Luke 10:23 — Robert F. Adcock

I'd like to thank each one of you for coming out today. You've brought yourselves into a place where the word of God will be open. I trust that the Spirit of God will take the word and in power minister it to your heart's need.

Assurance of Eternal Life Through Christ

I'd like for us this morning to look in Luke's Gospel, chapter 10, and we'll be reading from verse 23, just a comment regarding the homegoing of our dear sister, Molly Love. What do you think about a comment like this, I wished it had been me instead of Molly?

I'll tell you, you can't say that unless you have some assurance that you know where you're going and you went or would go where Molly is. Molly Love was a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. She accepted him as her Lord and Savior.

And you know, the word of God doesn't leave us wondering what we will be doing when we leave here, this world, this place. The word of God tells us for believers to be absent from this body, to be present with the Lord.

That's a wonderful promise, and you wouldn't want what happened to Molly to happen to you unless you know where you're going. Do you know, K-N-O-W, you have that perfect assurance in your soul that you have taken in the plans and purposes of God, that you're one of those people that John 3 .16 means so much to you.

You recognize God's great love and the gift of his Son, and you've accepted the value of what he did for you upon the cross. All your sins are forgiven and you are a possessor of eternal life. Think about that.

Would you rather it had been you than Molly? I'll tell you this, she wouldn't change places with any of us. She's with her Lord. A comment was made about some of the places that we used to go to carry the gospel.

The Call to Carry the Gospel

Maybe we have refined this business of telling forth the gospel to a way that is more convenient for us. We've even become more selective as to who we will tell the story to. We're very discriminating.

We've become so conscious of people, the class of people, the kind of people, the contrast. So many things seem to be entering into the picture as to who we will tell this wonderful love story, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This passage we're going to read this morning is the story of the Good Samaritan. Someone reminded me one time, there were bad Samaritans, too. This was a good one. He did some good things and our Lord recognized it.

I trust this morning as we think about this, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, that we have a desire in our heart to make him known to the world in which we live. If I was to say to you, what do you think is the main point to remember in this passage of scripture, you might come up with a variety of answers, but I believe the main point is to go.

And we've kind of refined that to the point that we invite people to come, and I thank you for coming, but I don't think it takes away our responsibility to go. We're to go out that door. The world is out there.

The world is filled with people that have not yet received the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world is filled with people that may not have even heard of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. So I believe it is our responsibility to reach out to whosoever God sends our way.

If a divine contact is made, be ready, be prepared to address that problem. Now, I know you must have heard, and perhaps it's happened to you, that you had an opportunity to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, and you weren't prepared.

Your heart wasn't right with the Lord. That's sad. But when God sends someone our way, when he arranges one of these divine appointments, remember those whosoever wills that accept the invitation become one of the elect of God, choice ones.

Now they are sanctified unto God. They are separated in a special way that judgment and wrath will never, never, never touch that individual. Blessing. So it's wonderful to be a member of the family of God and enjoy fellowship one with another.

But there are still a lot of people that have never experienced the joy of God's salvation like you have. Now Lord Jesus is going to say something about that. Let's read from verse 23. Our Lord has sent forth the Seventy out into the world to spread the good news.

They had authority and power to act on his behalf. They were able to do things that were miraculous, that got the attention of the people that they ministered to, and all of these things had an impact.

Things did happen. Souls were spoken to. And in the 23rd verse, our Lord turned unto his disciples and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which you see, and they have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear, and they have not heard them.

The Gospel as Good News and God's Power

Let me stop there. Gospel times are happy times. It already had some reference to a day and time when tents were put up, and there were arrangements made for special meetings. People were excited when you said, Come go to the gospel service with me.

If you were around in Durham 50 years or so ago, the Spirit of God used the preaching of the gospel mightily. There might be a lot of souls in this room that were saved during that period of time. It was wonderful.

There was rejoicing. Wonderful happy spirit prevailed because of the preaching of the gospel. I think we need to be aware that it's a good witness for the Lord to still get excited about hearing the gospel.

