Matthew
Introduction: Perhaps you are more familiar with another
wording. “Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.” Lest you should
think this shorter way is superior, remember that Jesus gave the wording of the
text.
I. The connection to the preceding
statements.
A. The word,
therefore, points to a connection.
1. The
word means “because of.”
2. This
would be a connection easy to overlook if Jesus had not pointed it out.
3. One
still must look carefully to see it.
4. The
connection is to Matthew 7:4-11.
B. Because God is
so good to you, you do good to others. “All things whatsoever ye would,
…” etc.
C. Please note:
1.
Jesus did not say, “Whatsoever men shall ask of you.”
(He knew that they can ask more
than you can do.)
2.
However He did say, back in Matthew 5:40-42: If any man sues to get your coat, give him
your
cloak also. If he asks you to go one
mile, go two.
3. The
difference is that in the Golden Rule, Jesus instructed: Do not wait for one to ask.
“Whatsoever ye would … do ye.”
II. What the principle of the
Golden Rule is not.
A. It is not: “What men do to you, do to them.”
1.
Some Christians live by this standard.
(If you do good to me, I will do good to
you. But if
you do
not do good to me, I will not do good to you.)
2. That is not the standard set.
B. It is not: “Do dirt to them before they can do it to
you.”
C. It is not: “What you would hate for others to do to you,
you do not do to them. (One might say,
“I would not want one to curse me, spit upon
me, slander me nor murder me, therefore I will
not do so to him.”
III. What the principle of the
Golden Rule is.
A. I will do to
the other person the good things I would want him to do for me. (If I were in need, I
would want him to
help me, so I will help him; I would
want him to speak kindly to me so I
will speak kindly to
him.
B. And the
principle covers all circumstances of life.
(“All things,” etc.).
IV. The Golden Rule, the basis
or the Law.
A. In the first
part of the verse Jesus connected the Golden Rule to God’s goodness to us. (“therefore”).
B. In the latter part
of the verse He connected it to the Law.
1. It
is the basis for the Law.
2. He
said this again in Matthew 22:37-40.
(If he loves others, he will want
to do good for them.)
V. The Revolution the Golden Rule would
bring.
A. If everyone practiced
it this would stop all adultery, fornication, stealing, defrauding, slander,
gossip,
lying, deliberate
harm, murder, abuse of others property, or taking advantage in any way.
1.
There would be no need of law officers, jails, courts, lawyers, judges,
welfare programs,
military
forces, locks, labor unions, etc. (There
would be no unfair salaries or loafing
on the
job.)
2.
There would be no broken homes or divorces. (There would be difference of opinion still,
but no
problems would result.)
3. It
would revolutionize our whole society.
B. We know that
not everybody is going to practice the Golden Rule, but if only us Christians would do
so there would still
be a great change.
1.
There would be a lot less squabbling among Christians.
2.
Christians would have a lot greater influence on the lost and greater
numbers would be saved.
3. The
Lord’s churches would multiply manifold.
4. We
would probably be running above a thousand.
VI. The principle as practiced
by Jesus.
A. Jesus would not
ask us to do something that He would not do Himself.
B. Jesus kept the
Law and since the Law was based on this principle, we know He followed it.
C. For example:
1.
Jesus knew that if He were unsaved, He would wish for someone to save Him.
2.
Therefore, He died at
(And He did not wait for men to
ask Him to go there.)
D. If He could
justly force salvation on others, He would probably not even wait for them to
ask Him
to save.
VII. The motive for practicing the
Golden rule is love.
A. Why should the
child of God change his life so drastically?
Why should he want to?
Why should he repay evil with kindness?
B. Love is the
motive.
1. If
he loves God with all of his heart he will want to please God.
(It is not a matter of pleasing
others, but pleasing God.)
2. If
he loves others as himself, he will want to do them the good that we would like
done to us.
Conclusion:
You may ask: “Does God expect
that I can 100% do the Golden Rule.”
The Bible answers that: He expects you to try.
I suggest three things to help
you in that direction:
(1) Remember the good things God has done for
you.
(2) Commit yourself to the task.
(3) Ask Jesus each day for help.
Now to the unsaved: No rule will save you. Only Jesus can do that. Trust Him right now.
To the saved who need a
church home: This is a good church. We invite you to join us to worship and serve
God.
Preached at