[0:00] Chapter 10. Somewhere here I have a pair of glasses. Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, Luke 10, verse 30, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, wounded him, departed, leaving him half dead.
[0:44] And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at this place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side.
[1:01] But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
[1:18] On the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him. And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
[1:30] Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
[1:44] Last week we were talking about the fact that there are those who, three different categories of people in this world. Those who beat people up, those who pass people up, and those who help people up.
[1:58] And we were talking about which category are you in. Are you one who's going to be beating them up, or just passing them by, passing them over? Or are you going to be helping them?
[2:09] And we talked about the fact that sin, how devastating sin is, and how sin works in our life. We talked about the gravity of sin.
[2:21] We talked about the fact that he was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He's going down. And even though we said, if you actually look at a map, here's Jerusalem.
[2:34] Jericho is up here. And when we think of down, we usually think of south. But it's actually the opposite here. So what did he mean by down? We talked about the fact that Jerusalem is actually up on top of a mountain.
[2:47] And you had to go down from Jerusalem to go to Jericho, altitude-wise. And Jerusalem is a holy city. And I didn't mention this last week.
[2:57] I was thinking about it this week as I was going through things, reviewing. Jerusalem's this holy city. You know, that God's temple's there. God spoke to people there, spoke to the prophets, spoke to the priests and the prophets.
[3:09] He spoke to them there. What do we know about Jericho? Joshua fit the battle of Jericho.
[3:21] That's where the walls came tumbling down. Yeah. So here you've got this holy city. Here you've got a city that God defeated for the Israelites by taking the walls down.
[3:33] And if you remember right, they were never supposed to rebuild that city. If you read that passage about Jericho being destroyed, they weren't supposed to rebuild it.
[3:44] Somebody did. So you're going down from Jerusalem, which is where the temple is, to a city that God destroyed and didn't want rebuilt. So you're going down.
[3:55] And we talked about the gravity of sin, how it always takes us down. We talked about the direction. Oh, she got them all up there. Okay. We talked about the direction of sin.
[4:08] It's always going to take us down. It's always going to take us places we don't want to go. So, and getting ahead of myself. So, we talked about the different times and instances the Bible talks about down.
[4:25] We mentioned Samson. It says he went down in Judges 14.1. It says he went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And we know that he winds up marrying this person he shouldn't have.
[4:40] She was of the Philistines. She was not a Jew. He should not have been involved. But she's going to take him down. And then, because of that, he continues on when he winds up with Delilah, another one who was of the Philistines and stuff.
[4:54] And we talked about Jonah. Jonah wanted to flee from what God wanted him to do. He wanted to go to Tarshish. So, the Bible says he went down to Joppa and then he went down into the ship trying to flee from God and what God wanted him to do.
[5:08] So, we need to be so very careful. He wound up going down into the belly of the fish. And that was not a place he wanted to go. So, then we talked about the depletion.
[5:18] Whenever we get sin coming into our life, we're going to get depleted. We're going to get depleted in our walk with God. We're going to get depleted in our relationship with him. It never is going to lead us to the place we think it's going to.
[5:33] When we get involved in sin, it's always going to be something bad. And this guy was going down to Jerusalem and Jericho. It says there in verse 30 again. And it says he fell among thieves. He was stripped of his raiment.
[5:44] He wounded him. They departed, leaving him half dead. We said that Satan is always going to lead you in the wrong direction. Satan is always going to take you where you don't want to go.
[5:54] So, John chapter 8, verse 44. John 8, 44 says, Ye are of your father the devil, the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
[6:09] When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. We talked about the fact that if you want to be like the devil, lying is the closest you're going to get to the devil.
[6:24] That's who he is. He's a liar, it says, and the father of it. And then we talked about the deadening of sin. Sin is always going to bring death and destruction. We need to be aware that sin always takes us in places we don't want to go.
[6:40] James chapter 1, verse 14 and 15 says this, But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
[6:56] We need to remember that sin is always going to take us down. And we think about, you know, usually when we watch things happen in our life, we think of them going from life to death.
[7:11] But when we come to Jesus, Ephesians 2.1 says, You hath he quickened. Who were dead in trespasses? We're going from death to life when we come to Jesus Christ.
[7:23] He's changing our whole perspective. He's changing everything about us. We talked about Job. Job chapter 11, verse 14. If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
[7:39] We're the tabernacle. Jesus Christ lives within us. Jesus Christ comes, and he has given us life, and he comes to dwell in us.
[7:52] We need to make sure we're not following him, following the devil, but following Jesus Christ. And when he tempts us with stuff, he says, Take it. Throw it away. Get rid of it.
