WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.839 For more information on our church, please visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:07.440 My name is Lance Williams. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:10.800 I am the Spiritual Formation Pastor here at Grand Parkway. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:14.320 It is truly my honor to be with you today and to be preaching today. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:21.039 We're in our second week of our summer sermon series on the parables of Jesus. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:29.120 And today we are going to be looking at Luke 10, verse 25, otherwise known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:30.800 And I can already see it now. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.119 Some of you have already checked out. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:42.479 Because I have just referenced one of the most popular and well-known stories in the entire Bible, much less the New Testament. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:49.600 If I was to ask you what the most popular or the most well-known story of the Old Testament is, you would say. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:53.200 Alright, fine, I'll go. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:54.159 I got the mic. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:55.759 I'll go with Jonah. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:56.479 I think Jonah. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.799 I mean, Jonah's one of those that uh, man, you learn when you were like a kid, right? 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:07.519 Um but here's the thing: just like with Jonah is in the Old Testament, so the good some parable of the Good Samaritan is in the New Testament. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:08.879 It's familiar. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:15.040 Uh it's something that if we're not careful, we could read through and kind of glaze over and go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:16.799 Give me the good stuff. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:21.359 Uh I used to think of Jonah that way until I taught through it over this past year. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:31.280 And I probably didn't have a more life-shaping time in my own class than when I started, and we uh we we read and listened about what God had to say in the book of Jonah. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:32.239 Very familiar. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:38.159 Uh, and in fact, we started in that class by drawing what the story of the book of Jonah was in crayons. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:44.480 Uh so just in case you think you're intimidated by going up to a Bible community, every once in a while we'll just we'll just bust out the crayons on you. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:46.400 Uh, you just never know what you're gonna get up there. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:50.079 But the same thing for Luke 10, 25 to 37. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:55.920 If we're not careful, we can pick up God's word and all of a sudden treat it like it's not God's word. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:00.640 Like men and women didn't die to preserve this for you and I. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:06.159 Like it's not uh living and active, like it's not sharper than any two-edged sword. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:14.639 And we can just kind of read this like it's another book on the bookshelf when we come across stories like the parable of the good Samaritan. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:20.800 Before I was married, after I got out of AM, uh I fought the Lord, uh, much like Jonah did. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:26.800 I was saying, don't send me back to Houston, send me anywhere but back to Houston, but he sent me back to Houston. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:32.960 Uh and so uh this is again before I was married, went to First Baptist, it was great, went there for about three years, they didn't have a pastor. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:45.599 It was a long time between uh uh Brother John and Greg Mott, and I was there during that time, and it seemed like almost every week they brought in a guest preacher, and almost every week they preached on the Good Samaritan. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:54.159 And I couldn't stand it, uh, and here I am today preaching on the Good Samaritan. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.280 So you're not the only one that's been tempted this week to just check out, and I created the schedule. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:00.560 So, how do you like that? 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:06.319 Uh but nonetheless, we have this danger that familiarity can cause us to glaze over the text. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:12.159 So let's see if we can shed some fresh light on what can be very, very familiar. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:17.120 And before we get to Luke 10, let me just pick up, before we pick up there, let me just uh share a little context. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:20.400 It's always dangerous to kind of just jump into one part of the story. 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:22.319 Uh here's what we have in Luke 10. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:25.680 Jesus has just sent out his 72 disciples. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:26.960 Who knew he had that many? 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:28.400 You just think he had 12. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:30.000 Uh, he had at least 72. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:49.039 So he sent out 72, and they go two by two to all these different villages, some of them in Samaria, some of them where uh the Samaritans rejected these 72, but nonetheless, they go out, he sends them out on mission, and he brings them all back, and they all come back and they're going, oh man, the devil is like fleeing from us, demons are leaving people, sicknesses are being healed. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:50.240 This is awesome. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.280 And Jesus says, Hey, don't rejoice that all those things are happening. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:55.599 Rejoice that your name is written in the book of life. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:05.120 And so he's telling them what to do, how to do it, what to believe in, the highest priority in life, not that you get to do cool things, but that you get to know a great, unbelievable God. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:06.400 Huge difference. 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:20.480 So there's this huddle that's going on, and all of a sudden, a lawyer breaks in, kind of comes in from the back, breaks in through the center where Jesus is, teaching all his disciples, and he stands up to test Jesus by asking him a question. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:23.759 Did you know that's how the Good Samaritan started? 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:25.519 Me either. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:26.240 See there? 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:27.759 It's already fresh and new. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.920 Luke 10, 25 through 37. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:33.759 Says this. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:40.959 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.319 And he said to him, What is written in the law, and how do you read it? 