 We are going to only cover one verse, and you're saying, good, I get to eat more lunch. But nope, you're not. Sorry. You're going to get more spiritual food this way. We're going to be looking at living out the golden rule from Matthew 7.12. And there's a lot of material between salt and light. And Jesus has been in Matthew 5 talking about all that you have heard. You have heard you should not commit adultery. I say you should unless. You've heard you should not murder. But I say don't get angry. You've heard this. And so he's gone through that. He's also gone through in chapter 6 teaching them how to pray, about fasting, doing their outward works of righteousness before others to be seen of them. He talks about laying up treasure not here on earth but on heaven, and then goes into the importance of not worrying, but worshiping instead. And then he begins Matthew 7 with talking about not judging others until you get the 2 by 4 out of your eye, talks about not casting your pearls before swine, don't give out holy things to dogs. And then he starts winding down his sermon. And he really has a lot of punch lines. We'll see the final punch after lunch. Hey, that's a rhyme. I didn't even plan that. Final punch after lunch. But I mean, he's really getting down to it. Enter at the narrow gate. Why does the Bay brought us the way that leads to eternal destruction? And many go that way. The Greek is most. Most are going that way. And narrows the road. Hard is the way that leads to eternal life. And few, the Greek word is puny. Very few find it. And then he talks about false prophets and not everyone that says Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. So he's winding down his sermon. And right before he gets into the punch line of his sermon, he has one little verse here where he says, everything that you want men to do to you do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. So we're going to look at this one verse in this session before lunch, living out the golden rule. This year is another year of an election, thankfully, not another presidential election. I don't know if I can make another one of those. But it is a year of an election. I don't know if you know that. We're going to be electing US senators. And I don't know about you, but I find it very difficult when our country starts having elections just because of the slander and the vileness that we see on commercials. And I remember during the presidential election that it didn't seem like a day didn't go by where I almost tell my husband, I don't want to watch the news. It's just, it's outlandish. And remarks that as a Christian, I just care not to listen to. And, you know, I remember thinking during that time, you know, as a kingdom citizen, I wondered, would the presidential election have been different? And would this election, this fall for US senator, would it be different if the men and women who were running for the office of president or in this case, US Senate, if they would consider and practice Matthew 712, if they would do unto others as they would like done to them, you know what? We would probably all fall over, you know, in shock. And we might see the blessing of God on our nation again, wouldn't that be great? But you know, my friend, it's not just carnal politicians that seem to have difficulty with following the golden rule, have you noticed that? We seem to have some sort of problem remembering it in the local church as well. Ladies, if we seriously obey the principle set forth in Matthew 712, do you know most sin would cease? You ever thought about that? If we really treated others the way that we'd like to be treated, we'd stop lying, stealing, committing sexual immorality, gossiping, slandering, speaking flattery, getting angry, being arrogant, bitter, having abortions, meddling in other people's business, complaining, being rude, arguing, and a myriad of other things. If we started treating others the way we want to be treated, we would start honoring our parents, honoring our authorities, taking care of widows and orphans. We would start disciplining our children as God says we should. We would be courteous to others. We would be hospitable. We would show love by being joyful, merciful, compassionate, kind, long-suffering, gentle, good, and we would practice self-control in a myriad of other things. Ladies, if we really stopped long enough before every thought, every word, every deed took place regarding another person and ask ourselves this question, is this how I would like to be treated? Is this how I would like to be spoken to? Is this how I would like to be thought about? You know what? We would then see amazing things happen in our spiritual lives. In fact, we might have a glimpse of what Jesus has already said in the Sermon on the Mount, be therefore perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect. So as we consider Matthew 712, we're gonna contemplate living our lives in light of what many have called the golden rule. Let's read it together. Jesus is therefore all things whatever you would that men should do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Now, as we consider living out the golden rule, we're gonna consider four things, ourself, others, the law, and the prophet. Now, before we unpack this verse and its rich meaning, we need to remember that all too often we look at this verse and we quote it