THE BIG QUESTION: WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?

08-25-19 This message may be viewed live streaming video at www.tabernacleofmoses.org commencing today Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7 for one week; thereafter, the video, audio, and study notes are archived.

 

LOVE

(Luke 10:25-29)  And, behold, a certain lawyer [Gk: an expert in the Mosaic law] stood up, and tempted [Gk: to test thoroughly] [critically, and somewhat maliciously] him [Jesus], saying, Master [Gk: instructor: teacher], what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou [i.e., how do you understand it, what do you understand it to mean]? And he [the lawyer] answering said, Thou shalt love [Gk: agapao; to love (in a social or moral sense)] [i.e., sacrificially placing another person’s wants and needs first, above your own] the Lord thy God with all thy heart [Gk: the thoughts or feelings (mind)], and with all thy soul [Gk: breath, (the animal sentient principle only)], and with all thy strength [Gk: forcefulness: might, power] [paralleling footnote #1], and with all thy mind [Gk: deep thought, by implication its exercise: understanding]; and [love] thy neighbour as thyself [2]. And he [Jesus] said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live [eternally in Heaven]. But he [the lawyer], willing to justify himself [wanting to declare (judge) himself as being innocent and righteous, and thus deserving of eternal life while excusing his unrighteous thoughts and behavior toward others], said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour [suggesting that some people are his neighbor and some are not, and therefore he is not called to love them all]? [3]

1.     (Deut 6:5)  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  

2.     Commentary: Deuteronomy 6:5 is a verse from the Old Testament (when the Holy Spirit was, almost without exception, outside us), a verse that is still recited twice a day by observant Jews. Two New Testament (when the Holy Spirit is inside us) refinements in the form of additions to that Old Testament verse are “all thy mind” which seems an imperative summation of the preceding three principles, and love “thy neighbour as thyself” which requires forgiveness rather than “eye for eye” (Lev 24:20).

a.      Commentary: However, in order to activate love (which is inclusive of forgiveness) toward one’s neighbor, you must first forgive your own inner self, because God has forgiven you, and by denying your God-given forgiveness, you are placing yourself above God (idolatry) and judging Him to be a liar. By accepting God’s forgiveness, then (and only then) you will be enabled to forgive (love) your neighbor.

3.     (James 1:22-25)  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word [the lawyer, his work was transcribing the written word], and not a doer he [the same lawyer, who tried to wiggle his way out of being obedient to the law of God] is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass [Gk: a mirror]: For he beholdeth himself [his natural self just as he always was, with no change generated by his work in the word of God], and goeth his way [rather than God’s way], and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was [i.e., unsaved]. But whoso looketh into [investigates] the perfect law of liberty [the Bible], and continueth therein [in both looking and doing], he being not a forgetful hearer [forgetting what you just heard or read], but a doer of the work [of learning to love God and our fellow man], this man shall be blessed in his deed [Gk: action, performance (of the law)] [i.e. blessed in his work]. [The Bible is God’s message of love toward us]

 

AN ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLE (PARABLE) OF LOVE

(Luke 10:30-32) And Jesus answering [the not understanding unsaved lawyer] said, A certain man [representing all unsaved men] went down from Jerusalem [going from a symbol of holiness and safety downward about 18 miles east] to Jericho [1], and fell among thieves [unrepentant fallen angels, representatives of Lucifer/Satan], which stripped him of his raiment [all his worldly coverings], and wounded him [in body and mind], and departed [left him to die alone], leaving him half dead [sorely afflicted with his life-blood seeping out of him]. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way [representing church officials]: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side [2]. And likewise a Levite [representing members of the believing congregation], when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. [3]

1.     Commentary: The “certain man” is a symbol of all unsaved men traveling unknowingly down the uncertain and dangerous life-time path that leads to ultimate destruction. The actual road (path) declining from Jerusalem was a fairly steep descent from 2600 feet above sea level down to 800 feet below sea level (over ½ a mile down), and thus a relatively easy downward trek, but the road was commonly called “the bloody way” because of the perils and numerous robbers waiting in ambush, i.e., the way of the world.

