And we're going to begin our worship singing Psalm 122, Psalm 122 in the Scottish Psalter.
And that's from page 416, the tune is Free Church.
I joyed when to the house of God go up, they said to me, Jerusalem within thy gates, our
feet shall standing be. Jerusalem as a city is compactly built together, and to that place
the tribes go up, the tribes of God go thither. A psalm that celebrates, sings praise in regard to
coming to be together to worship the Lord, but also speaks of the unity that God's people enjoy
as represented there by Jerusalem, the city of the Old Testament times. So let's sing through
these verses, the whole psalm. We'll stand to sing, I Joyed Went to the House of God.
I Joyed Went to the House of God, O what they said to me. Jerusalem when in thy gates, our
peace shall stand outside me in thee.
Burst the Alejandro Magdalene Paulin and the Church of Jesus' fire to the Lord and the
arching is strong to swan out and be blessed.
We'll be right back.
To God's name thanks to him.
For thrones of judgment,
King the thrones of David's house,
The host does keep me selected,
roughest day.
Free,
but Jerusalem,
leah,
peace of
Happy City.
Let them that love me and my peace have still prosperity.
Therefore I wish that peace may still within thy woes remain.
And ever may thy policies prosperity retain.
Now for my friends and brethren saints,
Please be in me, I say.
And for the hearts of God our Lord,
I'll see thy good always.
Let's again join together in prayer.
Let's call upon the Lord now in prayer.
Almighty and gracious God,
help us, we pray, to draw near to you once again
as a gathered people.
And enable us to do so, O Lord, in due dependence upon you.
We know what it is, O Lord, to gather together so frequently.
We know what it is to read your word,
to sing these psalms of praise.
And yet again, O Lord, we confess
our need of your own application
of all of these privileges to us.
And we pray that you would help us, O Lord,
as we interact with your word once again this evening,
to receive it as your word,
to receive it in such a way
that we will hear your voice speaking to us through it.
We thank you, O Lord, for that privilege that we have
of gathering together once again
at the end of,
approaching the end of this Lord's day.
And we pray that it may always be our delight
to gather together in such a way as we do now.
We have been singing of these words of the psalmist
from so long ago.
And they are still redolent, O Lord,
in the experience of your people.
And they live with us as an expression
of the excitement and the joy
that was given to him and to his people
as he went with them to join with them
in the worship of God.
And Lord, we pray that it will always be
our joy to gather together as we do now
in order to praise the Lord,
in order to manifest his praises
to the world in which we live.
And we ask that you would make us conscious, O Lord,
of the privilege we have in doing so.
And we pray that as we gather here tonight,
your blessing will rest upon us.
We give thanks, O Lord, for the guidance
your word gives us in respect to our drawing near to you.
O you are God, and we know that we need to respect you
in every way.
And that as we draw near to you in worship,
so also we need to come with reverence,
with godly fear,
even along with our joy and rejoicing in you.
And we thank you, Lord, that you have combined
these elements in the experience of your people
in their hearts and minds,
so that they themselves are pleased, O Lord,
to come to seek to draw near to you in this way.
Help us to exalt you in our thoughts,
in our consideration this evening of your word.
Enable us, we pray, to lift up your holy name
as we worship you,
but to do so in a way that would willingly
and consciously ascribe all glory
and honor and praise to you.
And we pray, O Lord, that your blessing
will be with us as a congregation
of your people during these days.
We give thanks for the gospel amongst us.
We give thanks for the support of your people
of the gospel.
We give thanks, O Lord,
in times of difficulty,
financially and economically,
that your people still support your cause
financially as well as prayerfully.
We thank you for this,
and it encourages our hearts, O Lord,
when we see people committing themselves
to the further support of your cause in this way.
We thank you tonight for those who pray
for the advance of your cause,
for the advance of your cause in this congregation,
as well as in every other congregation of your people.
We thank you for the remembrance
that they have in prayer
of the preaching of your word
and of the preachers of your word,
and of those who are elected to leadership
in your church,
for those who rule in your church as elders,
for those who give of their time as deacons,
for those, Lord, who come to support the prayer meetings,
and for every way in which your people,
O Lord, show their support for your cause
and their concern that you be glorified,
that your cause be advanced.
We ask, Lord, tonight, too,
that you would bless us in all our activities
in relation to the gospel itself,
along with the services of worship.
We thank you for the many ways
in which people have come to commit themselves
to meetings that involve our young people
and our older age people as well.
And we ask, O Lord,
that you would bless every effort made
to the well-being of people to be advanced.
And we pray that especially under the gospel's teaching,
that we will come together as a people
to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Christ,
and that it may be our concern daily
to see ourselves advancing in this way.
We pray your blessing for the forthcoming
Over 55 Club.
We pray for Duncan Norman
as he heads up the organizing of it.
We pray, Lord, that you would continue
to own and acknowledge the club
as it meets together.
We pray that there may be that
mutual support of each other
by those who attend.
We thank you for the encouragement
from the last meeting.
We pray that that will continue.
