Go and Do Thou Likewise

[Music] over the past weeks as we've come out here in the woods together we've come to study the bible we've opened the word of god not just to study the stories but especially in the last few weeks to study what the word of god says and teaches us about itself about the importance of god's word about how to understand it we asked the question it was asked to be ethiopian by philip do you understand how do we understand these words we looked last time at how we can apply these words how the word of god is as it were the bread of life that feeds our very souls and so as you join me again today i invite you to come on a journey as we look at yet another story in the bible a story that teaches us about god's word and perhaps the most important principle of understanding i've entitled today's message simply go and do thou likewise i want to invite you as we begin to bow your heads with me in a word of prayer kind father in heaven thank you again for bringing us out to the beauties of your creation and lord as we fellowship and worship out in nature as we open your word i pray that you will guide our hearts and our minds not only to understand but to be hearers and doers of your word we thank you lord for your word and for your promises we thank you for each one who is listening today in jesus name amen well come with me on another adventure out here by one of my favorite little waterfalls the bible what is it and most importantly how does it relate to us i've heard someone say the bible the word b-i-b-l-e is an acronym it stands for basic instructions before leaving earth well it's cute and it's a great way to remember one of the most important aspects of the bible but the bible if you read it is not simply a book of prescriptions and laws and instructions it's far more than that in fact most of the bible is made up of stories those stories are interspersed with psalms songs prophecies and yes most importantly encounters with god encounters with the god of heaven through the old testament and then encounters with the god of heaven who came to earth in the person of jesus christ in the center of the new testament the theme of the whole bible how do we relate to all of these stories and then apply them in our own lives well there's many ways of course of studying the bible some have much more merit than others some people will take the bible and close their eyes say a prayer to heaven open the bible and look and look for instructions for their lives today now certainly god can use that certainly if that's the only method that you know god can lead you to a passage that will speak to you for that day but it's not always the best way to understand the bible because the bible is not simply basic instructions before leaving earth the bible is a book of stories and within those stories are passages that speak not specifically to us but that speak specifically to the people and the circumstances of the day in which the bible writers were writing they contain principles yes that can be applied to our lives but sometimes it takes a little bit of digging to get to the crux of those principles suppose you open your bible and your eye falls to genesis chapter four and verse eight and it came to pass when they speaking of cain and abel were in the field that cain rose up against abel his brother and killed him it's part of a story of course but we can take that passage and then we can go to another passage perhaps luke chapter 10 and verse 37 and there we find the words go and do thou likewise it's kind of a shocking prescription when you put those two together and then we find the passage where jesus says to judas what thou doest do quickly and all of a sudden we have built a doctrine that we should go and kill our brother quickly right now of course the bible doesn't teach that and of course that's a silly example but how often do we open the bible without perhaps paying enough attention to the context of the stories as they're written and then i come up with my conclusion and someone else comes up with their conclusion and then we have disagreements and if you look across even the the world of christendom today we find not just a few but dozens yes hundreds yes even thousands of different christian denominations each telling us that the bible teaches something a little bit different so i think if we put a little bit of thought and method and prayer into our study of the bible we will learn not only what the bible means but most importantly what it means for us if you have your bibles turn with me actually to that same passage i referenced a moment ago where jesus says go and do thou likewise what is he talking about and is this story something that we can use to learn some of these important principles not only of studying but of applying the scripture in our lives turn with me to luke chapter 10 and in verse 25 we begin the story behold a certain lawyer stood up and tested him that is jesus saying teacher what shall i do to inherit eternal life now jesus was known as a rabbi or teacher his his teachings were not always popular especially not among the religious leaders of his day although many many of the common people followed him and loved his teachings so this lawyer came and asked jesus a question often times these lawyers would come and try to trap jesus in his words try to get jesus to come into a controversy so that they could discredit him in the eyes of the people so they could somehow gain some power over him to to rope jesus into their mode of thinking and teaching so this lawyer asked jesus a question and it was at the same time even though it was a trap it was an honest and sincere question who wouldn't know what you would want want to know what you would want to do in order to inherit eternal life and so when we come to the bible this book that we call the word of god and we read that this bible speaks of eternal life it speaks of a god in heaven who is able to raise the dead who is able to give to his children those whom he chooses life eternal wouldn't you want to know what to do in order to be part of that group to whom the god of heaven gives eternal life and so he asked