The Apostle Paul said, The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes it. You know, it hasn't changed. There is no other way to heaven other than through the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. It has not changed, and thank God it will never change. There is only one way. I'm so thankful when we speak about this wonderful message of God's love, we can be very definitive about it and say, This is the message.

It's the only message that God would have us to deliver to this world, and we should get excited about it and we should rejoice over it. I am permitted to live during a period of time upon the face of the earth where the grace of God is being demonstrated in that God extends an invitation to whosoever will.

It's God's will that any should perish. We're living in that period of time. You're here this morning. You have no fear of authorities coming in and restricting you, inflicting hurt upon you because you dare to identify with the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That doesn't mean that if you go out into the world tomorrow and into the marketplace that you won't hear people ridicule and speak disparagingly of your faith and the person of Jesus Christ. That happens.

There are a lot of scorners, there are a lot of people that still don't believe. But as a rule, we are afforded wonderful privileges that we should be thankful for. And I'm thankful that we're living in this day and age when salvation is being fully received at this very moment by some soul in the world.

A boy or a girl or a man or woman somewhere at this very moment has opened his heart to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he's received God's offer of salvation. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful?

A soul is being saved. He will not experience separation from God forever. He will not feel the pain, the suffering and the judgment that comes to those that refuse to accept our Lord Jesus Christ. He has accepted the full value of all that God's love and grace have provided.

That's wonderful. It could happen in this room this morning. Someone may make a decision to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. That's wonderful. It's being plainly preached. You know, there are some that have been involved in preaching the gospel down through the years.

One of them was a man by the name of Stan Ford. Many of you may have heard Stan. He was here on one occasion, and we had special meetings, and in talking with Stan, he liked to see crowds and he liked to see people respond to the gospel.

And he was preaching that same message. There weren't too many people here. We weren't attracting too many people to hear the gospel. And later on in discussing this, he said, I do believe that people have become gospel-hardened.

It's become commonplace. You hear that expression all the time. They preach the gospel. It may not mean the same thing that you're thinking about in the preaching of the gospel. Gospel just means good news.

The best news you ever heard was that God loved you and Christ died for you. But it could be true. Sometimes we discover hearing something, no matter how good the news may be, your heart, your soul, you're no longer sensitive to the value of that message.

And I think that's what our brother meant. People have become gospel-hardened. They can hear the message and it doesn't bother them anymore. They don't look upon it as a wonderful invitation from God to have all of your sins forgiven.

They don't look at it that way anymore. It just becomes a series of words that are put together. It's something religious. It's so deadly, so deadly. I think if there's one thing that our arch-enemy, the devil, likes to do, it's to substitute religion for salvation.

Salvation Is Not Earned by Religious Works

I know you must have heard this so many times, but you could join every church in Durham, be baptized in every fellowship there is in Durham, take every communion that was offered to you from every fellowship in Durham, and do a lot of other things, and it wouldn't save your soul.

Not by one way. And sometimes I think it stumbles people to think that the way is so narrow. Some people resent the fact that you tell them there's only one way to heaven. We rejoice in that because it eliminates all of those other ways that seem right unto a man, but they end in death.

There's a broad road that leads to destruction. There's a narrow way that leads into eternal life. You rejoice in that because you've been able to eliminate all of these other ways that are false. Well, our Lord made this comment to his disciples, and he told them that you are blessed indeed of God to have lived in a day and time when you have witnessed the coming of a Savior into the world.

Prophets and kings have looked for the coming of a Messiah, for a Savior to come into the world. It didn't happen in their lifetime. It's happened in your lifetime. What excuse would you have? God sent his Son into the world.

Two thousand years ago, he died upon a cross outside the place over there in Palestine, Jerusalem. Died upon that cross for our sin, not his. The Word of God plainly tells us that. He that knew no sin was made sin for us.

We have lived in this day and time when this has been fulfilled. And we should just say, thank you, Lord, that it happened in my lifetime. I'm not one of those prophets and kings that came before and never did see it realized in my lifetime.

Our Lord reminds his disciples, you are indeed blessed. You have seen and heard things that others looked for all their life and they never did see it. It's happened to you. You've seen, you've heard things that others looked for for a long time.

