[0:00] Also join our voices together for the first time in a long time as we begin the service and as we worship God, as we sing to his praise. I spent a year and a bit trying not to say and now we'll sing to his praise but I never really managed and this morning we have to leave our masks on apart from E&A who's presenting but we are able to sing to the Lord's praise. All people, Psalm 100, is the first praise. The screens aren't working this morning I'm afraid so we're having to use the books. Psalm 100, all people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice and serve with mirth. His praise forth tell, come ye before him and rejoice. Know that the Lord is God indeed. Without our aid he did us make. We are his flock he doth us feed and for his sheep he doth us take. O enter then his gates with praise, approach with joy his courts unto. Praise Lord and bless his name always for it is seemly so to do. For why? The Lord our God is good, his mercy is forever sure. It's truth at all times firmly stood and shall from age to age endure. So let's stand to sing and let's unite our voices in praise to God. Psalm 100, the whole song.
[1:29] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[1:54] of heaven with truthful voice. And serve with mirth his praise forth tell. Come ye before him and rejoice. Know that the The Lord is God indeed.
[2:25] Without doubt aid he did us make. We are his flock he doth us feed.
[2:44] And for his sheep he doth us take.
[2:56] O enter then his gates with praise. Approach with joyous courts unto.
[3:16] Praise Lord and bless his name always. For it is seemly so to do.
[3:35] For why the Lord our God is good.
[3:48] His mercy is forever sure. His truth at all times firmly stood.
[4:09] And shall from age to age endure. Amen. Let's unite their hearts.
[4:22] Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father we thank you for this day. And we thank you for this year day.
[4:34] And we thank you Lord for the privilege that we have of coming together in your house. We thank you for the freedom that we have for the first time in a long time today.
[4:45] To unite our voices in prayer and praise. And we ask Lord that you would hear our prayers. That you would inhabit our praises.
[4:57] And that you would draw near to us as we seek to worship you. We thank you Lord that you are the God who reveals yourself to us. And as we meditate upon who you are.
[5:10] And we have so many reasons to want to praise you with our whole heart. We thank you that you are the God who is good. The God whose mercy is forever sure.
[5:21] The God whose truth. Who at all times has firmly stood. Stands firm through generations. And you are the God who from age to age endures.
[5:33] And even as we think upon these verses Lord. We have so many reasons to praise you for who you are. We thank you Lord that you are the eternal God.
[5:44] Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Circumstances change. The grass withers. The flowers fade. But God and the word of the Lord endures forever.
[5:55] And Lord we bow before you. And we worship you. As those that you have created. Who live here in this world for a short time. We thank you that you have put eternity in our hearts.
[6:08] Not only are you the eternal God. But you have put an eternal soul in us. And we thank you that through Christ. We have the opportunity. In time.
[6:20] To make our calling and election sure. So that when we go from time into eternity. We go to that place of joy. And that place of wonder.
[6:33] And praise. That place that Jesus has prepared for all who love him. That place called heaven. We thank you that Jesus. Went to a cross.
[6:44] He suffered. He died. In our place. To take away our sin. So that we can know God in this world. And know God perfectly.
[6:55] In the heaven that is prepared for us. Help us we pray. To hear that gospel invitation. And give to us each of us the faith we pray.
[7:05] That we would respond to it. We know that there is a heaven to gain. We know also there is a hell to shun. So we see Lord that there is urgency. In responding to the grace that is offered to us.
[7:18] If we neglect such great salvation. There is no hope. And the reality of eternity is a fearful thing. So enable us Lord we pray.
[7:29] Whilst there is time. Whilst we hear your voice. Whilst we have opportunity. Enable each of us. To put our faith in Jesus. To worship you.
[7:40] With our lips. To worship you from our hearts. To worship you. With all of our lives. And Lord we pray. For your blessing upon us. As we come together in this service.
[7:53] Enable us to truly sing from our hearts. Enable us to know your presence amongst us. Enable us as your word is read. And as we meditate upon it.
[8:04] To hear your voice. And to believe the promises of scripture. And help us Lord as we. Some of us take the bread. And take the wine. Maybe not do this.
[8:16] In a thoughtless or a casual way. But maybe do this. Remembering the Lord Jesus. And his death. Until he comes. As we examine ourselves.