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:53.120 And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:58.560 And he said to him, You have answered correctly, do this, and you will live. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:05.040 But he, the lawyer, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:14.399 And Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him, and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:19.519 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:24.160 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:31.040 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, and he had compassion. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:36.000 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:39.759 And when he set him on his own animal, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:43.920 And the next day he took out two dinari and gave them to the innkeeper. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.480 Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:54.720 And which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? 00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:04.480 And he said, The one who showed him mercy, and Jesus said to him, You go and do likewise. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:14.160 Now, when we look at this text, uh there's really three main questions that kind of frame it, so that we can get our three main points for today. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:23.360 The first question comes right there in verse 25, when the lawyer, uh and I love how how Luke, and you'll find this, we'll we'll talk about this all throughout uh today's sermon. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.800 Uh Luke just starts adding in all these great details. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.839 Uh that where that's where the fresh light comes from today, really. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:31.680 But he adds this detail up in the front. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.959 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:41.199 Never a good start to the day when you're trying to put Jesus to the test. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.680 And uh and of course we know that. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:51.120 Uh, and Luke tells us that, and he says this, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:59.519 And that brings us our first point, and that is this eternal life is inherited, not earned. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:06.639 See, the issue here that the lawyer has is not just that he's testing him, but that he's got a flawed question. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:10.399 His question is completely flawed right there in the middle of it. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:11.920 Teacher, what shall I do? 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:13.680 What are some things that I can do? 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:18.879 What are some good works that I can do to inherit eternal life? 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:24.959 It's perhaps the most fundamental question that you and I will ever ask in life. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:26.319 How do I get there? 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:28.399 How do I get to know this Jesus? 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.160 And how do I get to heaven? 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:39.600 And perhaps those are our words, but the words that he uses are completely flawed because he's asking, what can he do to get something that can't be earned? 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:49.680 The lawyer tests Jesus with this flawed questions because the reality is this inheritances are not earned. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:55.920 Inheritances are not earned, they are given based on a relationship. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.600 And so some of us, most of us, don't know really what an inheritance is. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:01.279 We've never gotten an inheritance. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:08.480 Uh and so there's others of us in this room that they only hear of an inheritance that might be out there one day if no one spends it all. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:17.759 Uh and but the reality is this, it's it's true no matter what, especially in the Word, that inheritance is based on relationship and not on earning. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:18.879 Excuse me. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:22.639 My wife and I had the opportunity to go up to Boulder recently, Colorado. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:25.519 Uh if you didn't know where Boulder was, beautiful little town. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:27.519 Weird, weird little town. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:28.480 Uh very weird. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:31.519 Like if you think Austin is weird, go to Boulder. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.679 Uh uh, they don't have shirts in Boulder that says keep Boulder weird, okay? 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.159 That just that there's no point for it. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:39.759 It's you walk in and it's weird. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:42.000 You don't have to have a t-shirt to let everybody know. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:49.120 It's just you have dreadlocks, apparently, and everybody, it's like the in-vogue thing to do is to act like you're homeless. 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:54.639 And I don't get that, but like most people that are homeless are gonna try and work their tail off to get out of that state. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.159 But people in Boulder are saying, hey, it's cool, we're gonna be acting like we're homeless. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.480 We got dreadlocks, they don't have shirts on half of them. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:01.440 It's kind of weird. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:06.639 Uh I've coined the phrase that people in Boulder, it is for the city, for people that never want to grow up. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:12.080 I mean, they went there, they went to school there, they went to Colorado or University of Colorado, and they never left. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:20.399 I mean, they were like 65, 70-year-old men that were riding around on bicycles without a shirt on, long hair, bandana, and a backpack. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.320 And I was like, this doesn't happen in Sugarland. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:24.320 I this I'm liking this. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.159 This is good stuff right here. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:33.519 Uh but it's a weird, weird town, but it's beautiful little town, uh, especially in the summertime when we got to go just a few weeks ago. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.039 Uh and we were there, and we were there on a Saturday, and they had opened up the mall. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.159 If you don't know anything about Boulder, they have this great mall, outdoor mall. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.519 It's called Pearl Street Mall. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:50.960 You can walk and it goes for miles, and we're kind of taking in all the sights and listening to all the musicians and just doing all the things that you normally do when you're in a different setting, like a tourist. 