(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

It may be near the sun, I'm sure that I will please the Lord. But this morning I know, it may be dark or day. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. If Jesus Christ is with me, I'm going to pray. Our second song should be in your bulletins. This song reminds me of the verse Luke 5-13. It says that he put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will eat thou clean. We believe that this will be departed from him. Great songs remind us of the saving power of Jesus Christ. He touched me. Let's sing it out nice and loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. 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Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. Let's sing it out loud. We'll go to the third song. Psalm 150 in your white handouts. Psalm 150. Psalm 150. Praise be the Lord, praise God in his sanctuary Praise him in love, permanent of his power Praise him for his mighty acts Praise him according to his acts of greatness Praise him with the sound of the trumpet Praise him with the psaltery and harp Praise him with the timbrel against Praise him with string instruments and organs Praise him upon the loud cymbals Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals Let everything pack, pack breath Praise the Lord, praise be the Lord Praise God the Father, praise God the Son Praise God the Holy Ghost, praise God in free person Praise God the Father, praise God the Son Praise God the Father, praise God the Son Luke chapter 10 the Bible reads And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the Son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you, and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city which cleaveth on us we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding be he sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin, woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Zidane, which had been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Zidane at the judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering 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 him, Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped them of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, thus thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered, and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. And let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for brother Dylan and his family. And I pray that you would bless him now with the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit, and enable him to preach the sermon that you've laid on his heart with boldness. And Lord, I pray that we would glorify you in everything that we do today. And we love you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, we're there in Luke chapter number 10. And the title of my sermon this morning is The Good Samaritan, The Good Samaritan. It's a really famous story in the Bible. There's even laws in the United States that are called Good Samaritan laws based off of this story. And I want to preach about this great story this morning. And, of course, the context of this parable is that Jesus is basically answering this lawyer's questions. We start reading in verse number 25, it says, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Cool thing about the Bible is you get to see inside of the minds and inside of the hearts of the people that are working in different situations. And we can see that this guy is not asking this question out of sincerity, out of really wanting to hear what Jesus has to say. He's asking it to actually tempt or to try or to test Jesus Christ. And my theory is that, well, this guy is a lawyer, so he probably thinks he's pretty smart. He probably thinks he knows the law pretty well, and he's like, well, let's see what this Jesus guy knows about the law of God. And so let me ask you, Jesus, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now, of course, Jesus knows his thoughts, knows his heart, knows what he's thinking, his prideful thoughts, and he says this. And he said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? Jesus basically uses this man's pride to his own advantage. He says, Well, you tell me, smart guy, you know the law so well, you're a lawyer, you know the word of God, right? So he answers his question with a question. He says, You tell me, what do you have to do to inherit eternal life? And this guy, knowing the Bible, having a lot of knowledge of the word of God, answers and says, in Luke 10, 27, And he answering 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. Now, this man did know the law. He did have a head knowledge, he did have knowledge of the word of God, but what he did not have was understanding. Go really quickly, keep your place there throughout the sermon, but go really quickly to Deuteronomy chapter number 6, and we'll see what this lawyer is quoting. Deuteronomy chapter number 6, let's read quickly verse number 5 in Deuteronomy chapter number 6. The Bible says, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. So this guy is quoting the Bible. He does have knowledge of the Scriptures, but he also said, And thy neighbor as thyself. Go really quickly to Leviticus chapter number 19. Leviticus chapter number 19, and we'll see where he's quoting this from. In verse number 18 of Leviticus chapter 19, it says, Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. So this lawyer, he's not just pulling out these Scriptures out of thin air. He actually does know the Bible. He's quoting some Scriptures here. Go back to Luke chapter number 10, and we'll see Jesus' response. Luke chapter number 10 verse 28, And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. So, you know, the way I kind of picture this is Jesus is saying, Hey, look at you. You're so smart. You know the Bible so well. You know the law so well. Now go ahead and do that. Now go ahead and do that. If that's how you want to get to heaven is by loving God perfectly and loving your neighbor perfectly. Go ahead and do that. That's right. But, of course, that's not possible. And, of course, this guy hasn't perfectly loved God and perfectly