WEBVTT 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.960 Before we get started, I've got a little exercise 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.359 I want y 'all to participate in for a moment 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:15.859 before I tell you our scripture. I want you to 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:19.940 think for a moment, and I want you to think about 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:23.960 somebody that you really respect and love. Somebody 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.280 that's a good Christian man or a good Christian 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.480 woman. Somebody you really... Look up to somebody 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.340 you hold in high esteem. I want you to think 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:36.000 of a name, and some of you, most of you, probably 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.460 only takes you a second to think of a man or 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:40.960 a woman that would fit those qualifications, 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:44.140 somebody that you really, really look up to and 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:47.100 respect. And once you get that name, I want you 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:49.500 to hold on to it, and then I want you to think 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:52.759 for a second, and I want you to think of somebody 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:57.649 that you absolutely hate. Now, some of you are 00:00:57.649 --> 00:00:59.409 going to say, oh, I don't hate anybody, which 00:00:59.409 --> 00:01:01.869 is the right church answer. We shouldn't. But 00:01:01.869 --> 00:01:04.569 some of us are more honest, and maybe if we are 00:01:04.569 --> 00:01:07.609 honest, maybe there is somebody that we hate. 00:01:07.689 --> 00:01:10.489 And that name may have come to you soon, and 00:01:10.489 --> 00:01:11.989 you may say, oh, I don't hate anybody. Okay, 00:01:12.090 --> 00:01:13.950 well, think of somebody that you really, really, 00:01:13.969 --> 00:01:16.310 really dislike, like you're one step away from 00:01:16.310 --> 00:01:19.569 hating them. Think of that person. Maybe it's 00:01:19.569 --> 00:01:23.250 a person. Maybe it's a people. Maybe it's a certain 00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:26.359 group of people, a certain type of people. that 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:30.760 you really, really hate, that you don't hold 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.599 in very high esteem at all, that you really dislike 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.200 them, you don't approve of them, you don't like 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:39.480 them, you think less of them. And none of these 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:41.659 things are good if we have these feelings, but 00:01:41.659 --> 00:01:44.239 if we're honest, maybe those feelings are there, 00:01:44.340 --> 00:01:46.640 maybe we know it, maybe we don't know it. I want 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:49.359 you to think of that name or that group of people, 00:01:49.420 --> 00:01:52.840 possibly, and I want you to hold on to those 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.719 two names. As we prepare to go through our text. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.540 So let's pray and we'll get started. God, we 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:04.000 come to you. We thank you for a good day. I thank 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.019 you for loving us. I thank you for letting us 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:08.080 be able to come into this room and just love 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.319 each other. And I pray that your Holy Spirit 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.259 would be among us today. That everything that's 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:15.520 said and done would be for your glory, dear Lord. 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.199 That you work on our hearts. Help us to maybe 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:20.620 see areas that we need a little work. Maybe we're 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:23.460 in pretty good shape. Or maybe we're not. Maybe 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:25.539 we think we are in good shape, dear Lord, but 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:28.879 maybe in our text today we'll find that maybe 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:31.699 we're not where we need to be. And so I pray 00:02:31.699 --> 00:02:35.120 that you'll be glorified in this place. Let your 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.780 Holy Spirit be among us. In Jesus' name I pray 00:02:37.780 --> 00:02:42.599 it. Amen. We're going to be in Luke chapter 10 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:46.340 this morning. That's in the New Testament. Luke 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:48.939 chapter 10, kind of toward the front part of 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:58.449 the New Testament. Luke chapter 10, verse 25. 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:03.189 This may be a story you've heard before. I've 00:03:03.189 --> 00:03:05.949 been reading through the parables of Jesus off 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:08.669 and on over the last probably three months or 00:03:08.669 --> 00:03:10.990 so, just kind of looking at them and pondering 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:14.289 them. And I'd encourage you to do that if you've 00:03:14.289 --> 00:03:17.210 never done it. There's a lot of good parables 00:03:17.210 --> 00:03:19.050 there. A lot of them you've heard preached before. 00:03:20.310 --> 00:03:23.340 And maybe you hadn't. Maybe you've never heard 00:03:23.340 --> 00:03:26.300 any of Jesus' parables, the little stories that 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:29.659 he uses. If you're new to the Bible, maybe you're 00:03:29.659 --> 00:03:31.020 here and you're new, or maybe you're listening 00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:33.840 online and you say, boy, I've never read the 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:36.560 Bible before. Well, maybe the parables of Jesus 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.580 is a good place to start. You can look online 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:41.780 and find a list of those parables and kind of 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:43.759 see where they are. Most of them are very short, 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:47.240 and most of them are very easy for us to understand. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:50.879 A lot of things in Scripture, they're easy to 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:53.159 understand, but they're a lot harder to carry 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:55.860 out. And maybe we'll see that's the case with 00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:57.659 this parable we're going to look at today. Luke 00:03:57.659 --> 00:04:04.979 chapter 10, verse 25, starts like this. Just 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:08.319 then an expert in the law stood up to test him, 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:13.039 saying, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.800 life? Okay, so the scene is set for us here. 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:18.459 An expert in the law. This is somebody that really 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:20.740 would have known what we would call the early 00:04:20.740 --> 00:04:23.160 parts of the Old Testament, the law of Moses. 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:26.000 They would have really known that well. They 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.360 were an expert. They would have been probably 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:31.819 regarded as somebody who was really, really religious 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:35.519 in their day. And so this expert asked Jesus 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.160 the question, what must he do to inherit eternal 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:40.079 life? And that's a good question. That's probably 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:42.920 a question that some of us have pondered before. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:45.279 Maybe you've pondered, well, is there something 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:48.560 more to this life? Is this life all there is? 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:50.560 Well, I can tell you if you've pondered that 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:53.019 question, the answer to that question is there 00:04:53.019 --> 00:04:56.500 is more to this life. And through Jesus Christ, 00:04:56.660 --> 00:04:59.540 the Scripture says we can receive eternal life. 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:02.300 And so when we die in this world, it's not just 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:04.740 the end. We don't just lay in the ground and 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:08.120 rot, but one day we will be raised and we will 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:11.759 stand before God in judgment. And if we put our 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.240 faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we'll receive 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.560 eternal life. The Bible also talks about hell. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:22.160 If we reject God, hell is a place reserved for 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:24.779 those who have rejected God, who have rejected 00:05:24.779 --> 00:05:28.199 Jesus Christ. And so there is something more 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:31.980 to this life. There is an eternity that awaits 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:36.100 us. And this expert in the law, he wanted to 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:40.600 know, well, how can I inherit eternal life? He 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.720 didn't really ask with a good heart. It doesn't 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.040 appear as though his motives are very good. It 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:49.360 says that he asked this question to test Jesus. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:53.459 Now, my guess would be that he wasn't just curious 00:05:53.459 --> 00:05:55.899 as to whether or not Jesus knew the right answer. 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:59.720 He probably wanted to try to trip Jesus up. We 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.879 see this often. With these types of people, these 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.339 experts in the law and these real religious people, 00:06:05.459 --> 00:06:08.120 they really want to trip Jesus up. They want 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:10.040 to ask him questions that they think he's going 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.959 to give some answer that they can say, aha, we 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:16.819 got you. Jesus was far too clever for that. His 00:06:16.819 --> 00:06:19.939 responses were so beautiful and they were so 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:23.740 clever and they were so brilliant. And so this 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:27.160 guy asked a question and instead of answering 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:30.449 the question, Jesus... Ask a question back. Here's 00:06:30.449 --> 00:06:33.350 what he asked the guy in the next verse. What 00:06:33.350 --> 00:06:37.230 is written in the law, he asked him. How do you 00:06:37.230 --> 00:06:41.589 read it? Okay. Simple question. The guy asked 00:06:41.589 --> 00:06:43.449 Jesus, what do I need to do to inherit eternal 00:06:43.449 --> 00:06:44.889 life? Jesus said, what do you think you need 00:06:44.889 --> 00:06:46.410 to do? You know the law pretty good. You're an 00:06:46.410 --> 00:06:47.810 expert in the law. What do you think you need 00:06:47.810 --> 00:06:51.370 to do? And the guy gives his answer in the next 00:06:51.370 --> 00:06:54.889 verse. Verse 27. He answered, love the Lord your 00:06:54.889 --> 00:06:56.949 God with all your heart, with all your soul, 00:06:57.069 --> 00:06:59.819 with all your strength. and with all your mind, 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:05.360 and your neighbor as yourself. Pretty good answer. 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:09.300 Now this guy, he concludes that this is the right 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:13.120 answer based on the law. Now we see when we look 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:15.720 at Deuteronomy and Leviticus and some of those 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:18.819 older books. we really see what's important to 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.560 God. Now, we may kind of miss it if you're just 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:23.519 reading through the Old Testament for the first 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:25.839 time and you've never really read through it 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:28.220 before. You start reading through. God gives 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:31.519 a whole bunch of laws, over 600 laws about, you 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:35.259 know, clothes, fabric, and how you plant your 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:37.240 garden and all kind of like stuff that's kind 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:39.899 of weird in one sense. And there's a whole lot 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:43.399 of laws that God gives. But when we begin to 