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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew 7 as we continue our way through the Sermon on the 
Mount, a larger treatment of Matthew's gospel. Matthew 7, I'll pick up reading 
verse 1 and read to verse 12. Judge not that you be not judged, 
for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with 
the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And 
why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do 
not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to 
your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye? And look, 
a plank is in your own eye. Hypocrite, first remove the plank 
from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the 
speck from your brother's eye. Do not give what is holy to the 
dogs. nor cast your pearls before swine, 
lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear 
you in pieces. Ask, and it will be given to 
you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, 
and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, 
and he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks, it will 
be opened. Or what man is there among you 
who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if 
he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being 
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more 
will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who 
ask Him? Therefore, whatever you want 
men to do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and 
the prophets. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your holy word, and we thank you for the Lord 
Jesus Christ. We'll see in some time he spoke 
not as the scribes and the Pharisees, but he spoke as one having authority. 
We thank you, Lord God, that he is the prophet to the church 
and that he sends the spirit. He has provided the word, and 
we pray that even now you would guide us in our study of this 
most important passage of scripture. We ask that you would forgive 
us for all of our sins and unrighteousness. God, as we come face to face 
with your holy word, We see our own sinfulness. We see our own 
transgression. We see, Lord God, our own lawless 
hearts. We confess that even now and 
pray for forgiveness, for cleansing, for the blood of Jesus Christ 
to be applied. We pray for any and all who have 
come here this morning that do not know you. We ask that this 
would be the day of salvation, that you'd open hearts, that 
you would do that sovereign work that is impossible with men, 
but is in fact possible with you. We pray that you would draw 
sinners out of darkness into marvelous light, that they may 
confess Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior. And we ask in 
his most blessed name, amen. Well, just a bit of review where 
we've been in the last several weeks. In chapter 7, at this 
point specifically, the Lord Jesus is bringing to a conclusion 
the actual instruction part of the Sermon on the Mount. Remember 
we noted there's an inclusio between chapter 7, verse 12, 
and chapter 5, verse 17. Jesus refers to the law and the 
prophets in both those sections. So everything up to that point 
in the Sermon on the Mount is sort of introductory, the Beatitudes, 
the way the Christian is defined and described, and then that 
necessity to witness as salt and light in this world. And 
then Jesus states his relationship to the Law and the Prophets. 
He says, do not even let it rise up in your mind that I have come 
to destroy the Law and the Prophets. He said, I didn't come to destroy, 
I didn't come to abolish, I didn't come to set aside, but rather 
I came to fulfill. And then he highlights the necessity 
for the believer to rightly relate to the Law and Prophets also. 
He tells the Christian that our righteousness must exceed the 
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees in chapter 5 at 
verse 20. He then expounds the law. He 
expounds the believer's relationship to the law from chapter 521 to 
chapter 548. He then deals with our acts of 
piety, godliness, or religious observance. He deals in chapter 
6 verses 1 to 18 with the way we are before the living God, 
the way we give alms, the way that we pray, the way that we 
fast. We're not to be like the hypocrite, 
but rather we're to do it under the glory of God. Chapter 619 
to the end of the chapter. He cautions us. against a carnal 
anxiety. He cautions us against an inordinate 
worry. He doesn't say just lay back 
and let go. He does inculcate industry on 
the part of his people, but he doesn't want us to be immobilized 
or paralyzed with carnal anxiety. And then in chapter 7, verses 
1 to 6, he tells us how we're to relate to various people groups. Chapter 7, verses 1 to 5, within 
the community of faith, Within the Church of Jesus Christ, we 
are to guard against a judgmental attitude. But with reference 
to those outside of the community, specifically a certain class 
of unbelievers, those who want to trample pearls under their 
feet and turn and tear you into pieces, the ones he identifies 
as dogs and pigs, he says we're not to have anything to do with 
that. That's not all unbelievers. As I said, it's a subset of unbelievers. And so here, then, he gives this 
imperative with reference to prayer. Chapter 7, verses 7 to 
11. You need prayer, you need power, you need help, you need 
grace in order to live this Sermon on the Mount. If you really are 
going to conduct yourself according to the Law of God, if you're 
really going to do your religious observances under God, if you're 
not going to be carnally anxious, and you're not going to be judgmental, 
and you're going to have discernment, you need help from God Most High. That's why He says, ask and seek. and knock. And then he gives 
that blessed incentive that our Heavenly Father gives good gifts 
to those who ask. And then here in verse 12 it's 
as if he summarizes everything that speaks to our relationships 
to others. And then of course the sermon 
concludes or ends with Jesus' call to a decisive response. He highlights two ways, two trees, 
two claims, and two builders. So thus is the outline of the 
Sermon on the Mount. This morning we're going to focus 
on what men have called the Golden Rule. So in verses 7 to 11, we 
have a gracious remedy. God supplies help to His people 
in order that they may conduct themselves in the manner He prescribes. And then in verse 12, He gives 
us this Golden Rule, as I said, that sort of ties together all 
of our responsibilities with reference to our dealings with 
other people. So we're going to do two things 
this morning. We're going to explain the rule, and we're going 
to apply the rule. If we ask the question, how did 
it become known as the golden rule? Jesus doesn't say that 
in the text. He doesn't say, I'm hereby giving 
you a golden rule. But of course, that's how we've 
come to know chapter 7, verse 12. Well, the commentators allude 
to this or note this particular fact. The common description 
of this saying as the golden rule is traditionally traced 
to the Roman emperor Alexander Severus. He reigned in about 
AD 222 to 235, who, though he was not a Christian, was reputedly 
so impressed by the comprehensiveness of this maxim of Jesus as a guide 
to good living that he had it inscribed in gold on the wall 
of his chamber. Hence, the Golden Rule. It's as good a descriptor as 
any that I can conceive of with reference to this principle that 
Jesus sets forth in how we ought to deal with one another. So 
let's look at the Golden Rule in terms of explanation. Notice 
that it's set forth in a positive manner. It's set forth positively. Whatever you want men to do to 
you, do also to them. That's a positive statement. 