loved his neighbor. So Jesus knows that that's not really how he's going to get to heaven for sure. But look at chapter 10 verse 29. It says, But he, and notice this phrase, willing to justify himself. So, again, the Bible tells us what this man is doing, what this man is thinking. He's willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? This guy in his pride is probably thinking, Well, you know, I've done a really good job of loving God with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my strength. But maybe I've not loved other people as good as I should. So tell me who exactly qualifies as my neighbor? And at this point, the guy should have realized that he's already failed. He's not perfect. And so he's not going to get to heaven in the way that he thinks he's going to. And this morning I want to give you a couple of thoughts about this parable because this parable is basically a response to this lawyer's question, to this guy's thought process. And the first thing I want you to notice this morning is the lack of compassion by the religious leaders. When Jesus gives his answer and gives this parable, in verse number 30 we get the first point of this sermon. It says in verse 30, And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. So this guy in the parable, he just got beat up. He just got taken advantage of. He got his stuff stolen from him by thieves. He's sitting in a ditch, naked and half dead. And this is kind of how a lot of people are spiritually in their life, right, when maybe something really bad happens in their life and it causes them to go to church and to seek the Lord. But unfortunately, a lot of religious leaders don't actually care about them. And Jesus illustrates that in verse 31. It says, And by chance there came down a certain, notice this, priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So notice the priest, he saw this man. It's not like he was ignorant. It's like he didn't know that this guy was hurt or in trouble or needing help. He saw the guy but just decided to pass by him, right. Verse 32, And likewise a Levite, again a religious leader, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. Again, this Levite, he can't claim ignorance. He saw this person, he looked on him, and then he passed by on the other side, not caring about him, not wanting to help him in any way, shape or form. Verse 33, But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. So of these three people, what was the difference between the two that didn't help and the one person that did? It was compassion. And I don't think that it is a coincidence that Jesus gives us an example where two religious leaders are the ones that had no compassion. Two religious leaders, the people whose job it is to care about other people and to minister to other people, didn't care at all. Just this random Samaritan, he's the one that actually cared. And what a shame it is today when supposed men of God, supposed leaders of churches, supposed ministers don't actually care about people. But I tell you what, there's a lot of churches where the pastor or the staff or people that are supposed to be ministers don't care about other people at all. That's why Jesus illustrated, hey, these two people, these two priests or Levites, didn't care whatsoever. And you have to realize that not all churches are created equal. Not all pastors are created equal. If Steadfast Baptist Church is the only church you've ever been to, you're extremely blessed because those of us that have been in other churches realizes that there's really bad churches out there. And I'll tell you this, not every pastor is going to stick out his neck and preach the full counsel of God at his own detriment like Pastor Shelley does for this church. You know, willing to allow himself to go through evictions and lawsuits and getting docs and all of these things. He doesn't have to do that. Why does he do that? Because he actually cares about this congregation enough to preach the entire counsel of God. Not every pastor is going to put on all these great events that you can go to for free, by the way. Not every pastor is going to make all these documentaries and really cool content that you could hand out to people out soul winning. That's a blessing we have at this church. Not every pastor is going to literally pay for people to go to the Bahamas on a missions trip to preach the gospel in other countries. You know, not every pastor even has a vision to preach the gospel to every creature. And so at this church, you need to realize that what we have in the leadership of this church is a blessing and it is a rare thing. Because Jesus is showing us here, here's two religious leaders and they don't care about people. And there's a lot of stories in the Bible and there's a lot of stories if you've been in other churches in your life where you could say, man, there's a lot of religious leaders out there that do not care. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number 3. 2 Timothy chapter number 3. 2 Timothy chapter number 3. Notice verse 1, it says this, This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud. Now verse 2 describes just about the worst leader you could possibly describe. Someone that only cares about themselves, someone that's covetous, or someone that is proud. Yet this verse actually describes a lot of leaders today. Someone that's completely selfish, that only cares about themselves, that is covetous, and that is prideful. Someone that's proud. That is a lot of preachers today. And how can you tell that a lot of preachers today only care about themselves? You could tell by what they preach. And more specifically, you can tell by what they do not preach. Because, you know, you see all these really famous preachers, they have no problem preaching the really positive things in the Bible. That's all they preach. But what they won't do is they will never preach the negative things in the Bible. They'll never say something that can be offensive. They'll never say exactly what Jesus said. And why is it? It's because they only care about themselves. They don't want to lose the tithe money. They don't want to go through the lawsuits. They don't want any persecution. They don't want any protesters. They don't want any of that. And so, since they only care about themselves, they censor themselves. It's not like a lot of these guys don't know the Bible. Many pastors know the Bible and choose not to preach it. Because they do not care about others. Look at 1 Corinthians 14, if you'll turn over there. 