because we hope others will treat us nice, right? The ladies need to look at this verse and take a look at ourselves, right? Examine ourselves to see if we are treating others in the same way that we want to be treated. So Jesus begins with the word therefore, which what indicates that we need to look back. Anytime you have a therefore in scripture, it's therefore reason. And it's therefore here because he's wanting us to go back all the way to the beginning of his sermon, all the way back to chapter five. So therefore, because of what I've said already, regarding your responsibility to others, then you treat them as you would like to be treated. And so, as I said, you better hold on to your pens or your iPad or whatever you're taking notes on because as we think about living out the golden rule, we're gonna consider ourselves, but we're gonna look at the most of the sermon on the mountain. I'm gonna be going really fast. I'm sorry if I talk too fast, but I really wanna get this covered because it is essential, I believe, in understanding what Jesus is saying. So let's ask ourselves. We're gonna look at ourselves first, okay? Not looking at the girl next to you in front of you. You look at yourself. Let's ask ourselves some questions as we consider the whole of the sermon on the mount as it relates to our relationship to others. So if you wanna turn back, you can and follow me as much as you want to, Matthew 5.7, which is what we looked at last night, showing mercy. Do you want others to be merciful to you to show compassion and extend forgiveness? Then you show mercy by showing compassion and extending forgiveness from Matthew 5.8, which talks about being pure in heart. Do you want others to have pure thoughts, motives, and actions when it comes to relating to you? Then you have pure thoughts, motives, and actions when it comes to relating to them. From Matthew 5.9, on being a peacemaker, do you want others to make every effort to be at peace with you? Then you make every effort to be at peace with them. And ladies, this means you pursue peace and you try to solve conflicts. Do not stir them up. From Matthew 5.21 to 26, which is talking about being angry in your heart and whoever's angry with his heart and his heart with his brothers in danger of hellfire. Ladies, do you desire that others would not lash out at you in anger? Then you don't lash out at them in anger. Do you desire that others would reconcile with you when they're offended with you? Then you reconcile with others and do it quickly when you're offended with them. From Matthew 5.27 to 30, which is where Jesus says, now you've heard it said unto you that you should not commit adultery, but I say unto you, whoever lusts after a woman and his heart has committed adultery with her already in his heart, from that portion of scripture, do you want others to not lust after your spouse or commit adultery with your spouse? Then you don't lust after their spouse, you don't commit adultery with their spouse. From Matthew 5.33 to 37, which is talking about keeping our vows, our promises, let your yes be yes and your no no list you fall into judgment. Do you wish others would keep their promises they've made to you? Then you keep the promises you've made to them. From Matthew 5.38 to 42, which talks about going the extra mile if a brother has need, you give them your coat, you give them your quiz cloak, you get them whatever he asks, go the mile, do whatever it needs, you must do to help him. Do you wish others would give up their rights for the sake of helping you out when you really need their help? Then you give up your rights for them when they need your help. From Matthew 5.43 to 48, which says we're to love our enemies, we're to pray for them who persecute us and despitefully use us and we're to love them. Would you like it if your enemies would make every effort to love you, bless you, do good to you and pray for you? Then you make every effort to love your enemies, bless your enemies, do good to your enemies, pray for your enemies. From Matthew 6.18, which is talking about doing our acts of righteousness to be seen by others. This is what the Pharisees did. They prayed, they fasted, they gave so that everybody could see what they're doing. Do you desire that others would do their acts of righteousness without hypocrisy? Then you do your acts of righteousness without hypocrisy. You might say, Susan, how does this relate to my fellow man? It's simple when you think about it. When you see others living hypocritically, what happens to you? You have ill thoughts towards them, don't you? I do. We might gossip about them, we might avoid them, we might dislike them, right? From Matthew 6.19 to 24, where Jesus says, do not lay it for yourself treasure on earth where moth and rust does corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay it for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust does corrupt nor thieves do not break through and steal. From that passage, do you desire that others be more sold out for Christ and less in love with the world? Then you be more sold out for Christ and less in love with the world. From Matthew 5.25 to 34, which is talking about, don't be anxious about your life, what you're gonna eat, what you're gonna drink, what you're gonna wear, the Gentiles do this, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then all these things