Go and Do the Same

Before we get started, I've got a little exercise

I want y 'all to participate in for a moment

before I tell you our scripture. I want you to

think for a moment, and I want you to think about

somebody that you really respect and love. Somebody

that's a good Christian man or a good Christian

woman. Somebody you really... Look up to somebody

you hold in high esteem. I want you to think

of a name, and some of you, most of you, probably

only takes you a second to think of a man or

a woman that would fit those qualifications,

somebody that you really, really look up to and

respect. And once you get that name, I want you

to hold on to it, and then I want you to think

for a second, and I want you to think of somebody

that you absolutely hate. Now, some of you are

going to say, oh, I don't hate anybody, which

is the right church answer. We shouldn't. But

some of us are more honest, and maybe if we are

honest, maybe there is somebody that we hate.

And that name may have come to you soon, and

you may say, oh, I don't hate anybody. Okay,

well, think of somebody that you really, really,

really dislike, like you're one step away from

hating them. Think of that person. Maybe it's

a person. Maybe it's a people. Maybe it's a certain

group of people, a certain type of people. that

you really, really hate, that you don't hold

in very high esteem at all, that you really dislike

them, you don't approve of them, you don't like

them, you think less of them. And none of these

things are good if we have these feelings, but

if we're honest, maybe those feelings are there,

maybe we know it, maybe we don't know it. I want

you to think of that name or that group of people,

possibly, and I want you to hold on to those

two names. As we prepare to go through our text.

So let's pray and we'll get started. God, we

come to you. We thank you for a good day. I thank

you for loving us. I thank you for letting us

be able to come into this room and just love

each other. And I pray that your Holy Spirit

would be among us today. That everything that's

said and done would be for your glory, dear Lord.

That you work on our hearts. Help us to maybe

see areas that we need a little work. Maybe we're

in pretty good shape. Or maybe we're not. Maybe

we think we are in good shape, dear Lord, but

maybe in our text today we'll find that maybe

we're not where we need to be. And so I pray

that you'll be glorified in this place. Let your

Holy Spirit be among us. In Jesus' name I pray

it. Amen. We're going to be in Luke chapter 10

Luke 10 · chapter mention

this morning. That's in the New Testament. Luke

Luke 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, kind of toward the front part of

the New Testament. Luke chapter 10, verse 25.

Luke 10:25

This may be a story you've heard before. I've

been reading through the parables of Jesus off

and on over the last probably three months or

so, just kind of looking at them and pondering

them. And I'd encourage you to do that if you've

never done it. There's a lot of good parables

there. A lot of them you've heard preached before.

And maybe you hadn't. Maybe you've never heard

any of Jesus' parables, the little stories that

he uses. If you're new to the Bible, maybe you're

here and you're new, or maybe you're listening

online and you say, boy, I've never read the

Bible before. Well, maybe the parables of Jesus

is a good place to start. You can look online

and find a list of those parables and kind of

see where they are. Most of them are very short,

and most of them are very easy for us to understand.

A lot of things in Scripture, they're easy to

understand, but they're a lot harder to carry

out. And maybe we'll see that's the case with

this parable we're going to look at today. Luke

Luke 10:25

chapter 10, verse 25, starts like this. Just

then an expert in the law stood up to test him,

saying, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal

life? Okay, so the scene is set for us here.

An expert in the law. This is somebody that really

would have known what we would call the early

parts of the Old Testament, the law of Moses.

They would have really known that well. They

were an expert. They would have been probably

regarded as somebody who was really, really religious

in their day. And so this expert asked Jesus

the question, what must he do to inherit eternal

life? And that's a good question. That's probably

a question that some of us have pondered before.

Maybe you've pondered, well, is there something

more to this life? Is this life all there is?

Well, I can tell you if you've pondered that

question, the answer to that question is there

is more to this life. And through Jesus Christ,

the Scripture says we can receive eternal life.

And so when we die in this world, it's not just

the end. We don't just lay in the ground and

rot, but one day we will be raised and we will

stand before God in judgment. And if we put our

faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we'll receive

eternal life. The Bible also talks about hell.

