Dr. Clyde Gilman pastored for many years at Bella Vista Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico and was beloved by preachers all over the nation. He graduated to glory in June of 2018.
“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25) In this verse, a smart-aleck lawyer, stood up and thinks he can get the Lord in some kind of bind. He is trying to show off. Let me tell you something, folks. You can show off, but you can’t show up Jesus. He is trying to show Him up by talking to Him about the Scripture. You can’t show up Jesus in any way, but especially when he comes with the Bible. Jesus wrote the Book and IS the Book! So this smart-aleck lawyer is trying to show up Jesus, and Jesus said to him in verse 26, “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 neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among 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 a Levite, when he was at the 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 in 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 neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37) First of all, let me tell you what these different folks in this story represent. The man that fell among the thieves represents the lost man. The thieves that wounded the man and left him in the ditch half-dead represent Satan and his crowd. The priest and the Levite represent empty, vain, void religion. The good Samaritan that came by represents both the Lord Jesus Christ and those of us who are following in His steps. The inn represents the church. Also in these Scriptures is a thought about the second coming of Christ; “When I come again...” These are all represented in our story. This man has been beaten up by the thieves, wounded, and left half-dead by the wayside, there in the ditch. If you and I had been in the background watching, we would have seen this man there in the ditch, who can’t help himself, and all of a sudden we would say, “Here comes some help.” When this priest starts walking in that direction, we would have said, “Here comes a religious man. He will get some help now.” We watch as the priest just passes by on the other side. Of course, I know why. Because vain, empty, false religion has never had anything to offer the lost man. So we are still watching. All of a sudden here comes a Levite, a man of the Book. We say, “He’ll get some help now.” The Bible says he came and looked on him and then passed by on the other side. We just shake our heads. Then this Samaritan came by and he stopped and had compassion on him. The priest and the Levite left this man just like they found him. I’m afraid that many of us do the same thing. We cross the path of some needy individual and when we leave them, we leave them just like we found them. They don’t know any more about God after we’ve been there. They don’t know anymore about the Son of God than before we got there. They don’t know anymore about the Gospel than they did before. They don’t know anymore about how to get to Heaven than theydid before. In way too many cases, we leave them just like we found them. The priest and the Levite left this man just like they found him. Back in verse 27, this priest and Levite, this is supposed to be their religion. In verse 27, they are supposed to love God and their neighbor. They are bound by the Scripture. This is supposed to be the religion that they are living by, but they left the man just like they found him. The reason is because they didn’t take their religion with them. They had religion when they were at the Temple or synagogue, but out there along the road, they didn’t bring their religion along. The Samaritan did. I just want to quickly list some things about the Samaritan’s religion and maybe we could compare our religion, our Christianity, with his. #1. The Samaritan went to where he was. The Scripture says, “...as he journeyed, came where he was:...” I think most of us have found out that it takes more than just renting a store front and putting a sign up. I think most of us have found out they are not going to come to us in great numbers. We are going to have to go to where they are. That’s what this Samaritan did. “...as he journeyed, came where he was:...” Jesus said in John 20:21, “...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” Do you know what Jesus was saying? He said, “I want you to go down the same road I went down. I want you to stop at the same places where I stopped. I want you to help the same kind of people that I helped. I want you to take the same route I took and do what I did. Number one, he came where he was. #2. He had compassion. Here is the way I see it today. A lot of times folks believe that, just because they are independent, fundamental Baptists, that is going to get the job done. I don’t think you are going to get the job done if you are not, but just because you are an independent, fundamental Baptist doesn’t mean you are going to get the job done, unless you are an independent, fundamental Baptist that has some compassion. If we were going to list some of the missing elements of independent, fundamental Baptists, I think that word just might be on the list – a lack of compassion. The Samaritan, the religion that he practiced, he had some compassion. #3. This man’s religion caused him to give. This Samaritan’s religion caused him to sacrifice. The Scripture says that he gave of his oil and wine. He gave of his substance -- he was willing to use whatever he had to benefit this man in need. The kind of religion that he had caused him to sacrifice and give. I believe, if you have the right kind of religion, that you’ll give. How does our religion compare? You think about this Revival Fires! Conference and how much it costs. Somebody has got some Samaritan religion around here. Brother Anglea and Faith Baptist Church, along with Brother