Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Matthew chapter 7, Matthew 7. Our Lord has been teaching His
Sermon on the Mount, and I want to just continue it tonight.
He's been setting forth the right, the honorable, attitude that
his people are to possess toward the Lord, his gospel, his people. He's been teaching in this chapter,
chapter 7, don't judge, don't let these frivolous insignificant. Don't try to judge an attitude
or an intent. of a brother or sister. We don't
know their heart. We don't know. But He said when
you're preaching, we're to preach the Gospel to every creature. That's what Scripture says. But
when preaching, He's given us warning also to use some wisdom
concerning those that oppose the Gospel. That just won't hear
it, won't have it. I've had people actually tell
me, don't ever bring that up to me again. I told them okay. He told us to be sensitive to
the needs of our brethren. That's what we looked at last
time. Now tonight, he's going to set
forth one verse of scripture, verse 12. In this one verse of
scripture, he's going to set forth a concise truth that sums
up the totality of what he has been teaching in this sermon. This whole sermon on the mount.
He sums it up in this one verse. Verse 12, Therefore all things
whatsoever Ye would that men should do to you, do ye even
so to them. For this is the law and the prophets. That sums up, the Lord said,
the law and the prophets. There were some, turn over to
Matthew 22, there were some that opposed the Lord and were actually
going to try to entrap him, try to corner him concerning his
knowledge of the scriptures. And they were actually, this was
the question that they were going to ask. They wanted to know what
is the root commandment. What's the bottom line? Matthew 22 verse 34. But when
the Pharisees had heard that he'd put the Sadducees to silence,
they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a
lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, Master,
which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him,
thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, this is the first and
great commandment, and the second is like unto it. Now you listen
to what he's about to say. He said the first and great commandment
to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
and all thy mind. And then he said, and the second
is likened to it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. Now do you know who said those
two commandments stood together? The Lord said that. On these
two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets. Now, disobedience to those two
commandments is why there's quarrels, fighting, wars that are existing
in the world today. And it's because we all, by nature,
trample underfoot. We ignore that which we're commanded
to think toward God and do and think toward men. You know, we
have no problem demanding what others ought to do in respect
to us. We don't have any problem figuring
out what we think others should say for us. Isn't it revealing
that nowhere in the word of God does the scripture ever tell
others how they're to treat us? No scripture ever tells others
how others are to treat us. It tells us how we're to treat
others. That's the commandment. We're
to love our neighbor, love God with all of our heart, mind,
soul, being, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Every one of us feel that we
can give an exact reason why others ought to respect us and
our opinion. And at the same time, we can
quickly name the failures of others and give ample reasons
to criticize our neighbors for their actions. I can always,
I can see your problems a lot faster than I see mine. You know,
I can pick yours out real fast. But you know that's a two-way
street, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. But if every man
held firmly and honorably to the law and to the teaching of
the prophets concerning our conduct toward God and men, if everyone
held to that, you know what? Every father and every mother
would be honored. They'd be esteemed and obeyed.
There'd be no murder of body or character. There would be
no adultery in body or mind. There'd be no theft or covetousness
of another's property if everyone held to those two commandments
right there. I'm going to tell you something.
This world would be a world that stood in righteousness. One day
it will. but it's not today. We loved
our neighbor as we loved our self. Every man, every woman
loved God without wavering and treated every other human being
as he desired to be treated. That right there is perfection. So we're commanded. We're commanded
according to the word of God Whatsoever, now here's the law. This is what the law says. This
is out of Leviticus. Whatsoever you would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them. That's not a suggestion. That's the law. Now, we're all
gonna admit, and we're in agreement with Paul the Apostle, to will
is present with us. Now is there a believer in here
that truly would not desire, I mean desire to love God with
all your heart and to treat every other human being as you would
desire to be treated. You treated them that way and
that's what you desired them to treat you that way. Everyone
will say that desire is with me, but how to perform that which
is good? The Apostle Paul said, I find
not. I don't find it in my power to
accomplish that which I truly desire. I want to. I want to. We strive after obedience. But
what our Lord quoted back in Matthew 7.12, again, is not a
suggestion. It's a commandment. It's the
law. We need perfect obedience to
that law, right there, to be accepted with God. And let me
ask you, do we not all remember that to offend in one point,
we're guilty of all. So this issue right here, this
word, therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men should do
to you, do you even so to them. That's the golden rule. That's
what that is, the royal law. That's what I'm titled is the
royal law. That's the golden rule. Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you. That's what he's saying. All the law, the prophets hang
on that verse right there. Every bit of it. So here we are,
we're realizing that this is not a suggestion but it is the
law of God. And there's not one person in
here that's obeyed it. In themselves, not one. Not in
themselves. Let me ask you this. Do I have
