Are You as Good as a Samaritan?

Good morning, everyone! You can stop your feet from tapping now if you want. That was a toe-tapping song. It was really inspiring. Thank you, Prisca, and thank you, Jacqueline. We certainly appreciate your expertise, your talent, and we thank you for sharing it with us all. Are you as good as a Samaritan? There used to be a program on TV. Wasn't it, Are you as smart as a 10-year-old, or an 8-year-old, whatever it was? And then they would ask them questions to see if you knew. I'm going to ask you, Are you as good as a Samaritan? The parable of the Good Samaritan was given by Jesus Christ. He gave it in response to a lawyer, a man who was skilled in the law, who knew how to finagle the law, who knew how to interpret the law. This was the danger of these lawyers. They studied the law, and then they would try to take it a certain way and add to it, or detract from it depending on what would benefit them and their interpretation. And so this lawyer asked Jesus Christ a question. He said, What do I have to do to have eternal life? And Jesus Christ said, Well, what does the law say? And he said, Well, it says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, which is the Shema. And also, Love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus said, You've answered right. You've answered correctly. And then the man, then Jesus said, Do you follow that? Do you love your neighbor? And the man said, Who is my neighbor? So he's like, What is this? What is the lie? What is the lie about Ben-Gos? What is the lie here? What is the lie there? What is that? Who is my neighbor? So Jesus Christ told this parable in answer to that request or that retort. Now, what we have to understand about parables, Jesus Christ said many. There are many parables. And of course, a lot of people think that a parable is to merely help you understand what he's trying to say better by giving you a story or an allegory or a simile or whatever, in order to try to illustrate some figurative example. And this is what you'll find. Let me read it to you. What is a parable? Here's from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary. A short, simple story designed to communicate a spiritual truth, a religious principle, or a moral lesson. A figure of speech in which truth is illustrated by comparison or example drawn from everyday experience. And the word for parable, balo, parabalo, means to cast aside. So you take one side and it shows you the other side. So it's like a comparison. A parable is often no more than an extended metaphor I'm quoting now, or simile, using figurative language in the form of a story to illustrate a particular truth. The word parabala means to lay it by the side or casting it alongside, thus a comparison or a likeness. So that's what a parable is. And many people believe that a parable is given to make the meaning clear. But let's understand from over in Matthew 13. Matthew 13. What did Jesus say? Why did he speak to them in parables? In fact, the disciples said. Why do you speak to them in parables? You know later on when Jesus Christ spoke something very plain, they said, Lo, now you speak plainly. Now you're giving us the plain. Because while a parable could help you understand a particular principle or lesson better, it can also be misinterpreted unless you knew the truth, unless you knew the Bible, and unless you interpreted that parable in the light of Scripture and in the light of God's Holy Spirit.

So let's take a look at Matthew 13. Matthew 13 and verse 10. And the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables? Why do you always use these parables? Why do you give these stories? Why do you give these illustrations? And he answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. So what do I do? I throw up this story so that they could take it and run in any which direction, unless they're guided by the word of truth and unless they're guided by God's Holy Spirit. So he said, To you it's been given to understand the kingdom, but to them it's not given. For whosoever has to him will be given more. He will have abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has, will be taken away from him. Verse 13 clarifies it. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they see a story, they see not, they don't know what the purpose of that story was. They can misinterpret that real easily. They can go down a path that Jesus never intended them to go. Hence, when I went to the Greek Orthodox Church, or Syrian Orthodox Church, the priest would take anything. Everything seemed to turn around to giving an offering in the offering plate. Every little sermon that was supposed to be the sermon, it really was more like a less than a sermon, maybe a 10 minute homily that he would give. Whatever it was, it always seemed to turn around. As a young 17-year-old trying to match my brother who had already gone to Ambassador College, well, he's going to be religious. I'm going to start being religious again. We had been not brought up Orthodox, but with my parents, I was baptized as an Orthodox triple immersion as a baby. But that didn't take. My parents didn't go to church either very regularly. When I started going, my dad started to go. So then, the last time I ever went there, I went on Easter Sunday night, Friday night or something, and they were marching around with candles saying, He's risen, He's risen. Well, still the night, how's He risen? He's risen today. Anyway, He's risen, He's risen. And I said, you know, this is more than I can handle, because I was also starting to read some of the literature from the church. This is more than I can handle. I'm not going back ever again.