We ask your blessing for the anticipated
presbytery camp as well
for our young people.
Lord, remember them, Lord,
as we pray for them
and pray for their own further establishment
in the things of grace,
in the ways of the gospel,
in the ways of following the Lord.
Gracious Lord, protect them,
keep them, guide them in your ways.
I give them not to turn aside
through temptation from the world
to those things which would make them
depart from following the Lord
and following his teaching.
And remember,
any who have gone aside, O Lord,
in recent times or recent years
from the teachings of Christ.
Oh, remember them, Lord, we pray,
who once frequented the services
of your church and no longer do so.
Oh, gracious God, remember them,
we pray, in your pity and mercy.
And show to them, O Lord,
that they're still welcome
to come to join with your people
wherever that may be.
Grant that you would graciously
work in their hearts
so as to reignite and renew in them
that desire after yourself.
Remember, we pray to those tonight
who have various troubles in their lives,
socially and morally and in family life.
Oh, remember them, we pray as well.
We commit to you, too,
those who are mourning the loss of loved ones
during these days.
We ask that you would bless them
with your comfort
and grant to them, Lord,
that you would make them conscious
of how near you are
to those who call upon you in truth,
that you have made yourself available
through the gospel
so that we might come
and draw our strength
and our encouragement from you.
We ask, O Lord,
that your blessing will reach out
into the world in which we live,
that you would use ourselves
and give us the further desire
to be used by you
as a people who would communicate
the love of Christ
to this generation we belong to.
We pray, Lord,
that all who do serve you in this way
and seek to act as witnesses
to you in the world,
in their homes,
in their places of work,
wherever they may be.
We ask your blessing
to follow every instance
of witnessing to you
and of seeking to commend you
to this lost world
in which we live.
We thank you that
in saving ourselves,
your people always,
Lord, look to that as evidence
that you are able to do for others
what you have done for them.
And this is our prayer tonight,
O Lord.
Reach out your hand, we pray,
and take those
who are presently living
without a care for eternity
and without trust in the Lord.
Oh, bring them, we pray,
to realize their spiritual state
and grant that you would,
even tonight,
reach out and work in hearts
around us in our communities
so that they may come
to realize their need
of the Lord himself.
Remember any tonight
who hear the gospel
but are not yet saved,
whether it be in this building
or in other gatherings
of your church,
we pray, O Lord,
that your Holy Spirit
will tonight work creatively
in the hearts of those
who are still not saved.
We pray that their familiarity
with the gospel
may not itself prove
to be a barrier
to the reception of the Lord.
Grant that you would overcome
whatever obstacles
they themselves may place
in the way,
in the way of turning to Christ,
in the way of receiving him gladly,
in the way of turning
to follow him in this world.
We pray your blessing too
for those, Lord,
who are caught in various addictions,
also working with them.
We remember Davy
and his work with Road to Recovery
and every other related work
that deals with such social problems
during these days.
O Lord, remember them, we pray,
and grant that all efforts
made to be of help
to those who have such difficulties
and trials in life,
that you would be pleased
to bless them
and bless the efforts, O Lord,
that those who sincerely seek
to bring the power of the gospel
to bear upon such lives.
Remember us now,
we pray too,
as a nation.
Remember our government
here in Scotland.
Remember the government
in Westminster.
Remember them, Lord,
at this time
when there's so much uncertainty,
so much turmoil
in the political system.
We pray for our Prime Minister,
whatever people may think
of her election
or of herself.
We pray for her,
we pray for the new Chancellor.
We pray that there may be stability
in the days to come,
not only economically,
but what we would love to see,
O Lord,
would be stability
morally and spiritually.
And we ask that you would turn us
as a people to yourself,
that you would graciously
bless the witness
and testimony of your people,
especially those of them
who serve in the parliaments
of our nation
and who bear testimony
to Jesus,
to the Lord
and to his law,
before their fellow
members of Parliament.
O Lord,
bless them, we pray.
Hear their prayers
as they pray to you
for direction.
We ask that
in all of these ways
you would grant
to hear our prayers
this evening.
Do for us, Lord,
we pray more
than we can ask or think.
For this is how you describe yourself
as God
in your word.
We pray that it may be
our experience likewise
of the Lord's ways
with ourselves.
Hear us now,
we pray.
Cleanse us,
pardon us,
accept us.
For Jesus' sake.
Amen.
We're going to praise
the Lord again this time.
We're praising him
from Psalm 25.
In Sing Psalms
this time
on page 29,
the tune is rocking him.
Psalm 25
and verses
8 to 15.
Because the Lord
is just and good,
he shows his path
to all who stray.
He guides the meek
in what is right
and teaches them
his holy way.
To those who keep
his covenant laws,
he shows his love
consistently.
For your name's sake,
O Lord my God,
forgive my great
iniquity.
Psalm 25
is verses 8 to 15
to God's praise.
Amen.
Because the Lord
is just and good,
he shows his path
to all who stray.
He guides the meek
in what is right
and teaches them
his holy way.
To those who keep
his crown and cross,
he shows his love,
consistently.
