Can we please turn to Luke chapter 10? The parable or the passage known as the Good Samaritan is probably the most well-known passage or parable in the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the actual passage starts off with a question. Verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Indeed, it's a really good question, isn't it? Certainly a really good question to ask the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it is a question concerning a most important matter. How do I inherit eternal life? But it is a good question, no doubt, but possibly asked with a wrong motive. But above all, of course, it is a practical question. What must I do to inherit eternal life. What must I do? The lawyer or scribe asked this question. No doubt, it says there, tempted him. No doubt, this man asked this question with a tone of conscious superiority. I suspect that he did not ask the question out of a deep spiritual need. The question was to tempt the Lord Jesus. And in verse 29 we read, he, this is the scribe again, willing to justify himself. So, The question was to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ, to justify this lawyer. And I'm sure that's enough to show that his motives were not honorable. He's almost implying, and it's an amazing number of people that still think this, that eternal life could actually be secured by one's own performance. The big question, isn't it? How can a man, how can a woman inherit eternal life? And many hold to this false notion that eternal life is acquired by one's own merit. Now this lawyer, he would be well-versed in the Pentateuch, the law of Moses. He knew what was written there. He knew what was taught there. He easily could have answered his own question, of course. But he is seeking, I believe, to embarrass the Lord Jesus Christ and then to try and show him up before the public As I say, this lawyer should surely have known the answer to his question. Now today, many people will talk about religious things. People love to talk about religion. But sadly, so many people, and so few rather, so few people, are really interested in eternal life. But the Lord Jesus Christ turns us all around, because what follows is a question from the Lord himself. What is written in the law? Hey, readest thou? Puts it straight back to this man. And then we get a, if you like, a formulated answer from the lawyer, and then teaching from the Lord, showing actually how little he had realised the depth and the fullness of the teaching in the scriptures. As I say, the Lord Jesus Christ counters, or responds rather, with a counter-question. Instead of answering this lawyer, he asked him a question. Tell me, what's the law's requirement? This is what Jesus is saying. You, you sir, are a lawyer. You're a scribe. You should know the answer. Of course he should. He's been trained in this for years. And also he should know All the teaching adhering to the principles of God's holy law. And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ does here. What is written in the law, he's referring this lawyer to the divine law. Notice how the Lord Jesus Christ refers this man to the scriptures. It's not what the church says. It's not what the clergy say. It's not what the media push out. What does the word of God say? And that is surely our yardstick. Isaiah chapter eight. Verse 20, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. So notice this came to question, what? He's now probing, he's asking this man, what is your knowledge of the law? And how does it work out in application? One thing knowing it is another thing doing it. Because is it not a mercy, a great mercy that the law was written because it gives certainty. Now today we are truly blessed We have the scriptures in total, from Genesis through to Revelation. It is the fully, the word of God, full and complete. And that's what we have to regulate our lives by. How do we inherit eternal life? Look in the word of God. And it's right and proper that we should seek to know and understand the scriptures. Now we know, do we not, that the requirement for inheriting eternal life is two things. Perfect love towards God, and perfect love towards our neighbor. We read that verse at the beginning from Deuteronomy 6.5, our neighbors covered in Leviticus 19. You see, the essence of true religion surely is love. And the objects, if you like, of that love is the Lord God and our neighbour. And it must be wholehearted. There is no place for being lack in any way. Now, do you think that this response from the lawyer there, verse 27. And he answering said, they shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself. Was there any sort of evasiveness in that? Surely he wouldn't need to look that up. He surely had sufficient knowledge that he could recite the appropriate passage, just like that. But you see, what's lacking is not his knowledge, but his insufficient application. His knowledge, you see, was just only in the intellect. We must, yes, love God with all our hearts, We must praise him, we must devote ourselves to him and his service. Our lives must be sincere, they must be hearty, they must be fervent for him. And the Lord Jesus Christ approves of his answer. Thou hast answered right. This do And thou shalt live. The Lord Jesus Christ commends this man's answer. You said it, now go and do it. And if you go and do it, thou shalt live. The Lord Jesus Christ tells him, yes, he's answered