The part of the chapter that I want to focus on is the part behind verse 25 where this
lawyer stands up, and of course a lawyer is not what we have as a lawyer today, but it's
somebody who is an expert in the Bible, supposedly. He stands up and he's tempting Jesus, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now, flip over if you would, keep your
finger there, but flip over to Matthew chapter 19, just a few books back in the New Testament.
Look at Matthew 19, and we're going to see a very similar story in the Bible, in Matthew 19.
Matthew chapter 19, and look at verse 16, and we'll get back to the other story in just a moment.
But in Matthew 19 and 16, the Bible says this, When behold, one came and said unto him, Good
Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto me,
Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is life. But if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandment. Now, a lot of people take these verses and they
totally misunderstand and stumble upon it, just as the people who Jesus was speaking
to misunderstood and stumbled upon these scriptures. I mean, you have to understand that in Matthew
19 and in Luke chapter 10, Jesus was speaking to a very religious crowd, the Pharisees,
the scribes, and they thought that they were going to go to heaven because of their own
righteousness. Now, you don't have to turn there, but I'll read this for you in Romans
chapter 10, and this is talking about the exact same people that the Jews that rejected
Jesus when he was on this earth. Paul said this, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear the record that they have a zeal
of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness,
listen to this, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. And then just going back a few verses at the
end of Romans 9, it says, Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, had not attained
to the law of righteousness, wherefore, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were
by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. You see, the problem
with the Pharisees and with the scribes and the Sadducees is that they believed that they
would be saved by doing good works. They thought that if they kept the law, they would go to
heaven for keeping the law. And the Bible says this, if thou keep the whole law, James
2 10, and yet offend in one point, thou art guilty of all. Now look, nobody can keep the
whole law and not offend in one point. Is anybody perfect? No. The Bible says for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible says if we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not us. Every single one of us is a sinner.
Every single one of us commits sin. And the Pharisees thought that they were actually
good enough to go to heaven. And so they were trying to earn their way into heaven by doing
good works. Of course, Jesus said, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. That's what decides who is saved and who is not saved, who has faith on Jesus Christ.
It says he that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already
because he has not believed. Not because he didn't live a good life, not because he
wasn't good enough, but because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. Now, there are many scriptures and things where Jesus is trying to teach
these people and show them their imperfection. He's trying to show them that they're not
as good as they think they are because he's trying to get them to a point where they'll
realize, Look, I'm a sinner. I come short. I'm not good enough. I need Jesus Christ to
save me. Now look, think about this for a moment. If we're just going to be good enough
to go to heaven just by living a good life, then why would Jesus have to die on the cross?
See, it doesn't make any sense. Because if we could just earn our way in, God would just
have us stand before him at judgment and say, Okay, are you good enough? Did you do good?
Alright, come on in. And those that are bad would go to hell. And that's what most people
think. But in reality, if we were all to stand before God and be judged according to our
works, we would all come short. I mean, none of us would be good enough. And so that's
why every single one of us needs to be saved by Jesus Christ just by putting our faith
in Jesus. That's something that I did when I was six years old. One time is all it takes.
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you're born again and you pass from death unto life
and you have eternal life and you'll never perish. Nobody can ever take it away from
you. God will never take it away from you. But you see, Jesus, while he was on this earth,
he didn't just go around preaching to everybody, I'm going to die on the cross and then I'm
going to be risen again. Did you notice that? I mean, if you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John, he didn't go to everybody. And even when he explained that to his disciples, when
he explained to them how he said, The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands
of wicked men and he's going to be crucified and three days later rise again. Okay. Now
Jesus was trying to teach a lot more doctrine and a lot more than that. And after Jesus
rose from the dead, the disciples and the apostles went around and preached and made
it a little clearer what Jesus was saying while he was on this earth and what he was
teaching, what he was preaching. Now, here's what you have to understand about this story.
Look down at Matthew 1960. And you know, a lot of times the Jehovah's Witnesses, the
Jehovah's false witnesses that is, they'll take this verse and they'll try to use this
verse to teach you that you must do good works to go to heaven and they try to use this verse
to teach you that Jesus is not God. That's what they'll use this verse for. Now keep
your finger here, I'm sorry, I want to show you one thing quickly in Romans chapter 2.
Just keep your finger here and I want to make sure that you understand this point. Just
keep your finger there and look at Romans 2. I want to show you this and this is exactly
what I'm talking about. In Romans 2, 6, the Bible says this about God, who will render
to every man according to his deeds, listen to this, to them who by patient continuance
and well-doing, I mean just always doing everything right, he's saying, glory and honor and immortality,
eternal life, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey in righteousness
and ignite stress. He's saying here that if you do everything right and continue in the
law and keep the law perfectly, you will have eternal life and if you don't, you'll
have the wrath of God abiding on you. And as you read through this, he explains that,
but then in chapter 3, he explains how well, but everybody's a sinner. We've already concluded
that the Jew and the Gentiles under sin and then he says in verse number 28 of chapter
3, look at 3.28, it says, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law. And so it's easy to take a verse out of context, you know, in Romans
chapter 2, while he's explaining that in order to go to heaven, you have to be perfect. But
then he explains how nobody's perfect and then he explains, therefore we conclude that
a man is justified by faith without the worst law. But see, if you take a verse out of context,
before he gets to that conclusion, you just say, see, you gotta be perfect and then you
go to heaven. And there are literally people on this earth who think that they're perfect
and never sinned. I mean, what kind of a weird person is that? I mean, to think that
you never sinned. I mean, you're lying to yourself, you're lying to everybody else.