If we reject God, hell is a place reserved for

those who have rejected God, who have rejected

Jesus Christ. And so there is something more

to this life. There is an eternity that awaits

us. And this expert in the law, he wanted to

know, well, how can I inherit eternal life? He

didn't really ask with a good heart. It doesn't

appear as though his motives are very good. It

says that he asked this question to test Jesus.

Now, my guess would be that he wasn't just curious

as to whether or not Jesus knew the right answer.

He probably wanted to try to trip Jesus up. We

see this often. With these types of people, these

experts in the law and these real religious people,

they really want to trip Jesus up. They want

to ask him questions that they think he's going

to give some answer that they can say, aha, we

got you. Jesus was far too clever for that. His

responses were so beautiful and they were so

clever and they were so brilliant. And so this

guy asked a question and instead of answering

the question, Jesus... Ask a question back. Here's

what he asked the guy in the next verse. What

is written in the law, he asked him. How do you

read it? Okay. Simple question. The guy asked

Jesus, what do I need to do to inherit eternal

life? Jesus said, what do you think you need

to do? You know the law pretty good. You're an

expert in the law. What do you think you need

to do? And the guy gives his answer in the next

verse. Verse 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. Pretty good answer.

Now this guy, he concludes that this is the right

answer based on the law. Now we see when we look

at Deuteronomy and Leviticus and some of those

older books. we really see what's important to

God. Now, we may kind of miss it if you're just

reading through the Old Testament for the first

time and you've never really read through it

before. You start reading through. God gives

a whole bunch of laws, over 600 laws about, you

know, clothes, fabric, and how you plant your

garden and all kind of like stuff that's kind

of weird in one sense. And there's a whole lot

of laws that God gives. But when we begin to

kind of look through that and kind of look at

the core of what most of these laws really talk

about, and then we flip to the New Testament,

we see that this man's answer is really what

the law is. He got it right. He said, well, I

think the law means that we're supposed to love

God and serve him, and I believe that we're supposed

to love our neighbor. And so he was an expert

in the law, and he probably could have... Could

have quoted a lot of the laws, maybe all of them,

all 600 plus he might could have quoted, but

he understood what the law really was about,

what God gave the law, and it was to instruct

people to follow God and to love other people.

And Jesus responded in verse 28, you've answered

correctly, he told him, do this and you will

live. He got the right answer. This guy, he got

it. He understood what the Word of God was all

about. Now, we want to understand what the Word

of God is all about today. And maybe sometimes

we miss it. I think we have a tendency to do

that. We miss the forest for the trees. You know,

we read a Bible story and we see a certain part

of it that we get hung up on. And we can get

hung up on one part of the story so much that

we kind of miss the big picture. We looked at

a good example of one of those stories in Sunday

school. this morning. We do that on Sunday mornings

at 945. You can come and you can also see some

of those good questions. And we talk about things

in those stories and it's easy for our minds

to get caught up on one thing and miss the big

picture. But this guy, even though he had a good

knowledge of the law, he didn't miss the big

picture. He understood that it's important to

love God and to love people. And that's important

for us today. We need to remember that today.

We need to ask ourselves the question, do we

love God with all of our heart? Do we trust him?

Do we fear him? Do we follow his instructions?

Do you love other people? Do you love your neighbor

as yourself? Do you do this? And Jesus said,

okay, you understand what to do. You've answered

correctly. Do this and you will live. Now that

could have been the end of the story. The guy

understood what God's word said. He knew what

was required of him. Jesus said, you asked the

question. You gave the right answer. You're correct.

Go and do what you just said. But the story does

not end there. Let's read the next verse. Verse

29. But wanting to justify himself, he asked

Jesus, and who is my neighbor? wanting to justify

himself. So perhaps he was a little self -righteous.

Maybe he thought, I got the right answer. I'm

doing this. I'm loving God. I'm loving my neighbor.

But wanting to justify himself, perhaps wanting

Jesus to... kind of applaud him again or acknowledge

that he knew what he was talking about or knew

what he was doing again. He pressed a little

further. He knew what was required. He understood

that he should love God and love his neighbor.

