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Amen we're there in Luke chapter number 10 and of course we have been for many weeks now going through a verse-by-verse study through the Gospel of Luke we call it our journey with Jesus and we are studying the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and of course the Gospel of Luke has is probably the most comprehensive of all the Gospels in regards to the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and this morning we come to one of the most famous parables in the Bible and it is the parable of the Good Samaritan and it's just where we happen to be here in our transition with the Gospel of Luke and just by way of introduction let me explain a couple of things about the Gospel of Luke I told you last time when we were in when we started chapter 10 that chapter 10 is a transitional chapter we begin to see we emphasize it before I'm not going to take the time to do it this morning but we begin to see that Jesus shifts his focus and he begins to really for the rest of the book of Luke we're on a journey with the Lord Jesus Christ down to Jerusalem down to pretty much do what he came to do which was to die on the cross for our sins so we are still we're on a journey with the Lord Jesus Christ but he's making his way to Jerusalem that is one of the transitions that you should notice as we're studying the Gospel of Luke the other transition that I want you to notice that kind of starts here in Luke 10 25 is that you'll notice that the writer of this gospel the physician Luke he he begins to shift his focus in this gospel from the works of Christ to the words of Christ and up to this point we've been really emphasizing the Gospel of Luke has been emphasizing the things that Jesus was doing we've been seeing him casting out devils we've been seeing him train the 12 and send them out then on Wednesday night we saw that he trained the 70 and sent them out but starting here we're gonna notice that in the Gospel of Luke there is now an emphasis on the words of Christ if you have a red letter edition Bible you'll notice that there's a lot more red letters coming up and that is because we're gonna start getting into a lot of teachings of Lord Jesus Christ a lot of the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ and and that transition happens here with of course this very well-known parable the parable of the Good Samaritan now we'll start there in verse 25 and I want you to notice the context or you might call the setup for this parable and kind of the backdrop as to why many people are familiar with the parable of the of the Good Samaritan but I want you understand the context of why this parable was given and really it was given as an answer this parable was given as an answer to a very insincere question notice there in verse 25 we see a lawyer come to the Lord Jesus Christ with a loaded question verse 25 the Bible says and behold a certain lawyer stood up and I want you to understand when when the Bible talks about a lawyer it is not the same as what we would think of a lawyer today or an attorney today a lawyer in the Bible was really a religious position it was an expert in the law of Moses a lawyer was someone who spent their time studying the law of Moses they were an expert on the law of Moses they they taught on the law of Moses so this lawyer stands up the Bible says there in verse 25 and behold a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him I want you to notice the motive of the lawyer his heart is not right this lawyer is not coming to Jesus with a sincere heart and he just has a question for the Lord Jesus Christ but he's coming to the Lord Jesus Christ Bible says and he tempted him saying master what shall I do to inherit eternal life now this question that this lawyer asks he says what shall I do to inherit eternal life is very similar to a question that we're going to see later on in the Gospel of Luke in fact if you're taking notes if you don't mind writing in your Bible you could write a little cross-reference in the side of your margin there Luke 18 verses 18 through 30 we'll get to that eventually in our study in Luke and you have the very well-known conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and the rich young ruler and the rich young ruler and this lawyer both asked a very similar question what shall I do to inherit eternal life and I'm not going to preach about that this morning because we're dealing with the parable of the Good Samaritan but let me just say this the question is asked it's a it's a wrong question because the question is asked with a presupposition it's asked with an assumption that has been made in advance to the question and the assumption is that salvation is somehow connected to something that we do so notice the question is what shall I do to inherit eternal life what he should be asking is what do I need to believe to enter an eternal life because the Bible says salvation is believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved so this guy's asking the question with a wrong already assumption he's asking these questions with a wrong motive and I think it's interesting because Jesus understands obviously Jesus got in the flesh he knows the hearts of all men he knows this lawyer who in in in in the standards of those days would be someone that people would look at and say this guy is an expert in the law of Moses he asked Jesus this question what shall I do to inherit eternal life and in verse 26 Jesus answers him and he says he said unto him this is Jesus speaking to the lawyer notice how he throws this kind of back in his face he says what is written in the law I mean you're a lawyer right you study the law of Moses well you're asking me this question what is written in the law and then Jesus asks this follow-up question he says how readest thou and I'm not preaching on this this morning but let me just throw this in there as well you'll notice that Jesus always emphasizes the reading of the Word of God and he asked this this lawyer he says well how readest thou what is written in the law what you know the answer to the question is in the Word of God and let me just say this the answer to every question is in the Word of God and we can find God the answers to every question for life in God's Word notice verse 27 and he the lawyer answering said so the lawyer asked a question master what shall I do to inherit eternal life Jesus you'll notice this about the Lord Jesus Christ often he it's very and and we'll go over this in the soul winning seminar for those of you that have signed up for the sewing seminar but you'll notice that Jesus very rarely gives these flat-out answers he does give flat-out answers but he often answers back in a question oftentimes he's trying to get people to think and to think through what they're talking about and we're going to see that in this entire parable this entire dialogue between Jesus and lawyer but the question is asked what must I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus responds with a question what is written in the law so the lawyer answers the question what does the law say verse 27 and he answering said thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart