My relationship with saints in need

Luke's Gospel in chapter 10. Luke's Gospel chapter 10, verse number 29. Luke 10, 29, but he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves which stripped him of his raiment and wounded and departed leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way and when he saw me pass by on the other side and likewise a Levite when he was at this 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, went to him and bound up his wounds pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the morrow when he departed he 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, which now of these three thinkest thou? Was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves? And he said, notice the inveterate hatred of this man towards Samaritans. He will not say the Samaritan.

He simply says, he that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise. John's Gospel in chapter 20.

We will mainly be looking at Luke chapter 10, but I just want to amplify it. John chapter 20 and verse number 24. But Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus or a twin.

So if anyone ever asks you in trivial pursuit, which one of the disciples was a twin, it was Thomas. Was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord.

But he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, I put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I cannot know. I will not believe.

And after eight days again his disciples were within and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus. The door is being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you.

And then said he to Thomas, reach it of my finger. You hold my hands, reach it of thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord, my God.

Jesus said to him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. Chapter 21, verse number three, Simon Peter said unto them, I go a fishing.

They say unto him, we also go with thee. Verse nine, you know what happened in between? The Lord told them to cast their nets and they did and they gathered the fish. And verse nine, as soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish later on in bread.

Jesus said to them, bring of the fish, which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three. And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

Jesus said to them, come and dine. None of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou? Knowing it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise.

This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Now I trust that God will add his rich blessing to the reading of his word and give help in the time we have to consider it. The title, as you have on your outline, is Walking with the Wounded, Believers with Special Needs.

Not just all of the Christians in God's assembly, but those with special needs are before us right now. Now, having said that, I think we have to recognize that in a measure, in a measure, we are all wounded individuals. The reason I say that is because sin always wounds to some extent.

Some know deep wounds from unsaved days. Some know wounds from even Christian experience. So in a measure, it could be said that every one of us is a wounded believer.

But some have such an appreciation for the grace of God that while wounds and scars cannot be erased, they have been able to rise above it. Others, the wounds are so deep that sometimes they need special concern from and care and consideration from believers. So I just want to then spend a few moments looking with you at Walking with the Wounded.

We read in Luke 10, and I want to talk about the interpretation of the parable, the implications of the parable, the implementation of the parable, and finally, the identification of the wounded on the Jericho road. The interpretation of the parable, it has a very personal application, doesn't it? We and I include myself, and I will continue to do it, we love to preach the gospel from this particular story. And indeed, it is a delightful, a delightful platform from which to present something of the wonders of the compassion and care of the Lord Jesus Christ towards sinners.

But I'm going to suggest that it has an equal application to Christians. The demand of the law, the demand of the law was, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. The Lord Jesus impressed this man that that was the standard of the law.

And he does not even deal with his relationship with God. He says, well, who is my neighbor? And the Lord Jesus then gives this parable to tell him who his neighbor is. Now, if as a believer, the righteous requirements of the law are to be seen fulfilled in my life, then I am to love my neighbor as myself.

So when I ask who is my neighbor, this story comes back with tremendous force to believers. But not only does it have a personal application, but it has a very pointed application. For the Lord ends it by saying, go and do thou likewise.

So we are going to just have a very personal and a very pointed interpretation of this parable for believers today, go and do thou likewise. The implication of this parable, first of all, the reality, the reality of wounded saints. There are believers who carry deep wounds.

There are believers, and we will mention some of them in passing, who have known Jericho road experiences. They have been wounded. They have been given up, left for dead.

And it seems as though no one cared. As I said, sometimes it was in, most of the time it's been in their unsaved days. Most of the time it is in their past, prior to conversion.

At times it is after conversion, where difficulties and sorrows and problems can so grieve and so wound that believers have known what it is to be on the Jericho road, the reality. But then the other implication is not just the reality that there are believers like this, but the responsibility I bear. I can't walk by on the other side.

I can't say, you know, I don't have the resources to meet that Christian's needs. No, I don't. I rarely have the resources myself to meet the needs of believers who have known tremendous difficulty in their unconverted days and tremendous scars from the past.

But the Lord has those resources and we shall see the resources that the Samaritan upon the Jericho road had for meeting those resources. So let me come then quickly to the implementation. How do I then take this story? How do I take the principles that are in this story and begin actually implementing it in my own life as a believer and actually live out the truth of loving my neighbor as myself? Let me talk about the attitude which should mark me, the activity which, or rather the availability which measures me and the activity in my ministry to others.

