Sermon on the mount
The golden rule!
Matthew 7:12
Matthew 7:12 (NLT)
12“Do to others whatever you would like them
to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the
prophets.
This verse is the sum of all that Jesus taught us
while he was here on earth!
Following the Golden Rule
in our lives day and night will be the best way not to grieve the Holy Spirit,
to be spared of more grief, and to be loved and respected, not to mention find
healing in marriage and other kinds of relationships. No wonder this verse is
called the Golden Rule! It is a way to defuse any tension in relationships.
As Martin Luther said,
“Jesus wraps it up in a little package where it can all be found. You are your
own Bible” if you live this way. To quote Michael Eaton, “It is a one-sentence
rule of thumb that will give us what to do in a thousand complicated
situations.
It’s the opposite of self-love!
·
You already
know what you want for yourself,
·
You hope that
the other person might do it for you.
·
But, says
Jesus, you do it for him or her instead!
·
You should do
this without waiting for him or her to do it and get it right.
·
It means you
must take the initiative.
·
All you do is
begin with yourself, since you know what you would want.
·
We are to love
our neighbor as we love ourselves (Leviticus 19:18).
·
We by nature
love ourselves.
Luke’s account of this
Rule:
Luke 6:27–31
(NLT)
27“But to you who are willing to listen, I
say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.
28Bless those who curse you. Pray for those
who hurt you.
29If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer
the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.
30Give to anyone who asks; and when things
are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back.
31Do to others as you would
like them to do to you.
Remember that Jesus
promised to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17), which meant He would live this way
Himself—which He did. Nobody but Jesus lived this way every day of His life.
And yet it is the way you and I are instructed to live as well.
So what does it mean to live like this, what do we
want? Here is how I think every wants and deserves to be treated!
Genuineness
You and I have a fairly
shrewd idea how we want others around us to live.
·
First, we want
them to be genuine.
·
That means we
hope they will be true, sincere, not hypocritical.
·
We want to be
able to trust them.
·
I should never,
ever admire anybody too much! He or she is bound to disappoint—as I would
disappoint others, too.
·
My
responsibility is to be genuine myself.
·
Trustworthy.
·
To keep my
word.
·
That I will be
no hypocrite, putting on a “front.”
·
I want to be
the kind of person who will not let my admirer or follower down.
·
That is what we
want from another—and we must be that way ourselves .
·
We want this
trust in others, whether we buy from them, listen to them or invest time, money
or energy with them.
·
We all want to
believe in what is absolutely true. Genuine. Real. Reliable. We want that in
others.
·
Let us be that
way ourselves—whether or not they are that.
·
Be yourself
·
Don’t hide,
don’t put on a front
·
And understand
people will fail us, but we have to even when they fail continue to genuine to
them.
·
That’s what
friends do!
Gentleness
Second, we want others
to be gentle.
·
That they will
be nice. Easy. Not severe. Not strict. Not legalistic.
·
We want them to
be approachable.
·
We all fear
rejection more than almost anything.
·
We never go
where we fear we will be rejected.
o It is an awful feeling to be rejected or to feel
rejected.
o We will avoid this like the plague.
o The conceited person puts us off.
·
I have had
people ask me about this or that person, “Is he or she real? Are they the real
deal?”
·
I want to be
the real deal.
Jesus was gentle
·
Jesus was the
most unpretentious person that ever was.
·
It is, the
essence of His glory.
·
He was transparently
unpretentious.
·
He made Himself
“nothing” (Philippians 2:7).
·
He was meek and
lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29).
·
He accepted the
underdog.
·
The devil, on
the other hand, hits people when they are down!
·
Jesus calls for
you—you—just as you are.
·
It was not only
His words but also His spirit that invited the most godless person to run to
Him.
·
He took people
as they were.
·
Jesus was
popular with sinners.
·
They knew they
could trust Him.
·
I want to be
Jesus to everybody—never (if possible) to let him or her down.
Ask yourself this question: Can people approach you? Do people find you
unapproachable? We want to be approachable, Gentle people. Jesus is saying that
to all of us: to be gentle. “Let your gentleness be evident to all,” said Paul
(Philippians 4:5).