For your name's sake,
O Lord my God,
forgive my great
iniquity.
who then are those
who fear the Lord.
He'll teach to them
the chosen way,
God's praise.
The king may prosper
all their life,
their children in the land
will stay.
God's praise.
God's friends are those
to fear his name.
With them his
covenant he will share.
my eyes,
the only
saw the Lord.
He'll free
my feet
from
every
seer.
Let's turn now to read the Word
of God.
Tonight's reading is from Luke's Gospel,
chapter 10.
The Gospel of Luke,
chapter 10,
reading from verse 25.
Luke 10,
at verse 25.
And behold,
a lawyer stood up to put Jesus
to the test,
saying,
Teacher,
what shall I do to inherit
eternal life?
He said to him,
What is written in the law?
How do you read it?
And he answered,
You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul,
with all your strength
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.
And he said to him,
You have answered correctly.
Do this,
and you will live.
But he,
desiring to justify himself,
said to Jesus,
And who is my neighbor?
Jesus answered,
A man was going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho,
and he fell among robbers
who stripped him
and beat him
and departed,
leaving him half dead.
Now by chance,
a priest was going down that road,
and when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side.
So likewise,
a Levite,
when he came to the place
and saw him,
passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan,
as he journeyed,
came to where he was,
and when he saw him,
he had compassion.
He went to him
and bound up his wounds,
pouring on oil and wine.
Then he set him
on his own animal
and brought him to an inn
and took care of him.
And the next day
he took out two denarii
and gave them to the innkeeper,
saying,
Take care of him,
and whatever more you spend,
I will repay you
when I come back.
Which of these three
do you think
proved to be a neighbor
to the man
who fell among the robbers?
He said,
The one who showed him mercy.
And Jesus said to him,
You go
and do likewise.
Now as they went on their way,
Jesus entered a village,
and a woman named Martha
welcomed him into her house.
And she had a sister
called Mary
who sat at the Lord's feet
and listened to his teaching.
But Martha was distracted
with much serving.
And she went up to him
and said,
Lord,
do you not care
that my sister
has left me
to serve alone?
Tell her then to help me.
But the Lord answered her,
Martha,
you are anxious
and troubled
about many things,
but one thing
is necessary.
Mary has chosen
the good portion
which will not
be taken away
from her.
Again,
we pray God
will bless to us
that reading
of his word
this evening.
Let's sing now
to his praise further
in Psalm 113.
Again,
it's from the Scottish Psalter.
Psalm 113.
We'll sing the whole psalm.
It's on page 393.
The tune this time
is Argyle.
Praise God,
ye servants of the Lord.
O praise,
the Lord's name praise.
Yea,
blessed be the name of God.
From this time
forth always.
From rising sun
to where it sets,
God's name
is to be praised.
Above all nations,
God is high.
Above heavens,
his glory raise.
Psalm 113.
To God's praise.
Praise God,
ye servants of the Lord.
O praise the Lord.
Say praise.
Yea, blessed be the name of God.
From this time forth always.
From rising sun to where it is set,
God's name is to be praised.
upon upon nations,
upon nations,
God is high.
Upon nations,
God is high.
Of hence,
his glory raise.
unto the Lord.
unto the Lord,
the Lord,
that dwells,
on high,
who can't compare,
himself that come,
and the Lord.
He will be the name of God.
CHOIR SINGS
Singeth man to thee, of Sam's hammer, where full of joy, praise to the Lord give thee.
Let's turn for a short time this evening now again to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10, and we're going to look at this passage from verse 25 down as far as verse 37. It's entitled there, The Parable of the Good Samaritan.
It's very obvious from reading the Gospels that Jesus was a very great observer of the world around him, an observer of the creation, an observer of the natural world.
You see how many times as you read the Gospels he drew from what he found in the natural world to illustrate his teaching.
But he was also a great observer of human beings, of human nature, of human tendencies, of human actions and human words.
And he wasn't just an observer. He was an observer that was able instantly to just weigh up what he was seeing and bring pronouncements in regard to it.
And as you find in this passage here, I think you can say that we could say that if it is a parable, it's entitled a parable, but there's nothing in the text itself that says it was a parable.
The characters and the characters and the actions and the thoughts as they were indeed set out here by Jesus were things which undoubtedly happened in the world of his day.
And it may very well be that he had seen something like this himself or been told of this as an actual event.
But in any case, it does show us that his observation of human nature, of human tendencies, was very much behind what he said here in regard to the way that he answered this lawyer and got this lawyer to think deeply about what he was really saying.
And you can see that verse 25 there,
And when that word appears in the text of Scripture, it's there as a kind of spotlight to just say, well, here's something really important coming.
But I think it's also indicative of how the Lord was constantly being sought by various people, how he didn't have much time to rest as he went about from place to place.
And here we find that it came soon after he had expressed his joy, having sent out the disciples.
The 72 returned with joy, and Jesus himself rejoiced in spirit as he heard the report of the blessing of God through them.
But he didn't have time to rest after that.