Jesus didn't originate this idea. Jesus didn't come up with this 
idea. in the religious history and 
in philosophical history, this law of reciprocity has always 
been there. Treat others the way you want 
them to treat you. But Jesus uses the positive form. It does include the negative 
form, but it's far more comprehensive. And what do I mean by the negative 
form? There were a couple of rabbis 
standing around, I don't know if they were just standing around, 
whatever they happened to be doing, in about 20 BC. You may 
have heard of these rabbis before. They had differing views on divorce 
and remarriage. That's how we know them most 
of all. There was one named Hillel and one named Shammai. And a 
certain Gentile came up to them and he stood on one leg. I'm 
not making this up unless the commentators are making this 
up. He stood on one leg and he asked for an explanation of the 
whole law. He wanted an explanation of the entirety of the Torah, 
the law of God. And so Hillel answers him in 
a negative form. And this is what Hillel said. 
What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone. You don't like 
people hitting you in the head with a hammer, don't hit other 
people in the head with a hammer. If you don't like people stealing 
food off your plate, then don't steal food off their plate. You 
see, it's formed in somewhat of a negative. What is hateful 
to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole law. All the 
rest is commentary. That was Hillel's response to 
this Gentile who was standing on one leg. Whether that satisfied 
the Gentile, we simply do not know. But he is appealing to 
this maxim, this law of reciprocity. What is hateful to you, don't 
do that to other people. Avoid those sayings. Do not inflict 
them upon others. If there's something that is 
displeasing to you, assume that it's displeasing to others and 
don't inflict it upon them. But you see, in the mouth of 
Jesus, he puts the positive in place. The negative form of the 
rule is helpful for the heathen. It's helpful for the non-Christian. 
It's a helpful way of life to maintain equity, to maintain 
fairness, and to hopefully restrain us from being as bad as we can 
possibly be. But the positive form, as I said, 
includes the negative, but it goes further. It doesn't just 
secure safety, it doesn't just secure fairness, it doesn't just 
secure equity, but rather the positive form promotes love. The positive form promotes charity. The positive form promotes selflessness 
on the part of the one who has received the rule. And dare I 
say that in the positive form, we need God's grace. We need 
help from on high because these things do not come naturally 
to those whom Jesus has just described. If you then, being 
evil, love to give good gifts to your children, how much more 
will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him? 
It is not our nature, it is not our disposition, it is not there 
in Adam to go out and positively show love to people, to go out 
and positively help people, and to go out and positively promote 
their well-being, their security, their safety, and their happiness. That is not our tendency. May I just say that the gospel 
is there because obedience to this rule isn't? May I just suggest 
the reason why Christ died and rose again is because we, by 
nature, are selfish wretches that do not care one whit about 
other people. That's why. If anybody ever says, 
why did Jesus go through that on the cross? So that God could 
reconcile sinners unto himself. You see, our problem isn't we're 
a little estranged from God. Our problem isn't that we need 
a little help from on high. Our problem is that our sin is 
so offensive and so loathsome and so vile before a thrice holy 
God who has wrath and anger and fury targeted toward us that 
it took the death of the Son of God to bring atonement. You see, when you ask the question, 
why did Jesus have to die so that you can go to heaven, so 
you can receive the pardon for sin and a righteousness that 
avails with God, the gospel is absolutely essential because 
obedience to the golden rule is absolutely lacking. Let's just investigate this rule 
and see how it affects us. Note first its comprehensiveness. It's comprehensiveness. Therefore, again, implication. 
The teaching section of the ethical imperatives are over. It's going 
to summarize with these two ways, two claims, two trees, all that 
stuff. But the ethical imperatives and 
the way that we relate to one another is all subsumed here. Therefore, whatever. Whatever 
you want men to do to you. That's a comprehensive rule. 