any hope then of acceptance with God? This is the golden rule. I could sit here and just go
on for, you know, thirty minutes telling you we ought to treat
each other as we want to be treated. And everybody's going to agree
with me. But nobody's done it. We may desire to do it, but none
of us has done it. And so therefore, we take what
the Lord has just said and the first thing we do is we just
admit, I'm guilty. But do I have any hope? That
law has got to be obeyed. Do we have any hope? There is a man. There is a man. There's a man
who is in glory. He's at the right hand of the
majesty on high. He's seated in the heavenlies. And that man is in our presence,
I'm convinced, tonight. There is a man. There's a man
that rules and reigns in the hearts of his people. There's
a man who has justly, honorably, obeyed that law, right there,
and has fulfilled all the prophecies of God, set forth through the
preaching of the prophets. One man has treated men as he
would be treated. One man has. One man who according
to God's will, God's purpose, honored the law and showed mercy
to guilty sinners. He is the man, Christ Jesus. Now let me just hold your place
there and turn over to Luke 6. I want to show you Luke's account
on this issue right here. Luke chapter 6, verse 27. Luke
6, 27, 28. Luke 6, 27, 28. The Lord is speaking. He said,
but I say unto you, which hear. And here's what the Lord said.
Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you.
Bless them that curse you. Pray for them which despitefully
use you. Now let me ask you this. Did
not the Lord love his people everlastingly? when we were enemies in our minds
against him. That's what he said. He said,
I say unto you, you love your enemies, and you do good to them
that hate you. You know who obeyed that? He
did. He was one. Did he not do good
to us, his people, who hated him without a cause, while we
were lost sinners Before we ever knew Him in grace, did He not
do us good? Did He not stand for us according
to God's everlasting covenant of grace? Was He not our surety? Was He not our hiding place?
God had put us in Him before the foundation of the world.
Did He not do us good? Was He not the One in whom we
were blessed of the Father? What did He say here? Verse 28.
You bless them that curse you. Was He not the One in whom we
were hidden with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places who
cursed Him and hated Him? That's what He said. He said,
You do good to them that hate you, you bless them to curse
you, and you pray for them which despitefully use you. Was he not the one who on that
day in which he was being crucified? There were some in that crowd
who were the vessels of his mercy. Because when he prayed, Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do, he wasn't praying
for everybody. I can tell you that. He said
that in John 17. He said, I pray not for the world.
I pray for them that you've given me out of the world. There were
some down there that was wagging their heads. He saved others. He can't save himself. Father,
forgive them. They don't know what they're
doing. He was praying for his sheep. He told us in verse 28,
you bless them that curse you and you pray for them which despitefully
use you. Who obeyed that law? He did.
One man, one man. Look at verse 29. And unto him
that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other.
And him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy
coat also. Give to every man that asketh
of thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not
again. And as ye would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise. We're the ungrateful
thieves of God's eternal spiritual blessings in Christ before. We
were the one, we were the robbers of his character. oblivious to
His long-suffering goodness. Oh, but He who would not cast
us away. He showed kindness and mercy
and compassion. He would not leave us to ourselves. And only this man obeyed that
law that we read back in Matthew chapter 7. He laid down His life
for the sheep, no greater love hath any man than this, lays
down his life. But there's something else concerning
the Lord that he was pleased to reveal to us concerning the
honoring of this law and the fulfilling of the prophets, something
that's actually experienced in this life by his people. There's
something that every believer does unto others that he would
have them do to him. There is something that we do. I want you to turn to Matthew
25. Hold your place in Matthew 7,
but turn over to Matthew 25. We've read description before. I want you to look at it again
though. Matthew 25, 31. What is it? Here's my question.
What is it that I would, that men should do to me? That's what I wanna do to them.
Well, we're gonna find out right here. What is it that I really
want you to do to me? What is it? Let's see what the
Lord says. Matthew 25, 31. When the Son
of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before
him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, the goats on the
left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand,
come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry,
you gave me meat. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me
in naked. You clothe me, sick, you visited
me, I was in prison, you came unto me, then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered, fed
thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? When saw we thee
sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you've
done it, unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you've
done it unto me." The Lord revealed His desire and pleasure toward
a people who had spiritually fed His sheep the gospel, those
who told sinners who the water of life is, who showed mercy
to strangers the strangers of the Lord's affection and who
were scattered throughout all of the world, and those who told
others, the One who robes believers in His own righteousness, He
covers their nakedness and delivers sinners from the captivity of
sin. And those who shall be the blessed
ones on the day of judgment when the Lord says unto them, when
you did these things, When you told others of me, what do I
want for you to do? Whatsoever you would that men
would do to you, that's what you do to them. What do I want
you to do for me? I want you to tell me back of
the glory of Christ. I want you to tell me of Him.