[8:27] We see. The one. The horror of the sin that's in us. But as we look to Jesus. We see the wonder. Of our savior. So fix our eyes upon him.
[8:39] We pray. Bless all of us. Who are in the building here. Bless those who. Who tune in at a distance. You know our hearts. You know our homes. You know our situations. And we pray.
[8:50] That you would meet us. At the point of our need. And that you would. Draw us Lord. Close to yourself. Because. Within you. There is the grace. That is all sufficient.
[9:00] You Lord. Are all that we need. So. Enable us. To come to you. And we pray all these things. Together with the forgiveness. Over many sins. In Jesus name.
[9:11] And for his sake. Amen. Now boys and girls. It's good to see. Quite a few of you here today. Now if you look around the church today.
[9:25] What do you see. Today. That's a little bit different. What was that Finley? Kites. No kites.
[9:36] What do you say today. That's. That's a bit different. Than normal. Use your eyes. Not your ears so much. But your eyes. Michael.
[9:48] There's wine and bread. Yeah. On the. On the chairs. In front of some of you. There's a. A plate. And there's a wee cloth. And then if we lift that up.
[10:01] You can see. That there's a bit of bread. And there's a wee cup of. It's not actually wine. It's juice. Now. Why do you think.
[10:13] That that's there. John Rory. That's right. Yeah. It reminds us of.
[10:24] Of Jesus. And the bread. Reminds us of. What did you say John Rory? Jesus body. That was broken. For us. And the wine. Reminds us. Or the grape juice.
[10:35] Reminds us. Of Jesus blood. That was shed. And where did that happen? Where did that happen? Lois. It happened on the cross.
[10:47] So. The bread. The bread and the wine. That we see in front of us. Are things that we look at. To remind us.
[10:59] Of the cross. And we need that reminder. Because. Our lives can be so busy. Can't they? We're rushing from this thing. To that thing.
[11:09] To the next thing. To the thing after. And sometimes we can. Be so. Preoccupied. With our work. And our play. And our school. And all that kind of stuff.
[11:20] That we forget Jesus. It's a bit sad. But it's true. Isn't it? And so. God. Knew. That we would be forgetful. And he knew.
[11:32] That we would need reminders. And so he's given us. This. To remind us. Of. Jesus. And his body. And his blood.
[11:43] And the cross. Why did Jesus go to the cross? To take our sin away. And what do you think. That means. What do you think.
[11:54] Jesus thinks of us. To do all that for us. What? He loves us. So when we see this.
[12:06] We think about. How much. Jesus loves us. To do this for us. Here's another question.
[12:18] Who eats the bread. And eats the wine. And drinks the wine. Who is it that. To do that. Michael. Christians. What are we saying.
[12:30] When we eat the bread. And we. And we drink the wine. What are we saying. Well. Very. Very simply. What we're saying.
[12:43] Is that we're trusting. In Jesus. We're saying. We're saying. We're saying. Not only do we see. That Jesus. Went to the cross. And shed his blood. And had his body broken.
[12:54] To take sin away. But we're saying. He's done it for me. I'm trusting him. I've asked him. I've asked him. To forgive. My sins.
[13:05] And I've asked him. To come into. My life. And he's my savior. So the people. Who are taking the bread. And taking the wine. Are saying.
[13:16] Jesus. Is my savior. You know. Sometimes people say. You know. I'm not good enough. Well.
[13:28] I see the bread. And I see the wine. And I see the table. But I'm not good enough. To take the bread. And I take the wine. I'm not good enough. To take communion. But you know.
[13:38] When we take the bread. And the wine. We're not saying. That we're good enough. We're saying. That we know. That we're bad. In our hearts. We're saying.
[13:49] That we. We know. That we're sinners. But we know. That Jesus. Is the savior. He is good. And we're trusting.
[14:01] In him. And. Today. For the first time. Mihaela. Miriam's mom. As you know her.
[14:13] She. Is taking the. The bread. And the wine. For the first time. And usually. When people come. Forward. And they want to take the bread. And the wine. For the first time. They meet with the elders.
[14:23] And they'll. Profess their faith. Do you know what it means. To profess your faith. Well. It means to. It means to say. That we're trusting in Jesus. So usually.
