Turning back to Luke 10, this may be a parable. It may be an account of what
actually happened to a certain man. As our Lord said in verse
30, and Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho. the parable, but it may be something
that actually took place. But what makes the story of great
importance to me, and I believe to you, is the fact that our
Lord, our Master, gave this account. And he gave this account to a
man who had inquired of him. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? Now, let's look back at verse
25 and find out something about this man. He was a certain lawyer, that
is, he was a scribe. In the Jewish nation, where it
says these men were lawyers, They were teachers of the law.
They were scribes and teachers of the law. And this man's request
was not a genuine request. It didn't come from an honest
heart at all. It says here, a certain lawyer,
a scribe, teacher of the law, stood up and tempted him. His
purpose was to test Christ in front of all these people. to
try him, to see whether Christ would deny the law or say anything
against the law of Moses. They were always trying to trap
him in his speech. That's what the scripture said. But his question was consistent
with what he believed. Notice what he asked. Master,
what shall I do? Give me a work to do. give me
a task to perform to inherit eternal life. What shall I do?"
He was seeking salvation by law, by works, by ceremony, just like
this Pharisee who stood in the temple and said, Lord, I thank
you, but I'm not like other men. I'm not like this publican. I
do certain things. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ knows
the motives. of all men. He knows the thoughts
of all men. He knew what was in this man's
mind. And so our Lord is going to allow
this man to interpret the law himself. He's going to allow
this man to choose the ground on which he'll stand. And so
we ask him, how do you read? What's written in the law? How do you interpret what's written
in the law? And the man answered. He said,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbors
thyself. He didn't recite the Ten Commandments. But he recited what our Lord
said was a summary of all the law. Where did he get this? I
told you he was a student of the scriptures. Turn to Deuteronomy
6. Here's where he got it. This
was part of the daily recitations taken from the book of Deuteronomy by which they taught their children.
Deuteronomy 6. Listen to this in verse 5. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4. "'Hear,
O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy
might. And these words which I command
thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." daily recitations. Thou shalt
love, that's what he answered. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind.
Where did he get this, and thy neighbor as thyself? That's not
written there. Wait a minute, but Leviticus.
You'll have to turn to another passage. Leviticus chapter 19. This man was a student of the
scriptures. A man who is depending upon his
goodness and morality, the law, the ceremony, the sacrifices,
and the fact he was a Jew, recommend him to God. In Leviticus 19,
verse 16, "...thou shalt not go up and down as a tail-bearer
among thy people, neither shalt thou stand against the blood
of thy neighbor. I am the Lord. 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. Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. Keep my statutes."
So when our Lord Jesus said, how do you interpret the law?
This man interpreted it. And then our Lord said in verse
28, And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. Love God with
all your heart, all your heart. Love God with all your soul. Love God with all your strength
and all your might and then neighbors yourself and you'll inherit eternal
life. You'll earn it on the basis of
perfection. That's true. Our Lord said this
is a summary of the whole law of God. Every law of God summed
up right here. But no man's ever done that.