1 Corinthians 14. 1 Corinthians 14. We'll start reading in verse number 6. Paul said, Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine? Paul's not going to go to a church and speak a language that the people don't speak. Why? Because he's trying to profit them. He's trying to help them. Right? Verse 7 says, And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So, likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For ye shall speak into the air. And what we can learn from this passage is that preaching is not neutral. Preaching is not neutral. Preaching will either help people or harm people. Because people need a distinct sound from the trumpet. They need to know, hey, is this trumpet calling an assembly? Is this trumpet a call to war? We need to know what this trumpet means. Well, when you're preaching, it needs to be clear, Paul is saying. Because people are making life-changing decisions. People are deciding whether or not to get divorced. People are deciding whether or not to have more kids. People are deciding whether or not to be soul winners. And they need a preacher that loves them enough to give the clear, distinct sound of the trumpet of what the Bible actually says. That's what Paul is teaching. And so preaching is not just neutral where, oh, you know, I could just get up here and say whatever I want. It's not going to hurt anyone. No, the things that you say can hurt or help people. And the things that you don't say can hurt or help people. And so it's really important for preachers to actually have compassion on people that they're preaching to and not to care about themselves but to care how to help other people. The worst type of person to preach is someone that only cares about themselves. How are they going to help other people if they only care about themselves? But this is exactly how a lot of preachers are today. You know, they'll think about a controversial topic in our society like divorce, and they'll just ignore those scriptures. They won't talk about how the Bible condemns divorce, you know, in hopes of not offending the big tithes of the church. And what does that show? It shows that they don't actually love people, that they don't actually have compassion for people. Also, many preachers today are covetous. Go to 1 Timothy chapter number 6, 1 Timothy chapter number 6, because remember that verse said that men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, proud, okay? Many preachers are covetous today. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 10 says this, For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Notice, a person's love of money causes them to err from the faith. So when you have a preacher that loves money, you can be 100% sure that this person is going to err from the clear biblical doctrines found in the Bible. They're going to err from those things. They're not going to teach those things. They're going to shy away from them at best, and they're going to teach lies for love of money at worst. Now, in Texas, we unfortunately have a really bad reputation for mega-pastors. There's a lot of mega-pastors in this state, people that love money. Joel Osteen has a $100 million net worth and lives in a $14 million home. Kenneth Copeland has a $300 million net worth and a $7 million parsonage, tax-free. T.D. Jakes has a $20 million net worth with a $5.5 million home. Pastor Robert Morris' net worth is estimated to be between $10 and $60 million. Now, let me be really clear. Being rich is not inherently sinful if you get rich by honest and hard work. But what is not okay is for a pastor to be rich. If a pastor is rich, you can guarantee that person's bad. Because you never, ever see a person preaching the entire counsel of God, preaching hard against sin, calling out the sins of our day. You never see that person get rich. You didn't see Jesus Christ rich, did you? Absolutely not. No, you see, actually, that the love of money is the root of all evil. And the Bible actually gives very clear instructions that a pastor or a deacon should not be someone that is rich. Go to Titus chapter number 1, Titus chapter number 1. You know, I've noticed there's never been a rich, new IFB pastor. These real men of God, they're just hard-working guys. Titus chapter 1, verse 7. For a bishop, that's a synonym for a pastor, must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre. Filthy lucre. What's filthy lucre? It's money that's gained by wrong means. And I can't think of a more filthy way to earn your living than teaching lies in the name of Jesus Christ. There's not a more filthy thing to do on this earth than to be a preacher or a pastor and to hold back from what God told you to say. There's not a more disgusting, dirty thing to do than to lie to God's sheep in the name of money. That's filthy lucre. Also, it says, not given to wine. Now, of course, we know Christians shouldn't drink alcohol whatsoever. Pastor Shelley just preached a sermon on that. But wine in the Bible often is talking about luxury. And that's what I think the primary interpretation of this verse is talking about is the pastor shouldn't be someone that's just given to luxury. And you're going to tell me that Kenneth Copeland's not given to luxury? How many jets do you need, buddy? How many tens of millions of dollars does your house have to be? That's someone that's given to wine. You don't see real men of God living lavish, luxurious lifestyles like that. Now, look, the Bible says that the man of God is worthy of double honor. And I believe that we should pay our pastor well. You know, take the median of an area's income and double that. Hey, Pastor Shelley's worth that and more. But you know what? A real man of God would never be taking millions and millions and millions of dollars as their salary. That's not being a servant. That's