You're a sinner, I'm a sinner, that's the way it is. But look at Matthew 19, let's see
what Jesus actually said to this man. A man came to him and said this, good master, what
good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? So what does this guy think is his ticket
into heaven? Doing good works, right? He says, how good do I have to be? I mean, what good
thing do I have to do in order to be saved? Now notice what Jesus says to him. He says,
why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. And the Jehovah's Witness
will say, well see there, right there, Jesus is not God. Now wait a minute, this is what
I said to the Jehovah's Witness. Is Jesus good? Of course. Well then he's God. Because
that's what it says there. It says there's none good but one that is God. And so Jesus
is saying to him, why are you calling me good? Why do you think I'm good? Are you saying
that I'm God? He's not saying I'm not God. He's saying there's only one good and that's
God. What's he saying? You're not good. He's saying to the man who's talking to him. He's
trying to show him, his own imperfection. He's saying, you're not good, there's only
one person that's good and that's God. You're saying it to me that I'm good, that's because
I am God. And I've never had a Jehovah's Witness yet be able to answer me when I said,
is Jesus good? They said, of course Jesus is good. I said, well then he's God. Because
there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sin and thought. There's no
one good but God. That's a true statement. And so that doesn't say that Jesus isn't God,
that proves that Jesus is God. And so they've got their own verse working against them.
But look at the next statement. He says, but if thou wilt enter into light, use the commandments.
He saith unto them, which commandment shall I keep? Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder,
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness,
honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young
man saith unto them, all these things that I kept from my youth up, what lack I am. Now
do you believe that? Do you believe that that guy had kept all those things from the time
he was just a little kid until now. He's just kept all those laws. He's always loved
his neighbor just as much as himself. He's never stolen. He's never done any of these
things. He's never coveted. He's never disobeyed mom and dad. There's no way he had kept it.
He's lying, right? He said, I've done all that. But he said, I still feel like I need
something else. He said, what am I lacking? What am I missing? I've done it all. Jesus
said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, that's the key phrase right there. If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give you the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven and come follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away
sorrowful, for he had great concessions. So here's a man who came to Jesus thinking that
he could earn his way into heaven by keeping the law. That's not what the Bible says. It
doesn't say that in the Old Testament, it doesn't say that in the New Testament. The
whole Bible teaches that it's by faith, not of works. And so here's a man who said, I
want to know exactly how good do I have to be? I mean, what do I have to do to make sure
I'm going to heaven? He didn't know he was going to heaven. And by the way, nobody who
thinks that they're justified by their works can really know for sure if they're going
to heaven, because they don't know whether they're good enough. And the answer of course
is that they're not. They need to be trusting Jesus. And so he said, well, what am I missing
though? And Jesus said, well, if you want to be perfect, let me point out for you an
area that you're not perfect. He said, why don't you sell what you have and give it to
the poor? I mean, here you are, you've amassed this great wealth for yourself. He said, why
don't you go ahead and sell your wealth? And he said, why aren't you following me? He said,
salvation's not just a list of things that you don't do. He said, why aren't you following
Jesus? And of course he went away sorrowful and said, well, I'm not willing to do that.
Because he got there thinking he was justified by works, and he walked away thinking, he's
still justified by works. And he went away sad because he couldn't measure up. And so
it's not that hard of a story to understand. But look at Luke chapter 10, and we see a
very similar story. It's a different event. And this is the one I want to talk about tonight.
It's a very famous story that I'm preaching on tonight. It's the story of the Good Samaritan.
Who's heard of that before, the Good Samaritan? I mean, everybody has heard about the Good
Samaritan, right? And this is a very famous story that I want to preach about. But look
at verse 25. Very similar. And the oldest certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now, it says he was tempting him. Is
tempting someone a good thing or a bad thing? No, he's trying to catch him up and trying
to trip up Jesus, and he's trying to get him to say something wrong and ask him a really
hard question. He says, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to them, What
is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answered and said, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto them, Jesus said, Thou is
answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. Now look, Jesus is saying, if you were to
keep all the commandments perfectly from your youth until now, if you were to never
make a mistake, never break any of the Ten Commandments, never do anything wrong, sell
everything you have, give it all to the poor, follow Jesus with your whole life, love God
with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and your neighbor just as much as
you love yourself, he said, you'll go to heaven. But nobody can do that. No one is able to
do that. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But if you did that theoretically,
if you never sinned, would you go to hell if you never sinned? No. The whole point of
hell is it's a punishment for sin. But look, let's face it, we all sin every day. And so
truly a person who did this would be saved if they lived perfect. But nobody can do it.
But watch this, but he willing to justify himself, verse 29, said unto Jesus, And who
is my neighbor? Now, Jesus is telling him to love his neighbor as himself. And he's
saying, Okay, well, who is my neighbor? Who is it that I have to love? Okay. And so he
gives the story now, Jesus is going to explain the story to him to explain to him who his
neighbor is and who he's supposed to love. And we can take this as an admonition to ourselves
today. The Bible says in verse 30, Jesus answered today, 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. So here's a man, he's just on a business trip, he's
just riding along, he's got some money in the pouch, he's got some supplies, he's got
some goods, and as he's riding along, some thieves are lying in wait by the side of the
road, just waiting for somebody to come by to take him wrong. And they jump on this man,
they attack him, and look what the Bible says, they stripped him of his raiment. I mean,
they even went so far as to rip all of his clothes off his body, and to steal the very
shirt off his back. It says, they wounded him. Now, that's not just that, that's talking
about a very strong, they probably stabbed him, or something that was almost a deadly
type wound. I mean, they stabbed him, they ripped his clothes off him, they beat him,
and it says, and departed, leaving him half dead. I mean, he's laying in the ditch, he's
wounded, he's laying in a puddle of his own blood, stripped completely naked, he's half
dead, he's barely even alive. You picturing the story here? And by chance, there just
happened to come down a certain priest that way. It says, by chance, they came down a
certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Can you imagine
this? Here's a priest, here's a man who was supposed to be a religious man. I mean, he
was supposed to be somebody that was giving his life to teach people, and help people,
and love people, and he's walking by the side road, he looks in a ditch, and sees a man
dying, and he's barely alive, and he's in his own blood, and he's naked, and he says,
whoa man, that's, I don't want to get involved here, I don't even want to mess with that,
and just kept on going. Boy, isn't that the brazen hearted society we live in? I mean,
this, I don't care, I don't want to mess with that, I'm just going to keep on going.