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:45.300 kind of look through that and kind of look at 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:48.120 the core of what most of these laws really talk 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:51.040 about, and then we flip to the New Testament, 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:55.540 we see that this man's answer is really what 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:59.100 the law is. He got it right. He said, well, I 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:00.939 think the law means that we're supposed to love 00:08:00.939 --> 00:08:03.839 God and serve him, and I believe that we're supposed 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:07.939 to love our neighbor. And so he was an expert 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:09.970 in the law, and he probably could have... Could 00:08:09.970 --> 00:08:11.970 have quoted a lot of the laws, maybe all of them, 00:08:11.970 --> 00:08:14.269 all 600 plus he might could have quoted, but 00:08:14.269 --> 00:08:17.769 he understood what the law really was about, 00:08:17.850 --> 00:08:19.889 what God gave the law, and it was to instruct 00:08:19.889 --> 00:08:25.129 people to follow God and to love other people. 00:08:25.209 --> 00:08:29.810 And Jesus responded in verse 28, you've answered 00:08:29.810 --> 00:08:34.169 correctly, he told him, do this and you will 00:08:34.169 --> 00:08:37.889 live. He got the right answer. This guy, he got 00:08:37.889 --> 00:08:41.929 it. He understood what the Word of God was all 00:08:41.929 --> 00:08:44.090 about. Now, we want to understand what the Word 00:08:44.090 --> 00:08:46.769 of God is all about today. And maybe sometimes 00:08:46.769 --> 00:08:49.190 we miss it. I think we have a tendency to do 00:08:49.190 --> 00:08:52.470 that. We miss the forest for the trees. You know, 00:08:52.490 --> 00:08:55.870 we read a Bible story and we see a certain part 00:08:55.870 --> 00:08:58.149 of it that we get hung up on. And we can get 00:08:58.149 --> 00:09:00.370 hung up on one part of the story so much that 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:02.789 we kind of miss the big picture. We looked at 00:09:02.789 --> 00:09:04.730 a good example of one of those stories in Sunday 00:09:04.730 --> 00:09:07.529 school. this morning. We do that on Sunday mornings 00:09:07.529 --> 00:09:10.809 at 945. You can come and you can also see some 00:09:10.809 --> 00:09:13.370 of those good questions. And we talk about things 00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:17.169 in those stories and it's easy for our minds 00:09:17.169 --> 00:09:19.929 to get caught up on one thing and miss the big 00:09:19.929 --> 00:09:22.309 picture. But this guy, even though he had a good 00:09:22.309 --> 00:09:25.169 knowledge of the law, he didn't miss the big 00:09:25.169 --> 00:09:27.570 picture. He understood that it's important to 00:09:27.570 --> 00:09:29.950 love God and to love people. And that's important 00:09:29.950 --> 00:09:34.210 for us today. We need to remember that today. 00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:36.230 We need to ask ourselves the question, do we 00:09:36.230 --> 00:09:38.309 love God with all of our heart? Do we trust him? 00:09:38.669 --> 00:09:41.230 Do we fear him? Do we follow his instructions? 00:09:41.950 --> 00:09:45.129 Do you love other people? Do you love your neighbor 00:09:45.129 --> 00:09:49.909 as yourself? Do you do this? And Jesus said, 00:09:50.070 --> 00:09:53.289 okay, you understand what to do. You've answered 00:09:53.289 --> 00:09:58.269 correctly. Do this and you will live. Now that 00:09:58.269 --> 00:10:01.500 could have been the end of the story. The guy 00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:03.779 understood what God's word said. He knew what 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:06.559 was required of him. Jesus said, you asked the 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:08.899 question. You gave the right answer. You're correct. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:13.639 Go and do what you just said. But the story does 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:17.299 not end there. Let's read the next verse. Verse 00:10:17.299 --> 00:10:21.899 29. But wanting to justify himself, he asked 00:10:21.899 --> 00:10:28.570 Jesus, and who is my neighbor? wanting to justify 00:10:28.570 --> 00:10:31.210 himself. So perhaps he was a little self -righteous. 00:10:32.190 --> 00:10:34.750 Maybe he thought, I got the right answer. I'm 00:10:34.750 --> 00:10:37.809 doing this. I'm loving God. I'm loving my neighbor. 00:10:37.909 --> 00:10:40.750 But wanting to justify himself, perhaps wanting 00:10:40.750 --> 00:10:45.450 Jesus to... kind of applaud him again or acknowledge 00:10:45.450 --> 00:10:47.470 that he knew what he was talking about or knew 00:10:47.470 --> 00:10:49.870 what he was doing again. He pressed a little 00:10:49.870 --> 00:10:52.889 further. He knew what was required. He understood 00:10:52.889 --> 00:10:55.289 that he should love God and love his neighbor. 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:58.669 But wanting to justify himself, he continues 00:10:58.669 --> 00:11:02.789 this question a little further. And so as Jesus 00:11:02.789 --> 00:11:06.450 so brilliantly does, he takes the man's question 00:11:06.450 --> 00:11:10.750 and he presents a story to answer that question 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:14.710 in a way that Probably caught the guy off guard. 00:11:15.289 --> 00:11:18.049 And it's a story that we need to listen to that 00:11:18.049 --> 00:11:21.870 might catch us off guard today too. Verse 30. 00:11:22.610 --> 00:11:26.450 Jesus took up the question and said, A man was 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:29.250 going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:32.629 into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, 00:11:32.769 --> 00:11:37.570 beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 00:11:38.110 --> 00:11:41.600 Alright, simple story. Jesus talking about a 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.799 man, he's going from Jerusalem to Jericho, gets 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.799 attacked by robbers in bad shape. Now you can 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:49.720 imagine that that's probably not a good situation 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.620 to be in. You could maybe imagine if that happened 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:54.899 to you, that if you were on your way home today 00:11:54.899 --> 00:11:57.610 and somebody... pulled out in front of you and 00:11:57.610 --> 00:11:59.429 cut you off and wrecked you and pulled you out 00:11:59.429 --> 00:12:01.830 of the car and beat you down and took everything 00:12:01.830 --> 00:12:04.169 you had and left you on the side of the road 00:12:04.169 --> 00:12:07.070 for dead. Imagine if you were in that situation. 