No man's ever done that. And instead of this fellow just
throwing his hands up and saying, well, it's impossible. Impossible. I'll never, never have eternal
life. Impossible for me to love God
with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, and my neighbor
as myself. But, listen, verse 29, and here
is the problem with this man and the whole human race. He's
willing to justify himself. And that's what we do. Turn to
Luke 16. This is what our Lord charged
us with. We justify. We hunt a loophole. We hunt a loophole. In Luke 16,
verse 15, He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves
before men. But God knows your hearts. And
that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God. God looks not on the outward
countenance, He looks on the heart. But we're willing to justify
ourselves. And this poor man, out of his
own mouth, out of his own mouth came the truth. Love God with
all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbors
yourself. That's God's perfect law. And that came out of His
own mouth. But here, He's looking for a
loophole. He's looking for a way around the law. And He says,
well, who is my neighbor? He just disregarded loving God
with all his heart and mind. He's going to get around this
thing by, like the Pharisees said, I keep the law outwardly. Who is my neighbor? You know,
the old Jews worked this thing over, finding loopholes. Let
me show you an illustration of this. Turn to the book of Mark. They interpreted the law. Mark
chapter 7. They looked for loopholes so
that they could measure up. In Mark chapter 7, begin with verse 10. He's speaking to these fellows
like this lawyer, these Pharisees, religious leaders, and he said,
now Moses said, honor your father and your mother. And whoso curseth Father or mother,
let him die the death. In other words, what Moses' law
says there, take care of your parents. Even in their old age,
be sure that they have food to eat, shelter over their heads,
clothes to wear. This was back before Social Security
and welfare and all these things, and these people, the Jews, were
commanded to take care of their old folks. See that they were
cared for, honor, respect, care for, take care of your mom and
dad, all the way till their life's journey's over and they leave
this earth. And these old fellas, some of
them had some money, some property, these old lawyers and Pharisees
and scribes and religious leaders. So how are they going to get
around this when the mother and father come and says, we need
rent money, we need grocery money, we need these things, and you
have it, we need it. How are they going to get around
it? Well, verse 11 tells you how they got around it. But you
say, if a man shall say to his father
and mother, it's Corbyn. What's Corbyn? It's money set
aside for sacred purposes. And those East Southerners were
ministering about the temple and about religious matters and
all, and what they'd say when the mother and dad came to them
and said, Grocery money, we need rent money, we need these things
that say, well, this money is dedicated to God. What I have
is dedicated to God and to the service of God and to the work
of God. And so it says over in the scriptures,
you know, over there in Leviticus 1 and 2, that if it's dedicated
to God, you can't use it for any other purpose. So I'm sorry. That's right. So I kept my money.
So you say it is carbon, that is, it's a gift. It was given
to me to use solely and on purpose for the work of God, and I can't
share it with you. By whatsoever thou mightest be
profited by me. In other words, you can't have
it, therefore I'm free. I'm free from this obligation
because it's the Lord's money. And I can't share it with you.
And verse 12 says, "...and you suffer him no more to do aught
for his father or his mother." You make the Word of God of non-effect
through your traditions, which you have delivered in many
such like things, do you? You found a way around the Word
of God. And I'll grant you, go back to
my text now, back here to Luke 10, I'll grant you, This is exactly
what this man was trying to do. He asked the Lord, now what shall
I do to find favor with God? What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? And our Lord said, well, you
tell me. How do you read the law? Oh, he said, the law says
I shall love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength,
and your neighbor as yourself. Our Lord said, alright, do it. Who's my neighbor? See, the old
Jews, this is what they said. The Jews' concept of a neighbor
was a Jewish neighbor, an Israelite. That's right. They were not required
to love a Gentile. They were not required to help
a Gentile. One of their writers actually
said this. John Gill is an authority on
these Jewish writings. And he said one of their writers
actually wrote, if a Gentile falls into the sea, you're not
required to take him up. That's what that Samaritan woman
said to our Lord. Don't you know? The Jews have
no dealings, no feelings or dealings or concern for the Gentiles. That's exactly what this fellow
was doing, looking for a way around. But you can't get around
his law, and that's what he gives us here in this illustration.
That's what he gives us in this illustration. There was a certain
Jew who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among
thieves. And who came by first? Well,
a priest came by first. You know what a priest is. A
priest represents the sacrifices. represents killing the lambs,
burning the incense, taking it into the Holy of Holies. The
priest, he went around the fellow. He didn't have to do anything
for that man. The Levite went around him. But
here came a Samaritan, a hated Samaritan. And he ministered
to the man. And then our Lord said to this
guy, who's the neighbor? Well, he said, One that ministered
to Him. You go do like Christ. Can't
do it. It's an impossibility. This impossibility
to love our God with all our hearts and our neighbors, ourselves.
So what do we need? We need a helper, don't we? We
need a Redeemer. We need one who can be neighbor. And that's what this illustration
is here. So let's take it and look at
it that way. This is a picture of Him who did for me. Well,
I couldn't do for myself. Him who is my neighbor, who is
my friend. All right. Let's look at verse
30. Verse 30, And Jesus, having seen, said, A certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho. I'll tell you who that certain
man was. It was our father, Adam. He went down from Jerusalem. That's the city of God. The city of God. He went down
to Jericho, the city of wickedness. Adam fell. Adam fell. And he fell among thieves. Who
were these thieves? Satan, fallen angels. He fell
among thieves. They stripped him. They stripped
him of his beauty. They stripped him of his holiness.