correctly. And if, If he observes these requirements faithfully, he will, in the fullest sense of the word, obtain everlasting life. You see, this is a very, very wise reply because it goes to the conscience. This do, Doesn't take an awful lot of words to get to someone's conscience. Does remember that situation with David having thought he'd got away with his business with Bathsheba and Uriah? And along comes Nathan and he tells him this story about a man and a pet lamb and David gets really uptight and then suddenly, what does Nathan say? They weren't the man. You know, you don't need a whole spill, that's for the politicians. Just a word or two in the right place with the Lord's enabling grace can break through to the most hardest of consciences. If a person can actually, actually fulfill the law of love to perfection, he would obtain everlasting life. Unfortunately, there is of course the problem of sin. You see, this man now is in a quandary. And so, because he wants to seek, he wants to make himself out, he's a righteous man. And therefore he needs, and thinks he needs, to justify himself. But he, 29, but he willing to justify himself. You see, he's been put on the spot. and he's looking for a way out. So what does he say? And, who is my neighbour? I expect he thought probably the answer would be every Jewish person you can find, they're your neighbours. He probably thought that he had obeyed this law with his fellow Jews. The Lord then goes on to show that acts of kindness should be shown to any person, regardless of nation, regardless of religion, regardless of kindred, where one finds a necessity. And this man probably thought that no foreigner could ever, ever be a neighbour. And so the Lord Jesus Christ goes on and he appeals to this man's conscience, but not, and definitely not, to his reason. And his answer, of course, cornered the lawyer. And he knows He doesn't live as he should do. As I say, he's looking for an excuse. And so he asks, who is my neighbor? Seeking perhaps to hide, suppress feelings of guilt. He comes across to me as a self-righteous man. who flattered himself that he deserved eternal life by his own means, of course. What he's seeking to do is absolve himself from any guilt given to him by his conscience and seek to embarrass, as I said earlier, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he comes up seeking to justify himself, self-justification shows he never really loved his neighbor. Basically, this man is a hypocrite. And once again, the Lord's tactic is not to answer him directly, saying, this is your neighbor, that person's your neighbor, but he tells him a story. And in that story, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ throws out a challenge, not only to this man, but to every one of us. He starts off speaking about the most public road probably in Judea, the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And apparently Jericho was a city of priests. And the journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was about 17 miles. Now there's this certain man, it's a certain man here in verse 30, he's on the way down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And he was attacked by bandits whilst traveling on this road. Apparently this road had a bad reputation for attacks by brigands. It went through very rocky and desert country. And at times the road, well the road descended about 3,000 feet. And it went through gorges. Ideal places for robbery. And it's interesting that this parable is only found actually in the Gospel of Luke. But as I say, the Lord Jesus Christ didn't answer the lawyer's question. He, the Lord, changes the whole emphasis. Not so much as who is your neighbour, but are you a neighbour? There was no possible escape for this man on this road to Jericho. He was surrounded and set upon by robbers. And they take everything from him. They took his possessions, his clothes, his animal that he may have been traveling on. And he was left on the road, as it says there, half dead. Left there to die of his wounds. He was totally helpless, stripped, abandoned, wounded and dying. Now priests and Levites would be quite frequent travellers on this road and they should have been obliged to help this unfortunate man due to their calling and their office and their conduct which follows in the next few verses in fact was a break of the law itself. The priest and the Levite should have been ready and willing to assist this poor man. But both turned out to be selfish and unfeeling and offered no assistance. The priest shrank from the trouble and peril of helping this man. Perhaps he considered the problem of ceremonial defilement with contact with a possible corpse. He may have been involved in temple activities and just wants to get home. He avoids his duty to a fellow Jew. And there is no justification whatsoever for his sinful neglect. He had opportunity. He had knowledge. But all he showed was indifference. These men, the priest and the Levite, were from this man's own nation and were people who held responsible positions. The least that could be said about the Levi, as it tells us in 32, he came and looked on him. But then he moved on. He was no better than the priest. Both saw the wounded man, and although the Levi did go over and have a look at him, they both passed on by. Curiosity and then indifference. They wanted to get away from him as far as they could. And then we read, but a certain Samaritan