00:12:07.230 --> 00:12:10.169 That's the situation that Jesus presents here. 00:12:10.250 --> 00:12:13.730 So a man gets attacked. He's in bad shape. He 00:12:13.730 --> 00:12:18.350 is helpless. He needs somebody to help him. Let's 00:12:18.350 --> 00:12:24.269 continue on. Verse 31. A priest happened to be 00:12:24.269 --> 00:12:28.139 going down the road. When he saw him, he passed 00:12:28.139 --> 00:12:31.840 by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:36.120 when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:40.360 by on the other side. Okay, so the guy's laying 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:41.899 on the side of the road. He's helpless. He's 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:44.580 in bad shape. He's probably going to die unless 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:48.179 he gets some help. And lo and behold, who does 00:12:48.179 --> 00:12:52.639 Jesus say comes by first? The person that Jesus 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:57.480 says comes by first, is a person that's well 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.360 -respected, is a person that's well -loved. Now 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:04.600 imagine if you were laying on the road dying. 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:07.799 Remember that name I told you to think of, that 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:09.960 person that you really respected, that you looked 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.759 up to, that was as godly a man or woman as you 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:15.779 know, that would surely do the will of God. Imagine 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:18.000 you being there saying, help, I need some help. 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:22.980 And imagine that person walking by. That's what 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:25.399 Jesus is saying here. He's saying a priest, somebody 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:29.419 that's well -respected, a man of God, of all 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:31.919 the people that you would think would stop and 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.720 serve and help and love on somebody in need, 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:38.340 you would think it would be a man of God. A well 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:44.139 -respected, good, righteous man. But the well 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:48.460 -respected, good, righteous man wasn't so righteous, 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:52.850 was he? He wasn't so godly, was he? have a heart 00:13:52.850 --> 00:13:57.289 of compassion, he'd walk right on by. And it 00:13:57.289 --> 00:13:59.470 says a Levite, somebody else who worked in the 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:02.450 temple. You'd think, well, golly, the priest 00:14:02.450 --> 00:14:04.429 should stop. Surely somebody that works in the 00:14:04.429 --> 00:14:06.809 temple or maybe in our... Surely somebody that 00:14:06.809 --> 00:14:09.730 works at the church. Surely a deacon of the church. 00:14:09.889 --> 00:14:11.389 They're supposed to be a servant. That's what 00:14:11.389 --> 00:14:13.809 a deacon does. Surely the deacon would stop and 00:14:13.809 --> 00:14:16.629 help. Surely the Sunday school teacher would 00:14:16.629 --> 00:14:20.840 stop and help. Jesus says this man's wounded. 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:22.919 He's on the side of the road, left for dead. 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:26.720 And the two people that you would think would 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:30.919 have stopped to help him passed him right on 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:34.320 by. But Jesus knows what he's doing when he gives 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:38.419 these examples. He gives examples of people that 00:14:38.419 --> 00:14:41.659 you think would stop and help. But these people 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:45.240 are not the hero of the story. Listen as we continue 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:50.940 on. Verse 33. But a Samaritan on his journey 00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:55.299 came up to him. Now, it's important that we recognize 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:59.679 what Jesus is saying here. Now, we hear a story 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:01.860 and we hear the good Samaritan. And some of us 00:15:01.860 --> 00:15:03.879 have heard it and we think, good Samaritan. Or 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:06.080 we do a good deed and we say, I'm a good Samaritan. 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:08.320 Or we see somebody do a good deed and they say, 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:11.120 they're a good Samaritan. But we need to understand 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:15.419 what Jesus is saying here. A Samaritan was... 00:15:16.520 --> 00:15:20.899 not to be a likely hero in this story. This expert 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:25.379 in the law was likely a Jewish person, and there 00:15:25.379 --> 00:15:28.220 was a big tension there between the Jewish people 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:31.019 and the Samaritans. The Jewish people did not 00:15:31.019 --> 00:15:33.879 like the Samaritans. The Samaritans would have 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:35.960 been the descendants of the Israelites from the 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.820 ten tribes of Israel back when they were overtaken, 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:44.210 and the southern tribes... Judah became the Jewish 00:15:44.210 --> 00:15:47.570 people that we see in Jesus' day. But they really 00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:49.990 looked down on the Samaritans. They considered 00:15:49.990 --> 00:15:53.490 them to be a lower quality of people. They just 00:15:53.490 --> 00:15:56.450 did not like the Samaritans at all. And so here's 00:15:56.450 --> 00:16:00.669 this Jewish expert in the law who probably would 00:16:00.669 --> 00:16:03.230 have really looked up to the priest and the Levites 00:16:03.230 --> 00:16:05.990 and really thought these are the godly men. And 00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:09.350 Jesus makes the priest and the Levite in this 00:16:09.350 --> 00:16:13.250 story. Be the one who passes the man in need 00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:18.809 up. And of all people for Jesus to choose, he 00:16:18.809 --> 00:16:24.850 said, but a Samaritan. Somebody that the Jews 00:16:24.850 --> 00:16:29.350 hated, that they loathed, that they looked down 00:16:29.350 --> 00:16:35.190 upon. But the Samaritan came up and stopped to 00:16:35.190 --> 00:16:37.289 help the man. Now I want you to think of that 00:16:37.289 --> 00:16:40.000 person I told you to really hate. that you really 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.279 hate, that you really dislike, that you really 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:44.740 don't want nothing to do with them. Maybe it's 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:47.039 a person, maybe it's a group of people. And imagine, 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:50.120 imagine if you were in your deepest, darkest 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.440 time of need and the people that you think are 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.440 the most godly are the ones that pass you up. 