Sermons

Introduction

Good morning. That was a wonderful hymn; I could sing it again. It is such a blessing and a privilege to be with you this morning. I'm excited that you are here. I'm excited to be here with you. We are continuing in the gospel of Luke this morning, chapter 10, and it's a very familiar passage. It's the passage that we refer to as the Good Samaritan. I think that what is not quite as familiar is why Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Normally, when we think of this parable, we see it as a model – and it is – of how we should treat our neighbors, love our neighbors. It might even challenge us in who we view as our neighbors; and I think that's all here. But when we look at the context, Jesus' real meaning in telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, it's His encounter with a lawyer. And this lawyer that the Lord Jesus Christ encounters was a lawyer that was an expert in the Jewish law. He was specifically an expert in the Mosaic law. And Jesus' conversation with the lawyer, instead of giving us a model of how we are to love our neighbor – and we could certainly derive that from this parable – it really gives us a model for Christian evangelism. It gives us a model for one-on-one evangelism.

The question that the lawyer raises to the Lord Jesus Christ, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" It's the best question that can be asked. It's the most important question. It has eternity in view, and it's the question that all men should be asking; but sadly, most don't. The Lord Jesus Christ in the parable of the Good Samaritan is seeking to reveal to man that there is nothing that man can do in and of himself to make himself acceptable to God. There's nothing that man can do to make himself in right standing with God in and of himself.

So, with that in mind, let's read our passage, starting in verse 25, today. I'm in Luke chapter 10, verse 25: "And a lawyer stood up and put Him" – Christ – "to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' And He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?' And he answered, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' And He said to him, 'You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.' But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'

"Jesus replied and said, 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to him; and when he saw him, felt compassion, and he came to him, bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper and said, "Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you." Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?' And he said, 'The one who showed mercy toward him.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go and do the same.' Let's pray.

[Prayer] Dear heavenly Father. What a wonderful occasion it is to gather with Your people on this morning and consider Your word. Lord, many of us are here because You have made us the sheep of Your pasture through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Lord, we look to You this morning to bless us. I pray, Lord, that Your word would go out, that I would say exactly what You want me to say.

Lord, we marvel at what You have done for Your people. Your people marveled that they stand righteous before You; but the righteousness that we have is from Your Son the Lord Jesus Christ; and for that righteousness, we gave our sins. And so, Lord, I pray that You would bless us this morning. To You be the glory, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. [End]

Recently, just recently, I had a chance to go through the evangelism training here at the church. I'm not 100 percent sure I passed the class. Luke told me that I did not pass the class, and then he said he was just joking. The concern with humor is the underlying thread of truth in it that makes it funny and leaves you asking the question, "Is that true?"

After finishing the class last weekend, for the first time I went out with the Trinity Bible Church Avengers, and we went to White Rock Lake, and I got paired up with a young man who's very good at evangelism. I would even say that he has the gift of evangelism, or he's gifted in evangelism. To protect the guilty, because there are none innocent, I'm going to call this man "Evangelist" like the character in Pilgrim's Progress.

You have no idea when you are going out to meet a stranger, when you're approaching the stranger with the gospel, what is going to happen. As a matter of fact, you take a deep breath, I think you get a little bit of adrenaline. We approached a man that was roughly my age, sitting by the edge of the lake by himself. Evangelist asked this man if he had received one of the gospel tracts that we were passing out. And the man said no, it had Trinity's information on it. But when the man said no, he allowed the conversation to continue.

The conversation went on naturally, and evangelist asked the question, "If you were standing before God right now and He asked you, 'Why should I let you into heaven?' knowing that you were standing before a holy and righteous God, what would you say? What would your answer be?" The man responded without flinching, "The blood of Jesus." Wow. What a great statement. That was not what I was expecting to happen.

After his profession of faith, evangelist asked the man if he was going out, how would he share the gospel? Could he share the gospel back to evangelist? The man replied that "the gospel reveals the way to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." It was a good answer. Because of that answer, let's call this man "Christian" after the main character in Pilgrim's Progress.

While Christian's answer was good, he said nothing about sin and repentance. So evangelist asked him, "Can I tell you how I present the gospel in evangelism? And at the end of my presentation of the gospel, will you critique it back to me?" Christian said that he would.