But going to that church, I had that understanding. I went to be more spiritual. But every time that priest would say something, every little sermon almost seemed to bring it around to give more offering in the offering plate. Why is He doing that? I couldn't figure out how this wonderful prayer seemed to be a nice story. Next time, I turn around, giving offering in an offering plate. I'm not going down that path, and I'm not going to read it. But Jesus said, I speak to them in parables because they see, they do not see. Hearing, they do not hear. They hear signs, but they don't hear clearly what the purpose of those words are.

He says, and hearing, they do not hear, and nor do they understand. But in verse 16, He says, blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. So we're going to take a look at the parable of the Good Samaritan. We're going to try to take a look at it, not through my eyes, not through my interpretation, not through some lawyer's interpretation, but through what the Bible says. So let's take a look at it. We'll give you some background from commentaries. Commentaries are very good when they stay out of doctrine to give you background. So I went through quite a number of commentaries on this, quite a number of different translations, and I think I have some interesting points to bring to you. So let's take a look at Luke chapter 10, verses 30 to 37, before we actually ask ourselves the question, Am I as good as a Samaritan? And we'll see the biblical lessons that we may learn from this teaching, this parable of Jesus Christ. First, let's take a look at it, and I'll try to go through and expound this for you somewhat as we go through each verse. So Luke chapter 10, verse 25 is when the lawyer said to him, What may I do? Have eternal life. And he says, What's written in your law? What is your reading of it? How do you read it? And the man said, Well, he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus said to him, You have answered rightly, Do this. Now, here's where the lawyer didn't like it. The lawyer likes interpreting law, likes reading the law, likes understanding the law. What didn't the lawyer like having to do it, as the sermon that brought out? The human nature, carnal nature, zenmity against God, not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So he said, Do this, and you will live. You want to have life? Walk in my ways. You want to have life? Walk in my ways. You're walking in my ways. I'm leading you in the paths of righteousness, and I'm leading you to eternal life.

So he said, Walk in my ways. But he wanting to justify himself, because he wasn't walking in that way. He willing to justify himself said to Jesus, Who is my neighbor? Now, let's get into this discussion. Let's have this little discussion back and forth. Who is my neighbor? Define this for me. And then, verse 30, Jesus Christ gives the parable. Verse 30, he says, Jesus answered and said, A certain man, this is a parable, because it's a certain man, it's not anybody specific, but who would this certain man be?

Not a Gentile. If it were a Gentile, it was a Gentile. No, it's a Jew. Jews understood by the context. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Stop there. Jerusalem to Jericho is one of the famous roads there. It's about 18 miles north, Jericho is about 18 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Very dangerous territory. It's even called the Bloody Road. The Bloody Road. It was desolate. After two miles out of Jerusalem, it was desolate.

You had Bethany from Bethany on. I've been to Bethany. I still remember Bethany because I loved the story about Jesus Christ and what Lazarus and Martha and Mary lived there. Jesus often lodged there a short distance from there to the Mount of Olives and from there to Jerusalem itself.

But after that, it became very dangerous, rocky terrain and desolate, except for one inn along the way. Not a holiday inn. Not a comfort inn. Not even much of an inn. But it had an inn, and there was an innkeeper there. The innkeepers didn't check you in. I'll check you in. Now, innkeepers didn't typically do that. They didn't have a restaurant. Where's your café here? There's no restaurant. In fact, most inns never served you food. They provided a place for you to bed your animals down.

They provided a place for you to sleep, and they were notoriously filthy. Notoriously filthy, and oftentimes robbers would hang out there because then they had somebody who goes to sleep, and they still had his goods. So Paul experienced some of those things in his travels. They had to be extremely careful where he stayed. So here's the inn. Before we get to the inn, he comes down here. He went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Very dangerous territory. Very dangerous. A lot of rocks, a lot of places to hide out, and to ambush someone or bushwhack him. A lot of places. And you'll notice, as he went down, he fell among thieves.

Other translations instead of fell among can also be translated. He was surrounded by. But the word thief can also mean robber. In fact, it is translated at least four or five times robber. And a thief is somebody who takes something, pilferers. He's only interested in pilfering. But a robber or a plunderer can beat you up, too. He mugs you, and then he takes your goods. Because they didn't just take his goods. They took his clothing. They stripped him of his clothing. So you'll see, fell among thieves or robbers who stripped him of his clothing. So somebody stripped him of his clothing.