Look at the next verse. It says, and likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and
looked on him, so he comes over and takes a look at this guy. He sees that he's still
alive, but that he's barely alive. And it says, and passed by on the other side, he
walks across the street and just ignores him, leaves him there. It says, but a certain Samaritan
as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Now,
what is the significance about him being a Samaritan? Well, the Bible said that in those
days, and you know, Jesus didn't agree with this while he was on this earth, but the Jews
had no dealings with the Samaritans. It was like a racial thing, because the Samaritans
were basically, I guess you could call them, molattos. They were a mixture between two
races of people. And because of this, the Jews wanted nothing to do with them. Now,
is that right or wrong? That's wrong, because the Bible says God has made all nations of
the earth of one blood. We don't believe in separating the races. That's something that
wicked people have taught, like Charles Darwin and people who teach evolution. And I don't
understand, why would any black man want to be an evolutionist? I can't figure that out
for the life of me. When Charles Darwin's own book, The Origin of the Species, said
that life began in Africa with the blacks. That's what it says. Charles Darwin was the
biggest racist that ever walked the face of the earth, and every evolutionist, every class
I ever took in public school or college that taught evolution said life began in Africa,
and that the Africans are the ones that are closer to the monkeys. I mean, that's ridiculous.
That's garbage. And so I can't understand why a black person would subscribe to the
religion of evolution that teaches that black people are somehow subhuman. It's garbage.
And anybody can see that the intelligence of human beings, whatever race they are, is
equivalent. Now look, is every person's intelligence equivalent? No. There are a lot of people
that are smarter than others. But you know, it's not based on race. There have to be extremely
smart black people, there have to be white people that aren't smart. It's not based on
race. We're all human beings. We're all created, guess what, at the same time, with Adam and
Eve. And so it's not like the other ones are closer to animals, and people would try to
put other people in a different category and say, well, they're not quite human. They're
closer to the apes, like Charles Darwin said. But the Samaritans here were looked down upon
by the Jews. Now Jesus, if you remember, he walked right up to a Samaritan woman in John
4, and he started talking to her. He said, woman, give me a drink. And she said, how is it
that thou, being a Jew, talkest with me, which am a woman of Samaria? She's like, hey, well, you're
talking to me. Because they were saying it. And he said, look, it doesn't this mountain,
Jerusalem, hey, God is looking for people everywhere to worship him in spirit and in truth.
And so here we see that this Samaritan, who normally would have no dealings with anybody who's
a Jew. I mean, they would usually walk on the other side of the street, kind of like the
Levite and the priest did. This man, he says, it doesn't matter whether I'm a Samaritan and he's
a Jew. He said, I'm looking at a man that's dying. I'm looking at somebody who's suffering. I'm
looking at somebody who needs help. He said, I'm going to have compassion here. He said, my heart goes out
to this man, and I'm going to help him. And so the Bible says in verse number 34,
that he went to him and bound up his wounds. He begins to
bandage and clean this man's wounds, pouring in oil and wine and sent him on
his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. So he gets off the horse that he's
riding, and he basically puts this man on his horse and just begins to lead the horse.
Okay. And he's letting this man ride and relax
while he's on his way to the inn. It says, brought him to an inn and took care of him. That's a hotel.
And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, which in those
days was two days wages. So maybe, you know, 250 bucks or 300 bucks.
He pulls out and he gives the hotel manager 250, 300 bucks,
whatever two pence will be today, and gave them to the host and said to him,
take care of him. And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again,
I will repay thee. And that tells me also that this man had a great reputation. I mean, when was the last time
you went to Motel 6 and said, hey, you know what, just put it on my tab.
And you say, no, go ahead and pay us right now please.
These days you don't really walk into the store and say, oh yeah, just send me the bill. Usually it's like COD.
And so, here this man had a great reputation. And he gives the man, he pulls out
300 bucks of his own money. You think this guy, he doesn't know if this guy is ever going to do anything for him again.
He's probably never going to see this guy. He doesn't even live in the same country as this guy.
They have no dealings with one another. There's no way he's ever going to be recompensed by this man.
He gives 300 bucks to the shopkeeper, to the innkeeper and says, look, would you take care of him, would you use this money
if he needs food, if he needs water, if he needs medicine, just for your time to deal with him.
And he said, if you end up having to spend more money, hey, just spend it. If this guy needs help,
spend the money, whatever it takes to help this guy out. And he says, I'll come back and I'll pay him with my
little money, whatever's needed.
Which now, Jesus is giving the moral of the story now, which now of these three, thinkest thou,
he's saying to the lawyer that was tempting him, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves.
And he said, he that showed mercy on him, then sent Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise.
Now he's basically picking the one person that he would probably not think was his neighbor, a Samaritan.
And notice how Jesus turns the story around exactly backwards on him.
Look at what he asked, in verse 29, look up at Luke 10, 29, it says,
he willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, who is my neighbor?
But look what Jesus says in verse 36, and he turns around the exact opposite.
He says, and now which of these three thinkest thou was his neighbor?
That's not what he says. He doesn't say, well, who do you think was his neighbor? He says, no.
Who thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
See, Jesus is saying here, it's not about who is your neighbor. It's not about having a neighbor.
He's saying it's about being a neighbor. Do you see that?
He's saying it's not about how many friends you have, or who's a friend to you.