But wanting to justify himself, he continues

this question a little further. And so as Jesus

so brilliantly does, he takes the man's question

and he presents a story to answer that question

in a way that Probably caught the guy off guard.

And it's a story that we need to listen to that

might catch us off guard today too. Verse 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.

Alright, simple story. Jesus talking about a

man, he's going from Jerusalem to Jericho, gets

attacked by robbers in bad shape. Now you can

imagine that that's probably not a good situation

to be in. You could maybe imagine if that happened

to you, that if you were on your way home today

and somebody... pulled out in front of you and

cut you off and wrecked you and pulled you out

of the car and beat you down and took everything

you had and left you on the side of the road

for dead. Imagine if you were in that situation.

That's the situation that Jesus presents here.

So a man gets attacked. He's in bad shape. He

is helpless. He needs somebody to help him. Let's

continue on. Verse 31. A priest happened to be

going down the road. When he saw him, he passed

by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite,

when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed

by on the other side. Okay, so the guy's laying

on the side of the road. He's helpless. He's

in bad shape. He's probably going to die unless

he gets some help. And lo and behold, who does

Jesus say comes by first? The person that Jesus

says comes by first, is a person that's well

-respected, is a person that's well -loved. Now

imagine if you were laying on the road dying.

Remember that name I told you to think of, that

person that you really respected, that you looked

up to, that was as godly a man or woman as you

know, that would surely do the will of God. Imagine

you being there saying, help, I need some help.

And imagine that person walking by. That's what

Jesus is saying here. He's saying a priest, somebody

that's well -respected, a man of God, of all

the people that you would think would stop and

serve and help and love on somebody in need,

you would think it would be a man of God. A well

-respected, good, righteous man. But the well

-respected, good, righteous man wasn't so righteous,

was he? He wasn't so godly, was he? have a heart

of compassion, he'd walk right on by. And it

says a Levite, somebody else who worked in the

temple. You'd think, well, golly, the priest

should stop. Surely somebody that works in the

temple or maybe in our... Surely somebody that

works at the church. Surely a deacon of the church.

They're supposed to be a servant. That's what

a deacon does. Surely the deacon would stop and

help. Surely the Sunday school teacher would

stop and help. Jesus says this man's wounded.

He's on the side of the road, left for dead.

And the two people that you would think would

have stopped to help him passed him right on

by. But Jesus knows what he's doing when he gives

these examples. He gives examples of people that

you think would stop and help. But these people

are not the hero of the story. Listen as we continue

on. Verse 33. But a Samaritan on his journey

came up to him. Now, it's important that we recognize

what Jesus is saying here. Now, we hear a story

and we hear the good Samaritan. And some of us

have heard it and we think, good Samaritan. Or

we do a good deed and we say, I'm a good Samaritan.

Or we see somebody do a good deed and they say,

they're a good Samaritan. But we need to understand

what Jesus is saying here. A Samaritan was...

not to be a likely hero in this story. This expert

in the law was likely a Jewish person, and there

was a big tension there between the Jewish people

and the Samaritans. The Jewish people did not

like the Samaritans. The Samaritans would have

been the descendants of the Israelites from the

ten tribes of Israel back when they were overtaken,

and the southern tribes... Judah became the Jewish

people that we see in Jesus' day. But they really

looked down on the Samaritans. They considered

them to be a lower quality of people. They just

did not like the Samaritans at all. And so here's

this Jewish expert in the law who probably would

have really looked up to the priest and the Levites

and really thought these are the godly men. And

Jesus makes the priest and the Levite in this

story. Be the one who passes the man in need

up. And of all people for Jesus to choose, he

said, but a Samaritan. Somebody that the Jews

hated, that they loathed, that they looked down

upon. But the Samaritan came up and stopped to

help the man. Now I want you to think of that

person I told you to really hate. that you really

hate, that you really dislike, that you really

don't want nothing to do with them. Maybe it's

a person, maybe it's a group of people. And imagine,

imagine if you were in your deepest, darkest

time of need and the people that you think are

the most godly are the ones that pass you up.