now that is the greatest commandment all throughout the Bible we are told that there are two great commandments and on these two great commandment hang all the law and the prophets the meaning is this that all of the commandments of God will be fulfilled if we fulfilled these two Commandments 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 here's a second Commandment thy neighbor as thyself the first great commandment is to love Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul with all thy might and the second Commandment is to love thy neighbor as thyself." So notice Jesus asks this follow-up question. How readest thou? What sayeth the law? He says, well here's what the law says. The law says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Verse 28, and he, Jesus, said unto him, the lawyer, thou is answered right. He said, you're right. This do, and thou shalt live. And again, notice that this lawyer is tempting Jesus. He's not coming in sincerity. He's coming with a bad attitude. So notice that Jesus kind of is, doesn't give a lot of time to this guy. I mean, he says, look, well, what does the law say about how a man can inherit eternal life? And he says, well, the Bible says to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might, and to love thy neighbor as thyself. And Jesus says, you're right. And just, and again, I'm not preaching about this this morning. We're going to deal with this in detail when we get to Luke 18 with the rich young ruler. But let me just explain what Jesus is saying. What Jesus is telling this lawyer is that, look, hypothetically, in theory, if somebody their entire life loved the Lord thy God with all their heart, soul, and might, and also loved their neighbor as themselves, they would keep the entire law of God. And if somebody could do that, then they would go to heaven based off keeping the law. The problem is that you and I and no one who has ever lived other than Lord Jesus Christ can ever actually love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and might, with all your might. And nobody really ever loves their neighbor as themselves. You know, we all come short. But Jesus is saying, look, you're asking me this question with a presupposition. What must I do? Well, if you want to know what you've got to do to go to heaven, you got to keep all the laws. So Jesus says, thou is answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. Notice the attitude from the lawyer. We already saw one loaded question. Here comes another loaded question, verse 29. And he, the lawyer, notice again, his motives, willing to justify himself. This guy is not interested in the truth. He's not interested in actually knowing what salvation is or any of those things. He just wants to make himself look good, wants to make himself feel good. He asks this question. Jesus, he says, well, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life? He's hoping Jesus says, well, do this and do that, and he'll do it, and he'll look good. And Jesus answers with, well, if you want to inherit eternal life, you have to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, mind, might, effort. You know, there's different lists given about that throughout the Bible. And you have to love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus says, so go do that. And he, willing to justify himself, obviously he realizes that he's not meeting the standard, the lawyer, but he wants to act like he's meeting the standard. He, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, here's the next loaded question, and who is my neighbor? He says, who is my neighbor? You want me to love my neighbor as myself? So the lawyer says, well, then who is my neighbor? And that is the context which leads us into one of the most well-known, one of the most famous, one of the most beautiful parables ever given. It was given as an answer to this question, and who is my neighbor? And who is my neighbor? Notice in verse 30, and Jesus answering said. The lawyer wants to know, well, who's my neighbor? Jesus says, well, let me tell you a story. Here's the answer to your question. He says, 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. Jesus goes into the story of the Good Samaritan, and in the story, Jesus is going to answer two questions. He's going to answer, first of all, who is our neighbor? He's also going to answer how to love your neighbor, because the question is, well, who's my neighbor? If I'm supposed to love my neighbor as myself, then who is my neighbor? And Jesus is pretty much going to tell the story that shows us how to love our neighbor as ourself, and also to answer the question, who is our neighbor? If you're taking notes this morning, maybe you can write some of these things down on the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to write down some things, and we're going to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to answer this question for us. How to love our neighbor as ourselves, and who is our neighbor? Number one, I want you to notice that loving our neighbor requires selflessness. If we are going to love our neighbor as ourself, which is one of the two great commandments, to be right with God, you want to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, and you also want to love your neighbor as yourself. And we're going to key in on this question, who is my neighbor, and how do I love him as myself? And Jesus teaches us in this parable that in order for us to love our neighbor as ourself, loving our neighbor requires selflessness. Notice the story that Jesus gives in verse 31. We saw there in verse 30 that this man, this certain man, went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, and stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And then verse 31, the Bible says, and by chance there came down a certain priest. Now a priest would be, just to put it, just to help you understand this in our modern culture, would be like the equivalent of a pastor. The priest was a spiritual leader. He was the one who spiritually would be running the show, would be helping people worship the Lord. So this priest comes, and he's a spiritual leader. He's a spiritual authority. You might think of him as a pastor. The Bible says, and by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So I want you to notice this priest is coming down this road, and Jesus says when this priest sees this man lying there in a puddle of blood, the Bible says he's left half dead. He fell among thieves. They stripped him of his raiment, and they wounded him, and they departed, leaving him half dead. The priest sees this man as he's going by that way, and the Bible tells us when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. You say, what does that mean? He's going down the road. He sees this guy there, and he literally just crosses the street and keeps going. You know, just doesn't want to help this guy, doesn't want to be bothered. The priest. Then notice the second character, verse 32, and likewise a Levite, and just to kind of help you understand, a Levite would be the equivalent of a deacon. Another position of spiritual authority, but spiritual leadership, but the Levites