How to Inherit Eternal Life Part 2

So, last week we looked at Christ agreeing with a lawyer concerning what was written in the law. Because the title of the sermon is, How to Inherent Eternal Life, Part 2. We did that last week, Part 1. So, I want to go back for just a few minutes for those who didn't catch last week or to rehash just a little bit. If you'll turn with me to Luke 10. Luke 10. Luke 10, verse 25.

Luke 10, verse 26.

You cannot earn your way to salvation. You cannot earn eternal life. So, is there a contradiction here? No? Talk about this. Because this will end the series today. And I hope you understand that it made me think this week. It made me think. My mother called me. She still cares about me. You know, I abandoned her in Tennessee for paradise down here. It's paradise because of all of you, right?

The weather helps. It's not winter yet, though. My mother called and she asked me to do something for her. You know what is interesting? I didn't sit and think, I gotta do something. Wait a minute. She asked me to do something. Wait a minute. There's one, two, three, four. Number five. I have to obey her. Remember the fifth commandment? Honor your father and mother? Oh, I didn't cross my mind that I have to do that first.

And I thought, whoa. Well, I didn't do it. I'm not going to do it for that reason. Aha! She did her will not long ago. And so, I need to do it because I'm in the will and I won't get anything. Did I? No. No. Why am I going to do it? Because I love her. I love her as much as anyone except for this woman on the front row. I do it because I love her and because she loved me first. She gave me birth. She gave me life. She's been there. Okay? Does that ring a bell?

Are we putting this together? Let's go down to verse 29. Luke 10 verse 29, where you're from the New King James Version. Because he just said, do this and you will live or have eternal life. And verse 29, but he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? I find that interesting because Luke is the one telling the story. Jump over with me to Luke 16. Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16 in verse 15, one verse. Here he's having a confrontation with the Pharisees.

And Christ gives us these impactful words in verse 15. And he said to them, you are those who justify themselves before men. But God knows your hearts. God knows your hearts. You know when my mother asked me that to do something for her? She didn't think he's got to do it because he's commanded to. He's got to do that because I'm going to cut him out of the whip. And he wants some of this farmland. That's not it. She knew. She could ask me anything because I love her. How about God? He knows our hearts. He knows our hearts. Back a few weeks ago, maybe a month ago, I gave a sermon here called The Source.

And I gave a story of a pagan god, Molech, and how people had to sacrifice their children. They had to sacrifice their children to him so that they then could have good crops. That's not the god we worship. But he's a god. He says, I want you. Love me with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your being. You know why? Because he loves us that much. And more. And he wants his children to be like him. But the guy asked, who is my neighbor? Second part of this formula for salvation. Who is my neighbor? And Jesus then gives the incredible story of the Good Samaritan.

We all know it. Incredible story of the Good Samaritan. Which I have to say is the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. Because we get to see. We get to hear. We get to feel this incredible story. But look at your Bibles. If you have one and you turn to Luke chapter 10. And you read here from chapter from verse 30 all the way to 37. You know what's interesting here? Nowhere. Nowhere in God's Word.

Except where man put some words to add to the chapter. But nowhere in God's spoken word is the word Good used. Is it? It's not in there! Good's not in there! But yet we all know it as the Good Samaritan. Don't we? The reason is through Jewish eyes there were no Good Samaritans. Not one. Not one. It's amazing because this lawyer had no problem saying. Love my God? Yes! With all my heart, my soul, my mind, and being? Yes! Yes! But then he said, Love your neighbor? Who? Who is my neighbor? I can do that! But not with other non-Jews. I can't do that! Not everyone can't be my neighbor!

No way! This was roadblock for him. Once you go with me, I won't have the words up on the board. I'd like you to turn to as we go now into these eight verses. These powerful eight verses about the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10 verse 30. Then Jesus answered him and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Down? Down?

Jerusalem is 2750 feet above sea level. Where he's headed, Jericho is 800 feet below sea level. Quite a path.

He said he went from Jerusalem to Jericho, which is 17 miles. 17 miles. Huh! How long did it take you to go 17 miles?

If I was walking on I-95, it'd take me most of a day. And not an entire day. Imagine going down these roads? A rocky road?

And it's almost 4,000 feet descent? How do you do that?

It's a windy road.

And when he did, he fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing. A lot of people would wear extra set of clothes that they could sell.