It's an expansive rule. It has universal scope in terms 
of its beauty. J.C. Ryle says that this rule 
settles a hundred difficult points. It prevents the necessity of 
laying down endless little rules for our conduct in specific cases. And notice the language that 
Christ uses, whatever you want men to do to you. He's not saying 
that every thought, every desire, every wish that is in your evil 
heart is somehow the standard of absolute righteousness. Again, 
it's the law of reciprocity. What you want people to do to 
you, how you want to be treated, you want to be treated with dignity, 
you want to be treated with respect, you want to be treated with love, 
you want to be treated with safety, you want to be treated in that 
way, well, you do also to others. It is a comprehensive rule that 
finds its way into every place in all of our lives. We're always 
connected with people. Unless you buy an island and 
you go set up a hut and you live there all by yourself, you are 
going to come into contact with people. And even in that scenario, 
you're probably going to have to get shipments of food so you'll 
have some sort of a contact as he comes to deliver your wares. 
We are social beings. We are social creatures. And 
Jesus lays this maxim down, this principle down, this rule down, 
that speaks comprehensively to every area of life that we find 
ourselves in. Secondly, it is perpetual. The 
tenses of the verbs that Jesus used suggest that it is to be 
constant. You don't just decide on Sunday, 
I'm going to be nice to people because I want them to be nice 
to me. You don't just decide on Friday afternoon that I'm 
going to try a little bit of sugar instead of vinegar. because I want some sugar instead 
of vinegar. It is to be perpetual. This is 
supposed to be foremost. This is supposed to be on your 
mind. This is the way you're supposed to live. You ought to 
be Alexander Severus. You ought to inscribe it in gold 
on the mind and on the heart. Why should some heathen emperor 
take more pains to inscribe this in his own chambers than Christians 
do who find themselves among other people all the time? It's 
terrible. It is a perpetual rule. The believer 
in the Lord Jesus doesn't just apply the rule when it suits 
him. The believer in the Lord Jesus 
applies the rule consistently, perpetually, constantly. Notice thirdly, it's proactivity. It's proactivity. Let me define 
what I mean. You know what being passive is? 
Passive is when I'm hit by the ball. I am the passive subject 
that is being acted upon by another. Notice that this is not a passive 
command. You only respond to people. And as they treat you, do likewise 
to them. It's not the text. Whatever you want men to do to 
you, Do also to them. It is proactive. It is responsibility. It is spirit-empowered, prayer-fetched 
grace to put into practice. This is a proactive rule which 
mandates that the believer initiate. Whatever you want men to do to 
you, do also to them. And notice what Jesus says. The Lord Jesus, we have to admit, 
and I don't mean to be crude, offends sinners, doesn't he? And not just sinners out there. 
He probably offends us also. Notice the text. It is not whatever 
men do to you. due also to that. There's almost 
this sort of perverse reverse black rule. Well, they treat 
me like garbage, so therefore. They treat me like garbage, so 
therefore. She or he treats me like I'm 
not even there, so therefore. That's not the nature of our 
Lord's words. Whatever you want men to do to 
you. You see? It's offensive to sinners. See, we're good at that perverse, 
reverse, blackened rule that says, I'll dish out what I'm 
given. This guy's mean to me, I'll be mean right back to him. 
Oh, but you see, our Lord says, no, it's how you want that mean 
guy to treat you. Now again, there are other passages 
of Scripture in the Bible. If somebody is trying to do positive 
harm and damage to you, there are other biblical texts that 
speak to recourse and redress. In fact, the application of the 
golden rule with dogs and pigs is, leave them alone, because 
we want them to leave us alone, right? We don't want them trampling 
our pearls, and we certainly don't want them turning on us 
and tearing us in pieces. So we're going to avoid them. 
We're going to leave them alone. There's other passages in the 
Bible. This text is not to be lifted 
out of its context and used as the proof text for all manner 
of evil being inflicted on somebody. But that's probably not where 
most of us find ourselves. Most of us find ourselves with 
this eye-for-eye ethic, and I believe that this rule itself has the 
nature of an eye-for-eye. It has the nature of the lex 
talionis, an eye-for-an-eye. You treat people the way you 
want to be treated, and you want people to treat you a certain 
way, you treat them that way. But you know, we must confess, 
brethren, there are times in our lives, and I hope I'm not 
confessing inordinately, for you. We don't always live this 
way, do we? Somebody doesn't say hi to us, 
so we avoid them. Somebody doesn't call us, so 
we whine that they didn't call us. Is that the nature of the command? 
Is that really what Christ is prescribing? Whine? Grumble? Complain? Somehow there'll be 
a telepathy sent and they'll feel the need to pick up the 
phone and call you? No, you want them to call you. 
Call someone else. or call that man. See, we don't massage the ethic. We don't manipulate the ethic. 
We don't put the ethic into our sort of memory hole and out pops 
our version of it. It's the way, unfortunately, 
I think at least some of us live from time to time. Whatever you 
want men to do to you, not whatever men do to you, but what you want 
them to do, what you'd like for this person to do, how you wish 
to be treated. That's the way you're supposed 
to treat others. I'm going to tell you something 
right now that I think that if we get this in our minds and 
hearts, it is freeing, it is liberating, it is helpful. The 
ethics of Christ's kingdom are revolutionary. We are to obey 
Jesus Christ because he commands us. Our obedience is not conditional 
based on others. It isn't contingent based on 
others. Rather, the sovereign Lord of 
the universe has said to us, treat other people the way you 
want to be treated. What are we supposed to do? But 
Lord, he treats me like garbage. But Lord, she treats me like 
garbage. But Lord, that brother hasn't 
called me for 15 years. And so therefore, I'm going to 
treat him that way. Try that on the day of judgment. 