[8:03] Which brings us to today. Second thing, the greater sinners. You know, the guys who beat him up and left him for dead were sinners. He might have been a sinner.
[8:16] We don't know because he was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was heading in the wrong direction. But there were some even greater sinners there.
[8:27] Who were they? He's laying dead inside the road. Then it tells us a couple other men came by, a priest and a Levite. They came by, and they looked, and they saw what was going on, and what did they do?
[8:44] They passed by on the other side. They went to a different, they went away from the man instead of being there to help him. And, you know, that callousness of that priest and that Levite, you know, we see that so often.
[9:01] People just don't care anymore. They just, they see things going on in people's lives, and they don't care. It's like, they can work it out. They can take care of it. You know, I'm not saying we're going to save everybody.
[9:12] We're going to help everybody and everything. But we need to be aware of what's going on around us and see what, you know, needs to be done. And if we can help people, help them. Think about who has God put in your path that you could help.
[9:28] Who has God? God often puts people in our path so that we can be there. And sometimes he does it repeatedly. You know, think about, you know, maybe a store clerk or a barber or a beautician or maybe even a neighbor or a co-worker or somebody like that that keeps winding up in your path.
[9:51] Over and over and over. Maybe God's got something for you to do with that person. First of all, when we look at all this, divine intervention.
[10:04] Divine intervention. God often sets us up with appointments. We don't know their appointments are coming. But sometimes he sets us up with divine appointments.
[10:16] Notice verse 31. And by chance. There came down a certain priest that way. You know, whenever we have chance meetings, chance.
[10:31] Think of them as divine appointments. God has set up an appointment for you. God has set up a way for you to meet someone that maybe you need to help. A chance meeting is actually a meeting orchestrated by God.
[10:46] He has set it up. He has it for you to meet that person and have an influence on their life in some way. Why they're there at that time?
[10:57] What they're doing there at that time? We don't know. And we don't always know everything that's going to take place. But we need to be ready. And it's not always something heroic that you're going to save somebody's life or help them.
[11:12] It might just be planting that little seed by saying, you have a blessed week. Or may God bless you. Or give them a word of whatever God has displayed on your heart that helps.
[11:25] So that way, like you said, you're planting a seed. You're making them stop and think. And getting them ready for maybe the next person that comes along and has interesting. Job 23.10 says this.
[11:36] But he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. He knoweth the way that I take. So again, is there any such thing as a chance meeting?
[11:50] God knows the way that you're taking. God knows the way that you're going. God knows that you are going to encounter this person over here. Chris has been talked about.
[12:03] He's been coming in the last month or so. Chris had a meeting. And by that meeting, Chris has now been coming. And we thank God for that.
[12:14] You know, you can find someone in spiritual need almost anywhere. And God puts you in paths of people.
[12:25] He says, here's a divine appointment for you. It's not a chance meeting. It's a divine appointment. Use it as such. I found that there are people that, because of the service they provide for me, I see them every month.
[12:40] You know, pretty much every month. And yesterday, that happened. There was a lady that, she can do ear-candling for me. And it's not clear enough, but the first thing out of her mouth yesterday had to do with a divine thing.
[12:56] Asking me a question. So, establishing that relationship over a period of time. The lady that I go to for a hair, she did the same thing.
[13:10] You know, it's like, we talk, when we talk, we talk about very serious things among other friendships and things like that. But, yeah, it was divine intervention in how I met these ladies.
[13:24] I've known them a long time now. But it's, here's this one. They have that question. There's this question. And so that builds on that, whatever you say.
[13:35] You're constantly building seed, planting seed, constantly giving water. I don't say too much of them. I wait for their questions. It was pretty amazing this week, too.
[13:47] You know, you go through, as you talked about, you go through these things, and you don't really quite understand. Like, it doesn't make sense. And you think by now, but you realize, okay, if you're going through something that doesn't make sense, it's probably because it's God.
[13:58] You know what I'm thinking? So, this weekend, this week, actually, there was an inmate at the jail. He needed methadone. So, I went. I think it was last, sometime this week, I went up there.
[14:09] Thursday. I had to go up there twice now. Thursday. What's that? Thursday, I think. Yeah, Thursday. You're right. Yeah, because I went to the next day. That's right. But, so Thursday went up, and my plan was to get, you know, all the methadone needed until we go back again.
[14:22] And it was 14 bottles. We got there, and they're like, well, no, you can only get the one because there's some things that didn't go through with the paperwork. And I'm just like, you know, you get into it, and you're just like, all right, well, I guess it is what it is.