They stripped him of his righteousness. They stripped him of his raiment. and left Him. They wounded Him. They pierced Him with many sorrows.
They stripped Him and they wounded Him. They brought upon Him sickness
and sorrow and disease and death. They wounded Him, afflicted Him,
and they left Him. Well, it says here, half dead. But as I said to many people,
a story cannot walk on four legs. It cannot be perfect. If it's
an earthless story, it cannot perfectly illustrate heavenly
truth. This man was left half-dead because
if he'd been completely dead, the Samaritans couldn't have
done anything for him. But I tell you, we were left dead, and our
Samaritan can do something for us. We were left dead. But this man's half-dead. He's
unconscious. He's unable to help himself.
He's unable to do anything. And verse 31, what's this? And
by chance, there came down a certain priest. And this priest was forbidden
to touch a dead body. And he looked at this man and
considered he probably was dead, lying there unconscious in the
ditch. And so this priest just walked
on the other side. But I tell you this, the sacrifices
and the ceremonies and the blood offerings and sin offerings cannot
help us We cannot put away our sins, cannot atone for our guilt,
can we? So the priest couldn't help him,
and he went around on the other side. He didn't want to help
him, but he couldn't help him. And the Levite, what does the
Levite represent? It represents all the law. Turn
to Hebrews 10, Hebrews chapter 10. It represents all the law. The law cannot help us because
we've broken the law. What the law sayeth, it sayeth
to them who are under the law, that every mount may be stopped,
and all the world become guilty before God." Hebrews 10, verse
1, "...the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not
the very image of the thing, can never, with those sacrifices
which they offer year by year continually, make the comers
thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? Because if the worshipers once purged,
would have no more conscience of sin." But in those sacrifices,
there's a remembrance again made of sin. Every year, it's not
possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. There
Adam lies in the ditch, stripped, naked to his shame, wounded with
all kind of afflictions and dead. And the sacrifices combined can't
help him. And the log comes by and can't
help him. The log can't help him. But look at verse 33. But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, now I don't want to weary you and make this illustration
too thin, but this is beautiful. He came by. He says, and he went
where he was. Our Lord Jesus Christ came where
we are. He came into this world. Jesus
Christ came into this world. He who made the world was in
the world. The world knew him not. But he
came where we are. Made of a woman. Made under the
law. Took upon himself the form of
a servant. Came where he was. And listen
to the next line. And he looked on him. He saw him. Like that Like Hagar,
when she moved away from the lad and she heard the voice,
she said, thou God seest me. God sees his people. He looked
on him. He said, when I passed by you
to the deserted infant, I saw you. I saw you wounded. I saw
you in your blood. I saw you. It was a time of love.