Let us know how it works out for you. How do you want to be treated? 
When people respect me, then respect others. I don't want people to gossip 
about me. Then don't gossip about others. I don't want people to 
steal from me. Then don't steal from others. 
Even if somebody is stealing from you, you don't want them 
to, so your ethic is clear. Don't do it to others. See, we 
take texts and we throw them into the realm of, I'm going 
to use it the way I think it's okay. Probably some of us. I don't want to say that, but 
I know my own tendency and my own temptation. If I was sitting 
there under this preaching and my wife happened to be sitting 
next to me, I'm sure that in my carnal mind I could say, I 
really hope she's listening to this. I'll confess it for anybody here 
who's as wretched as I am. I hope she's getting this. I 
hope he's responding. What about you? Therefore, whatever 
you want men to do to you, do also to them. People may, people 
probably will, and people might right now be currently treating 
you like garbage. This text stands. It's how you want them to treat 
you. that serves as the paradigm for 
how you treat others. I suggest that's offensive to 
sinners. We've seen its comprehensiveness, 
its perpetuity, its proactivity. Fourthly, its relation to the 
love command. It's interesting what Jesus says 
here. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also 
to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Go to Matthew 
22 for a moment. Matthew 22. When asked which is the first 
commandment or the great commandment in the law, Jesus summarizes 
the two tables. First four commandments, table 
one, our duty to God. The last six commandments, the 
second table, our duty to man. So when Jesus is pressed and 
he's asked which is the great commandment, you know what it 
is? It's love God. worship God, honor God. What should you understand by 
this? God comes first. Remember when Jesus taught us 
to pray in Matthew 6? Who comes first? God, God's name, God's 
will, God's kingdom, and then your food, and then your forgiveness, 
and then your protection. So that's another fundamental 
help in biblical life is understand who comes first. So he's asked, 
which is the great commandment of the law? Jesus answered, verse 
37, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with 
all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great 
commandment, and the second is like it, you shall love your 
neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang 
all the law and the prophets. Of course, what Jesus is quoting 
there is Leviticus 19, 18. You shall not take vengeance 
nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but 
you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Interesting that 
Jesus can summarize the entirety of the law with this reference, 
to love to God and love to men. Back here in Matthew 7 verse 
12, he uses the golden rule again to summarize the law and the 
prophets. When he says, for this is the 
law and the prophets, we are to understand him and say, this 
is a summary statement, this is the substance, this is the 
core, this is the heart, this is the essence. So when we compare 
these two passages, we see that the golden rule is simply the 
outflowing of, or the application of, this love commandment. In 
fact, we might say, whatever you want men to do to you, love 
us. Again, by love us, it doesn't 
mean bring us flowers, or take us out on dates. Love, biblically 
defined, means they obey the law with reference to us. It's 
what Romans 13 tells us. So if you want men to love you, 
then guess what? I know this sounds zany. I know 
this sounds bizarre. But you gotta love other people. 
Proverbs say if somebody wants friends, they gotta be friendly. 
Many times people say, I don't have any friends. What are you 
doing to fix it? People don't love me. What are 
you doing to fix it? Telling them how great you are? 
No, go out and love them. Giving them 10 reasons why they 
ought to find you lovely? Well, I think I got 10. I don't 
know. I could at least come up with 
one. No, you go love people. It is a proactive. It is a perpetual. It is a comprehensive rule. It 
is the outflowing of the second great commandment. It is what 
love looks like. It is the application of the 
second table of the law. And our fifth observation is 
just that. It functions as a summary statement. Jesus says in Matthew 
5, 17, do not think that I came to destroy the law of the prophets. 
I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. There's a school 
of interpretation that comes out of that text and says the 
law and prophets don't matter anymore. There's a school of 
interpretation that comes out on the other side of our Lord's 
teaching and says that we have no reference to the Old Testament 
whatsoever. Let me just tell you, how can 
this golden rule summarize something that isn't there? Opponents of biblical law have 
to get rid of the golden rule. Because the golden rule is the 
Law and the Prophets. You don't want to get rid of 
your Old Testament. You don't want to get rid of 
all that body of data. You don't want to get rid of 
all that revelation from our good God instructing us on what 
love looks like. You see, when Jesus says, for 
this is the Law and the Prophets, He is saying to us that we can, 
in sum and substance, in small compass, with one general maxim, 
with one principle, and with one rule, comprehensively state 
what is our relationship to the entirety of the Law and the Prophets. 