It's indicative of much of his life.
He really was hard-pressed so often by various needs, by things that were brought to him, people that were brought to him, descriptions made to him about people.
And tonight we can be greatly thankful that we have a Savior who appreciates what it is to hear about people's problems and to give his full attention to them,
even when he was tired, even when he was tired, even when he didn't have time to rest.
It is the kind of Savior that he is, the kind of person he is, the kind of Redeemer God has provided for us,
one whose interest in our well-being is so tremendous that it really overtook anything that he had with regard to himself and his own peace.
And so tonight, as we look at these verses and see that they fit into that category of people just pressing Jesus for reactions to what they were going to say to him,
look first of all at the lawyer as he questions Jesus.
I'll give some time to that, and then we'll look secondly at how Jesus reverses the lawyer's question in order to correct his thinking.
And in fact, he doesn't just correct it.
He turns it completely the other way around, and there's so much that we can learn from that as well.
But here is, first of all, this lawyer who stood up and put Jesus to the test saying,
Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Now, a lawyer here wasn't the kind of person that nowadays we describe as a lawyer,
not a solicitor or a defense lawyer or prosecutor or something like that.
This would have been probably a scribe, one of the scribes who belonged to the teaching element of God's people in those times,
who would teach the people regarding the laws of God, and very often, of course,
the laws that had been added to the law of God by the scribes, the Pharisees.
And here was somebody who was himself a religious man, a religious man as far as his own official place in the system was concerned.
And so he knew his Scripture, the Old Testament, of course, at that time.
And he came with this question to Jesus,
What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Now, as far as a reference to eternal life is concerned, this is an important question for him.
What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Although, of course, the emphasis on his doing is something that we note just in passing,
that we don't do things in order to inherit eternal life,
and yet there are things that are required of us that we may come to possess eternal life.
We need to have placed our trust in Jesus, to accept him, to receive him, as he's offered in the gospel,
so that we come, therefore, to possess through the Lord's blessing that eternal life.
But anyway, here is this lawyer, this scribe.
Let's take it, he's a scribe.
But you can see he's not coming with a real desire and a thirst to learn.
He's come to Jesus to try and catch him out.
He's come to Jesus to see how he will answer this question.
He's come really, as we say, as it's put there in verse 25, he came to put him to the test.
You see, here is this crowd listening to Jesus.
Here is this man.
He stands up all of a sudden and he says,
What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
And he thinks he's going to catch Jesus out.
He's really taken with how Jesus is going to answer this question,
and he's going to assess Jesus on the basis of how he answers his question.
Of course, Jesus knows that very well.
So, he's not sincere in the way that he puts the question or the reason he puts the question to the Lord.
Now, it's always a very dangerous thing to think that you can somehow get one over the Lord,
that somehow you can actually do things in a way that just overcomes his ability or his word.
Here's a man who's in a very dangerous position.
He's religious.
He knows his Old Testament.
He knows his Bible at the time.
But he doesn't love the Lord in his heart.
He has no love for Jesus.
He has no commitment whatsoever to him.
He's just come to test him.
There's always a very dangerous thing for us to have a lot of head knowledge which is good in itself.
But then to think somehow that we can arrange our own lives,
that we can somehow just sidestep the demands, the requirements that Jesus lays before us
and the things that he requires of us,
and somehow think that, as it were, we're going to then manage by ourselves
or manage in a different way to the way that Christ's demands are set out before us.
You know tonight that that's not going to work.
And as you go through this passage tonight,
we'll see that more and more this man is being boxed into a corner
and eventually comes into a cul-de-sac, a theological cul-de-sac,
where Jesus actually forces him or brings him to just completely reverse his thinking.
We'll see that in a moment how he does it.
But you see what Jesus does.
He says, what is written in the law?
How do you read it?
And he answered, 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 it's important to notice that Jesus actually sent him to the Word of God.
Here was the man coming.
What must I do to inherit eternal life?
What does Jesus say?
He says, go to the law.
Go to the Word of God.
Go to God's revelation.
That's where you'll find an answer to your question.
And that's again an important matter for ourselves.
One of the things that distinguishes us as a Reformed church,
a church that really prizes Reformed theology,
that goes back to the Reformation,
that goes back beyond that,
to the apostles indeed,
and to the teaching that arises out of the New Testament.
And as a Reformed church,
one of the central planks of our well-being
and our being as a church
is the truth of God
as we have it in a way that
here we're giving some,
the centrality to the gospel
that the gospel requires.
The Word of God is basic in our understanding,
basic in our thinking,
basic in our application to what life is
and what life is about.
That's how you must always think about yourself
and answering questions regarding yourself
or questions from others.
What do you think?
The first thing you think of is,
now how am I going to deal with this?
The first thing you think of is,
what does the Bible say?
Not what does the minister say?
What does the kirk session say?
Or what does such and such a church say?
What does any of those say?
Even if they're very sound
in what their thinking is about.
First thing you say is,
what does God say?
What does the Bible say?
And that means,
how is it written?
What is it written?
What is written there?