[14:34] And, you know, and so you go through it, and then I left, and then I came back Friday to get all of the doses. And there was a former inmate by the name of, I think I asked a prayer for him a little while ago, James Jones.
[14:48] And he stopped, and he's like, he's like, Sergeant Young. And I was like, hey, Jones. He's like, I thought that was you, but I wasn't sure. And so I came over, and he's like, no, you mentioned that church, and I really want to go, and, you know, I really want to thank you.
[15:01] Like, you really took the time to treat me like a human being. You just really helped me a lot while I was there. And I was like, oh, praise the Lord. And he's just like, you have, like, paper and pen. Like, I want to write down the name of the church so I don't forget.
[15:13] So I was like, oh, Lord, praise the Lord. I have paper and pen always on me. And so I gave it to him. When they left, he was like, well, don't be surprised if I just show up there one day.
[15:25] You know, and it's just like you get through it, and then you get all stressed. And, well, I wasn't that stressed, but just kind of like, what is going on? Why is this not? Because I never had to go up the second time. Yeah. Yeah, why? Because it's a waste of money and gas.
[15:37] And to us, that doesn't make sense. But God had a totally different plan. So if I didn't come Friday, I wouldn't have seen him. Wouldn't have seen him. Yep.
[15:48] Cool. So God has divine appointments for us. He has reasons for things that happen in our life. So, yep. So God's going to have a divine appointment for this good Samaritan.
[16:01] He tried to do it for the priest and the Levite, but they weren't paying attention. They, letter B, had a deliberate indifference. Deliberate indifference.
[16:14] Sometimes we can do that. If we haven't prepared ourselves for the things that are going to happen around us, we might overlook the things that are happening around us. We can overlook.
[16:27] We might be unaware of things. We may not even notice somebody's needs. We have to make sure we take care of our spiritual eyes. Our physical eyes, we take care of, don't we?
[16:39] I mean, of you in here, I know a few of you have had cataract surgery and things like that, like I have. You try to take care of your eyes. You try to make it so you can see.
[16:50] You can see clearly and see well. You make sure your eyes are taken care of. But how are we doing with our spiritual eyes? Are we making sure those are ready to see what God is doing around us?
[17:05] And we need to be good stewards to make sure we have our eyes open to whatever God is doing around us. So, imagine what our world would be like if we were ready and watching all the time and seeing clearly what's going on around us.
[17:27] You know, I remember when I had my cataract surgery. You know, I came out and just had it done, you know, half an hour or so before and had that big plastic thing over my eye, you know, and stuff.
[17:39] But it has little holes and you kind of look through the holes and stuff. And Bonnie's driving me home and I'm looking at the trees. And I'm like, whoa. You know, I'd always seen the trees.
[17:52] Here's their, you know, there's a tree. But as I'm driving home, I'm looking, I'm going, I can see the individual leaves on that tree now. It's like, whoa.
[18:04] This is so cool. You know, do we take care of our spiritual lives like that so that we're ready to see whatever God is doing, see whatever God has for us?
[18:16] Two men in the parable, priest and a Levite, their vision was fine. Fred? Well, we are quick to condemn these two than actually we're not.
[18:28] But when you think about it, did these people have an area of more importance in their, in such as, you know, substitute a brain surgeon for one of the priests?
[18:45] I got somebody over here needs me over here. Mm-hmm. How do I work on the priests? There's a dead guy, and this one might be alive. So we shouldn't be so quick to condemn other people because we don't know what's in their head in the sky.
[18:59] We don't. But this is a parable that Jesus is giving, so I'm pretty sure these guys weren't in a hurry. So, but they could have been, yeah. It doesn't change the fact that you... It can be. You could be, yes.
[19:09] Yeah. But we'll talk about that in just a minute, actually, a little bit. Um. Going along with that, in my personal life, it's usually when I am the most exhausted, the most committed, and the most, um, it's like, I haven't got room for anything else in my life that God gives those opportunities.
[19:30] Mm-hmm. And it's like, okay, we'll just shift direction and we'll do that. Mm-hmm. And without fail, whatever the other priority I thought was more important ends up being taken care of a different way.
[19:46] One time, I was thinking I needed to prepare lessons for the next day of school, but my cousin was there and ready to talk about God. And I said, okay, I'll do that.
[19:57] Guess what happened? The next day of school got canceled because of a snowstorm. I don't know. Yep. Yep. God has a plan. Yeah, Corey's going through that right now. Really. Yep. He has to get all those tools and get all that set to you.
[20:09] That was just going to be his career. Work for his career. He's working there and doing carpentry and everything. Nope. Nope. He works at a restaurant. Yep. Yeah. So.
