Two Warning Two Problems

Preached at my Church CBC Branson 5/4/25

Luke 10: 25-37

this lawyer was well versed in the old testament and he was the one that you would seek out if you had a question about the the Law or was unsure as to if the thing you wanted to do was right according to it ?

The First Warning

this Lawyers first mistake was in being willing to Justify himself.

this is no doubt one of the biggest issues when it comes to trying to lead someone to Christ they want to justify their standing before God however we know from many verses in Romans and John and Ephesians that all effort for self-justification is vain and that there is only one way to eternal life and that is though Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

2. The second type of justification we must watch out for is justifying why we will not help people. though it is not mentioned in the parable we know that we are way to good at justifying curcumsances that we truly could do something about but chose not to.

Im reminded of this growing up there was always things that I did not want to do that needed done my math was one of those things that I hated to do and I needed to do Bible study so I chose the Bible homework and rationalized and strategized and came up with a good excuse to share with mon why my math was so far behind. I would tell her the the Bible says to study to show myself approved to God and she would say something back like “yes it does but it also says to obey your parents now do your Math”

SIDE NOTE

it is worth our consideration that this lawyer was a Jew and as we know from john chapter four and verse nine that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. I think it interesting that Jesus chose a man of the Samaritan people who He knew the Jews would have left laying right where they found him had he been the harmed man in our parable to teach this lawyer about the importance of loving others.

now for those of us who have accepted Christ as our Saviour I would like for us to look at the rest of the parable and glean some great truths.

POINT ONE

we know that this parable is dealing with how we should treat our neighbors but, in all honesty, if we can't treat people with the love of Christ then how could we dare try and share the Gospel with those we don't physically care about?

2. The Priest (who was known no doubt for being religious) failed to practice the law that Christ and the lawyer made reference to in this parable.

The Levite, a descendant of the tribe of Levi also did not stop to help the sad reality is that the lost outcast Samaritan who had no training who was severely mistreated by others who had the law and knew better He was the one that stepped in.

may I say that we are priests according to 1 Peter 2:9–10 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

POINT TWO

Oh, that we would be careful to not fall in the category of KNOWING GODS WORD AND THEN DOING THE OPOSITE as Both the priest and the Levite did in our parable.

we do not have time tonight to go into the depths of Matthew Chapter 25, but I would like to draw your attention to these words found in Matthew Chapter 25:34-40 it is my desire to encourage all of us tonight to live as we know we should to be to others as we would have them be to us

one more verse that comes to mind is Matthew 7:12 “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

let us go home tonight having a desire not only to know His law the word of God, but also a willingness to do it .