So Evangelist said he typically starts in the conversation by asking somebody, "Do you consider yourself to be a good person? Are you good?" Christian blurted out, "No, I'm not good."

That is the point in the conversation where it goes one of two ways. Most often in this age, the person will say, "Yes, I am good. I believe that I'm good; I'm better than most."

And when that happens, Evangelist said that he would take them to the moral law. He would take them to the Ten Commandments, Commandment Number Nine: You shall not lie. You shall not bear false witness. "Have you done that?" Christian said, "Yes, I have."

"The eighth commandment: You shall not steal. Have you stolen of anything of any value or any size?" Christian said, "Yes, I have."

"The third commandment: Have you taken the name of the Lord in vain?" Christian said, "Yes."

At this point, Christian said, "I've broken all the commandments." Honestly, knowing who he was, knowing what his nature was, he said, "I've broken them all." And Evangelist pressed the point about the consequence of this sin: "Without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that you have broken the law of God, where will this person spend eternity?" Christian replied, "Hell."

Christian then gave his testimony. He had lost everything. He was at the point where he despaired of life. He was angry with God. But through all this, the Lord saved him, and He changed him by His grace. It was a wonderful conversation, it lasted for more than an hour.

The reason that I'm telling you this story is that Evangelist's approach to this stranger, Christian, the approach to any stranger with the gospel is a methodology based upon the Bible and it is based upon a narrative that is very similar to how Jesus talks to the lawyer in Luke chapter 10. So let's walk through these verses together.

The Test

Point Number One, verse 25: "The test." "And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'" If you remember in the narrative, the seventy, or the seventy-two, have been sent out; they have come back with joy. Jesus turns to His disciples, has a private conversation with them to tell them how blessed they are to see the coming of God's Messiah, the Christ, His earthly ministry, God's redemptive economy taking place before them. And in that scene, behold, a lawyer stands before Him and appears with the purpose of testing the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like I said earlier, this lawyer, unlike lawyers as we would think of a lawyer today, was an expert in the Mosaic law. They devoted their lives to understanding the law and trying to make sure that they observed the law. Some of these lawyers were even Pharisees.

In Matthew 22, starting in verse 34, "But when the Pharisees had heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him." – This is a different occasion but the same purpose. There's a test. – 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'" The lawyers were the ones that the Pharisees looked to to make sure that what they were saying was in accordance with the law.

There's two things that we cannot miss in verse 25: First, there is an understanding in the question of eternal life. The grave is not the end of man. When God created man and gave him a soul, that soul that God has created in man will live forever. You and I will live forever in eternity, somewhere. The grave is not the end of man. And the lawyer knew this; all Israel knew this. Beyond Israel, there was this thought that there was life after death. What's so interesting is, is that the thought of eternal life is not on the hearts and the minds of the people today. Most people today think that they are going to be pushing up daisies at the end of their life.

So, the lawyer would have known the Old Testament, and he would have known of Daniel chapter 12, where Daniel is prophesying about the end of times. And in the first verse of Daniel chapter 12, he makes this statement: "Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the souls of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who are asleep in the dust of the ground" – that means they're physically dead – "will arise, will awake to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt." Man was created to live forever.

You can picture in your mind the rich young ruler of Matthew 19, going to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he asked a similar question: "Teacher, what good things shall I do to obtain eternal life?" The Philippian jailer in Acts 16, under the crisis of the doors of the prison being swung open, that he asked Paul and Silas, "What must I do to be saved?" The question of eternal life was on the hearts and the minds of the people during Jesus' ministry.

Second, the second point that we cannot miss in verse 25 is that "the lawyer was testing Jesus." The lawyer knew the Mosaic law and the intent of it, or so he thought, And he was testing Jesus to see if Jesus knew the law. This word "test" and the word "justify" in verse 29 reveal the heart of the lawyer. The lawyer is trying to trip up the Lord Jesus Christ with his own words. This is a test. The one that is issuing the test thinks that they know the answers to the test before they ask the questions in the test. It reveals the heart of the lawyer and his self-righteousness.

The lawyer is asking this question not because he has a question of how he may gain eternal life; he already thought he knew the answer to that. And not only did he think that he had the answer to that, he thought he already had eternal life. This test was intended for Jesus and not himself.

