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‘Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.’
Luk_10:35
I. A representative man.—The ‘certain man who fell among thieves’ ‘is every one of us. There is not one who has not proved the Satanic power, and the evil which is in the world, and the evil which is in his heart; who has not been ‘robbed’ of his best possession, and become mortally ‘wounded.’ And we are ‘left’ wounded and suffering in body or soul; perhaps both.
II. Then comes the Good Samaritan—the Lord Jesus Christ. Despised by the world, but exceeding kind, and exactly what we wanted. And of His own free, loving goodness He came to us, quite close, and He was all we required, exactly what met our case—the binding for our wounds, the oil of the Spirit to cleanse, and the wine of the Gospel to cheer us. And He lifted us up, and He really changed places with us; and put us on the high and easy place, and Himself down in the dust. Then he brought us to an appointed spot, a place where we could rest and be cared for; and that resting place is the Church
III. In charge of the Church.—Christ commends and commits these suffering ones to us, the Church, and we are responsible—we His ministers, and you His people—we are responsible for their proper treatment, for their comfort, for their recovery—till Christ comes again. The diseased, whether suffering in body or suffering in soul, are committed to us by the great Friend and Master of us all, and He will come presently to see how we have fulfilled our trust, and deal with us accordingly. This is a solemn view of our position in such a world as this, that, as the Church, we are the caretakers, we are the restorers of the diseased and wounded soul, and diseased and wounded body, or else it might die. And we should look upon all these thus committed to us as those for whom we have a personal account one day to render. What ‘an inn’ might be to a wounded traveller on the road, such should the Church be to sinful souls and diseased bodies!
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration(1) ‘The kindness of a Christian towards others should not be in word and in tongue only, but in deed and in truth. His love should be a practical love—a love which entails on him self-sacrifice and self-denial, both in money, and time, and trouble. His charity should be seen not merely in his talking, but his acting—not merely in his profession, but in his practice. He should think it no misspent time to work as hard in doing good to those who need help, as others work in trying to get money. He should not be ashamed to toil as much to make the misery of this world rather smaller, as those toil who hunt or shoot all day long. He should have a ready ear for every tale of sorrow, and a ready hand to help every one in affliction, so long as he has the power. Such brotherly love the world may not understand. The returns of gratitude which such love meets with may be few and small. But to show such brotherly love is to walk in the steps of Christ, and to reduce to practice the parable of the good Samaritan.’
‘Whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.’
Luk_10:35
So it is in life. There are some things which God has told us to do; quite positively, and quite distinctly. These are commandments. But, beside and beyond commandments, there are many other things about which we have not such clear instruction—which are left to our own feelings, to our own suggestions, to our own judgments, to a principle. These are the more. And these are the greater things—the largest part of the religious life.
I. Payment promised.—For some things you do for God you have an instant payment; a compensation; a remuneration at the time—in a success—in a retributive Providence—in a greater supply of felt grace and joy; the beginning, the ‘two-pence,’ are the pledges of the rest to come. But others are left for the grand account at the last; all a matter of trust. And here is the great test of a man: ‘Can you work, can you spend for God, with nothing to show for it; with nothing whatever in hand—leaving all to the final reckoning, and confident that it will all be made right, and you will receive back all you have said, and all you have done, a thousandfold?’
II. A sound investment.—Depend upon this, there is no investment in the world like what you do for Christ, and give for Him, and for His sake. You may, or you may not, have some present return in Providence. You are sure to have some return, perhaps in an increase in grace and peace: but these things are the interest; the capital is in the securities of heaven; in the bank of the faithful love of the eternal God; and, in His safe and holy keeping, it is growing, every moment, on and on to the measure of the Infinite. And ‘when He comes again,’ you will find that every drop of cold water—every word of tenderness—every accent and look of sympathy, every minute act of love—for Him—which you ever did or gave but took no reckoning of, has taken reckoning in that book; it is entered in His account. You never put it down by a thought, or even in memory, but He did. And then it is enough. I can add nothing to the eloquence of His own words, ‘I will repay thee.’
III. ‘When I come again!’—They are sweet words, and as true as they are sweet. He will come again; and when He comes it will be wonderful how we shall find every promise kept; and, better still than all, He—His own dear self, Who did it all—He is coming—He is coming!
Illustration
‘So long as Jesus tarried in this world, in this house by the way, He did all with His own hand, by His own sweet offices; but when He was obliged to go He left us the holy privilege to do it for Him. And before He went He made great provision, and furnished us very largely, and paid very much beforehand. But beyond all that which He so richly gave us, He anticipated the future, and made Himself responsible for all we can ever want, and undertook to make up to us anything we should ever bear or do for His people.’