The Golden Rule!

The Golden Rule!

Matthew 7:12 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.

Or more commonly phrased

Do Unto Others as You Would Have Others Do Unto You!

I have a grand daughter that is at the age that that her favorite things are rainbow and unicorns.  At her age, she is very idealistic.  And so is Jesus!

Matthew 18:1-3  At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?  (2) And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,  (3) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Our passage today is a bit idealistic….but then again so is Christianity.  God, through inspired writers, tells us to aim for righteousness, holiness, and perfection even though none of those characteristics are unobtainable on our own.  But just because we cannot be perfect on our own, does not mean that we should not strive for it!  Jesus tells us, his followers, that we should strive to ALWAYS Do unto others has we would have them do unto us!  To more completely apply the Golden Rule to our lives, let’s break it down.

1.  “DO”

This is a simple 2-Letter Word.  “Do” has an Importance that should not be overlooked!  “DO” is not a passive word. “Do” is an action verb.  It not only implies a restraint of evil for evil, But also a Conscious effort of Good.  The Golden Rule is NOT just a philosophy.  It is not just a school of thought.  It Must Be applied!  It must be done to have ANY value!  As Americans we tend to be slipping away from an idea of “Doing”.  For instance, In politics, we like to complain about what happens, but we vote at a staggeringly LOW rate.  Passiveness is a dangerous mindset if we want to Please God.  Remember Jesus’ rebuke of the one talent man.  (Matthew 25:24-30).

We too often are misguided in thinking that only as small handful of EVIL people will go to Hell.  But Jesus himself called this man wicked.  You might say:  “Why is this man wicked”?  He didn’t DO anything.  EXACTLY....That is precisely Jesus’ point.  That is because we are REQUIRED to do Something!  Not only should we “DO” something.  We also Must be profitable too.  (John 15:1-5).  In order to adequately, perform the Golden Rule, we must be proactive in service for others not just refusing to retaliate against them if they are unkind towards us!

2.  “Unto Others”

This may be the most difficult part.  Our society programs us to look out for #1.  Is there any surprise that there are so many abortions? Is it any surprise that 50% of marriages end in divorce?  Is it any surprise the Crime rate is out of control?  What do all of things things have in common?  We do in this country what pleases ME.  And in many ways we do not care who it hurts.  It is just plain selfishness.  Selfishness is ruining our country, our homes and even the church!

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Jesus says here, to be a follower of his, We MUST DENY ourselves.  We must quit being selfish!We must quit putting me first!  The focus of our lives should NO longer be on ourselves.  When I was a mere child, I learned that the definition of  JOY was:

1.  Jesus First

2.  Others Second

3.  Yourselves Last

Our society needs to put that philosophy into action.  But we cannot expect all of society to do this if Jesus’ followers are not willing!

2.  “As You Would Have Them Do Unto You”

Matthew 22:36-40 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? (37) 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. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Love and Compassion is the crux of this teaching.  We need to develop a genuine compassion for all men.  “Others” that look like us and those that don’t.  “Others” that think like us and those that don’t.  “Others” that behave like us and those that don’t.  “Others” that have lifestyles like us, and those that don’t.  Love and compassion is NOT synonymous with approving of their lifestyles and life choices.  But Love is wanting the BEST for them.  Jesus Did NOT automatically reject those that were sinners.  He worked harder for them!  He spent more time with them!  In the same vain...We must do the same.

Philippians 2:1-5  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, (2) Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (3) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (4) Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. (5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 

Paul talks about the attitude that we should have BECAUSE of the the love that Christ displayed to us. Paul says that we should esteem others BETTER than ourselves.  That is precisely the attitude that Jesus referred to in the Golden Rule.  We must ALWAYS look at others before we look to our own needs and desires.  We must ALWAYS ask in ANY situation....How Would I want to be treated?  We Want to Be respected!  We want to be treated like we mattered!  We would want to be treated like we are made in the image of God!  We would want what was Best for us even if we did not Realize it

The problem is that too often we have a built in defense mechanism that causes us act differently.  When it comes down to it...We are being asked to Treat People Better than we may perceive they deserve.  As Christians, we should understand the principle of acting Better towards others even when they don’t deserve it… Because that is exactly how God treats us!

