#268 W.I.J.D. Series# 3, Neighbour

#268 W.I.J.D. Series# 3, Neighbour
By: Pastor Karl Thomas

1 John 4:4 “He needed to go through Samaria.”
Lads it’s time to confront what you have been taught to avoid!
Time to confront your discomfort.    Time to confront your comfort.

Matthew 11:28
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.” (Message) 

Luke 10:25-37
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
I’m doing the best I can here … but I want to be sure!

26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall 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.’ ”

They recite this scripture at least twice a day.
taken out of Deuteronomy 6:4 and 5 and Leviticus 19:18.
Sums up the law … 10 commandments 1st side … relationship with God … 2nd relationship with others

28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

Exactly … Perfect love needs no rules

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

I’m good with God and my neighbour unless you have another definition of neighbour?

Jesus is unwilling to leave this guy in his own self righteousness. Jesus illustrates the demands of the law … puts love your neighbour on steroids LAW ON STEROIDS to try to breakthrough to this pharisees need.

2 Radical Reversals
Turns theory into practice — Less talk and more action
Turns the outcast into teacher — Confronts the grid of application

30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

4000 foot drop … 17miles … going down
The way of blood “the pass of Adummim.  south spot caves hiding places … Robbers

31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Exodus 23:4-5  “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.

Teacher of the law would have known this … taught it
Jesus turns the question on its head … Not who qualifies for love but are you loving!

32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

From the top to the bottom in the religious elite you are all guilty of actual understanding or applying truth.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.

Jesus make the Samaritan the teacher of what love is … Jews hated Samaritans

John 8:48  (When you really want to insult someone)  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’

Who have you ever taken care of like that?      Only Yourself … Love your neighbour as yourself

36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”   Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Jesus took the law to a whole new level to try to get Him to understand … YOU NEED MERCY!!!!

The law was never meant to save you … The power of sin is the law … this kind of life is beyond our ability … we all need help … Have mercy … If that’s how you get eternal life I’m in trouble. 

This isn’t a command to a believer to love like this.  This is an indictment of the whole of fallen humanity.  You can’t and you don’t and you never will love like this.
If this is what it requires for me to get eternal life, I’m not getting there.
YOU CAN’T EARN ETERNITY!!!

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

I can manifest God’s love … not through my performance but through my relationship with God by the power of the Holy Spirit

Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The Samaritan Teaches Us:
Opportunity is everywhere  Open your eyes   Open your heart  Open your wallet   Repeat as necessary

Where is the Jericho road?
It’s in our neighbourhood … what we came down here It’s in the lives of the people you work with
Your family … People sitting near you today

My brother called me … Erika has leukaemia … a bad kind … we were on the Jericho Road together …

268 W.I.J.D. Series# 3, Neighbours, PowerPoint Slides

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