AND WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?

Luke 10:25-37

Jesus used parables to teach great religious principles. Parables are so effective they help you to remember the teaching long after. The parable in our passage today is commonly called the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is so popular that many hospitals and charity organisations have adopted that name.
Our passage today illustrates the place and importance of love, mercy and compassion. It also exposes the error of self-righteousness, bigotry and prejudice. The use of the Samaritan in this story would have shocked Christ's audience. Other shocking things Christ did was e.g. going to the house of Zachaeus or Matthew the publican to eat, or telling his heares that there was more faith in a Cananite woman than in all of Israel.

The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously dangerous. by the time you do the 20 mile journey you would have descended from about 2000 feet above sea level to 800 feet below sea level, with big boulders dotting and forming hiding places for robbers. It was truely a bloody road. many innocent lives were lost on that road. We are told that that road has changed very little since the time of Christ.

it was on this road the man in the story was attacked and left helpless. the priest and the levite passing that way, ignored him, but the Samaritan helped him. Martin Luther King analysed the action of the priest, levite and samaritan this way: The Levite said, If I help this man, what will happen to me?", while the Samaritan said, "If I don't help this man, what will happen to him"

Jesus used this story to teach that if anyone wishes to have eternal life, they must accept God's own standard. The best of human effort cannot bring salvation and life. Eternal life is given from God and that life is in the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (1John 5:11). We also see the place of love, mercy and compassion in God's plan of salvation and eternal life.

WHY CHRIST TAUGHT THIS PARABLE

Luke 10:25-28; John 1:12-13; 17:1-3; Matthew 19:16-24, 27-30

There was a question from the lawyer asking Jesus what to do to inherit eternal life. It is very striking that it came from a lawyer, one of those charged with the interpretation of the Law. This man really did not want to know anything he did not know before. He was tempting Christ. He simply wanted to trap Jesus into saying something that he would call blasphemy.

If he really wanted to know about eternal life, the very Source of it was standing right before him.
God gives eternal life through His Son, Jesus.

What is eternal life? (John 17:1-3; 1John 5:11). To have eternal life you must know God and Jesus Christ His Son (1John 2:3-11; 3:14-16). To know God is to love Him and to love is to keep His comandments (Deuteronomy 6:4; Leviticus 19:18; John 14:21-24). These bible passages will help us appreciate the meaning of eternal life (Rom. 3:23; 6:23; John 3:16; Romans 10:9-11; John 10:9; Acts 4:12)


Another person asked Jesus a similar question. Jesus gave a similar answer - keep the commandments (Mat. 19:16-24). The man claimed to be have kept all since his youth. but the Lord struck him at his weak point. he had great possession. He was attached to his wealth. Jesus said to to him, "Sell what you have and give to the poor and come follow me". He went away sorrowful! He rejected the offer of eternal life and walked away! Only the Lord knows where he is now.

You see God knows everyone of us, young and old, great and small. You may say you are a Christian, you may say you are saved if your claim is true. You better make sure that yourclaim is true. Be like David. Pray to God and tell Him to search you (Psalm 139:23-24). If you discover you are not saved yet, pray today for salvation . Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPOSED

Luke 10:25-29; 18:11-14; 5:30-39

It is clear that the lawyer was self-righteous. And the Lord exposed that self-righteousness by using the parable of the Good Samaritan to illustrate the aceepted form of righteous living. Historically, Jew and Samaritans were sworn enemies. They had nothing in common and Jews would not accept any favours from Samaritans (John 4:7-10).

But who were the samaritans (2Kings 17:24-28, 32-34)? In the Old Testament we do not hear much about them, but they featured prominently during the time of Christ. They had their own worship place on Mount Gerizim as opposed to Jerusalem. Jesus, dismissed this claim by telling the woman of Samaria what true worship of God entailed (John 4:19-24). Jewish sources describe them as the descendants of the colonists that King Shalmanasher brought to Samaria, who intermaried with the Jewish population. However their theology does not show much sign of pagan influence. Whatever their origin, they were sworn enemies with the Jews. Jesus in the parable showed that eternal life is available to all including Samaritans. The Jews did not believe Samaritans would receive eternal life!
Let's ask a few questions  relevant to our time.
(i) Would Jesus approve racial, colour or ethnic prejudice?
(2) Would Jesus approve religious, sectarian or denominational prejudice?
The Jews were prejudices against the Samaritans. The Pharisees were prejudiced against the publican and sinners. Unfortunately there are some Christians who exhibit these. If we must act like Christ, we must point men of all races, all denominations, all colours to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.