One chapter over, one chapter forward in Luke, chapter 11, verse 52, Jesus will say, "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the keys of knowledge; you yourselves do not enter, and you hinder those who are entering."

The Law

Verse 26, the second point, "the law." "And Jesus said to him, 'What is written in the law? How does it read to you?'" At first glance, this is not the answer that I would expect, that maybe you would expect from the Lord Jesus Christ. If someone came up to me and said, "What must I do to gain eternal life?" first of all, after I was shocked and I picked myself up off the ground, what would I say? I would say, "Repent of your sins, turn and follow Jesus. Cast your cares upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the saving of your soul."

Isn't that the answer? Isn't that what we know, "Repent and believe"? It is. And so why does Jesus not answer the question that way? It's because Jesus knows the heart, and He knew that the lawyer was trusting in himself, and that the lawyer was seeking to go to heaven on his own merit, by his own law-keeping, by his own righteousness.

So Jesus goes to God's word. He goes to the only standard that God has given that reveals the way of eternal life. Acts 4:12, you know the verse: "There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven" – the Lord Jesus Christ – "that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Solo scriptura as the Reformers said.

So Jesus says, "What's written in the law? How does it read to you?" This was right in the lawyer's wheelhouse. This is what he had spent his life on. This is what he was an expert. And so Jesus is asking him, "What does God's word say to you about how eternal life is gained? Tell me."

The Demand Of The Law

So the lawyer, verse 27, it's Point Number Three: "The demand of the law. The demand of the law," verse 27 and verse 28. "The lawyer answered, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR, AS YOURSELF.'"

The lawyer rightly sees the Ten Commandments as having two main parts. The first four commandments deal with man's relationship with God. The first four commandments deal with man's relationship with God. The second six commandments deal with man's relationship with man. And in this way, there's a division amongst the law. And so the lawyer goes to Deuteronomy 6:5. This was part of the daily prayers for the Jews. It's known as the Shema. This was said twice a day by a Jew. They would say this in the morning and they would say this in the evening.

And here's the prayer of the Shema. It starts in Deuteronomy 6:4. "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. These words, which I'm commanding you today, shall be on your heart."

This command, this standard of righteousness is so high and so exacting, who can honestly say as they look into their soul that they have loved the Lord with all their might, with all their heart, with all their strength, with all their soul? It's beyond what any man can do. It's beyond what any man has done, save the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. This is impossible for man to do in and of himself. But this is the command, and this is the requirement of the law.

Second, the lawyer goes to Leviticus 19:18, "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD."

Man normally has no problem loving himself most of the time. As a matter of fact, if man worships anything today, it is himself. Man bows down at his own altar, and when man bows down at his own altar, there is no way that he can have the time and concern that the law demands for others.

The Self-Righteous

The self-righteous man suffers from pride, and he views himself. When we think it's all about us, when we think that we are the best, when we suffer from pride, when we think that we are good in and of ourselves, it's hard for that man to love anybody but himself. It's hard for him to love his neighbor as much as he loves himself because he's set himself up as an idol.

Verse 28, "Jesus responds to the lawyer, 'You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE. You're correct. Live the commandments. But the requirement in keeping the law, in seeking to be justified by the law, is perfection." And the Lord Jesus Christ knew this. Christ is pointing the lawyer to the realization that he cannot keep God's law, and that his efforts are never going to meet God's standard of righteousness. It is never going to meet God's standard of perfection.

The lawyer would have known not only Leviticus 19, he would have known Leviticus 18:4-5 where Moses writes inspired by God, "You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD."

The purpose of the law, the perfection of the law, the unrelenting standard of the law, was to show man that he could never perfectly keep the law. The law convicts man of sin and reveals that there is nothing that he can do in and of himself to please God or to meet the standard that God has for perfection. Man's best efforts are never good enough, they never will be. Since Adam's fall, his sin in the garden, man has sinned, every man has sinned and missed the mark of what God has required.

Jesus is testing the heart of the lawyer to expose his need, his self-deception, and that he has not met God's standard of righteousness. The righteousness that the lawyer thinks that he has is not the righteousness that God requires. Romans 3:19, "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;" – verse 20 – "because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight."