were the helpers of the priests. The priests were the ones who would run the worship of God, and the Levites would help them with the administration of their work. So here we have a pastor or what we would call the equivalent of a pastor, and then the equivalent of a deacon. And likewise a Levite, when he was at that place, came and looked on him, notice what the Bible says, and passed by on the other side. These two guys could not be bothered to help this man. Now we could make all sorts of excuses, and I'm sure that if these were real individuals that we were able to sit down and ask them this question, why did you pass by on the other side? Why didn't you stop to help? You know, they would have all sorts of reasons, I'm sure, why they couldn't help, and why they had to pass by on the other side, and they were running late to their meeting, and they had things to do that day, and they couldn't stop and help this guy, and get dirty. They had things to do. You know, we all have reasons why we're too busy, but Jesus is teaching us that if we're going to love our neighbor as ourself, it will require less of self. It will require selflessness. I was reading a book recently, and they told a story of a study that was done on the campus of a seminary. If you're not familiar with the seminary, a seminary would be like a Bible college, like a Bible institution, where people after they get their bachelor's degree, they will go there to get the equivalent of like a master's degree or a doctorate. When you're in ministry, you would go to a seminary. So this is places where pastors go, where people in full-time ministry go to do their higher learning, and this was done on the campus of a seminary because these are all individuals that are studying to receive degrees for ministry, to be able to serve as pastors, or to serve in Bible colleges in that capacity, and they did this study where they invited all of these seminary students, and they were all in pastoral theology, so they were studying for the pastorate. They invited them to a seminar, to hear a seminar by this very famous well-known speaker, and the subject of the seminar was understanding the parable of the Good Samaritan. So these seminary students in pastoral theology class were all invited to a seminar where they were going to learn about the parable of the sower, and they were going to go in depth on the subject of the parable of the sower, and this was all set up to do a study on human behavior. It's very interesting because what they did was they sent a text and an email out letting these seminary students know that due to an emergency with the speaker's schedule, they had to begin the seminar about 20 minutes earlier than what they had stated, so all of these students had to get there, and this was for a credit, this was for something they had to, a requirement they had to do for a class, so they purposely kind of set all these students in a frenzy, you know, making them believe that they're now all late to this thing, and they have to get there, and then what they did was they purposely, because there was a pathway to this auditorium where these seminary students, we're going to hear this, they purposely laid a man on the ground next to the pathway passed out, and then they sat there and just counted how many pastoral theology seminary students actually crossed over the man passed out on the ground on their way to a lecture about the Good Samaritan, and later on when they were asked, why did you pass by, why don't you stop to see if this guy was okay, they all stated, well, we were late to our class, and it just goes to show you how selfish we are as people, because these priests and this Levite, whatever their excuse was, they were too busy, they were too self-involved, they were too into whatever they had to get done, but I want you to notice the third character, the hero of the story, verse 33, but a certain Samaritan, we're going to come back to that in a minute, I want you to notice what Jesus says, as he journeyed, as he journeyed, I want you to notice that Jesus does not tell us that this Samaritan was just out for a walk, you know, this Samaritan was just out, you know, he had a day off, he had nothing going on, no, this Samaritan was on a journey just like anybody else was, this Samaritan was out doing business just like anybody else was, this Samaritan was out taking care of things for himself just like anybody else was, he was on his journey, notice what the Bible says, 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 end, notice the last part of verse 34, and took care of him, and took care of him, this Samaritan was on a journey, he had somewhere to go, he had somewhere to be, he had already prepared to get himself to a certain place, but when he saw this man, he took the opportunity not to be selfish, but to be selfless, and he stopped what he was doing to take care of him, and if you want to know the answer to the question, how do we love our neighbor as ourself, it begins with us not being selfish, it begins with us realizing that loving others will take selflessness, it means, look, I understand, you say, I'm busy, we're all busy, everyone's busy, I always think it's funny when people tell me, oh I'm busy, if you knew the things that I had to deal with this week, or next week, you know, we're all busy, everybody's busy, everybody has things going on in their lives, but as a Christian, you're supposed to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what that means is that you're supposed to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, and love your neighbor as yourself, and that means that we need to take time to stop being so preoccupied with ourselves, and help others, so we see that this man was selfless, how was he selfless, he was selfless when he was not too preoccupied with himself, he was not too busy with his own business to stop and help his neighbor, but I want you to notice that this goes deeper, the story of the Good Samaritan, because this man was not only selfless in the sense that he was not too preoccupied with himself, this man was also selfless in the sense that he loved his enemy, because the interesting thing about the story of the Good Samaritan is the fact that it's called the story of the Good Samaritan. See, I'm sure as Jesus was telling the story to the lawyer, and I'm sure as we know from other parts of the scriptures, whenever these conversations were had, they were had in groups of people, and there was probably a crowd that had gathered around to hear Jesus tell the story, and answer this question of who is my neighbor, and I'm sure that as Jesus was telling the story, and he said, look, there was a man who fell among thieves, and he was stripped naked of his clothing, and he was beaten and left half dead, and a priest came by and saw him, and crossed the street, and passed by on the other side, and a Levite came by and saw him, and crossed the street, and passed by, and I'm sure in the people's minds, in the lawyer's minds, as they're hearing this story, they're saying, okay, I know where this story is going, you're telling us the priest didn't help, and then the Levite didn't help, but then come along this just