[14:35] People would come. And Alistair's going to come tonight. And he'll. Profess his. Faith. With. The elders. And. Mihaela did that. On. On Thursday night. She spoke about. The faith that she has in Jesus.
[14:47] With the elders. But she's going to do it this morning. Also with all of us. So we're going to hear. Mihaela. Professing. Her faith.
[14:58] She's going to tell us. That she's trusting. In Jesus. I'm going to ask her four questions. And she's going to. Answer the questions. And profess.
[15:08] Her faith. So. Mihaela. If you want to. Just come up. And stand. Where. Where Ian was. Just a minute ago. So we can hear you. Clearly. Mihaela.
[15:20] Do you. Do you believe. In one God. Father. Son. And Holy Spirit. And do you. Confess. Jesus Christ. As your. Savior. And your Lord.
[15:32] And Mihaela. Do you promise. To join regularly. With your fellow Christians. In worship. In church. On the Lord's day. I do. And do you promise. To be faithful.
[15:44] In reading the Bible. And in prayer. I do. And do you promise. To give a fitting proportion. Of your time. And your talents. And your money. For the church's work.
[15:54] And the gospel. In this world. I do. And do you promise. And I always say this. Do you promise. Depending on the grace of God. Because we can't do this ourselves.
[16:06] We need the grace. Of Jesus. Every morning. For this. Do you promise. Depending on the grace of God. To confess Christ. To serve him. And to walk.
[16:17] In his ways. All the days. Of your life. I do. Well the Lord bless you. And help you to faithfully. Keep these promises.
[16:28] And. As you've made confession. Of your faith. I do now. In the name of Jesus. Who's the king. And the head of the church. Admit you to the fellowship.
[16:39] Of his table. And welcome you into the fellowship. Of this congregation. The Lord bless you. And keep you. The Lord.
[16:50] Make his face to shine upon you. And be gracious to you. The Lord lift up. His countenance. Upon you. And give you peace. And I'm going to pray for you.
[17:01] Just for a moment. Usually. We'd give you a handshake. Just now. And the elders would all come up. And hug you. But we're not allowed to do that. Just now. So we're going to pray for you. Our heavenly father.
[17:12] We thank you for. The work that you do. In our hearts. And we thank you. Especially for the work. That you. Have been doing. In Michaela. And in Alistair.
[17:23] Who'll come this evening. We thank you for. The fact that. You open our eyes. So that we see our sin. And you open our eyes. So that we see.
[17:33] Jesus. And we thank you. That you've given. That faith. To Michaela. That she has been. Able to trust in Jesus. We thank you. For the promises.
[17:44] That she's made. And we. Thank you. That you promise. That as we. As we take vows. To trust you. And follow you. You're the God. Who gives us. All that we need.
[17:55] To keep on going. So we pray. Your blessing. On Michaela. And we pray. Your blessing. On Ian as well. And Miriam. And all of the family.
[18:05] Some here. Some in Romania. Who might even be watching. Just now. And we ask. Lord. That all of them. That we know. Your presence. And your peace.
[18:16] And your hand upon them. For good. We pray for any. Who are. Thinking about things. Just now. Who may be hearing. Jesus calling them. To trust them. And we ask Lord.
[18:28] That you would give. All of us. That faith to believe. And that courage. To profess. That you are our saviour. And our Lord. And we pray all these things. In Jesus name.
[18:38] And for his sake. Amen. Amen. And thank you. Mahala. For having the courage. To do that. And the encouragement. That brings to us.
[18:48] We're going to sing now. Again to God's praise. Mission praise. 323. Mission praise. Number 323.
[19:05] I'm not ashamed. To own my Lord. Or to defend his cause. Maintain the honour. Of his word. The glory of the cross. Jesus. My God. I know his name. His name is all my trust.
[19:18] Nor will he put my soul. To shame. Nor let my hope. Be lost. We'll stand to sing. We sing to. To God's praise. Thank you. Thank you.
[19:30] Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. I am not ashamed.
[19:42] To all my Lord. or to defend His cause.
[19:53] Maintain the honor of His word, the glory of His cross.
[20:07] Jesus, my God, I know His name. His name is all my trust.