Man cannot do anything. Man can do no work. Man cannot observe the law to make himself right with God. He has fallen woefully short because he is a sinner and he has broken the law of God. Paul continues, "for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin."

In evangelism, one of the verses that is quoted is James 2:10, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at one point, he has become guilty of all." The Lord Jesus Christ goes to the very heart of the matter. He is holding up the law in front of the lawyer as a mirror so that the lawyer can see and compare it to his heart and see how he has deceived himself, that he cannot keep the law, that he is not what he thinks he is.

Verse 29, "the self-righteous." "But wishing to justify himself," the lawyer says to Jesus, 'Who is my neighbor?'" The lawyer's heart is so hard and so deceived he is seeking to justify himself. In doing this, the lawyer is declaring that he is righteous by virtue of his law-keeping, that he has met the standard with which God requires. It's tragically sad. It's when man thinks that he is good enough on his own merit to go to heaven but he is self-deceived, when you're out evangelizing, when you get to that question, "Are you good?"

The same day that we met Christian, Evangelist and I met another young woman, and I'll call her name "Uncertain." Very nice woman, young woman. She was sitting down with a drink and a snack, and she had a blue book opened. And as we got closer, I asked her if it was the Bible. And she said it was, and I could see upside-down that she was reading from the book of Esther.

And Evangelist asked her the same question: "If you were standing before the Lord and He asked you, 'Why should I let you into heaven?' knowing that you were talking to a righteous and holy God, what would your answer be?" She thought for a moment and she said as most people think: "Because I'm a good person."

Evangelists then shared the gospel and that the Lord Jesus Christ was the only way to heaven with her. At the end, she still wasn't convinced. He asked her, "If you had the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness, how certain are you that you would go to heaven?" and she said 90 percent."

This whole self-justification, this whole self-righteousness is so sad, it's tragic because these people have deceived themselves to think that at the end of their life, when they stand before the Lord, He will let them into heaven. This thought and this notion and this deception has eternal consequences, consequences that are never going to end.

You know the verse, it's another verse used in evangelism: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." There's only one Judge. There's only one that can declare a person righteous and that Judge only declares someone righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's the great exchange that went on at the cross. The Lord allowed the sins of His people to be transferred to Christ. He paid the price at the cross, and in return, 2 Corinthians 5:21, "He gave His righteousness that we might" – when the Father looks at us, He doesn't see our sin, He sees the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3:27, "Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law."

The Parable

Point number five, "the parable." That's the context; now we get to the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Lord Jesus Christ again graciously appeals to this man so that he will see that his law-keeping will not save him. Remember, the purpose of the law is to expose sin. It is to promote hopelessness where the person realizes they cannot do it themselves, and they cry out to the Lord, "Help me!" and they throw themselves upon the mercy of God.

Verse 30, "Jesus replied." His telling of the parable has everything to do with the fact that the man is trying to justify himself. Everything that the Lord Jesus Christ says has eternity in view. He's talking about eternal life; that is the subject of this parable. "Jesus replied and said, 'A man is going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.'"

This road was notoriously dangerous for travelers. There's about a 4,000-foot descent from Jerusalem, which is up on high, down to Jericho. There's many caves along this route, there's different rock formations, and it allowed robbers and thieves to often ambush unsuspecting travelers. This man is robbed. He's left naked, they've stripped him of his clothes. He's beaten to the point of death. He has open wounds, and his life hangs in the balance.

That's the picture of this parable that Jesus is painting. And as the parable unfolds with the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan, it becomes pretty obvious that the man who was robbed was probably a Jew. Leaving Jerusalem, he was a fellow countryman of the priest and the Levite. Verse 31, "And by chance a priest was going down the road, and he saw him." He saw the need. He saw this man that was his neighbor. "He changes direction to the other side of the road and he passes by on the other side."

The priest was a subset of the tribe of Levi. He would have been a descendant of the family of the first high priest Aaron. They were, the priests were, responsible for making sacrifices in the temple. These sacrifices, atonement made for sin, were to point to the Lord Jesus Christ. These priests would have said the daily prayers, the Shema. They would have known Leviticus 19:18 that they were to love their neighbor as themselves. Regardless of the reason – many have been given – the priest neglected his charge to love his neighbor. He made effort, conscious effort, to pass by on the other side of the road to avoid the man in need.