He says it's about who you are a friend to, who you are going to help.
He says you're the one who decides who your neighbor is.
He's saying it's not that somebody's your neighbor, so you're going to help them out,
or they're your friends, so you're going to help them out.
He says you decide who your friend is. You decide who your neighbor is.
When you see somebody who needs your help, whoever they are,
when you see somebody who's in need and you help them, now you're their neighbor.
Now you're their friend. He says that's what I meant when I say,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
He says you decide who your neighbor is because it's the person that you love.
It's the person that you're willing to help. It's the person you have compassion on.
That's your neighbor, he said.
And he tells them, go and do thou likewise.
He says that's how I want you to live.
That's what you ought to be doing with your life.
Now, as you read this story and think about it,
is this really the type of person that most people in this world are?
The type of person that would just pull out hundreds of dollars of their own money to help somebody out?
I mean, this is a rare person to meet.
I mean, if you were to come across this friend, I mean,
this would be the nicest guy you'd ever meet, this guy we're reading about in the story.
I mean, this is the type of friend that you would want to have.
I mean, this is the type of guy we'd love to have in this church.
I mean, this kind of a guy who said, you know, other people's problems are my problem.
Other people's suffering is my suffering.
Other people's financial need is my financial need.
I'm going to step in and help somebody where I see the need.
And Jesus is saying, that's what Christianity is all about.
He said, these are the two great commandments.
Hey, love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.
He said, that comprehends half the law right there.
And he said, the other half is this.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
He said, all these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
You see, if you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to steal from your neighbor.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to commit adultery with your neighbor's wife.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to lie to your neighbor.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to covet what your neighbor has.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to bear false witness against your neighbor.
You see, love is the fulfillment of the whole law and one word the Bible says.
Loving other people.
And so when he says, go and do thou likewise, he's not just talking about only helping somebody in need.
Like the story, remember the original question.
The original question, if you go up in your Bible to Luke 10-28 or 10-27, he answered and said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself.
He's saying the commandments to love your neighbor as yourself.
He said, who's my neighbor?
He said, it's whoever has a need.
Whoever has a need.
Whoever needs you, that's who you ought to love.
That's who you ought to reach out to.
Now there's so many different applications to this story.
We can just apply it physically.
People who have a physical need.
And you know, I'm going to tell you something.
If you want to, if you want to win people to Christ.
And you know, we go out door to door.
We go door to door soul waiting and knock doors.
And we see a lot of people say.
We have a lot of people saying.
Just out preaching the gospel and trying to take as many hours of knocking doors.
But we see so many people saying.
And anybody who goes soul waiting sees people saying eventually.
You know, if you work hard at it and put in the time and keep talking to people.
Man, you're going to get people saved.
It's exciting.
And you know, when you knock on that door.
Those people don't know you from Adam, do they?
They don't have a clue who you are.
You're just a complete stranger.
And of course they're not trusting in you anyway.
They're trusting in what you're showing them from the Bible.
And so you show them what the Bible says.
And hopefully they believe it and they get saved.
But you know, I love the order of so many.
But there are a lot of other people that I would like to win the Lord to.
Like my family.
You know, relatives.
I'm saying.
Extended family.
Or friends.
Or co-workers on the job.
That are unsaved.
They're unsaved.
I want to win them the Lord.
I want to get them saved.
And I want to get strangers saved and have compassion in them.
But you know, I want to get people that are close to me saved as well.
That's important to me.
In fact, those are the people that are the nearest and nearest to my heart.
Now, we ought to, as this man, see a complete stranger and have compassion and love for
that person.
But you know, who do we love more though?
I mean, the people that we're the closest to are the ones we love more.
And I'm going to tell you something.
Listen.
If you will live as a Christian for those people, it will stand out.
You will stand out from the world.
I'll tell you right now.
I mean, if you let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Hey, it glorifies God when people can look at you and say, wow, this person is different.
This person is completely different than the rest of the people in the office.
This person is completely different than the rest of the people on this job.
And they say, what is it about this person that's different?
That person is a Christian.
That person is always Jesus Christ.
That's a great testimony to have.
Now, look, there are so many times that we could go out of our way to do something for
other people and help other people.
You know, if somebody asks us to go a mile, as Jesus said, go with them 20.
Go two miles.
Go the extra mile.
You know, let's say you're at work and you hear somebody say, man, I'm really thirsty.
You know, hey, bring me a drink of water and say, here, I got you a bottle of water.
You know, you'll be different than anybody else.
I mean, how many times do people do stuff like that in the world?
Just walk up to you and just do something for you because you needed something.
Or they see that you're having a problem and you're suffering and somebody gets out of
the car and comes to you and says, here, let me help you.
You know, let me help you change that tire.
You know, let me give you a hand.
Let me help you push start your car and say, oh, that's their problem.
Hey, reach out to people and help them when they're in need.
You know, and that's what he's talking about here.
But it goes even deeper than that.
The greatest need that anybody has is salvation.
I mean, what's a man profit if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?
Nothing.
And so the most important thing we can do for people is to preach the gospel to them.
And, you know, this is kind of metaphorically speaking of that as well.
You know, the world, the devil, this is what they'll do to you.
You know, they'll strip you down and beat you up and chew you up and spit you out.
You know, the world will not have any love for you.
The Bible says in Matthew 24 that because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
And, you know, according to the Bible, listen to this carefully.
The person who's living the most sinful life has the least amount of love in their heart for other people.
Period.
I mean, Jesus said that because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
And people will become very cold.
Because sin is always about you, isn't it?
I mean, sin is always about gratifying yourself at the expense of other people.
The expense of what God wants.
At the expense of what's good for others.
When you steal, it's all, I mean, are you doing that for somebody else?
I'm going to steal because I love others.