[20:20] Nor will He put my soul to shame, nor let my hope be lost.
[20:34] Firm as His throne, His promise stands, and He can well secure what I've committed to His hands, the decisive heart.
[21:01] Then will He own my worthless name before His Father's face, and in the new Jerusalem appoint my soul a place.
[21:31] Okay, boys and girls, if you want to head through to Sunday school, and you'll come back through just before we take communion.
[21:41] Amen. And we can turn in our Bibles now to Luke chapter 10, please.
[21:54] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Look chapter 10.
[22:18] And we'll read from verse 25 down to verse 37. This is God's Word. on one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus teacher he asked what must I do to inherit eternal life what is written in the law he replied how do you read it he answered love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength and with your all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself you've answered correctly Jesus replied do this and you will live but he wanted to justify himself so he asked Jesus and who is my neighbor in reply Jesus said a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers they stripped him of his clothes beat him and went away leaving him half dead a priest happened to be going down the same road and when he saw the man he passed on the other side so to a Levite when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side but a Samaritan as he traveled came where the man was and when he saw him he took pity on him he went to him and bandaged his wounds pouring on oil and wine then he put the man on his own donkey brought him to an inn and took care of him the next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper look after him he said and when I return I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers the expert in the law replied the one who had mercy on him Jesus told him go and do likewise amen and may God bless that reading of his word to us let's pray again for just a moment our heavenly father we thank you this is your word we thank you for the promise of the holy spirit to be our teacher and we ask lord for ourselves here in this room as we meditate upon the word for some moments teach us we pray may it come to us in the power of the holy spirit and what we pray for ourselves here we pray for the children in sunday school that you would be with those who teach them and that the gospel message would come with clarity and power into their lives that they would trust and remember their creator in the days of their youth and what we pray for ourselves in this building we pray for the churches around us in this village in this island and across the nation and all nations we thank you that we are one small part of the the universal church of Jesus Christ we thank you that we have connections with brothers and sisters near and far and we pray lord that whatever the gospel is preached whatever your people gather together to worship that you would be with us and that you would bless us cleanse us from sin empty us of all that's of ourselves take away every distraction lord we pray and speak into our hearts we pray this in Jesus name amen well if you could have the the passage open in front of you i just want to spend a few minutes looking at this passage uh this morning again now there are many things in life which we remember for a for a while uh but we then forget in due course uh old bank account numbers from 10 20 years ago we we would have had them on the tip of our tongues at that time but old account numbers they they escape us we forget them when they have no use to us sometimes you're cleaning out a drawer and you find an old set
[26:25] of keys and at one time these keys were really important to the part of our lives and then we look at them and we're racking our brains trying to remember what on earth are these keys for what do they open registration numbers of old cars that we once had even the names of people that we once knew and spent a lot of time with even the places that we used to live and the places that we used to go now they were very much in our memory at the time that we were there but over a while our our memory fades and fails and what once we remembered we we suddenly lose now john newton uh who wrote amazing grace and we're going to sing that in a few minutes as he approached the end of his life i mentioned this before his memory began to fail and he realized that he knew that his memory was beginning to to fade and there was one day in conversation with a friend towards the end of his life and he was struggling with all kinds of things that he couldn't remember and uh he said this to his friend he said he said although my memories fading i remember two things very clearly one i am a great sinner and two christ is a great savior and that's what we need to remember as we prepare to to come to the lord's table that's all we need to remember really i am a great sinner and christ is a great savior that's the profession of faith that we make as we come to the lord's table we're not coming here to say we're good we're coming here to say i am a great sinner that christ is a great savior so i want to take these two points as our points for uh today so point number one i am a great sinner now if we look at the parable that jesus told uh it's a very familiar parable the parable of the good samaritan in that parable uh we see a man uh who's in great need he's been on this journey this notorious road where there was often attacks and and beatings and this man has become a victim he's traveling along that road he's set upon uh by these by these assailants uh and we see him in this parable jesus paints this picture of a man who's beaten up he's broken he's helpless he's left for dead at the side of the road and that man is a picture of the great sinner we're given a picture there of a of a great sinner the man was going down from jerusalem to jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers they stripped him of his clothes uh beat him and went away leaving him half dead it's a gruesome picture that jesus paints but we need to look at this picture for a moment before we advance uh to the table we need to see the state that this man was in and see how this speaks to us you know sometimes we can uh have to go into the doctors and uh we're not feeling great and we get sent for a scan and when the scan results come back they're not good and as much as we don't want to look at it the doctor will always say you need to see this