Reflecting the SON, 

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

AskSeekandKnock

Ask, Seek, and Knock!

Matthew 7:7-11  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  (8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  (9) Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?  (10) Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?  (11) If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

We live in a society that demands prompt, speedy results.  Instead of waiting for a complete meal to be prepared for us, we need to eat faster so we go through the drive through where we can order and pick it up in just a few minutes.  If we are not careful, we can begin expecting the same results from God.  When we have that mindset, we attempt to eliminate our own participation in matters and just push a button and wait 30 seconds.

In our text today we have 2 very different but related lessons to learn:

1.  We have a responsibility in our receiving blessings from God (Vrs 7)

2.  Our God is a Benevolent Father (Vrs 8-11)

Let’s begin with the second one first.

Our God is a Benevolent Father (Vrs 8-11)

It is mind boggling to think about the extent of God’s Grace, Mercy, Compassion, and Benevolence that he extends to us.  When you examine ancient ‘religions’ and the gods that early man imagined ‘worshippers’ spent a great amount of time attempting to appease these angry gods.  So much so that many small children were sacrificed at an alter to calm the anger of a god.  Children were sacrificed to bring about a good harvest or to have a successful hunt.  Ancient man lived in fear of a god (that did not exist) that they perceived would constantly punish or terrorize them.

On the other hand, Our God is just the opposite.  Our God doesn’t ask that we burn our child alive to appease him.  Instead, he offered his Only Son to die that we might live.  What a Contrast!  That one event of offering his only son would be far beyond what we deserve, but that is not the extent of God’s gifts.  The point of our passage today is that God seeks to benefit his children.  While this set of verses do not explicitly state this realization, these promises are not open to the world as a whole, but rather reserved for his children or followers.

1 John 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 

1 Peter 3:12  For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 

Once we obtain the identity of being a child of God by being washed in his blood, the additional blessings, protections, and promises are beyond comprehension.  Jesus explains this in verses 9-11.  We as humans know how to give, sacrifice for, and protect our own children.  Then Jesus using that as a foundation, states that we being evil, How much more does God know how to give us what we need.

Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 

Our minds simply cannot comprehend God’s ability to help us.

We have a responsibility in our receiving blessings from God (Vrs 7)

Make no mistake about it, the first part of this post was spent discussing the generosity of God.  Therefore, we are not suggesting that blessings from God are earned or achieved.  With that said, we cannot overlook the fact that Jesus tells us about three verbs between us and our blessings:  Ask, Seek, and Knock.  All three are verbs of action.

Ask:  There have been times in my life that, I might realize that someone was at the refrigerator and would yell:  “Hey, bring me a snack”.  For one reason or another, they were unable to and told me:  “If you want it, get up and get it yourself”.  I have been known to reconsider my request and choose not to get up and get that snack because it was too much trouble.  How bad did I really want it if I was unwilling to do the minimal amount of work for it?  God is not going to read everyone’s mind and grant every passing wish that pop’s into our heads.  To do that, human nature teaches, we would become both lazy and ungrateful.  Jesus is teaching us that if it is important enough, we can ask for it.  Upon asking, God will give us what we need…according to his will.  Will God grant a request if it were harmful in any number of ways?  Never.  We must ALWAYS ask according to God’s will!

Seek:  There have been new skills that I have learned over the years that simple instruction was not the best means for obtaining and utilizing them over the long term.  The best method for retention was simply a hands-on approach.  Sometimes, we need to do more than ask.  Sometimes it will be more meaningful if we seek our the answer for ourselves.  When we do, God promises that we will find…again according to his will.

Knock:  With these three verbs, there seems to be both an increased level of desire and an intensity of effort.  Having to knock implies that asking and seeking have led to the specific door on which we are knocking.  Once again, Jesus gives the assurance that if we have utilized the energy to go this far and knock on this door, God will open the door to and for you.