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:55.919 And uh we come upon this sign, and we read this sign from far away, and it's different. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.159 And we read this sign, and it had a bunch of other things on it. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:03.279 But the two that I can remember are these free dream interpretations, free healing. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:05.279 And this intrigued me. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.600 I was like, ooh, I like this already. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:09.600 But it looked a little different to me. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:10.960 And this is how it was different. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.840 The people that were behind the sign didn't look homeless. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:18.000 Uh, they were actually kind of like normal people, like sugarlanders or whatever. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.879 And they were just, they looked normal and they were playing guitar and singing. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:22.159 I was like, this is different. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.799 Something tells me these people are believers. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:29.200 And so, what better way to find out if they're believers than to spy on them? 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:36.399 Uh and so why have an intentional conversation when I can just get close enough to listen to what they're singing, to what they're playing, and what they're saying to people. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:38.000 And so I, me being Mr. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:43.440 Inconspicuous, uh, we get real close and I start looking at this tree like it's the greatest tree ever known to man. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.440 And I just, oh, look at this tree. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:48.480 And I apparently am not intentional enough to have a conversation. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.000 And so I'm staring at this tree, and finally somebody comes up to me and goes, Hey man, what's your name? 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.159 I was like, oh, beautiful. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.559 I think they are Christians, they're engaging me. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:57.840 So we start talking. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:10:59.840 They are believers, they are with a church. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.519 Um, tell me about your son. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:03.519 He goes, hey man, we're in boulder. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.759 I said, Yeah, I figured that was what was going on. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:07.759 It's like you don't hand out bottled water, okay? 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.039 That's what you see in sugar land. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.320 In boulder, it's free dreams and free healings. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:14.639 That's just, you're gonna have to get their attention somehow. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:19.440 So we start talking, and I start basically just kind of just saying, hey, where do you guys stand on some things? 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.840 Now it just so happened that Neil had just got done preaching out of Romans 8. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:32.799 I know that was some weeks ago, but recall with me if you can, uh, that one of the things that Neil said in one of those uh passages was that not everybody is a child of God. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:33.919 Do you remember this? 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:46.000 And that only believers in Christ are children of God because passages like Romans 8, where it says that the Spirit of God enables us to cry out, Abba, Father. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:47.200 That's a relational term. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:55.919 It's the Spirit of God within only believers that empower you to cry out to God as your father, making you his kid. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:57.679 Same thing happens in John 1. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:04.879 John 1 says that those who would believe in Jesus have been given the right to become children of God. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:09.120 Meaning you don't have the right if you don't believe in Jesus. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.360 And so I just asked the guy, it was fresh on my mind. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.279 I just said, hey, now is everybody here? 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:14.799 Are we all children of God? 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.480 Is everybody in? 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.600 Amen, I guess. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:23.039 And I he just said to me, Yeah, we're all in. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:24.799 And I said, Really? 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:25.840 Help me understand that. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:27.519 He goes, Well, this is how this is how it works. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.440 I said, Oh, this is gonna be good. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:37.600 He said, basically, what we believe at our church is that God has given his inheritance to everyone on the face of the earth. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:39.759 All you have to do is wake up to it. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:43.200 That sounds new agey to me. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.799 Uh I got the heebie-jeebies a little bit, but then I got excited because I just started asking him questions. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:49.759 Tell me about that. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:50.879 How does that work? 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.440 What do you mean that everybody has an inheritance already? 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:55.039 He goes, Yeah, well, just think about it. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:05.200 If God didn't already give you his inheritance to people, everyone, then that's like a stingy God, a stingy father that has an inheritance, but it's all locked up and you can't get to it. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.679 Well, that would be true if that was true about God, but it's not true about God. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:13.120 You see, God is very selective in who he gives his inheritance to. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.279 And it's only to his kids. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:27.519 I said, because here's the thing, you're gonna put God in a pretty bad situation that I don't think you want your God to be in, in that let's just say they have an inheritance that's already been given to them and they haven't awoken up to it. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:29.919 Let's just say they die, and then what happens? 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:35.039 Then you have God having to reject his own children because they haven't woken up to their own inheritance. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.559 That doesn't make any sense. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:37.600 That's not in the Bible. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:45.840 If you would just keep reading in Romans 8 that he quoted, you would see the Spirit of God enables us to be children of God. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.240 I said, Let me tell you this, and let me just illustrate it like this. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.879 Me and my buddy were there with our kids, or excuse me, with uh with our spouses, no, no kids. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:53.919 Oh, thank you. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.399 Uh which was beautiful, right? 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:59.440 So we're hanging out, and I said, Look, I said, let me just illustrate it like this. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:01.519 I said, I've got two kids of my own. 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.799 My buddy Brett over here has three kids of his own. 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:07.679 I said, I don't have an inheritance for Brett's kids. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.480 I love Brett's kids, I enjoy Brett's kids. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:12.240 I've been on vacation with Brett's kids. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:15.039 I got nothing for Brett's kids when I die. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:17.919 On the other hand, Brett doesn't have anything for my kids. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:18.960 But guess what? 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:24.720 Brett is gonna work his whole life to build up an inheritance so that he can give that to his own children. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:26.799 It's the same thing for me. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:47.600 I'm gonna build and work my whole life and build up an inheritance to hopefully I can give them something, if nothing else, a legacy of a life well lived, that they can look back and tell great stories, not of an honest, good, hardworking man, although that will be great, but that of a man that was a sinner that was changed by grace, completely changed by grace, and enabled to love God and love others. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.919 I tell you all that because that was pretty much the end of our conversation. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.159 He's like, Well, have a good day. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:55.360 All right. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:00.480 I tell you all that because inheritance is not earned. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:03.200 It is not earned. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.000 Uh uh excuse me, eternal life is inherited. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:07.519 It is not earned. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:12.399 It is only based on our relationship with the Father, and not everybody gets it. 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:14.159 Only believers get it. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:16.000 Now I tell you all that to set up this. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.320 Jesus is about to tell this guy all you got to do is be a good person. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:21.679 And you're in. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:27.519 And that will freak all of us out if we don't know the reason why Jesus is doing it. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:29.360 And let me just give it away. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:31.600 Because there's no such thing as a good person. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:32.879 None. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:38.960 The Bible will tell us over and over and over again, there is no one good, not even one. 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:43.200 You are all like sheep who have gone astray and gone your own way. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:49.039 And so when this guy, this lawyer, stands up to test Jesus, he thinks he knows the answer he's going to get. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:50.240 Because that's what lawyers do. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.879 They ask questions and they know the answers. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:54.720 And so he starts to ask this question. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:56.399 He says, Teacher, what must I do? 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:57.519 How do I earn it? 00:15:57.679 --> 00:15:58.480 How do I get it? 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:00.000 This thing called eternal life. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:04.159 And Jesus says to him in verse 26, What is written in the law? 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:05.519 How do you read it? 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.080 I don't have time to go into this, but any good teacher will point you back to God's word. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:11.919 Just that that's for free. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:12.960 Verse 27. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:22.159 And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.039 And he said to him, You've answered correctly. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.639 Do this, and you will live. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:34.559 So what we hear in all that is you just gotta do a bunch of stuff and you'll get eternal life. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:38.480 But the problem is Jesus knows something that the lawyer apparently doesn't. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:43.440 And it's what's written right there in the law, this holistic faith. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:51.919 Four times right there, does Jesus say, and does the law say, you gotta love the Lord with all your heart. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:17:12.799 With your whole heart, all your mind, all your strength, all your soul, all of it, your whole affection, every bit of emotion that you have, all of your soul, all of your drive, your whole uh strength, all of your drive, all of your intellect, all of the reason that you have, every little bit of it. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:17.519 And oh, by the way, you have to do it perfectly because that's what the law requires. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:19.119 Anybody done this? 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:20.400 No. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:21.680 No one. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.799 That's the whole point that Jesus is making to this lawyer. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:27.359 You might be an expert in the law, but let me tell you something. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:28.720 You can't do this. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.759 That's why he says, if you can do this, you'll live. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.000 AKA, you can't do this. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:35.119 You need me. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:43.279 This holistic faith that Jesus introduces to him. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:45.839 He's not saying, oh, just be a good person. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:48.960 Oh, just obey the Ten Commandments and you'll live. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:59.599 I can't tell you how many family functions that I've gone to, either on my side or Melissa's side, that have eroded into talks about faith, about being good, about being honest, about being an obeyer of the Ten Commandments. 