jesus a very legitimate question what shall i do that i may inherit eternal life at the same time even this question contains the seeds of the answer contains the seeds of the evidence this lawyer was asking an almost preposterous question because in the very word to inherit is part of the answer because what is an inheritance how do you receive an inheritance do you receive it by doing some work by earning some merit do you receive it from someone else at a very important and special time well i'm getting ahead of myself in the story here but why don't we continue on down the trail and we'll see what jesus has to say to this young lawyer and what jesus has to say to us about understanding his word and most importantly inheriting eternal life [Music] this young lawyer asked jesus the question what must i do to inherit eternal life and already within the words of this young man's question are the seeds of the answer to his question a deep and profound meaning that this man already is close to grasping because he calls eternal life an inheritance and what is an inheritance is it something that you earn as it wages or is it something you receive because of a relationship with the one who bequeaths to you the inheritance you see the prodigal son when he comes to his father and demands his inheritance is saying to his father not so much because i have earned this but because of my relationship to you i want to receive this inheritance and so this law this lawyer already in his question realizes that this inheritance of eternal life must be something that is received not simply on merit and yet he asks the question what must i do and jesus jesus though he could he could have gone this direction i believe and and and brought this lawyer to a deeper more profound meaning of this inheritance yet he chose to follow in this man's line of thinking and simply ask him another question he said to him verse 26 what is written in the law what is your reading of it in other words what does the bible say what does the scripture say that you must do in order to follow god and he answered and said you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself and he that is jesus said to him you have answered rightly do this you will live jesus says what does the bible say keep the law keep the commandments and you will live for after all that is what the old testament teaches if you keep the commandments you will live but of course the children of israel realized that this was god's intention that on their own without the transformation of god's holy spirit they could not keep the commandments and so this command this man too realizes in his heart that although he has spoken the truth although he knows the truth from his childhood yet still he realizes that he lacks something he realizes that he is not fully loving his neighbor but he verse 29 wanting to justify himself said to jesus and who is my neighbor who is my neighbor he asks when we read the bible how do we read it do we read it to find out god's will for our lives or do we read it as this young lawyer read it an attempt to justify ourselves in what we're already doing [Music] do [Music] ah so beautiful so magnificent even just the wonder of god's creation the sky the river the rocks the trees the canyon it's just incredible pictures don't do it justice it's wonderful just to be out here and experience god's creation you know when i sit at home sometimes i think about coming out here and recording a sermon in the woods and i think about the bugs and the heat and the long track how tired i'll be when i get back home but when i get out here it's a totally new thing it's something i look forward to all the time and it's one reason why i keep coming out here to record these of course i know you enjoy listening to them as well but but i come out here to be refreshed just to be filled with god's love you know i think this is a fitting illustration of god's love when we think about god's love we wonder how how god can love so much how god can love even the unlovable but then but then when we experience god's love when it becomes god's love for me it's like coming out into nature and realizing wow it's so much bigger than i ever imagined it's so much more beautiful than i ever thought possible and so with that thought we have perhaps a bit of insight into the thinking of this lawyer as he asked jesus this question so so who is my neighbor who is my neighbor because after all god couldn't want us to love everyone i mean after all god wouldn't want us to love the heathen they're heathens they're rebelling against god and certainly not the samaritans they're idolaters they pretend to worship jehovah but they're idolaters they're not worshiping the true god but what about other jews i mean i spend my life this lawyer is thinking like much of the the religious elite i spend my life in a round of ceremonies to keep myself pure and clean what about the ignorant multitude who are just simply they don't know they don't care and they they're all of them probably unclean god wouldn't expect me to love them would he even if they're jews even if they're children of abraham what about the other religious leaders who who don't see things the way i see them god wouldn't expect me to love them jesus please tell me tell us who is my neighbor what does god mean when he says neighbor you notice the words of the scripture it says seeking to justify himself and as this lawyer failed to realize the picture of god's true love god's love for him and yes god's love for everyone he starts to quibble over technicality sometimes i wonder sometimes i wonder when we quibble and argue over technicalities in our church if perhaps at the root of it it's a failure to even realize the true meaning of love so jesus told a story he told a story to illustrate to this young man the beautiful and magnificent love of god and to answer once and for all this question who is my neighbor he says in luke 10 and verse 30 a certain man went down from jerusalem to jericho and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing wounded him and departed leaving him half dead now by chance a certain priest came down