Let's read the 12th verse of
Matthew chapter seven. Once again, therefore all things whatsoever you would
that men should do to you. And we all know how we want to
be treated. Don't we? I know how I want you to treat me. We're
probably experts at how we would like to be treated. He said, all things that you
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. It doesn't matter how they treat
you. It doesn't matter if they treat you in a way that you don't
like. You're still to treat them as you want to be treated. And then the Lord makes this
remarkable statement for this is the law and the prophets. This is a summary of God's holy
law and the prophets. I've entitled this message, the
golden rule. And this is what is known as
the perfect rule of conduct. There would be no conflict between
individuals or between nations if this was practiced. All things
whatsoever you would that men should do to you, the way you
want to be treated, the way you desire to be treated. That's
how we are to treat others. How do you want to be treated
by others? As I said, I think we all know
something about that. You know, the Bible never tells
other people how to treat me. It only tells me how to treat
other people. The Bible doesn't tell other
people what to do. It tells me what to do. And all things whatsoever you
would that men should do to you, due to them. Now, before this
rule, I don't think I'd ever noticed the beginning of this
verse. It begins with a, therefore, therefore, now in the context, he'd been talking
about asking, seeking and knocking now in light of that, therefore,
in your asking. and in your seeking and your
knocking. If it doesn't cause me to do
unto others as I would have them do to me, my asking, seeking,
and knocking is not real. It's a sham if it doesn't affect
the way I treat you. Remember what the Lord said in
Matthew chapter 25 verse 31, he said, come ye blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world for, and he didn't talk about what you believe.
He said, for I was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty
and you gave me drink. Now all of our asking, we're
asking for mercy. We're asking for grace. We're
asking for forgiveness. We're asking for his presence.
We're asking for the Lord to do something for us. We're seeking
his favor. We're knocking on the door of
his grace. All of that is meaningless. It's meaningless. If it doesn't
make this the rule of my life to do unto others, as I would
have them do to me." Now notice he even says that this is the
law and the prophets. What a statement. This is what
the Lord said. This is the law and the prophets. Now you think of the law of God,
God's holy law or reflection of his holy character summarized
by the 10 commandments. He said, thou shalt have no other
God before me. The commandment forbidding all
forms of idolatry, making images of God. The commandment regarding
taking his name in vain. Oh, what reverence we should
have even in taking his holy name into our mouth. The commandment
regarding the Sabbath, resting in Christ. Honor your father
and mother. Respect all authority. Don't kill. Don't kill means
bodies. Don't kill the characters. Don't
kill them by being angry without a cause. That's the way the Lord
defined that. The commandment against adultery,
physical, spiritual adultery, sexual sin, spiritual sexual
sin, going outside of the covenant. Thou shall not steal. That means
more than shoplifting. You won't steal glory from God.
Thou shalt not steal time and effort from your employer. Don't
bear false witness. Tell the truth. Don't covet.
All that is a reflection of God and God's requirements. And this
is a summary of that. This do and thou shalt live.
And then he calls this the prophets. This is a summary of the prophets.
Thus saith the Lord is the message of the prophets. It's God speaking
through a man. And this is all summarized, all
the law and all the prophets are summarized by this simple,
simple, yet glorious, complex statement, do unto others as
you would have them do to you. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew 22. Here's another way of saying the same thing. Verse 35. 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? What's most important?
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 likened to
it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Isn't that the same
thing as saying, do unto others as you would have them do unto
you? You'll love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. Now love God first. There's no
love to your neighbor without a love to God as he is. And I
mean a love to God as he's revealed in his word. A love to the holy
God, to the just God, to the sovereign God, to the creator
God, the God of glory. We love him. And if we don't
love him, we don't love our neighbor. Love God first and then love
your neighbor as yourself. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
five. This is the law and the prophets. Verse 17. Think not. That I'm come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I didn't come to do away with
it. You take the 10 commandments. If I'm going to be saved, I'm
going to be saved with a perfect standing before those 10 commandments.