You're going to be a little bit embarrassed. But you're also wounded and left there. Wounded him. See, these weren't just thieves. They weren't just after his money. Or they'd say, give me your money, give me your goods, and I'm on their way.

They beat him up and left him there. Leaving him, and they departed after they did, leaving him half dead. So the man probably wasn't moving very much. He was just lying there in his lacerations, bruises, and blood. Who's lying there? Get the picture. So here's a Jew. He's on his way down to Jericho. By the way, they say, in many of the caravans that go back and forth, this was a story in 1852 by a man who had visited that area. If they went from Jerusalem to Jericho, they always had accompaniment.

They always had guards for someone to go along with them, because they would not go by themselves, or have a company of people join with a caravan and go. So this man was going down. Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that road. Why would a priest be going down that road? Because Jericho is where 12,000 priests and Levites lived. That's where they were based. But their service was where?

In the temple of God in Jerusalem. So they were constantly going back and forth, and I don't know if they were immune to being, whether people considered it sacrilege to rob them or whatever. But he was going down. He was going past this man. And by chance. So he didn't go over there. He didn't go down here to find somebody injured. He was just going, oh, there's a guy injured over there. Notice, by chance, a certain priest, and by the way, a priest was considered the most religious person.

The most religious person who's practicing all this. That's why when a minister does something wrong, we all yell at him, even though we might be guilty of something ourselves. Well, you're supposed to. I always tell brethren, because I preach the truth of God, it doesn't mean I'm always good at it. I'm trying. I've tried to be. It doesn't mean I'm always good at falling. I'm trying to be. Because I preach the perfect word of God, I'm not perfect. And don't expect perfection from man. No man can be perfect.

Christ was. No man. So, here we find this priest, considered to be the most religious person, when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. We don't know why. I don't want to get involved. There's going to be a crime, there's going to be an investigation. The police will come for a witness. They want to question me.

I've got to get down to Jericho. My family's waiting for me. It might cost me to stay overnight at that inn that I have because I'll be delayed. Who knows what? I might be defiled if I don't touch this man with blood or whatever.

I might be defiled. Who knows his reason? We don't know. It doesn't say. But he saw him and he went by on the other side. Now, it is interesting in the Scriptures. Deuteronomy 22, verses 1-4 talk about helping your brother, helping him with his animals, that they get lost. Helping him with... if there's something... and certainly if you're going to help them with something that gets lost, you're going to obviously help him.

If you come upon him, if you come upon his lost, then you're supposed to find where does this animal belong to. If you're going to find to whom that animal belongs, you certainly want to find how this guy can get better. Want to help him. It would be expected of a priest to do so. But he didn't. He just... oh, it was a dead body. I'm not getting involved. Kept on going. Now, by chance, likewise it says... and of course he passed by on the other side.

So he was coming down and... There's a wounded person over there. How do I get involved? Likewise, a Levite... again, a Levite was a second most religious person, looked up to. The difference between a priest and a Levite... the priest did the priestly duties like offering sacrifices, like conducting morning and evening services. He did more of the spiritual things, much like ministry today. We do a lot more than that. But like the ministry today, why do you have deacons?

You have deacons to help take care of the physical setup. Could Mr. Myers do all the physical setup? Yes, he's capable. He's able. I used to be able to. I probably could do a lot of it, still. But the point being, should we leave preaching the Word of God to wait on tables?

That's what they asked in Acts 6. They said, no, let's appoint men who are wise and who are sagacious, and these men are able. They're not... what are getting a bunch of brawny men? Who could lift this weight? Okay, you're a deacon. That isn't why they did it. They had to be wise people, too. They had to know how to interact with people. They had to know how to treat people. Levites took care of cleaning the temple. Levites took care of assisting the priests in whatever duties the priest would prescribe for them.

Plus, they had the responsibility for keeping the utensils of the tabernacle or the temple. So Levites had a lot to do, but they weren't in the category of priests. Oftentimes, we confuse them. Only a certain portion of Aaron's family, the Levites, only a certain portion were priests. Those were the sons and children of Aaron. And you had Levites from the tribe of Levi who assigned to do that as well. Okay, so notice the difference. Anyway, the Levite came by, likewise a Levite, verse 32, when he arrived at the place, he came and looked.

Now, some will say he did the same thing. He just came and passed by. Other commentaries and other translations will say he came, as the New King James says. He came and looked. He didn't just say, oh, there's a body over there. I'm going over there. He came and he looked. So they say he may have paid a little more attention, but he still was derelict in his duty.