that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side likewise a levite when he had arrived at the place came and looked and passed by on the other side like i said this is a story perhaps that it actually happened certainly it was typical on this road between jerusalem and jericho it was a rocky and mountainous path perhaps a little bit like this stream bed and there are many places where burglars could hide and rob people travelers who were coming down this road so this man a jew was coming from jerusalem down to jericho and unfortunately he was a victim in a robbery they took everything he had hurt him stripped him left him by the side of the road half dead like i say it was a common occurrence but then it happened that along this road became a priest now the priests were god's special people they were not only jews but they were levites not only were they levites but they were descended from the tribe of aaron they were the ones whom god had especially called to serve in the tabernacle and later in the temple in the service of his worship if anyone should know and demonstrate the love of god it should be a priest but you see these priests especially in the time of jesus these priests were pharisees or sadducees who spent their their lives the pharisees did and in in purification ceremonies and making sure they didn't come in contact with anything unclean for after all they worshiped a holy awesome god and to come into god's presence unclean would defile not only themselves but the sanctuary would defile the worship of god and so they spent their lives keeping themselves untouched unspotted by the world and to touch this man he was bleeding he was wounded perhaps already he was dead and if they were to try to care for him perhaps he would even die in the in this priest's care and and then the priest would be unclean he would have to go through all these rituals he would be unable to serve god and so he justified all these things in his mind as he saw this man by the side of the road i can't even tell he would he thought if this is a jew or a samaritan i certainly wouldn't help a samaritan besides it's really none of my business i can pretend i never saw him and so it was with the levite the same thing the levites were called of god to minister to people like this man who was wounded by the side of the road but it was going to be just as inconvenient for him he had things to do he had places to be he was on his way to jericho for a reason he couldn't stop and so both of these men people who represent the true god passed by leaving this man to die but a certain samaritan as he journeyed came where he was when he saw him he had compassion so he went to him and bandaged his wounds pouring on oil and wine and sent him on his animal and brought him to an end and took care of him on the next day when he departed he took out half a dinarii and gave it to the innkeeper and said to him take care of him and whatever more you spend when i come again i will repay you this man showed kindness showed kindness to the injured traveler took pity on him cared for him brought him to the end and paid for his care with his own expense with this man this man was a samaritan he was an idolater or at least he came from this nation of people who were not worshipers of the true god this this man above all other nationalities whom the jews most hated now the lawyer when he asked this question did not even consider that god would consider a samaritan to be a neighbor but jesus then asks the pointed question so which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves [Music] put yourself in the shoes of this lawyer or one who is standing there in the multitude listening to jesus as jesus reached this punchline this question who was neighbor to him who fell among these these words must have burned all the way down for that lawyer and all the pharisees were standing by the contrast couldn't have gotten greater more stark you know perhaps something is lost to us as we read this story now in the 21st century as christians we've heard this story over and over and over again and we we think of the term samaritan as a in a positive light this was a good samaritan he was a good person finally a good person came along to help this man in contrast to all those old old levites and priests bigoted people no no no no let's bring it forward to today's context instead of a levite and a priest he's the church pastor and the head deacon who walked by the ones who should have cared who should have demonstrated the love of christ and instead instead they walked by on the other side of the road and then along comes someone who fell in the blank someone from a group christians tend to look down on perhaps people of another religion perhaps people of a different culture perhaps people who live a different lifestyle and instead as would be expected for these people to demonstrate the character of satan this samaritan demonstrates the character of god he cares for this wounded man not asking for anything in return he goes out of his way he pays his money to make sure that this man is taken care of and so as jesus asked the question who was neighbor to him who fell among thieves this liar even now can't take the name samaritan on his lips he said he that showed mercy on him he that showed mercy on him who is our neighbor who is my neighbor who is your neighbor in the beginning this lawyer asked the question what must i do to inherit eternal life jesus asks him what is written in the law the man quotes the law but now but now he understands that to love god love one's neighbor means to love even the one whom i do not want to love to love the unlovely to love the one who is different to love the enemy and now we go back to that first question about doing and about inheriting because you see no amount of doing can make us love one whom we do not love and as the bible says if we cannot love man whom we can see how can we love god and we can't see it you see the surest way to demonstrate our relationship with god it's about how we love the end level you know we can be so quick to judge other people a few weeks ago i was driving over to prayer