They're going to have to say of me, there's no guilt in him. And the only way that can be
is by the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the law. He kept the law. perfectly. He loved his neighbor
as himself and he loved his father with all of his heart and all
of his soul and all of his strength. All that are saved will stand
before the law justified. That means without guilt. Never
forget that. That means without guilt before the holy law of
God. I don't have to worry about the law of God. I can stand before
it and it's going to look me over and I'm not guilty because
Christ's righteousness is my righteousness before God. He
kept the law for me and we stand without guilt. Now the law exposes
our sin. Turn to Romans 7. I want to say
a few things about the law and the prophets before I get into
the meat of the text. Romans 7. Verse seven, what should we say
then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
evil desire, covetousness, and lust. For without the law, sin
was dead. For I was alive without the law
once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just,
and good. Was that thing which is good
made death unto me? Is it the cause of my death?
God forbid, but sin, that it might appear sin, working in
death in me by that which is good, the law, that sin by the
commandment might become exceeding sinful. Paul said the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. Paul said in Romans 3.31, do
we make void the law through faith? God forbid. We establish
the law. On this hang all the law and
all the prophets. To him give all the prophets
witness that through his name, everyone that believeth in him
should receive the remission of sins. Now this is the law
and the prophets do unto others. as you would have them do unto
you. Now this holy commandment, it
reveals the greatness of God. Who would give such a commandment
as this? Isn't this a beautiful, glorious commandment? I mean,
we look at this and we admire it. We love it. It's so beautiful. How am I to treat you? The way
I want to be treated without reference to the way you treat
me. I'm to treat you as I want to be treated. That reflects
the glory of God. It reflects his greatness. What
a, what a glorious God that makes something like this. And this
also exposes our greatest enemy. Self. What is the great enemy
to this commandment? Self. Self. Selfishness, self-centeredness,
self-seeking. Selfishness is the only thing
that will cause someone to not carry this out. We think, well,
if I treat people the way I want them to be treated, why, it'd
cost me something. They'd take advantage of me. I fear I'll lose by this and
someone else will gain. This exposes how sinful we are.
Which of us have carried this out? There's only one who's carried
this out. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one who loved his father with all of his heart and all
of his soul and with all of his strength, and the only one who
loved his neighbor as himself. And this also demonstrates how
God's law is not just in the negatives. It's not just in the
thou shalt nots. It's in the thou shalt. This is the way you
are to be. Now, what do I desire from you? I gave this a lot of thought.
I'm good at this one. I know the way I want to be treated.
I gave this a lot of thought. What do I desire from you? Well, here's my first desire. I want to be told the truth. I want to hear the gospel. I want to have that question
answered. What must I do to be saved? I want to know how God can accept
me. That's what I want more than
anything else. I want to hear the gospel. I want to hear how God can accept
me and save me for Christ's sake and forgive my sins for Christ's
sake. I want to hear of the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I want to hear about His righteousness
being my only righteousness before God. I want to hear the freeness
of His grace. I want to hear the gospel. That's
what I want from you. I want to hear the gospel. Give
me the truth. Tell me the truth about God,
His true character. Tell me the truth about myself.
Don't cover it. Tell me the truth about myself.
Tell me how God saves sinners by His grace, by His electing
grace, by His redeeming grace, by His regenerating grace. Oh,
let me hear the gospel. Now, that's what I want to do
for you. I want to preach the gospel to you. That's what I
want more than anything else. You know what else I want? I don't want you to expect flawless
perfection out of me. I don't want that. I want you
to remember what I am, a sinner saved by grace with many contradictions,
with many inconsistencies. Don't hold my feet to the fire.
I don't want you to do that. Remember who I am and what I
am. Another way to say this is I don't want you to put me under
the law. I want to be under grace. That's the way I want you to
view me in his grace. You know, the scripture says
he knows our frame. He remembers that we're dust.
I want you to remember that about me. And that's the way I want
to be toward you. However I want you to be, I don't
want you to hold me to the law. I don't want you to hold my feet
to the fire. I don't want to hold your feet to the fire. I
don't want to put you under law. Don't want, don't want to do
that. You know something I hate? I hate it when somebody puts
me under their microscope. I hate it when I feel like I'm
being scrutinized and watched over to see whether or not I
measure up, looking for flaws and inconsistencies. I tell you
what, if you look for them, you'll find them, and you'll find plenty
of them. There's no question about that. But you know, love
covers a transgression. I don't like people judging me.