When Isaiah came and he indicts the nation of Israel, you know 
what the problem was? They weren't treating each other 
the way they wanted to be treated. When Micah of Moresheth indicted 
the nation, what was the problem? Of course, God word. They dealt 
with the first table of the law, to be sure. But in terms of relationships, 
in terms of social, communal life, the prophets came and sued 
this rule. You do not treat others the way 
you want to be treated. You are not loving your neighbor 
as yourself. And may I suggest that in any 
breach in our interpersonal relationships, it is fundamentally on this point. 
We are not exercising the golden rule. Well, you just don't know 
the con... Okay. All right. I just don't 
know the context. But I know what Matthew 7, 12 
says. And I know for a truth that our Lord Jesus Christ says 
that you treat people, not the way people treat you, but the 
way you wish people treated you. It's offensive to sinners. Let's be honest. Let's be honest. I don't like this. I think people 
should treat me good all the time. And if they don't, then 
I'm not going to treat them good at any time. That is to butcher, Matthew 7, 
12. That is to throw it on the torture rack and twist and twist 
and twist and out pops a perverted version of it. My golden rule 
says that if you treat me poorly, I'm going to avoid you. My golden 
rule says that if you don't treat me the way I think you should 
treat me, I'm never going to call you, never going to look 
at you, never going to say hi to you. I'm going to avoid you. 
Now, we need to make sure we don't assume people are thinking 
that always. If somebody doesn't say hi to 
you on a Sunday morning, Could be for other reasons. May not 
be their perverse, reverse, blackened rule put into practice. Cut them 
some slack. Pastor Butler doesn't say, I 
do, on Sunday morning. It's not necessarily because 
he's applied the perverse, reverse, blackened rule. You see, this text penetrates. 
It functions as a summary statement. This is why the apostles can 
just appeal to it. if not in its 712 version in 
terms of the golden rule, its love commandment version. As 
I already mentioned, we want men to love us. That means we 
want men to obey God's law as it pertains to our relationship. 
Therefore, we ought to obey God's law as it pertains to our relationships 
to others. This is what Paul does, Romans 
13. He says, Oh, no one anything except to love one another. For 
he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Again, those people 
that come out of Matthew 5.17 and say Jesus did away with the 
law. What do we got with Paul? Why is Paul using the law? Why 
is Jesus summarizing something that he got rid of? You see, 
the doctrine of antinomianism is unbiblical. It's not right. It's exegetically irresponsible. It just doesn't add up. You cannot 
justify antinomianism with an open Bible. You cannot do it 
when Paul is defining love in terms of obedience to God's law. You cannot justify antinomianism 
in Romans 13, 8-10. You just can't do it. For those 
of you who don't come here often, antinomianism is against the 
law. There is no law for the Christian. We're under this higher 
ethic. No, we're under the ethic of Jesus ruling by His Word and 
by His Spirit, causing us to follow that blessed rule and 
pattern that He has spoken. We saw on Wednesday night what 
happens to men when they abandon the prophetic ministry. God, 
through Moses, is telling the people, avoid the customs of 
Canaan. Avoid soothsaying or fortune-telling. Avoid reading omens. Avoid all 
that superstition and folly that goes on under the Canaanites. 
You listen to the prophet. The prophet speaks from God. Moses is teaching the people 
the two abiding offices in Israel's redemptive history in terms of 
revelation is the priest and the prophet. Don't throw holy 
horseshoes looking for an answer from the Lord. We got a whole 
church today throwing holy horseshoes looking for an answer from the 
Lord. How do I know what love is? I know what love is because 
my Bible tells me so. Romans 8, Romans 13, 8 to 10. Oh, no one anything except to 
love one another. For he who loves another has 
fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you shall 
not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, 
you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. And if there 
is any other commandment at all, here it is, summed up in this 
saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love 
does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment 
of the law. Galatians 5, 14, Paul the Apostle 
in the book of Galatians speaks harshly against the ceremonies 
of Moses as a means of acceptance with God. In other words, do 
not think that faith in Christ and circumcision is what is necessary 
for acceptance with God. It is faith alone. It is justification 
by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. It's 
not our works. So if somebody wants to get circumcised, they 
become a debtor to the whole law. And what he means by that 
is that if you take that path, you exclude grace, you exclude 
Christ, you exclude mercy, and you have chosen the path of law 
acceptance with God, you're in big trouble. But then on the 
heels of that, he wants to make sure that we don't end up antinomian. He wants us to make sure that 
we don't abrogate or get rid of the moral law of God. And 
in Galatians 5.14 he says, for the law itself is fulfilled in 
one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
So when we are loving our neighbor as ourself, when we are treating 
others the way we want to be treated, what are we doing? We're 
fulfilling the law. We're obeying the law. We're 
doing what the Spirit empowers and enables us to do. The law 
drives us to Christ for justification. Christ sends us back to the law 
for sanctification. It defines for us. It patterns 
for us. It exhibits for us what it looks 
like when I say, I love you. It's a beautiful, comprehensive 
statement, isn't it? It's a wonderful thing. Well, 
that's the rule explained. Let's apply it. We'll do it like 
Paul did. Where does Paul go when he wants 
to apply love? He goes to the Decalogue, specifically 
the second table. You take the fifth commandment. Treat people in authority the 
way you want to be treated. Makes sense, doesn't it? Well, 
the authority is oppressive and they're vicious and they're mean. 