What do I mean by the attitude which should mark me? I don't mean to suggest the thought of self-sufficiency or pride, but let me just talk about the wealth, the wealth I should be enjoying in my soul. See, here was a man as he traveled the Jericho road, he had something that a priest and a Levite didn't have. As you move through life, you have something the world doesn't have to offer.

Now I am not, please the value of those who have insight and can help people with difficulties, but as a believer you have resources that the priest and Levite don't have. If you are enjoying the wealth that God has for you in Christ. That's what this is all talking about.

A man who moves in the good of wealth that he has as a result of his relationship with the Lord. So that my needs being met in my relationship with the Lord, now I have something to give others. So you see, if I am just going through life, you know, I think we've all been there haven't we? If you think of it for a moment, especially young Christians.

You know what it is to have a friend call you and they're suddenly going through some tremendous trial. And suddenly something has just, life has gone crazy for them. And you struggle for something to say or do.

And it's because you haven't been enjoying. I don't mean you've got to be preaching to people or moralizing to people, but if you are enjoying your salvation, if you are enjoying fellowship with God, when those tragedies and emergencies and crises occur, no it's not that you have the snap answer. And it's not that you have just the verse at your fingertips that solves and calms everything.

But as we shall see as we look in more detail at this Samaritan, he did have something to at least comfort the wound. He did have something at least to bind up with. He couldn't get rid of the wounds.

He couldn't suddenly make that person well, but he could at least begin the road to recovery. He had something to give. That's why it's so vital.

We've all been there when we were searching and scrambling for something to say, something to do, and we just felt so utterly hopeless and helpless. And we had to recognize that really it's because I'm not enjoying God as I ought to be. And so there's a wealth that I should be enjoying as I move amongst the people of God.

There's a warmth that I should evidence in my dealings with the people of God. Not a matter of just serving others or trying to be a help out of a sense of obligation, or a sense of drudgery or duty. Not a man on a mission or a man on a pity party, but a man who is evidencing warmth, the warmth that Christ displayed in all of his dealings with men.

You cannot read the Gospels. You cannot look at Christ and feast upon him and look at how he touched lives and how he dealt with people without realizing not only the marvel of what he did, but the way he did it. The way he did it.

Tremendous to look not only at what he did, the power and the miracles and the wonder of his ability, but the way he did it. Not just cure a leper, but touch him. Not just raise a dead boy, but touch the beer and return him to his mother.

Not just raise a girl from the dead, but tell her now, give her something to eat. How tender, how gracious he was in all his ways. That's what should mark me.

Not just out of obligation, I've got to do it for you, but no. A warmth that I should evidence. A wisdom that I should exhibit as well.

To move wisely amongst the people. Recognizing my limitations, recognizing the constraints of time and of problems, recognizing where I can be a help and in what way I can best help. I have often remarked, and I don't think there's any better illustration in scripture.

You remember what it says about the perfect servant. It says concerning the perfect servant in Isaiah 50 that his ear was opened morning by morning to hear as the learned, to hear as the instructed one. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned that I might know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.

I want you just to think of all that God has crammed, has popped into those few words about his perfect servant. That he might know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. Now just think with me for a moment of what that says.

First of all, the right word. That I might know how to speak a word. The right thing to say Now, when I get that far, when I have the right thing to say, when a problem or a difficulty arises, I think I am the wisest man in the world.

But that's only 25% of what we're going to look at. He knew how to speak a word, the right word, at the right time, a word in season to the right person. I might know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.

But number four, not just the right word, not just the right time, not just to the right person. I might know how to speak in the right way. So it's not enough to have the right word.

I've got to seek by this help of God to say it in the right way, at the right time, to the right person. That's what this perfect servant was like. That's the wisdom I need from God if I am going to be a help.

Now, without digressing, you just take that principle and apply it to the book of Job. Because there were four men that said a lot of things that were right, a lot of truth to what those four men said. But they said it to the wrong person.

And they said it in the wrong way. And they said it at the wrong time. And you know what God says in the end? You haven't spoken to me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.

You go to him with a sacrifice. God is saying, you've sinned. You said the right thing, but it had nothing to do with Job, nothing to do with his problem.

And you said it in the wrong way. Tremendous danger just to having truth, but not knowing how to apply it, not knowing how to use it. So there's wisdom that I need to exhibit.

The attitude which should mark me, the availability which should measure me, I should be available to meet the needs of others. It's going to mean expense, financially. If I am going to fulfill the law of Christ, it may mean expense out of my pocket.

Yeah, expense out of my pocket. Oh, now you're touching upon something which is kind of almost sacred ground if I got to spend money. Well, you may have to.

