When you do stuff to help people, expecting something in return, that's called business. But Dr. Tony Evans says the kind of love God wants us to show others is tangible and personal. Don't be satisfied to write a check, because God wants life to touch life and people to touch people. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Jesus gave two great commandments that sum up perhaps the most important lesson the Bible has for us. Let's join Dr. Evans in this classic message as he takes us to the passage in question.
It's found in Luke chapter 10. There's a question by a lawyer, because we find in verse 25, and the lawyer stood up and put him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He's not asking how do you get saved or born again or converted. That's not his question. His question is a question about inheritance, what God has in store for me. How do I get God's purpose for me realized? And he calls it eternal life.
How do I inherit that? Jesus answers a question with a question. He was good at that. What's written? You ask me, that's like prayer. Now, what does the Bible say? So the lawyer who knows the Bible, he can quote him a verse, quotes the Bible and answers in verse 27, 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. Now, when you read the same thing in Mark chapter 12, you don't have to turn there now, verse 28 to 34, Jesus answers the lawyer there and says, The first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all you got.
And then he says, And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The first commandment is you are to love God on the front end with all you've got.
The second commandment is that you are to love your neighbor as yourself. But he says about the second is like the first. In other words, you can't fulfill the first and skip the second.
You can't do the second and skip the first. The first and the second are tied together. Which is why when you read the Ten Commandments, they're divided into two groups. The first group of commandments have to do with your vertical relationship with God. The second group of commandments deal with your horizontal relationship with others.
He sums up ten in two. You shall love me with all you've got. You shall love your neighbor like yourself. So that's the man's answer to Jesus's question, What is written in the law? Jesus responds, You have answered correctly, verse 28, Do this and you will live. I have come to give you life and to give it to you more abundantly. The fullness of life is realized when you keep the first and second. The first is put God on the front.
The second is treat your neighbor like yourself. Well, wait a minute. Isn't this lawyer alive? See, you can be alive but not living. He's not talking about being alive. He's talking about living.
That is, experiencing God's kind of life, which the Bible calls eternal life. So he's going to now tell you the second part of this thing, putting God first is the first part. The second part is what you do with your neighbor. Well, this brings up a question in the mind of a lawyer, and a lawyer knows how to ask questions. So the lawyer says to him in verse 29, Who is my neighbor?
Now, the reason he asked this, according to verse 29, is that he was seeking to justify himself. Lawyer is saying, Now, I read what the Bible says, Love your neighbor. But let me tell you something, gee, I don't know who my neighbor is. I don't even know the folk I live next door to. Everybody can claim to be my neighbor. How many neighbors are you supposed to have? How many people are you supposed to love? In other words, I read the Bible, but it doesn't seem practical.
I can't figure out what you mean by neighbor. So then Jesus says, Let me explain it to you, Lucy. Let me help a brother out. Let me help you understand what I mean by the second part because you need the second commandment with the first commandment if you want to live. That is, experience God's kind of life. Which leads him then, he says, Do this.
I'm going to tell you what to do. And if you do what I'm getting ready to tell you to do, you will become alive. Enter the famous story of the Good Samaritan. We all know the story, but walk with me through this story once more so that you can answer the question for your own life, Who is your neighbor?
Because you need part two with part one in order to experience God. He says, verse 30, Jesus replied and said, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. So we've got a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho. That's a 17-mile walk.
It's a 3,000-mile decline in terms of elevation. Over 17 miles, he's declining 3,000 feet, and he is on his way to Jericho from Jerusalem. Jericho Road is a winding, treacherous road with little hills and places you could hide.
It was easy to get robbed on the Jericho Road. This man run into some thieves, and these evil people on the Jericho Road, these societal terrorists, ripped this man off and beat him half to death. Said he was half dead. Along comes two guys. Verse 31, And by chance a priest was going down on the road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, that is by chance, a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Which tells you a bunch, because the priest and the Levite are coming from Jerusalem. The priest's job was to serve the law of God and the temple of God. The Levite was an assistant to the priest. So he wants you to know that they're coming from Jerusalem on the way to Jericho, and they're coming in their official title and name, so that tells you they're coming from church.
Because Jerusalem is where the temple was. So here we've got the priest and the Levite just leaving church. I'm sure the sermon was good that day. I'm sure the choir was magnificent that day.
I'm certain that the fellowship was awesome, and of course the temple was a beautiful place to go. So here we are, officials of the church, leaving church, leaving Jerusalem, on their way to the Jericho road, and by chance, they run across a half dead man. Jesus, in talking to the lawyer, wants him to understand these were religious folk. We ain't talking about sinners. We're talking about servants of the living God, folks who said amen.