will be added to you. Do you wish other people would stop their needless worries and fears and anxieties? Do people like that discourage you and weigh you down? Then you stop complaining to others about all your fears and worries. From Matthew 7.1 to 5, which talks about judging others without taking out the two by four, you're trying to get the speck out of your brother's eye and yet you have a two by four in your eye that you need to get out first before you can help your brother. Do you want those who confront sin in your life to be living a life of holiness and not be involved in some blatant sin? Then you make sure before you confront someone that you're living a life of holiness. From Matthew 7.6, which talks about, do not cast your pearls before swine need or give holy things to dog, which is talking about giving out the gospel to those that have made it very clear they've had enough and Jesus says, don't do it, they'll turn on you and lacerate you. Do you like it when others keep pounding you with things that irritate you? Then you stop pounding religious things into unbelievers who've made it clear they've had enough. Now, obviously these are not the only ways we consider ourselves as we consider how we wanna be treated, but these are the ones mentioned in the sermon on the Mount. One man says this, how we treat others is not to be determined by how we expect them to treat us or how by we think they should treat us but how we want them to treat us. So we turn from considering ourselves and now we're gonna consider others. Consider others. Taking the very same passages that we just looked at, I'm gonna reword the questions a little bit as we consider doing to them as we would like them to do to us. From Matthew 5.7, which is the mercy, be merciful. Do you stop and consider the other person when you fail to extend mercy, compassion and forgiveness to them? Do you put yourself in their shoes and consider the hurt that you have caused them? From Matthew 5.8, which is being pure in heart, do you consider how your impure thoughts and motives and actions affect others? Do you consider you might be leading them down wrong paths by your actions? From Matthew 5.9, talking about being a peacemaker, do you consider others with whom you refuse to make peace with? Do you realize what it does to their heart and their life on a daily basis? Do you stop and consider the turmoil you are putting them through because you will not be at peace with them? From Matthew 5.21 to 26, about being angry in your heart, which is murder. Do you consider how your anger towards another person makes them feel? Do you consider that it's crippling to your relationship to them? Do you consider they often avoid you and walk on pins and needles because they fear your anger? Do you think about those with whom you're refusing to reconcile with and how it affects their daily walk with the Lord? Do you consider the amount of time they put into praying and hoping that one day you will be reconciled to them? From Matthew 5.27 to 30, which is on lust and adultery. Do you consider the hurt that you cause others when you lust or commit adultery with their spouse? Do you consider the spouse will struggle with trusting their mate the rest of their life? Do you realize the word of God says that wound will never go away from the offended spouse according to Proverbs 6? They will always be plagued by the fact that they were sinned against by your moment of pleasure with their spouse. From Matthew 5.33 to 37, which is on keeping your word. Do you stop and consider your children, your grandchildren, your friends, your husband or anyone else with whom you've made promises to and yet failed to keep them? Do you stop and think the hurt that it causes them and how if it's a repeated action on your part, they will struggle with believing anything you say because your word cannot be trusted? From Matthew 5.38 to 42, which talks about going the extra mile, giving your coat to someone that has a need. Do you consider the needs of others and how for some it's hard to ask for help, but when they do and you fail the lend a hand? How it not only demars your testimony with them, but blasphemes the very word of God, which says that loving our brothers will be the preeminent way the world will know we're his disciples? From Matthew 5.43 to 48 on loving your enemies. Do you consider those you would call your enemies when you choose to continue to avoid loving them, blessing them, doing good to them and praying for them? Do you realize this might be a discouragement to them as they might be hopefully praying for reconciliation? From Matthew 6.1 to 18, which talks about acts of righteousness that we do to be seen of others. Do you consider trying to help others when their life seems to be hypocritical instead of avoiding them or gossiping about them? Do you love others enough to confront them about the danger their soul is in, even if it costs you the relationship? I met with my mother's dearest friend last, this year, actually I was in California a few weeks ago doing a conference, and she was with my mother in Russia when my mother died. And my mother, I believe now, after talking to her, went to a Christ with eternity as well. And I asked this lady, I said, do you think my mom was a Christian? She said, I've wondered about that. She said, you know, my was your mom's closest friend for 30 