Do This And Live (Part 2)

Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse, with No Compromise.

The Good Samaritan and the Call to Do Mercy

Judging that guy, and God judged him, and I don't want to, you know, step into the judgment of God, he probably got what he deserved. And then you think, okay, this is a perfect setup. Probably God's going to show up.

Probably the angel of the Lord, the second person of the Trinity, he's going to show up and help. No, no, maybe Michael, the archangel, will help. How about Gabriel? Gabriel's sure to help. Some angel's going to do a good job now.

Verse 33, but a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came, saw, had compassion. Came, saw, passed by. Came, saw, passed by. But the Samaritan came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. Everything changes now for the good.

The Samaritan does. Samaritans were hated. They were half-breed people to hate with a passion. If you think the Nazis hated Jews, then you can understand a little bit how the Jews hated the Samaritans.

These half-breeds desecrate the temple, won't celebrate Passover, throw human bones all around. The rabbinic prayer of the day, let no man eat the bread of the Samaritans, for he who eats their bread is as he who eats swine's flesh.

These Jews who intermarry into the Assyrian people, forget that. Remember, they said to Jesus, the Jews answered and said to him, John 8, did we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?

This is not a nice name. Look back in chapter 9, verse 51 through 56. Luke 9, 51 to 56, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to Jerusalem, to go to Jerusalem, and he sent his messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him, but the people did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans? But he turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village.

Jesus saved a Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. Jesus was good to Samaritans. This Samaritan comes and takes pity, has compassion. That word for compassion, go back to Luke chapter 10, Luke chapter 10, verse 33, the last word of the ESV is had compassion.

This is a word from where you get splatna, from your bowels, from your gut. You have pity resonating from your gut back in those days, deep feeling of sympathy. The priest comes and goes, the Levite comes and goes, the Samaritan comes and does, do.

Love your neighbors yourself, do. And so verse 10, chapter 10, verse 34, and he went to him and he asked him if he was a Roman. Are you a Jew? Are you a barbarian? No, he went to him and he did. Pouring oil, that was to soothe the wounds, it was medicinal.

And wine, disinfectant. By the way, this was his own oil, which is expensive, his own wine, which is expensive. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Do, do, do.

I like it when it says he bandaged up his wounds. Don't you like that little medicinal detail from Dr. Luke, the physician? Bound up his wounds. And the next day, see, mercy does. Loving your neighbors yourself does till the job's done.

He took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. The guy can't pay any money. Take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. I will repay, emphatic in the Greek text.

I'm doing. Love does. Mercy does. Love your neighbors yourself by doing. Now here comes the Lord Jesus's point. Which one of these three do you think proved by doing, you could say, to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?

You want to know who the neighbor is? I've got a question for you, young man. Who are you neighboring? Wishing to justify himself. Who is my neighbor? Now Jesus asks the questions. Which one of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor?

This reminds me exactly of Luke chapter 11. Go to verse 43, if you would, please. Luke 11, 43. It's one thing not to know something. It's another thing to know it and not teach it. Luke chapter 11 is that very thing.

We've got the religious leadership in the New Testament, and they won't teach the Bible. What does God think of people who should be teaching the Bible but don't? Is that a good thing? You only have to read Malachi chapter 2 quickly to understand that the priests who don't teach the Bible and do what God calls them to do should have the dung of their offerings smeared on their faces.

And so Luke 11, verse 43 says, Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love the best seed in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, for you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.

And one of the lawyers answered him, saying, Teacher, in seeing these things, you insult us also. Oh yeah, sorry about that. No. Verse 46, classic Jesus. And he said, Woe to you, lawyers, also. For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

Back to Luke 10. Do. That is the key. To do. Verse 25 says, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Verse 28, Do this, and you shall live. Verse 37, Jesus said, The one who showed him mercy, and Jesus said to him, You go and what?

Do likewise. Samaritan came up to the man, and he bound him, anointed him with a smooth oil on him, loads him on a mule, takes him to an inn, spends the night. Do. The second great commandment. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength as the first and the second.

Like it, love your neighbor as yourself. Do. You go and act like a Samaritan, in other words. Do. James 1 says, If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep one unstained by the world. Do. Now, the passage goes further. Normally we reserve verses 38 through 42 for other sermons.