Jesus is saying,
what is written in the law?
And His response is correct.
His response is correct
up to the point of answering the question.
He says,
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.
In other words,
He went back to the law,
to the likes of Deuteronomy chapter 6,
where God had said to Israel,
hear, O Israel,
the Lord your God is one.
You shall love Him with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your might.
And you could add to that
the likes of Leviticus chapter 19,
where responsibility to your neighbor
is in different categories
set out there in Leviticus 16.
So, you could say that this man,
the scribe,
was really answering very accurately
and very knowledgeably
from the Scriptures
that he knew probably so well.
And Jesus is saying to him,
you have answered correctly,
do this and you will live.
Is Jesus saying to this man,
you've asked about how,
what you will do
to inherit eternal life,
and now I'm saying to you,
do what is written in the law
and you will have eternal life,
you will live.
Well, Jesus is not actually commending
salvation by works.
Jesus knew very, very well
that this man was not able
to keep the law
any more than anybody else,
apart from Jesus himself,
to the perfection that was required
if he was going to be saved
by his own works.
There's nothing wrong
in the principle that says,
if I was able to actually
observe the law of God
in all its requirements,
all the time,
every moment of my life,
for as long as I live,
then salvation would be
on that basis.
But we can't.
We're disqualified.
We're disqualified very obviously.
because it don't take long
from the time you get up
in the morning
to realize that you haven't
gone very far into the day
before you've sinned
in your thoughts
or in your actions,
in your speech.
And we confess our sins,
therefore,
on a daily basis,
as Jesus taught
in the Lord's Prayer.
Forgive us our trespasses,
our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
In any case,
this is what Jesus said to him.
You have spoken correctly.
Do this,
and you will live.
And then the next thing you find is
the man actually replies,
desiring to justify himself.
You see,
you can see a lot about
the character of this man,
first of all,
from the fact that he's putting
Jesus to the test,
that he thinks he's going to
outsmart Jesus
or catch him out.
And then you can see more
about his character
in verse 29,
but he,
desiring to justify himself,
standing in the presence
of the Son of God,
thinking he's going to
catch Jesus out.
So he says,
well,
who is my neighbor?
Well,
none of us
is going to be able
to justify ourselves
in the presence
of the Lord.
And this man
is a telling example
to us of
how we are not
to conduct ourselves
in the presence
of God.
You're not going
to outsmart the Lord.
You're not going
to catch him out.
You're not going
to box him into a corner.
It'll be the other way about,
as we'll see
with this man.
So tonight,
don't argue
in your own heart
against the Word
of God.
Don't argue
against it
when it tells you
things that you need
to know
and are required
to do
in order to come
to possess life.
Even though it is true
that you're not
going to be able
to produce
that eternal life
by your own
obedience
to the Word of God,
to the law of God,
there are many,
many things,
of course,
that Jesus,
as the Lord says to you,
are required of you
that require you
to alter your thinking,
that require you
to alter your way
of life,
the way that you go
about seeing yourself
and seeing the world
and seeing eternity.
And you know,
sometimes,
indeed,
until the Lord Himself
changes us,
until we have our minds
changed,
we're going to argue
against that.
We're going to argue
against the Scripture
that tells us,
that insists,
that today is the day
of salvation.
Today,
if you hear His voice,
don't harden your heart.
But,
and yet,
we'll still say,
no,
I'll leave it tonight.
There'll be other times.
That's arguing against God.
That's arguing against
the wisdom of God.
That's taking the mind
of Jesus
and saying,
no,
that's fine,
that's okay,
that's you saying that,
but at the moment,
I'll do it this way.
I'll do it my way.
I'll follow the path
I'm on.
And,
please look at yourself
tonight if you're here
and you're not yet
in Christ,
you're not saved.
I'm not saying this
accusingly to you.
I'm not,
I hope,
presenting the truth
to you tonight
in a way that
seeks to be judgmental.
That's not my business.
That's not my place.
That's not my right.
That's the Lord's business.
But I am seriously saying,
if you find yourself tonight
in your own heart,
secretly,
just arguing against
the argument of God Himself,
the requirements of Scripture,
the requirements of Jesus,
just think about
what that is saying.
It's really effectively
trying to justify yourself
against what the Lord
is telling you.
And that's really
what this man was doing.
He,
desiring to justify himself,
said to Jesus,
and who is my neighbor?
You see,
he's walking into
a theological cul-de-sac.
There's only going to be
one winner here
in this confrontation,
and it's not going to be
this man.
It never is.
Whenever you have
a contest
between
any of us
and Jesus Himself,
there's only going to be
one winner.
And it won't be you,
and it won't be me.
It will always be Him.
He's the Master.
He will always
come out on top.
He will always
have the last word.
His word will always
prove to be true.
So, there's the lawyer
questioning Jesus.
He's sent to the Bible.
He's sent to the Scripture.
He comes back
seeking to justify himself
with another question,
and who is my neighbor?
So, how does Jesus
then deal with that?
How does He answer
the second question
of the man?