Corle and Revival Fires!, have been willing to give of their money and time and work so that you can sit here and soak up some great preaching this week. Somebody got the Samaritan’s king of religion, the kind that will cause you to give, and not just give a little, but to sacrifice to get the job done. He gave. #4. He was willing to be uncomfortable to bring comfort to someone else. A lot of times we’ll take our religion with us, if it is comfortable. Comfort and convenience make too many of our decisions. If it looks like it is going to become uncomfortable, then count me out. We’ll leave our religion at home because we live in a society where they want to be comfortable. This Samaritan man, his religion, he became uncomfortable. What do you mean, Preacher? Well, that beast is ridable, so I think he probably had been riding that beast on his journey, but now I think he walked. He puts that wounded man that can’t walk upon his beast and he becomes uncomfortable in order to bring comfort. If we have got the right kind of religion, sometimes we are going to have to get our of our comfort zone. #5. Others took priority before himself. The Samaritan put the business of helping this man in the ditch first. Serving others, meeting needs, became his top priority. #6. He put his own business second. I know all of you have heard that story about a farmer down south, who put a sign out there by the road. That big sign was where the cars went by so folks could read it and it said, “We farm to make a living, but serving God is our main business.” Here is this Samaritan. He put the business of getting this man out of the ditch and getting him down to the inn and getting him some help, getting him safe, he put that first. He took care of his business afterward. He got him down to the inn first and then he went on about his business and said, “I’m going to take care of my business. I’ll be back later.” I think you ought to take care of your business, and be diligent about your responsibilities, but I think you ought to take care of it second. I think you ought to take care of the business of God and helping others first. That’s the Samaritan’s religion. #7. He didn’t leave him like he found him. He didn’t leave him in the ditch. He didn’t leave him half-dead. He got him out of the ditch and took him to the help he needed. He didn’t leave him like he found him. He got him out of the ditch and put him on his beast and got him down to the inn and took care of him. He didn’t leave the man like he found him. This Samaritan represents the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to tell you that Jesus didn’t leave me like He found me. He did not leave me like He found me. He found me half-dead, but do you know how He left me? He left me with eternal life. He found me half-dead, but He didn’t leave me like that. He left me with eternal life and a home in Heaven. He didn’t leave me in the ditch. He got me down to the house of God. I haven’t always been in the house of God, but I’ve been in the house of God for a long time now because Jesus found me in the ditch and He didn’t leave me where He found me. He didn’t leave me like He found me. He got me down to the church. Over in Luke 15, it talks about a man that had 100 sheep. Ninety-nine were in the fold, but one was lost out in the wilderness. The Scripture said that he went out looking and looking and looking until he found that one lost sheep. He put it on his shoulder. He didn’t leave him out in the wilderness. He didn’t leave him like he found him. He put him on his shoulder and brought him back to his fold. When the Lord Jesus Christ found Clyde Gilman, He didn’t leave me out in the wilderness. He picked me up and put me on His shoulder. He brought me back to the fold and He put me in the fold. He didn’t leave me like He found me. That same chapter, a woman had ten pieces of silver. She lost one of them in the dirt. The reason I know it was in the dirt is because she was sweeping to try to find it. She lost this one coin. She lit a candle and she began to sweep the house. She looked until she found that one lost coin. Then she put it back in her purse, back where it belonged. When Jesus Christ found me in the dirt of this world, when He found me in the cesspool of this world, He didn’t leave me in the cesspool of this world. He didn’t leave me in the dirt of this world. He cleaned me up and put me in His purse, His place of safe-keeping. In the same chapter, it talks about the Prodigal Son who went down to the far country. When the Lord Jesus found me, He found me in the far country. But He didn’t leave me way out there in the far country. He got me out of the far country. He brought me back to the house of God. He didn’t leave me feeding on husks. He didn’t leave me feeding on the husks of this world. He brought me into the house of God and He set me down at the table of God, the Father. I’ve been feasting at the table of God all these years. He didn’t leave me like He found me. He didn’t leave me wounded and crippled. I had been crippled and marred by sin. He didn’t leave me as a broken vessel. He didn’t leave me marred and crippled. He picked me up and put me back on the potter’s wheel. He began to work on me and knock off the rough edges. He didn’t leave me like He found me. He didn’t leave me alone. It says about the Prodigal Son that no man gave to him. He was by himself, nobody around. When Jesus found me, I was empty. I had a vacuum on the inside. I had a void on the inside. I had a lonely feeling on the inside, but He didn’t leave me like that. He gave me the Holy Spirit. He gave me a Comforter to live within. He gave me One along side to help. I’m just trying to tell you that He didn’t leave me like He found me. The priest and the Levite who got there before the Good Samaritan, they left that wounded man like they found him. The