No, you're stealing for yourself.
I mean, I get it, except Robin, you know, when he steals from the rich, he gives to the poor.
Okay.
But, you know, I'm just kidding.
But, you know, when people steal, they don't steal it so they can give it away.
They steal it for themselves.
When people commit murder, it's because it's what they want to do.
To achieve their goals.
When somebody commits adultery, it's not because they love their wife.
It's not because they love their husband.
It's because they love themselves and nobody else.
And they think that they're the only one that matters.
And so they commit adultery.
When somebody tells a lie, it's usually because they're looking out for number one.
It's usually because they're trying to protect themselves.
And so people who live a life that's full of sin, why do people drink?
Because they want to just be such a blessing to their family.
I love my wife and kids so much that I just drink every night.
Why? So that I won't have the money to provide for them because I'm drinking it up.
I don't know how anybody can afford to drink.
I mean, you know, I just try to pay my bills and whatever,
and people are buying drinks for six bucks each and five bucks each and four bucks each,
and they just drink it, you know.
And people who drink, and then they throw their wife against the wall and slap her around because they're drunk,
yell at the kids and scream at everybody because they're drunk.
It's because them feeling good and getting their little buzz or whatever stupid thing
is more important to them than loving other people and doing what's best for them.
And so sin is a result of selfishness, and therefore the people who live the dirtiest, most sinful life
are going to be the people who have the least love and compassion for others.
I mean, they might help somebody else out when there's something in it for them.
They might help somebody else out who's going to help them out later on down the road.
Or they might help somebody out in front of others to put on a show.
But they're not going to help out the guy that's in the ditch in the middle of the desert.
Nobody knows. They just don't want to get involved because there's nothing that they have to gain from it.
And so love is something that's found in the heart of somebody who is a person who loves God.
They love their neighbor, and they're going to do what's right by their neighbor because of love.
Now, if you want to turn your Bible to Matthew chapter 5, verse 43.
Matthew chapter 5, verse 43.
You see, a person who lives a truly Christian life will stand out from the crowd.
I mean, they will.
I mean, you should be able to go to work and people just look at you and tell there's something different about this person.
I mean, they're not telling the dirty jokes. They're not talking about the same smudge and garbage.
They're helpful. They're the hardest worker on the job.
They get there early. They stay late. They work hard. They go the extra mile.
If they see somebody else that needs something, they want to help them.
And they want to promote other people, if not just always promoting themselves.
They live a clean life. They're godly. They're righteous.
They'll stand out. That's not the world we live in.
And so, here's another example. Look at Matthew 5, 43.
Jesus said this. You heard that it has been said.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy.
Now, that's not what the Bible says anywhere.
Does the Bible ever say, hate your enemy? No.
Now, it does say love thy neighbor as thyself, but does it ever say anywhere in the Old Testament or the New Testament, hate your enemy? Never.
But people have been teaching that. People have been saying that in Jesus' day.
The Jews have been teaching them, well, we're to love our neighbor and to hate our enemy.
Hate the Samaritans, right? Hate those half-breeds and hate the Gentiles and hate the people in Assyria and hate everybody but love our neighbor.
He's saying, you've heard that saying, but don't believe everything you hear.
He said, if you've heard that it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I say unto you, love your enemies.
That's the teaching of the Bible.
Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you.
And pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.
How many people in the world do that?
Somebody hates me, I'm going to do something good for them.
I'm going to pray for the people that... I mean, who do you pray for?
All the people that hate you, right?
All the people that despitefully use you.
Is that who you pray for?
No, you probably pray for your friends and you pray for people that you like.
You pray for the people that do something good to you.
You're going to requite them by praying for them.
But Jesus said, love your enemies.
Bless them that curse you.
But see, our attitude is, well, I'm going to do to them as they have done unto me.
The Bible says, say not, I will do to him, I will so do to him as he hath done unto me.
That's not the attitude that a Christian should have.
He says that we should not see that no man render evil for evil.
The Bible says, he said, we're going to do good to all men.
And when somebody does evil to us, we're not supposed to render evil for evil.
We're supposed to overcome evil with good, the Bible says.
And so, he says here, do good to them that hate you.
And pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.
That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.
For he maketh his Son to rise on the evil and on the good.
And send the brain unto justice and on the endless.
For if he loved them which love you, what reward have ye?
Do not even the public itself?
He said, even the most worldly, ungodly people, they still love those who love them in many cases.
He says, what good is that if you love them which love you? What reward have ye?
He says in verse 37, and if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
Do not even the public itself?
Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Same exact word that Jesus used about those who will love everybody and love those who are doing wrong with them.
Now you say, well good night, is there anybody that was ever hate at any time?
Yes there is, I mean the Bible does talk about there are people who the Lord hates.
I mean there are people that he tells us to hate.
And you know people will say that that's not true, but it is true because the Bible says so.
David said, do not I hate them that hate thee?
And he said, I hate them with the perfect answer.
And he used that same word, perfect.
And so there is a time to hate, the Bible says, a time to love and a time to hate.
There are those that are, the Bible calls them, he says that he abhors the bloody and violent and deceitful man.
There are people God hates.
And here's the thing, God hates those according to the Bible who are violent.
Now what does violence mean?
We're not talking about a boxing match, that's what we think of as violence.
You know people hitting each other, oh football is too violent.
That's not what violence means, the word violence comes from the word violate.
Violence is when I break into somebody's house and just beat them for no reason and just kill them and steal all their stuff kind of like they did to this guy.
Violence is the type of person that would commit rape, that's violence according to the Bible, the Bible calls that violence.
Somebody who would rape or abuse children and kidnap and all these kind of things, that's what violence is, it's violating other people.
Okay, that's where the word comes from.
But you see there are people who are wicked people in this world that are just filthy monsters.
I mean that's the only way to describe them.