He did not help his brother. So his second most religious man came and looked, and he passed by on the other side. All his body's in my way. I guess I'll just go around it. I'm not going to help the man. Now, Jesus told this story very advisedly. Why? Because the two most religious people in the Jewish faith did not stop and help their brother or this Jew.

That's the person they were supposed to be serving. Now, he comes to a certain Samaritan. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. So Samaritan was going to know this. Samaritans were hated by the Jews. They were worse than the regular Gentiles. Gentiles weren't so good either. But a Samaritan, these were the ones who were brought in to fill in the area of Samaria after the ten tribes had been taken into captivity. And they were brought in, and then they brought in their idols, and they were idol worshiped, and then they had some terrible times, difficulties in their region.

And they decided, since they were in the country of Judea or Israel, maybe they needed to learn more about Israel's laws and practices and Israel's God. So they brought in some Jewish teachers, rabbis, to teach them about Judaism. So they learned some of the law of God, but they didn't practice it well. So they were sort of quasi-Jews. But the Jews hated them because they distorted.

Of course, they tried to impede the building of the temple back in Haggai's day. The Samaritans were not loved at all. In fact, just give you one scripture on it. Matthew 10 and verse 5, what Jesus Christ said when He sent His disciples out to preach the Word. Hold your place in Luke chapter 10. And let's go to Matthew 10, verse 5. These 12, Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying, Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, notice He distinguished Gentile from, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.

Don't even go through a city of the Samaritans. Skirt around it. When my wife and I were over there in 1983 with the students from Ambassador College of Chaperones, we had a day or so that we could take our kids and zoom up to, I wanted to go up to Nazareth. Nazareth is right in the area where the Samaritans would have been, and where Arabs are now. And the people said, You're going up in that area?

Yeah, why not? I don't know where I got my boldness, but I just went and I didn't care. You know, the people sent them out, I said, Oh, I'm Arabic. Oh, do you speak Arabic? No. Well, shame on you. Well, shame on me, but I don't know. I can know how to, enough food that I won't starve to death because I know that name's for food. It's the only thing my mom would ever tell us names of, and we knew what those were because we practiced them. But she didn't tell us anything else because she didn't want us to know when she was talking to my dad about us in Arabic.

So, they said, Are you going up there? Are you going through that territory? Yeah, I'm not afraid to go through that territory. But Samaritans, if you go up to Samaria, oh, they don't want you to, you don't want to go up there. You go around it, take a route around it, even if the most direct route is going through a city of the Samaritans, go around it. So, that's what Jesus Christ thought of them. And if you want another scripture, John 4, verse 9, John 4 and verse 9 is where Jesus was encountering the Samaritan woman at the well, John 4 and verse 9.

The woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask, Drink from me, a Samaritan woman? Last part of it, For Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Now, how powerful was this lesson that Jesus Christ was giving? So, he sets it up, and he doesn't mind calling him a Samaritan, because he's trying to teach this lawyer something. The lawyer said, Who's my neighbor? And here we have two individuals, a priest and a Levite, who were supposed to be most neighborly to their fellow Jews, at least, and they avoid helping him. Now you have a Samaritan who's aided by the Jews. There's enmity, and you know they felt the animosity from the Israelites, just like the Jews, just like the Jews felt it from them.

And so, in verse 33, by a certain Samaritan, he was lower than low. The others are too high, high religious figures. Him, lower than low.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had Elios, mercy, pity upon him. Obviously, he knew he was a Jew. He knew he wasn't a Samaritan. He helped him. He saw him. He had pity on him. Again, compassion for him and upon him. Even though this was an avowed enemy of theirs. Verse 34, He went to him. So he saw him. Oh no, there's a person over there injured. Oh no! He went to him. And by the way, at times, you have to be careful today. It's because of the love of many waxes cold. Because of the inequity of bounds, it sometimes hinders our ability to help people. Ladies, do not stop to help someone. Unless you have a couple of big, brawny men in the car with you. Do not, one lady in New Jersey did, end up being raped. Because there was just a ploy, a person lying down on the side of the road. She was driving on some back farm road to go home. And she stopped to help them. When she got out, then the guys jumped out from the woods, raped her, stole her car, and left her there.

Don't, you can't do it. I don't often, I won't stop from by myself or just my wife and me, but there are two of us. I remember in Buffalo, New York, Charles Bryson, he's big and tall Texan. And I was in fighting condition back in those days, and he was too. So he was a boxer before, so I felt really good to have him with me. We saw a lady stopped at the side of the road. She had a flat tire or whatever, so he pulled up and said, You don't need any help.