LOVE! MERCY AND COMPASSION, GOD'S STANDARD

Luke 10:30-37; John 13:34-35; Matthew 9:13; 12:7

One of the early fathers of the Church, Origen, interpreted the parable this way, "The man who was going down is Adam. Jerusalem is paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the Law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience, the beast is the Lord’s body, the [inn], which accepts all who wish to enter, is the Church The manager of the [inn] is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior’s second coming" This is allegorical. But we find out what the parable means to us today.

Jesus said He would have mercy rather than sacrifice. Man wants to give sacrifice, to try to sort himself out. But the Law has proved that that is not possible. The Law only exposes our weaknesses and inability to do right, to qualify for eternal life by our own effort. The Law only acts as our school master, to point us to Christ (Galatians 3:23-25). The lawer thought that by his observance of the law he would inherit eternal life. Jesus said no. Isntead He instructed the lawer to go and do like the Samaritan!

Once we are saved, we receive eternal life, and then begin to manifest, love. mercy and compassion. Anyone in need becomes our neighbour. We leave aside the identity of the person and move with Christ's love, mercy and compassion to help them. Notice that these virtues are divine attributes. When the Lord saves you, you receive that power to become a child of God and all these virtues will begin to operate in you.

Love is a commandment of Christ to all His disciples (John 13:34-35). It is the proof that we have become disciples of Christ as we said earlier. We are to love the Lord and love one another as He loved us (Luke 10:27; John 13:34-35). Keeping the commandments of Christ shows that we love him. loving Christ and the brethren and our neighbours has great blessings (John 14:21-24)

May we be filled with the love of God and of Christ and of the brethren. May we love our neighbours as ourselves. Amen

SERVING GOD IN TRYING TIMES

SERVING GOD IN TRYING TIMES

2Kings 4:1-7; Matthew 18:25; Mark 12:41-44

Since bible days, people of God have depended on him for their support in their trying times, and have always found help in Him. The line of one song says, “the Lord is our Rock in Him we stand; A shelter in the time of storms”. Our text this morning is about a woman who is the wife of a prophet. The husband had died and she had sunk into great financial needs. They had borrowed money to survive but have no means of paying back. The creditor came for his money and threatened to take the sons as slaves.  This was a very trying time for the woman and her sons. And thank God, God was there to help them. Whenever we find ourselves in need we go to Go in prayer for we know that help is on the way.

The way widows feature in bible narratives show the character of God as the “Father of the fatherless and Judge of the widows” (Deut. 10:18; 14:28-29; 16:11; 24:17). God is known in his actions to help the vulnerable. If we have God, we have everything though we physically have nothing. When God becomes our supply, we will never run out of resources of what we need (Matthew 6:11). God will provide for us daily if we put our trust in him.

The Pressing Challenge

       i.            The Wife Of A Prophet (2Kings 4:1)

     ii.            The Loss Of Her Husband (2Kings 4:1)

  iii.            The Menace Of Creditors (2Kings 4:1)

  iv.            There Was No Resource To Pay (2kings 4:3)

During Elijah’s time a brotherhood or guild of prophets were formed. We do not know their actual origin but we see them feature in the stories of Elijah and Elisha (1Kings 20:35; 2Kings 2:3; 5:22; 6:1).

Elisha obviously had responsibility of them judging from references his stories concerning them.

     (i)            He cared for the needs of the widow of one of these prophets (2Kings 4:1-7)

   (ii)            He built a dwelling place for them (2Kings 6:1-7)

 (iii)            He presided over a communal meal (2Kings 4:38-44)

 (iv)            They witnessed the departure of Elisha, they knew he would be taken away during that period (2Kings 3:3, 5, 7, 15)

   (v)            They were involved in prophetic assignments during Elisha’s ministry (2Kings 9:1-3)

So we can see that this story is not one that just suddenly came up. Elisha had been involved in taking care of this prophetic brotherhood. It was one of these prophet who died, and whose wife had need and then approached Elisha.

By approaching Elisha, she recognised the call of God upon him. She recognised the leadership of Elisha, having obviously been witness of how he led the other prophets in the service of God.

We learn from here the importance of subjecting ourselves to those whom God has put over us as leaders (Heb.13:17; 1Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1Cor. 16:15-16). This is the principle of the Kingdom of God. Love your leaders, pray for them support them, even share with them your material things (1Cor. 9:9-11).

This woman in her need recognised the leadership of Elisha and went to him for help. After the death of her husband, She could not pay their debt. As a result their creditors came to take her two sons as slaves. The Bible regulated the seizure of wives or children as payment of debt (Leviticus 25:35-42). We can see her need. When we have need we have someone who is more than a prophet to run to. What is His name? Jesus. He is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16). When in need, can petition our High priest.

