Follow the Golden Rule

Introduction: When I was younger before God set me on my path for ministry, someone gave me some advice regarding my future.

He said, no matter what you do or where you go always remember the Golden Rule.

Growing up in Church I heard the Golden Rule, but when He said it, I didn’t remember this version from my Sunday School classes.

He said, “He who has the most Gold, rules.”

Now, we laugh at that, but let’s be real, that’s how we think the world works.

Money can buy power and influence. Money can buy a lot of things. But it can often desensitize you kindness and compassion.

Compassion and kindness are free.

We can become conceited and arrogant believing that we earned this.

Now that’s not to say that every rich person is and evil person, but they will definitely have a harder time with the temptation to rely on worldly things.

Wasn’t that the Rich Young Rulers problem?

Which prompted Jesus to say,

Matthew 19:23–24 ESV

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Getting into heaven is simultaneously the easiest and most impossible thing we can aspire to.

On the one hand, it’s the free gift of God that we come to in faith not in ourselves, but in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

But on the other hand there are so many things that keep us distracted from the main goal of our life.

And something we are going to see repeated over and over again, is that there is only one way…and few will take it.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 7:12-14. We come to one of the more famous teachings in all of Scripture. You’ve probably heard it called “The Golden Rule.” The real one.

And it’s a good rule by which to live a great life.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

But lets look at this very famous saying within the context of what Jesus has to teach us.

Remember, that in the beginning of this chapter, Jesus challenged us to be slow and cautious to judge those when we ourselves are just as deserving of God’s wrath.

We’re called to self-evaluation and personal accountability.

But we are still called to correct those who err in sin, but with gentleness and humility.

Then Jesus calls us to be discerning regarding dealing with the troublemakers of this world. Avoid endless quibbling with people whose hearts are so hard that your arguments and facts are wasted breath.

Spend your time, on those who stand a chance to grow from your humble offering of God’s truth rooted in God’s Word.

Last week we say an incredible promise of God’s love and provision for His children. He will always provide for us, especially when it comes to funding the mission He has called us to.

Now we come to how we treat others and how we gain eternal life.

Notice this trend throughout. We are first called to look upward to God in worship.

Then we are called to look inward in humility and self-reflection.

Finally, we look outward in love for those who need to grow in their knowledge of the truth.

Only then can you truly see people for who they really are….the way God sees them.

Introduce:

Big Idea: See PEOPLE the way GOD sees PEOPLE.

Read: Matthew 7:12-14

Matthew 7:12–14 ESV

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Big Idea: See PEOPLE the way GOD sees PEOPLE.

You’re relationships matter. The way you see other people matters. And how your faith in Jesus impacts those relationships matters.

We’ve already seen how important the eyes are in Jesus theology of God and man. Our eyes are broken and sinful. Many of us our blind to the world around us….even in the church.

We see people not through love and truth but through selfishness and often jealousy and envy.

But God wants to open our eyes to see them as He sees them.

Even the most vile of sinner is never beyond redemption. Is never without the image of God. Is never deserving of vengeance on our part.

The only thing that can change a harden heart is love.

1. LOVE as you have been LOVED. (Matthew 7:12)

Explanation:

Matthew 7:12 ESV

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

That’s the Golden Rule.

And just think how practicing this would change the world.

But there is something we miss. We often apply this wrongly.

On the one hand, we often like to think of this as, “well I really wish people would leave me a long and mind their own business and I will gladly do the same.”

But that’s not the Golden Rule.

On the other hand, we expect they do unto us before we feel obligated to do unto them.

More than anything we want people to have our backs. To look out for us. To want and champion our best interests. But are we will to take the first step?

It goes without saying that we want people to be kind, respectful, compassionate and generous with us.

But often we feel entitled to these before we offer them to others.

But that’s not what the Bible ever teaches.

You are not responsible for how people treat you. You are responsible for how you treat others.

Jesus is the perfect example of this.

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You see? Jesus didn’t wait until we worshipped Him rightly until He was willing to die for us.

So He commands us to offer sacrificial love even on those who treat us with contempt.

Husbands and wives, do you want to know what the secret to a great marriage is?

Stop waiting for your spouse to love you the way you want them to.

Practice the Golden Rule. Treat them the way you would want them to treat you.

Love and respect!

But it goes a step further.

Because, we should also want people to tell us the truth about ourselves…in a loving and gentle way.

Illustration: If I have green spinach in my teeth, the loving thing to do is tell me.

If my hair is sticking up or the collar on my shirt is out of sorts, please tell me.

I know it’s sometimes frowned upon but I always appreciate when I’m driving when someone flashes their lights to let me know a police officer is up ahead…not because I’m speeding, but it refocuses me.

What about sin in my life? I have invited certain people into my life who will tell me the truth or will call me out when they see me either sinning or dancing dangerously close to the edge of sin.

Do you have those people in your life? Are you that person for someone?’

Don’t gain the reputation of being a critical person, so give out much more encouragement than correction.

Application: But in evangelism, we love people by telling them what they need to do. This is what evangelism is….warning people of the coming wrath and judgment of God.

One hand reaching out and pulling a lost soul from the fires of hell is:

Seeing with Spiritual eyes someone in need. Being a Good Samaritan on the rode to eternity.

Loving as Christ loved us.

It’s a sacrifice of time and energy.

Yes, people will reject us, as they rejected Jesus. But some will believe and they will be grateful.

But be kind when you do it. Have a reputation of good works and kindness and that will go a long way to showing people that you are worthy of listening to.

Now I know this is hard. Because we are dealing with people.

I have a friend that tells me regularly being a Christian would be easy if it weren’t for all the people we have to deal with.