Well, He does so
by effectively
reversing
the lawyer's question
and turning it
against Himself.
See how He does that.
He told them,
first of all,
about these three men.
Jesus said
about a man,
rather,
and three others
in the story as well.
A man went down
to Jericho
from Jerusalem,
and he fell among robbers.
He stripped him.
They beat him.
They departed,
leaving him half dead.
And then along
came a priest.
He was going down
that road.
When he saw him,
he passed by
on the other side.
So likewise,
a Levite,
when he came,
he saw him,
passed by on the other side.
It wasn't that
they didn't notice him,
but they just decided,
that's not for me.
I'm going to just pretend
I didn't see that.
I'll walk past,
go to the other side
of the road
and just make my way
that way.
And isn't it interesting
how language
that the Bible uses
has made its way
into our ordinary
everyday language
and expressions.
You know the expression
to pass by
on the other side.
Well,
this is where it comes from.
You pass by
on the other side,
you notice something
that really requires
your attention,
and you pretend
you didn't see it
unless you've seen it,
and you say,
well,
that's somebody else's business.
I'll just keep going.
I'll just mind
my own business.
I won't stop over that.
That's where it came from.
And it's here
given by Jesus
these three passers-by,
and the first two
very deliberately
by Jesus,
described in the way
He does,
you'd expect
the first two,
one of them
or other of both of them,
to have stopped
and attended
to this man.
After all,
the first person
going by
was a priest,
a religious man,
somebody who actually
had business
with the temple of God,
with the worship of God,
with the sacrificial system
of God.
He passed by
on the other side.
And then there's a Levite,
the tribe that were given
particular authority
to be in charge
of the worship system
of the temple,
passed by
on the other side.
Didn't stop,
pretended he didn't see.
And then
came a Samaritan.
Of course,
Jesus knows very well
that many of His listeners,
many of the Jews
of the time,
despised Samaritans.
And to actually hear
Jesus saying,
a priest passed by
without stopping,
a Levite passed by
without stopping,
but a Samaritan
passed by
and he stopped
and he looked
to this man
and he attended
to him in his need.
That would have been
grossly offensive,
speaking about
a Samaritan
in that way
to the Jews
of Christ's day.
And so,
Jesus is aiming
at the prejudice
against the Samaritans,
but He's using this,
He's observed this
obviously many times,
I'm sure,
in His own daily experience.
So, He's using this
in order to get
to the point
that this man,
this lawyer,
was asking this question
and to respond
to the question,
who then
is my neighbor?
And when Jesus
responded after
telling him
the story about
these three men,
these three different people,
this is what He describes.
He describes a Samaritan
as giving of his time,
of his money,
in order to care
for this poor man
who had been left
half dead
by the roadside,
having been mugged
on the way
as he went
towards Jericho.
Then Jesus,
you see,
comes and says,
Now then,
which of these three
do you think
proved to be a neighbor
to the man
who fell
among the robbers?
Now,
there are a number
of things in that
that I can just try
and highlight briefly.
There is,
first of all,
very much an emphasis
on you think.
Which of these
do you think
proved to be a neighbor
to the man
who fell
among the robbers?
And you see,
what Jesus is saying there
is,
never mind what
your contemporaries think,
never mind what
your peers think,
never mind for
those who actually
share your present views,
what they think,
and how much you may be
in the majority
with regard to these things.
Jesus is saying,
I'm asking you,
what do you think?
And you see,
that's so important
too under the gospel,
isn't it?
Because we're often
carried along
by what our peers think,
what our fellow age group think.
And of course,
that's true of all ages,
but our concern particularly
is for our young people,
the pressure that our young people
are under to conform
to worldly teaching,
to immoral teaching,
the peer group pressure,
the social media presence,
and pressure
that they're put under,
all of that,
you see,
has an effect.
And our prayer for them
to be established
in the ways of God
is taking account of that,
is for that very reason.
Because so many of them,
sadly,
are carried along
by whatever
the present thinking is
with regard to
how you treat people,
what you say
about people's condition,
people's illnesses,
people's mental health,
whatever else,
are carried along
in the tide of
peer opinion
and peer pressure.
But for us as Christians,
for all who are God's people,
it really comes down to this.
What is your thought?
What do you think?
What's your mind on this?
You can cast your mind
back over history
and right through
in the Middle Ages
from the earliest,
well,
from way back
before the Middle Ages
themselves,
right through to
the 1500s.
What did you find?
You found the church
throughout Europe
and the peer pressure
of Roman Catholic theology
and the Pope especially
heading up the system
where the pressure was
for people just to conform
to that
and just to accept that.
That's what the kind of life
that you're required to live.
That's what God is doing,
speaking through the church.
The church is saying this,
therefore it must be true.
Until you find
Reformers standing up
here and there,
culminating, I'm sure,
with Martin Luther
who stood up
and very bravely said,
no, that's not true.
People are not saved
by indulgences,
by the prayers
of priests
or whoever.
People are saved
through faith in Christ.
People are justified
in receiving,
by receiving Christ
as their Savior.