The Inspired Petition

       i.            She Reminded Elijah Of Her Husband’s Faithfulness (2Kings 4:1)

    ii.            She Revealed Her Fear Of Her Sons becoming Slaves

God hears the cry of the needy even if they have not done anything that would commend them to the Lord. Remember the Syro-Phoenician woman who came to Jesus for help? Though she was not a Jew, Jesus heard and granted her request (Matthew 15:22-28). But this woman was a Jew and also the wife of a servant of Yahweh. To add to this, her husband was faithful to God during his lifetime.. So she presented this as an argument in her request. She also spoke of her fear for her two sons.

We also see King Hezekiah do something like this when he was sick unto death. He reminded the Lord that he had served Him wholeheartedly and done thing pleasing in God’s sight (2Kings 20:1-3). The Lord immediately responded.

God accepts our arguments in prayer. Jesus encouraged us to use importunity in prayer. Importunity must involved Even if you are not yet saved, you have an opportunity to ask God for pardon and for salvation and other needs. He will not refuse you. Do not wait rill it is too late.

If you have been serving the Lord, giving your time, giving your money, praying, witnessing, keep on doing what you are doing because you are accumulating credit before the lord and time will come when He will stand up on your behalf in the time of need (Gal. 6:9; 2thessalonians 3:13; 1Cor.15:58).

The Unexpected Provision

       i.            She Must Use What She Has

    ii.            Not A Few Empty Vessels Borrowed

 iii.            She Must Shut Herself and Her Sons In

 iv.            She Faithfully Pour The Oil from the Pot

    v.            All The Borrow Vessels Were Filled

The dynamics of the miracle of provision here show that God has different ways in which He will answer our prayers. Elijah did not have to give the woman money to go and pay her debt. Instead he involved her in the solution to her problems (2Kings 4:2-4):

     (i)            She had only one pot of oil. But with God that is enough resources. It is nothing for God to feed five thousand people using only five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14:15-20). Do not despise what little you may have now. Know that God can use anything to bring about your miracle.

   (ii)            She had to go out by faith and borrow empty vessels or empty pots from neighbours. Do not ask me what explanation she gave to those who may have asked what he was going to do with them. She simply moved by faith. She shut herself and her sons in. Faith shuts out doubts, and doubters must sometimes be physically shut out (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26). We too must move and live by faith. Great miracles are wrought by faith in God. Those wedding attendants in Cana of Galilee obeyed the command of Jesus to fill water pots with water (John 2:5-10). They manifested even more faith in drawing what they knew was water to carry to the MC who was demanding for wine. But on their way the water was turned into wine without their being aware of it! What a mighty God we serve.

 (iii)            We note that all the borrowed vessels were filled. We don’t know how many vessels she borrowed. But all the vessels borrowed were filled. We must move by faith, just like those wedding attendants did in Cana of Galilee.

God will use whatever He will to bring about our miracles, but he expects us to show faith in Him (Mark 11:22-24). May the grace and favour of the Lord follow us through this month!

Thanks for reading,
Pastor Chima

The Free Gift Of Grace

THE FREE GIFT OF GRACE

EPHesians 1:5-12; Ephesians 2:1-10; Rom.5:1-21; Titus 2:11

Someone has told the story of a man who was condemned to death for embezzling £4000. The figures were related in dollars but I will change it to pounds for better understanding. The royal family took pity on the man, however, and determined to help him. The king contributed £2000 from the royal treasury, while the queen gave £1000 and the crown prince £980. The people in the gallery passed the plate and collected another contribution of £19.90. The total amount of £3999.90 was only 10p short of that which was required, but it was not enough. The king reluctantly said that the man had to die. The crowd in the gallery sighed. Suddenly the condemned man reached into his pocket and found a 10p coin, just what he needed. He was free!

Did this man have much to do to get free? Yes in the eyes of the world, no matter how little he had contributed to his own release it would be to him of utmost importance.

The grace of God is different. God provides the grace as a free gift (Eph. 2:8-9). Webster’s dictionary defined grace as:

a : unmerited divine assistance given man for his regeneration or sanctification

b : a virtue coming from God

c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace

The grace of God goes beyond salvation. It includes the common grace whereby God continues to shower his blessing upon those who do not deserve or even acknowledge it. Grace is an attribute of God, something that is part of God, something that is true of Him (Exodus 34:6). The psalms are filled with praises to God about His graciousness (psalm 86:15; 103:8;  Psalm 111:4; Psalm 112:4; 116:5; 145:8).

This month of October is the month of God’s grace and favour. We want to explore God’s free grace to us. Our God is the God of grace. Let’s start with the meaning of Grace.