being served. And that's not what a preacher should be like. Go to Ezekiel chapter number 34. Ezekiel chapter 34. What are we talking about? We're talking about how many religious leaders don't care about other people. They just care about themselves. Keep that in mind as we read Ezekiel chapter 34 verse 1. So he's preaching against the leaders, preaching against the pastors. God's angry. What are you doing feeding yourself? You're supposed to be someone that feeds others. You're supposed to be someone that serves other people. Yet here you are as a shepherd just feeding yourself. What is wrong with you? You eat the fat and you clothe you with the wool. You kill them that are fed, but you feed not the flock. He's saying, hey, you're giving everything that's the best to yourself. All you're doing is you're caring about yourself. People that are good Christians, you're cutting those people down. You're not serving those people. You're not feeding the flock of God like the Bible commands. Look at verse 4. This sounds a lot like this man in this parable that's just got stripped, just got stolen from, just got beaten up, he's laying in a ditch half naked and half dead. Hey, that's what this sounds like to me. He's saying, hey, pastors, leaders, you didn't care about those people. And God's angry at them for that. Verse 5. Notice, if no one helps these people, they become meat to the beasts of the field. If no one helps the poor sheep that's stuck in the fence, what's going to happen? The wolf's going to come and eat them, right? Hey, someone is down in their life. Someone doesn't know the Bible. Someone's not saved. They need someone to care about them, to preach them the gospel, to nurse them with the milk of God's word, and to help them to grow and to heal and to get strong. God needs people that care about others that are willing to do that. And I'll tell you, God will judge bad ministers very severely. God is very angry. The Bible says, brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. If you want to stand up and teach other people the word of God, but in your heart you don't care about people, you just care about yourself, you're trimming the message so that you can get more money, God will judge you very, very severely for that. And anyone that ever preaches the Bible or is in any type of position of leadership should take that seriously and check your heart to make sure that you care about others. So go back to Luke chapter number 10. Number one, we saw the religious leader's lack of compassion on others. Number two, let's look at the Samaritan's willingness to help in a moment's notice. Verse 30, and Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at that place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, notice, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Notice that this Samaritan here didn't plan on this happening, right? This guy's just traveling, he just happened to be traveling, and he saw this person, and he saw an opportunity to help someone, and as soon as that opportunity presented itself, boom, he was willing to help. He was ready to help this person on a moment's notice. This is not something he planned. Let me read for you Galatians chapter 6, verse 10, it says this, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Hey, if someone needs help and you're able to help them, you should help them, especially if that person is a brother in Christ, but even if that person is not a brother in Christ. The Bible says if you have opportunity to help someone, you should take that opportunity. Let's think about this physically. What are some ways, things that can just happen in your daily life, where someone needs help and you should be willing to help them? How about if someone's moving? We have people that move to our church, or people that move around the different areas of DFW, and if someone asks for your help to move, you should be willing to do that. If you have the opportunity, if you have the ability to do that, you should be willing to help people with things like that. How about when your parents get old? Someday your parents are going to get old, and they're not going to be able to take care of themselves, and what if they ask you on a moment's notice, hey, I just got cancer, I need you to take care of me? That opportunity is probably not something you're thinking of or planning on. It might just hit you one day out of nowhere. Would you be willing to help them? You should. You should be willing to honor your mother and your father. You should be willing to help them on a moment's notice that whatever they need, hey, you're ready to just help your mom and dad. Someone's sick, you know, and they text you and ask for some groceries, and boom, you're there for them, ready to help them. Some lady just had a baby, and she needs some meals because her husband sucks at cooking, right? You've got to help them out so they can survive, right? We don't want them to starve. Here's another way this could apply physically. How about literally like this situation, rendering first aid to a person? Now, I mentioned how there is literally laws in the United States based off of this story called Good Samaritan Laws. In Texas, we have a Good Samaritan Law. Let me read for you some of this. It says, like many other states, Texas has a Good Samaritan Law that protects citizens in the event that they provide emergency medical assistance. This law is meant to shield people acting in good faith and in their best efforts from civil liability and to protect the public by creating an incentive for others to help in a time of emergency. So what lawmakers did is they said, hey, we want a society that encourages people to help their neighbor, to love their neighbor, and if someone's hurt or having some sort of medical emergency, we don't want people to be scared to help other people because they think, oh, well, if I help this person and they get hurt in some way, they're going to sue me and I'm going to be liable for that. So basically the government said, hey, no, you can't sue someone if in good faith they're trying to help you in a medical emergency. You know, for example, someone has a heart attack and you