And think of all the people, when you are at

your lowest point, the one who stops is the one

that you just cannot stand. That you don't even

want to, the person you wouldn't spit on if they

were on fire. I'm talking about, and that's the

person that stopped to help you. Well, that's

what Jesus is trying to get across here. He's

trying to make a point. This guy said, who's

my neighbor? Wanting to justify himself, probably

thinking he's a pretty godly man and probably

pretty good to other people. And Jesus probably

struck a nerve by saying, the hero of this story.

is somebody that you despise. The hero, the neighbor,

the person who did the right thing is the one

who you despise. And so the Samaritan came up

and listened to what he did. But a Samaritan

on his journey came up to him, and when he saw

the man, he had compassion. 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.

The next day he took 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. Okay, so not only did the Samaritan

stop. It's good that he stopped, praise the Lord.

The other ones didn't even do that. But he didn't

just stop and say, Hey, I see you got problems.

Let me go call 911. He didn't say, let me go

find some help. He didn't say that. It said that

the Samaritan, he saw the person in need and

he had compassion. That's a beautiful word. It's

a beautiful word and it's a more beautiful thing.

Compassion is a beautiful thing. Maybe you've

experienced it before. When you were at a time

when you were helpless and you were hopeless

and you were really struggling and somebody came

up and they loved on you and they helped you,

that's a beautiful thing. We need to have compassion

to other people. And you say, well, how do I

have compassion? Well, look at the story of the

Good Samaritan. He stops. He takes care of the

guy. He says, let me see what I got. He takes

what he has. He kind of bandages the guy up as

best he can. And then he takes him and puts him

on his own animal. So he didn't say, I got this

animal. I'll ride this animal into town. I'll

send back for you. Nope. He puts the guy on his

own animal, which means he probably had to walk.

He puts the guy on his own animal, and he takes

the guy into town, and he doesn't just take him

to the hospital and drop him off. He doesn't

say, all right, man, be on your way. He continues

on. He just continues on with his generosity

and his compassion. He doesn't do just enough

to pat himself on the back and feel better about

himself. Sometimes we may be guilty of that.

We may see somebody in need, and we may stop

and roll down the window and say, hey, man, how

you doing? You need some help? And then we roll

the window up and drive off, and we pat ourselves

on the back. We say, well, I tried. I did my

part. But this guy didn't just half -heartedly

try. He really cared, and he really made an effort.

So he takes the guy into town. He puts him up

in a lodging place for the night, and then he

takes care of him all night. And when he leaves,

he gives the guy two denarii, the guy that runs

the lodging place. He gives him two denarii.

That's two days' worth of wages. Two days' worth

of wages. Think about how much money you make

in two days. I mean, that's not an insignificant

amount of money. And this guy gave two days'

wages. He left him there, and he said, look,

this guy's been hurt. I bandaged him up. I took

care of him the best I can. He needs to stay

here for a little longer. I want to go ahead

and pay in advance. And he says, not only will

I do that, but just keep a record. If you need

more money, just let me know. I'll pay you when

I come back through. Now that's compassion right

there. Like that's going all the way. Jesus takes

this low life, no good, look down upon Samaritan

and he becomes the hero of the story and does

what all of those who claim to be God's children

should do. Everyone who follows God who does

that. First and foremost, the priest should have

done that. But it's not just the duty of the

priest or the preacher or those in higher positions

of power, if you call them that, if we put that

label on it. It's not just for people with a

title that are called to do God's will and God's

work. It's all of God's children who are called

to do God's will and God's work. We're all called

to follow God. We're all called to love our neighbor

as ourself. Now, if there's somebody... in our

life that's had compassion on us, that shouldn't

we be those who have compassion on others? So

how can we, how can we, experiencing the forgiveness

and the grace of God through Jesus Christ, knowing

how rotten and wretched we are, how can we look

at some others with such hatred in our heart?

And with such bitterness in our heart and with

such pride in our heart and think that we are

better than somebody else, that they are undeserving,

that they are worthless, that they should have

done something for themselves. How many times

would we pass the man or the woman on the street

up and say, well, if they'd have done better,

they wouldn't be in that shape. And say, well,

God wants us to help those people. And then people,

people, this is what we do. Y 'all don't do this.