Tell me of the one who saves sinners like me. That's what
I want. I want you to tell me the truth.
That's what I want. I want you to be free with me
in the setting forth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatsoever you
would that men would do to you, that's what you do to them. You
tell them of the Lord Himself. Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as you did it unto the least of one of these my brethren.
He said, you did that to me, you who believe. Is that not
what you want? Don't you desire that men would
tell you the truth of Christ? Don't you want to hear again?
I'm telling you tonight in obedience to the Lord's command. I'm doing
to you what I want you to do to me. I want us to fellowship
here. I want us to fellowship in Christ
who is the water of life. I want us to fellowship in Him
who rescues the captives. from the bondage of sin, penalty
of hell, separation from God. I want to know of the holiness
of the Lord Himself. Tell me about the Great Physician.
This is what I want to talk about. I want to talk about that other
stuff. I want to talk about Him. I want to talk about the Master.
And what is it that the Lord would have us do unto Him? Now, here's what He's saying.
whatsoever you would that men should do to you. You do that
to them. Now, what would the Lord have
me do unto him? And when I say the him, I'm talking
about his people. He said, when you've done this
to the least of one of these my brethren, you did that to
me. So what I'm doing is when I tell you When I tell you the
truth concerning Christ, you know what I'm doing? I'm doing
that to Him. He said, you did that to Me.
You were fellowshipping with Me in My people. So you preach the Gospel. You
preach it to every creature. And you trust Me to call My own
out of darkness. What would He have? for me to
do unto Him. Whatsoever you would that men
should do to you, you do that to them. What would He have us
to do to His people? You love them. You love them. And so therefore, because He
would that I would love His people, He loved me first and gave me
a heart of love for them. He would that we would be thankfully
being joyful with His own, live in peace, have long-suffering
with His people, be gentle and good and faithful and be with
a spirit of meekness and temperance. Where did I get those? Where
did I get those things that the Lord would have me do unto Him? Galatians chapter 5. I got them
out. That's the fruit of the Spirit.
Whatsoever you would, that men would do to you. Whatsoever the
Lord would that I would do to Him, His people. See, this is where I can see
Him physically. He said, you do it to them, you're
doing it to Me. Whatsoever you would that men
would do to you, you do that to them. Tell them of Him. Have a spirit of joy. Meekness,
all of those fruits. And how am I going to do that?
Well, I'll tell you how I'm going to do it. He's going to give
me the fruit of His Spirit. And when I do that to you, I'm
doing it to Him. That's what He would, that I
would do unto Him. Therefore, all things whatsoever
you would that men should do to you, this is what I want you
to do for me. I want you to love me. I want
you to love me. I want you to tell me the truth
of the gospel. I want you to be long-suffering
with me. I want you to be gentle with me. I want you to be good. I want you to be faithful. All
of those things, that's what I want you to do to me. I want
to do that to you. And when I do it to you, I'm
doing it to Him. And in that day, He's going to
say, Well done, well done, thy good and faithful servant. Now
let me ask you this. Have we done unto others perfectly
in ourselves as we should? No, no. We're frail creatures
of dust, but listen, let me tell you something. In the Lord, we
have. Almighty God, our blessed Savior
fulfilled that law perfectly. Imputed to us that righteousness. In Him, we're perfect. But there is a new man in every
believer. that desires to obey his commandment. Whatsoever you would. Is there
anybody, any believer in here that does not want another believer
to love him? Is there anybody here that doesn't
want another believer to love him? And be truthful with him? And pray for him? and be kind
to them, and gentle, and meek, long-suffering. Is there anybody
here? Whatsoever you would that men to do to you, you do that
to them. Almighty God has given us of
himself the fruit of his blessed spirit. And I'm telling you,
I admit, there's an old man that wars against what we're talking
about right here, but there's a new man that loves it. and
strives after it, and longs for the perfection of it in that
day. I pray that the Lord bless these
words to our hearts. I know that we're just earthen
vessels, but there's a treasure within that loves this word,
believes this word, and longs to hear it afresh. And I pray
that the Lord bless it again to our hearts for Christ's sake.
Amen.