give them CPR. A lot of times when you give someone CPR, you'll literally break ribs. Well, you can't just sue someone for breaking your ribs if you're on the ground dying and they try to help you, right? That's basically what the state of Texas and other states have done. It says the premise of this law is that if an individual voluntarily and in good faith attempts to provide medical assistance to another individual involved in an emergency situation, he or she will not be held civilly liable for any damages that providing such care caused. The law applies to common situations such as a witness seeing someone injured in a crash and rendering emergency medical aid. It specifically applies to any damages that result from using a defibrillator. Additionally, it provides protection to volunteer first responders and unlicensed medical personnel who are not licensed or certified in the healing arts who act in good faith. So obviously if you're a doctor or if you're a paramedic, you have certain rules you have to abide by legally, but if you're just Joe Blow citizen and someone's hurt, hey, you can try to help them in good faith and you're not going to get sued, you're not going to get in trouble legally for that. And that is called the Good Samaritan Law. Why? Because this guy was hurt and injured and the Good Samaritan went and helped him. And as our world gets more and more dark and as people don't care about people as much as they should, as Christians, we should be the ones that set the example that we're willing to help people. You know, you look on YouTube, I can't tell you how many times where there's like this car crash or a shooting or something where someone's hurt and needing help and people just walking around, not caring at all, not even trying to help, not even doing so much as calling 911. Okay, as Christians, we should not be that way. We should have the mentality that we're ready to help someone. We should have the training and tools to be able to help someone. And, you know, I started taking a lot of medical training because back a few years ago, in the space of like one or two weeks, I was the first person on scene of a serious accident before EMS or before anything happened, and I realized like, wow, I really don't know how to help these people. And it happened to me so much, I was like, what is going on? I was like, whatever, I'm going to start taking some classes. There's a lot of free classes you can take. If you look up, there's free CPR classes, free AED classes, there's a class called Stop the Bleed, it will teach you how to use a tourniquet and how to wound pack. And then there's some elevated classes, like our safety team took a class, let me get the exact name of it, it was called Tactical Emergency Casualty Care class. They taught us a lot of really cool things. You know, and especially as men whose job it is to protect your family, first of all, you should know how to take care of stuff like that. What happens if your wife cut herself in the kitchen while she's cooking? What happens if your kids got in a serious accident? What happens, God forbid, if they got a hold of something they shouldn't and hurt themselves? You know, you should know how to take care of them. And not only your family, but what about other people? You know, you should be willing and wanting to be like the Good Samaritan and seeing someone physically hurt and able and willing to help those people. I'll read for you Proverbs 3 verse 27 says, Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again, and tomorrow I will give, when thou hast it by thee. Don't see the guy that's hurt and be like, oh, well, maybe the next person will care about him. Oh, maybe tomorrow if he's still in the ditch, I'll give it a shot and help him. Don't be like that. Hey, if it's in the power of your hand to help someone, help them immediately. Now, how about the more important spiritual application of this? Being willing to help someone on a moment's notice, just like this Samaritan. Hey, what if someone posts a prayer request online? You know, we have people send in prayer requests through the email, but, you know, those get updated every Sunday and the congregation may not see those until Sunday morning, right? Sometimes people will post prayers in the Facebook group prayer request or they'll post it in our church group or they'll just post it on their account or wherever. Hey, if you see that, stop what you're doing and pray for them. You know, some prayers need immediate prayer. It's not like, well, just be praying for this thing in the future. Some things need, like, right now I need prayer, right? And if that happens, if you see your brother or sister in Christ asking you for that, you should stop what you're doing, stop with your plans, stop with your busy day, and immediately be willing to help them by praying for them. How about leading a soul-winning time, right? Sometimes our leaders have other things going on or people get sick. You get asked to lead a soul-winning time. Hey, if you're able to do it, take that opportunity and help out your brothers in Christ. Help out the church. Giving someone a ride to church. A lot of times we have visitors that don't have vehicles and you may live in their area. Hey, if you're able to do that, be willing to help. Be willing to do that for them. Fellowshiping with someone that's new at church. You know, a lot of us have been in church for a long time and you may forget what it feels like to be new at a church, how it can be kind of intimidating, how you don't know anyone there and you're shy or whatever. Hey, be a friend of that person. Be willing to extend, you know, the right hand of fellowship and be willing to help that person because if someone has good fellowship in a church, they're a lot more likely to stay in church. And that's going to be good for their long-term spiritual health so you could help their long-term spiritual walk just by being a friend to someone. It is important. How about the most important? Preaching the gospel when you get an opportunity. Man, if you get an opportunity to give someone the gospel, that's the greatest way you could ever help anyone. Because, hey, you could help