[30:26] you need to see uh the problem you need to see uh the illness before we now begin to speak about treatment and care this is what we need to do really as we have these verses open before us we need to look at the the scan of our own lives we need to look at this picture of our own hearts we need to see the state this man is in so what do we see well the first thing we see here is that he fell the man was going down from jerusalem to jericho and he fell and the word that's used there in the in the greek it's a word that speaks about uh falling into something that's all around and being surrounded by this danger and that was this man's situation he's all of a sudden surrounded by attackers he's surrounded by danger they set upon him and he can't stand he can't fight them off he falls it's a violent kind of a word he falls and that's our situation also we are born into a world of sin and we are part of that sinful world we are sinners by nature we're sinners by practice we fell with adam and there's nothing that we can do in our strength to pick ourselves back up so that's the first thing we see we see this man he fell and the second thing we see here is that he's bankrupt he has nothing as he's lying on the ground he fell into the hands of of robbers it says and what do robbers do well robbers rob you so this man he's in this situation and he's in abject poverty he may have walked onto the scene with a fat wallet and covered in jewelry we don't know but at this particular point having being robbed he's in absolute poverty he's nothing and that's what sin does to us and that's what satan does to us he promises us he promises us the world as he puts things in front of our eyes and says you know have some of this but his promises never deliver and when we take what he offers us we find that we're not enriched but we're robbed
[33:15] Jesus warns us of that in John 10.10 where he's speaking of Satan he describes him as the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy and we see him here this man he falls he's bankrupt he's robbed and next thing we see that he's stripped they stripped him of his clothes and so he's left humiliated and ashamed and exposed at the side of this road and again it's a picture of what satan does to those that he gets hold of he robs us of any common decency he strips away any dignity that's left and he takes delight in humiliating us remember we studied legion a few weeks back and in legion he's taken hold of by satan and what is he doing he's running around naked mad hurting himself terrorising the village there's not a there's not a shred of dignity about his life you know he's stripped of it all the next thing we see about this this man is that he is beaten the poor man he falls to the ground after being surrounded he's robbed he's bankrupt he's stripped that's what satan does to us he strips it all away and then this poor man is beaten once he's on the ground in that position of being absolutely vulnerable they beat him they beat him and the word that's used means that they beat him over and over and over again and again it's the hallmark of satan it's what sin does to us it's what satan does to us we saw that actually was it last week or the week before when we when we looked in in chapter 9 and verse 39 and following we have a picture there of a young boy poor young boy and this evil spirit gets a hold of him throws him to the ground shakes him destructively that was his condition till Jesus casts out the spirit and brings healing this is what satan does to us he is he's the destroyer he loves to to tempt us to sin and the second we do sin he's on our case and he's beating us up over it saying you said you're a christian call yourself a christian see what you just did
[36:20] I heard what you just said I saw what you just thought and he beats us over and over again until we're in this state of despair we just feel battered that's what we see in this man he's beaten stripped bankrupt fallen down at the side of the road the next thing he's isolated because after he's attacked they go away leaving him and he's absolutely alone no ambulance is phoned no one's there to help they know the attackers that there is no hope for this man if there's not help very very quickly and he's just isolated and again that's one of the the bitter pills that satan pushes it's loneliness isolation you know we can be we can be in a room full of people
[37:21] I've heard many testimonies where people have spoken about being in a room full of people music thumping places bouncing friends in inverted commas everywhere and yet there's this feeling of absolute loneliness isolation it's what satan does it's what sin does when we're going down that track and the last thing we see here about this man as we look at this this gruesome picture is he's half dead you know after the attack the man doesn't get on his feet dust himself down you know and get on his way it's not that he's got a few cuts and bruises he's half dead the word that's used means he's literally exhausted entirely exhausted of all life so there's the picture and this is a picture of what we are in our sin this is a picture of your life and mine in our sinful state you know sometimes we think we're slight sinners don't we now we're not perfect but we're not too bad just a wee bit more church a little bit more