priest and the Levite didn’t take their religion with them. But the Samaritan did. We ought to take our religion with us everywhere we go. I know many times the word religion is used in a negative sense, but sometimes in the Bible it is used in a positive sense. Pure religion, real Christianity. I want to tell you we ought to take our religion with us. Sometimes all we do is take our religion to church. That’s the only place that many folks take their religion, is to church. Husband and wife get up on Sunday, and start fussing. Fussing until it is time to go to church, they get in the car and fuss all the way to church. I’m not stretching it much, am I? They fuss all the way to church and pull up into the parking lot and get out and hold hands. They walk into the house of God with their religion with them. Yes sir, he’ll sit there and shout, “Amen!” She’ll wave her little hanky. They’ve got their religion with them. But after church, they get back in the car and start fussing again. My point is that you ought to take your religion home. You ought to not just take your religion to church; you ought to take your religion home, too. I heard about a husband and wife. Every time that they’d start fussing, she’d quit right in the middle of the fuss and go clean the toilet. One time the husband asked her, “I don’t understand this. Every time we have a fuss, you quit right in the middle of the argument and go clean the toilet. How does that help?” She said, “It helps because I use your toothbrush!” You ought to take your religion home with you. Hey mister, hey dad, you ought to take your religion home with you. Hey mom, you ought to take your religion home with you. Your kids are watching your religion at home. We ought to take our religion with us everywhere we go. Kids, we ought to take our religion to school, Christian school, public, any kind of school. You ought to take your religion to school. I know when you are around the house and mom and dad are watching, you put on some religion, but you ought to take your religion to school with you and everybody at school ought to look at your religion, your Christianity, and say, “Boy, there is something different about him or her.” You ought to take your religion to school with you. We ought to take our religion to ball games. I’m talking about the Christian school ball games. We got this ball game going and you are blasting the ref. After blasting him for the whole game and screaming at him and condemning him and telling him he’s stupid, why don’t you go up afterward and invite him to church? Say, “Hey, listen. I’m a member of Such and Such Baptist Church here. I’d sure like for you to come Sunday.” How do you think that would work? We need to take our religion everywhere we go. We need to take our religion to ball games, too. Last year in our state, a bunch of Christian schools got together and had a basketball tournament. They paid licensed refs to come. They are not part of the Christian school. In this particular tournament, two of the coaches were ejected by the worldly refs. I’m talking about being thrown out of the building. They have that authority. I know I’m not hitting you at all today, but we ought to take our religion to the ball game. We ought to take our religion to work with us. I’m saved today because of a co-worker. When I was 18 years old, I moved from New Mexico to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I left on the last Sunday, my birthday, on the 21st of April, 1959. I was 18 years old and running from the law. My mother was out in Tulsa. I went out there and went to work on a job in Tulsa. My mom and dad were both alcoholics. We never went to church. I didn’t have a clue. I worked awhile around these men. All of them but one would come in of a morning cussing and telling dirty jokes, all but one. A man named Fred Esau. Fred would come in whistling and he didn’t hang around them and he didn’t listen to their dirty jokes. He didn’t tell the dirty jokes. There was just something different about him. After working around him for awhile, one day he got me by myself. They had all left. He said, “Clyde, are you a Christian?” I said, “I don’t know. What’s a Christian?” I had no clue. I had never heard the story of Calvary. I didn’t know who Jesus Christ was. I said, “I don’t know, Fred. What’s a Christian?” He told me a little bit about the Son of God and about Calvary and about how we are lost and how that, if we’ll turn in faith to Christ and ask Him to come in our heart and save our soul, and forgive our sin, that makes us a Christian and we go to Heaven.” I said, “Well, I’m not a Christian then, Fred. I don’t know anything about Jesus Christ.” He worked with teenagers at the church. He said, “Clyde, if I’d come and get you Sunday, would you go to church with me?” I said, “Yeah, I guess so.” Back in 1959, he had one of them big, old, long station wagons. He had it crammed full of people, but he had room for one more lost teenage boy. He drove all the way across Tulsa, Oklahoma and picked me up, and took me to church. I sat right back there in the auditorium. The preacher came out and mounted the pulpit. Guess what he preached? He preached about Calvary. I sat there and I couldn’t believe it. He preached about Jesus, the Son of God, the cross of Calvary and how much God loved me and how much He wanted to save me and have me spend eternity with Him. I listened to the preacher that Sunday, but I didn’t do anything. I went back a Sunday or two. I heard him, and every time he preached about Calvary. I lived at 407 North Denver Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One night a knock came on the door. I opened the door and there the preacher stood and he had a big, black Bible under his arm. He hadn’t taken Dr. Hyles soulwinning course yet, I guess! He didn’t know he was supposed to hide it down