Luke 10:29-37 KJV But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? [30] And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. [31] And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. [32] And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. [33] But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, [34] And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. [35] And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. [36] Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? [37] And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
I. INTRODUCTION—THE GOOD SAMARITAN
-The Parable of the Good Samaritan tells us of a man who had fallen among thieves and had been greatly hurt. The misery inflicted by these wicked men exactly mirrors the chaos inflicted by the devil, sin, and the other enemies of the soul.
-The Parable of the Good Samaritan has various characters that we can identify:
• The Samaritan—Jesus Christ.
• The Man—The Sinner.
• The Thieves—The devil and the enemies of the soul.
• The Priest—The religious order of the day.
• The Levite—The law of Moses and order of Aaron.
• The Innkeeper—A saint or minister.
• The Inn—The Church.
-The Inn is a place of care, comfort, and fellowship to a host of people. It was always well stored with provisions for the travelers who came by. Not only was it a place of fellowship but it was a safe place of protection from the wandering bands of thieves and robbers.
-While this parable is one of the more familiar that the Lord used there are some deep truths even beyond just a cursory glance at this story. Of particular importance is what is found in Luke 10:35.
Luke 10:35 KJV And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
-What we have just read in this passage is the great test of our walk with God. . . . what will you do when you have exhausted the resources of the Samaritan? There is something of commitment that pours forth from the actions of the innkeeper.
Thomas Carlyle—A man with half a commitment goes backwards and forwards, and makes no way on the smoothest road; a man with a whole commitment advances on the roughest, and will reach his purpose, if there be even a little wisdom in it.
Thomas Carlyle—The man without a commitment is like a ship without a rudder—a waif, a nothing, a no man. Have commitment in life, and having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.
Anonymous—Self-preservation is the first law of nature; self-sacrifice is the highest rule of grace.
II. FOUR CLEAR LAWS FROM THIS PARABLE
-There are four clear points that can be brought out of this parable in reference to the innkeeper.
A. We always start with something.
-Whatever we do for the Lord, we always start with something.
-Think back for a moment about some of the past experiences of your life.
• Think of the student who starts the classes with some great dream in mind. Think of the line in the bookstore. Think of the applications to college. Think of the efforts of pursuing a scholarship. There is a lot of excitement with all of it. A lot of hope is felt.
• Consider the man who launches out and starts that new business. He walks away from security and the stability of a job to follow a dream.
• What of those who are getting married? They all begin marriage with a lot of feeling and fire.
• Think of that first real job, the one that you worked long and hard in preparation to finally get. Remember the first day that you went in and thought to yourself, “I feel guilty getting paid to do something that I enjoy doing so much!”
• What about that first Sunday you stepped into that Sunday School class to teach, what of the first time you sang that special song, and what of the man who goes and takes a church? All of them felt like they were doing something to inspire and encourage spiritual growth and conversion in others.
-We start all of these endeavors with something. But as with all beginnings there always comes a point where we begin to evaluate, to look, and to question.
• Where did the excitement go?
• Where did the motivation sneak off to?
• Why am I even doing trying to work through all of this?
-You find out a lot about a man when all the marching bands aren’t playing anymore and when the fireworks have all died out into nothing more than puffs of smoke. Suddenly the reality settles in that commitment is the real key to being something great and doing something great!
-The thoughts flit through our mind. . . This task is too big for me. Its weight is too challenging for me to overcome.
• That usually happens when you fail that second or third test.
• It happens when the bottom line on the new business has spent more time in the red than in the black.
• It happens when customers complain and spouses get testy.
• It all settles in when the class is noisy and disruptive.
• It takes place when the song is off-key.
• It takes place when the attendance drifts and the “lull” comes to the pews.
-Few people ever thought it would come to this place in life where they would say. . .
• It is too hard to keep going.
• The trek has become too steep.
• I am weary with the demands of this endeavor.
-Hidden deep within this parable is a lesson for the weary and the troubled. The Samaritan gave the innkeeper some money and then it was all consumed on the victim. We never realized that our own oil and wine would have to be poured into the wounds of the injured. We never considered that we would have to spend some of our own resources to buy more 4X4’s, gauze, tape, and bandages.
• My exhausted hopes.
• My exhausted prayers.
• My exhausted faith.
• My exhausted efforts.
• My exhausted resources.
-Have you ever been there? What happens to us and in our minds when we get into this place has a huge outcome on the future.
David Hill—There are times in a missionaries’ life when the sense of loneliness, the keen want of human sympathy hits home like a bleak and bitter east wind.
-It is only after our resources have been exhausted that we can come to the place of understanding exactly how difficult it is to really be what God wants us to be. It is easy to quit and to give up. . . but it is much more noble to press on and still believe that whatever the task may be that it can be accomplished and fulfilled.
-Paul got there. . . .
2 Corinthians 1:8 KJV For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
-The Greek word for “pressed” is the same word that is used when it described the disciples who went to sleep when Jesus needed them to support Him with their prayers. The Greek word for “despaired” indicates that he was utterly at a loss and despondent.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10 KJV But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. [8] We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; [9] Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; [10] Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
-Paul was telling us of the cost of revival with these passages. But then there is one more. . .