I mean they break into houses and steal little kids and do it.
Do you not know that that goes on daily in Phoenix alone?
Get out the newspaper, I mean there are people who are abusers and they rape and they kill.
Those kind of people should be hated and the Bible says that they should be taken and killed.
And point to God that we would get back in America the way justice used to be in this country where they gave the death penalty for murder,
they gave the death penalty for rape, they gave the death penalty for kidnapping, like it says in the Bible.
That God commands governments to give the death penalty for these violent, wicked crimes.
That's what the Bible teaches.
So I'm not saying that there's no one to ever hate, but you know what, your personal enemy is not someone that you out hate, you out love your enemies.
I mean if somebody does wrong to you, somebody steals from you, somebody on the job is lying about you to promote themselves,
to make you look bad, and that happens on the job.
It's a dog eat dog world.
I mean if I've been on the job and had people lie and blame things on me that were not my fault,
because they were trying to promote themselves and trying to get you out of favor with the boss,
hey it's going to happen.
And you can say, oh I'm going to get him back, I'm going to get him back, I'm going to hate him.
No, you have to love them and do good to them and one day you may be able to win that person to Christ,
or you may be able to win others to Christ when they look at you and say,
hey there's a guy who loves his enemies, there's a guy who's good to those that are evil to him,
there's a guy who's good to those who despise him.
And boy I can have great testimony, I remember I worked at a company and there was a guy there,
and man this guy didn't get along with anybody.
I mean this guy was very good at what he did, very talented at the business we were in was electronics.
Very good, extremely smart, probably the smartest guy in the whole company.
And so he was one of the better paid guys at the company and he was just the man.
But this guy, it just seemed like he hated everybody.
And he just treated everybody like dirt.
I mean he mouthed off to everybody, he was rude to everybody, couldn't get along with anybody.
And I remember one time I was on a job with him and two other guys, and we were on this job.
And I walked up to him and I said something to him, and the guy just started berating me,
I mean he just laid into me and was just cursing me, and I hadn't done a thing wrong.
Honestly, I mean I hadn't done a thing wrong.
And this guy was just ripping me up, I mean just, shut up you stupid, you don't know what you're talking about.
You know what, I was just, you know what, and I just, I remember I just walked away and didn't say anything,
and you know what, I did something nice for him a little bit later that day, it was nice to him.
And I remember from that point on, me and that guy were just like this.
I'm not kidding. I mean it seemed like sometimes I was the only guy that this guy liked.
I mean he would be nice to me, he never said a cross word to me, he was friendly to me, he'd smile at me.
And so look, you can win people over sometimes when you show them some love, when you do something good for them.
Because most people aren't used to it.
I mean most people, the reaction is, if somebody starts yelling at you and cursing you, what are you going to do?
You're going to start yelling them back, you're going to start telling them off.
You know, you're going to basically set out to do something to take that person down a notch.
But is that Christianity? Is that what the Bible teaches? No.
I remember another time, same company, this company had a lot of politics and a lot of stuff that was dishonest going on.
You know, where people would kind of blame things on other people and everybody's trying to have this power play going on.
There was another time I walked up to this guy's office in the same company.
And the phone rang, he picked up the phone and it was the boss calling this guy that was like an engineer.
And the boss started just telling this guy off for a mistake that he had made.
And really laying into this guy.
And so then the guy got off the phone, and I heard it because it was on the speakerphone or whatever.
And so I heard the conversation, and so this guy was shook up because he'd just been yelled at by the boss.
So I continued my conversation with the guy about a job they were doing, and the guy started yelling at me now.
And saying, you know, it's really your fault this even happened. Because this says this.
And it wasn't my fault at all, but the guy was being unreasonable just because he was frustrated.
Because he'd just been yelled at, you know how it is, he's just been yelled at, he's frustrated, he just wants to take it out on somebody.
So I was just the whipping boy, you know.
So he starts just taking it out on me, you know, it's really you, this and that, and this and that.
And I just said to him, I just said, listen man, I said, you know, I'm sorry.
And I knew and he knew that I had done anything wrong.
But I just said, you know what, I said, I'm really sorry.
I said, you know, I'm sorry that I got you in trouble like that, that you had to yell out like that, I'm sorry.
Now when I said that, what do you think is going through the guy's mind?
He knows it's not my fault.
But I'm sitting here apologizing for something I didn't even do, okay.
And you know, I'm telling you, from that day forward, me and that guy were like best friends.
And seriously, and he and I were close friends.
And I remember when I left the company, boy, he was sad that I was leaving.
And I was sad not to be working with him anymore.
Because he and I had become close friends in the time that would lie after that.
And you know, I'm telling you, that's the way to show Christianity is to be a cut above those that are around you.
Not to just sink into this thing. Anybody can come up with some smart remark.
You know, sometimes we think we're so cute.
You know, we live in this society that grew up watching all these sitcoms, right?
Where everybody's got their little one-liner.
You know, they got their comeback, you know.
Somebody says something to them and man, they just come back, ugh!
You know, they're going to burn you up, right?
I showed him, I'm going to tear you up.
Hey, but look, is that what the Bible thinks?
And you know, that doesn't get you anywhere.
There's no live studio audience in life.
You know, this could even go with your husband or your wife.
You know, you're getting in some fight and you may have that comeback, right?
And you may be on the job and somebody mouths out to you and you've got the perfect comeback.
And you're goddamn good!
But you know what, nobody's going to push the laughing button.
You know, when you make that perfect comeback.
You know, I can't impersonate the button.
You know, they push the button and it's like a fake laugh.
Because it's not really filmed in front of a live studio audience like they say it was.
And so, nobody's there, nobody's impressed is what I'm trying to say.
When you mouth off to somebody, nobody's impressed with that.
God's out up in heaven saying, man, you told them.