May we help you? And she let us help her, and we helped her on her way. There were two of us. I was looking around, I watched the circumstances, there weren't any places for them to ambush us. But you be very careful today, because the Nick what he does about it causes you to check your love. But this man didn't worry about that, did he? He went over, he saw him, he had compassion on him, he went to him, and he banished his wounds.

So he took steps to help him. He bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Apparently they mixed oil and wine to make it kind of like an aloe or a salve or whatever, to put on. It's supposed to cleanse, and it's also supposed to promote the healing. He set him on his own animal. It means he helped him mount it. He didn't pick him up. He may have had to pick him up, but he helped him mount his animal.

The old King James says, Beast. What did he have? A dragon? What did he have there for him to get on? Get on my dragon, my pet dragon. Here, I'll take you. It means a domestic animal, and New King James calls it to set him on his animal. Who knows? It might have been a mule, could have been a horse, probably a mule, maybe a horse. I thought it was an ox, but he put him on there. Instead of him being able to ride on his animal, he had to walk to the inn, which is several miles away.

So he put him on his animal and brought him to an inn. Remember, an inn was not some great place. An inn was not some great place. And he took care of him. He took care of him. Think about that. He didn't just, okay, bring him to the inn, drop him off, I've got to get going. Spent the night, probably wise, to help that man at least gain some strength through this before he left him. And in verse 35, on the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, or two pints, worth about anywhere from 27 to 34 cents combined. But they would buy ten times what we would buy with 34 cents.

That might get him a pack of chewing gum today, right? Or two packs, maybe. But the point being, back then, money stretched much farther. My dad talked about buying a dozen of eggs for five cents in his day, 1910, 1911, 1912, somewhere in there. Getting wheat, getting meat. So things were cheaper back, and they could get that much farther back.

So one commentary says he probably could have lived two days off of that. And in fact, to leave two pints, you know how long it took that man, if he was an average worker, to make those two pints? Two days work. Two days work for two pints. So he gave up two days of his income to keep this Jew in this place.

He said, here. And he said, here's two pints, two pennies. Gave them to the innkeeper, said take care of him. So maybe the innkeeper took up his own provisions and gave him something. We don't know. Doesn't say that. They normally didn't supply food. But maybe he said here, if you give him a little bit of nourishment, watch over him, here's some money for you. And whatever else you have to pay, notice what he says to the innkeeper, take care of him. And whatever more you spend, when I come, I will repay you.

I mean, we used to believe people. We had our service station. We believed people. They forgot my credit card. Okay, we'll give you the money. Come back. You don't pay us. We didn't write down his name, address, license, number, and all this. And we figured if he runs away for seven bucks worth of gasoline, which buys you a lot of gasoline in those days, if he runs off for that, so what?

But we trusted people. You could believe them. Now you don't trust them. I mean, you can't even get trusted to put money in the bank. I took some money to put in the bank. They didn't recognize me. She said, can I see identification? What? I'm going to give you some money and you want to see my identification? My driver's license. Of course, I don't have to do that to vote.

I mean, that's the way sometimes people do in those states. You don't have to do that to vote. It's the states. You don't have to do that. Why? You want people who are uninformed and not necessarily citizens to vote. Because they'll vote for the people who let them in, and sadly enough. But anyway, they want to see your ID. Show me your ID. They didn't ask for ID. If you spend more, I'll pay you more when I return. I'll pay you more when I return. So again, here's what James and Fawcett and Brown says, On the morrow when he departed, took out two pence, equal to two days wages of a labor, enough for several days support.

You know, just food and water, whatever, care. So which of these three, he said then, verse 36, Do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? Who do you think was a good neighbor? Who do you think? And he said, so the lawyer said, Notice, He who showed mercy on him. Notice the lawyer cannot bring himself to say the Samaritan.

Jesus is just a pronoun in personal words. He, he, he who showed mercy on him. Now Jesus said this which the lawyer would not have liked. Go and do likewise.

The lawyer had figured it out himself. And instead of Jesus saying to him, You need to do it. Jesus said, You go and do likewise. The lawyer had figured out who was the neighbor. Who was the neighbor? So again, let's go through and take a look at what biblical lessons we can learn from this parable of the Good Samaritan and ask ourselves, Am I as good as a Samaritan?