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.460 And think of all the people, when you are at 00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:03.159 your lowest point, the one who stops is the one 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:07.220 that you just cannot stand. That you don't even 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:09.640 want to, the person you wouldn't spit on if they 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:12.099 were on fire. I'm talking about, and that's the 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:16.740 person that stopped to help you. Well, that's 00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:18.980 what Jesus is trying to get across here. He's 00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:21.599 trying to make a point. This guy said, who's 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:24.599 my neighbor? Wanting to justify himself, probably 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:27.299 thinking he's a pretty godly man and probably 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:30.619 pretty good to other people. And Jesus probably 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:34.279 struck a nerve by saying, the hero of this story. 00:17:35.109 --> 00:17:39.609 is somebody that you despise. The hero, the neighbor, 00:17:39.710 --> 00:17:42.609 the person who did the right thing is the one 00:17:42.609 --> 00:17:46.509 who you despise. And so the Samaritan came up 00:17:46.509 --> 00:17:49.829 and listened to what he did. But a Samaritan 00:17:49.829 --> 00:17:52.250 on his journey came up to him, and when he saw 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:55.369 the man, he had compassion. He went over to him 00:17:55.369 --> 00:17:58.910 and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil 00:17:58.910 --> 00:18:01.589 and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, 00:18:01.710 --> 00:18:04.269 brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 00:18:04.670 --> 00:18:07.690 The next day he took two denarii, gave them to 00:18:07.690 --> 00:18:10.930 the innkeeper, and said, Take care of him. When 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:14.630 I come back, I'll reimburse you for whatever 00:18:14.630 --> 00:18:19.670 extra you spend. Okay, so not only did the Samaritan 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:22.869 stop. It's good that he stopped, praise the Lord. 00:18:22.930 --> 00:18:25.529 The other ones didn't even do that. But he didn't 00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:28.009 just stop and say, Hey, I see you got problems. 00:18:28.150 --> 00:18:31.059 Let me go call 911. He didn't say, let me go 00:18:31.059 --> 00:18:34.019 find some help. He didn't say that. It said that 00:18:34.019 --> 00:18:39.339 the Samaritan, he saw the person in need and 00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:42.859 he had compassion. That's a beautiful word. It's 00:18:42.859 --> 00:18:44.859 a beautiful word and it's a more beautiful thing. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:48.539 Compassion is a beautiful thing. Maybe you've 00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:51.160 experienced it before. When you were at a time 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:52.640 when you were helpless and you were hopeless 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.180 and you were really struggling and somebody came 00:18:55.180 --> 00:18:57.440 up and they loved on you and they helped you, 00:18:57.500 --> 00:19:01.319 that's a beautiful thing. We need to have compassion 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:02.819 to other people. And you say, well, how do I 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:05.460 have compassion? Well, look at the story of the 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:09.059 Good Samaritan. He stops. He takes care of the 00:19:09.059 --> 00:19:10.759 guy. He says, let me see what I got. He takes 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:14.900 what he has. He kind of bandages the guy up as 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:18.839 best he can. And then he takes him and puts him 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:21.779 on his own animal. So he didn't say, I got this 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:23.819 animal. I'll ride this animal into town. I'll 00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:26.500 send back for you. Nope. He puts the guy on his 00:19:26.500 --> 00:19:28.720 own animal, which means he probably had to walk. 00:19:29.259 --> 00:19:32.200 He puts the guy on his own animal, and he takes 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:34.640 the guy into town, and he doesn't just take him 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.480 to the hospital and drop him off. He doesn't 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:39.140 say, all right, man, be on your way. He continues 00:19:39.140 --> 00:19:42.579 on. He just continues on with his generosity 00:19:42.579 --> 00:19:45.680 and his compassion. He doesn't do just enough 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:47.680 to pat himself on the back and feel better about 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:51.200 himself. Sometimes we may be guilty of that. 00:19:52.099 --> 00:19:54.339 We may see somebody in need, and we may stop 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:56.079 and roll down the window and say, hey, man, how 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:59.339 you doing? You need some help? And then we roll 00:19:59.339 --> 00:20:00.980 the window up and drive off, and we pat ourselves 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:02.859 on the back. We say, well, I tried. I did my 00:20:02.859 --> 00:20:07.759 part. But this guy didn't just half -heartedly 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:11.160 try. He really cared, and he really made an effort. 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:13.779 So he takes the guy into town. He puts him up 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:17.460 in a lodging place for the night, and then he 00:20:17.460 --> 00:20:20.559 takes care of him all night. And when he leaves, 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:23.759 he gives the guy two denarii, the guy that runs 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:25.460 the lodging place. He gives him two denarii. 