The meaning Of Grace

       i.            Gracefulness and Beauty (Proverbs 22:11; 31:30)

     ii.            Beneficent Acts (Gen. 6:8; 19:19; Exodus. 33:12; 34:9; 1Sam.1:18)

  iii.            Favour, Goodwill, Kindness (Luke 1:30; 2:40, 52; Acts 2:47; Acts 7:46; 24:27)

There are at least forty synonyms of grace in the common dictionaries found on the internet. This is simply what Grace has come to mean to people today. It can mean gracefulness and physical beauty. Aside from that it also means beneficent acts of one person to another in which some favour is conferred. When Christ was born in Bethlehem, Angels sang glory to God and peace and good will (Grace) towards men.

Christ was full of grace and truth (Luke 2:40). Grace and truth came by Christ (John 1:17)

Grace As An attribute of God

       i.            Grace Is What God Is  (Exodus 34:6-8; 22:26-27)

     ii.            Grace Of God Before Christ (Gen. 6:8; 19:19; Exo.33:12-14; Jonah 4:1-2; John 1:14, 17-18; Heb1:3)

  iii.            As Understood By God’s Men (Psalm 86:15-17; 103:3)

  iv.            God’s grace In Man’s salvation (John 1:14,17-18; Rom. 5:20; Eph.1:5-12)

Someone said that grace was not an afterthought – a damage limitation measure but part of God’s plan for humans. Grace has always been part of God’s nature. Just as we say, God is Love, we can equally say God is Gracious, and He is.

Because grace is God’s attribute it is not surprising to find that He employs grace to our salvation

The Provision Of Grace

        i.            Foreordination to Salvation Done Through Grace (Eph.1:3-6)

      ii.            Redemption Through Grace (Eph.1:7-10)

    iii.            Salvation Through Grace (Eph.2:4-10)

    iv.            The suffering and Death Of Christ Purchased salvation through Grace (John 1:29; 3:16; Matthew 20:28) 

Through grace God ordained that all mankind may be saved from sin and its condemnation. God foreordained that through grace mankind can be thoroughly free from the power of and condemnation of sin.

Redemption can only come by grace through faith. Redemption connotes buying back. We were bought back from the slave market of sin through our faith in Christ. Paul declares that there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Grace meets the demand for the righteous judgement and justice of God, so that God declares guiltless the guilty sinner. He is guiltless because someone has taken the penalty and the chastisement he deserved. The grace of God brings salvation to us through faith in Christ Jesus.

Outside Christ there can be no salvation. Jesus said so. His disciples said so. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12)

The Potential Of Grace (Eph.2:1-10)

        i.            The Unjust Justified Through grace (Rom.3:23-26)

      ii.            The Vilest Sinner set Free Through Grace (John 8:11)

    iii.            Sin No longer Imputed due to Grace (2Cor.5:19; Rom.4:8)

    iv.            Righteousness Possible Through Grace (Rom.8:1-3)

Bob Dafinbaugh said, “While the Law is the standard of righteousness, grace is the source of righteousness. While the Law defines righteousness, only grace delivers it. The Law was never intended to be a means of obtaining grace; it was given to demonstrate to men that grace was desperately needed.

Grace therefore has a life changing, life transforming potential. The unjust can be justified – something not practicable in the human court of law. The guilty is not acquitted. He must pay the penalty.

With god the guilty are acquitted because one righteous person, Jesus Christ has paid the full price of their penalty. Their sin is no longer imputed or reckoned unto them (2Cor.5:17-19)

Righteousness is now possible through grace (Romans 8:1-4). We can live in righteousness and true holiness now. We can please God now through grace.

The Partners Of Grace

        i.            Mercy

      ii.            Love

    iii.            Righteousness

    iv.            Peace

      v.            Goodness.

Grace is not a stand-alone attribute of God or virtue in man. It is connected with other divine attributes. It is also linked to imparted virtues like Mercy, love… The grace of God leads to salvation. Salvation means that you have been saved from your since and set free from condemnation. Peace will flood your heart, and with peace comes love, righteousness and mercy.

With God all attributes operate together – mercy, justice, grace, love, goodness, righteousness and peace. If you have received the grace of God unto salvation, your heart will be filled with love, mercy, peace and righteousness

The Partakers Of Grace

        i.            All Humanity may Partake In The Common Grace (Matthew 5:45, 48; Acts 17:13)

      ii.            All Humanity May partake of the Grace Of Salvation  (John 3:16; Lk. 24:47)

    iii.            All Rejecters Are Under An Inescapable Sentence of Death (Rom. 3:23 6:23)

 All humanity can partake in God’s Grace. Have you received that grace – the grace unto salvation?

We must be aware that all who reject the grace of God will be shown no mercy since grace and mercy are like twins. If you reject one you reject the other.

The wages of sin is death. The justice of God must be satisfied. If you do not permit Christ to satisfy it, then you will have to satisfy it yourself and that means death!

It is foolishness to reject Christ. Rejecting Christ means rejecting the Grace and Mercy of God.