[38:51] Bible reading a few more good works and we'll pull through you know we're decent sort of chaps slight sinners not perfect but the reality is all of us are great sinners sin has done to us what these robbers did to this man at the side of the road we're fallen down we're not upright we're bankrupted we're stripped we're beaten we're isolated we're left for dead that's the picture of our lives and sin and in order for us to come to be saved we need to see that and admit to that you know you can be in a meeting with a consultant who's showing you a scan you can be fighting with them saying that's not my heart that's not my life but until you accept it no treatment is forthcoming and until you and I accept the reality of our sinful state we can't be saved you know a big part of getting help in groups like
[40:23] Alcoholics Anonymous is to admit there's a problem you can't go to these meetings I don't think unless you're willing to admit that there's a problem and so we see these scenes in films where we we have this little gathering of alcoholics in a meeting and it begins when they start to share by saying you know my name's John my name's David my name's whatever and I'm an alcoholic there's that admission of the problem and that cry for help and as we come to the table as we see the bread and the wine before us and as we consider the prospect of taking it we're not coming to the table with our chests puffed out with pride or if we are we should walk there's no place for us the only way we can come to this table is in humility admitting the mess that we are in in our sin and seeking the help of the Lord because we know we can't help ourselves you know we come to the table saying my name is
[41:46] David and I'm a sinner a great sinner there's a poem that kind of captures something of that profession that we make as we trust Jesus as we become Christians you know as we come to the table it was written by a an African American girl who came from a very dark difficult background and she wrote a poem she found Christ her background was in abuse and prostitution you know all kinds of things and she found Christ and she wrote a poem called I am a Christian it's a poem that we put our amen to as we come to the table and as we make our profession this is how it goes when I say that I am a Christian I'm not shouting I'm clean living I'm whispering I was lost but
[42:48] I am found and forgiven when I say I am a Christian I don't speak of this with pride I'm confessing that I stumble I need Christ to be my guide when I say I am a Christian I'm not trying to be strong I'm professing that I'm weak and need house strength to carry on when I say I am a Christian I'm not bragging of success I'm admitting that I failed I need God to clean up my mess when I say I am a Christian I'm not claiming to be perfect my flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it when I say I'm a Christian I still feel the sting of pain I have my share of heart aches so I call upon his name when I say I am a Christian I'm not holier than thou I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace somehow to point number one
[43:54] I am a great sinner point number two Christ is a great saviour and in this parable as we look at this picture again it's a hopeless picture at first but everything changes when the good Samaritan comes onto the scene and we noted last week in passing that the Samaritan is a picture of the great saviour of Jesus so let's just take a look for a moment or two more at the work of this Samaritan the saving work of this Samaritan and think about the saving work of Jesus for us and we see in verses 34 to 35 the first thing that we see here in the Samaritan's action is that he went to him the Samaritan sees this poor man lying at the side of the road and he went to him and remember the contrast with the priest and the
[44:57] Levite they see the man in a state they walk on by but the Samaritan when he sees this man in his need he went to him this is what Jesus did for us the picture of what Christ has done for us remember in Matthew 1 23 the promise given to Joseph by the angel the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel which means God with us God the son Christ our saviour he went from the glory of heaven to the horror of Golgotha for us he came to us he went all the way to the cross to save us and we couldn't be saved any other way the second thing we see here of this
[46:03] Samaritan is that he bandaged his wounds and when you think about that for a man who's half dead these wounds would be bloody they would have gone deep this man would have been a mess he's been beaten over and over again this isn't a case of handing him a plaster and just walking on this was an ugly messy job but such was his compassion he did it and what the Samaritan did for him Jesus did for us and our wounds are not simply skin deep our wounds go all the way to the heart they're much uglier than any wounds that you can see on the surface of the skin and yet Jesus sees our hearts and he's the great physician of the heart who as we considered in