And you know, that person's not going to walk away saying, oh well, they told me.
They're just going to walk away mad.
And they're just going to seek to get you back worse next time.
You know, this is just how you fall into the trap of making enemies with people that you ought not be making enemies with.
But if you show people love, if you do good to those that hate you.
If you don't play the game of mouthing off and picking a fight with everybody.
You know, you say, well, but you don't understand, I was the one that was right.
Look, Jesus said, if you only backed down when you were wrong, what reward have you?
He said, hey, back down when you're not wrong.
Be meek. Step aside and say, hey, I'm sorry, when you didn't even do anything wrong.
He said, that's Christianity.
That's going to show people when you love your enemies and do good to those that despitefully use you and persecute you.
He said, that's what's going to set you apart from the world around you.
And so we have to stop and think sometimes about what we say and how we act and what our goal is.
Because my goal is never to win an argument as much as to win somebody to Christ.
That'd be better, wouldn't it?
I mean, you can win an argument with somebody or get the promotion on the job.
But you know what, I'd rather show people that I'm a Christian than win somebody to the Lord at the end of the day.
And you know what, you'll find that you'll succeed better at your job also in the process when you promote other people.
When you tell the boss, hey, so and so did a great job.
Let me tell you how good they're doing.
Instead of just, well, I want to make it look like I'm the best on the job.
You know, promote other people. Lift up other people.
And you'll find yourself being promoted.
Because God's the one who really promotes and lifts up one and puts it down another, the Bible says.
But look at Proverbs 18.
Proverbs 18, right in the middle of the Bible is the book of Psalms.
And then right after Psalms is Proverbs.
You see, God is telling us to love the unlovable.
To love the unlovely.
To love those who normally we would not love.
You say, well, is this a certain type of people? I just don't like them.
You know, and whether it be a certain race or whether it be a certain economic class or whether it be a certain just type of personality.
We just say, I don't like people like that. I don't want to be around them.
You know what? He says here, he says, look, don't just love those that love you.
And don't just love those that are like you.
He's saying, love the unlovable.
Love the person when you're a Samaritan.
He's saying, love the Jew.
He's saying to the Jew, love the Samaritan.
Love those who can't do anything for you.
But he says in the book of Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 24.
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly.
And there is a friend that's sticking closer than a brother.
This is kind of like what he said.
It's not about having a neighbor. It's about being a neighbor.
And here he's saying, he said, if you want to have friends, then you have to shew yourself friendly.
Now, when he says shew yourself friendly, he's not talking about, you know, walking around,
and that's what we think friendly means.
You know, we think of friendly as jovial, right?
That's not what he means here.
He's not saying like, you know, you got to be like, hey, buddy, how you doing there?
All right, you know, I'm Mr. Friendly, the guy.
No, he's saying, look, if you want to have friends, be a friend.
What is being a friend about?
Look at the next phrase.
He says, there is a friend that's sticking closer than a brother.
A friend is somebody who loves you like you're their own brother, even though you're not related to them at all.
That's what a friend is.
Paul said this in Romans 16.
Look at Romans 16, I want to show you several verses.
Romans chapter 16 in the New Testament.
See, we live in a day where people choose their friends, not based on, well, here's somebody that I can love and help and be a blessing to.
Here's a guy who's been beaten and abused.
I'm going to pick him up and spend my own money, put him on my own beast, take my own time and dress his wounds, clean him up, maybe get my hands a little dirty in the process.
I mean, don't you think he got a little dirty when he picked this guy up?
Have you ever picked up somebody who's lifeless and tried to drag him and carry him?
It's not that easy.
You know, he picked up this bloody man.
He's probably got blood and dirt all over him.
He throws him on the horse.
I mean, he's getting his clothes messed up.
He's getting dirty.
I mean, you know, would you feel comfortable necessarily just going and dragging some naked man out of a ditch?
It's a little weird.
You know, it's going to make you look.
It's not going to be a beautiful sight.
A man who's been beaten to the point of death laying naked in a dirty ditch.
But he said it doesn't matter.
He said I'm going to love the unlovable.
I'm going to love him anyway.
I need help.
This guy needs help.
I'm going to be his friend.
And you know, I don't know what happened to the rest of the story.
Jesus doesn't tell us the rest of the story.
But I would venture to guess that that man who was dragged out of a ditch by a Samaritan.
I'll bet you that Samaritan, he would have done anything for him after that.
I mean, if he had any gratitude at all for the man who saved his life, he'd probably do anything for him.
That was probably his friend for life.
But see, it says in Romans 16, let's see what friendship is.
It says in Romans 16, 3.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila.
He's talking about his friends here.
My helpers in Christ Jesus.
Who have for my life laid down their own necks.
Under whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
Lute my well beloved Epinatus who is the first groups of Achaean in Christ.
Greet Mary who has still much labor.
And I'm not going to read on and on.
But all throughout Romans 16, Paul gives a tribute to all of his friends from his life that have been helping him.
And that have done stuff for him.
And he's saying here, hey, these people would lay down their own neck for me in a heartbeat.
I mean, I know that they'd give their life for me.
He said in the book of Galatians, he said, I know that if it were possible, you'd plug out your own eyes and give them to me, he said.
He said, I know that you're my friend.
He said, I know you'll stick with me.
He said of Onesiphorus, he said, the Lord give mercy under the house of Onesiphorus.
For he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain.
But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me.
The Lord branched unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day.
And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
See, if you love somebody that's unlovable, if you love somebody who just can't do anything for you,
if you love somebody by sticking your neck on the line for them and helping them and seeking them out,
not being ashamed of them when they're going through our times and when they're in trouble,
then that's when you are truly a friend.
And it doesn't matter how many friends you have, it's how many people are you a friend to.
And most people don't even know what friendship is.