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:28.430 That's two days' worth of wages. Two days' worth 00:20:28.430 --> 00:20:30.529 of wages. Think about how much money you make 00:20:30.529 --> 00:20:33.589 in two days. I mean, that's not an insignificant 00:20:33.589 --> 00:20:36.849 amount of money. And this guy gave two days' 00:20:37.029 --> 00:20:39.210 wages. He left him there, and he said, look, 00:20:39.369 --> 00:20:41.950 this guy's been hurt. I bandaged him up. I took 00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:44.369 care of him the best I can. He needs to stay 00:20:44.369 --> 00:20:46.329 here for a little longer. I want to go ahead 00:20:46.329 --> 00:20:50.269 and pay in advance. And he says, not only will 00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:53.549 I do that, but just keep a record. If you need 00:20:53.549 --> 00:20:55.809 more money, just let me know. I'll pay you when 00:20:55.809 --> 00:21:00.970 I come back through. Now that's compassion right 00:21:00.970 --> 00:21:05.369 there. Like that's going all the way. Jesus takes 00:21:05.369 --> 00:21:09.990 this low life, no good, look down upon Samaritan 00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:15.150 and he becomes the hero of the story and does 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:19.210 what all of those who claim to be God's children 00:21:19.210 --> 00:21:22.769 should do. Everyone who follows God who does 00:21:22.769 --> 00:21:25.990 that. First and foremost, the priest should have 00:21:25.990 --> 00:21:29.160 done that. But it's not just the duty of the 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:32.440 priest or the preacher or those in higher positions 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:34.920 of power, if you call them that, if we put that 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.539 label on it. It's not just for people with a 00:21:37.539 --> 00:21:39.960 title that are called to do God's will and God's 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:42.599 work. It's all of God's children who are called 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:46.019 to do God's will and God's work. We're all called 00:21:46.019 --> 00:21:50.039 to follow God. We're all called to love our neighbor 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:56.400 as ourself. Now, if there's somebody... in our 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:00.579 life that's had compassion on us, that shouldn't 00:22:00.579 --> 00:22:04.880 we be those who have compassion on others? So 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:10.539 how can we, how can we, experiencing the forgiveness 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:14.099 and the grace of God through Jesus Christ, knowing 00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:16.660 how rotten and wretched we are, how can we look 00:22:16.660 --> 00:22:20.740 at some others with such hatred in our heart? 00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:23.589 And with such bitterness in our heart and with 00:22:23.589 --> 00:22:25.549 such pride in our heart and think that we are 00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:29.410 better than somebody else, that they are undeserving, 00:22:29.430 --> 00:22:32.569 that they are worthless, that they should have 00:22:32.569 --> 00:22:34.690 done something for themselves. How many times 00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:37.289 would we pass the man or the woman on the street 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:39.670 up and say, well, if they'd have done better, 00:22:39.769 --> 00:22:43.309 they wouldn't be in that shape. And say, well, 00:22:43.329 --> 00:22:45.809 God wants us to help those people. And then people, 00:22:45.950 --> 00:22:48.390 people, this is what we do. Y 'all don't do this. 00:22:48.410 --> 00:22:49.970 Praise the Lord. Y 'all don't do this. Other 00:22:49.970 --> 00:22:53.119 people do. they'll say something like this. It's 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:54.500 one of my favorite scriptures. It's one of the 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:56.960 most quoted scriptures. They say, well, I'll 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.099 tell you what, God helps those who help themselves. 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:03.559 It's one of my favorite scriptures that's not 00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:06.279 in the Bible. Did you know that scripture is 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.019 not in the Bible? It is not in the Bible. So 00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:10.940 if you've been using it, you need to stop using 00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:14.079 it because the Bible does not say that. And if 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.799 you find it in there, would you please show me 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.990 and I will... announce an apology and a correction 00:23:19.990 --> 00:23:24.369 next week. The Bible does not say God helps those 00:23:24.369 --> 00:23:26.930 who help themselves. Now, we can look at people 00:23:26.930 --> 00:23:29.789 who are just in bad shape, laying around, and 00:23:29.789 --> 00:23:31.690 we can come up with all kinds of excuses why 00:23:31.690 --> 00:23:33.869 we don't want to help them. But the fact of the 00:23:33.869 --> 00:23:36.769 matter is, God's Word says just the opposite 00:23:36.769 --> 00:23:39.750 of that. Let me tell you what God's Word says. 00:23:40.289 --> 00:23:42.630 It doesn't say God helps those who help themselves. 00:23:42.789 --> 00:23:48.759 In Romans chapter 5, it says in verse 6, helpless 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:53.500 at the appointed moment Christ died for the ungodly. 00:23:54.660 --> 00:23:58.160 While you were still helpless. While you were 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:01.960 still helpless. God didn't save your soul. God 00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.079 doesn't bless you today with the blessings you 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:07.369 have because you are so awesome. He did not look 00:24:07.369 --> 00:24:10.809 down and say, golly, he is so good and she is 00:24:10.809 --> 00:24:13.089 so good. And I know they're going to sit on those 00:24:13.089 --> 00:24:16.529 pews at Enterprise on June the 14th, 2026 and 00:24:16.529 --> 00:24:19.269 years before and years after. And they are so 00:24:19.269 --> 00:24:21.970 good. I cannot wait to bless them because they 00:24:21.970 --> 00:24:24.210 have done everything that I wanted them to do. 00:24:24.210 --> 00:24:27.210 And I know they'll do more. That is not what 00:24:27.210 --> 00:24:29.849 the Scripture says. God doesn't say, they have 00:24:29.849 --> 00:24:31.529 done something, they have helped themselves, 00:24:31.670 --> 00:24:35.190 so let me pour out my blessings upon them. God's 00:24:35.190 --> 00:24:38.450 Word says that while you were still helpless, 00:24:38.630 --> 00:24:42.210 you have nothing to offer God. There's nothing 00:24:42.210 --> 00:24:44.529 that you can do to earn God's grace and God's 00:24:44.529 --> 00:24:47.730 forgiveness and God's salvation. And Jesus looked 00:24:47.730 --> 00:24:50.829 down on you in the midst of all your sinfulness 00:24:50.829 --> 00:24:53.690 and all your hatred, knowing that you were going 00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:55.710 to hate the neighbor that you should be loving. 