I have found that if you want to help someone, one of the nicest places to do it is over a meal, just over a meal. Food lubricates, you know, and it helps to maybe say some things that couldn't be said otherwise. And it may cost you a breakfast meal.

It may cost you a lunch meal. It may mean digging into your pocket to help someone in trouble, the availability which should measure me. It is going to require me to sacrifice my time.

That's not something I can just fit into those few extra minutes I have somewhere along the way, sacrificing my time. It may mean as well that there are times when I have to admit that I don't know what to do or say, but that I'm here to be with you, and I'm just here to bear your burden with you. I don't know what to say.

I don't have an answer. If you think that you have the answers to all of life's problems, you haven't met many of life's problems. Isn't long along the road, and isn't long moving amongst the people of God, isn't long listening to burdens and difficulties until you begin to learn, I don't have the answers.

I can't solve this, but at least I can be here. I can sit with this person. I can tell them at least that while I never have known what they're going through yet, I'm with them.

We mean well, and we try to show sympathy to others, and many times what we say to people is, I know just how you feel. The truth is you don't know how another person feels. Even if, even if the same thing happened to them that happened to you, you don't know how they feel because they're a different person.

And so many times those words ring so empty in a person's heart. I know just how you feel. No, you don't.

You don't know how I feel. You don't know the background of this whole thing and all that has led up to it and what this means to me now. So that instead of sympathy, we show empathy.

Big difference. Empathy is just that ability to allow that person to grieve and tell them I can understand why you're grieving. No, I've never gone through what you've gone through, but I can understand and understand that you're grieving.

You know, that's why it's so wonderful. That's why it is so wonderful that when I come to the book of Hebrews, it tells me he is able to sympathize. That's wonderful.

I can't sympathize. I don't know what you're going through. I've never passed the same way you've passed.

There's only one person, only one person in the entire universe of God that is genuinely able to sympathize and he does because he's been there. He's been through all of life experiences in principle and Hebrews four tells us we have not on high priest who is not able to sympathize. That's the real rendering of that verse.

He is able to sympathize and so we need to be available. The activity which should measure us. Let me just talk about who these people are.

There are the scarred. There are the sorrowing. There are the sick.

There are the sobbing. There are the strange. There are the struggling and let me just currently go over those again.

The scarred. There was a time and I'm not saying this is good. I think the reverse is good.

There was a time when everyone in the assembly was born and raised in a Christian home. You know what I mean? They would get up on the platform to give their testimony and they would say I was born and raised in the gospel hall and you wondered if they were actually raised in the gospel hall. Didn't you have a home to live in? You know, you were raised in the gospel.

You know what I mean. Everybody was from a Christian family. Now in the mercy and kindness of God, there are people getting saved who don't have that background.

Getting saved out of unsaved homes. Getting saved out of broken homes. Getting saved out of homes where they never knew what it was to have a mother and father pray for them and care for them.

Many of these people carry tremendous scars. There are people walking amongst us. People breaking bread with us who have known every kind of abuse growing up and I mean every kind of abuse.

Those are scars you don't get over immediately. Those are scars that somehow getting saved doesn't just erase from your mind and from your heart. They've been abused.

They've been used. They've been battered. They've been neglected.

There are people amongst us who have gotten saved who could hardly tell you who their mother and father are. One girl I know, her mother didn't want her when she was born. She was given to an aunt.

Aunt didn't want her. She went to a foster home. That foster home didn't want her.

Went to another foster home. Went to another relative. Went to another foster home.

It was like a revolving door. That's her whole background. On one hand I say thank God that those people are getting saved and coming into assembly fellowship.

Thank God for it. But it is putting a tremendous burden upon overseers, upon shepherds, upon those that seek to be a help when they realize that there are those kinds of people moving amongst us. Scarred for life by what happened in the past.

Not your fault. No, it's not your fault. Not their fault either.

But that's the reality. And God has brought them amongst us. God has brought these wrecks of the Jericho road amongst us in his wondrous grace, saving them.

And let me tell you, it took just as much of the power of God to save you as it took to save them. Never think for a moment that somehow you were easier to save. It took just as much of the grace of God, just as much of the blood of Christ to save them as to save you.

You're no better. God has brought us all into the same family. But they're scarred.

They need special help. There are those who are sorrowing. Those who have known tremendous loss.

How do you deal with people who have known tremendous loss? Go and read for them 1 Thessalonians 4. Now look, don't sorrow like others sorrow. Get over this. Is that really what you do? They've known tremendous loss.