So here's some lessons. I have eight of them. Eight lessons that we can learn. That are for us. That we can learn from this biblically. Number one, first lesson. Who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? Well, you're supposed to love your neighbor as yourself. Who is your neighbor? Who is, who is the neighbor of the Good Samaritan?

A hateful Jew, an enemy really, of the Jew, of the Samaritan people.

And yet he helped him. Who's your neighbor? Whoever's in your vicinity?

Whoever's in your vicinity at any particular time? You would be my neighbors now. If I'm sitting at home, my neighbor, and across the street, next door, around, across the— the guy who comes into my home to repair my chair, he's my neighbor. Who's your neighbor? Those in our areas, various areas of life. If you're a student, it's your schoolmates.

It's your fellow schoolmates. It's your classmates. If you're a worker, it's your people at work. Not only those, but work, too. If you're driving down the street and a police officer stops you to tell you your taillight is bad, he's your neighbor.

The people at the grocery store, when you're shopping around, they're your neighbors.

Who's your neighbor? See, Jesus Christ didn't mean to exclude anyone, be it those who around your home, those at your work, those at school, those in your social realm, and those who are even your enemies. So, first lesson is, who's your neighbor? The man looked to justify himself, but Jesus made it clear. Your neighbor could be even your enemy. Even your enemy. Second lesson, love your enemies. Second lesson we learned, this man showed love to his enemy. Why? He did for him. He had compassion upon him. He served him. Matthew 5, verse 44. Matthew 5, verse 44. If you hate somebody, or if you have animosity toward someone, you know what the Bible says? You should love them.

Love your enemies. You know what God says? I make the sun to shine on them, too. The sun doesn't just shine on your home because you're a Christian. It shines on your neighbor's home, too. The rain that sprinkles the gardens and helps them grow. That rains on your neighbor's garden, too. Matthew 5, 44. But I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you.

Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Why? That you may be the sons of your Father in heaven. He makes the sun to rise on evil and the good. He sends rain on the just and unjust. Don't use it. They hate me. You love them. Some people you may have to love from afar because they don't want you to love them near. You may have to love some people from afar, but you still love them. You have love in your heart.

You'll never do them ill, and if they were lying there or injured, you would stop and help them, wouldn't you? If the love of God is in you. Love your enemies. Lesson number three. Love leads to service. Don't just love to say, Oh, I loved you and I would never do anything for you. I love love love. Words are cheap. Words are cheap. You can't just love in words. In Galatians 5.13, which was read by Mr. McLean, let me also turn there and just amplify it by reading it again.

Galatians 5.13, we read this, Paul's instruction to the region of Galatia, the brethren there. He said, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty. Don't use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. But through love, serve one another. Through love. Love leads to service. Galatians 5.13. Love leads to service. If you love your enemy, you'll serve them. You'll help them. You won't do them evil. You won't do them dirt. You won't try to return evil for evil, which the Bible says we should not do.

You let God take care of that. You know, if your enemy hungers, feed him. We'll see that in a moment. Love leads to service. That's number three. Number four, lesson, You're not too good to serve others. I don't want to go over that. I might be defiled. I don't want to get involved. I don't have time. It might cost me something. I don't want to get involved.

You're not too good to serve others. Romans 12 verse 9. Actually, verses 9 through 18 are good. I may not read them all. But Romans 12 verses 9 to 18, Let love be without hypocrisy. I love you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. I love you.

Though I hate you. I love you. Hypocrisy. I'll tell you, one thing I have a very strong sense, I hate hypocrisy. A Days of Unleavened Bread. What are we supposed to hate? Hypocrisy. It's pretending to be what you're not. Pretending to be what you're not. It's an act- same word for actor in the Greek. I believe it is. That the actors were hypocrites. Why? Because they were acting parts. Now, it's okay for actors because we know they're acting.

But for us, we cannot be acting in life. We've got to live life. So, Romans 12, verse 9, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to that which is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. Kindly affectionate toward one another. It takes thinking about other people. It takes caring about other people. And visits, I remember the wonderful people who cared about you enough when you came in visiting, after you traveled all over the countryside to see them, and you walked into their home and they said, Oh, would you like a glass of cold water?

Would you like something to drink? Can I give you a piece of my freshly made squash bread? My wife's made some squash bread lately. Can I give you a piece of squash bread? Hospitable! They care about others. They thought about- You know what? I bet he's thirsty.