[20:20] He's doing amazing, too. Yep. God has different plans sometimes than we do. Um. So these guys. You know, they.
[20:32] Passed up on an opportunity. So it might have been something more important. But notice. Again, verse thirty three. Thirty one and thirty two. And by chance.
[20:43] There came down a certain priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when he was in place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side.
[20:57] They both saw. Says the priest saw. Says the Levite looked. But they deliberately passed by. And it wasn't a matter of.
[21:08] Maybe like Fred said. That. You know, there was something more important going on. Because they went. Took the time to go check. And saw the guy. And they saw the condition he was in.
[21:20] They could have. You know. These. I'll send somebody back for you. You know. They passed by on the other side. They went a different direction. And they often probably use some of those same type of things.
[21:33] You know. I'm in a hurry. I've got. You know. I don't have time right now. And things. You know. Yes. It also shows us that if we bypass an opportunity.
[21:44] God has somebody. Good. Yeah. If we bypass an opportunity. God will have somebody else. Oh. Dana. Yeah. Sometimes. I'm just thinking about. To add to this.
[21:55] Was it Levi's passing by? Yeah. What other role did the Levi's and the priests fulfill? They were the doctors. Yeah. So.
[22:06] What is this in modern time? This is like. If you were laying on the side of the road. And like an EMT. Or a doctor. Just walked by. Yeah. So there might have been.
[22:16] Certain rules. That they might have been breaking. By ignoring this. Could be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So. Maybe another thing they thought was.
[22:29] I'm not qualified. You know. You. Levi. Maybe. Should. Should have been. But. You know. I'm not qualified. Well. Someone. Someone can do a better job than I can. All right.
[22:39] All right. Wasn't the Levi's. Or the priest. The one that went in. The inner temple. To pray and everything. Some of them did. I was wondering.
[22:50] If maybe that priest said. I can't help him. I'm supposed to be in the temple. Could have. Could have. It's dirty. His body. Yeah. Yeah.
[23:00] I think part of that parable. Is also. Is this. Hated. Sect. Of. The. The. Community. Such as. The.
[23:11] Samaritan. It wasn't all bad. He had some good in it. Yep. He did. Had a lot of good in it. Yep. He had compassion.
[23:22] We're going to talk about that. So. Yeah. So. There's all kinds of excuses. We can make. And we do the same thing. Today. You know. There are people who need our help.
[23:33] There are people who. Need to hear the gospel. And we can make all kinds of excuses. Why we're not doing it. But. He says. No. He said. They pass by on the other side. And we do the same thing.
[23:44] The one thing that gives me. The most courage. To share my belief. And my. Faith in Jesus. Is the fact that. Jesus told us. If you're ashamed of me.
[23:55] I'll be poet. I'm going to be ashamed of you. In front of my father. And I know I'm paraphrasing. Yep. But basically. That's what it is. That's basically what it is. Yeah. And so. If I get the opportunity.
[24:08] So. Maybe it's not for this person. Maybe it's for him. Or her. Somebody behind me. I always go back to. There was a guy. And now I can't remember his name.
[24:21] Campbell. Anyways. He worked in a shoe store. And. He had another guy working with him.
[24:33] Who was not saved. A younger guy. Kid. Kid. And. Campbell used to teach Sunday school. On Sundays and stuff. And Campbell took the time. To take this kid.
[24:44] And talk with him. About. What it meant. To be a Christian. And how to be a Christian. And everything. Well. The kid got saved. Kid's name. Was D.L.
[24:55] Moody. Think of the difference. He made. In the world. By taking the time. To talk to this kid. D.L. Moody preached. Over 100 million people.
[25:06] Without microphones. And TVs. And radios. And. Had such a tremendous impact. All because. A guy named Campbell. Took time to tell him.
[25:17] That he was important to him. Let me tell you about the gospel. And what Jesus did for me. Chris. Who was that? D.L. Moody. He was an evangelist. Back in the 1800s.
[25:29] And. He actually preached. Over 100 million people. Between the United States. And Europe. And a man with. Limited education. But.
[25:40] Did a tremendous work for God. So. Matthew. Talks about the fact. In Matthew 24. 12. You're getting into some of that. Prophecy stuff there.
[25:50] In Matthew. And he says. Because iniquity shall abound. The love of many. Shall wax cold. Is our world. Getting worse. And worse. And worse. And worse.
[26:01] Yeah it is. And many are getting. So that they are cold. They don't want to. To go out. And share the gospel. And talk to people. But.
[26:11] Fortunately. After the priest. And the Levite. There came a third person. The good Samaritan. The third person. The good Samaritan. The good Samaritan. He's on his way.