2.     Commentary: “on the other side” = The priest and the Levite, both highly respectable symbols of professing “Men of God,” ignored and intentionally walked around the seriously wounded injured “needy” man (a symbol of all unsaved men) “on the other side” of the road to avoid even the slightest possibility of any personal contact. They looked the other way. They also “departed” from him, like the thieves.

3.     The Full Life Study Bible: Those who are professed Christians, yet whose hearts are insensitive to the sufferings and needs of others, give sure evidence that they do not have eternal life abiding in them.

 

THIS IS REAL LOVE, GOD’S LOVE USWARD

(Luke 10:33-35)  But a certain Samaritan [1], as he journeyed, came where he [the injured needy man] was: and when he saw him, he had compassion [2] on him, And went to him, and bound up [Gk: bandaged] his wounds, pouring in [profusely, generously] oil [Gk: olive oil] [3] and wine [Gk: intoxication] [4], and set him on his own beast [5], and brought him to an inn [a church, a temporary harbor of safety], and took care of [ministered to] him. And on the morrow when he departed [Acts 1:9], he took out two pence [6], and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of [ministered to] him [the injured needy]; and whatsoever thou spendest more [ministering to them], when I come again [Gk: return] [i.e., a prophecy of the Second Coming of the Lord], I will repay thee [reward thee wonderfully].

1.     Commentary: “Samaritan” = a believer in the same God, but with different, sometimes opposing doctrines called denominations, e.g., Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. At that time in history, the Samaritans, although a mixture of Jewish and other nationalities, were thoroughly despised by fully pure Jewish people and the Samaritans were ostracized from any form of interaction with the Jews, i.e., the Jews had no love for the Samaritans.

2.     compassion = Gk: to have the bowels yearn, feel sympathy, to pity: have (be moved with) compassion.

3.     Commentary = “oil”: is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Saved persons are symbolized as olives in the Bible. Olive oil is the collective fruit (prayers if you will) of saved people which was obtained by “pressing” (which is also the Greek meaning of “tribulation”) or crushing the ripened olives in a wooden oil press (a symbol of men who are fashioned for that task), or physically “stamping” the oil out of the rind-husk body by the feet of many natural men and women, all of which herein symbolizes the Holy Spirit’s healing of the injured needy man’s body. God uses both the good and bad (evil) for His purpose.

4.     wine = Gk: to effervesce; by implication intoxication.

a.      effervesce = Dict: 1. to give off gas bubbles, as carbonated beverages; bubble, foam. 2. to rise and come out in bubbles, as gas in a liquid. 3. to be lively and high-spirited.

b.     Commentary: In a very good sense wine is revelations as in the narrative of the water (logos) of the Word being transformed into the wine (rhema) of the Word (John 2:1-11). Herein, the wine symbolizes the Holy Spirit’s healing of the injured needy man’s mind, further exemplified by the wild man of the Gadarenes “sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind:” (Luke 8:35), and the fallen angel feeding swine who “came to himself” (Luke 15:17).

5.     Commentary: “his own beast” = perhaps is the “scarlet coloured beast” (Rev 17:3) symbolizing this present world system that is like a wildly bucking horse that we who are saved are now riding (and clinging onto for dear life). This is the same wild bucking horse (world system) that Jesus rode while He was here “and set him [the injured needy us] on his own beast” and “departed.” Now, we are riding and continuing in the attempt to break (tame) that same wild bucking horse (world system) because Jesus Christ lives in us [Rom 8:18; 2 Thes 1:7,10,12].

6.     Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible: “two pence” = This was equal to two days wages for a common labourer. [a wonderful prophecy reference to Hos 6:1-3; 2 Pet 3:8]

 

(Luke 10:36,37)  Which now of these three [priest, Levite, Samaritan], thinkest thou, was neighbour [i.e., loving] unto him that fell among the thieves? And he [the now understanding lawyer] said, He that shewed mercy on him [1]. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise [i.e., you are a hearer, now go be a loving doer, a doer of love].

1.     mercy = Gk: compassion: (+tender) mercy.

 

 

Amen