2 Corinthians 6:4-10 KJV But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, [5] In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; [6] By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, [7] By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, [8] By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; [9] As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; [10] As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
B. All Will Be Spent.
• The first point. . . We begin with something.
• The second point. . . We will spend it all.
-We discover that the two pence is spent not very long after we begin to help the injured.
• Passion seeps out.
• Motivation disappears.
• Desire for doing well eludes us.
-Paul knew something about that. He wrote that Alexander the coppersmith had done him much evil. Because of that Hymenaeus and Alexander were delivered over to Satan. He reminisces about Demas who forsook him, loving this present world.
John Morely—In order to love men, you must expect little from them. In order to love a soul you must imagine it as it will be. . . without spot and blemish or wrinkle or any such thing, the heir of eternal life, the conquering son of God. But before this expectation is realized it will be sorely tested.
-How nice it had been when we had been left with the pain-filled body of the man. We felt hope that we could restore his brokenness. We just knew that we could ease the pain of his cuts and bruises. We were certain that it would be our lot to get him through the entire trauma with only a few scars.
-But before long, we get tired of taking care of them. They test our limits. Much to my own regret, there were some patients that I got tired of taking care of.
-As you work toward healing and helping, the great dreams of revival, of holiness, of success, of deep prayer, and even deeper revelation, suddenly find themselves taxed to their limits. Life ebbs away from the dream as you spend everything that you have.
-So many visions of ascending to the top of the heap and having one victory after another to be the continuous pattern, the norm, and not the abnormal. But now it seems like that stern gray day of the Lord has collapsed us.
-Now facing us is the common, dusty road of duty. The weary path of responsibility that does it best to choke every bit of faith that we have.
-As Kelsey Griffin told me one time, “There is much excitement at the beginning and ending of a project. But the great test of character lies in the mundane. It is called life’s middle time and it is the most dangerous place that men live.”
-Now the heart silently protests, “I think I have done enough.” But then with the resources depleted and gone, the heart says, “Maybe I can do more with what little resources that I have left.”
-That is the feeling that will prevail and it will save us! Going beyond. . . instead of quitting, it is leaning even further into the task at hand and doing the best with what God has left us with. I can tell you what the feeling, that determination, I know what it is. It is called the grace of God!
-This kind of determination that wells up in the soul when you are on your last leg will cause the battle to be turned around in the very gates. It is literally snatching victory right out of the jaws of defeat.
• It is Elisha telling his servant. . . Go look again.
• It is the disciples tossing their nets over the side of the boat one more time.
• It is little a widow taking her last bit of resources and cooking a prophet a cake.
• It is stretching out one more time on that dead boy and praying and working until you hear a sneeze.
• It is one more prayer revival.
• It is one more accent weekend.
• It is one more late Saturday night of praying.
• It is one more letter of encouragement when you are fighting your own discouragement.
• It is singing one more song when your heart doesn’t feel like singing.
• It is going back to the classroom one more time.
• It is going back to the job one more time.
• It is going back home one more time.
• It is doing whatever the calling is. . . one more time!
-At this point, the noble life begins. What you do when you have spent all of the Samaritan’s two pence.
• Reach up and pull down the oil.
• Look for the gauze that is left.
• Find what little tape you have left.
• Get the wine and pour it into the wound.
• Go at it again, my friend. . . . .
• Raise those children. . .
• Love your spouse. . . .
• Go back to work. . .
• Get back in school. . .
• Build the church. . .
• Put your all into your life. . . no matter that the resources may be gone. . .
-Face down your fears and look your doubt in the eye. . . and then spit! Pick up your Bible again, get your Bible study again, preach again, pray again, witness again. . . Get up again!
It Couldn’t Be Done—Edgar A. Guest
Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t be done” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sin as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.
-Nobility of soul arises when you press on through. At this point we see the road of self-sacrifice and set our faces steadfastly to go to Jerusalem.
-The most beautiful folks in the world are those whose life and love has been salted with the fires of suffering. They have endured dilemmas and trouble. . . . There is a righteousness that has endured the hardness of life and it has become soft and sweet. They waded on through their troubles.
-To do great things you have to suffer great things.
Acts 9:10-16 KJV And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. [11] And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, [12] And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. [13] Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: [14] And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. [15] But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: [16] For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
-We live a deeper life when we die by offering everything on the altar.
C. In Suffering We Discover Power.
• The first point. . . We begin with something.
• The second point. . . We will spend it all.
• The third point. . . In suffering we discover power.
-It now comes to mind that in the fellowship of suffering that we come to know the power of the resurrection. If self is ever able to surrender. . . the battle is completed. . . but what a challenge it is to die out to ourselves.
-The Lord went from preaching and healing and miracles to strong crying of tears to finally dying. The life that pours itself out is the only real life worth living.
-When Christian was climbing the Hill of Difficulty, he soon discovered that it was here that his best work for God was being done. In suffering, a man becomes his best for God! The work is not done. . . we have to go on spending.