And if you are basking in all of the joy that accompanies salvation this morning, you've got something to be thankful for. Verse 25 introduces us to, it might be kind of parenthetical, but it says, Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Evidently he's heard something about eternal life and he's interested. And our Lord said to him, What is written in the law? Now, this man, a lawyer, a scribe, a person schooled and skilled in the handling of the word of God, Moses' law, and all of these things, has raised the question.

And our Lord responded, Well, what's written in the law? You know the law. How do you read it? It comes back with the right answer. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.

He said unto him, You have answered right. This do, and thou shalt live. He got his answer, didn't he? But he, willing to justify himself, said unto the Lord Jesus, Who is my neighbor? You see, this fellow is just full of questions and comments that are intended to cause the Lord Jesus Christ to respond in a way that is not accurate and out of the will of God.

What he is really saying here, I want to know how to inherit eternal life. I want to know all about this, but I want to be able to obtain what you say you are offering by my own doings and my own merit.

I don't want you to give me anything. I'm not looking for a handout. I think that I'm capable of making a decision. I'm an intelligent person. I know about God's laws and God's ways. I'm not asking God for anything.

What do I have to do to obtain this blessing? What do I have to do to please God regarding this matter of becoming an inheritor of eternal life? The Lord Jesus gives him an answer that I don't think he likes, because when he had asked him that question, what is written in the law, how do you read this, he read it all wrong.

He got an entirely false concept of what this was all about. You see, he should have known that if he had truly done what he put forth as the means and the ways of inheriting eternal life, and our Lord said, if you do this, you will really live.

You will become a possessor of life like you never knew before, if you only obeyed and did and fulfilled all that you were told to do in that statement. For the man who doeth these things shall live in them.

Oh, that raises another question. Now this wise guy is going to have a question put to him. Do you do that? Is that what you do? Do you love the Lord God with all your heart and your mind and your soul and all of your being?

Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Of course he didn't. And he knew he didn't. And our Lord has spoken to him and made him aware of that. You've come up short, fella. For you to just say words and to know all about this divine commandment and what God looks upon and expects from those that he has offered this gift of eternal life, you don't measure up.

In fact, who has ever loved the Lord his God with all of his mind, his heart and his soul? Who's ever done that? Not some human being like you or me. Because we're too full of self. And we have a nature within us.

We have divided devotions. There are a whole lot of things in this world that we might love more than we love God and his ways and your neighbor. You'll love him if it's convenient. That's kind of the way we're going to discover that this business of the Good Samaritan worked.

But our Lord says to him, Who among the fallen sons of men have ever so honored God? Name one. Abraham, Moses. Name anybody you want to in scripture that loved the Lord, the God that created all things with all of their heart and their mind.

No divided devotion. He's first. You won't find one. Because we are sinners, dead in trespasses and sin. Our Lord had laid before this poor man the impossibility of salvation by works. You cannot earn, by your own effort, God's salvation.

He didn't design it that way. It's a gift. It's a gift. And you know that verse of scripture as well as I do. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is a gift from God. Not of works, lest any should boast. So would to God that you or I had been there and whispered in that fellow's ear, Look, this is God's way. It's a work of grace. You can't work your way to heaven.

All that you know about the law, and how easy it was for you to quote it and quote it accurately, but you haven't done it. You haven't fulfilled it. James says, I'll tell you this, If any man, any man, if he stumbles over one point in that law, he's broken all of it.

You haven't got a chance. God shuts the door before you ever get there if you think you're going to work your way to heaven. Or by your own self-effort. You're going to come God's way. And he doesn't have but one way.

It's a narrow way. Thank God for it. Salvation by works is an impossibility. No matter how many efforts that you make, how strong your efforts, how many your efforts, but our God is willing to justify and make righteous anyone that will receive his Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

He will justify you. He will reckon what happened at Calvary when he paid the penalty for our sin. He will have it reckoned, written down, to be remembered forever that you have valued what Jesus Christ did upon the cross so much that's the only thing you're resting upon for the salvation of your soul.