And they're good for other sermons. But there's a context. And here's the context. There are two great commandments. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus first deals with through the parable of the good Samaritan. Love your neighbor as yourself. And now he deals with the first commandment. Loving God. The story of Martha and Mary. Don't forget verse 27.

It's all there in context. Two great commandments. Now, the first part of this double commandment is taken up. Verse 38. Now, as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

Focus is on Jesus. Just learned about the good Samaritan. They're related. Why? Because both deal with hospitality and extending care. No, not primarily. Because it deals with loving your neighbor, now loving God.

They're there for a reason by physician Luke. Verse 39. You know this story too. Did you know the stories are related? And she had a sister called Mary who was doing the first great commandment. Who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

The worship of God incarnate who's sitting right in front of her. And she's listening. I think she's loving God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. I think she's doing that very thing. If you take Martha and Mary and turn it into only a story about hospitality.

And people who are double minded and anxious for things. And running around. There's people always at church who are so busy working. And they forget the main things. Well, you can say all that if you want.

But the point here is Mary is worshiping the Lord her God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. Sitting at Jesus' feet. Worshiping. If I wanted to try to teach this to kids or something overseas.

I'd probably say, I think Mary sat there like this. It was worship. This is exactly what it is to love God with everything you've got. And she sits there listening. Hands up as it were. Without distraction.

But Martha. By the way, listening is an ongoing. Kept listening to his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving. She went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

Tell her then to help me. It's bad to say it this way, but it's for the point. Lord, will you stop? Would you tell Mary to stop letting her worship you with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength? Because I have dishes to do.

I'm serving alone. She should have been doing the very thing that Mary was. It's not a bad thing to serve. But it's a bad thing to put the second commandment in front of the first. Mary's worshiping the Lord Jesus.

Martha's busy and he says to her in verse 41, Martha, Martha, you're anxious and troubled about many things. But this one thing is necessary. Commandment one. Mary has chosen the good portion. She's got her commandments in the right order, which will not be taken away from her.

Kind response, tender response, but still truthful. There are two great commandments. Love God with your entire being and you must do that. To love God without ever slipping up, you must do that. To have a perfect track record of loving God, you must do that.

To have one transgression in the past, but committed to serve God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength in the future and do that isn't good enough. And then to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself, you must do that.

To get into heaven, you must have always loved your neighbor as yourself. You must do that. And our only response is, we're undone. I can't do that. Someone have mercy on me. But now you know the reason why Jesus came and cloaked himself with humanity, because the entire ministry of Jesus could be described by one word.

Do. You want to know what Jesus did? No wonder he said, I always do the things that are pleasing to the Father. If Jesus would have been martyred by Herod when he was a baby, it wouldn't have been enough because Jesus needs to fulfill the law by doing.

He had to live as an adult by doing. He had to worship God his Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and his neighbor as himself by doing. Perfect obedience must be rendered. No wonder Jesus said, I don't do anything of my own authority.

No wonder to John the Baptist Jesus said, I have come to fulfill what? All righteousness. Does it make more sense when you read John 4 when Jesus says, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.

I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. Turn with me, if you would, to Galatians chapter 4. We're going to look up a couple passages because as much as we love the doctrine that Jesus died as a substitutionary offering on our behalf, thus securing our salvation by intercepting the wrath of God which we deserved, Jesus being raised from the dead, as much as we love that, that's not the only truth presented in the scripture.

We also believe that Jesus lived a perfect life and that perfect life is credited to our account. Our sin is credited to Jesus, but it's perfect life credited to our account. Why is the incarnation such a big deal?

It's because we needed a representative. Adam in the garden, do this and live. Adam in the garden fell. We need a last Adam. We need somebody who can do it. Galatians chapter 4 verse 3. The same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Do this and live was the command and God sent His Son to do this and live because we failed. The text is true. Cursed is anyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law. The doers of the law shall be justified, Romans chapter 2.

That's why we need Jesus who came and did. Let's go to Romans chapter 8 for a minute. Romans chapter 8, it's the same thing. We believe in the double imputation. Christ's righteousness that He earned through keeping the law credited to our account.

And our sins, of course, credited to Christ's account confirmed by the resurrection. Do this and live. Romans chapter 8 verse 3. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin.

He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law, do, might be fulfilled in us. Who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. That's why in evangelicalism when people today are attacking the perfect righteousness of Jesus and what He did, it's a grave error.

It's a grave error. The articles of religion in Ireland 1615 said, We are accounted righteous for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ applied by faith. Christ is now the righteousness of all them that truly believe in Him.