[47:08] Psalm 147 he heals the broken hearted he binds up our wounds the third thing we see of the Samaritan he goes to him he bandages his wounds the third thing he pours on oil and wine verse 34 and wine would act like a cleanser and a disinfectant that could be applied to the wound to fight off the infection and the oil was like a healing salve that brought relief and stimulated some kind of health and it was poured on by the Samaritan what was poured on us to cleanse us from our sin and bring healing to our hearts well we see it don't we in the symbol the blood of Jesus what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood of Jesus that's that's the blood that was poured out for us the next thing we see is that this
[48:24] Samaritan he puts the man on his own donkey verse 34 and that took humility he wasn't too proud to put this this Jewish man we presume on his own donkey and also when you think about that that took effort that was messy and it was sacrificial because now the Samaritan doesn't have a donkey he has to walk and again we see something of Jesus in the work of salvation for us he was humble the God of heaven so vast so glorious so much over us and yet he humbled himself it says in Philippians 2 8 he humbled himself and he became obedient unto death even the death of the cross see the extremes of effort and suffering and anguish that Jesus went to for us he took him to an inn verse 34 what kind of inn was that well we're in
[49:37] Jewish territory so it was a Jewish inn was it not dangerous for a Samaritan to go to a Jewish inn and spend a night over there well certainly it was dangerous would he get welcome certainly not it was dangerous but he still did it and Jesus in coming to this world for us he knew he was coming to a place where he would not be welcomed he knew Isaiah 53 he knew that he would be despised he knew that he would be rejected and yet he still came to be our saviour and then we see the Samaritan he took care of him it's not a fleeting act of kindness you know we can be walking down the street in Edinburgh we see a poor homeless man and we we give him a few pints we walk on it's an act of kindness but no this
[50:42] Samaritan he he doesn't just meet him in the moment and carry on with his life he cares for him he checks in on him the next day he's sure he's he's doing okay he tells the innkeeper he's coming back he's going to check in again to make sure he's had the right kind of care and we can see there's a genuine care for the man and Christ he genuinely deeply cares for us Peter who saw Jesus up close for these three years said of Jesus in in 1 Peter 5 7 cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you even when we let him down as Peter did so publicly and so terribly
[51:46] Jesus doesn't push him away keeps him close he cares for him and the final thing here is this Samaritan he showed the man grace because everything about this is so costly for the Samaritan it cost him time he's on a journey but the journey stops he changes direction he's spending a night in a Jewish hotel his schedule is gone it's costly in terms of time it cost him a lot of effort it cost him his donkey for the journey it cost him money to care for this man but notice that the
[52:52] Samaritan he paid everything he put the man on his own donkey verse 34 he took him to an inn took care of him the next day he took out two silver coins that's his own silver coins gave them to the innkeeper look after him he said and when I return I will reimburse you myself for any extra expense you may have he pays all the bills and remember he's doing this for a Jewish man who didn't love him in fact the Jewish man probably would have hated the Samaritan and he certainly couldn't pay him back so what do we see here in action we see grace the
[53:55] Samaritan shows this man grace saving grace is shown to the man at the side of the road as he picks him up to rescue him and sustaining grace is shown to him as he cares for him and promises to come back and settle the bill and all this points us so powerfully to Jesus when we didn't love him he loved us even though we had nothing to offer him nothing in our hands to bring to trade with he came to us and he offered us his grace costly grace that took him to a cross where his body was broken and his blood was shed to pay the price for our sin to settle our debts to offer us his salvation so let's finish with the words of
[55:15] Newton once more amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch a wretch a wretch like me I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see what do you see Mr.
[55:44] Newton what do you see what do you remember I remember two things very clearly he says I am a great sinner and Christ is a great saviour and if you with John Newton can see that if you can remember that then this table that we're just coming to is set for you let's pray Lord we pray that you would help us to see and to remember the wonder of your grace for us help us to see the wretchedness of our hearts in the state of sin and help us we pray to respond in faith to the saviour who comes to us with that great and costly salvation and we pray this in Jesus name amen we'll sing we'll sing now the words of amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me the sound have got who� a man danced
[57:29] Amazing grace So sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost But now I'm found Was blind but now I see T'was grace that taught my heart To fear And grace my fears relieved
[58:29] How precious did that grace appear The year I first believed Through many dangers Toils and snares I have already gone T'was grace that brought me safe thus far And grace will lead me home When we've been there ten thousand years
[59:29] Bright shining as the sun We've no less days To sing God's praise Than when we first began To sing God To sing God To sing God