I don't want any other way. I'm a poor sinner saved by the grace of God. I didn't have anything to offer to God. Man ought to be ashamed. It's an embarrassment to think of some of the things that people have tried to do to earn their way to heaven.

A dear little lady of all those years, fifty, I think, according to the story, and she'd been teaching Sunday school and she'd been doing all these wonderful things. And when she was faced with a verse of scripture, "'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.'".

Well, you know, she had to tell that preacher. Not me! Not me! Well, he said, "'Let's look at it again.'. And as he read that passage there in Romans 3 .23, "'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,' he said, "'Let's write your name right here, except you.'".

Oh, don't do that! Don't do that! Don't meddle with the Word of God. Well, that's what you're saying. You say it doesn't apply to you. Are you saying that? Have you said that? Not me! Not me! And you have some false concept in your mind that you're going to escape the judgment of God and not acknowledge that you are a poor, lost, sinner, destitute, lost, hopelessly lost.

You're not going to get to heaven. You're away. You're going to come God's way, or you're not going to come at all. Now, make up your mind. How do you want to go to heaven? I want to go God's way! I want to go on that royal highway prepared for all of those that have trusted the Savior.

The Good Samaritan and the Call to Serve Everyone

I want to have my eyes opened up one day and see Him, the Lord of glory, the One that loved me and died for me upon that cross. The Word of God says when I see Him, I'll be like Him. If that doesn't excite you, you probably don't know Him.

But I want to see Him. The Lord Jesus Christ gives this man the parable of the Good Samaritan. I want to run through it with you because I think there's a message here so important for you and me today as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you been one of those people that you've become very selective as to who you speak to and who you minister to and who you do things for? And if you have, and a lot of times we're all guilty of it, just some people we would rather speak to and some people we would rather do things for than other people.

But the Lord Jesus says that's not the way it should be. We go out and we are given a mission to accomplish and we accept whoever God puts on our doorsteps and whoever we are brought in contact with in the course of life.

We accept that as an invitation by God. Speak to that person. Minister to that person. Do good unto that person. Well, our Lord gives him this parable. He says, 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.

He was in bad way. And just by chance there came down a certain priest that way and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. What's wrong with this guy? He's a religious man. He is to minister to the needs of people.

He's to reach out to people. He looked over there. I don't want to be bothered with that. It's not in my line. I'm a religious man. I've got to keep my cloak clean. I'm going down to the temple. I'm going to worship God.

Him? Uh-uh. You ever done that? You ever done that? I don't want to be bothered with that person. He's a bum. He's been hurt. It'll cost me something if I mess around with him. If I seek to minister to him it's going to cost me something.

Brother, sister, we need to reach out to people like that. Thank God for the Durham Rescue Mission. Thank God for Ernie Mills. He touches lives. He touches real people that have real problems. He doesn't run away from it, either.

You know, we ought to be the same way. We get the reputation of being religious people, spiritual people, people that worship God. The Lord Jesus Christ has an answer for that. And likewise, a Levite.

Here's another man, a servant of God, a man that knows the scriptures. He was at the place. He came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. It sounds kind of like he was coming down and would have made contact with him, but when he sized up the situation, he veered away.

But then he says, a certain Samaritan. A certain Samaritan. You know, Jews despise Samaritans. They hated them. They were half-breeds. You know, our Lord went out of His way to minister to a Samaritan woman at the well.

You remember that story. Well, this certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, he came and when he was there, he saw him and he had compassion on him. The most unlikely person that you can think of. And he looked.

He sized up the situation and his heart went out to the man, this person that was hurt. He went and bound up his wound, poured him in oil and wine, set him on his own beast and brought him to the inn and took care of him.

And on the morrow when he departed, he went and took out two pence and gave them to the host and said unto him, Take care of him. Whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again, I will repay thee. Now our Lord has a question.

A question. Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? That's so easy to answer, isn't it? Such an easy answer. He said, He that showed mercy on him. And the Lord Jesus said unto him, Go and do likewise.

Costly Love and Practical Christian Service

That's all I've got to say to you. You just go do the same thing that that Samaritan did. Change your lifestyle. Break out of that mold that you're in of living in a bubble. You've heard about bubble Christianity, haven't you?