He for them paid their ransom by His death. He for them fulfilled the law in His life. Adam, do this and live. Christ, He did it and we can live. Think about it. If we were only forgiven for our sins and we didn't have the active obedience of Christ imputed to us, Machen argues it this way.

Without the imputation of the active obedience we would be worse off than Adam. But because of the imputation of active obedience we are better off than Adam before the fall. Since now for Christ's sake we are beyond the possibility of becoming unrighteous.

It's one thing not to have to go to hell for your sins because they're paid for by Jesus. And it's another thing trying to go to heaven. And you need to go to heaven by someone earning heaven for you.

Christ's death doesn't just make us go back to zero. He paid for our sins. It goes positively because He lived the perfect life in our place. Do this and live. Romans 2, each man is given according to his works.

And so for us as Christians we say either it's our works condemned or we look by faith to another and we rest in Christ's works. Friends, there are so many practical things that come out of this. One is you begin to read the New Testament and you say, I like to watch Jesus as He's living.

I don't have to just automatically go to the cross. Yes, the cross culminates His obedience, Philippians chapter 2. But I like to see His life because He's living the life I couldn't live. But He's living the life I had to live.

People say this all the time. The gospel isn't do, do, do. It's always done, done, done. Right? I used to say that. But now I have to qualify it. Why? Of course the gospel is done by God, done by God, done by God.

But the gospel command to you is do, do, do. We realize that's not such a gospel because we can't do it. We fall short. The common book of prayer in 1662 when it was good said, we have erred straight from thy ways like lost sheep.

We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We've offended against thy holy laws. We have left those things which we ought to have done. And we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

There is no health in us. Because the command do, do, do crushes us because we're sinful. We have to look outside of ourselves. That's why we need a Savior. Every human being lives under the same law.

Do. Adam was not told by God in the garden. Adam, I want you to become. Adam was told do. This is not an intermural debate. Horatius Bonar said it was the only perfect thing which had ever been presented to God in man's behalf.

Christ's perfect life. That's why imputed righteousness, reckoned righteousness, declared righteousness is at the heart of the gospel. He paid the penalty for us. But he also lived perfectly, obeying the commandments, earning our entrance to heaven by doing.

You don't get heaven unless there's active obedience of Christ. You don't get hell because Jesus pays for your sins. But you don't get heaven because heaven is earned by doing. Heaven is earned by doing.

A life of perfect obedience. That's why we need a Savior. Shed said when a criminal has suffered the penalty affixed to his crime, he has done a part. But not all that the law requires of him. He still owes a perfect obedience to the law.

In addition to the endurance of penalty, the law does not say to the transgressor, if you will suffer the penalty, you will not need to render obedience. But it says you must both suffer the penalty and render obedience.

A guilty man owes both penalty and obedience. A holy angel owes only obedience. The first man, Adam, was our federal head. And he was to do. But he didn't. That's why we're happy as Christians to have the last Adam, who is also our federal head.

And he did. And he was born of a woman. And he was placed under the law to render perfect obedience to the law. To provide a perfect righteousness for people who don't. Scholars call this the active obedience of Christ.

They call the death of Calvary the passive obedience. I'm not sure I like the words. But when you read those, you'll get it. The next time somebody asks you, I'd like to go to heaven. What must I do to inherit eternal life?

Why don't you preach like Jesus? Just say the only thing you have to do is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love the neighbor as yourself perfectly from when you were conceived.

And you'll get heaven. And for Christians, what does this mean? You really mean to tell me you can lose your salvation? Friends, what kind of nonsense do people think? Here's what they think. I've earned my salvation.

I've offered faith. I've done something. I'm the one that let the sluice gate of God's blessings come out of heaven by my faith. And if I earned it, then I can lose it. Friends, if Jesus lived a perfect life in your place, and God credits that to your account, when He sees your future sin, He doesn't see it because it's covered by Christ.

You can't lose what you didn't gain. And you can't undo the work of God. Does that mean some people say they believe and fall away? Of course. But a real Christian can never lose his or her salvation because Jesus did it in their place.

Do. And He did it. So I'm fired up about not just Christ's death, although I'm super thankful for it because that's the pinnacle of His obedience. But that's not all.

That's not all. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 8 .30 and 11 a .m. and Sunday evenings at 6 p .m. We're located on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff, or management.