Someone wrote to me about a couple that in an assembly fellowship elsewhere in Canada, they pulled their child out of a swimming pool dead. You think one verse that you're going to go and quote is somehow going to just calm that tremendous grief? You think that somehow that's going to just end in a week or two? Do you think that somehow a mother ever gets over the memory of a child laying lifeless upon the edge of a pool? There are believers that bear those kinds of scars. And sometimes in our unthinking way, we think we have the answer to it all.

There are believers who are sorrowing spouses who have lost partners for life, and we think they should just take tremendous comfort in the scriptures and get over it tomorrow. Just get back to life as normal without realizing what a tremendous loss it must be to lose a life partner, how hard it must be. There are those as well who are sick, those who are laid aside and those who are reduced in their ability to move amongst the people of God.

And there are those as well who are sobbing over issues. The Lord Jesus never added guilt to believers in their sorrow, in their sobbing. You remember the story in Luke 24.

I have to hurry past it, but you remember how he dealt with those two on the road to Emmaus, just letting them talk, letting them discuss what was on their hearts. There are those who are straying. Now we've touched a bit upon that in Galatians chapter 6, but let me just come back to it for a moment because I think this so well puts flesh into the idea of how to deal with others in that way.

Did you notice how in John 21, how the Lord Jesus dealt with Peter? I want you to think of his goodness towards Peter. We would have said, Peter, you know, you are a failure, and I want you to learn your lesson that you can't trust in yourself, and next time, you know, it's going to be worse, Peter, you fall on your face again. No.

Peter said, I go fishing. When they came to shore, they found breakfast already made, and there was not only fish, but there was bread. They would have been content just with fish.

The Lord gave them something more, gave them bread and fish, and it's all ready for you. Don't even have to prepare it. Don't have to fillet those fish.

Don't have to scale them. Don't have to clean them. It's all here for you.

How good he was. But not only that, I want you to think of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bring of the fish which ye have caught.

I would have said, Lord, we did nothing. We toil all night, and we caught nothing. You're the one that told us, put your net down, and we caught.

Bring of the fish which ye have caught. Think of the gentleness of Christ. Come and dine.

But if there's anything that should melt your heart, this should melt your heart, because it says, He took bread and fish and served them. The Son of God, in resurrection glory, acting as their waiter. The lesson I learned is this.

If you're going to go restore someone, you go like Christ went. You go to serve them. Or you might say, you don't know what they did.

I don't care what they did. Do you know who He is? Do you know His greatness? Do you know what He did? He served them. In Luke's gospel, they serve Him.

In the upper room, you recall the broiled fish and honeycomb. But in John, He serves them. When you go to restore someone, you make sure you go with the same spirit of Christ, and make sure you go with bread and fish.

You know what I mean? You go to serve them. After they had dined, He said to Peter, I think that's lovely, how He served their needs. We read as well of the struggling.

Notice how the Lord dealt with Thomas. I find it significant that the Lord did not rebuke Thomas. Or you might say, didn't He? No, the Lord didn't rebuke Thomas.

The Lord said to Thomas, because thou hast seen, thou hast believed. That's just a statement of fact. Thomas, what you have done is okay, but there's something even better.

What you did was good, but there's even something better. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. He doesn't put down.

He just gives credit where it can be given, but He gives them a higher goal for which to reach. When I look at Peter and Thomas, I am reminded again of the perfect servant. Because it says concerning the perfect servant in Isaiah 42, the bruised reed He will not break or crush, and the dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.

I see a bruised reed called Peter, and instead of crushing that bruised reed, the Lord heals it. I see a dimly burning wick called Thomas, and he's about to give up. And instead I see the Lord causing that dimly burning wick to shine with such tremendous brilliance that when we listen to Thomas' words, they are perhaps the greatest expression, the greatest confession made to the Lord Jesus, my Lord, my God.

What a tremendous thing to think that ministry like the Lord Jesus can take a bruised reed and make Him a Peter, and can take a dimly burning wick and make Him a Thomas. See, if I had that kind of grace as a result of fellowship with Him, then I might have that kind of influence on others. How to recognize them, how to respond.

Let me just come to this story that which we are so familiar of the Samaritan. Let me just hurriedly, because I have five minutes to look at what really was the bulk of my message. Let me just look hurriedly at what is before us.

A consciousness of purpose. Now did you notice what it said? By chance there came down. That's what was true of the priest and the Levite.

Just pure chance, coincidence brought them in touch with a man on the Jericho road. But concerning the Samaritan, it says, as he journeyed, here was a man who was conscious of his purpose. He had a golden view.