They are justified
by the grace of God,
not by the excellence
of human works.
Peer pressure
is shattered
once the truth
really comes
to engage
with people's minds.
Here's this man
and Jesus is saying to him,
which of these three
do you think
prove to be a neighbor?
And that's really
addressing me
and is addressing you tonight.
Because the Bible
and the Lord
through the Scripture
and through the preaching
of the Gospel
is not really asking tonight
about you,
asking you about
what does your
peer group think,
what does your neighbor think,
what does your family think,
what does the majority
of people in our society
think about these issues.
The Lord is concerned
to know what do I think.
What am I making
of his Gospel?
What are my opinions
about who Jesus is
and what a good,
sound,
moral,
believing life
should look like?
That's what he's saying
to us tonight.
What do you think?
You give me,
God is saying,
your opinion.
How are you using
my truth?
But you see
what he's doing.
Secondly,
he's not just saying,
what do you think?
But you see the way
he's reversed the question.
Here's the man who came,
who is my neighbor?
In other words,
he's saying to Jesus,
you tell me who my neighbor is.
You tell me who I should love.
You tell me who I should not love.
You make the differentiation.
You make the distinctions.
Then leave me to choose
who my neighbor is.
Then I will know
who I should regard as my neighbor
and who I should regard
as not my neighbor.
And therefore,
I don't need to bother with them.
That's his mind.
That's his thinking.
And what Jesus is doing
is completely reversing that
and is saying,
it's not a matter of working out
who your neighbor is,
but who you are going
to be a neighbor to.
He's not saying to,
Jesus is not saying to him,
look,
you've got to just pick
and choose
who your neighbor's going to be.
That's not the primary point at all.
Before you start thinking
of who your neighbor is,
you have to start thinking
of yourself,
who am I going to be
a neighbor to?
Wherever I find need
in the world,
how can I be a neighbor
to that person?
How can I be a help
to that person?
How can I come alongside
that person,
get down alongside
to where he or she is
and try to help them
in their predicament?
That's essentially
what Jesus is saying.
And you see how
that's completely changed
the tenor,
the thinking,
the direction
of this man's thoughts.
Who do you think
proved to be a neighbor
to the man who fell
among the robbers?
Jesus, you see,
is not allowing us
to think,
let me just think
for a moment,
Lord,
and work out
who my neighbor is,
who there is
that I need to attend to
and who it is
I need not.
The Lord is saying
to you,
to me tonight,
I need you
to be a neighbor,
to be a helper,
to be somebody
who ministers
to the need of others
irrespective of
who they are.
It doesn't matter
the color of their skin,
it doesn't matter
their background,
it doesn't matter
where they've come from
or what they've fallen into
by way of lapses
in their life.
To be a neighbor
means to take account
of human need
and to do everything
that we have open to us
to actually seek to help
in that situation.
Of course,
that is a massive challenge.
But the church's,
the application to that,
well, let's look at the,
before we come to the application,
let's look at the response
of the lawyer himself.
He said,
the one who showed him mercy.
In fact,
the older translation
is,
I suppose,
the one who showed him mercy
as if it's very reluctantly
coming to the acknowledgement
that Christ has caught him out
instead of him
catching Jesus out.
The one who showed him mercy.
Isn't it interesting?
Jesus had mentioned
the priest,
the Levite,
Samaritan.
He mentioned the Samaritan
by name,
the Samaritan,
gave him that label.
But interestingly,
when the lawyer replied,
he didn't say,
well,
it must have been
the Samaritan.
He just can't bring himself
to use the word.
He's got that much prejudice
in his mind
against the idea
of a Samaritan
actually coming to outdo
a priest and a Levite.
So he just says,
well,
the one who showed him mercy.
No,
Jesus didn't take him up
on the fact that he didn't
use the word Samaritan.
He simply said to him,
well,
you go
and do likewise.
Now you can trace
the thought patterns
of the Lord
and of this lawyer
all the way
through the passage.
And as you reach
the conclusion of it,
it's obvious,
isn't it,
that Christ is the master
of the situation.
That this man,
for all that he tried
his best to outdo Jesus
and to try and box him
into a corner,
he must actually come
to acknowledge
that Christ was right
and he was wrong.
And Jesus says to him,
well,
now you've said that,
you go
and do likewise.
He has to actually become,
if you like,
a Samaritan in practice
as described
in what Jesus
had said to him.
Now the application
of that is obviously
to us individually,
but it's also important
to us
in terms of
the church's
ministry of mercy,
ministry of doing
practical good
wherever the Lord
has set us.
And it's certainly
something we need
constantly to be
bearing in mind
and reviewing
as a congregation.
That we give ourselves
to mercy ministries
to help in every way
in which we find
people in need,
in need of our help.
God,
and whatever that help
will be
and however we
can contribute to it
practically,
financially,
prayerfully,
the Lord is saying to us,
well,
you go
and do likewise.
Don't leave it to others.
Don't pass by
on the other side.
