapter 4. This is what He does in saving
mercy. He comes to us. He finds us dead
in sin. He lifts us up by His grace. He's loved us with an everlasting
love. 4, verse 18, "...the Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captive, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty those who are bruised." And that's
what the Lord does in saving mercy. He comes to us, He binds
up our wounds, He has compassion on us, He puts away our sin,
by the shedding of his blood. And then he blesses us with the
quickening power of God the Holy Spirit. Now look at verse 34,
Luke 10. And he set him on his own beast,
brought him to an end, and he took care of him. And again,
this picture is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He brought him to an end, and
then he took care of him. The Lord lifted him out of the
pit of ruin, set him on his own beast, a place of safety, a place
of rest. In the Scriptures, we see believers
in his hands, on his shoulders, in his heart, and here on his
own beast. He is a good shepherd, Isaiah
40. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry
them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with
young. And then the Lord brought him
to an end, and the Lord had brought us to a place of peace and safety
and rest. In him we find refuge. In him we find lodging. In him
we find food. He is the bread of life. In Christ
we find refreshment in this end, and it's Christ. And notice,
I love this statement here, and He took care of him. Cast all
your burdens upon Him, for He careth for you. The Lord knows
how to care for His own. He took care of us. He bound
up the wounds, pouring in the oil and the wine. He lifted us
out of the pit, set us on His own beast, brought us to an end,
and then He took care of us. Verse 35, And on the morrow,
when He departed, He took out two pence. Two pence. Now most of the commentators
that I read after, these two pence represent the Old Testament
Scripture and the New. And the host here represents
the pastor of the church. The inn here represents the church,
the local body of believers. And gave them to the host. The
host has the Word of God to take care of the sheep. Gave them
to the host and said, take care of him. What do we take care
of the sheep with? Preaching the gospel. Preaching
the Word of the Lord from the Old Testament and the New. And
whatsoever you spend more, not that we need anything more, But
if you do, he said, I will come again and I will repay what I've
said. Now notice this statement, I
will come again. In other words, when I come again,
the Lord said, I'm going to go away and I will come again and
receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. Now, having said all that, Look
at verse 37. Verse 36, the question, Now which
of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell
among the thieves? That's the question. Who was
the good neighbor? And he answered, that is, this
lawyer, this scribe, he answered, He that showed mercy on him. And the Lord Jesus said unto
him, You go, and you do. Go and do likewise. Now. In closing, let me give you this.
Here's the secondary lesson. Now, the primary lesson is this.
How the Lord came to us in saving Marcy, lifted us from the pit
of ruin, made us new creatures in Christ, justified us by His
grace. We see that's the primary lesson.
Now, here's the secondary part. The secondary lesson. Those that
have received Marcy, Delight to be merciful unto others. He said, you go and you do likewise. Do what? Show mercy. Does it cost you anything to
show mercy? Does it cost you anything to
be kind, generous, and forgiving to others? You see, those that
have been forgiven of their sin, Delight to forgive others who
have sinned against us. Now hold your place there. Remember
we had this back in Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. Turn back there. Luke 6, 35.
Luke 6, 35. This is the fruit of grace. The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
meekness. Luke 6 verse 35. Love your enemies,
do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward,
again singular, shall be great. And you shall be called the children
of the highest. He is kind unto the unthankful
and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as
your Father also has shown mercy to you. Have you received mercy? Then be merciful to others. Judge
not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not
be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Given it shall be given unto
you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over,
shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that
you meet, withal it shall be measured to you again." You strike
out in wrath against your neighbor, and he'll probably going to strike
back with wrath. Be you kind to your neighbor, and maybe he
will show you kindness. Now that's a secondary lesson. We're to forgive and love one
another, as the Lord has forgiven us. Now I want to close with
this. I was reading through, I get
different bulletins from different pastors around the country, most
of them I know, and I opened up a bulletin this morning and
I read these words. All those adopted into God's
family should cultivate a continual care and concern for each family
member. How can we do this? Talking about
the family of believers. How can we do this? Well, listen
to what the Scripture says. 1 Corinthians 12, 25, we're to
care for one another. John 13, 34, we're to love one
another. James 5.16, we're to pray for
one another. 1 Thessalonians 4.18, we're to
comfort one another. Romans 15.14, we're to admonish
one another. 1 Thessalonians 5.11, we're to
edify one another. Mark 9, verse 50, we're to be
at peace with one another. Ephesians 4, verse 32 says we're
to forgive one another and love one another even as God for Christ's
sake has forgiven us. I was sitting there reading that
article and I'm thinking, well, this is what the Word of God
teaches. And it had at the bottom of that
page the man's name who wrote that. Pastor Tom Harding. I'd written that. Many years
ago, I was reading my own instruction, and I thought, well, that preacher,
he took me to the Word of God and said, this is what the Word
says.