It's not your place, and you don't have the ability to render
a proper judgment on me anyway. And the same goes with me toward
you. Judge not at all, our Lord said. I don't like being judged,
do you? I don't like being criticized. I don't like being scrutinized.
I don't like people watching me over. I want people to give
me the benefit of the doubt. You want that, don't you? I do
not want that. I want for you to not put a negative
spin on my actions. I want you to look at me in a
positive way. That's what you want me to do
to you too, isn't it? You really want that from the depths of
your heart. That's what we want. I want you to forgive me. You know, if we're going to have
a relationship with each other, we're going to forgive one another,
aren't we? I want you to forgive me. And I don't want you to do
so grudgingly. I want you to do so willingly
and cheerfully and lovingly. And that's what I want to do
for you. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
If you've offended me, I want you to be quick to apologize.
I want you to be quick to say I'm sorry and mean it from the
depths of your heart. Now, if I've offended you, I
want to be quick to apologize and quick to humble myself before
you. do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. I want you to be merciful to
me, and I want you to do it with cheerfulness. Doesn't the Lord
say, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness? Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. I want you to be merciful
toward me. I want you to be gracious to
me, and I want you to cover up my sins. Love covers transgression. I want you to cover up my weaknesses
and I want you to accept me for Christ's sake. I don't want you
to hold me off at arm's length and keep me on probation. I want
you to be someone who's approachable. I can approach to and I don't
have to walk on eggshells around you. That's what I want. That's
how I want you to treat me and that's how I want to treat you.
To always be approachable. Somebody you don't have to be
so touchy around. I want you to treat me with kindness
and respect. It hurts so much to be treated
unkindly and with disrespect. I want you to treat me with kindness
and respect. I want you to speak well of me
and speak well of me to others. I don't want you to slander me
or spread gossip concerning me. I don't want you to listen to
bad things people say about me, but I want you to protect me
and defend my name and defend my honor. That's how I want to
be treated, and that is how I am to treat you. I want you to be
a true and faithful friend to me that I can always count on,
a friend forever. True blue. It's always there. And I want
you to listen to me. I want you to listen to what
I'm saying. And I want you to be sensitive about my feelings.
I don't want you to hurt my feelings. Don't you hate getting your feelings
hurt? It's a horrible thing. I don't want you to hurt my feelings.
And that's how I'm to treat you, to be sensitive, to listen to
you, to be sensitive toward your feelings. I want you to be an
encouragement to me. And I also want you to warn me
if I'm going in the wrong direction. I really do. I need you to. If
I'm going in the wrong direction, I don't want to just be swept
under the cover. I want you to warn me. In a word, I want you to love
me. I want you to love me. Do unto
others as you would have them do to you. You see, I'm real
good at telling about what I want. I think we're all experts at that. We
all know how we want to be treated. Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. This is the law and the prophets. Turn to Romans chapter 13. Verse 7, Render therefore to all their
dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom
is due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor, owe
no man anything but to love one another. Now that's a debt I
do owe you, to love you. For he that loveth another, what's
it say? Hath fulfilled the law. For this, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there
be any other commandment, it's briefly comprehended in this
saying, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill
to his neighbor, Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. Now,
this is a chapter we should always be looking at very often. You
know, if the Lord said, by this shall all men know you're my
disciples, by the love you have one to another, that ought to
be something that's always on our mind. Peter said, above all
things, have fervent charity among yourselves. Now, look here.
Well, look in verse 31 of chapter 12. He said, but covet earnestly
the best gifts and yet show unto you a more
excellent way. This is better than any gift.
If there's something that you seek and covet earnestly, this
is what it ought to be. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, speak so eloquently and with perfection
and accurately and have not charity. I'm become as a sounding brass
or a tinkling cymbal, my language is offensive. And though I have
the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
I have more knowledge than anybody else. And though I have all faith,
miracle working faith, so that I can remove mountains and have
not charity, this love, I am nothing. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor. And though I give my body to
be burned as a martyr for the cause of God in truth. Now those
are two high things to give everything away you have and to die as a
martyr and have not charity. It profits me nothing. Now he tells what charity does.