Yeah, but you don't want them to be that way, do you? Well, 
no. Again, if they're telling you to sin, they're telling you 
to cheat, they're telling you to lie, they're telling you to 
break God's law, we must obey God rather than men. But as a 
general rule, we ought to respond to lawful authority in our lives 
the way we want people to respond to our lawful authority. Imagine you're driving home one 
day and a policeman pulls you over and he writes you a ticket 
and he shuts the door and you curse him and you say all manner 
of bad things about him. And Little Junior's sitting in 
the back seat, and there's a rocket chair, and you get home later, 
and a couple hours later, and you tell Little Junior to do 
something, and Little Junior doesn't do it, so you spank Little 
Junior, and then he curses you. He speaks ill of you. He speaks 
horribly about you. Where did you learn that, Little 
Junior? From someone not applying the Golden Rule. Treat the authority 
the way you want to be treated. What about the sixth word, do 
not murder? We have seen in our studies in the Sermon on the 
Mount, it doesn't just mean stopping someone's heartbeat. I like to 
think at least this current audience doesn't have the temptation to 
go out and stop people's heartbeats. I like to assume that. If you 
do, then we should really talk. But we have seen unrighteous 
anger, an unsanctified use of words, the hatred in the heart. That's a breach of the sixth 
word, isn't it? You don't want people to destroy your life. 
You don't want people to destroy your reputation. So by all means, 
don't do that to others. Don't do it to others. What about that seventh word, 
the sanctity of marriage? The sanctity, we could perhaps 
broaden it and say sexuality. You don't want your wife or your 
husband cheating on you? Well, you certainly ought not 
to do it to them. You want people to treat you 
with purity? Then treat others that way. These aren't suggestions for 
a happier life among a few of you. This is the holy law of 
God Most High, written in the heart of Adam at creation, codified 
at Sinai, at the giving of the Decalogue, and it is that perpetual 
and binding rule. Jeremiah the prophet says, in 
the new covenant, what God is going to do, not only will He 
forgive you of your sins, not only will He give you a righteousness 
that avails with God, but He's going to write His law upon your 
heart. It's something you want. It's 
something you'll embrace. It's something you'll delight 
in. Treat other people with purity. You don't want somebody looking 
at your wife or your daughter that way. Don't look at their 
wives or their daughters that way. What about the eighth word? The respect for personal property. The government steals personal 
property on occasion. Other people steal personal property 
on occasion. That does not justify our theft 
of others' property. In what world do you think you're 
living in? Well, they stole from me, so 
I'll steal from them. You get this in more of our sort 
of a setting. I pay so much in taxes. If I 
can get this little loophole and nobody ever knows about it, 
you know, I deserve it. Oh, really? Do you really deserve 
it? Do you know what you really deserve 
according to God's Word? I think you do. You certainly 
don't deserve anything. Good. Well, Pastor, you're so 
harsh. Well, I'm sorry. Go watch Joel 
Osteen if you don't want that. You cannot vindicate theft because 
people steal from you. The promotion of truth. The ninth 
word deals with the sanctity of truth. Well, they always lie 
to me. Well, and of course, that reverse perverse Black and Rule 
says, well, therefore, go lie to them. If you think that way, you're 
not a believer. I'm sorry. This is not the ethics of the 
kingdom. If anything, you should be out there going, please, God, 
forgive me. I don't always think Golden Rule-ish. Not, well, you 
know, that's the way they treat me. They've sullied my reputation. They've slandered me. They've 
gossiped about me. So it's okay that I got... No, 
it isn't. How you want them to treat you, do also to them. Again, 
not how they are treating you, but how you want them to treat 
you. The tenth word speaks to the internal disposition of our 
heart. It also speaks to leaving people alone. Don't you love 
that? What's the Jim Butler paraphrase 
with the 10th word? Leave other people alone. God gave him that life. God gave 
her that husband. God gave him that house. God 
gave him that car. Praise God that he's so good 
to his people. Not, why didn't he give me that? or begrudging them, or coveting 
them, or desiring inordinately those things. You see, the golden 
rule isn't ethereal. It isn't out here. It isn't like 
the clouds that you grab onto and you just grasp in. It is 
concrete, it is solid, it is decalogue. That's what Jesus 
says, for this is the law and the prophets. What did the prophets 
come and call Israel to repent of? They're breach of the law. They're breach of the covenant. 
They're sin against God, who had spoke on Sinai. This is why 
the Lord Christ can say, with this golden rule is the law and 
the prophets. So you can leave here today saying, 
wow, I really know how to apply this golden rule. It's not just 
this sort of feeling. Stop being governed by feelings. 
Let's be governed by God's Word. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. 
