Why the Lord Made You, Part 2 (Luke 10:25-37)

I. Introduction. A. Orientation. This morning, we saw Jesus answer the question Of what one must do To inherit eternal life.

When Jesus speaks, particularly on this subject, We had better listen. What did He say we have to do?

First, that we must love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. We must love Him with our whole being; We must be fully devoted to Him. From the time were conceived To the time we die.

But we havent done this. We cant do this now, So what must we do? Trust the One who did. If you turn from your sins And trust Jesus,

He will give you His righteousness So that when the Father sees you, He will see that you have loved Him in this way. Its the only way you can fulfill this qualification.

But lets not forget, That when you trust Jesus He also gives you His Holy Spirit To work in you the ability To fulfill this command, So that you will begin to love Him in this way Because you see His glory, Because you understand the work He has done for you in His Son, Because you know He has prepared heaven for you, And He is the source of all the blessings you enjoy on earth.

All you need to do now Is strengthen this love, Through the Word, prayer, praise, and fellowship. And you need to stop weakening it By cutting off the sins and sinful influences in your life. The more you do these things, The more the Spirit will give you the ability to love Him,

And the more you will be able to live as He calls you to live.

B. Preview. We come now to the second greatest commandment: To love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Lets understand, That was true of the first commandment Is true of this one as well: Jesus has fulfilled it, And if you will just turn from your sins And trust in Him, He will give you this righteousness as well So that when the Father looks at you, He will see that youve done it perfectly.

And what we saw with the first commandment Is also true here as well: Though Jesus fulfilled it, It is still the standard Its what the Lord calls you to do And the Spirit is working in you To fulfill this commandment as well as the first.

So as we begin this year,

Lets consider, second, that the Lord Wants us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

This evening, lets consider three questions: Who is your neighbor? How much are you to love your neighbor? What are some practical ways in which you can love your neighbor? II. Sermon. A. First, who is your neighbor? Thats the very question this lawyer asked, And the Lord answered.

Did He say that it only refers To believers in your local fellowship Or to the church as a whole? Sometimes we might think it does, But its broader than this.

We have every reason to believe That Jesus meant this in the broadest sense. That we are to love our fellow man, Everyone near to us, Everyone far away, Everyone that is. We are to love them

Whether they love us or not, Even if they hate us.

If theres anything that stands out about this parable, Its this last aspect: We are to love even those who hate us.

Notice the first two that happened upon this Jewish man Were the two most likely to help him, The two most likely to love Him, but who didnt. Both were Jewish, One a priest and the other a Levite. Not only were they his countrymen And members of the same church, They both had a calling That would have further obligated them To help this man The priest being the one who stood between God and man To reconcile them through the sacrificial system, And the Levite being one of those Who assisted the priests and the worship of God in the Temple. Both were servants the Lord had appointed On behalf of the people, But neither of them served this man.

They decided not to see his need But to leave it for someone else.

Who was the one who helped him? A Samaritan Someone he hated, And someone who was likely tempted To hate him as well. It wasnt a friend who stopped to help But an enemy.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, You have heard that it was said, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt. 5:43-45). God does good to all men, And He calls you to do good to all men, And to pray for them Not just for your family, Or the members of your church, Or all Christians in general, But for unbelievers as well, Even for those who hate and persecute you.

So who is my neighbor?

7 Everyone is my neighbor.

When we see someone in need, Even if they are an enemy of Christianity, Even if they are one of our personal enemies, We to reach out to them and try to meet their need If its within our power to do so.

B. Second, just how much are we to love our neighbors? How far do we need to go? God says, You shall love . . . your neighbor as yourself.

We need to love God more than anything else, Even more than our own lives, As we saw this morning.

But what will we love the most after God? We will naturally love ourselves. Thats why the Lord, through the apostle Paul, When He commands husbands to love their wives Commands them to love them as themselves (Eph. 5:28). No one ever hated his own flesh, But nourishes and cherishes it.

In a more limited sense, This is how we are to love all men: as ourselves.

I dont believe the Lord is telling us here That we need to love all men As we would love our wives Or our families, Or that we should do everything we can To raise their standard of living Or to take every consideration to fulfill their wishes and desires As we would do for ourselves or our families.

We struggle our whole lives to do that for our own. It wouldnt be possible for us to do this for everyone.

I also dont think He intends to tell us To help everyone who might ask us for help. There are many today Who arent ashamed to ask for help Who are in the situation theyre in Because they refuse to work.

