Sermon in Rockford 18.03.2016

And of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Before reading our text, I would too like to bring you many greetings from your sister congregation there in Cocado. Those that knew I was coming here wished that I brought those greetings here.

I thought for our text this evening, I would read a familiar portion of God's holy and precious Word coming from the Gospel according to St. Luke in its 10th chapter. And we will read verses 25-37 with that continuing prayer that God would continue to give us of His goodness. The words are in Jesus' name.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto them, Thou hast answered right. Thou hast said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among the thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise the Levite, when he was at that place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said unto him, Go and do thou likewise. Amen. Amen.

Dear brother and sister, I need that, to hear that gospel message, and come before you, with many doubts and fears. Can I hear the gospel? Amen. We already heard how good it is to be here. And how good it is to travel here, in God's precious kingdom with many, many dear brothers and sisters in living faith.

Right before this text that we read, Jesus talked to His disciples privately. And He said, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. And then He continued, For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them. And to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Oh, we can thank God this evening that we can hear His precious and holy word. We can hear that precious gospel message that frees us from all sin. We can rejoice this evening, dear brother and sister, that God has called us to this place. That God has called us to be one of His children. It certainly is nothing to take for granted. But yet we want to take care of this gift so preciously.

And just as we heard already earlier, how do we do this? By simply trusting in God, putting sins away when they beset. And God will keep us in His precious care.

This portion of God's word that we have before us kept whirling around in my mind when I thought about that presentation that we will hear tomorrow night on forgiveness. In this text, Jesus spoke of that parable of the Good Samaritan. Forgiveness is the center most part of our lives of faith. For without forgiveness, we wouldn't be able to travel here in God's precious kingdom.

This lawyer that came before Jesus, Jesus knew his heart before he even came to Jesus. He asked a question that is a very, very important question to ask. He said, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? This lawyer was very rich in himself. He thought he had done many, many good things. He thought he had lived the perfect life. This is impossible for man to do.

We inherited that sin when Adam and Eve there right in the beginning fell into sin. Thus made it impossible for man to travel without sin. This lawyer here before Jesus as I already mentioned thought he had done a pretty good job with his life. And Jesus obviously knew his life. Knew it perfectly. And Jesus asked him a question what is written in the law and how readest thou?

This lawyer knew the law very well. That was his occupation. And he answered Jesus and said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself. And Jesus said unto him thou hast answered right this do and thou shalt live. Amen.

Dear brother and sister when we think about this that this lawyer answered about loving the Lord thy God with all his heart and with all his might. Who of us would be able to stand and say this? This lawyer responded to Jesus and said who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor?

Dear brother and sister our neighbor is sitting next to you. Our neighbor is everyone that we face in this world.

This portion of God's word that we have before us speaks to us of a very important message. A message of forgiveness. A message of love. How is love born? It is born by and through believing our sins forgiven. Love. The Bible speaks about that first fruit of faith and what is it? It is love.

This parable that we Jesus told this lawyer is a very interesting parable. God said, He started out and He said, and Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. This pathway that Jesus was speaking of here was a very difficult pathway. I believe it was, if I remember right, maybe between 17 and 20 miles long. And it was Jerusalem was high above Jericho. I believe maybe 2300 feet, maybe. I can't remember for sure.

But we know that when we study about this road that leads to Jericho, it is a very treacherous road. There are many hidden caves and many places to stumble on. It's a difficult road to travel.

And when we think about this picture, dear brother and sister, it gives us a picture of our lives that we travel on today, doesn't it? Oftentimes this road which leads to heaven is so difficult. There are often many obstacles that get in the way. Many things that we trip on.

And just as this man in this Bible portion is so that man is so that he fell among the thieves which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed leaving him half dead. Oh, how many times we're beset by thieves, aren't we? That enemy of souls is a thief. Those things that the world has to offer are so tempting to us. And those things steal that precious gift of faith away.

This is what took place here on that road. That road was a dangerous road and those thieves hid in those caves and attacked those ones that were traveling on it.

This text continues and says, by chance there came down a certain priest that way. Now we remember that this man that was on his way down to Jericho, he had been stripped of his raiment. He had been robbed. He was laying there half dead, the Bible says.

A certain priest came that way and when he saw him, he passed on the other side. He thought he's not going to even go near him. If we think about a priest, you'd think this priest would certainly stop and help this man out.

It speaks of another one that passed, that came there. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him. He actually came and looked on him, it says, and passed by on the other side.