Praise the Lord. Y 'all don't do this. Other

people do. they'll say something like this. It's

one of my favorite scriptures. It's one of the

most quoted scriptures. They say, well, I'll

tell you what, God helps those who help themselves.

It's one of my favorite scriptures that's not

in the Bible. Did you know that scripture is

not in the Bible? It is not in the Bible. So

if you've been using it, you need to stop using

it because the Bible does not say that. And if

you find it in there, would you please show me

and I will... announce an apology and a correction

next week. The Bible does not say God helps those

who help themselves. Now, we can look at people

who are just in bad shape, laying around, and

we can come up with all kinds of excuses why

we don't want to help them. But the fact of the

matter is, God's Word says just the opposite

of that. Let me tell you what God's Word says.

It doesn't say God helps those who help themselves.

In Romans chapter 5, it says in verse 6, helpless

Romans 5 · chapter mention

at the appointed moment Christ died for the ungodly.

While you were still helpless. While you were

still helpless. God didn't save your soul. God

doesn't bless you today with the blessings you

have because you are so awesome. He did not look

down and say, golly, he is so good and she is

so good. And I know they're going to sit on those

pews at Enterprise on June the 14th, 2026 and

years before and years after. And they are so

good. I cannot wait to bless them because they

have done everything that I wanted them to do.

And I know they'll do more. That is not what

the Scripture says. God doesn't say, they have

done something, they have helped themselves,

so let me pour out my blessings upon them. God's

Word says that while you were still helpless,

you have nothing to offer God. There's nothing

that you can do to earn God's grace and God's

forgiveness and God's salvation. And Jesus looked

down on you in the midst of all your sinfulness

and all your hatred, knowing that you were going

to hate the neighbor that you should be loving.

And while you were still helpless, Jesus Christ

died so you could be forgiven. That's the Word

of God. It doesn't say God helps those who help

himself. It says that while we're helpless, God

helps us. That's good news for us today. Some

of us feel helpless today. Some of you... You

just feel so helpless. And that's good news for

you, that God loves you, that Jesus died for

you in your current state, knowing you're helpless.

But I want to tell you, there's help in Jesus

Christ. He skipped down a couple of verses. Verse

8, Romans 5, 8. But God proves his own love for

us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ

died for us. That's the gospel. That's the grace.

That's the good news today. God doesn't just...

Love us because we're so awesome. That He loves

us even though we are just horrible and wretched

people. Now, if God has helped us when we were

helpless, then how can we pass up other people

who are in need? Now, there are people in our

life, or some of us, who are honest, and we just

don't like them. Maybe if we're really honest,

we would say we just hate them. But just... We

don't want anything to do with them. But if Christ

is our example, and if He helps us while we are

helpless and undeserving, then that's what God

calls us to do. We don't want to fall into the

trap of this expert in the law. Boy, he knew

the right answer. He knew what God required of

him. To love God and to love his neighbor. He

knew the right answer. But was he living it out?

He wanted to justify himself. Sometimes perhaps

we become self -righteous and we think, man,

I'm a godly man and a godly woman. Well, let

me ask you this. Would you help that person you

hate? And you said, not in a million years. Then

you need to go back and look at your life. If

we're not at a point in our life where we're

willing to try to start helping those that have

done us wrong, and we're willing to start helping

those that we have looked down upon and we have

thought less of, if we're not willing to do that,

then maybe, just maybe, we have not experienced

the love of God for ourselves. Now, it's not

easy. There are people who have wronged us in

some horrible ways. They have broken us and they

have done... horrible wrongs to us. There is

no question about that. And I'm not telling you

that it's always going to be easy. It's not.

We cannot do it in our own power. We cannot have

that kind of love for people on our own. But

we can learn that kind of love through Jesus

Christ. We can learn when we look at his example

on those days where we want to be so quick to

judge. others for what they do and how they live

and how they need to change their life and then

they would be deserving of some help, when we

look at our own life and say, but wait a minute,

God didn't do that to me. If you've experienced

the grace of God, then it's up to you to give

the grace of God. It's up to you not to just

help those people that you really look up to

and respect, but think about that person that

you really loathe and think, would I help that

person? If the answer to that question is no

today, then praise the Lord that you're here,

that you get to hear this story, that you can

pray to God and say, okay, God, I want to change.