Graciousness
Third, we want them to
be gracious.
·
The opposite of
graciousness is throwing the book at them—making them pay,
·
Rubbing their
noses in it
·
Remembering
every fault,
·
Making them
feel guilty
·
Making them
suffer,
·
Keeping a
record of wrongs.
·
But love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:5).
·
Why do we keep
records?
o To hold it over folks head!
·
So when you say
to someone, “I will remember that,” and throw it up later, it shows you kept a
record of that wrong.
·
But love will
tear up that record.
Question?
Do you have the “goods”
on somebody? Do you have the power to “expose” somebody? Do you have a record
of wrongs that would hurt, embarrass or ruin this person?
Answer:
Tear that record up! Do
it—do it now—and you will be set free. It is letting them save face. This way
you win a friend for life. You overlook what this person is already aware of.
He or she already feels guilty. He or she is already conscious of that skeleton
in the closet (we all have them). Why add to his or her guilt? Jesus wouldn’t.
·
Be gracious in
private—set the person at ease.
·
Be gracious in
public—not telling the wrong they did, I mean, telling nobody.
·
And be gracious
in prayer—praying that he or she will be dealt with by God as you want God to
deal with you.
I give three principles here: (1) It is
never wrong to be gracious. (2) It is never wrong to be gracious. (3) It is
never wrong to be gracious.
Goodeness!
Fourth, we want people
we encounter to be good.
·
The Law is
“good” if a person uses it properly (1 Timothy 1:8).
·
The proper use
is to apply its righteousness by the Golden Rule.
Think about how appling this to the commandments!?!
The sixth
Commandment—“You shall not murder”—was applied by Jesus to the heart.
·
If we follow
through with Jesus’ interpretation, we will not hate, let our enemy fear us,
speak evil of anybody or gossip.
·
Do you like it
if a person gossips about you? Of course not.
·
Therefore,
return this good—do not gossip about anybody.
·
There is an Arabic proverb: Those who gossip to you will gossip about you.
·
The Golden Rule
would therefore eliminate gossip.
The seventh
Commandment—“Do not commit adultery”—is applied by Jesus to lusting or causing
one to lust: i.e., adultery in the heart.
·
How do you want
someone to treat your wife or husband?
The eighth
Commandment—“Do not steal”—
·
Would be
carried out without knowing it existed if you lived by the Golden Rule.
·
The Golden Rule
virtually writes off most of the Ten Commandments.
·
If there were,
for example, no fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth Commandment, the Golden
Rule would produce the same lifestyle without knowing about these commands.
·
They are all for
our good.
We want people to be good.
·
This is why He
says that the Golden Rule sums up the Law and Prophets.
·
The Commandments,
“Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and
whatever other Commandments there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love
your neighbor as yourself.”
·
Love does not
do harm to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:9–10).
Gratitude
Fifth, we want people to be grateful.
·
God loves
gratitude. God hates ingratitude.
·
Gratitude is
taught.
·
But people who
have not been taught to show thankfulness still notice it when someone isn’t
thankful to them!
·
If you do not
show appreciation for what they did for you, they will make note of you from
that day forward.
·
We all want to
be appreciated—and told that we are appreciated.
·
We may say to
the person who says, “Thank you,” “Don’t mention it”—but I pitty the fool if he
or she doesn't mention it!
Thank you goes along way!
The truth is, we love it
when people are grateful and when they say, “Thank you.”
·
So how often do
you say, “Thank you”—and mean it?
·
How often do
you make sure that you show genuine gratitude when people do things for you?
Rule of thumb:
·
Always remember
to show sincere gratitude. And then watch their responses.
·
You make them
feel good. Say “thank you” to your parents for what they have done for you.
·
Show appreciation
to your husband, wife, children, boss.
·
You like it
when they are that way to you. Do it to them.
·
I am not
talking about insincere, silly, over-the-top BullS#$T,
·
But sincere
words that let people know you are grateful to them for the things, large or small,
they have done for you.