Folks who waved their hand in the air like they just don't care. These are folk who jumped and praised the Lord and turned around when the song leader said turn around. These were folk who clapped when they heard the word of God. And now it's time to go home. Church was over.
Benediction was given, and it just so happened. On their way home, they see a man half dead in the road. It says they went and passed by on the other side. In other words, they went around him. Why did these church folk do that? Well, let me give you a few reasons.
The man has been beaten to an inch of his life. So there's a great possibility these robbers could still be in the vicinity. So it's not in our best interests to stop and help this dude, lest the robbers are looking for somebody else to steal from. So why don't we skip him lest we too become a victim?
That's one reason. Second reason is they were priests and Levites. And the law stated that if you touch the dead body, you would be contaminated by the dead body. So the man is not dead yet, but that's where he's headed. And if we try to help him and he dies while we're trying to help him, then we ourselves will be contaminated based on the law. And it's too risky in case he doesn't make it. So there could be thieves there, because there were thieves here.
The law says if he doesn't make it, we ourselves could be contaminated. And there's another reason. They were on the Jericho Road. I mean, they were going somewhere.
They were going from Jerusalem to Jericho. So they couldn't stop because they had somewhere else to go. They had a schedule to meet. They had a plan to achieve. They had a program to accomplish.
They had a calendar to satisfy. And we got to get to our meeting. So they passed by on the other side. All legit could have been criminals. If he died, the law did said you would be contaminated. And they were on a journey.
All legitimate reasons. But they passed him by. The hero of our story is about to make his entrance. And we'll hear all about that when we continue in a moment. Stay with us. Dr. Tony Evans' unparalleled mastery and deciphering the complexities of Scripture will ensure clarity in the face of confusion and illuminate the path towards hope. Arm yourself against the impending storm, and let not the hour of reckoning catch you unaware. Be prepared for what's to come by picking up your copy of Thy Kingdom Come at TonyEvans.org. Comes with a bonus sermon series, Staying Right with God.
Do not be caught off guard. You know, there are plenty of problems and issues in the world that individually we can't change. But there are also many situations that we do have the power to alter. Selfishness, pride, hostility.
These issues may dominate the headlines. But God has given each of us the ability to counteract the negativity by choosing honor over hate. In Dr. Evans' newest book, Kingdom Kindness, he helps us recognize everyday opportunities to spread God's love and discover the courage to step out and practice kindness. This book is part of a special package of resources we put together for our listeners that will help you become a visible and verbal presence for God in a world that needs to feel the positive influence of men and women of faith. Along with Kingdom Kindness, we've bundled all nine full-length messages from our current audio series, Returning to God in Unity, as well as Tony's popular devotional book, Stronger Together, Weaker Apart. These three powerful resources are our gift to anyone who will make a contribution to help support this radio program and Bible teaching outreach.
But today's the last day we'll be offering these resources together. So be sure to contact us right away to request the Returning to God in Unity package. You can do that online at tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. I'll have that contact information for you again after the second part of today's lesson. Here's Tony continuing our teaching found in Luke chapter 10.
Now enters the hero of the story. Jesus says in verse 33, But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion. He came to him, bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and water on them, and he put him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
On the next day, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you. Now, you have to understand, the Samaritans hated the Jews. Or the Jews hated the Samaritans. He says, Your Jewish brothers passed him by.
Priests passed him by, and he's your bro. It says he took some oil and wine to disinfect and bring about salve to his wounds. That means he had to take some stuff meant for him and share it with somebody else that was hurting. He takes him to the inn and says, Take care of him, and when I return, whatever you had to use of yours to take care of him, I will give it back to you. For the innkeeper to take care of this man, because the Samaritan asked him to, means he trusted the Samaritan.
Now, Jesus asks a question. Which of these, verse 36, do you think proved to be the neighbor? To the man who fell into the robbers' hands. The man said, Who is my neighbor? Jesus now asks, Who proved to be a neighbor?
That's a different question. So let me tell you who your neighbor is. Your neighbor is the person whose need you see, whose need you feel, and whose need you address. Because it takes all three to make them your neighbor. There are thousands of needs out there. You see them all, but you don't all feel them the same.
Some you see, some you feel, but some you can do nothing about. Remember, the question is, Who could do something? Who proved to be a neighbor?
The man answers the question. He answers the question by saying in verse 37, and he said, The one who showed mercy toward him. Then Jesus said, Go and do the same. Who was the neighbor? The one who showed mercy. Neighbor is not complete until mercy has been extended.