arrives on the scene. Now he would be a person that a Jew would have no expectation whatsoever for any help and relief. There was enmity between Samaria and Judah. But this Samaritan showed true human feeling compassion to this man. This man who maybe when he was well and able would have called the Samaritan a heretic. You see the Samaritan was a representative if you like of a despised race. whereas the priest and the Levite represented Judah. They represented orthodoxy and respectability. This Samaritan would have had every reason to ignore this man lying in the road. He was from another nation that had no dealing with the Jews. But you see, he doesn't ask any questions. He gives immediate help. His heart went out to this unfortunate man. He showed compassion. The priest and the Levite had hardened hearts, but the Samaritan had a compassionate heart. He went to him, he banged up his wounds, he put him on his own animal and he took him to an inn. He took care of him and he left money for his continual care. He poured oil and wine, apparently mixed together. This was a common medicine for fresh wounds. done straight away, it would aid the healing of the wounds. The oil would have cleansed the wound and the wine would have soothed the inflammation. And this was given freely to this injured man. And after administering first aid, he took him to an inn on his own animal. All the time he is supporting this tragic individual. He kept watch over him during the night and continued his care the next day. And it tells us there, he took a two pence and gave them to the innkeeper or the host. That would have been the average two pence, two denarii, the average wage of a labourer for two days. It would be quite a sum of money. And it was enough to provide sufficient and liberal provision. And notice what he says at the end. When I come back again, or come again, I will repay thee. That's very emphatic. He will pay what is owed. Once the sum he'd already given has run out. No date the sum he left would have been sufficient for several days. And this innkeeper would incur no loss for looking after this injured man. Whatever the cost, the Samaritan would recompense him when he came that way again. So, what's the question? Jesus says in verse 36, which now these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves? There's the question, who fulfilled the role of neighbor? And there's a great subtle discernment in this question because the answer of course is in the narrative. The Samaritan proved that he was a better interpreter of the commandment than the Orthodox scribe and Levite. You see Jesus is shifting This lawyer's ground from self-interest to interest in others. And it shows us that we cannot theorize who is our neighbor. Our neighbor is everyone and anyone we come in contact with. Not so much who is my neighbor, but am I being a neighbor to needy foe who come my way? Emphasis is not on the object of the law, but on the spirit of the person showing love. And notice this man, he couldn't even say the word Samaritan. He said, verse 37, he that showed mercy on him. Couldn't even say the word Samaritan. He couldn't acknowledge that the man that helped this individual was a Samaritan. Yet he had to admit he was the righteous person of the three. And he too should be kind, humane and merciful to those in distress as this Samaritan was. Because what does the Lord say? Go and do thou Likewise. Now that's not addressed only to the lawyer here, that's addressed to every one of us. Lord Jesus Christ says this, I have given you eternal life through grace and the new life that I give you will enable you to have a real love for God and a real love for your fellow man. You see, it's not being a good neighbour that assures us of our salvation, but it is the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ by his substitutionary death on the cross and perfect obedience that he has done for us, what will then lead us to be good neighbours. We need the grace of God to be a good neighbour. It is impossible to fulfill the demands of God's law on our own. We must, by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, place our trust in Christ. And really, if we ever doubt what we should be doing, then we just need to read, do we not? John 3, 16. For God so loved the world, God so loved people like you and me, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, I trust that's you and me, should not perish, but have everlasting life. We are so truly, wonderfully blessed if we are in Christ this morning. Remember what it says at the end of that chapter. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. But also it says that he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. You see, out of gratitude, pure, simple gratitude for our salvation, for all that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us and continues to do and will do, not just in this life, but forever and eternity, we must seek to be guided and empowered. by the Holy Spirit, to live a life to the glory of God. And if we ever are tempted to ask that question, who is my neighbour? The Lord will surely point us to this one and that one and that one and that one and so on. May the Lord help us. to be good neighbours in Christ. Our last hymn is number 684. Compared with Christ and all beside, though comeliness I see, The one thing needful, dearest Lord, is to be one with Thee. And we can sing this to the tune of Amazing Grace.