I've often thought about this portion of Scripture. Dear brother and sister, why do you suppose that this priest and this Levite passed by, avoided this man that was wounded? Dear brother and sister, they did not own that gift that you and I own. That gift of living faith in the heart. They did not own that gift of the Holy Spirit. They knew they couldn't help this man.

This is a picture of one that is wounded in battle. Wounded on the journey. Sin has beset.

It speaks of that good Samaritan that came. Dear brother and sister, who was this Samaritan? It was the Lord Jesus himself.

How many times has it been where you have found yourself wounded by sin? Where Satan has been victorious? And those dear brothers and sisters have come to you and offered that grace, that mercy of the forgiveness of sins. God has come to you.

And it also reminds us of a duty that we have here as believers in God's kingdom. A duty of taking care of one another. A duty of when we know that someone is not traveling according to God's ways, God's word, that we go to him and help him.

Oh, how we need this help, don't we, dear brother and sister? The enemy of souls is, as scripture tells us, is going about as a roaring lion. He knows he's running out of time. The world is becoming ever so dark.

But yet, we have this good care in God's kingdom, where we can go to one another and hear the precious words of the gospel message.

Dear brother and sister, it pays to believe. It pays to battle against that threefold enemy. The enemy of souls wants us to give up on the battle.

I often times think about this, how the enemy works so ferociously on us as believers. He knows of the reward that awaits us. He doesn't want us to get there.

That's why God's word encourages us to continue battling against the threefold enemy, putting sins away when they beset.

In this portion of God's word, it speaks of that certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. This is what is born in one who believes. We have compassion on one another.

How does the Bible speak about this? That we weep with those that weep. We mourn with those that mourn. We laugh with those that laugh. We are on this journey together, dear brother and sister. And it is a good journey. A journey that has a great victory. A great reward.

This text continues. And had compassion on him and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

Here we see the love of Christ. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host and said unto him, take care of him. And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.

We have often heard about these two pence, haven't we? Of what these two pence represent. It is grace and it is truth.

Dear brother and sister, this is how we endeavor to live in God's kingdom. We endeavor to live in the truth of God's word. Grace. But we endeavor to live by His grace. The two go hand in hand.

When we own this gift of faith, the forgiveness of sins, that gift of the Holy Spirit then teaches and guides us and leads us according to what God's word teaches us. And that's how we endeavor to live our lives.

Do we fall and do we stumble? Yes, we do. And so often. But it's important that there is that in the heart to do the right thing.

God's word speaks of this in there are a few portions in Paul's letter to the epistles. Or Paul's letter to Romans and Galatians, I believe it is, where he speaks of this grace. Grace.

And that this grace is not given to us for liberty to do sin. The devil, the enemy of souls would want us to do this. He would want us to think in this way. That you can do that and just have it forgiven.

But when I think about this, we need to endeavor traveling in God's kingdom, fearing God. With this healthy fear. We don't want to tempt God, do we?

This is what the enemy did there, tried to do, when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. We remember how he set him on that pinnacle of the temple. And he told him to cast thyself down, that the angels will take care of you.

The Bible says this. What was Jesus' response? Jesus' response was, thou shalt not tempt not tempt the Lord thy God.

In this way, we don't want to tempt God. We don't want to play with sin. We are freed from sin, dear brother and sister, by believing that precious gospel.

Sin. There is a big difference between battling against sin and living in sin. And we all know that, don't we? It is a battle, but it is a good battle.

Battle of when we do fall into sin, we can hear that precious freeing gospel. This gospel we have already heard this evening.

But dear brother and sister, just as you find yourself again, you can uplift your heart and believe all of your sins and doubts and fears forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

This is a good battle. We have a good God. A God that wants us to get to heaven's glory. He is a God that loves sin fallen mankind. He is a God that hates sin. But loves the pardoned sinner and loves the penitent sinner.

When we do this and we battle, sin, when we fall into sin, it causes sorrow and distress. If sin no longer causes sorrow or distress, then I think we have something to worry about. We want sin to bother us.

Dear brother and sister, this text continues and says, which now of these three think thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, he that showed mercy on him.

Then said Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise. God's love. This is the kind of good care that we have in God's kingdom.

Dear brother and sister, let's take care of one another. We can freely go to a trusted brother or sister when sin besets. And talk about it. Visit about the matter.

Maybe we're beset by doubts. Maybe we're beset by fears. And oh, how good it feels when we can go and speak about the matters that weigh us down. Speak about the way and the journey. It's important that we visit with one another.

So again, dear brother and sister, uplift your hearts and believe. All of your sins and doubts, forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. In Jesus' name and always blessed name. Amen. Amen.