That's part of carrying money. He stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. He didn't kill him. Because if he was caught, he'd have to pay the same penalty. Left him half dead. And then he'd just die on his own. Now, by chance, a certain priest, a certain priest, came down the road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Let's put this into today's. A certain minister, mostly Jeff. Jeff Walker walks by and he sees somebody injured over here. He walks by on the other side of the road. I can't. I've got a sermon to preach. I've got a Bible study on mothers next week. I can't do that.

Chuck Smith. Chuck Smith. UCG minister.

Senior pastor for the Caribbean. Just walks right on by. Won't even look!

Won't even take the time.

Wouldn't it disgust you? If you see that, I hope you don't show up here next week, because you shouldn't. Man would do that. Minister, God, do that.

He passed by on the other side. It wasn't that. He's just like, well, let me see if he's dead. No! No. Let's go down to our next verse. Next verse. Likewise, a Levite and assistant to the minister.

Adikins! Maurice Lavender!

And Dwight was with him. And what did they do?

They came to the place, came, and looked. They looked. Maurice even pulled his glasses out. But what did they do? They went on by. That's on by. Ah! No! No, that's not. You know, he's bleeding.

Sights. Probably hadn't had COVID vaccine yet. On the other side. Want to touch him? Right? Right.

He came by and they looked and they passed on the other side. But then go to verse 33. 33. But a certain Samaritan.

Who was this guy? A certain Samaritan.

For some of you politically-minded people. Some Democrat. Some deplorable Trump follower. Came by.

A deplorable. Somebody that didn't like.

He's black. He's white. He's Asian. He's somebody that the world thinks less of. What about it? Somebody come to your mind? Someone that you looked at as a deplorable? Because that's what... That's what Samaritans were thought of. Someone they can't despise. A Haitian, a Jamaican.

Who? Who comes to your mind? Who? Who comes to your mind?

Let's see about this Samaritan. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. Compassion. You have compassion? Do you know what compassion is? Do you have it? Do you have it like this Samaritan? Haven't we all seen it? Haven't we seen a dog get hit trying to cross the road? And it rips at our hearts. And we feel so bad. We wish we could do something? Compassion? Compassion?

He saw him. Means he looked. And saw it wasn't just some robber laying by the side of the road waiting to rob you and playing a trick on you. But he wanted to help.

And he had compassion on him. You know what's interesting? The Greek word for compassion is one of the longest Greek words in the entire New Testament. Anybody speak Koine Greek? It's a dead language, so I doubt you do.

Spagnizo mahi.

Thirteen letters. It's the Greek word, and it's only used twice in the entire Bible. It's used here this time and the other time. Story of the prodigal son. When the father looked and his son was coming.

Down that road.

They just want to hear this sermon, too. It's going to be good. It's got a good ending. Do you know what it means? It means, when you actually go back, it means to feel something from the bowels. So inside of you that it rips you apart and forces you to do something. Ever had that much compassion? That I can't sit there and do nothing. I can't sit there and do nothing.

And that's what this Samaritan did. And yet, this Samaritan was despised. And chances are, it was a Jewish man laying there. Who would have despised him? Wouldn't want him touching him. And the Samaritan would have known that. Because they wouldn't even talk. They didn't want to be around him. This is part of eternal life.

Let's see what he did in verse 34. And the Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And he set him on his own animal. Brought him to an end and took care of him.

Had to load him on his animal. Which means he had to walk. And take him to an end. How far? We don't know.

Far enough that probably somebody couldn't see. From the end, somebody being attacked and beaten half to death. That'd be a little distance.

And 35, on the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii. Two denarii. Two denarii. Two denarii. Took them out and gave them to the innkeeper.

Do you know what two denarii is? It was one denarii was a day's wages. So two days wages. So let's just say you make $50,000 a year. You know what two days wages is? $400. $400. You know I've helped people, and I've pulled out a 10, and I've even given a 20.

But come on! $400?

$400 US dollars for somebody I don't even know? I don't even like! They don't like me!

Have you done $400?

Wow! Is this some incredible story or what?

To the people who are listening? It's a fantasy!

To Christ! It's almost as if he's seen it.

He's seen it before.

Let's go and look further.