Mercy is an act of compassion that is seeking to relieve the misery that is caused by the robbery that has taken place. Let me tell you the secret of a neighbor. He does it without expecting anything in return.
This half-dead man was offering nothing. When you do stuff to help people, expecting something in return, that's called business. Nothing wrong with business. Business is a good deal. Business is fine. The word Jesus encourages business. But just know that's business. If I help you demanding and expecting from you, that's a business deal. But if out of my first love for God and my compassion for you, I help you, that's a neighbor.
He said it's the one who showed mercy, not taught the good game. The half-dead man was a person, not a project. People have turned people into projects. This is a project to be managed, not a person to be delivered. In 1965, the Great Society program was passed. Trillions of dollars spent to lift the poor.
It was well-intentioned, but the problem is people became a project. But you can't live in Washington and fix my pain in Dallas. I need somebody who sees me. I need somebody who feels me.
And I need somebody who can touch me. I need biblical compassion that's people-oriented, not project-driven. And that is why you and I, and we as a church, must never become elite. The sin of elitism means because of where I have progressed, because I've moved out of the apartment to the house, from the bus to the car, from Sears and Roebuck to Neiman Marcus.
Because I have climbed the ladder, I now look down on you because you're still stuck. God is not against your progress if done biblically, spiritually, and legitimately. He is not against that. He is against progress that makes you think, feel, or act like you're better than others who are not where you are. That's called elitism.
Elitism. God wants you to reach neighbors, and He will bring neighbors in front of you. He will bring people that you see who drives, who gets and digs in your heart, and you can't shake them.
You can't get rid of them. And you have some capacity to address it. And we as a church, the innkeepers, will try to keep our shelves stocked with support services when you can't be here through what you give to the church. But don't let the church, the system, the inn, replace you personally touching the life.
Don't be satisfied to write a check. Because God wants life to touch life and people to touch people. In just a moment, we'll hear more from Dr. Evans about who our neighbors actually are.
So stay with us. First though, here's how God can touch your life today. If you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can do that right now. Simply go to Him and acknowledge that you're a sinner in need of a Savior and that you're transferring your trust to Him alone because of His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. And if you will go to Him for salvation, He promises to give it to you free of charge just for the asking.
Learn more about what all that means and why it's so important. Visit tonyevans.org and click on the link at the top of the homepage that simply says Jesus. Tony has a quick video message that explains it all.
And you'll find some free follow-up resources there as well. That's tonyevans.org. Well, as a reminder, you can get a copy of the full-length version of today's lesson, including material we didn't have time to bring you on the air, along with all the other messages in our powerful nine-part sermon series called Returning to God in Unity.
Today was the final installment from this classic series. But if you get in touch with us and request the collection right away, we'll send all the messages to you on CD or downloadable MP3s, along with those two bonus gifts I mentioned earlier, Tony's brand-new Kingdom Kindness book, as well as his Stronger Together, Weaker Apart devotional prayer book. They're all yours as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to help us keep the alternative broadcast available on the station. Just visit tonyevans.org to make your donation and request. Again, that's tonyevans.org. Or call us any time of the day or night at 1-800-800-3222, and one of our friendly team members will be happy to help. The number again, 1-800-800-3222.
We'll return with more from Dr. Evans right after this. If you're like most Christians, there are people in your life who know you but may not know Jesus. You really want to do something about that, but don't feel equipped to share your faith effectively.
In other words, maybe if you knew more, you could do more. Well, that's where the Tony Evans Training Center comes in. It's an online Bible school with classes that'll take you deep into the most important core concepts of the faith. You can start with our free introductory course on evangelism, then move on to subjects like spiritual warfare, marriage building, maturing in the faith, and many more. The content is challenging, but you can move through it at your own pace any time you're online. There's also lots of custom content from Tony and an online forum where you can get your specific questions answered. Go to tonyevans.org and follow the link to the Tony Evans Training Center. It's like having a seminary on your smartphone.
The world relentlessly tries to convince Christians that their faith ought to be so private that it doesn't show up in public or have any influence there. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans takes a look at the other side of that debate. Right now, though, let's hear how he wrapped up today's teaching. Who is your neighbor? It's the person whose needs you see, the person whose needs you feel, and the person who needs, at some level, you tangibly meet. They're a person, not a program. They're a person, not a quota. They're a person, not a project.
They're a person. And Jesus told the lawyer, if you will do this, you will live. Because when God looked at you and I and gave us Jesus Christ, we were poor people, half dead. Or the Bible says totally dead in our trespasses and in our sins. But God gave the highest level who could have been elite who became a servant. And if this is going to be a great church that experiences God, it will not be filled with elitists. It will be filled with servants.