someone physically that got in a car crash or got shot or something bad happened to them, but really at the end of the day, that doesn't matter that much if they die and go to hell. Right? You know, giving them a meal, doing nice things for them physically, that's all great. We should all do those things. But, man, nothing is more important than getting someone saved and making sure they don't spend eternity suffering God's wrath in hell. Whenever that happens, man, you've got to be ready to preach the gospel. And Paul was ready. Go to Romans chapter number 1. Romans chapter number 1. Paul was definitely ready to give the gospel. Romans chapter 1 verse 14 says, I am deader, both to the Greeks and to the barbarians. See, this is a minister that cares, the Apostle Paul. Both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Paul was ready to preach the gospel. He was someone that was prepared, and if an opportunity presented itself, he was ready to give the gospel to people. That's how we should be as Christians. You know, if you're a new soul winner, you should be ready with your Bible tabbed up knowing where to go. You've been soul winning for a while, hey, you should have those verses memorized and be ready at a moment's notice to give someone the gospel. Stay there or go to Luke 10 and I'll read for you 1 Corinthians 9, 19. Paul said, For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. Paul just made the decision in his life that he is going to be a servant. And when a need arises, Paul is there to fill it. When there's an opportunity to help someone, Paul's there to help them. When there's a church that needs discipline, he's ready to discipline them. When there's a church that needs love, he's ready to love them. When the church is needing the gospel, he's ready to preach it. He's ready to serve people. That's how we should be in our lives. We should be always ready on a moment's notice to help someone. So, number one, we talked about the lack of compassion for the religious leaders. Number two, we talked about the Samaritan's willingness to help in a moment's notice. I want you to notice number three, that ministering to others is a sacrifice. Ministering to others is a sacrifice. Let's start reading in verse 33, it says, But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Notice, it's not convenient as he's journeying, as he's going to his destination, it's not convenient for him to stop what he's doing, stop his schedule to go and help this guy. But yet, he does it anyways, doesn't he? Look at verse 34. And he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Look at how much he's sacrificing here. Notice, he's sacrificing his time, first of all, because he stopped his schedule to help this guy. He's also sacrificing his substance, right? He's binding up his wounds. He's taking out his individual first aid kit and he's using all of his good stuff, right, on this guy. He's pouring in oil and wine, his own substance, to help this guy. He puts him on his own beast to go to the inn, right? So that means he's walking now. He's not riding on his beast. He's sacrificing of his substance. And on top of that, he takes him to an inn and he pays and gets, and it's time again, to take care of him. He doesn't just drop him off and leave him. He actually takes him to the inn and continues to take care of him. Then look at verse 35. And on the morrow, so the next day, when he departed, he took out two pence, just two full days' labor, worth of money, and gave them to the host and said unto him, take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. So also, he's willing to spend of his own money two full days' worth of labor, and even more than that, potentially, because he's telling the host, hey, whatever you have to spend to take care of this guy, I'm going to come back and I'm going to settle up with you. That's a lot of sacrifice. When you think about the time, the resources, his schedule, his beast, his money, he's sacrificing a lot just to help this guy he doesn't even know. He's never met before. It's probably never going to do anything for him in his life. That's true love. That's true ministering to others. Some people get this idea that ministry, which, by the way, we're all in the ministry. We all have been given the ministry of reconciliation. That's every single one of us in this room. Some people think that the ministry is about being served. And you could tell, like what I talked about with a lot of preachers today, you could tell that person thinks that ministry is about them, them in the spotlight, their names in life. That's what they think ministry is, them having a mansion, them having a yacht, them having a private jet. But really, if you're doing ministry right, it should be a sacrifice. It should be a sacrifice, meaning it's not always easy to come to church. It's not always close. It's not always going to prosper you financially to serve God. It's not always going to be the best for your schedule or your time or your health or your family. It's about sacrificing for other people. Go to Luke chapter number 10 again. Look at verse number 33. Why was he willing to do this? This verse gives us some insight as to why. It says, "'But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him," notice, "'he had compassion on him.'" What motivated him to be willing to sacrifice so much? Compassion on people, love for others. And you know what is something that I think can cause us all to love other people more? Is to think about how much Jesus loved us. How much Jesus sacrificed for us will cause us to want to sacrifice for other people and to love other people. Go to Matthew chapter number 25, Matthew chapter number 25. The way this man has compassion on this injured person, the way that he sacrifices so much for him, it's just screaming the Lord Jesus Christ in this story, right? It's just screaming, hey, this is exactly what Jesus did for us. He sacrificed so much for us. Look at Matthew chapter 20, verse 25. It says, "'But Jesus called them unto him and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.'" Jesus is saying, hey, in the world's wisdom, you know that if someone's a leader, they're