00:24:55.890 --> 00:24:59.430 And while you were still helpless, Jesus Christ 00:24:59.430 --> 00:25:04.710 died so you could be forgiven. That's the Word 00:25:04.710 --> 00:25:06.589 of God. It doesn't say God helps those who help 00:25:06.589 --> 00:25:09.049 himself. It says that while we're helpless, God 00:25:09.049 --> 00:25:12.849 helps us. That's good news for us today. Some 00:25:12.849 --> 00:25:16.019 of us feel helpless today. Some of you... You 00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:18.359 just feel so helpless. And that's good news for 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:20.980 you, that God loves you, that Jesus died for 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:22.859 you in your current state, knowing you're helpless. 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:25.019 But I want to tell you, there's help in Jesus 00:25:25.019 --> 00:25:28.019 Christ. He skipped down a couple of verses. Verse 00:25:28.019 --> 00:25:32.240 8, Romans 5, 8. But God proves his own love for 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:35.259 us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:39.539 died for us. That's the gospel. That's the grace. 00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:44.720 That's the good news today. God doesn't just... 00:25:44.990 --> 00:25:48.529 Love us because we're so awesome. That He loves 00:25:48.529 --> 00:25:53.049 us even though we are just horrible and wretched 00:25:53.049 --> 00:25:57.490 people. Now, if God has helped us when we were 00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:01.509 helpless, then how can we pass up other people 00:26:01.509 --> 00:26:04.970 who are in need? Now, there are people in our 00:26:04.970 --> 00:26:08.029 life, or some of us, who are honest, and we just 00:26:08.029 --> 00:26:10.970 don't like them. Maybe if we're really honest, 00:26:11.029 --> 00:26:14.470 we would say we just hate them. But just... We 00:26:14.470 --> 00:26:19.970 don't want anything to do with them. But if Christ 00:26:19.970 --> 00:26:23.789 is our example, and if He helps us while we are 00:26:23.789 --> 00:26:27.829 helpless and undeserving, then that's what God 00:26:27.829 --> 00:26:31.869 calls us to do. We don't want to fall into the 00:26:31.869 --> 00:26:34.930 trap of this expert in the law. Boy, he knew 00:26:34.930 --> 00:26:37.430 the right answer. He knew what God required of 00:26:37.430 --> 00:26:39.990 him. To love God and to love his neighbor. He 00:26:39.990 --> 00:26:46.069 knew the right answer. But was he living it out? 00:26:46.890 --> 00:26:49.970 He wanted to justify himself. Sometimes perhaps 00:26:49.970 --> 00:26:52.829 we become self -righteous and we think, man, 00:26:52.970 --> 00:26:55.710 I'm a godly man and a godly woman. Well, let 00:26:55.710 --> 00:26:57.910 me ask you this. Would you help that person you 00:26:57.910 --> 00:27:00.130 hate? And you said, not in a million years. Then 00:27:00.130 --> 00:27:05.410 you need to go back and look at your life. If 00:27:05.410 --> 00:27:09.269 we're not at a point in our life where we're 00:27:09.269 --> 00:27:11.450 willing to try to start helping those that have 00:27:11.450 --> 00:27:14.240 done us wrong, and we're willing to start helping 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:16.700 those that we have looked down upon and we have 00:27:16.700 --> 00:27:19.640 thought less of, if we're not willing to do that, 00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:23.740 then maybe, just maybe, we have not experienced 00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:31.000 the love of God for ourselves. Now, it's not 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:34.200 easy. There are people who have wronged us in 00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:38.440 some horrible ways. They have broken us and they 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:41.630 have done... horrible wrongs to us. There is 00:27:41.630 --> 00:27:44.730 no question about that. And I'm not telling you 00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:47.049 that it's always going to be easy. It's not. 00:27:47.150 --> 00:27:50.170 We cannot do it in our own power. We cannot have 00:27:50.170 --> 00:27:54.970 that kind of love for people on our own. But 00:27:54.970 --> 00:27:56.690 we can learn that kind of love through Jesus 00:27:56.690 --> 00:28:00.890 Christ. We can learn when we look at his example 00:28:00.890 --> 00:28:03.269 on those days where we want to be so quick to 00:28:03.269 --> 00:28:06.150 judge. others for what they do and how they live 00:28:06.150 --> 00:28:08.109 and how they need to change their life and then 00:28:08.109 --> 00:28:10.369 they would be deserving of some help, when we 00:28:10.369 --> 00:28:12.329 look at our own life and say, but wait a minute, 00:28:12.369 --> 00:28:16.849 God didn't do that to me. If you've experienced 00:28:16.849 --> 00:28:20.650 the grace of God, then it's up to you to give 00:28:20.650 --> 00:28:24.309 the grace of God. It's up to you not to just 00:28:24.309 --> 00:28:26.089 help those people that you really look up to 00:28:26.089 --> 00:28:28.230 and respect, but think about that person that 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:31.269 you really loathe and think, would I help that 00:28:31.269 --> 00:28:35.319 person? If the answer to that question is no 00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:37.259 today, then praise the Lord that you're here, 00:28:37.299 --> 00:28:39.900 that you get to hear this story, that you can 00:28:39.900 --> 00:28:42.039 pray to God and say, okay, God, I want to change. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:48.779 But the sad part about this, the sad part about 00:28:48.779 --> 00:28:52.440 this story is that there are people who hear 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:57.119 this parable, they know God's word. They know 00:28:57.119 --> 00:28:59.440 that it says to love God with all your heart 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:01.890 and love your neighbor. They know what it says. 00:29:01.970 --> 00:29:05.609 They know what God calls them to. They see and 00:29:05.609 --> 00:29:08.670 they understand what Jesus is saying. They hear 00:29:08.670 --> 00:29:11.250 this story. They know what the love of Jesus 00:29:11.250 --> 00:29:13.809 Christ is. They know that they're supposed to 00:29:13.809 --> 00:29:16.970 love other people. And they hear the story and 00:29:16.970 --> 00:29:23.009 they say, but I'll never love that person. I'll 00:29:23.009 --> 00:29:27.750 never forgive that person. I'll never help that 00:29:27.750 --> 00:29:32.019 person. If that's you today, that's a bad place 00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:41.259 to be. That is a bad place to be. So we hear 00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:43.019 the story, so what are we going to do with it? 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:46.079 What are we going to do with it? It's an easy 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:53.799 story. It's an easy story to understand. That 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:55.559 we're to be a neighbor to those in need. That's 00:29:55.559 --> 00:29:58.640 who our neighbor is. It's not the person who 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:01.079 lives next door. It's not the one you knock on 00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:02.420 the door and say, hey, can I get a cup of sugar? 