years, we never had any spiritual conversation. She said, I don't know when your mother divorced your dad, I knew it wasn't biblical I never confronted her even though she told me that you did. And I said, yes, I did. I confronted her that I didn't think she was saved. And she said, you know, I have one regret, Susan. She said, I never confronted your mother because I didn't wanna risk losing the relationship. Ladies, you love others enough to lovingly confront them about the danger their soul is in, even if it costs you that relationship. Do you think about the Lord's testimony who's at stake with those who claim Christ but live hypocritically? From Matthew 6, 19 to 24, which is talking about laying up treasures in heaven instead of earth. Do you consider others who have been caught in the deception of the love of the world and its idols? Do you see them as in desperate need of a savior? Do you love them enough to share with them the danger they're in? From Matthew 6, 25 to 34, which is talking about anxiety and the need to put it off. Do you desire to help others who are caught up in needless worry, fear, and anxiety? Or are you willing to just let them go their sinful way, discouraging not only you, but all that have to be around them and listen to their constant murmuring? From Matthew 7, 1 to 5, which talks about judging yourself before you judge others. Do you consider others when you have the sobering task of confronting them and go with a spirit of humility, making sure you're getting the two by four out of your own life? Do you love them enough and consider them enough to follow through long-term and make sure they're making the changes needed to get the speck out of their life? From Matthew 7, 6, which says, do not give holy things to dogs. Do not cast your pearls before swine. Do you consider how it affects others when you hound them day after day? It might be a husband that's unsaved. You desperately want them to know the Lord and so you put scripture verses all over the mirror or you have Christian radio or music playing every day walks in the door. Do you consider this might be driving him further away instead of endearing him to Christ? Now, ladies, obviously, again, these are not the only ways we consider living out the golden rule, but these are the ones mentioned in Jesus' sermon. So we've considered ourselves, and I know I've done it very fast, and we've considered others. But then Jesus says, for this is the law and prophets. Now, before we consider the law and the prophets, we need to define what Jesus is saying. Do you know what he's saying? Do you know the golden rule is basically the sum of what was written in the Old Testament? Everything. Remember, he's already said in the sermon on the Mount, do not think I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but what? Fulfill, fulfill. Ladies, loving others and doing to them as we want done to us is not something new. It's in the law. It's in the prophets. In fact, James, Jesus' brother, says what? If you really fulfill the law, according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do what? You do well, right? That's the royal law. Even Paul says this, oh, no man anything, but to love one another, for he that loves one another, what? Fulfills the law, the law. Just a side note here, I'm not sure how our antinomian friends handle these passages. Those that want to do away with the law seem to, in my opinion, have some explaining to do about these New Testament passages. So Jesus says, this is the law and the prophets. Now what is the law? Maybe you're getting hungry. First five books of Moses. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. What are the prophets? All the major and minor prophets that we have in the Old Testament. And ladies, if you want to get technical about it and I will get technical about it, do you know the whole word of God can be summed up in loving our neighbor as ourself? Do you know even the Proverbs are filled with doing unto others as we'd like done to us? How about Proverbs 25, 21? If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat, right? If he's thirsty, give him a drink. That sounds like doing unto others, right? Or how about Proverbs 25, 17? Don't set foot in your neighbor's house, least he become weary of you and hate you. I mean, this is how we want to be treated, right? They say fishing companies stink after three days. So how do I treat someone who I'm staying with, right? How I want to be treated. I like my house guests to kind of, you know, clean up a little bit when they leave. So I should do that when I'm in their home. Or Proverbs 25, 8, don't go hastily to court for what will you do in the end? Debate your case with your neighbor. Don't disclose the secret to another. Sounds like loving my neighbor as myself, right? Or how about Proverbs 25, 11? The word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. This is talking about how we speak to each other. We could go on and on. I would encourage you sometime. If you've never read through the Bible or you're wanting something to do, a lot of times I give people assignments as they're reading through the Bible so they can kind of focus. Try reading your Bible from Genesis to Revelation and make note of how the golden rule is lived out or not lived out. I think it'd be shocking. I bet you can find something almost in every single verse, how it's lived out or not lived out. So let's consider the law as we think about living out the golden rule. Now don't worry, I'm not gonna go through Genesis, Exodus, Hephaedicus, Numbers, Deuteronomy because then you won't get lunch. But I wanna give you an example of how this would be fleshed out. The classic text is what? In the law. 10 commandments, right? Honor your father and mother. Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal. You know the 10 commandments, right? So take those verses alone. We might ask ourselves this. Do you want your kids to honor you as their parents? Of course you do. I pray that from my two grown children that they will honor me and their dad. Then you don't provoke your kids to wrath and you set the example by honoring your own parents, right? Ladies, how you're treating your parents right now is probably how your kids are gonna treat you when you get old like me. Now we've already dealt with murder and adultery so I'm not gonna deal with that. But how about stealing? Do you want someone stealing your stuff? Then don't steal their stuff, right? And that would include not just material things but don't steal their time. Don't steal, don't take something that you've borrowed and not return it. Do you want others to tell you the truth? Then you tell the truth. Do you want people to covet after your belongings? I shall not covet. Your house, your husband, anything that belongs to you then you don't covet their stuff. Another passage in the law, Leviticus, you shall not hate your brother in your heart, you surely shall rebuke your brother. Why, so you don't allow sin upon him. Ladies, do you want people to love you enough to confront you when needed? Then you love others enough to confront them when it's needed. Well here's another example from the law, Exodus 23. When you meet your neighbor's donkey or his ox and it's gone astray, bring it back to him, right? Now I had to live with this a few months ago because we moved four years ago, we downsized, and we had one neighbor's dog that continually barked and I wrote a few letters and finally they did something about it after they accused Debbie of poisoning the dog because she was working in my yard. Your gardener has poisoned our dog. Yeah, it sounds like a little sweet Debbie. But anyway, they finally moved away and I was thankful because it was really annoying. I don't know if you've ever been around a dog that barks incessantly and this dog would bark four to six hours a day. Well, and I'd be trying to study and I was very gracious that my husband and I both work out of the home and it's very difficult. Well, so they moved away. Well, then our next door neighbor's dog started barking. And so anyway, one day I was home and I looked out and he was in our backyard and then he got out in the street and I was sitting there going, okay. In my fleshly sinful heart, I hope he gets run over by a car. But that was wicked and evil. I knew it was and I remember this. If you see your neighbor's donkey, it doesn't say dog, but then so I called the lady, her name is also Susan. And I said, your dog is out running around. I just thought you might wanna know. Okay, so he gets killed and so anyway, she sent her husband home to put him back in. So would you like for someone to return your things if your dog or your cat or your animal gets out, then you endeavor to find the rightful owner, right? One last one from the law, Deuteronomy 15. If there's among you a poor man, you don't harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. Open your hand and give him what he needs. Ladies, if you were destitute and had nothing to eat or nowhere to live, would you be thankful for someone who would help you? Then you, when you see those who don't have food or shelter, don't harden your heart, help them. So ladies, you see what Jesus is saying? As we live out the golden rule, we consider ourselves, we consider others, we consider the law. And we also consider the prophets and no worries, I'm not gonna go through all the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Malachi, the Italian prophet. We're not gonna go through all those. But I would encourage you to do that sometime, but let's just take a few of them, okay? Isaiah, major prophet, Isaiah 58. It's not that the fast I've chosen lose the bonds of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, feed the hungry, bring the poor into your house. If someone is naked, cover him. Again, this is very similar, right? We might ask ourselves, do I want others to help me with heavy burdens, feed me or clothe me if I need it? Then you help others with heavy burdens or those who might need food or clothing. Jeremiah, another major prophet, Jeremiah 7. If you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, don't oppress the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, don't shed innocent blood, don't walk after other gods to your hurt. Ladies, do you want others to oppress you when you're less fortunate than they are? Then you don't oppress others who are less fortunate than you are. One example from the minor prophets, Micah, Micah 2. Woe to those who devise iniquity and work out evil on their bed. At morning, they practice it because it's in the power of their hand to do it. They covet fields, houses, they take them by violence. Ladies, do you want others to plan evil towards you as they lay in