You know what? I can offer it. I don't want to force it on him, but I can offer him. My mother would force it on you. She tries several different ways. You know, if it's the gas man who's come to read the gas meter, Would you like a piece of coffee? Would you like a piece of cake? Would you like a coffee? He likes the water. He likes some juice. He likes some nuts. He likes some fruit. That mom, he said, No. Stop. Do you care? Are you kindly affectionate toward others? Other people, I walk into their home, I'm not coming- Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Sometimes I have a jack-off.

They would never even say, Would you like a glass of water? I'm joking. They would never ask me if I want a glass of water. Kindly affectionate, brethren. We need to be kindly affectionate. Think about others. Care about others. Brethren, be kindly affectionate to one another. In honor- Oh, honor! Giving preference to one another. We went to Bloomington two weeks ago. I gave a seminar in the morning.

They have a once a year thing over there. And they invited me to come over. So I went over and my son-in-law, Todd, came over. He's an elder now. Used to be in that area. The people loved him and they were visiting with us. We loved the area. We used to go there every so often on our way through to visit with Todd and Susie.

And we'd go to church and speak there and be there with the people. And the brethren were so welcoming and so wonderful, so kind. They really made you feel welcome. And so it was a nice opportunity to be there. But in love and in it, we felt honored. Giving preference one to another. Well, you sit here. No, you first. No, you first. No, you take this seat. No, you take that seat.

Preference. Showing preference to one another. Not lagging and diligent. Fervent in spirit. Serving whom? The Lord. Remember what Jesus said? You fed me when I was hungry, and you visited me when I was in prison, and you clothed me when I was naked. And the people said, Lord, when did we do this for you? When you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren. You did it for me. You want to serve the Lord with fervency? Serve God's people. Love them.

And not just God's people. Do good to them primarily. But to all people, Galatians 6, 10, it says do good to all. Especially of the household of faith, but do good to all. You don't leave out the stranger. You don't leave out the Jew or the Samaritan.

You don't leave them out because they may not be on your side. You still have mercy and compassion toward them. Rejoicing and hope. Patient and tribulation. Continuing steadfast in prayer. Distributing to the needs of the saints. Given to hospitality. Love of a stranger is what hospitality means. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things. Don't be too high-minded. But associate with the humble. Be not wise in your own opinions. Repay no one evil for evil.

Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it's possible, some people won't let you. If it's possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Do your part. Some people won't let you live peaceably with them. They may be church members. They may not be there yet.

Give them their space. Respect their space. Honor them by respecting their space. And be willing to do anything you could to help them if you were able. Some people won't like you to do it. Some people, it's like rubbing salt in the wound for you to help them.

Be careful how you treat them. That's treating them as you would like to be treated. Finally, he said, Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. You're mad about how somebody treated you? Give place. He says, for it has written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. Says the Lord. I'll take care of you. I'll deal with them. He talks about giving food and the deeping goals. You don't give food to people because you want them to be singed or burned. You give them because you care.

God will take care of what he decides to do afterwards. You say, I'm going to be nice to them. God, spite them! You do that wrong attitude. He's not going to do it anyway for you. Who are not too good to serve. Lesson number five. Don't expect anything in return. Don't expect anything in return. You didn't do it because you wanted to scratch their backs so they'll scratch yours. I scratched yours. I scratched mine. I scratched yours. I scratched mine. No. You did it because it was the right thing to do. You don't read anything more about Samaritan, except he said, I'll come back and pay you.

He didn't say, by the way, I'll leave it. You owe me. You know the IOUs. I'll leave it. You owe me two pence. And time off, work. Maybe three pence for taking care of you, losing a whole day's work. You owe me three pence, by the way. No, he just did it. In John 15, verses 12 and 13, we love people as Christ loved us. John chapter 15, verses 12 and 13. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Did Jesus Christ want you to give him something back? No, he wants you to be in his kingdom. He wants to give you more. Not only did he give us forgiveness, not only does he participate with God the Father in giving you the Holy Spirit, God also wants to give you more.

He wants to give you sonship with him in God's family. He'll never be like Christ, so don't let people, whoever might listen in, they're not listening in today. But whoever might hear this tape, don't think I'm saying we're making other Christs. If Christ were not, there's only one Christ. He's the firstborn Son of God, and he was from everlasting to everlasting. We can never be that. But we can be too everlasting because God promises us eternal life. He didn't come to get from us. If you love others as Christ loved you and me, you'll not expect anything in return.