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:02.559 If you just do the Ten Commandments, everything will work out. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.559 That's not Christianity. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:09.440 Absolutely not Christianity. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:14.160 Christianity is not based on what we can do or what we will do or what we have done. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:17.279 Instead, it's what Jesus has done on our behalf. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:20.799 And that's what throws the lawyer for a loop. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:26.240 Because no one can obey the law perfectly, completely Jesus' point. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:29.599 It's echoed in James chapter 2, verse 10. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:42.079 When Jesus, his brother, literally, says this for whoever keeps the law, keeps the whole law, but fails in one point, has become accountable for all of it. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.079 So let me get this straight. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:51.680 I'm not a murderer, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not this, I'm not that, I'm not a liar, I'm not a cheater, I'm not all these different things, great, good. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:55.279 All these all the different Ten Commandments of honor, my mother and my father, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:56.799 You keep the whole law, great. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:57.839 But here's the thing. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.759 When you Jesus comes on the scene, he says, Okay, you're not a murderer, but hey, guess what? 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.240 When you're angry with your brother, you've murdered him in your heart. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:05.920 Okay, sorry. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:08.240 You're not an adulterer? 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:08.480 Cool. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:09.279 Well, hey, guess what? 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:14.720 When you lust after a man or a woman, uh, you've committed adulterer, adultery with her in your heart. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.319 Okay, thanks. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:18.720 So what was a big command? 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:20.880 All of a sudden Jesus comes on the scene and changes it. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:21.839 He says, Oh, no, no. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.480 It's not a matter of action, it's a matter of the heart. 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.079 It's a matter of your soul, it's a matter of what's going on on the inside. 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:38.079 And so that's why James says, if you have, even if you think you're a good person, hey, by the way, if you've done a little bit of wrong, you're accountable, and you you might as well be just as guilty of all of it. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:45.759 And so all of a sudden we have this lawyer who is starting to think on his feet a little bit. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:49.359 And he asks another question, which brings us to our second point. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:52.960 The second question is found in verse 29. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:58.640 He says, But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:04.480 Now, again, the details in this text are so poignant and so good, so juicy. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:07.519 It leads us to our second point, really, and that is this. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:10.559 Self-justification is sneaky. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:14.960 You might say to yourself, Why is that even part of what you're talking about today? 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.359 We're talking about the Good Samaritan, which by the way, you haven't gotten to yet. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:18.079 Can you get to it? 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:19.519 I'll get to it. 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:23.759 There's too many other stuff going on here in this text that we just can't ignore. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:26.240 Self-justification is sneaky. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:31.359 Now, I say that, but let me before I even say that, get to that, let me just say this. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:35.599 The lawyer's motivation here, he's basically saying, how do I get out of this? 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:37.440 What's a loophole here? 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.279 I can I love the Lord my God, I'm an expert in the law, I can get all that down. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:49.359 This whole loving my neighbor thing, if my definition of a neighbor doesn't agree with your definition of a neighbor, I might be in trouble. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:51.519 So how do I, what's a loophole here? 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:54.079 How do I get out of loving my neighbor? 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:55.200 Is it just my friends? 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:56.319 Is it just my family? 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.240 Is it just those that agree with me? 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.279 Is it just those that look like me and talk like me? 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.480 Whatever it is, all of it has to do with me. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:10.400 And no wonder it's self-justification that's motivating this man. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:17.680 Because it's sneaky, he doesn't even know it's happening, but it's clear to Luke, who's writing, and to Jesus. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:29.279 Self-justification can be defined like this it's relying upon your own measure of goodness for acceptance with God and with others. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:41.200 It's relying on your own measure of goodness for acceptance, whereas justification, biblical justification, is relying and trusting in someone else's goodness for acceptance, especially with God. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:44.799 Self justification, my good works, equals acceptance. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.720 Justification, which Romans will say, we've talked about this from this stage. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:59.599 Romans would say that if we are justified by faith, it's something that we place our faith in someone else's goodness, someone else's perfection. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.119 So that we may be made right. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:10.319 And the lawyer says, I got this whole thing down, and he's looking for a loophole so he can stand justified. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:15.599 At the center of what he's trying to do is me, me, me, me, me. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.799 When we get into all this, is he's just become a Lubies theologian, right? 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.640 This is before Lubi's. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:25.200 Yeah, okay, so that's my reference as a Lubies theologian. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.559 Uh they've all closed down, apparently. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:27.839 Have you found a Lubies? 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:28.720 Anyone anywhere? 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:34.079 Uh for those of you who don't know what Lubi's is, it's it's a cafeteria where they serve mediocre food, okay? 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.599 Uh except for the fish, the mystery fish that's in a square. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:40.400 I've never seen a square fish, but I love that square fish. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:44.160 Give me some Luan platter with some extra lemons and tartar sauce. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:46.960 I don't like tartar sauce, but it would have been good. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.319 But he becomes a Lubi's theologian, right? 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:55.839 He just goes down the line and says, I'll take a little love for God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind, with all my strength. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.039 Keep the love of your neighbor. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:58.079 No broccoli today. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:58.640 Appreciate you. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.680 A little jello over here. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:01.359 Oh, and a nice tea. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.400 Now we're all guilty of this. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:09.200 We all read God's word and we go, ah, that can't mean what it says. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.160 That can't, and I've got to find a loophole here. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:12.640 Let's see. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:14.160 All right, let's let's start looking. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:14.720 Why? 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:16.720 Because we want to justify ourselves. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:19.839 We want to justify the life that we have already lived. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:22.799 If it means life change, no thanks. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:24.880 Because that means hard work. 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:26.720 That means inconvenience. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.599 And so this justification of himself sneaks up on him. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:36.000 And he's really just saying, Have I done enough? 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:39.039 How can I excuse myself from the responsibility? 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:49.279 And here's the reality: if we get to define who we love, when we love them, how we love them, then we're no better than the world. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.160 And Jesus said it like this in Matthew 5. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:58.559 He said this, for if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:02.880 Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:06.400 Isn't just the refuse of that society? 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:07.440 Don't they just do this? 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:11.680 This is you, you're living in no other manner than the world. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:14.480 If you just love those who love you. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:22.799 Instead, what God is going to bring out in this beautiful parable, as the as the attorney, the lawyer asks, Who is my neighbor? 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:28.480 He starts to bring out this great, great truth that we'll get to in just a second. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:34.079 His motivation is self-justification instead of loving God. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:35.920 It is sneaky. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:41.519 Smart people, which are sometimes lawyers, sometimes, just never know. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:46.079 Smart people struggle with this one because they can always find an out. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:52.480 They can, it's it, it's it's almost always, if not always, done with their mouths. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:56.880 They win arguments with their spouses, their coworkers, their friends. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:02.319 Self-justifiers are those that don't easily admit when they are wrong when they can get confronted. 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:08.480 They usually find ways to rationalize their behavior, their motives, their actions, their reputation. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:12.400 And you know that it's happening because they're talking. 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:18.400 Wouldn't it be great to live a life where you didn't have to explain all of your actions? 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:19.359 Hey, where were you? 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:20.319 Well, you know where I was. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:20.640 It's good. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:30.960 I mean, what happened to all of a sudden, all of these self-justifying words have to start coming out because you weren't living rightly to begin with. 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:36.160 I love what Richard Foster had to say in his book called Celebration of Discipline. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:47.759 When he talks about all these different disciplines that we are called to really do as believers, he talks on silence and solitude, really in the same chapter, and he says this about self-justification. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:58.720 He said, Silence is one of the deepest disciplines of the Spirit, simply because it puts the stopper on all self-justification. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:06.160 One of the fruits of silence is the freedom to let God be our justifier. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:10.880 Wouldn't it be great to live in such a way where you didn't have to explain yourself all the time? 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:17.519 That your actions just explained who you are, what you believe in, and the great God that has adopted you. 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:23.200 This self-justifier was trying to get out of his responsibility. 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:27.200 And so it leads us really to our last and final question that Jesus asked. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:29.279 The first two were asked by the lawyer. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:34.960 The last one is asked by Jesus all the way down in verse 36. 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:45.200 It says, This Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:47.200 Who is the neighbor? 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:51.680 He tells the story after a question is asked, Who is my neighbor? 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:55.440 And then he asks the lawyer, Who do you think proved to be the neighbor? 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:57.039 Unbelievable question. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:58.880 And let me just give you the answer. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:01.359 Neighbors are verbs. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:03.920