Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon for July 14, 2019

This morning I’ll be reading Luke chapter 10 verses 25 through 37.

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Parts of these verses that I'll read this morning,,, have been included in other sermons.

That's because these verses are so important to our Christian life.

If we put our trust in Jesus and fully understand the meaning of the greatest commandment,,, then heaven is guaranteed.

25 Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the law?”

He asked him.

“How do you read it?”

27 He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.

28 “You’ve answered correctly,” He told him.

“Do this and you will live.”

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers.

They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead.

31 A priest happened to be going down that road.

When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.

34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine.

Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him.

When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

This scripture that I've read this morning is very familiar to each of you.

I'm sure that like me,,, you have heard and read it yourself many times.

I know that during sermons lately,,, as I told you at the beginning,,, I've mentioned parts of this scripture several times and I'm sure that I'll mention them over and over again because our future depends on truly hearing and getting this right!

When Jesus tells us something in scripture then we should pay attention and even though in this scripture Jesus isn't saying these words He does verify them as being correct.

So this morning as we go through these scriptures we need to be alert for things that will help us remember this command and how to really apply this to our lives.

The parable of the good Samaritan is probably one of the most popular parables of all.

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It is usually preached on one of two levels.

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The first being the most obvious,,, that we must be like the good Samaritan and help others in need.

And it takes the heart of a neighbor to see that person in need.

The second level is using the good Samaritan as an example of Jesus which takes a little bit of explaining.

The Jewish religious leaders rejected the man who fell among the robbers,,, both the Priest and the Levite.

The Samaritan, an outcast, was the only one who helped the man.

Jesus was like the Samaritan.

He was the outcast,,, the one who was willing to seek and to save people who were perishing.

He was directly opposed to the religious establishment.

This theme is seen by the word's of Jesus to the Pharisees in Luke chapter 7:44–50.

In these verses Jesus has been invited to the Pharisees home and while they are eating,,, a woman,,, who the scripture says is a sinner,,, came into the house and was anointing Jesus' feet as He was eating.

Later,,, Jesus is telling Simon,,, the Pharisee that had invited Him to his home,,, that this woman has done things that he as a host should have done,,, but hadn't.

By these verses and the verses that we read this morning,,, Jesus is comparing the religious leaders to those that they think are beneath them and they are coming up short even though they think that they are so much above everyone else.

So the theme of Jesus’ going to those who needed Him became more and more evident.

As we begin with the expert in the law that questions Jesus in the verses I read this morning,,, He asks a question which has come up in several different places and asked by others.

This question is also found in

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And here in these verses the expert in the law wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life.

This is something that we must know as well,,, that's what makes this parable so important for us as Christians.

Jesus answers the question by asking the expert how he interprets the law.

Jesus is also asking each of us how we interpret the law,,, how do we understand the way to inherit eternal life.

Whenever we read the Bible,,, we must be sure that we read the Bible with the intentions of allowing God to speak to us through His word.

We do that by prayer before we start,,, prayer to ask God to open our eyes to truly see,,, ears to hear His word as we read and open our hearts and minds so that we can be obedient.

If we do this,,, when we begin to read scripture then we can realize that God is speaking to us and giving us directions.

This way,,, if Jesus asks each of us,,, "how we interpret the law",,, we will be able to answer correctly.

And as soon as I said this,,, I immediately thought that we don't need to just "know" the answer,,, because the expert in the law "knew the answer".

He answered Jesus correctly,,, as we saw by the answer that we read,,, and he was so close to having the total picture,,, but it makes you wonder if he was really living the way that he thought,,, or just speaking the right words.

You must have a personal relationship with God so that Jesus knows you intimately not just as someone who talks well.

That's why Jesus spoke the words in

King James Version

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This way isn't hard,,, it's easy but it requires faith and obedience,,, not just knowledge,,, which it seems like we hear a lot today,,, (they seem to forget or ignore the obedience part)!

I've said it several times lately and I'll probably say it many more,,, but just "knowing" Jesus isn't enough.

The personal relationship we have will allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into the right path to take and the right way of living that we should have.

And that works for everyone,,, no matter what sins you have committed in the past,,, no matter what lifestyle you were living,,, murderer,,, adulterer,,, thief,,, it doesn't matter.

All that matters is believing that Jesus came to earth,,, died on the cross for our sins,,, was resurrected and lives at the right hand of God our Father today and accepting Him as Savior and giving our life to Him fully!

But the expert in the law says in verse 29: 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

He wants to do like we do when things get too close to home for us and that is taking the spotlight off of himself and put it elsewhere.

Instead of asking how can I do this,,, or I'm not able to do this on my own,,, how can you help me?

He wants the focus to be on something other than himself,,, so he asks "who is my neighbor?

We are guilty of this as well.

If the conversation gets too uncomfortable,,, we try everything we can to change the subject.

If we are listening to a sermon and things hit too close to home,,, then it's easy to ignore that part of it and keep it to ourselves.

No one knows do they?

But God knows!

I can't tell you the number of sermons that I've sat through,,, and the preacher was speaking on doing the will of God,,, and God was speaking to me through whichever pastor was in the pulpit and I was able to just sit there,,, very uncomfortable,,, but no one knew it but me,,,, and God.

But the day came,,, when I had to answer the uncomfortable question of whether I was doing the will of God,,, and again,,, no one knew but me and God,,, but I had to answer,,, and I'm up here today because of that answer.

I'm so thankful that God didn’t give up on me,,, He had plenty of reasons,,, and even now,,, I still fall short,,, but through the Holy Spirit guiding me back,,, those shortfalls are getting fewer and fewer.

That's what's so important about a relationship with God,,, that you are able to hear His voice when He speaks and you are obedient to Him!

I'm not convinced that the expert in the law had everything quite figured out correctly because he does asks Jesus to explain who is my neighbor.

So Jesus begins to explain the story that we should all know of the good Samaritan.

As I begin this part of the explanation,,, I want you to imagine how someone that wasn't saved would think if they were watching these events unfold from a distance.

I say that because you know that they are always watching,,, just waiting to see if we get it right!

They are searching and want what God is more than willing to give but they don't see it from Christians sometimes.

As the story unfolds,,, you see the man coming down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and he gets beaten up, robbed and left half dead,,, according to scripture.

Then this is where the interesting part comes if you are watching from a distance.

You see a priest coming down the road,,, he will take care of him for sure you think,,, but what happens?

The priest sees the man and immediately goes to the other side of the road.

That's unbelievable,,, right?

A little later,,, you see a Levite coming down the road,,, again,,, he sees him and passes on the other side of the road.

Amazing!

What's even more amazing than this,,, is the fact that these types of things happen every day.