It's wonderful. I don't know why Christians don't 
want the Bible. Oh, but we do. Yeah, okay. Well, 
let's pretend like it's true. Let's live like it's true. Let's 
act like it's true. Virtues. You see, the Decalogue 
applied in the life of the Church. According to the Apostle in Colossians 
3, we've done some detailed work in that section over the summer 
months. Paul says, we are to one another put on tender mercies. We want people to treat us with 
tender mercies. Shouldn't we put on tender mercies? 
Yeah. We want people to put on kindness 
to us. So we walk around like this. 
tearing everybody up on our path? Man, is life that bad? Can't 
you find something to smile about? I feel like I'm like that sometimes. 
I feel sorry for my wife. She's probably happy in California 
around smiling people. Be kind, man! You want her to 
be kind to you, be kind to her! You want her to smile at you, 
smile at her! But she doesn't smile at her 
anyway! We deal with people like they're 
slot machines. Drop the quarter. Using that 
reference does not mean I'm advocating betting, gambling, or anything 
of the like. I am using an analogy or an illustration. Don't leave here saying, oh, 
I'm glad that casino's going up in November. I can go hit 
those slot machines because Butler says it's OK. No. Butler is condemning 
the attitude of dropping a quarter and pulling back the handle. 
And if three cherries pop up, you're going to be nice. If three lemons pop up, you better 
be nice. Where did we get it in our mind 
that life was the barter system? We want to barter with God. We 
want to barter with men. No, we just need to receive God's 
holy word and do what we're told. Half of the time, half of our 
problem is trying to avoid doing what we're told. You ever met 
somebody that was looking for work? I'm not speaking of anybody 
in this room. Somebody's been looking for work. 
Yeah, I went down to the Resource Center and I filled out five 
resumes. Good. Next day, I went back to the 
Resource Center because I wanted to fine-tune my resume. Okay. Thursday. What did you do there? 
I went back to the Resource Center. I noticed a typo in my resume. 
I go, go pass the resume out, please. Just give it to somebody. 
Just put it in an employer's hand. We all want to do that with the 
Word of God. Well, I need to pray about it. That's the holiest 
of all. I need, why do you need, of course 
pray. Please don't go here, I can bat 
and I cannot pray. No, that's not what I'm saying. 
If you know your duty, do it. I should really pray about, no, 
you should really obey God. We busy ourselves trying not 
to do what God says. Again, I'm not picking on anybody 
who might have had to go fine-tune their resume. Please do not leave 
here saying, he butchered my soul. We want people to treat 
us with humility. Can't we just not stand proud 
people? Don't they just bug us? Come 
on, let's be honest. Who bugs you the most? It's those 
proud people. I don't care about all your accomplishments. 
I don't care how great you are. I don't care all that you've 
done. They're the worst, right, as a category of people. We're 
not racist. We're not prejudiced. But boy, 
we really hate proud people. Guess what? Don't be proud. Yeah, you can give them a book 
on humility, and you can help them in a Bible study in inculcating 
humility, but you know what your response ought to be? Is be humble. 
This is hard, isn't it? Just be honest. We're sinners. 
This is difficult. Meekness and long-suffering. We love it when people are patient 
with us, don't we? Don't we love that? It's like, 
give me a minute to think about this. Let me process this. We like patience. We need to 
be patient with others. One of the passages that always 
sticks in my mind in terms of preaching, the technical term 
for that doctrine is homiletics, preaching. The 2nd Timothy chapter 
4, where the apostle says, preach the Word. He says, be ready in 
season and out of season. Okay, I think I know what that 
means. He says, convince. Oh yeah, yeah, we gotta preach 
with unction. We gotta rely on the Spirit. 
He says, exhort. Yeah, yeah, we gotta make people 
want to respond to the Word of God. We need to reprove. Yeah. Oh yeah. We're wayward sheep, 
man. Preachers need to reprove. It's 
that last bit that always perplexes me. With all, here it comes, 
long suffering and teaching. You mean everybody doesn't learn 
everything they're supposed to know in terms of Christianity 
and their response to God in one sermon? No, they don't. Pastor, you're going to be at 
this for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years, and you're going to still have 
people come up and say, I never heard that before. I could pull 
out notes from, you know, 20 times in the last two years. 
I know that you've heard that. You're not supposed to respond 
that way. You're supposed to be long-suffering. That means 
to suffer long. We like it when people treat 
us that way. We are to treat others that way. We are to bear 
with one another. Again, this is very close to 
this idea of longsuffering. We're to bear with one another, 
to sympathize, to be there. We're to realize that Rome wasn't 
built in a day. We need to remember that statement 
of John Newton. He says, yeah, I'm not what I 
ought to be. But I'm not what I'm going to 
be. And praise be to God, I'm not 
what I once was." I love that statement. That's progressive 
sanctification. That's understanding. That is 
good theology. Forgiving one another. You ever 
meet somebody and say, I just can't forgive them? And have you been forgiven by 
Jesus? Paul says, forgive one another even as God in Christ 
has forgiven you. And then Paul says, above all, 
put on love, which is the bond of perfection. So the standard, 
the decalogue. The virtues, again, we could 
go to any list in the New Testament scripture. The relationships, 
this is comprehensive. In your home, Not just husband 
to wife and wife to husband, but parent to child, child to 
parent. Kids, do you know that at times 
it's difficult to be a parent? Do you realize that it's hard? 