Verse 32, "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to that place, he also saw the man and passed by on the other side." Levite does the same thing. The Levites also served in the temple in Jerusalem. The Levites carried out all the other functions in the temple that the priests did not carry out. Both the priests and the Levites were to represent as priests the nation of Israel before the Lord, making intercession to God through the sacrifices, and their main responsibility was to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. Their main responsibility was to point everything to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled everything that was going on in the temple. Both the priests and the Levite in this parable were more concerned with themselves than they were their neighbor, and they fell short of what the Mosaic law requires.

Verses 33 through 35, "Now the Samaritan," – he comes on the scene – "he's on a journey," – maybe a business journey – "and he came to him and he saw him, the man who was beaten, and he felt compassion. Came to him, bandaged up his wounds, poured oil and wine on them, put him on his own beast, brought him to an inn, took care of him. The next day he pulled two denarii out of his wallet, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him. If this costs any more, when I come back, I'll repay.'"

By contrast, the Samaritan does exactly what the priest and the Levite should have done. But what's interesting is that in this parable, the Lord uses a Samaritan. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. They were half-breeds from the Northern Kingdom. They had developed their own place of worship. The Jews did not associate with the Samaritans. When they had to go that way, they went around Samaria. The Lord Jesus Christ met the woman at the well going right through Samaria.

The Lord Jesus Christ is arguing with the Jews in John 8 and there's this back-and-forth that is tense and truthful, and He tells them that they are of their father the devil in verse 44. And they respond to Him with the most vicious attack that they can think of to say to the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 48. And they say to Him, "Do we not rightly say that You are a Samaritan, a half-breed, one that's rejected by Israel, and that You have a demon?"

In contrast, the Samaritan does everything that he can for this man that is dying. He is gracious. He is merciful. He is sacrificial. He felt compassion. One of the commentators said he probably didn't have bandages when he approached this man, so he probably took some of his own clothes and tore them up into strips to bandage the wounds.

You traveled with wine and oil for your own consumption. He took both and poured them out of his own resources on this man's wounds. Both of these were used by doctors to promote healing. Instead of being on his animal, he lifted this man who was almost dead onto his own animal, brought him to an inn, cared for him, probably stayed up all night.

The next morning when he was continuing his journey, he took money out of his pocket. There's debate on how much two denarii was, but it was enough provision for this man to be totally healed. And he looks at the innkeeper and says, "I'm coming back; and if you spend any more money on this man than what I've given you, let me know and I will pay you back."

The Samaritan makes total provision for this man. The Samaritan makes personal sacrifices for this man. The Samaritan loves this man as his neighbor. He loves this man as he loves himself. That love that this Samaritan shows for this man is complete.

By the way, side note. This is how God loves His people. This is how God loves us and did love us even when we were in rebellion against Him. As a result of God loving us that way, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the love that we are called to love others with, to meet the need, to love someone. It's not about you, it's about God, to love the one as completely as he can.

The point that Jesus is making to the lawyer is that man in general does not love his neighbor like this. Man does not love his neighbor completely all the time. No man does this. You may have a family member that you love this way. You may have a friend that on occasion you have made great sacrifice and love this way. But no man loves a stranger this way. We pass people in need all the time and we walk right by.

The standard that God calls to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself, the point that Christ is making: "You can't do it." You and I in our best efforts fall woefully short. And not only if we could draw a line in the sand and say, "Okay, from this day forward I'm going to do this," we've already broken the law. We're not even starting at zero, we're starting at condemned because we're sinners. So this standard is too high for man.

The Neighbor

Sixth point: "The neighbor." Jesus asked the penetrating question: "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robber?" Jesus' question is intended to penetrate the lawyer's heart, to reveal what he is lacking in his law-keeping. Jesus has the lawyer's self-righteousness in view here. Jesus is addressing the condition of his heart.

The Impossible Requirement of the Law

Next verse, the seventh point, the last point: "The impossible requirement of the law." Verse 37, "The lawyer said, 'The one who showed mercy toward him.'" He can't even use the word Samaritan, but he realizes that the parable has revealed that he is the one that has loved the neighbor as is himself.