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:06.299 That's not your neighbor. I mean, it is your 00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:09.500 neighbor, but Jesus is going far beyond that. 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:13.799 Jesus says your neighbor is the one who's in 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:16.380 need that you can help. That's your neighbor. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:19.779 Maybe somebody you see on your way home today. 00:30:20.900 --> 00:30:25.819 Maybe somebody you see in New York. Wherever 00:30:25.819 --> 00:30:29.460 you see them. Wherever you see a person in need 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:35.000 that's struggling, that's your neighbor. And 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:37.039 we're not called to help them because of what 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.900 they've done or what they can do for us. When 00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:43.660 we see helpless people, we shouldn't say, God 00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:45.359 helps those who help themselves. When we see 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:47.980 helpless people, we should say, God, help me 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:54.559 to help them. Help me to help them. After Jesus 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:57.359 read the... Or told the story to this man, this 00:30:57.359 --> 00:31:00.940 parable. In verse 36 he says, Which of these 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:03.059 three do you think proved to be a neighbor to 00:31:03.059 --> 00:31:05.960 the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? 00:31:07.460 --> 00:31:12.359 The one who showed mercy to him, he said. Then 00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:19.420 Jesus told him, Go and do the same. You've heard 00:31:19.420 --> 00:31:22.200 the story. You know what God calls us to. To 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:24.299 love God, to love our neighbor. You know what 00:31:24.299 --> 00:31:26.299 it means to be a neighbor. You know who a neighbor 00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:29.420 is. It's one who shows mercy. The guy, he got 00:31:29.420 --> 00:31:33.440 the right answer every time. And then Jesus tells 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:39.160 him, you got it. Now go do it. I don't know if 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:41.819 he did it or not. Maybe he did. Maybe this expert 00:31:41.819 --> 00:31:44.160 in the law, maybe this parable changed his life. 00:31:45.900 --> 00:31:48.500 Maybe he went and he had a whole new perspective. 00:31:50.630 --> 00:31:52.569 And he went to be a neighbor to all those that 00:31:52.569 --> 00:31:54.910 he would encounter from the rest of his life. 00:31:55.130 --> 00:31:59.970 Maybe he did. I don't know. I don't know what 00:31:59.970 --> 00:32:02.710 he did. I don't know what you're going to do. 00:32:03.869 --> 00:32:07.990 But you have to make the choice. Here's the word 00:32:07.990 --> 00:32:11.430 of Jesus to us today. Go and do the same. You 00:32:11.430 --> 00:32:12.970 said, man, there's some parts of that story I 00:32:12.970 --> 00:32:14.369 didn't get or I wasn't paying attention or I 00:32:14.369 --> 00:32:15.450 was thinking about what I was going to do next 00:32:15.450 --> 00:32:18.210 week. Go back and read it again this week. Read 00:32:18.210 --> 00:32:20.450 it ten times if you need to. Read the story. 00:32:20.509 --> 00:32:22.549 Try to understand the story. Pray that God would 00:32:22.549 --> 00:32:24.650 help you to understand the story. Pray that God 00:32:24.650 --> 00:32:26.490 would change your heart. And once you've read 00:32:26.490 --> 00:32:28.349 the story and you understand the story, listen 00:32:28.349 --> 00:32:31.089 to the words of Jesus and the command to each 00:32:31.089 --> 00:32:34.470 of us today where Jesus says, go and do the same. 00:32:37.589 --> 00:32:41.869 That's it. That's the command. Will you follow 00:32:41.869 --> 00:32:45.710 that command? Only you can answer that question. 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:54.720 Will you help those who are helpless? Jesus helped 00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:58.079 those who were helpless. He gave his life so 00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.559 that you could be forgiven, so that you could 00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:01.480 experience grace and peace. I hope that you've 00:33:01.480 --> 00:33:03.319 experienced that today. Maybe you've never put 00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:08.119 your trust in Jesus. I encourage you to just 00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:10.779 pray even now. Just bow your head and pray. Repent 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:13.619 of your sins. Ask God to forgive you. Acknowledge 00:33:13.619 --> 00:33:15.039 that you are helpless and you've got nothing 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:17.059 to offer, but you know that Jesus offered his 00:33:17.059 --> 00:33:19.569 life and you just want to... Accept that sacrifice 00:33:19.569 --> 00:33:22.349 today. If you've never followed Jesus, I hope 00:33:22.349 --> 00:33:26.190 that you will. And if you are a follower of Jesus 00:33:26.190 --> 00:33:28.029 Christ today, then you've experienced grace. 00:33:29.490 --> 00:33:33.849 You've been helped. Now take that grace and go 00:33:33.849 --> 00:33:37.730 and share it with other people. Let's pray. God, 00:33:37.769 --> 00:33:39.410 we come to you. We thank you for your good word. 00:33:40.390 --> 00:33:42.309 I pray, dear Lord, that you'd help us to look 00:33:42.309 --> 00:33:45.769 at our own hearts with a story like this. Sometimes 00:33:45.769 --> 00:33:49.319 we might fall into the trap of, Self -righteousness, 00:33:49.339 --> 00:33:53.339 God. That we begin to think that we are doing 00:33:53.339 --> 00:33:56.000 so good and we are such good followers of you. 00:33:57.220 --> 00:34:00.079 God, so many times maybe there's some things 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:01.900 in our heart that shouldn't be there. Maybe there 00:34:01.900 --> 00:34:07.259 is some hatred and some real disdain for certain 00:34:07.259 --> 00:34:09.260 people, dear Lord. Maybe there are people or 00:34:09.260 --> 00:34:11.260 people groups that we just loathe, dear Lord. 00:34:11.340 --> 00:34:14.619 And that's not good. It's not right. So I pray 00:34:14.619 --> 00:34:17.090 that we wouldn't... Pass people up, dear Lord, 00:34:17.230 --> 00:34:20.190 and be judgmental. And pass them up as though 00:34:20.190 --> 00:34:22.429 we are awesome and they are worthless, dear Lord. 00:34:22.510 --> 00:34:26.369 That is totally not the case, God. You helped 00:34:26.369 --> 00:34:28.389 us when we were helpless through Jesus Christ. 00:34:28.570 --> 00:34:31.289 And I pray, God, that we would experience that 00:34:31.289 --> 00:34:33.230 compassion and grace and share it with others. 00:34:34.050 --> 00:34:37.090 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.