Do you realize that it's taxing? Cut your parents some slack from 
time to time. Parents, do you realize that 
it's difficult to be 15? Parents, do you realize that 
it's difficult to be going through all of those changes? Do you 
realize, I'll say 13 and 12 and 16 again, I don't want anybody 
to think, hey, he's speaking to me. No, I just picked a number 
at random. Are you expecting Pauline Grace 
out of a 15-year-old profession? You're going to be hard to live 
with, very difficult to live with. You like it when people 
are forbearing with you. You like it when people are forgiving 
to you. You like it when people are humble with you. Man, when 
it comes to our children, we're going to run roughshod right 
over them. They better conform. Yeah, they better conform. We 
need to realize in Adam, and even in Christ, there is shortcoming. We need to practice these virtues. 
We are in some, whether family, in church, or in society, we 
are not to treat others how they do treat us. We are to treat 
them how we want them to treat us. If they treat you like garbage, 
they will answer to God. That's it. You may never get 
a formal apology. They may never send you a note. 
They may never send you roses, but they will stand before the 
living and true God to give an account on how they treated you. 
Leave it there. I think we can pull that principle 
from Romans 9. Do not avenge yourselves. Do 
not avenge yourselves, Paul says. He says, rather, give place to 
wrath. What's he saying? the locus of responsibility where 
it goes. God is the inflictor of wrath. 
God knows how to deal with and right wrongs. God knows how to 
vindicate his saints. So do not avenge yourselves, 
but rather give place to wrath. It doesn't mean you're vindictive. 
It doesn't mean you're harsh. It doesn't mean you're petty. 
It doesn't mean you disregard the law of God with reference 
to that person. But it does mean you apply the rule insofar as 
you are able to do, realizing that if they've treated you like 
garbage, God will call them to account for that. This isn't 
a barter system. This isn't a slot machine. You're 
not living based on how others live. You have a command from 
your king to treat others the way you want to be treated. Well, 
brethren, as believers, I hope and I pray that we will take 
this rule seriously. Jesus says, by this all men will 
know that you are my disciple if you have love for one another. How will people know that we 
have love for one another? Because we treat them with respect. 
Because we treat them with kindness. Because we treat them with humility. 
Because we treat them with forbearance. Because we're long-suffering 
with them. Because we're gracious to them. Jesus says, by this 
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love 
for one another. An unbeliever, if you're here 
outside of Jesus Christ, I mentioned this already, the gospel is in 
the Bible. The gospel took place in time 
and history because the golden rule is not obeyed. This is law. Law brings a crushing 
blow. It is the gospel that you need. 
If you're not a Christian this morning, don't go out and say, 
I need to treat people better. No, you need to believe on the 
Lord Jesus. You need to look to Christ. You need to confess 
Him as Lord and Savior. You need to come to Calvary, 
first and foremost, for the cleansing blood of Jesus and for a righteousness 
that avails with God. It is then that you go out and 
you live the way that God has called you. Do not make the mistake 
that every philosophical and every, well, most philosophical 
and most religious systems preach, that you do good and you'll be 
rewarded with good. That's not true. The gospel says 
you've done terribly, you've done horribly, you have sinned 
against the thrice holy God, and you treat people like garbage. 
Christ came, lived in obedience to the law, died as a sacrifice 
and a substitute at Calvary, rose again the third day, ascended 
to the right hand of the Father on high, and whoever by God's 
grace looks to Him will have everlasting life. It's an offense 
to the moralist. It's an offense to the false 
religionist. But to those who are chosen by 
God and given the graces of faith and repentance, we say, Praise 
God Almighty, from whom all blessings flow. If it wasn't for that blood, 
if it wasn't for that pardon, if it wasn't for that righteousness, 
I would die in my sins. So this morning, if you're outside 
of Christ, your primary emphasis, the main thing, say, you need 
Jesus. You need to believe the gospel. 
You need to believe on him, and you need to come. Well, let us pray and ask God, 
whether we're Christian or not, to take this, apply it to our 
heart. If we're not, may the law do its work and push us to 
Christ. As Christians, may the law do 
its work, push us closer to Christ. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for this rule. Even 
though a pagan called it golden, God, we agree with him. And we 
thank you that Jesus spoke these truths We thank you for its comprehensiveness. We thank you that it is perpetual. 
We thank you, Father, that it is proactive. Everything that 
we are to be in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Do forgive us as 
your people for falling short. Do forgive us, God, in our lives 
of sanctification that we so little regard people. that we 
so little regard relationships, that we so little obey your Bible. 
God, forgive us, cleanse us, wash us, purify us, put this 
rule in our hearts, write it in gold in the chambers of our 
hearts. For any and all who have come here this morning outside 
of Christ, do that work which you alone are able to do. Open 
their hearts, cause them to see the glory of Christ, to believe 
on Him, and to find forgiveness, to find righteousness, to find 
everything a sinner stands in need of. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ our Lord.