“The Sermon on the Mount”

“The Sermon on the Mount”

“The Golden Rule”

Matthew 7:12

We have come to a place where we are going to start wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount. We won’t finish today, or probably this year, but the language and the style of writing suggests that this was where Jesus was basically saying, “I’m about to lose.”

Of course you all know that that really just means, I have a few more points to go, but I’ve gotta say something to wake everyone up and get their attention.

This morning we are going to read Matthew 7:12. I am certain EVERYONE HERE knows this verse, or at least some form of it…

Matthew 7:12 (ESV)

The Golden Rule

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

PRAY

There are some Scriptures that are so iconic, so well-known, that nearly EVERYONE KNOWS THEM!!!

This just happens to be one of those verse. I can tell you that I grew up in a Christian home. I spent the first 15-16 years of my life in church every time the doors were open. Even with that I cannot remember hearing this passage of Scripture preached in church.

The full truth of the matter is that I just thought this was an idiom, or an expectation for Christians. I thought that this was just what nice people did.

As we move through this this morning I want to point out three things. I want to point out what this is not, what this is, and how we apply it to our lives.

I. What It Is Not

a. It is not a negative statement.

i. Jesus has been accused of Plagiarism

1. Most major religions have some form of this statement

a. Ancient Egypt – (approx. 2000 years BC) “Do to the doer to make him do to you.”

i. (Approx. 660 BC) “That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another.”

b. Ancient Greece (various times 600-300 BC)

i. "Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." – Thales

ii. "What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either. " – Sextus the Pythagorean.

iii. "may I be of a sound mind, and do to others as I would that they should do to me." - Plato

iv. "Do not do to others that which angers you when they do it to you." – Isocrates

c. Buddhism - Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

d. Judaism - Rabbi Hellel “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”

2. Nearly every religion has some form of this recorded, BUT JESUS BRINGS IT TO A POSITIVE LIGHT IN THE WAY IT IS STATED!

b. It is not an eye for an eye…

i. “Do unto others as they have done to you.”

1. Matthew 5:21-26; 38-48

c. Shift Work (blame the other guy0…

d. …or leave it the way you hope to find it!

II. What It Is

a. A Bookend to The Sermon on the Mount: “The Law and The Prophets”

i. Proper term is “Inclusion”

ii. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think I came to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill.”

iii. Matthew 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

iv. Matthew 22:37-40 “And He said to them, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your sould, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second dis like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS DEPEND ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS.

v. This is the very point the Sermon on the Mount is pointing us to.

vi. Isaiah 1:16-17

vii. Amos 5:21-24

b. SO, THEREFORE, oun (oon)

i. It is a continuation of the preceding verses.

1. Text without context is pretext…

2. Because of What God has one for us, we should do to others.

3. Pay It Forward

4. Kindness Is Free

III. How Do We Apply It

a. Pay It Forward

b. Remember that Smiles and Kindness are free

c. 2 Corinthians 9:6 Sowing and Reaping

d. Micah 6:8

e. James 2:8-10