Relationships make life worth living.

But bad relationships make life incredibly difficult.

Think about all the trials and tough times you go through.

How many of those issues are directly related to a negative relationship?

That tells us a lot about life and why it’s so difficult to live up to what Jesus has called us to.

2. Follow CHRIST even when it’s DIFFICULT. (Matthew 7:13)

Explanation: Matthew 7:13

Matthew 7:13 ESV

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

What comes next is a reminder that following Jesus is not easy.

And this is a reminder that when we invite people to following Jesus…

When we apply the Golden Rule to our evangelism, we would certainly want people to tell us the whole truth about following Jesus…so we ought to tell people the whole truth.

This life is not easy.

Over and over again, Jesus told His disciples that the Christian life was filled with trials and tribulations.

John 16:33 ESV

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

And there are so many thing that will cause us to stumble, get distracted, or even fall away.

Over and over again, Jesus warns people the dangers of falling away.

Illustration: It’s always interesting to me that our evangelism doesn’t always match what the Bible says about the Christian life.

We sell Christianity as the once for all fix. You’re life will be fulfilled. You’ll have joy, peace, meaning, purpose.

And all of those things are ours in Christ Jesus.

But if we fail to tell them about the harder things.

Matthew 10:38 ESV

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

James 1:2 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

James 1:3 ESV

3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

When we fail to tell the whole truth, we fail to tell the whole Gospel.

Don’t get me wrong, the life of following Jesus is not one bad thing after another. It’s not trials all the time or persecution all the time.

In fact, it’s often so filled with joy and peace and ease, that we are shocked when the trials rear their ugly heads.

We get so used to comfort that when a trial comes, we forget that Jesus said, the easy rode is seldom the Way.

Application: Our chief desire should be to follow Jesus…wherever He may lead.

It’s not always the easiest way. It’s not always the safest way. It’s not always the most obviously practical way.

But in the end it leads us to the only place worth going.

And we get to enjoy His company along the way.

3. AVOID the EASY way OUT. (Matthew 7:14)

Explanation: Matthew 7:14

Matthew 7:14 ESV

14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

We should warn people not to take the easy way out in life. To not take shortcuts for the sake of saving time and energy.

Anything worth doing, is worth putting your whole life into.

We love a good shortcut in life. Any way to cut time out of our already busy schedules.

But we’ve probably also had a shortcut blow up in our face.

A few years ago, we were on a road trip through the pacific North West visiting some national parks.

And the national parks up there are huge and you usually have to drive hours around then just to get to see everything.

Our GPS told us there was a short cut that could cut a lot of our time off.

So naturally we trusted WAZE. It was going to cut 40 or 50 miles off our trip. However, about half way through this shortcut we came to essentially a glorified dirt road with some gravel thrown on it.

There were a million pot holes in the middle of nowhere with no cell service.

At that point we should have turned around and gone back and taken the long way around

But we were committed.

So for what felt like an eternity, I was white knuckling the steering wheel while amanda was the look out to drive around potholes.

That short cut cost us at least an extra hour not too mention dealing with the fear and anxiety of what would happen if we got a flat tire.

Be wary of short cuts on the road and in life.

There are no short cuts to being rich. There are not short cuts to being spiritual mature.

There are no short cuts to heaven.

Even the thief on the cross had to be hanging on the cross to begin with.

Illustration: I used to think that if something was difficult it wasn’t the way I was supposed to go.

If I was following Jesus, and He wanted me to go a certain way, wouldn’t He make that way as easy as possible.

Wouldn’t the heavens open and beam of light, light the path of least resistance?

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that the way I’m supposed to go, is often the hardest way. It’s often the way I wouldn’t choose apart from Christ’s call on my life.

What’s funny, is that the life I have the privledge of leading, I probably would not have chosen had I had my way.

I would have chosen a seemingly easier life. A less emotionally stressful career.

But then I think about all the things I would have missed out on.

Some of my favorite memories have come about because of trials. And some my deepest regrets have come about because of laziness and misplaced contentment.

Application: The easy way out seems preferable we it comes to the things that we are facing in this life.

And then we see that it doesn’t take a whole to make our lives a little more comfortable. We don’t have to change everything. We don’t even have to deny Christ.

We just have to compromise a little here and there.

We just have to go with the flow a little bit.

Not talk about the difficult stuff.

Don’t talk about sin.

Mind your own business.

Follow a version of the Golden rule that gets you off the hook.

I’ll make my religion private. I won’t force my faith on you.

I’ll just be nice to everyone. I won’t ever offend someone with the truth.

But you see that’s not what Jesus was talking about.

The Golden Rule is about:

Being nice, kind, compassionate, etc.

But it’s also about leading the way through the narrow gate.

Telling people the truth of the Gospel and that it’s a long and difficult road.

But it’s also the only way that leads to eternal life.

Response: How are you doing with the GOLDEN RULE?

Summation: Big Idea: See PEOPLE the way GOD sees PEOPLE.

1. LOVE as you have been LOVED. (Matthew 7:12)

2. Follow CHRIST even when it’s DIFFICULT. (Matthew 7:13)

3. AVOID the EASY way OUT. (Matthew 7:14)

Closing Illustration: One of my favorite poems when i was in school was by Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

While I do not know Robert Frost’s intention, I get the feeling he understood the sentiment of Jesus.

Sadly most will not enter through the narrow gate. Most will take the wide gate, because it’s easier and it’s popular.

The way of Christ is unpopular and seldom undertaken.

But when we come to the end our lives, it’s the harder way that will have made all the difference.

Because there is only one way that leads to eternal life.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way.

Let’s pray.