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Luke 10- The Good Samaritan – Ready and able to serve.


Luke 10:25-37


Setting the scene. Who is here?
1. The Certain Lawyer
  • Knowing the Bible does not make you saved. The lawyer here knew the word by heart, knew the application but didn’t accept the truth in practice.
  • He was willing to follow the law but only as he saw fit, not as the law was intended.
  • He knew the right answer to the question but refused to apply it.
    • Nicodemus was the same way. He knew the law, knew the questions to ask but refused to make the decision right there and then.
  • He was willing to justify himself. This is impossible. Only Christ can justify.
  • Christ presents a question to him through this Parable.

2. The Certain Man
  • Was on a journey with a purpose
  • Maybe he was late.
  • Maybe he was rushed.
  • He never planned on getting beaten.
  • He was not the only person traveling that road.
  • We do not know much about him but we know he had provision for the journey. He was prepared for the road ahead of. He had substance about him. He was worth being mugged.

3. The Thieves
  • They planned the mugging.
  • It was probably not their first mugging.
  • They had no self-desire to work but rather to steal from those that did.
  • They wanted a hand out, not a hand up.
  • They were willing to kill to steal for a days wage.
  • They mugged the man in the day time. Their sin was open and they didn’t care.
  • They had no remorse for their open disobedience or the teaching of the Word.

4. The Priest And The Levite
  • Too busy to care about the hurt.
  • Too afraid to be seen with the hurt.
  • Too “holy” to help.
  • They walked away refusing to help the hurt man but  really were refusing to be blessed by God.
5. The Good Samaritan.
  • “But…”   It seems every time we see the word “but” in the Word of God, it is followed by a blessing.
  • He never planned on helping although he was ready and able to help and was placed there for that purpose.
  • He wasn’t afraid to be seen helping the hurt.
  • He wasn’t scared to get dirty.
  • He put his needs aside to help someone else.
  • He changed his schedule even to stay with the man over night and to watch out for his care.
  • He returned to his task but left his word to pay for any further charges that may come up.
    • This shows that his name and his word had value to the inn keeper. 
This is a parable spoken for an example of being a good neighbor. It is a practical illustration to living out the greatest of the law. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27
            This section of scripture and the placement of it is interesting. Let’s look back to the start of Luke 10.  Jesus is giving a charge to 70 zealous men who are on fire for spreading the gospel. Jesus sends out 35 groups of 2 to preach the Word and to heal the sick. He begins his charge with “The harvest is plentiful” the time is right. The winter is past. The spring rain has made a way for a ripe harvest. It is fall time now and a time to reap the rewards of the laboring summer. Jesus sends out the men saying in effect you are here the harvest and yet I still don’t have as many hands as needed to reap the harvest.
He mentions to them that harvest is so big that if you get to a person and they deny Christ to move on to the next. Does this mean we are to give up on leading others to Christ? NO. But there is a time that we leave the results to God. We are to go, tell, sow the Word and water it with the example of our life. In fact Jesus says if they do deny Him that it will be worse for them than it was in Sodom.
So as we read through
This story is a also a story of us. We are on a journey in life. We are busy going here and there and a thief has fallen upon us. Satan has stolen from us our life in Christ. He did this in the garden with Adam. We are left dead in the gutter of shame against a loving God. Today we are born with this death. It is a spiritual death. BUT!! Jesus came and scooped us up and he pours oil over our wounds. He carries us to the cross where he heals us and gives us a new life. He pays out debt. He says: I will come again! And when I come again I will settle the bill of sin with you.
Where are you going? Are prepared for the journey of life? If you have never asked for forgiveness for the debt of sin you have, now is that time. If you are saved then who are you telling? The harvest is ready for the picking. Bear Fruit: John 15.

 

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Four pillars to protecting the Christian Life.

Four pillars to protecting the Christian Life. 