It wasn't just chance that brought him to that road. It wasn't just an accident. I don't believe in accidents or coincidences or chance occurrences in the Christian life.

I don't believe in luck. It always bothers me to hear someone say good luck or that was good luck. No, no, I'm not going to hold you an offender for a word if you use it.

That's fine. I think we need to move with a consciousness of purpose. God has brought me here for a purpose.

I have a purpose moving among God's people. Not that I'm looking for, you know, where can I be useful? But to recognize I have a responsibility towards others. A consciousness of purpose that brought him to that road.

In other words, it is my business to be a help to the people of God. It's your business to be a help to the people of God, whoever you are, at every stage. It doesn't mean that as a young, newly saved Christian you are to try to help the overseers.

But there are your peers. There are those that you can be a help to as God gives you ability and God gives you enablement. You'll notice not just his consciousness of his purpose, but his compassion.

He went to him and he had compassion, not pity. There is something so condescending about pity. Oh, poor you.

Look at me up here and you down there. That's that's pity. It doesn't say he had pity.

He had compassion, had compassion. What others saw that repelled them when they looked upon him, it says concerning the Levite, concerning the priest, when they saw him, they were repelled by him. They passed by on the other side.

When he saw him, he had compassion and went to him. His compassion, his care. He took care of him.

He went to him and he began immediately addressing his need, his care. You will notice as well his capability. Let me ask you a question.

Where did he get oil and wine? Why did he have oil and wine with him on his road from Jerusalem down to Jericho? Could it be? Could it be that he knew on the Jericho road there are wrecks? On the Jericho road, it is likely I will meet some who are wounded and bruised. And I'd like to have whatever is needed to care for them. Here was a man who was skillful.

He knew how to use the oil and the wine. Now, if you're going to have the resources, if as you move along the Jericho road of life, you're going to have the resources to meet other believers who have tremendous needs. You're going to have to be prepared, going to have to get something from this book from God to be able to help you to meet needs that you're going to face, whether as an overseer or just as a help among God's people.

Here was a man who knew I am going to have encounters. I am going to meet people with need. I want to make sure I've got oil and wine and I want to make sure I know how to use it well.

I want to be skillful in applying it, that I can be able to meet the need of these individuals. More could be said, let me just move. This man had an interest for this individual's comfort.

He sacrificed his own comfort. He put him upon his own beast. That means he walked.

That means he walked so that that man would know some comfort and some relief. He brought him to an end. He was wise enough to realize I cannot meet all this man's needs.

This man is going to need long-term care. There are others who are more skillful, others who can meet his needs better than I, but I'm going to do all I can to provide for it. He took out two pence, gave it to him, whatever is needed, take care of.

There are individuals that we have to recognize we can't meet their needs, but we can bring them in contact with others that maybe who can, maybe others that can be a help to them in some way. It cost this man something, took out two pence. If helping believers has never cost you, then it's probably never done anything good for them.

It costs something to be a help to God's people. Rex, along the Jericho road, go and do thou likewise. Be a great thing to begin from today to try to get the oil and wine.

Be a great thing from today. You begin asking God to teach you how to pour in, how to pour in oil and wine, how to bind up wounds, how to place them upon another beast, a place of safety, how to bring them to an end to find the help they need. May the Lord help us then.

I realize this may not apply to all and it may just cut across a narrow band of need amongst the people of God. But if we are indifferent, we are insensitive to this tremendous need that is increasing. It is increasing amongst us.

There are hearts that are sorrowing in many places. There are tragedies and griefs that seem to multiply. There are situations that have no solutions, but they do afford us the opportunity of showing love to our neighbor, of being Christlike and of doing as he did for us and seeking to help those on the Jericho road.

Shall we speak to God in prayer? Our Father, we now before thee and return thanks again for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee for such a Savior. We have spoken of this Samaritan as he moved along the Jericho road and we never can read it without being reminded of a Savior who came from glory, came to where we were, saw us in all our need and was not repulsed or repelled by the sight of sinners lost in their sin, but came and gave himself.

The tremendous cost of Calvary reminds us of the great debt of love we owe and we bow in worship and thanksgiving again to thee for thy son. We would like in some little measure to take character from him, to display the grace of his heart towards one another, and as a result to fulfill the law of Christ. Remember us in the need that we have.

Grant thy rich blessing upon us in the intermission and thy help in the ministry of thy word this afternoon. We think of other places. We think of the meetings in New Lenox this weekend with our brother Oliver.

We think of conferences. We think of Hardwick, Vermont and need there and commend to thee the needs of the people of God, the household of faith as we return thanks in our Savior's worthy and precious name. Amen.