just the greatest, they're the best, they're the ones that are exerting authority on other people. They're in charge because they're great. And if you're in charge, that means that you're great. But that's not how it is in the kingdom of God. Look at verse 26, "'But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.'" You know, the Levite wasn't great. The priest wasn't great just because he had a position and just because he had a title. You know who was great? This unknown Samaritan was great. You know who was great? The Lord Jesus Christ because he came to serve, he came to be a minister. Verse 27, "'Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.'" Who's the ultimate picture of a servant, of a minister? Jesus Christ. Why? Because he came to give his life. He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister unto others. And what did that look like for him? Did that look like his name in lights and being loved by everyone and having riches and having the best food and having all the best things? No, you know what it looked like? Sacrifice. It looked like coming down to earth to people that you're supposed to die for and being rejected by your own people, being mocked, being accused of blaspheming God when you are God, when you are God's son, being accused of being a criminal, wanting to lead a rebellion against the government, being lied about, having a fake trial where you're convicted of something wrongfully, being made fun of, being spit on, having a crown of thorns dragged on his head with blood gushing down his face, being whipped, being scourged, having nails driving through his hands and through his feet, having a spear pierce his side and descending into hell to burn for three days and three nights. That was sacrifice. That wasn't Jesus' names in life. That wasn't him having everything good in this life. That was him ministering to others, ministering to the whole world, loving the whole world. He is truly the best example for that. Matthew chapter number, let's see here. Go to Isaiah chapter 53. I'll read for you Romans 5, it says, but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We didn't deserve Christ to die for us. We didn't deserve him to minister to us. We didn't deserve him doing all that good unto us. And so why do we have to care if people deserve our time? Why do we have to care if people deserve our ministering? It doesn't matter what people deserve. Why don't you just love others like Jesus Christ loved us? What did this guy in the ditch ever do for the good Samaritan? Probably nothing. He probably never did anything good for him. Who knows if he even thanked him? Who knows? But this good Samaritan saw someone that needed ministering to and he ministered unto him. Why? Because he had compassion. That's exactly how we should be as Christians. Notice Isaiah 53. What did Jesus do for us? Verse 3, he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. We were despised and we esteemed him not. Notice ministering to others was a sacrifice for Christ. Verse 4, surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Again, ministering was a sacrifice for Jesus, wasn't it? Verse 5, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. Sacrifice. Verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he openeth not his mouth. Even though he didn't deserve anything that he was getting on the cross or before that, he didn't so much as even open his mouth in protest because of how much he loved us and because of how much he was willing to sacrifice for us. I'll read for you 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9 says, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. Notice, the ministers that don't care, what are they doing? They're getting rich. They're getting rich all day long, the Kenneth Copelands, the Joel Osteens, but Jesus Christ was the exact opposite. He was already rich. He was already King of Kings, Lord of Lords, eternally glorified in heaven and decided to become poor, to be born in an animal's trough, to put on human flesh, to experience hunger, to experience pain, to learn obedience, to do all those things when he didn't have to. He was already rich beyond measure, but he became poor. Why? For our sakes, that we might become rich. So, you should never look at your life as like it's such a burden, it's such a problem serving other people. No, that's what we should do because Jesus did that for us. And hey, if you're rich, why don't you help other people become rich? If you have something to give to help someone, why don't you use that to help someone? If you've got two feet, why don't you go out and preach the gospel? If you've got a mouth, why don't you open it and make known the gospel of Jesus Christ? Be willing to sacrifice like this good Samaritan. Go back to Luke 10. So, we talked about, number one, the lack of compassion by the religious leaders. Number two, we talked about the Samaritan's willingness to help in a moment's notice. Number three, we talked about how ministering to others is a sacrifice. Fourth and lastly this morning, Jesus cares more about Christians loving their neighbor than having a lot of knowledge. Jesus cares more about you serving others, loving your neighbor, having mercy and compassion on other people than just having a head full of Bible knowledge. That's the entire point of this parable. This lawyer had Bible knowledge in his head, right? But you know what he did not have is love for other people. And this whole parable is a rebuke to him about that. He's thinking, oh, hey, love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and your neighbor as yourself. By the way, Jesus, who is your neighbor? Rebuke. Here's the parable of the good Samaritan, right? That's the whole point of this parable. Luke chapter number 25, let's read again, verse, sorry, Luke chapter 10, verse 25. Let's read here, it says, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering 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 him, Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. But he, notice, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Then Jesus goes on to give him the parable of the good Samaritan, and then look