-The Lord knew this but in the details of the parable we forget the Samaritan’s words. . . Whatsoever thou spendest more. . . . You will spend it. . . If you are to be anything for God. . . you will spend it!
-Those words got missed in the heroics of the tale. The words were hugely significant but they were lost amidst the warm fuzzy outcome of the story. . . It cost the innkeeper a significant amount to restore this poor soul.
-You will spend your life living for God but it won’t be your worst day. . . the worst day of your life is when you develop that entitlement mentality that says, “I don’t have to pay or to suffer anymore.”
-Your best day is when you spend the last bit of your life for the cause of the Kingdom. Things will be lost, they will be given up, until finally we are left with just a little but in this spending of our lives, we are so enriched.
-Every great anointing has a great price-tag. If you every stop believing that, you will reach a place in life where you quit spending and start hoarding. Nothing fresh will ever pour out of you. You will only repeat the experiences of the past and there will never be any fresh victories and you will be confined and ultimately consumed by the past.
Handel was a musical prodigy. Though his father wanted him to study law, he gravitated toward music at an early age. By age seventeen, he held the post of church organist at the cathedral in Halle, his hometown. A year later, he became a violinist and harpsichordist at the Kaiser’s opera house in Hamburg. By age twenty-one, he was a keyboard wizard. When he turned to composing, he gained immediate fame and soon was appointed Kapellmeister conductor to the elector of Hanover (later King George 1 of England). When he moved to England, his renown
grew. By the time he was forty, he was world famous.
Despite Handel’s talent and fame, he faced considerable adversity. Competition with rival English composers was fierce. Audiences were fickle and sometimes didn’t turn out for the performances. He was frequently the victim of the changing political winds of the times. Several times he found himself penniless and on the verge of bankruptcy. The pain of rejection and failure was difficult to bear, especially following his previous success.
Then his problems were compounded by failing health. He suffered a seizure or stroke, which left his right arm limp and caused him to lose the use of four fingers on his right hand. Although he recovered, he remained despondent. In 1741, Handel decided that it was time to retire, even though he was only fifty-six. He was discouraged, miserable, and consumed with debt. He felt certain he would land in debtors’ prison. On April 8, he gave what he considered was his farewell concert. Disappointed and filled with self-pity, he gave up.
But in August of that year, something incredible happened. A wealthy friend named Charles Jennings visited Handel and gives him a small book based on the life of Christ. The work intrigued Handel–enough to stir up a start in him. He began writing. And immediately the floodgates of inspiration opened up within him. His cycle of inactivity was broken. For twenty-one days he wrote almost non-stop. Then he spent another two days creating the orchestrations. In twenty-four days, he had completed the 260 page manuscript. He called the piece Messiah.
Today, Handel’s Messiah is considered a masterpiece and the culmination of the composer’s work. In fact, Sir Newman Flower, one of Handel’s biographers, said of the writing of Messiah, “Considering the immensity of the work, and the short time involved, it will remain, perhaps forever, the greatest feat in the whole history of music composition.”
D. The Lord Was There All the Time.
• The first point. . . We begin with something.
• The second point. . . We will spend it all.
• The third point. . . In suffering we discover power.
• The fourth point. . . The Lord was there all the time.
-The last stage finally arrives for us and we realize that the Lord has been there all along.
-We ought to live our lives in the strength of that promise. . . I will repay you.
-We would all do ourselves well to go ahead and dig out those old promises that tell us what happens to the over-comers in Revelation 2-3. Notice the escalation of what has occurred with the over-comers:
• Eternal Life
• Paradise of God
• Never to be hurt by the Second Death
• A full fellowship with the bread of Jesus Christ
• A crystal diamond that admits one to the celebration
• A personal name that God has specified for each over-comer
• A return to earth to rule in a place of delegated authority
• Wearing a white garment that symbolizes worthiness and righteousness
• A name that will never be erased from the book of life
• A pillar in the Temple of God with his name on it
• Never having to run from Heaven in fear
• A name literally written into the being of the over-comer
-When William Burns, an old missionary to China in the 1800’s, died all he had was an English Bible, a Chinese Bible, a single change of clothes, and a small Christian flag. Someone said, “Surely he must have been very poor.” And yet this is how it is in the ministry of service—the best comes last.
Isaiah 40:28-31 KJV Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. [29] He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. [30] Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: [31] But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
III. CONCLUSION—WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU KEEP ON GIVING. . .
-I have a friend in a difficult situation. He confronted an immoral relationship of someone in a leadership position in his church. Because of the carnal nature of the church leaders, they defended the immorality and it threw the church into great upheaval. THIS STORY WAS REMOVED BY CONTRIBUTOR TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT. HOWEVER, YOU PROBABLY CAN THINK OF A SIMILAR SITUATION TO FIT INTO THE CONCLUSION OF THE MESSAGE.
-This is what happens when you keep on working when you are exhausted. . . .
Philip Harrelson
March 28, 2010