Charity suffers long. He puts up with a whole lot.
When you love somebody, you put up with them. And it's kind. It's not mean. It's kind. Charity envieth not. You can't envy somebody you love.
You're happy when they're promoted. You're happy for their good.
You're not envious of them. If you envy them, you don't love
them. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself. It doesn't push itself. There's no need for it to do
that. It's not puffed up with pride, proud and conceited and
unapproachable. It doesn't behave itself unseemly. It's not rude or conceited. It
doesn't seek her own. It's not self-seeking. It's not
easily provoked. It's not touchy. You don't have
to walk around eggshells around charity. It thinks no evil. That means it keeps no records
of wrongs. It keeps no records of wrongs. It rejoices not in iniquity. It doesn't rejoice in evil, but
it rejoices in the truth. It bears all things. It covers
with silence. all things. It believes all things. It hopes all things. It endures
all things. Charity never fails. It's never
brought to inactivity, but whether they be prophecies, they shall
fail. Whether they be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there
be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, we
prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect has come, then
That which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child,
I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child,
but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now
we see through a glass darkly, and isn't that just the truth?
We see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I'm known, and now abideth faith,
hope, charity, these three, But the greatest of these is charity. Follow, pursue after charity. This is the law and this is the
prophets. Now the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ secures these three things. First, it secures the glory of
God. Now I realize the natural man
isn't much interested in the glory of God because the natural
man supposes that gain is godliness and they serve God for gain,
for what they think they'll be benefited from it, how they think
it will be an advantage to their life. There's no truth in that. I mean,
that's the way men are. But if that's the way I am, I
know nothing of the God of glory because the gospel has to do
with the glory of God. And in God saving a sinner, God
taking somebody like me and making me accepted before him, he gets
all the glory. And that's the way we love it.
We love to have it like that. I'm not saved because I did anything. I'm saved because he saved me. He saved us and he called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now, if it was all given to me
before the world began, what do I have to glory in? I wasn't
even around when it happened. I didn't have any existence.
He gets all the glory in the salvation of the sinner. When
Jesus Christ said, it is finished, the salvation of all of the elect
was completed, finished, and he bears all the glory. So the first thing the gospel
secures is it secures the glory of God. He gets all the glory. And the second thing that the
gospel secures is it saves a man from sin and from the consequences
of sin. This becomes sweeter and sweeter
to me. I've been saved from the penalty
of sin. I will never have to give an
account for my many sins. I've been saved from the penalty
of sin because Christ took my place. I have his very righteousness. That's salvation, isn't it? I'm
saved from the power of sin. Sin doesn't have dominion over
me. Now, what do I mean by that? Do I mean, well, I'm able to,
to withstand this sin and withstand that sin. And I'll just, I just,
I can resist. Is that what I'm talking about?
No, no. Somebody talks that way. They're
a liar. That's all they are. They're a liar. They're they're
putting on. It's not true. There was a time when I did not
know what it means, what it means to believe on Christ. I couldn't
believe, didn't know what it meant. But I do now. I'm trusting Jesus Christ the
Lord right now as my all in salvation. There was a time when I couldn't
repent, didn't know what it meant. I repent now. Now, when you think
that you can overcome sin, all you prove is you're under the
complete dominion of it. You can prove you're under the
complete power of it. But, oh, when you're saved from
the power of sin, the dominion of sin, you're enabled to do
what you could not do, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The
gospel secures the salvation of a man from his sin, the consequences
of sin, the power of sin, and one of these days from the very
presence of sin. That's my future, to be without sin. But thirdly,
the gospel secures this It makes a man like the Lord Jesus Christ. So that this is the rule of his
life. Do unto others as you would have
them do to you. This is the goal of his life. do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. And this is the joy of his life,
to treat others the way he wants to be treated. This is the law
and this is the prophets. And I think this is amazing.
Only the Lord could make such a simple statement that covers
everything. It covers everything. Everything
you need to know, everything I need to know about anything
as far as anything is found in this statement. This is how I'm
to treat you. Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you. This is the law and the prophets. May God brand this
in our hearts for Christ's sake. Let's pray.