Don't let us be
a congregation
that I know we're not,
but we have to remind
ourselves of how
important it is
that we don't
pass by on the other
side and simply say,
well,
it's a large congregation,
I'll just leave that
to somebody else
or somebody else
is more qualified.
No,
we should say,
well,
this is what my Lord
requires of me.
How can I actually
help with this?
How can I contribute
to meeting the need
that I see,
whether it's in my
congregation
or in my community,
wherever it is?
Mercy ministry
is part of the church's
work and witness
in the world.
Somebody once
went to Africa
as a missionary
and kept stressing
theology all the time.
Of course,
nothing at all wrong
with that.
Theology is a great thing
and we can't do
without it.
But one of the people
said,
well,
you know,
actually,
sir,
our people
listen with their stomach.
Our people
listen
with their stomachs.
In other words,
he was saying to them,
he was saying to the
missionary,
look,
it's fine to give us
this fine theological
teaching
and all that you're
setting out
by way of teaching,
but the practicalities
must not be neglected.
Give our people
the food.
Try and actually
arrange food for them.
Then they'll listen
better.
They listen with
their stomachs.
And that's
practically
how we have to
regard the world
out there.
The world out there
is not going to
listen to you
and to me
spouting theology,
not at least
for a start.
But they listen
to acts of mercy,
acts of kindness,
acts where we see
people in need
and that whatever
we open to us,
we actually then
seek to alleviate
that need
for that person.
There are many ways,
of course,
that we can do that.
I was just going to mention
one thing you're going
to hear about
more in days to come
and that is that
the charity
called Safe Families UK
are now established
in Stornoway.
Safe Families UK
do a tremendous work
throughout the whole
of the UK.
We have some
personal knowledge
of their work
in Scotland
through our son-in-law,
Andy Murray,
who is a manager
in the Lothian area
of Safe Families UK.
I'm not mentioning it
for that reason.
I'm mentioning it
because I met
just the other day
with the volunteer manager,
Catherine MacDonald,
who's been appointed
a volunteer manager
here in Stornoway
of Safe Families UK,
the Scottish branch of it.
And what is very obvious
is that
by and large,
people like myself,
and I'm sure
maybe many of yourselves,
are sheltered
in some way
from the plight
of people
who are indeed
in dire straits
financially
or materially
in our community,
who have
and do experience
poverty,
lack of resources,
lack of help,
lack of encouragement,
lack of support
even in a physical way.
And Safe Families
are concerned,
there'll be more publicity
given to this
in these weeks ahead,
I'm sure,
but Safe Families
are concerned
to engage volunteers
to come alongside,
to be trained by them.
It doesn't cost anything.
It doesn't cost
a congregation anything
or an individual anything,
just some time.
And some time
to get alongside
people
who maybe don't see
anybody else
from day to day.
Young single mothers
struggling with children
or people with other
different needs
to them,
but that's the kind
of world we live in.
That's the kind of
community difficulties
that we have.
And I'll just mention
it just now,
but if you're in a position
to be a volunteer
for Safe Families,
I really would commend
that to you.
And please don't think
that this is
in some way
contrary to the preaching
of the gospel
because the passage
we've got before us
lends itself very much
to me asking myself
and you asking yourself,
well, how can I fit into that?
How can I actually help
in my own community
with those people
who are in need
if I don't have access
to them personally,
myself through my own
personal direct intervention?
Can I do it
through the likes
of Safe Families?
The answer to that is yes.
And so let's really regard
that as a great opportunity
as it opens up for us
and as it opens up for us
that we too can go
and do likewise
as Jesus said
to this individual.
And may God bless
his truth to us then
to that end.
We're going to conclude
this evening
by praising God.
Psalm 112.
112 in sing-sams.
That's from page 151.
And we're singing
verses 5 to 10.
A tune is Highland Cathedral.
Good is the man
who gives and freely lends
to his affairs
with justice he attends.
Surely a righteous man
will stand secure.
His memory forever
will endure.
Though bad news comes
he will not be afraid.
His heart is firm.
He trusts the Lord for aid.
He will not be alarmed.
His heart holds fast.
He'll view his force
in triumph at the last.
He freely shares
his riches with the poor.
His righteousness
forever will endure.
And so on.
Due to the end of the psalm,
these four stands.
As good is the man
who gives and freely lends.
Amen.
Good is the man
who gives and freely lends.
To his affairs
with justice
he attends.
Surely a righteous man
will stand secure.
His memory forever will endure.
Though bad news comes
he will not be proudly.
His heart is firm
He will not be alarmed.
His heart will fast.
He will be his force
in triumph at the last.
He freely shares
his riches with the poor.
His righteousness
forever will endure.
The Lord himself
makes all his ceremony
He gives the strength
and he pray
and he
and him
The wicked see
in this world
feel this pain
He'll majesty
thou soon
will waste
the way
The wicked
and their grace
will come
to turn off
They
ever will
enjoy
what they
have
sold
This evening I'll go to the door
to my right
after the benediction.
Now may grace
and mercy
and peace
from God the Father
the Son
and the Holy Spirit
be your portion
now and evermore.
Amen.
pers hal