But the sad part about this, the sad part about

this story is that there are people who hear

this parable, they know God's word. They know

that it says to love God with all your heart

and love your neighbor. They know what it says.

They know what God calls them to. They see and

they understand what Jesus is saying. They hear

this story. They know what the love of Jesus

Christ is. They know that they're supposed to

love other people. And they hear the story and

they say, but I'll never love that person. I'll

never forgive that person. I'll never help that

person. If that's you today, that's a bad place

to be. That is a bad place to be. So we hear

the story, so what are we going to do with it?

What are we going to do with it? It's an easy

story. It's an easy story to understand. That

we're to be a neighbor to those in need. That's

who our neighbor is. It's not the person who

lives next door. It's not the one you knock on

the door and say, hey, can I get a cup of sugar?

That's not your neighbor. I mean, it is your

neighbor, but Jesus is going far beyond that.

Jesus says your neighbor is the one who's in

need that you can help. That's your neighbor.

Maybe somebody you see on your way home today.

Maybe somebody you see in New York. Wherever

you see them. Wherever you see a person in need

that's struggling, that's your neighbor. And

we're not called to help them because of what

they've done or what they can do for us. When

we see helpless people, we shouldn't say, God

helps those who help themselves. When we see

helpless people, we should say, God, help me

to help them. Help me to help them. After Jesus

read the... Or told the story to this man, this

parable. In verse 36 he says, Which of these

three do you think proved to be a neighbor to

the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?

The one who showed mercy to him, he said. Then

Jesus told him, Go and do the same. You've heard

the story. You know what God calls us to. To

love God, to love our neighbor. You know what

it means to be a neighbor. You know who a neighbor

is. It's one who shows mercy. The guy, he got

the right answer every time. And then Jesus tells

him, you got it. Now go do it. I don't know if

he did it or not. Maybe he did. Maybe this expert

in the law, maybe this parable changed his life.

Maybe he went and he had a whole new perspective.

And he went to be a neighbor to all those that

he would encounter from the rest of his life.

Maybe he did. I don't know. I don't know what

he did. I don't know what you're going to do.

But you have to make the choice. Here's the word

of Jesus to us today. Go and do the same. You

said, man, there's some parts of that story I

didn't get or I wasn't paying attention or I

was thinking about what I was going to do next

week. Go back and read it again this week. Read

it ten times if you need to. Read the story.

Try to understand the story. Pray that God would

help you to understand the story. Pray that God

would change your heart. And once you've read

the story and you understand the story, listen

to the words of Jesus and the command to each

of us today where Jesus says, go and do the same.

That's it. That's the command. Will you follow

that command? Only you can answer that question.

Will you help those who are helpless? Jesus helped

those who were helpless. He gave his life so

that you could be forgiven, so that you could

experience grace and peace. I hope that you've

experienced that today. Maybe you've never put

your trust in Jesus. I encourage you to just

pray even now. Just bow your head and pray. Repent

of your sins. Ask God to forgive you. Acknowledge

that you are helpless and you've got nothing

to offer, but you know that Jesus offered his

life and you just want to... Accept that sacrifice

today. If you've never followed Jesus, I hope

that you will. And if you are a follower of Jesus

Christ today, then you've experienced grace.

You've been helped. Now take that grace and go

and share it with other people. Let's pray. God,

we come to you. We thank you for your good word.

I pray, dear Lord, that you'd help us to look

at our own hearts with a story like this. Sometimes

we might fall into the trap of, Self -righteousness,

God. That we begin to think that we are doing

so good and we are such good followers of you.

God, so many times maybe there's some things

in our heart that shouldn't be there. Maybe there

is some hatred and some real disdain for certain

people, dear Lord. Maybe there are people or

people groups that we just loathe, dear Lord.

And that's not good. It's not right. So I pray

that we wouldn't... Pass people up, dear Lord,

and be judgmental. And pass them up as though

we are awesome and they are worthless, dear Lord.

That is totally not the case, God. You helped

us when we were helpless through Jesus Christ.

And I pray, God, that we would experience that

compassion and grace and share it with others.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.