[26:23] This man was on his way. To Jericho. Good Samaritan. Looks. Sees the man. Sees what's going on. In his life. And decides to do something. About it. First of all. About him.
[26:34] He's a doubtful candidate. A doubtful candidate. Why is he doubtful? Fred mentioned it. You know. The Jews. And the Samaritans. No love lost. Between those guys.
[26:45] They did not like them. And for Chris. He's going to wonder. About this. The reason. There was no love lost. Between. Between the Jews. And the Samaritans. You had Israel.
[26:56] And then you had a little section. Called Samaria. The Samaritans. Had intermarried. With other groups. The Jewish people. Only married Jews. And so.
[27:07] They intermarried. With these other groups. And stuff. Not so many. A lot of times. They'd bring in other gods. And things that they'd worship. So. Samaritans were like. You guys stay over there.
[27:18] Stay away from the rest of us. So here's the Samaritan. He's walking along. And he's about. To help this man. Another illustration. Of that Samaritan thing.
[27:29] In John chapter 4. You don't have to turn there. John chapter 4. It talks about the woman. At the well. And Jesus went to the well. And he asked the woman.
[27:39] For water. And in John chapter 4. Verse 9. It says this. Then said the woman. Of Samaria. Unto him. How is it. That thou. Being a Jew. Askest drink.
[27:50] Of me. Which am a woman. Of Samaria. For the Jews. Have no dealings. With the Samaritans. And yet. There's Jesus. Talking to a Samaritan woman. Asking her for a drink.
[28:02] What was he asking her. For a drink for? Well. He was thirsty. Yeah. Okay. Huh? To talk to her. A chance to open a conversation.
[28:13] With this woman. And help. Introduce her. To God. And who. Jesus was. Samaritan story. Same thing.
[28:24] He stops by. He sees this man. He opens up a conversation with him. He helps him. He gives him. The help that he needs. Sometimes.
[28:36] People start to think they're. Too good. Too big. For certain things. I can't help them. They're beneath me. Can't do anything for them. They don't come up to my standards.
[28:47] Can't do. All these type of things. I read just this week. It reminded me. I was reading in 1 Samuel. Saul.
[28:58] Is chosen to be king. And. Saul. Is given that honor. He's going to be king. You know. He's a young man. Who. Is like. Just. Flabbergasted.
[29:09] And God would pick him. To be king. But then you remember. As time went on. Saul. Started to think of himself. More highly. Than he should have. And. He even got to the point.
[29:19] Where. Remember Samuel. Was late. Showing up. Where. Saul. Thought he should have been. And so. Saul. Decides to. Offer the sacrifices. And things himself. Instead of waiting for Samuel.
[29:31] And in. 1 Samuel. 15. 17. Samuel said. When thou was little. In thine own sight. Wasn't thou made. The head of the tribes of Israel. And the Lord.
[29:42] Anointed thee. King over Israel. When you were little. Excuse me. When you were little. In your own sight. God made you the king. But now.
[29:54] You think you can take the place. Of everybody. You think you need. No control over you whatsoever. God says. No. God says. The sacrifices belong to the priest. That's not your job.
[30:06] As the king. That's the priest job. To take care of those. And Samuel has to tell him. You know what. Saul. Because of going this way. Because of doing this. Because you think you're better.
[30:16] Than everybody else now. You're going to lose your position. As king. You're not going to be king anymore. David Gibbs. Anybody know that name. David Gibbs. You do.
[30:26] Okay. David Gibbs. Is a lawyer. He's. Founder of the Christian Law Association. Christian Law Association. Started. 80s.
[30:39] I think back in the 80s. And. They go in. And they help churches. And they go in. And they help Christian schools. And they do. Basically do it for free. Everything they do.
[30:50] Is based on people giving. So that they have the funds. So that they can. Pay these guys. So they will go and. Represent Christian. Organizations. And stuff. David Gibbs once said. You can be too big.
[31:01] For God to use. But you can never be too small. You can be too big. But you can never be too small. When we start thinking. Pictureing ourselves.
[31:13] In great degrees. He says. You got a problem. And it's already quarter past. Go ahead Kelly. Isn't that when God. Really knocks us on our chest.
[31:23] And says. Okay. You're too big. I'm going to use this all again. Yep. And that's basically. What he was doing to Saul there. Saul you're going to lose your kingdom. You're not going to be king anymore. Somebody else is going to take over.
[31:35] Humble yourself. Yep. Humble yourself. Yep. So. That's our word for her. That's already quarter past. Dear Heavenly Father. Just thank you for this time we've had. Good discussion today. Good talk.