their bed at night and carry it out the next day like that Las Vegas shooter did and killed what, 56 people and the worst mass shooting in our history? He must have laid on his bed a lot and not just one night, a lot of nights to plan out that massacre. Do you want others to lay in bed at night and think how they can plot out evil towards you the next day? Do you want others to covet after things of yours or oppress you in any way? Then you don't plan evil towards others to carry it out. You don't covet after things or people that are not yours to have and you don't oppress others in any way. So ladies, we can see what Jesus is saying here. It's really pretty simple. Basically, he's saying in Matthew 712 that it's not just a sermon on the Mount that is a gauge of how we are to fulfill the golden rule but in reality, the whole of Scripture, all of it. In fact, we have this interesting account in Matthew 22 when a member of Lawyer came to Jesus and test him. Teacher, what's the greatest commandment in the law? You know what Jesus said? You so love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. This is the first and the second commandment. And then he said, what? On all these hang, what? The law and the prophets on these two commandments. Ladies, no wonder Jesus says in the upper room discourse, this is how people will know we're his disciples if we what, love each other, love each other. So if we're not loving other and treating others the way that we'd like to be treated then we're not fulfilling the law and we're not being a true representation of Christ. Ladies, the golden rule is really simple. It's really simple. What would you like others to do for you? Then you do that for them. Practically speaking, we can ask ourselves questions as we go throughout our day that will help us. Questions like this, is this the tone of voice that I would like for my husband or my friend to use when talking to me? Then you don't talk to your husband in a wrong tone of voice. Would you like someone to be habitually late when they meet with you? Then don't be late when you meet with others. Would you like someone to ignore your phone call or text? Then don't ignore their phone call or their text. Would you like someone to gossip and slander about you? Then you don't gossip and slander about others. Would you like for your house guests to clean up after themselves? Then you clean up after yourself when you're someone's house guest. Would you like your husband to give you his full attention when you talk to him? Then you give him your full attention when he's talking to you. Ladies, can you imagine if the golden rule were obeyed in our nation's politicians how it would affect our whole world? As mentioned in the opening, we might see God's blessing once again in our nation. Can you imagine if the golden rule were obeyed in our homes how it would affect our family? It might be a touch of heaven at home, might it? Can you imagine if the golden rule were lived out in our schools? We would no longer have school bullies, school shootings, and all the other numerous problems that are in the public school system. Can you imagine if the golden rule were lived out in the workplace, how it would affect business? We would do away with lying in the workplace, cheating in the workplace, being lazy in the workplace, which is a huge problem, being sexually immoral in the workplace. And what about your driving? You guys got crazy drivers here. I'm telling you. Can you imagine if you had practiced the golden rule in traffic? You would no longer cut people off in traffic or honk your horn in anger. And can you imagine if we obeyed the golden rule in our churches how it would affect the body of Christ? We would no longer have church splits, gossip, slander in the church, jealousy, envy in the church, but we would have people who love each other, consider each other as more important than themselves and do to them what they would like done to themselves. Ladies, we can all quote the golden rule, can't we? But can we live it? Let's endeavor to do so with our master's help. Let's pray. Lord, forgive us where we have failed to do unto others as we would like done to us. I know the words of my mom's friend has haunted me since March when she says I feared to talk to your mother about her soul because I would lose the friendship. And Lord, that certainly is not doing to someone else as we would like done to us if our soul was in danger of hellfire. So Lord, help us to think of this as we go throughout our day, even today at lunch and the remainder of our day, this evening and throughout the week. Is this how I would like to be spoken to? Is this how I would like to be treated? Is this how I would like to be thought about? And to bother, to really look at the other person, how would they like to be treated? And then Father be willing to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow you because you certainly treated others the way they needed to be treated. And so help us to follow your example in this Lord and give us the grace we know apart from your spirit in this constant reminder, we become so selfish and so self-focused. And we love ourself, that's the problem. So Father, help us to love our neighbor as we love ourself. And by doing this, to live out this command, to do to them as we like done to us. And I ask this for Jesus' sake and his glory, amen.