  • Hear instruction from the Word.
    • ~Proverbs 8:33~   Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
  • God’s fruit is better than money
    • ~Proverbs 8:19~   My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.
  • Jesus is the vine or giver of life
    • ~John 15:1~   I am the true vine, 
  • If we love Jesus we will love others – this is the commandment.
    • ~John 15:8~   Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
      ~John 15:9~   As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
      ~John 15:10~   If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

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I had a great year in school.

*This is written as a specific letter to my classmate at GBBI however all can benefit from it.

I had a great year at GBBI, there was the all the test’s and the 14,000 questions that a certain teacher gave us weekly. Of course English was online and if you took it then you know. The pop quizzes of Mulins and the priceless stories of Dr Head. I am really not sure how to political (jk) run a church but I have learned to take my wife on visitation. HA. Spradling with all the woes and foes that he taught  us were great Isn’t God good. For me the lessons Bro Mullins shared from all his personal church plants and take overs, trials and storms  were a great encouraging. In Greek we learned to write funny little symbols and had stories of rare birds, all while digging into the real meanings of words. I had a great year. I learned a lot about the Word, about me and about loving God more. I look forward to next year to be done and God placing me in a ministry that I trust He is preparing me for more every day.
I have also learned from other great men along the way from reading and listing to folks like Dave Ramsey, Jon Acuff and Dan Miller and so many more. School starts back up in about 11 weeks. What will we accomplish in that time frame? NOTHING unless we have goals. Goals must be our goals, written, specify and in a time frame. We all have the time frame part but we all have different goals. Three of mine are the special days I have planed with each of my kids. Another goal is the completion of six classes through Patriot, yet another it to watch God provide for the mission trip Mid August( if you want to help with that then Thanks, you can do so by sending funds to Grace Baptist Church earmarked for the Aug trip for Jason).

What are yours, in another post I will in detail share mine. I would love to read yours and talk about them once class starts to see how they were accomplished. I have listed a article by Dave Ramsey that clearly details how to set and achieve goals.

I pray that all that I can call classmate except for those graduated will return refreshed, renewed and ready. Remember Pastor Green told us not to quitters but finishers for Christ. See you then!


Here is a article from the daveramsey.com site.

The Keys To Achieving Your Goals

from daveramsey.com on 08 Jan 2010
Another year and another set of resolutions. If you’re like most Americans, you’ll probably forget your goals by mid-February. So how do you make your resolutions actually happen this year?
First, keep in mind that goals are dreams; but don’t stop at just dreaming. Turn your dreams into bite-sized pieces that will gradually create a big event in your life. If you’re waiting on an outside variable to change your life, you have a long wait. You have to do something. It’s your responsibility to fix your life, not someone else’s. It’s time to sit down, make some goals, and take control. Use Dave’s online goal tracker now.
Goal setting is how you win. Once you’ve made your resolutions, they will drive you forward. The goals will motivate you to seek activities that will help you succeed. It’s not always fun, but those exercises bring you closer to your goal and make you a winner.
If you want to actually achieve your goals this year, then consider the following:
    1. Be specific. 
      When setting goals, be specific in what you want to achieve. Vagueness will only cause you to feel overwhelmed, and you will just give up.

 

  • Make your goals measureable. 
    In order to know if you achieved the goal, it must be measurable. For example, if you want to lose weight, don’t simply write down “lose weight” as a goal. How much weight do you want to lose? Or don’t just write “spend more time with family.” How much time do you want to spend with your family every night?

 

 

  • Are they your goals? 
    Only you can set your own goals. If your spouse, co-worker or friend sets a goal for you, you’re not going to achieve it. Taking ownership will give you more incentive to meet your goal.

 

 

  • Set a time limit. 
    Setting a time frame will help you set realistic goals. For example, if you want to save more money, list how much money a month you want to put into your savings account.

 

 

  • Put them in writing. 
    Putting your goals in writing will make you much more likely to achieve them. Write down your goals and review them often. This will give you motivation to make them a reality.

 

This is the process to succeed. Successful people reassess their lives and then start living intentionally, in writing, on paper, on purpose. Make your resolutions a reality in this year!
To hear him talk about goals go here Dave Ramsey Talking about Goals.