meeting one of my churches and on the way the traffic stop in front of me and and uh i ran my car off the road and wrecked and uh was not hurt but rather shook up and my car was badly damaged but no sooner had i stopped and gathered my bearings i hadn't even had a chance to open the door and get out of my car and a gentleman came out of the shop i had wrecked right in front of his shop and he came out to see if i was okay and i was so thankful that he he came out he was very kind and friendly and and he called the police and the police came and and made a report and a tow truck came and the whole time that we were waiting instead of going back in his shop he stood there and talked with me and we had a very nice conversation and uh you know i got to thinking afterwards i looked at the sign in front of his shop and i said you know this is not a shop that i would ever stop at or go into there's a smoke shop in a vape shop and i don't smoke and i don't vape and i don't really believe in those things but i didn't judge him over it and in fact in fact i was tempted it would have been tempted to under other circumstances but i realized that this man was a very genuine and kind gentleman i ended up sharing with him that i was a pastor and was on my way to prayer meeting and he shared with me that he had been a pastor as well at one time and we had such a beautiful and pleasant conversation he was so kind to me during that whole time it must have been an hour or more that we waited until my car was loaded up and we were able to go to uh to take the car where it needed to go but i have to say he was perhaps a modern day good samaritan one whom i would have been so tempted to judge in fact perhaps even did judge a little bit in my ignorance in my pious self and yet he was the one whom god had sent to be there with me when i was shook up and and distraught and to offer a service of calling just being there and being friendly other people came to make sure i was okay and they saw that i was okay and they went but he stayed there the whole time he even let me take up the sign in his yard so we could get the car loaded onto the onto the truck and put the sign back i wonder i wonder if when we read the bible we're too quick to make applications of the bible to to try to spiritualize the story i wonder if we're not a little bit like this lawyer who came to jesus seeking to justify ourselves i've heard so many spiritual applications beautiful pictures made from this story of the good samaritan how everything in the story is a symbol of something in the christian life certainly i believe that the good samaritan in one sense is a symbol of christ and we'll talk about that and how he came to this earth but but we we jump to this and we lose we blunt the the shocking bold truth that jesus and the bible is trying to teach us jesus says to this young man simply go and do likewise now that you have seen a picture of god's love in this samaritan whom you hate whom you detest go and do likewise this young man had asked in all sincerity what must i do to inherit eternal life and as we've already mentioned an inheritance is not based on something that you do but it can be demonstrated your relationship can be demonstrated by your actions in fact it must be demonstrated by your actions james says be not hearers of the law but doers of the law and this man all his life had focused on studying the law he knew the scriptures he probably more than any of us today knew the old testament he understood what was written but it had failed to change his heart instead he had been studying the bible looking for technicalities looking for loopholes so that he could justify himself but when he saw a picture in jesus story a picture of god's love he couldn't help but change his heart so i want to ask you friends as you open god's word as you read god's word do you let it change your heart and your life do you allow it to teach us to love even the unlovely you know we've told this story of the good samaritan so many times that it has become almost cliche and yet when we get to the heart of it and realize this is a story a shocking story of a man the least of anyone whom we would expect to help but a man who demonstrated the love of god and two despite the fact that it's a shocking story i believe this story illustrates the love of god through christ in this world for we're not all of us robbed by satan left on the roadside half dead stripped of everything that we had and living in this world without hope waiting to die those perhaps who had come could not save us but there was one who did come to save us who was the son of god one who was despised and rejected by men one who came without honor of himself but who came and sacrificed at himself no he sacrificed himself entirely in order to save you and me yes he truly is the good samaritan and so as we call ourselves christians followers of him may we not also be the good samaritan whether it is to the poor stranger on the side of the road or whether it is to the church member whom we can't seem to get along with whether it is to the family member when we have a distance a disagreement with or or someone who has hurt us deeply that is the one to whom god says will you demonstrate my love he says go and do thou likewise shall we pray friends father in heaven thank you thank you for your word thank you for jesus he teaches us not to look in your word for technicalities and loopholes and distinctions so that we can we can make your love and your word smaller but the lord help us to relish that love that is broader than we can comprehend lord help us to demonstrate that love not just to those who are lovely but that love even to our enemies the love yes of the samaritan may we demonstrate that love to others today and each and every day lord may we be your children may we demonstrate that love that demonstrates that when you come we will have that inheritance of eternal life we thank you lord in jesus name amen [Music] you

Channel: Daniel McFeeters

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Id: wS8AdW2lB5I

Length: 38min 19sec (2299 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 31 2021