The Lord actually tells us not to help these. Paul writes, For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either (2 Thes. 3:10). The Lord commands us to work And to eat our own bread (v. 12).

9 The loving thing to do in this situation Is not to enable them to continue in sin, But to encourage them to work. Sometimes hunger is the best motivator.

So when do we help someone, And how far do we go in our help?

We are to help those who stand in real need Especially those that lack The things that are essential for life and safety.

We need to act to preserve and protect life, Even as we would for ourselves Or for those in our household, under our care.

In the parable, this Jew was left in a condition Where if he didnt receive help, He would have died. But the Samaritan reached out to him in mercy, Ministered things that brought comfort and healing, And took him to an inn Where he cared for him as long as he could. When he finally had to leave, He made provision for the mans continued care

10 Until he was well enough to continue on his own.

He ministered the same care he would have wanted for himself Or for his wife, or son, or daughter, If they had fallen into the same situation.

He did this, even though the man he minister to was an enemy. Jesus says, You shall love . . . your neighbor as yourself.

This is what the Lord wants us to do as well. When we see those in real need We are to reach out to them in mercy. He says to us, as he said to this lawyer, Go and do the same (v. 37).

C. So finally, what are some practical ways We can love our neighbors As the Lord calls us to?

First, we can open our eyes and look for those in need. Everyone isnt in need. There are people who ask for help Who shouldnt receive it. But there are also those who really do need our help.

They may be near us In our homes,

11 In our extended families, In our church, In our neighborhoods.

They might be further away In other lands, In other countries.

Maybe they stand in need of food, clothing and shelter. Maybe they need something else, Like friendship or encouragement. Maybe theyre grieving And just need a friend to spend some time with them.

There are needs all around us. Everybody has them, We just need to open our eyes and look.

Sometimes the best way to deal with our own needs Is to focus on meeting the needs of someone else. The Lord tells us than when we help a needy person, We are helping Him/lending to Him And He will repay us. Solomon writes, One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed (Prov. 19:17).

12 Second, we can reach out and meet those needs, not expecting someone else to do it. Sadly, we may too often be more like the priest and the Levite, Who see the need and pass by the other side, Than like the Samaritan.

If you see a need, And God has given you the ability to help, Then you should help, And not leave it for someone else.

Whatever you think you have to do that is more important, Youll find with the Lords help You will not only get it done, But do it better.

The wellbeing of your fellow man Is more important.

Do, of course, exercise wisdom. Dont stop to help, if the situation looks dangerous. And dont forget as well, That there are people in society Whose job it is to help: police, highway patrol, firemen, etc.

Third, even though you might not be able to do much, do what you can. You will run into those

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Whose needs are greater than you can meet. But dont turn away from them on that account. Even though you cant do it all, You can still do something.

Do what you can, And then pray for them That the Lord would meet the rest of their need.

Fourth, never forget that your ultimate goal is spiritual: As we saw this morning, You are the Lords hands and feet, His eyes and mouths. What youre doing, you are doing for Him.

Why does the Lord want you to imitate Him And do good to all men? Because they are made in His image There is a certain sense in which God is their Father And they are His children. He wants you to help Him care for these children.

But also because He wants to work Through your witness of His character To bring them to trust in His Son,

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Or if they are already trusting, To bring them to trust Him more. You can do them much more good Than merely meeting their physical needs.

Fifth, dont let the fact that they may be your enemy stop you. Sometimes you must be willing to overlook others offenses And give up the idea that they will do whats right By seeking your forgiveness, And love them anyway. The Samaritan was willing to help the Jew Even though the Jew was part of a group That as a whole hated Samaritans.

You may find that if you are willing To reach out and perform an act of kindness, Especially when your enemy is in need, That this might be all it takes To turn them into a friend. Peter tells us, Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8).

Finally, make sure you love them enough as you love yourself. We need to make sure were not being stingy. The Samaritan didnt abandon the Jew

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To be indebted to the innkeeper. He paid the innkeeper in advance And left him with the promise That if his care turned out to be more expensive, That he would repay him on his return. Apparently, the Samaritan could afford to do this Without jeopardizing his own or familys wellbeing. If the Lord has blessed us with the ability, We should do so as well.

So what is Gods purpose for you? To love and be completely devoted to Him, And to love your neighbor as you love yourself. May the Lord give us the grace we need To pursue these things this year And perhaps be the means Of leading others to Him. Amen.

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