"Jesus responds to the man, 'Go and do the same.'" The lawyer ends the conversation, or the conversation has ended with the lawyer acknowledging that there is a high calling of the law. But at the same time, there is no acknowledgment by him that he cannot meet the law's demand. It seems like as this conversation ends, the lawyer is going to continue to try to justify himself to try to earn his way to heaven by law-keeping. The words that Jesus gives is an imperative. It's "Go; continue to go. Do the same; continue to do the same. Do the same as the Samaritan has done, show compassion and mercy."

There is a point in the life of Saul of Tarsus when he trusted in himself, when he had a zeal for the ancestral traditions more than anyone else, more than any of his countrymen. He was the number one student. He was going to be Israel's next great rabbi. He trusted in his own righteousness; and then the Lord met him on the road to Damascus.

As Paul later in his life looked back on this, he wrote as the apostle Paul in Philippians 3. He was in a very similar situation to this lawyer, and it's very interesting what he writes: "Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh, if anyone else has mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more." Paul is saying when he was Saul that he was the best, he was the best that man could offer. And then he gives his pedigree, verse 5, "circumcised on the eighth day of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church;" – and here it is – "as to righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless."

As a Pharisee, Paul looked at the law, he looked at the external requirements of the law, and he said, "I haven't murdered. I haven't committed adultery. I haven't made an idol. I haven't blasphemed God." And yet in his heart is lust, covetousness, hatred, which Jesus says, "You shall not murder; but if you hate your brother, you are guilty of this." In Romans 7 he would say, "I didn't know what coveting was until the law said, 'Do not covet.'" And so he was outwardly righteous but his heart was not righteous to the law.

Verse 7, "But whatever things were gained to me in this condition, those things I have counted as lost for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish" – but trash – "so that I may gain Christ."

And here's the point in verse 9: "And may be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law – I'm not righteous because I've kept the law. My righteousness is not because of law-keeping. My righteousness is not because I'm better than everyone else – but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

Conclusion

The point that Christ is making in the parable of the Good Samaritan is that man cannot meet the law's demands. And as a result, if man cannot meet the righteous standard that the law sets forth, he must seek grace and mercy from God Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ in this parable has eternity in view. He has the eternal state of the lawyer in view. The goal of evangelism is to reveal the need of the sinner, to reveal the need of the man who is lost because that man doesn't realize it, but he is racing into eternity.

Each and every one of us are racing into eternity. It is hard to be saved from man's perspective; God is sovereign. It is hard for a man to be saved unless he knows he has a need. It is hard for a man to be saved, save the sovereignty of God, if he does not realize that his life is offensive to a holy God and that his life hangs in the balance. The law reveals man's sin and his inadequacy before God.

In evangelism you have to tell someone the bad news, who they are, and what their condition is. You have to tell the bad news before you get to the good news, because if they don't understand the bad news, they're never going to fully appreciate the good news in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the answer that Christ has to the Jews. It's John 5, it starts in verse 39. He says to them, "You search the Scriptures: - just like this lawyer – "because you think that in them you have eternal life. You think you can read the Scriptures, understand the Scriptures, and observe the Scriptures because in that you think you have eternal life. It is these" – the Scriptures, God's word – "that testifies about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life."

And the question before each and every one of us in this parable, "Is that you? Is that me?" There are two applications to this passage: "What are you trusting in for eternal life?" If you were standing before the Lord right now and He asked you, "Why should I let you into heaven before a holy and a righteous God?" what would your answer be? And if your answer is, "The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ," then the application is to you and to me that the Lord has called us, given His Holy Spirit to us. He has charged us to love the Lord with everything that we have. He has charged us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Let's pray.

[Prayer] Dear heavenly Father, I pray that these words would sink into our hearts. I pray, Lord, that we would, in Matthew 7, not be sayers of Your word but doers of Your word. I pray, Lord, that we would live in a way that is pleasing and acceptable to You.

But, Lord, the more urgent requests that we have is that You would save your people, that You would save the lost. So if there's someone here this morning who does not know Christ, I pray, Lord, that You would bring them to the end of themselves, the end of trusting in themselves, that they would cry out for Your mercy and grace, and that You would circumcise the heart, that You would implant, that You would seal them with the Holy Spirit, that they would repent of sin and turn to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. To the praise of Your glory, we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.