normal, regular, layman, Jewish guy, and he helped, right? That's the story you're going to tell us. The religious elite, they can't be bothered, but just a normal Jewish guy is going to help this guy, but when Jesus says, but a certain Samaritan, that would have caused everyone to just kind of take notice, because within the culture, and we talked about this recently, I think it was last week, about the Samaritans, I'm not going to take the time to go into all of that, but let me just give you a couple, just a verse, go to John chapter 4, you're there in Luke, keep your place in Luke, go to John chapter 4. Within the culture of the Jews, the Samaritans were hated. The Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans hated the Jews. There was no, there was no loving relationship between the two. No love loss. So for Jesus to take the Samaritan and turn him into the hero, you would think, no, the Samaritan's the villain. You know, it was Samaritans who beat this guy up. But no, it was a certain Samaritan that stopped to help. See, in the story, as Jesus is telling the story, the victim, it would have been understood that the victim was a, probably just a man of Judea, or what we would call a Jewish guy. Look, keep your place there in John 4, just flip back real quick to Luke chapter 10. We're going to go back to John 4 in a minute, but look at Luke 10 and verse 30. And Jesus answering said, a certain man, right? Now, when it's a Samaritan, he tells us a certain Samaritan. The fact that he's speaking to a Jewish audience, and he says a certain man, everyone would assume, okay, he's talking about a Jewish guy. And Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from, And notice where he's going from, Jerusalem to Jericho. These are both cities within the southern part of Judea, within what we would call the tribe of Judah or the area of Judea. So you've got a guy in Judea traveling between two cities of Judea, all of these, Jesus speaking as a Jew to a Jewish audience. Everybody is under the assumption, this guy's a Jew. And then, the priest walks by, the Levi walks by, but then comes not another Jew, because the priest and Levi would have been Jews as well, in verse 33, but a certain Samaritan. There's a key detail in the story. This is someone who the Jews would have despised. Let me prove that to you from the Bible, John 4 and verse 9. Remember the famous story of Jesus with the woman at the well, the woman of Samaria? John 4 and verse 9, the Bible says, Then saith the woman, remember Jesus stops at the well, and the woman of Samaria comes and he asks her for some water. And if you remember the story, when the disciples come and they see him speaking to the woman of Samaria, they're surprised and they're kind of shocked that Jesus even talking to this woman, because she's a Samaritan. In John 4 and 9, the Bible says, Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him. So Jesus is being nice to this lady, asking her for some water, and striking up conversation, he's going to get her saved, and he's striking up the conversation to preach the gospel to her. And her response to him is, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? Notice what the narrator, John, tells us, For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. So I want you to notice that the Bible tells us that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans, and Jesus is telling the story where he makes the Samaritan the hero of the story. He says there's a certain Samaritan as he journeyed. Go back to Luke chapter 10. Actually, go to Matthew chapter 5. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. You say, what is Jesus teaching us? He's teaching us, because remember, he's answering the question, Who is your neighbor, and how do you love your neighbor? He's teaching us that our neighbors are those who we come across within the journey of life that need our help. Remember, the Bible emphasized in those verses that as they went on their way, a certain priest came that way, that the Levite says when he was at that place. They're all on this road, they're all on this journey, and as they come to this journey, they come across somebody that needs their help. And Jesus says, that's your neighbor. And that should make sense, because that's what the word neighbor means. The word neighbor, if you look at the first part of the word neighbor, you have the word nay, which comes from the root word nay, which means somebody being near to you. When someone is nay to you, well, that's your neighbor. Just like in your physical place where you live, your neighbors are the ones that are living near to you, nay to you. So Jesus says, look, you all know who your neighbor is? As you're traveling through the road of life, you find someone across the way that needs your help, that's your neighbor. But then he says, that's not it. What if the person that comes across the road that needs your help is your enemy? What if they hate you? What if you don't necessarily like them, but they need your help? Jesus says, that's also your neighbor. Matthew 543, notice what the Bible says. Ye have heard that it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemies. This is what they were teaching, but they were wrong. Verse 44, but I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. And by the way, people try to make this big deal and say, well, the God of the Old Testament was angry and he was mean, and the God of New Testament, he's nice. In the New Testament, we have all these nice teachings about loving your neighbor and all these things. Let me tell you something. First of all, love thy neighbor is a teaching from the Old Testament. I'm going to show that to you towards the end of the sermon. But secondly, this whole idea of loving your enemies is something that was taught throughout the Old Testament as well, because God said that if you were going by the way, and you saw that your enemy's ox was fallen in a ditch or lost, you're supposed to bring the ox back to them. So all throughout the Bible, the Word of God teaches that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, and that includes our enemies, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemies. Jesus said, no, love your enemies, bless them that curse you. When they curse you, our job is not to curse back, it's to bless them. When they hate us, our job is to do good to them. When they despitefully use you and persecute you, our job is to pray for them. So this Samaritan was selfless, not only when he stopped and was not too preoccupied with himself, too busy to help this man, but he was also selfless when he stopped to help his enemy. I mean, the Samaritan would have been fully aware that if the roles were reversed, that it was he half-naked, half-dead, in a ditch, and it was the average Jewish man coming down that road, that they would have left him. But yet he loved him anyway. He was selfless. Go back to Luke chapter 10. We saw number one this morning that loving our neighbor requires selflessness. That means that we are to be not selfish and preoccupied with ourselves. That means that we are to not be selfish and hate our enemies, but we are to love those that come across our way needing help, and we are to love those that even do not love us back. But I want you to notice, secondly, tonight, this morning, keep saying tonight, loving our neighbor requires selflessness, but I want you to notice, secondly, that loving our neighbor requires sympathy. Notice the emphasis that Jesus gives in this parable, Luke chapter 10 and verse 31. Notice what the Bible says. And by chance, you see the emphasis there? By chance. It's just as you're going through life, you're going to be given opportunities to help other people, to invest into other people, to give of yourself to other people. By chance. There came down a certain priest that way. I want you to notice the emphasis. And when he saw him, the priest saw him, the priest saw this man lying in a puddle of blood, lying half dead, lying naked, stripped, obviously had been beaten. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Look at verse 32. And likewise, a Levite, when he was at that place, notice the emphasis, came and looked on him. Now compare that and contrast that to the good Samaritan, verse 33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was and, notice the comparison, when he saw him, he had compassion on him. He said, loving your neighbor requires selflessness, yes, but it also requires sympathy. See, these men, they had no sympathy. They had no empathy. For this man, they saw him lying there, kneeling out. They said, somebody else will help him. Let somebody else deal with it. It's not my problem. You say, what was the difference between the priest and the Levite and the Samaritan, is that the priest, when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. The Levite, when he came and looked on him, he passed by on the other side. But when the Samaritan, when he saw him, he had compassion on him. He had empathy. He had sympathy. He loved him. He said, love your own enemy? He had compassion on him. Go back to Matthew chapter 9, if you would. Matthew chapter 9. You know that there is a scarcity of empathy in our culture? Even among Christians. I don't know why. I was just talking to my wife about this this morning. I don't know why. I'm always surprised by this. I'm always shocked by this. I don't know why. I shouldn't be. You think after 12 years of ministry, I'd be used to this by now. But I'm often shocked by how cold and lacking of empathy, people, and I'm not talking about people out there in the room, I'm talking about people in this room. I'm talking about Christian people can be towards each other. I mean, you know, my wife and I, we're in ministry, and I was just telling the staff this recently. Most of the stuff that my wife and I do, the goal is that you will never hear or learn about it. Because we're often helping people when they're in their darkest times. And the best thing is for us to be able to help them in secrecy, and you'll never even know about it. But you know, my wife and I, we live this life where we spend all day, every day, counseling people, helping people, loving people, people that are hurting, people that have messed up, and this is what we do. And in my mind, it's not even, and please don't misunderstand me, it's not even that we're just super empathetic, it's just what we do. We're in ministry, I'm a pastor, she's a pastor's wife, this is what we do. And it's just our duty to help people, love people, and in my mind, you know, I guess I just kind of assume that all Christians are like that. But in the rare instances when we have to involve other Christians with these situations, I'm often surprised how cold and selfish people can be. I'm often just surprised, just like how just uncaring people can be towards each other. I'm not talking about people out there, I'm talking about your own brothers and sisters in Christ, just whatever. The Bible says that we are to love our neighbor as ourself, and I often ask myself this question, if the rules were reversed, if I found myself in this situation, what would I want somebody else to do for me? And when you ask yourself, because it's love your neighbor as yourself, see, we don't have a problem loving ourselves. If anything, the problem is you love yourself too much. But if you ask this question, well, if the rules were reversed, if I was the one lying in the ditch, what would I want people to do for me? And when you ask that question, and by the way, let me just say this, if you're ever unsure what the answer to the question is within human relationship, the answer to the question is always this, if the rules were reversed, what would I want somebody to do for me? What would I want somebody to do for me, for my mother, for my wife, for those around me? The Bible tells us that the certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, he came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Now, we can't ignore the soul-winning application, because these words are pretty much word-for-word quoted from Matthew 936. If you're there, Matthew 936, the Bible tells us the good Samaritan, when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Matthew 936, the Bible says about Jesus, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd, and the context is soul-winning. Verse 37, Then saith he unto the disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labors into the harvest. And I'm just here to tell you something. If you are a Christian, and you are saved, and you're on your way to heaven, God bless you. But if you can look around at this world, and realize that people are going to die and go to hell, and you're just kind of like, whatever, there's something wrong with you. There's something wrong in your heart. It's cold, and it's hard, and you got to ask yourself, what would I want for somebody to do to me, if I were in their shoes? Go to 1st John, if you would, 1st John chapter 3. If you start at the end, and go backwards, you have Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st John. Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st John. And let me tell you something. You say, that's me, I lack empathy, and I'm selfish. You should work on that. Because they lack, listen to me, listen to me, you say, are you trying to offend me? Yes. Yes. If the question is ever, are you preaching this about me? I may not even know you, but the answer is yes. If the Holy Spirit's applying it to you, if the shoe fits, put it on. Put it on. Put the other shoe on, and go out soul winning. How about that? Yes. If you say, I lack empathy, realize something, that only comes from pride. It only comes from selfishness. It's because you're selfish. That's the problem. You say, well, what do I do about that? Start loving other people. Love your neighbor as yourself. You have no problem loving yourself. Just start doing that to other people. When you do it to yourself, it's called selfishness. When you do it to others, it's called selflessness. Have sympathy. First John 3 17. But whoso hath this world's goods. What does that mean? That means they have the resources and the ability to help other. And seeth his brother have need. Notice the emphasis. They saw it. They came across it. They saw it. And shutteth up his vows of compassion from him. Don't miss it. How dwelleth the love of God in him. Don't tell me you love God when you can't love others. Look, these things are connected. Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. Loving God in this direction is connected to how we love others in this direction. They're all connected. So if you having your world, the world's good, and you see your brother have need and you shut up your vows of compassion from him, the love of God does not dwell in you. Go back to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. So we saw that loving our neighbor requires selflessness. We saw that loving our neighbor requires sympathy. Let me give you a third one this morning. Loving our neighbor requires service. Requires service. Notice what this Good Samaritan does. Luke 10 33. But it says Samaritan as he journeyed, came down where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Verse 34. And went to him. He went to him, action, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil, service, and wine, and set him on his own beast. He put him on his own mode of transportation, meaning that for the rest of the way, the Samaritan walked while he allowed this man to ride on his own beast and brought him to an inn. Notice the words again. And took care of him. Loving our neighbor not only requires selflessness. Loving our neighbor not only requires sympathy, but loving our neighbor requires service. We got to serve others. Go to Galatians chapter 5. If you're there in Luke, you're going to go past John, past Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians. Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. And by the way, let me just say this. Sometimes I'm also amazed when I see other Christians. I shouldn't say amazed. The word is impressed. I see other Christians who do not. Shut up their vows of compassion towards others and do put themselves in the role of what if this were me and do want to help their fellow neighbor, believer, their fellow brother in Christ. Galatians 5.6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but notice these words, but faith which worketh by love. Our work should come from the source of love. By the way, if your work for God causes frustration, you're not doing it right. It's not coming from the right source. We'll actually talk about that tonight with our story as we finish this chapter with Mary and Martha. Look at verse 13, Galatians 5 and verse 13. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love, notice, serve one another. In Galatians 5.6 we're told, by faith which worketh by love. Galatians 5.13 we're told, but by love serve one another. And then notice the context. Notice the context. Verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. See, loving your neighbor requires you to serve others, requires you to serve others. I'm not sure if you kept your place in 1 John. Could you go back there? 1 John chapter 3. Remember if you go backwards you have Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st John. Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st John. Do me a favor, put a ribbon or bookmark or something to 1 John. If I didn't tell you to do that, please do that, because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 18. 1 John 3, 18. My little children, let us not love in word. By the way, this is what James 2 is all about. That whole faith without works is dead. It's easy to say, I love, I have faith. God says, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. The only way that people will know that you love them is by what you do, by your deeds. So I've got to ask the question. Keep your place there in 1 John. Go back to Luke chapter 10. I've got to ask this question and I want you to answer it. And I want you to, don't answer it out loud. All right? But I want you to answer this question. When and where do you serve other people? When and where do you serve other people? And if you can't answer that question, you're not loving your neighbor. Well, you know, I serve. No, no. Okay. Okay. When? I'm talking about like on Mondays at 10 AM, on Saturdays at 12. I'm saying, when do you actually do something that's not benefiting yourself or helping yourself or fun to yourself? When and where do you serve other people? And if you can't answer that question, which unfortunately the average Christian cannot, just know something. You're good at loving yourself, but you're not loving your neighbor. We see that loving our neighbor requires selflessness. We see that loving our neighbor requires sympathy. We see that loving our neighbor requires service. Why don't you notice, fourthly this morning, loving our neighbor requires sacrifice. Go back to Luke 10, look at verse 35. And on the morrow, when he departed, this is the Good Samaritan. Remember, he took him to an inn. And what's interesting is that I've actually been to this inn. Now, that's funny because this is a parable and this story did not actually happen. But Pastor Anderson and I were in Jordan doing a documentary a few years ago. And when we were in Jordan, one of the things that we were doing our documentary, we were actually on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. There actually literally is a road that takes you from Jerusalem to Jericho. That road, there is nothing. Even to this day, there is nothing between that. It's all desert and wilderness. And there is one inn on that road. Literally, physically, there is a road between Jerusalem and Jericho. And there literally is right now and has been there since the time of Christ, this building that was an inn during the time of Christ. So though this is not a literal story, it's a parable, he's using literal, he's saying, hey, this guy was on a journey between Jerusalem and Jericho and the people listening are like, oh yeah, I know that road. And he fell among thieves and people were like, yeah, I could see that. There's just nothing there. I mean, if you're going to get robbed, that's the place to rob. And the Samaritan took him to an inn and people are thinking like, yeah, I know what inn you're talking about. It literally, there literally is an inn. So even though there's not a literal story, he used literal places. And I've actually been to this inn and it's in our documentary, Beyond Jordan, if you're interested. It's free or whatever in our foyer. The Bible says that on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pens. So he brings them to this inn. And the Bible says he took out two pens, a pen in the Bible. And I don't have time to, I've brought this up many times in the past, but a pen in the Bible is one day's wages for a laborer. So a laborer out in the field would work for one day and he would get paid a pence. So on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pens. So this would be the equivalent of two days worth of work. Notice these words, and gave them. By the way, you can never love without giving. Love is the opposite of selfishness. The Bible says, for God so loved the world, how do you prove that God so loved the world, that he gave. You can't love without giving. And when all you're doing is taking and taking and taking, that's not love, that's selfishness. And the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pens and