It's it. And he gave him to the innkeeper and said, take care of him. And whatever more you spend when I come again, I will repay you. That guy's crazy. Whatever! Another $400? $1,000? You're willing to do it to somebody you don't even know?

How about somebody you do know?

Because I've actually had that where I wouldn't give somebody something and somebody I knew.

The story was for me. The story's for all of us. Because it's so important that we get this story. Because God wants us as we heard. He wants us in that kingdom.

So, Brother, are we prepared for this? Because we can say all day long, oh yeah, I'm all over that first commandment. But this, like the lawyer, this one's tough. This one is... Wow! Whatever more, whatever more... Open checkbook?

Willing to do it for another human being. Willing to do something for someone you didn't even know.

Just like Jesus Christ. Died for those who didn't even know him.

Want to be like Big Brother? He just tells us how. How? How?

Verse 36. As Christ turns to you and says, So which of these three do you think was neighbors to him who fell among these?

And he said... What did he say?

What did he say? The Samaritan? He didn't say that, did he? He couldn't even say it. Despite him so much even after this story, he wasn't going to say it. So what did he say? He who showed mercy on him. He who showed mercy on him.

How powerful was that statement made? I think Christ made a very powerful statement. He who showed mercy. You see, God and His Son, we're big on mercy, aren't they? They're all about mercy! Brother, what about us?

I need more mercy.

I need to incorporate my life. Mercy.

And then Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise. Go and do likewise. He already told me... This is the second time he said this. He already told me, go do it and you'll have this. Now he's saying, go and do likewise. Let me ask you a question. Do you think he did? Let me ask you another question. Will we? Will we? If the opportunity is there this week, will we? Well, wait a minute. I've got a bill to pay. Isn't that somebody else's job? The government, they take care of stuff like that. They take care of stuff like that.

Brethren, which person in this story? We have five people here. Who do you identify most with? The priest, old Chuck Smith, who walked on by, didn't want to get his hands dirty. Dwight Harrison, who decided to walk on by. He didn't have a time, had a flight to make. Stacey had dinner cooked.

How about the victim? You identify with the victim? Yeah, I've been at some hard times. Never been beaten half to death.

You identify with the victim?

What about the innkeeper? There, take care? Well, he was getting paid. Of course, he's going to do his job. Oh, I might do it. I might take care of it if I'm getting paid. And he's a nurse. Let her do it. She gets paid to do that. Let's call out on I-95. It's about 20 miles an hour. Go take care of him. You're paid to do it. That's like the innkeeper.

Or do we see ourselves as a Samaritan? Yes! Oh, yes! That's me. Because it feels good. He's the good guy in this story. He's called the good Samaritan. He's a good guy. And we all like to think we're that person, don't we?

Are we? I think only you can answer that one. Right?

In Florida, there's this act that's called the Florida Good Samaritan Act. And it was actually written and composed so that if you want to stop and help someone, you're not going to be sued. You're not going to be sued because something happens. That person or they say, Oh, well, I didn't have a broken arm until you picked me up. And you broke my arm. But there's actually an act. They had to do this. How sad is a society that has to make a law or an act to protect you for helping somebody? And it's amazing that they use good Samaritan, a biblical term.

This story resonates with a lot of people. Who's a writer? He's telling this story. He's the only one who tells this story. It's the writer Luke who was a doctor, a physician.

He felt it.

He had seen it before, I'm sure. He had seen somebody half dead. And it's so important because Luke really gets the story because he goes back and interviews these people to get the story. He wasn't there. But he got it. And isn't that beautiful? Go over with me to Luke 17. Go over with me to Luke 17. Luke 17 and verse 11 says, Now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria. That's where those disgusting Samaritans lived. And Galilee. Then he entered a certain village. There met him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off, and they lifted up their voices. Jesus, master! Mercy on us! Dead men walking. That's what these ten were. They couldn't go around their families. Families couldn't touch them. Nobody. They had to walk around, and they would hire villages to walk around and say, Unclean, come here! Unclean! Unclean! Watch out! Watch out! They're coming!

Dead men walking, but disgusting.

Verse 13, Then they lifted up their voices and said, And Jesus, master, have mercy on us. So when he saw them, he said to them, Go! Show yourselves to the priest. And so it was, as they went, they were cleansed. He healed. Now one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice, glorified God.

Glorified God. And he fell on his face at Christ's feet, giving him thanks, and he, what does it say, was a Samaritan. It was a Samaritan.