He says he came where he was and looked on him, looked on
him. had compassion on Him. He saw
Him. He had compassion on Him. He
loved Him. Christ loved us when we didn't love Him and no capacity
for which to love Him, no desire to love Him. And listen, and
He went to Him. He went to Him and bound up His
wounds. In Luke chapter 4, turn over
there a minute, when our Lord spoke to the people in Nazareth
about his personal work and his ministry. He summed it up in
this way, in Luke 4, verse 18, he said, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind
and set at liberty them that are bruised. He went to him and
bound up his wounds." Bound up his wounds. Now verse 34, listen,
"...and poured in oil and wine." What does the oil and wine represent
here? The oil, I know, is the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit to comfort. And the wine, this man is lying
there wounded. and bleeding. And he had on his
beast there, this Samaritan had wine and he had oil. And these
wounds needed to be treated and so he treated them with oil to
soothe and wine to kill the infection. The alcohol poured in the wine. to kill the infection. And our
Lord Jesus Christ came where we were. He saw us. He had compassion
on us. He went to us. He bound up our
wounds and He poured in the Spirit of grace and the blood to cleanse. The Spirit of God to comfort
and His blood to cleanse. And then He lifted him up. Listen
to verse 34. He lifted him up and put him
on his own beast. shepherd found the sheep and
picked him up and put him on his shoulders. And he brought him. Where did
he bring him? He brought him to an inn. What is an inn? Well, an inn is a place with
plenty of rooms, and an inn is a place with provisions, food
and shelter and a warm fire, a place to rest, a bed. to lie
down in. Hospitality. Inns usually have
innkeepers. Folks that prepare food. An inn
is a protection from the storm. An inn has other guests for fellowship
and communion. So they said our Lord found this
wounded man and went to him and loved him and bound up his wounds
and poured in oil and wine put him on his beast and brought
him to the church. The church is a place with plenty
of room for wounded folks, for hurt folks, for weary folks,
for sinners. And a church is a place with
some innkeepers so you can be fed. And a church is a place
where you can rest. And his church is a place where
you find hospitality and a welcome. And a place where you find fellowship
with other wounded people. And a place where you have protection
from the storms. Someone to help you when you're
in trouble, when you're not alone. He brought him there. Brought
him there. And verse 35 says, And on the
morrow, He was going to depart. That's the picture of our Lord,
going to depart. He took out two pence and gave
to the innkeeper. Now, who is the innkeeper? He's
the pastor. He's the elders. He's those who
teach and preach and those who have the rule and those who are
in positions of leadership and authority like the innkeeper.
And he took out these two pence. What are these two pence? I believe
they represent the Old Testament and the New Testament. A believer needs the Word of
God. That's what a believer, that's a children's bread. That's what they need for their
revelation of God. This is what they need for instruction
in righteousness. This is what they need for food,
for comfort, for increase in faith, for growth. They need
the Word, and so he took the Word. He gave them the Old Testament
and the New Testament. Mr. Gill said like a mother has
two breasts for the baby. Comfort and nourishment. And
when you look and see a mother holding a little infant in her
arms and feeding that little infant, there is no time or place
when that infant is more peaceful happy and adjusted when he's
feeding on those breasts. And when our Lord left, he came
down here and redeemed his people. He came down here and found us
in the ditch. He's our enemy. See, this Samaritan's
the enemy of that Jew. That Jew thinks he's his enemy.
But he's his friend. And he comes there, came where
he was, He didn't pass by like the law did, and pass by like
the sacrifice, and pass by like the priest and the Levite. They
can't help you. Religion can't help you, so they
just pass by. They'll take whatever you have,
but they can't help you. But he came where he was. And
he saw him. Saw him in his mess. Oh, what
a mess. And he loved him. He bound up
his wounds and he poured in oil and he'd comfort and pour it
in, make those wounds to be softer and poured in wine to kill that
infection. And then he lifted him and put
him, he did it all, put him on his beast and brought him to
his house. And there he took care of him.
But then he went away. He said, I'll go away, but I
won't leave you comfortless. I'll come again. And he left
them in charge of these elders. And he said, now, here's all
you need, right here. Now, you take care of them. You
feed them. You feed them. You comfort them.
You take care of them. Now, if you look here, and I
like this right here, he says, if you spend more, whatever,
of your time, of your money, of your heart, or whatever, I'm
coming again, I'll repay you. I'll take care of you. I'll take
care of you." Now then, he turns to this man,
he said, which now of these three thinkest thou was really the
neighbor to the man that fell among the thieves? Who's the
neighbor? Who's the neighbor? Well, he
said, he that showed mercy on him. And our Lord said, well,
you go do likewise. And here's what He's saying to you and to
me. People He found, He was neighbor to us. Turn to Ephesians 4. This
is what He's saying to us. You go do what your Lord did. Go do what your Lord did. This
is not just, you know, Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32,
and this is not just folks that are in the brotherhood, this
is to all people with whom we come in contact. Verse 32 says,
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you, hath
had mercy upon you and me, and compassion go thou and do likewise. All right, let's turn in our
hymn books to number 459. 459. He lifted me. 459. We'll
stand together while we sing.