Except feeling that you did good. The feeling that you did what you should do in those circumstances. That's the good you can expect. Nothing else. Verse 13, Greater love has no man than this to lay down one's life for his friends. And not only did this Samaritan lay it down his life, he didn't lay it down for his friends, he laid it down for his enemy too.

6. Be merciful to all. Matthew 5 and verse 7. Matthew 5 and verse 7, one of the Beatitudes. Matthew 5. Jesus Christ said this, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Mercyful means tender-hearted. Now, we men are all taught to be strong. Matthew, I'm tough. I'm tough. You all better have a tenderness in your heart. Mercy requires tenderness. You have to be able to feel for people. Not just knock them around. You have to be able to feel the tender-hearted.

And of course, in verse 45, he says, I say, you love your enemies. So even our enemies need to be loved, to be merciful toward them. James 2, verse 13 says, if you're going to err on one side or the other, be sure to err on the side of mercy. Do not err on the side of justice.

I demand justice in this case. James 2, verse 13. For judgment, he said, for judgment without mercy is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. I've been in situations where I had to believe what somebody told me. Even though I suspicion it was not that, but I had no way of proving it. I would rather be wrong by being merciful than be wrong by exacting judgment.

Why? Because God says, mercy triumphs over judgment or justice. So be merciful to all. Number seven, have compassion or care about others. 1 John 3, verse 16. 1 John 3 and verse 16. We need to care about others. We need to have compassion for them. That's another lesson we learned. 1 John 3, 16. By this we know love because he laid down his life for us. We also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3, 16, verse 17.

Whosoever has this world's good, sees his brother in need, shuts up his heart from him. How does the love of God abide in him? 1 John 3, verse 18. My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Let's love in truth. Have compassion. Care for one another. Lay down your life. Give up a little bit of you for them. That's what you do. That's number 7. Point number 8 is be alert.

Be alert. You know what alert is? You know alert? Have you seen any alerts running around? I don't want you to be alert. I want you to be alert. Be alert. Don't fear. I don't know if I could deal with this. I don't know about that. Don't be fearful. Now be cautious. Be careful. Yes. Don't be foolhardy. Be prudent. A prudent man looks wise to his goings, but don't be fearful. Don't be fearful. Be alert. Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. Are you alert to the needs of others?

Are you alert to what's going on around you? Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Thinking about their goods. How many times do you rent a car and you say, That's only a rent a car.

Let me throw this thing in forward while I'm going backwards. Would you do that to your own car? Well, we're in this motel room and I'm paying this money, so let's just trash it. Would you want people to do that to your home? What we have to understand is that's somebody else's goods, isn't it?

If you have a lease car, you take care of your lease car. It doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the church. I'll just trash this car and give it back to them when I'm done. I'll take care of repating it, refurbishing it, and all the rest. That's terrible. Just because it's somebody else's, you know what? We should treat other people's things better than our own. Not just as good as our own, better than our own.

This is somebody else's. You can read lots of laws of what happens if you lose something, break something, you're supposed to repair it. You lose somebody's donkey or oxen, you're supposed to replace it. So if anybody loses an oxen, you should read the Old Testament and replace it. Alright, let's go on. Verse 4. Let each of you look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. It doesn't mean to be a busybody.

It doesn't mean to be a gossip. I want to find out what's going on. What's going on over here? What's going on over there? No! But pay attention. Are you interested in other people? Are you interested in their needs? That's what's important. And don't fear. Don't fear getting involved. Which I think those guys may have, the priest and the Levite.

2 Timothy 1, verses 6 and 7. 2 Timothy 1, verses 6 and 7. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Some say that might have been a gift of prophecy, a gift of this or that, but also the gift of God in him was the Holy Spirit. Verse 4, For God has not given us, not given us, a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind. In order to love others, in order to be as good as a Samaritan, you've got to be willing to step out, not be fearful.

You ever notice people when they're learning to speak? What is all their emphasis? What are people going to think of me? What if I forget this? What about this? What will they think? What if I don't look good? What if I... They're all thinking about themselves. Instead of thinking, here's a message I want to bring. This message is what is important.

It's more important than me or that hair number 432, whether it's in place or out of place. It's more important, isn't it, than you? Other people need to be important to us, too. So those are eight lessons we could learn from this parable. As we try to understand it in the light of the Scriptures, that Jesus said, those who have understanding, those who have the Spirit of God, those who have eyes to see, can see. So now you have the biblical interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Are you as good as a Samaritan? If you are, then you go and do likewise.