gave them to the host and said unto him, take care of him. Notice, and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again, I will repay thee. See, this man, this Good Samaritan, he not only served, he not only had sympathy, he was not only selfless, but he sacrificed. His own time, his own treasure, his own resources. Go to John, if you would, you're there in Luke, just flip over to John chapter 15. John chapter 15, look at verse 12. John 15 and verse 12, the Bible says, this is my commandment, John 15, 12, this is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Notice what Jesus says, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. I want to show people that I love them. Okay, lay down your life for your friends. It's interesting to me because this is what the Bible says that a husband is supposed to do for a wife. A husband is supposed to lay down his life for his wife. And look, you say, how do I prove that I love my wife? Lay down your life for her. And don't tell me you would be willing to lay down your life for your wife. I'll take a bullet for my wife. You won't even go to work for your wife. You won't live for your wife. You won't sacrifice for your wife, but you're going to die for your wife. Yeah, right, you're selfish. You know what leaders do? You know what men who love their wives and their children, what wives who love their husbands and their children, what church members who love their community, you know what they do? They're willing, if they're willing to lay down their life, then they're willing to live. Greater love has no man than this, that a man laid out his life for his friends. Love is measured through sacrifice. 1 John 3 16, if you get your place there, 1 John 3 16. It's interesting to me because 1 John was written by the same John who wrote the Gospel of John. John 3 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. 1 John 3 16 says, Hereby perceive we the love of God. The word perceive means, here's how we identify, here's how we see the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. See, love is measured through sacrifice. This is why Paul said, And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. He says, The more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. Unfortunately, that's true in ministry too. Go to Leviticus chapter 19, if you would, in the Old Testament. Leviticus chapter 19, you have the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 19. We've been looking at the story of the Good Samaritan and Jesus is answering this question. He's answering, Who is your neighbor? And he's also answering another question that this guy didn't ask, but he's answering how to love your neighbor. How do you love your neighbor and who is your neighbor? The question to how you love your neighbor is answered through the story. We saw that loving our neighbor requires selflessness. We saw that loving our neighbor requires sympathy. We saw that loving our neighbor requires service. We saw that loving our neighbor requires sacrifice. And then Jesus ends this story with the answer to the question, Who is your neighbor? But before we go there, before we go there, I want to just share with you something out of the book of Leviticus. Because today, this story of the Good Samaritan, there's a modern misuse of this parable. And the modern misuse of this parable is, because what is the parable teaching? The parable is teaching that we ought to love our neighbor as ourself. Those people that are near to us, that we come across in life. We happen to be in the journey of life and we come upon them. They're on our path and they need help. That's our neighbor. Who else is our neighbor? Our enemy. Love thy neighbor as thyself and love thine enemies. Those are the applications. But let me just explain something to you. This parable is not teaching that we should love the enemies of God. The Bible says, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Now, I should not hate those who hate me. I should love my enemies. Do you know that there are people that don't like me, that they're not necessarily the enemies of God? Those people that love God and they just don't like me. They hate me, but they love God. You say, What should I do in that situation? I should love them. Love mine enemies. But you know that there are also people who don't necessarily hate me, but they hate God. And oftentimes, once they get to know me, they hate me too. You say, What should we do with those people? Here's what the Bible says. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. Psalm 139. Jehu is quoted as saying, Wilt thou, Are you going to help the ungodly? Are you going to love the ungodly and help the enemies of the Lord? This parable is not teaching that we're supposed to love the enemies of God. And you say, Who are the enemies of God? And I don't have time to get into all these details. I preach sermons on it, and you can ask me after the surveys, and we'll give you links to sermons or whatever. Let me just be clear. The Bible tells us that the reprobates of this world are the haters of God. And specifically in the culture that you and I are living in, it is the homosexual LGBTQ movement. And the misuse of this parable is people will often, because we preach against the sodomites, like the Bible says, and people will throw this in our face. Well, you're supposed to love your neighbor. You're supposed to love your neighbor. You're supposed to love your transvestite, pedophile, child molesting neighbor. That's what the Bible says. Oh, really? Because this whole concept of loving your neighbor comes from the Old Testament. Remember that angry Old Testament where God just hates everyone? Jesus is teaching a concept from the Old Testament. Are you there in Leviticus? Look at Leviticus 19. Leviticus chapter 19. Look, Leviticus is as Old Testament as you can get. Okay, because you know when you try to read your Bible and fail every year, you're like reading the book of Genesis and it's all exciting. The flood, the story of Joseph, Abraham. You get to Exodus and it's Moses and it's a template. And then you get to Leviticus. I mean, this is his Old Testament. And you want Old Testament law? It's Leviticus. Angry God, it's Leviticus. Leviticus 19, verse 18. Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people. Don't miss it. But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. So the God of the Old Testament taught this concept. Leviticus 19, 18. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, I want you to notice something. Put your finger right there on Leviticus 19. Keep your finger right there on Leviticus 19. Flip one chapter over to Leviticus 18. Leviticus chapter 18, verse 22. Leviticus 18, 22. Now notice, we read, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself in Leviticus 19. Flip over one chapter to Leviticus 18, 22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. What is that referring to? That's homosexuality. That's the sodomites. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is abomination. I just want you to get this. Leviticus 18, 22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is abomination. Leviticus 19, 18. But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Keep your finger right there in Leviticus 19. And now, go over one chapter over to Leviticus 20. Leviticus 20, chapter 13. Leviticus 20, 13. If a man also lie with mankind as he lied with a woman, what is that referring to? Homosexuality. The sodomites. If a man also lie with mankind as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. This is where God put the death penalty on homosexuality in the Old Testament. Their blood shall be upon them. You said, what's the point you're trying to make? Here's the point I'm trying to make. Leviticus 18, 22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as he lies with a woman. It is abomination. Leviticus 20, 13. If a man also lie with mankind as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. And in between those two chapters, Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20, you have Leviticus 19, the one time the Old Testament says, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. So don't tell me that there is some sort of contradiction between loving your neighbor as yourself and hating God's enemies. There's no contradiction. In fact, love thy neighbor as thyself is within the context. The context of loving your neighbor as yourself is fighting against the enemies of God. It reprobates. Because obviously, if you love your neighbor, you're not going to love the predator pedophile that is trying to abuse your neighbor. Do you understand that? That's the context. And people try to take the story of the good and the bad. Well, you're supposed to love the transvestite pedophile because you're supposed to love your neighbor as yourself. That's not what the story is teaching. Look, if the story was teaching, love the predator, you know what would happen? The good Samaritan would have walked up to the guy in the in the ditch and he would have walked around him like the priest and the Levite. And then he would have went out and found the thieves that beat the fire out of this guy. And he would have been a blessing to that. You understand that? If you're trying to tell me like, oh, you're supposed to love the predator. OK, well, then in that case, then in the story, he wouldn't have helped the guy in the ditch. He would have gone and found the guys that beat the crap out of this guy and he would have bought them lunch. He would have been a blessing to them. But the Bible does not teach that we're supposed to love predators and love those who hate the Lord. Do not I hate them, oh Lord, that hate thee, is what the Bible says. And it's funny to me that people try to throw this in our face. And it's like, have you ever even read the Bible? Because love thy neighbor as thyself is within the context of our stance against the LGBTQ movement. So don't misuse this parable to say we're supposed to just go and love the serial killer, the reprobate, the serial rapist, the child molester. No, that's not what the Bible is teaching. We're supposed to go love the people that have been hurt by those people. We're not supposed to go love the people that are hurting. And you say, well, there's a contradiction and you're being a hypocrite. Then God has been a hypocrite because he's the one that put it within that context. I don't see how you can even argue that. Unless you're like this lawyer who already has a preconceived idea and you just like to ask loaded questions. Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Obviously, I'm not going to preach on the Good Samaritan and just preach it like every liberal church does. We got to spice it up with Verity Baptist Church. But it's the Word of God. Argue it. Argue what the Bible says. Don't tell me about your queer uncle. I don't care about your queer uncle. Let me let you know a little secret. Everybody has a queer uncle. Everybody. Well, you're expecting me to turn. Everyone has some queer cousin, queer uncle. I don't care if it's your Siamese twin. The Bible is true. You got to stand with the Word of God. Leviticus 10.36. Which now of these three, here's Jesus coming in for the kill. I love it. I love how Jesus teaches. Notice Jesus, he always, you say, why are you guys so specific? Jesus got specific. His teaching was application driven. Notice the main point. He, the Lord comes. What shall I do to inherit your life? Well, how great is that? What sayeth the law? The law says to love the Lord, the God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy might, to love thy neighbor as thyself, willing to justify himself. He says, but who is my neighbor? And Jesus says, oh, really? You want to ask me that question? Well, let me tell you a story. About the Samaritan. Now he loved his enemy, and he saw this man in the ditch who had been attacked and half beaten and half dead, and he was selfless, and he had sympathy, and he had service to him, and he sacrificed. And then Jesus, again, doesn't tell this man. In verse 36, he says, he now is, he's done with the story. Now he's looking at the lawyer, and he says, he asks this question. Which now of these three thinkest thou? Was neighbor unto him? That fell among the thieves. Well, which one do you think was his neighbor? Notice the response. Verse 37, and he said, he that showed mercy on him, then said Jesus. So we see, what's the main point? The main point of the story is this. Your neighbor is the one that showed mercy on him. Not the priest and the Levite. The Samaritan who showed mercy, that was the one that was neighbor to this Jewish man. Who was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, he that showed mercy on him, then said Jesus. And by the way, notice the emphasis is not on who is a neighbor unto us, but who are we a neighbor unto? Here's the application. Go and do thou likewise. You want to love your neighbor? Stop being so stinking selfish. You want to love your neighbor? Start having some empathy and sympathy and compassion for people. You want to love your neighbor? Serve others. And if you're not sure about service, ask the question, when and where do you serve others? You want to start loving your neighbor? Sacrifice. Because here's the application for all of us. Go. He's not saying this just to the lawyer. Luke, by the inspiration of Holy Ghost, puts this in the Gospel of Luke, and he says to all, you and me, go and do thou likewise. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for this story, this amazing story of the Good Samaritan. There's a good reason why it's one of the most famous parables in the Bible. I pray, Lord, you'd help us to learn it, apply it to our lives, and help us not to misuse it to try to help perverted people. Help us to study the Bible, to be students of the Bible, and to never argue with the Bible. Lord, we love you. I pray, Lord, that you would help our church, I pray for the people sitting in this auditorium, that you would help them to go home and make a decision. I'm going to stop being so stinking selfish. I'm going to start sacrificing and serving others, having sympathy. I'm going to stop loving myself so much and loving others as myself. And then, Lord, help us always to love the Lord by God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might. The matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.