at verse number 36. Jesus now turns the table on him after giving him this parable, and he says, Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. This man got the message from this parable. He's realizing, oh, okay, yeah. He's the one that actually had mercy. That's the one that loved his neighbor. Because remember at the beginning he said, Who is my neighbor? Jesus says, The guy that showed mercy, that's him loving his neighbor. That is your neighbor. And that's a good lesson to us is that, you know, Jesus wasn't impressed with the fact that this guy knew some scriptures. He wasn't even impressed with the fact that he could quote them to the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew Deuteronomy chapter 6. He knew Leviticus chapter 19. Jesus wasn't impressed with that at all. Because he lacked love for his neighbor. Because he lacked love for other people. And we need to realize this in a church that emphasizes Bible knowledge and prays God we should. We should emphasize Bible knowledge. We should know this book. We should be able to memorize it. We should care about the knowledge of God. But let me tell you something, you are not right with God just because you know the Bible. Knowing the Bible alone does not mean you are right with God. What's more important than that to Jesus Christ is your love for other people. Jesus would rather have someone that actually loves their neighbor and doesn't know as much Bible than someone with a head full of Bible that doesn't give a rip about anyone else. You know why? Because your Bible knowledge only profits you. But you know what profits others is the love for other people to share that with others. You can sit down alone and read your Bible in your closet every single day and know the Bible more than anyone in this room. But if you do not have charity for other people, you're nothing. And God is not pleased with you and you're not right with God if you do not love your neighbor. You know, a lot of preachers, they love to repeat this phrase, you know, love thy neighbor, love thy neighbor. But you know what, loving your neighbor is hard. Loving your neighbor actually takes maturity. It's not something that just comes natural. Loving your neighbor means denying yourself. Loving your neighbor means obeying God's commandments and caring about other people. It's not just some meaningless platitude that liberal churches with smoke on the stage like to repeat because they don't know anything else in the Bible. It's actually something that a mature Christian does is loving your neighbor. Go to 1 Corinthians 13, I'll read for you a couple of verses. 1 Corinthians 8, 1 says, Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. Oh, you think you know so much Bible, lawyer? You think you're so smart, you think you know the law of God more than Jesus Christ? The Bible says, hey, even if you have a lot of knowledge, you know nothing as much as you should know. So even if you think of yourself in such a prideful way of, oh, I know the Bible so well, you don't know even as close to as much as you should know according to the Bible. So you shouldn't get prideful about that. 1 Corinthians 13, look at verse 1. For though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profited me nothing. And notice, this lawyer's Bible knowledge profited him nothing. Nothing, because he did not have charity. And really, Jesus is trying to get him to understand the fact that he is a sinner, he's not perfect. Oh, okay, you think you've loved God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind? Of course you haven't, you're a prideful idiot for thinking about that, but what about your neighbor? How have you done on that? And the answer was he failed. He failed in loving his neighbor. He failed, he lacked love for other people. And here, what's the lesson? Hey, our church, we should set the standard, we should set the example when it comes to Bible knowledge, when it comes to understanding and knowing the Scripture of God. But you know where else we should set the standard is loving other people. Let's not let the left and the media just throw out meaningless platitudes, love everyone, and allow them to teach people what love looks like. So we'll teach the world what love looks like. We'll show you what loving your neighbor actually looks like, it looks like sacrifice. It looks like not prioritizing yourself, it looks like prioritizing other people, loving other people. And man, this is such a famous story, but our world today is getting dark, and in the perilous times we're living in, the love of many is waxing cold, and men are loving themselves. And we have to fight against that urge to go with the culture into being selfish, to go with the culture of just loving yourself, and say, no, we're going to do what the Bible says. We're going to let Jesus be our example, not any man, not any culture, and say, hey, let's love others like Jesus loved us. Let's minister to others like Jesus ministered to us, and live our lives in sacrifice and love for other people. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for this great parable, and just for the power of the word of God. Thank you for your son Jesus Christ that died for us, that sacrificed for us, and that just shed so much love for us. I pray that we would be willing to love others and to sacrifice for others in service of you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, let's go to our last song here. Song 140, we have an anchor. 140. I like how it says steadfast and thorough. That's going to be our perfect song right here. We have an anchor. Will your anchor hold in the storms of life? When the clouds unfold their wings of strife. When the strong tides lift and their cables shrink. Will your anchor drift forth where we meet? We have an anchor that keeps the storm. Steadfast and sure while the billows roll. Fasten to the rock which cannot move. Round and firm and deep in the Savior's blood. He is safely born. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. We have an anchor. Stead keeps the storm. Steadfast and sure while the billows roll. Fasten to the rock which cannot move. Round and firm and deep in the Savior's blood.