They think friendship is, well, I like the Backstreet Boys and you love the Backstreet Boys and we're friends.
I mean, that's the way friendship is today in the world, isn't it?
Wow, we both wear clothes from Abercrombie and Fitch.
You're my friend.
Let's go out and spend time together.
That's what a lot of these internet dating sites are like.
We'll make sure that you're compatible along 125 points.
It's like at night.
This is what I think would happen if you went on these internet dating sites.
You type in all this compatibility and it's like your sister's going to pop up.
It's like, wow, I found somebody who's just like me. It's my sister.
That's a little weird.
Wow, look how alike we are.
We even look alike.
We talk alike.
We're from the same area.
Wow, we have the same nationality.
Wow, we love the same food.
Wow, we love the same things.
Wait a minute, this is my sister.
Nuts to this software.
Look, that's the way people choose their friends though, right?
I want to find somebody just like me because I love myself so much
that if I find somebody like me, I might be able to love them.
You know, the Bible says that in the last days, men will be lovers of their own selves.
You know, just love themself.
Proud boasters, he said.
Lovers of their own selves, right?
And so we just love ourselves.
So man, if somebody's like us, man, well then I love them.
You're the same color as me? I love you.
You know, oh wow, you love the same music I do? I love you.
You dress like me. I love you.
I love you. You know why I love you so much?
Because you remind me of me. That's why I love you.
I mean, isn't that what it's like?
Yeah, just put a disclaimer on these dating sites.
We're not responsible if you end up on a blind date and you get married as your sister.
And so, look, real friendship and real love is when you love somebody that can't do anything for you.
And when you do that, you'll stand out.
And Jesus is saying, look, I'm not telling you this story just because it's a cute story.
He's commanding us, go and do that likewise.
He said, I'm commanding you to live your life like this.
He said, whoso hath this world's good, and seeeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from, how gloweth the law of God be?
He says, if the law of God dwells in you, when you see somebody who needs something,
you're going to step in and do it.
When you see somebody use you despitefully and hate you and persecute you and mouth off to you,
he said, you know what, you're not going to just return, you know, cursing for cursing.
He said, no, you're going to overcome evil with good.
And I'm going to tell you something, you'll never overcome evil with evil.
It'll just go back and forth forever.
Whether it's in your marriage, whether it's on the job, whether it's with relatives,
family members, at school, you will never overcome evil with evil.
It'll just be like the Hatfields and the Coits.
It'll just go on for a hundred years viewed or whatever.
And it's never going to end.
It's only going to end when you overcome evil with good.
That's what the Bible is teaching us.
And so we have to think about how our love is in our life.
We have to take and examine what we think friendship is and how we treat our friends.
You know, it's important to have friends. It's good to have friends.
But you know what, I choose my friends by, you know, not what they can do for me.
Or not, wow, they're just like me.
You know, we ought to choose our friends based on what we can do for them.
We have to find somebody that we can help.
Somebody that we can do something good for.
That should be our, that's what should be our friend.
And you know what, if you'll do that, you'll have friends.
He says, if you'll show yourself friendly, you'll be a man who has friends.
Because one day, it'll come back around to you.
The friendship that you've shown will come back to you.
And so think about this story, and I'm going to close at the same time, but
just think about this story of the Good Samaritan.
You know, don't get confused. He's not saying, well, if you're unhelping people, you'll get to heaven.
Come on, man.
The Bible must say 500 times, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
I mean, the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith.
That not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Not of works, lest any man should go.
I mean, doing good things of hope, hope, master, good man.
What good thing can I do to go to heaven?
What good thing can you do that's going to get you to heaven?
Well, a man said, what must I do to be saved?
And Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
It's not doing good things that's going to get you to heaven.
But you know what, once you're saved,
those of you who believe on Jesus Christ and you're a Christian and you're a believer,
hey, this is how God commands you to believe in Christ.
He says, I'm commanding you to love your enemies.
And that's not going to be easy, is it?
Is it ever easy to love your enemies?
Is it easy to love those who are unlovable?
Who, they're not going to help you, they're just going to make you,
if anything, just, you're going to spend money to be their friend.
You know, he says, that's what I'm calling you to do.
He said, if you want to be like a child of God, if you want to be a Christian, he said,
that's what you're going to do.
You're going to love those that don't love you.
When somebody curses you, you're going to bless them.
Okay, let's keep that in perspective.
And you know what, boy, in this church, you know what,
we hate evil, like the Bible commands, hate evil, you know.
And we're not saying that we love Jeffrey Dahmer and Jack the Ripper.
Okay, obviously those people need to be taken out and killed, and that's what the Bible says.
You know, these perverts and molesters and weirdos.
Okay, that's not what I'm talking about today.
I'm not talking about, well, we got to love Charles Manson, you know.
We got to love Saddam Hussein and everything.
I mean, these people that are out hurting and murdering and raping, that's not what I'm talking about.
But you know what, we all have personal enemies.
Right, let's face it.
We all have people that do wrong to us.
We all have people on the job and in our daily lives and in our family that have done us wrong.
And how are we going to respond to those people?
With love or with hate?
God says, respond with love.
He says, somebody does evil to you, overcome evil with good.
You see a Christian, your brother in Christ have need.
He says, you step in and fill that need.
You see somebody who's out in the world that's not even a Christian.
You see somebody that's hurting and suffering.
Hey, you step in and you help that person.
You know, if somebody's drowning, you know, you jump in and save them, is what he's saying.
Don't say, well, it's not my problem.
He's saying you need to step in and not worry about, well, who do I have to help?
You know, who's my neighbor?
Who am I obligated to do something for?
He said, no, the person who you help is your neighbor.
And he says, when you see the need and you step in and fill it.
He said, that's what you ought to be doing.
He said, go and do that likewise.