You get in your little bubble and you won't let people get too close to you. They touch your bubble, but they won't touch you. We see a situation where we could be involved in and help somebody and bless somebody.

It'll cost me something. Love is costly. If you love somebody, it'll cost you something. If you love the Lord, if you really love God with all your heart and your mind, and your soul, you're willing to be used in God's service.

The Lord Jesus Christ, he loved for sinners. Do we have that kind of love in our heart and soul? Are we willing to be used? Are we good Christians? Are we those that just dress up and act like Christians and talk like Christians, but we don't really put up and honor God in the way that we behave in dealing?

You know, if we want to be like God, we need to imitate God. We should become great imitators of what our God has done for us. It doesn't make any difference what someone's religion might be or what color he might be or what class he might be in.

He has a need. I'll tell you one thing, the whole world needs, and we've gone over this, and the time has gone. But they need Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When you bind up somebody's wounds, when you minister to somebody that's hungry, just like they do at the mission, you're always doing it with a view that you're going to give them the gospel.

It's a wonderful opportunity to share Christ with others because that's what he would do. He wouldn't pass that man by. Are we passing anybody by? Are we passing people by? God forgive us if we are. And this morning, if in some way the Spirit of God arouses in our souls an awareness of what a deadly thing that is, to pass up an opportunity, an opportunity to minister to someone and give Christ to them because you bound up their wounds and you helped them along the way.

Letting the Light of Christ Shine

Let me read this. Oh, how beauteous are their feet who stand on Zion's hill, who bring salvation on their tongues, and words of peace reveal. How happy are our ears that hear this joyful sound which kings and prophets waited for.

They sought but they never found. Brother and sister, you've heard the gospel. You are saved by the grace of God. God's love and grace has touched you as an individual. What's it done for you? How has it changed you?

New creatures in Christ Jesus. How blessed are our eyes that see this heavenly light. Oh, we've been blessed of God. Prophets and kings desired it long, but died without that light. Our lifetime has been lived in a day and time when light is coming to the world.

That light has shone into our souls. We're no longer in darkness. We're in the light, brother, sister. Let that light shine bright. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. And if I see somebody laying by the roadside, I see somebody weary and they need help, I'm going to give it to them.

And I'm going to minister Christ to them, because that's an opportunity to show just how He behaved in situations like that through life. Oh, may God stir us and wake us up a little bit and let us to know it's more to this business of being saved than just waiting to go to heaven.

Just waiting around to go to heaven. Got anything to do? Not really. Not really. You've missed it! You've missed the golden opportunity to live for the glory of God. Going to pass it up? I don't have to tell you about the great white felon's judgment.

You say, I'm not going to be there. What about the Bema, the judgment seat of Christ? We'll be there. We'll be there. And we may be ashamed. We may be embarrassed. We may see all these good flowery things that we've done go up in smoke.

Let's get it right. Let's go out and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, minister Christ to the world that we live in today. Now, Father in heaven, we do bow in Thy presence and thank Thee for gathering us together in this room this morning.

We do pray that what has been read from the Word of God and whatever we have been able to glean from it, that it would change us. Those of us that need to be changed. O Grant, we pray Thee that we will reach out and we will minister to others in the blessed and holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In His name we pray. Amen. Amen. And our brother has a verse of a hymn. Number 326. 326. I'm so glad that when I was wounded in need of help, the Lord Jesus came and tenderly sought me. And today, if you have never received Christ as your Savior, and you recognize that you're wounded by sin, there's a Good Shepherd that's seeking you and He wants to save you this morning.

And He does it in a very tender way. Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling. He's calling you this morning if you have never received Him as your Savior. We would invite you to come to Him. If it would help you to come and sit and talk with Robert or me or one of the elders here, we would be happy to take you and point you to this Good Shepherd.

And by faith, He can be your Savior today. If you'd like to come and know that you're saved and on your way to heaven, please let us help you. We want to sing the first and last verses of 326. Will you stand as we sing?

If you'd like to come and talk with Robert while we sing, you feel free to do so.