Ten percent.

Ninety percent. Didn't even thank him. Ninety percent were not Samaritans.

You remember? Even Christ had to talk to the sons of thunder. Because they were coming near a Samaritan village. And they sent somebody ahead and said, We'd like to stop here because we're going on to Jerusalem. They said, No, if you can't stop here for two or three days, we don't want you. Okay, we'll move on. James and John are, they're stinking Samaritans. How dare they do this?

Yahshua, let us call fire down. We'll burn it up! We'll get rid of them. Remember what Christ said? If you don't, go read it.

Because I think you know what he said. But if you don't, go read it this week.

How'd it trip to Alabama? Ah, this was many, many years ago. I was working for a company at that time. I had a fleet car. Ford, she had to remind me. Ford Fairmont. You know, no offense to Ford owners. Fix a repair daily. But we were after church. One Saturday, we stopped. We had lunch, and then we were going to visit her father, which was roughly two hours away. He was older. Didn't know he'd get, no, he's older. We thought he was old at 70. He'd be 90. But we decided to go down and visit him. We'd go Saturday afternoon, late afternoon, and then stay and come back late Sunday. We'll see him. So we were driving. I had the company car. And so I'm driving. All of a sudden, right on the interstate outside of Huntsville, on late Saturday afternoon, not near any exit, not near any house, not near anything. I pull over. I get up under the hood. You know what there was? It was a busted water hose.

Not just any water hose, but one that looks similar to this, except there might be an extra turn or two in. It's the closest one I could find. On my car. And I'm like, you're not going to get that anywhere but a Ford place. You're going to have to get it because it was a less than a year old car. How is this going to... What are we going to do? I stood there. All of a sudden, I see a car other side of the interstate coming down. And he slowed down. And he comes over on the... and goes down and turns around. We could see him waiting and it's coming back to us.

And he stops. And he's all dressed up. He has a suit on. He's with his family. And he says, Yeah, that's a problem. I said, Yeah, I got a busted hose. I said, I don't want to get you because you're all dressed up. Yeah, I'm just coming from church.

The same church I was attending. I never knew him. I didn't know him. Mary even said we never saw him again. I said, he just came from church services. He didn't know who I was. I wasn't dressed in these shorts and a t-shirt on. He stopped. And he goes, Let me see. I've worked on cars. I said, There's nothing. He goes to the back of his car. He opens it up. He's got this big. Here's all kinds of hoses. And he's got this house.

The very house.

And he says, Oh, yeah, I know these. And he went in and he changed it out, just like that. He rolled up his sleeves.

That sounds like a story. If I didn't live it, and she didn't live it, I wouldn't believe it. He didn't know who we were. Isn't it amazing? Whenever you have a breakdown, it's not somebody in some new young sports car, is it? It's usually somebody in an older car, kind of beat up that's been down that road, too. As I wrap this up today, am I saying what this whole sermon is? All I have to do to have eternal life is to love God with all my heart, all my soul, all my might, all my being, and go help somebody on the side of the road.

No? There's more to it than that, isn't it? It's not that simple. Christ said, Go and do likewise. You know what He could have said? Go and live likewise. Live like a Samaritan. I've heard the song, Walk Like an Egyptian. How about living like an Egyptian? How about living like a Samaritan?

Because what an example that was set. See, brethren, it's about building the character of God, because God would do this, Jesus would do this, and the followers of God, the sons of God, and the brothers of Christ, the sisters of Christ, would do this, and not because there's a fifth commandment. Not because there's a first commandment. Not because there's any of the commandments.

Because of the love of God. Because I don't have to go back and look on my, as you walk in the door of my house, there's a ten commandments. I don't have to go and look, Oh, wait a minute! There's that number one. I've got to do that. Why? It's not about that, because it should be in our hearts. It should be in our hearts. Write my laws in your minds and in your hearts to where we don't have to go to a list, because it is who we are. And why do we do that? Why do we help people? Because it is who we are.

Romans 13.

Verse 10. Verse 11. Verse 12. Love is the fulfillment of the law. What's another say? God is love. Brethren, are we.

As future heirs, we are now, but as future ones who receive everything, as Revelation says, that He has. He's giving to us.

Will we have His love?

Only you can answer that. So the answer to the question, it's not what we do, but who we are.