in your pocket here, a little New Testament. He hadn’t taken that course. He just had a big, black Bible, standing there at the door. He said, “Clyde, could I come in and talk to you?” I said, “Yeah.” He came into the living room and my mother and step-father made an exit. He sat down and opened the Bible again and showed me what a Christian was and how I was lost and how God loved me. He said, “Clyde, would you like to be saved?” I said, “I would.” I didn’t know anything about praying, but we got down on our knees and he prayed and then I prayed. I got saved that day. I got saved because of a co-worker who took his religion with him to work. Some of you, if you were to invite your co-workers to church, they’d say, “Do you go to church? Really?” We ought to take our religion to work with us. We ought to take our religion to family reunions. A family reunion comes and they all got there before you, so you pull up and they look out the window and say, “Oh, no, here they come. Get ready for some preaching. Here come those holy Joes.” We ought to take our religion to the family reunions. You ought to take your religion to your relatives. You ought to take your religion to your family. Back in the 60’s, God called me to preach. My dad, at one time, was deputy sheriff of the county there in New Mexico, a hard man, a tough man, lost. I wanted to witness to Dad. I had been praying for him. I went to Clovis, New Mexico where he lived and went to his house and came in and visited a little bit. I said, “Dad, I want to talk to you about the Lord.” He just shut me off, not interested. Okay. A few years later, I was making my way down to south Texas and I made a big circle out of the way to go through Odessa, Texas, where he lived now. I knocked on his door about three o’clock in the afternoon. His wife came to the door. I said, “Is Dad home?” She said, “No, he is working. He’ll be in about five.” I said, “I’ll be back about five.” I came back about five o’clock and Dad was there and welcomed us in. We came in and his wife came in and she said, “I need some milk to finish supper.” She was fixing supper for him. He said, “I’ll run down to the corner grocery store and get you some.” I said, “I’ll take you, Dad” He said, “Okay.” We got in the car and got the milk and came back and pulled up in the yard. He reached over to get the door handle. I put my hand on his arm and said, “Dad, wait a minute. I want to talk to you.” He said, “I know you do. Go ahead.” Did you know relatives expect you to talk to them? Lost men expect you to talk to them. He said, “I know you do. Go ahead.” I told him everything I knew about the Gospel, about being lost and about the Son of God and about Heaven and Hell. I said, “Dad, wouldn’t you like to be saved?” He said, “I would.” Right there in the front seat of my car, I prayed first and then Dad prayed. I said, “Lord, come in His heart and save his soul.” He went with me in the house. He went up to his wife and said, “I just got saved!” Hallelujah! We ought to take our religion everywhere we go, especially among relatives. I’ll mention a couple people in the Bible who took their religion with them. Over in II Kings 5, there is a story about a man named Naaman, who is the captain of the armies of the Syrians, the second most important man in the nation, but he had leprosy. They went down to Israel and they took away captive a little girl, a little maid, took her away from her homeland, took her away from her mom and dad, took her away from her family. They brought her back into Syria and she became a captive, a servant, but she brought her religion with her. A little maid, away from home, away from mom and dad, a captive, a slave, and she is a servant to the wife of Naaman, but she brought her religion with her and she said, “I know where Mr. Naaman could get some help. If he’d go down to Israel to the prophet Elisha, he would heal him of his leprosy.” She told some good news. Because a little girl took her religion with her, and she wasn’t bitter, just because a little girl took her religion with her, the second most important man in Syria was healed and not only healed. You read the rest of that story. He had been a worshipper of heathen gods; he became a worshipper of Jehovah God. Why? Because a little girl took her religion with her. Joseph, with all of the negatives, he took his religion with him. Daniel was taken to Babylonian captivity as a young man, but he took his religion with him and purposed in his heart. And the three Hebrews in chapter three, they took their religion with them and they would not bow. It goes on and on. The Apostle Paul, you throw him and Silas in jail, they just take their religion to jail. They sang and prayed and praised God. All of these had a testimony and an impact. We need to take our religion with us. I said awhile ago that too many of us are like the priest and the Levite, and we are leaving too many people like we find them. Some of us are better witnesses than others. Some win a lot more souls than others, but it’s a shame sometimes we run across somebody and the door is wide open and we leave them just like we found them. We leave them and they still don’t have a clue. They don’t know anything. The seed has not been sown. I think we ought to do more than this, but if even you gave them a Gospel tract, you didn’t leave them like you found them. Even if you just left a Gospel tract for them to read, you didn’t leave them like you found them. They got something to read, the Gospel message got inside of a home, and a seed is sown there. We need to take our religion everywhere we go. We need to get some courage and some conviction and some character and take our religion with us everywhere we go. Do you agree? Wherever you go, please remember to take your religion with you. |
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