A GOOD NEIGHBOR
Luke 10:25-34
V:25. " On one occasion an expert in the law stood up
to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit
eternal life?"
A. There will always
be those who will question what you know about the Word or will
question your religion.
1. Not everyone
who ask a question is asking to learn, but to see what you don't know.
2. The person who
asked the question, held himself up as an expert in the law.
a. He showed
up with flattering words, "teacher".
b. He showed
up to trick Jesus in giving the wrong answer.
3. Those who show
up with ill motives, are not for you.
a. If someone
is not for you, he is against you.
B. If the one who
asked the question knew Jesus, he would have known that Jesus is the
author of the
law.
1. If he knew Jesus,
he would have known that no one is an expert of the law except
Jesus.
2. If he knew
Jesus, he would have known that Jesus is the Son of God.
C. The man asked the right
question.
1. His problem
was, he thought he knew the right answer.
2. He thought
eternal life was obtained by good works.
3. He did not
understand that eternal life is obtained by the Grace of the one he was
talking to.
4. He didn't
understand that Jesus was the teacher and
that Jesus is our eternal life.
V:26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied.
"How do you read it?"
A. Jesus turned the
question around to the so called expert's knowledge.
1. Jesus responded
with a question.
2. Jesus did not
defend Himself, He made the so called expert defend his own
knowledge.
3. You don't
learn anything about a person when you do all the talking.
1. You learn
more when you let the other person do the talking.
2. You can
control the conversation by asking questions.
B. There are many
interpretations of the Word of God.
1. Some
interpretations are based on what people want to believe.
a. Some
people derive an interpretation based on their particular situation.
2. The correct
interpretation is guided by the Holy Spirit, our resident teacher.
a. The
correct interpretation comes by constant research and study of the
Word,
guided by the Holy Spirit.
b. The Bible
is inerrant.
c. The Bible
does not contradict itself.
d. The Bible
interprets itself.
c. You will
find the same words repeated in the Bible that will confirm the correct
interpretation.
V:27. " He answered: "'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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
A. Reciting the Word
and knowing the Word are two different things.
1. Knowing the
Word and living by the Word are two different things.
2. If the expert
had known the Word, He would have recognized it in the person of
Jesus
Christ.
B. Notice the
expert's concept of eternal life was based on work's salvation.
1. What you do
for your neighbor, is God's command and does please God.
2. What you do
for your neighbor is good works, but it is not the way to eternal life.
V:28 "You have
answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
A. Love is an
action word.
1. If you can
love your neighbor like Jesus loved the Church, you would support,
encourage
and build up your neighbor.
2. You would not
try to find fault to bring down your neighbor.
3. Jesus was his most perfect neighbor, yet
he was trying to find fault.
B. The "so
called expert" had the right answer, but the wrong heart.
1. You have to
know the Word and live the Word, for Jesus' promise to be
effective.
2.
"Do" is the command, "live" is the promise.
3. You can't get
the promise unless you follow God's commands.
V:29. " But he
wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my
neighbor?"
A. The "so
called expert" wanted to classify who his neighbors were.
1. His
neighbors were the ones he knew or liked.
2. He wanted
Jesus to know that everyone did not qualify as his neighbors.
B. When you put
yourself before others, you eliminate the
possibility of having
everybody as
your neighbors.
V:30. " In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho ,
when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat
him and went away, leaving him half dead."
A. Jesus did not try
to explains the errors of the expert's thinking, but gave him a
practical
example of how to be a neighbor.
1. In this case,
the neighbor was the person that needed help.
2. He had been
robbed, beaten and left for dead.
a. The
stranger was badly hurt and needed medical attention.
b. The
stranger need some tender loving care.
B. The example that
Jesus gave was a stranger who was helpless and could not return
the favor.
1. Being a neighbor
is not about who we like, but about the needs of someone else.
V:31. " A priest
happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by
on the other side."
A. There should be no
one more compassionate than a priest ordained by God.
1. The priest decided
not to get involved.
2. He stepped to
the other side of the road to ignore the stranger's condition.
3. He was to
busy going to church to be the Church
B. The priest may
have been following his tradition not to defile himself.
1. If the man who
needed help was unclean, he would defile himself and
have to go
through the process of purification.
2. This was too
much trouble for a stranger.
V:32. " So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and
saw him, passed by on the other side."
A. The Levites were
the tribe that God set aside as the priests of Israel .
1. They were the
ones who were involved in making sacrifices for the sins of the
people
2. They should
have been most familiar with the sorrows of men.
3. Since the
Levites had to make sacrifices for their own sins, he certainly
should have
been sympathetic to the sins of others.
4. The Levite
showed a lack of love for his fellowman.
B. To help someone,
you have to get involved with their problem.
1. To help
someone you have to spend some time with them to know
how to help.
2. The first two
men had no interest in spending time with the injured man.
V:33. " But a
Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took
pity on him."
A. A man who has love
in is heart consider everyone who is need his neighbor.
1. To have a good
neighbor, you need be a good neighbor.
2. To have a
friend, you have to show yourself friendly.
B. The Samaritan was
a stranger in the promise land.
1. The Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.
2. The Samaritan
disregarded any customs or differences to give assistance to injured
man.
3. The Samaritan
although a stranger, showed himself to be a good neighbor.
V:34. " He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring
on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and
took care of him."
A. The Samaritan had
a Christian attitude.
1. He saw the
needs of the man.
2. He took pity on the man.
3. The Samaritan
made it his responsibility to take care of the injured man.
4. The Samaritan
became the injured man's paramedic.
B. The Samaritan did
not leave the injured man in his condition.
1. The Samaritan took time to take care of the
mans immediate needs.
2. Not only that, but he took the injured man to
an inn and paid for
him to stay
their until he got well.
3. Jesus outlines
the attitude of a good neighbor.
a. Sees the needs
of others.
b. Has pity
for them.
c. Takes time
to determine what he can do to help.
d. Does what
he can to help.
c. Spends his
time and money to help
d. Come back
from time to time to see how his neighbor is doing.
BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR
Rev M Mitchell, Asst
Pastor of GMBC
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