So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.(Matthew 7:12 – ESV)
The Golden Rule is consistent with the other components of Christ’s teaching as revealed in the Gospel accounts (Matthew 22:37‑40). Moreover, the personal character of Jesus Himself was a living commentary on the rule in action.
Matthew 5:17 – Jesus is the embodiment of this, He fulfilled this
Matthew 5:19-20, 48 – He wasn’t relaxing He was advancing – He is perfect, His righteousness did exceed the Pharisees, and everyone else – Jesus is the opposite of the false ways
He said have no fear what others may do to you, He had no fear
He could have destroyed them but didn’t (my kingdom not of this world, a legion of angels, the only reason you can keep me is because I allow it, blew men down before they arrested Him)
Forgive them they don’t know what they do
He challenged them even though He knew this would bring trouble
He didn’t let others keep Him from doing God’s will
He gave to those who didn’t give back
He knew what they would do but He did it anyway
We cannot simply say, “Go out and live in perfect obedience to everything God said and then you will be like Jesus." If anyone could do that, then Jesus was not the unique Son of God. True saving and sanctifying faith are not found in self-sacrifice, they are found in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You need Jesus or you will not be able to walk the road, and we walk it by faith, knowing that He has accomplished the walk for us, and when you fall He lifts you up, it is not your walk, your good works, it is His, but we follow Him along that path because we are saying we have faith, that this is the right way and we follow the righteous One. Jesus IS the Golden Rule, the way the truth and the life of it.
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This post was originally shown 9-23-09, but it didn't have the audio portion...
In other words, although we are mixing new posts with old posts, the old ones now have an audio, which also includes more information and discussion. You can hear these archived at SermonAudio, as well as at voiceofvision.org.
God bless you…
This is the third post in a series of three, taken from our 2009 Sunday sermon, "The Road to the Golden Rule"...
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