By the time that we have become New Testament Christians, God has invested his greatest asset in us:  The Blood of his SON.  In doing so, God wants us to be successful by being faithful to the end.  In doing so, God has promised that he will give us the tools, resources, help, assistance, and protection that we need to win in the end.  In giving us this help, he also wants us to part participate in the process . We just need to Ask, Seek, and Knock.

I am so thankful I serve such a Gracious, Merciful, Compassionate God that wants me to succeed in finding my way to Heaven some day!

Reflecting the SON, 

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

 

What Did Jesus Preach?

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Matthew 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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To listen to discussions about Jesus in public venues, one would have a very skewed perception of who he was.  The most common statement that I hear in public discourse is:  “Jesus is Love”.  While that is not a false statement, as it is used, is VERY misleading.  This statement has to be understood by the person using it and the context it is being used.  Most often, it is spoken in the context of a topic being discussed that is widely believed to be a sinful lifestyle or behavior.  And to throw out the statement that “Jesus is Love” is intended to convince the masses that Jesus doesn’t care about the sinful lifestyles or behaviors of others.  He only cares about “Love”.  The other primary issue is that the person making this claim has NO idea about what Jesus’ meaning of love is.  But that is a topic for another day.

Our passage today gives us some very important clues to who Jesus is as a teacher.  It is worth our time and effort to understand who Jesus really is.

1.  Jesus Began to Preach

Words mean things.  For the most part, writers are very careful to choose just the right word to convey the delicate nuance of what they are trying to convey.  The Bible is no different.  There are many ways that the Bible could have described what Jesus did in his ministry.  It could have said that ‘Jesus began to encourage’.  Or ‘Jesus began to uplift’. Or ‘Jesus began to spread love’.  Instead, it says that ‘Jesus began to preach’.  The word ‘Preaching’ is a unique word.  It is usually isolated to religious teachings.  It also conveys a sense of persuasion – trying to get the listener to react in a prescribed manner.  In every recorded sermon, lesson or teaching of Jesus, he tried to get people to leave the life that they had and change to be able to follow him.

2.  Jesus Preached Repentance

So what did Jesus preach?  He preached Repentance!  His primary message was NOT his “love” for us.  His primary message was not “tolerance”.  His primary message was not “acceptance”.  Instead, as our passage today clearly states, Jesus preached Repentance!  

So what is the inference that we must conclude from this truth?  To get that, we must understand what “Repentance means”.  The best definition that I have hears is that Repentance is a change of heart which will lead to a change of life.  Change!  Ok…change from what to what?

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Luke 15:10  Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

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Acts 8:22  Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 

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Repentance is a change of mind that will lead to a change of life from a state of sin or wickedness to going in the opposite direction…towards God! Therefore, if Jesus preached repentance, he, by necessity, preached about sin.  And since he was preaching repentance, we know that Jesus did not endorse ignoring sin, or excusing sin, or acting like it was no big deal.  To Jesus, sin is a HUGE deal.  It was the sole reason that he had to die on the cross for our sins.  Jesus preached repentance because he wanted us to cease from sin and to follow him!

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Acts 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 

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3.  Jesus Preached about the Kingdom

The other main topic that Jesus preached about, from this passage is the Kingdom.  It is not good enough for us just to repent.  We must also become citizens of his great Kingdom, of which he is King, Ruler, and Master!  We know that the Kingdom that Jesus established is his church (Matt 16:18-19).  Many religions want to separate the King from the Kingdom.  Meaning, that you can believe in Jesus (the King) and not necessarily have any thing to do with his church (his kingdom).  Jesus did not see it that way.  Once one repents, Jesus expects them to become citizens of his Kingdom, of which he has total authority.

Examine the ministry of Jesus in the four accounts of his Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).  You will not find a passive, feel-good, let’s-all-get-along message coming out of his mouth.  What you will find is that Jesus hated sin and wanted to save as many people from the curse of sin as possible.  Certainly Jesus represents Love.  So much so that he made the ultimate sacrifice to demonstrate his love for us.  But Jesus dedicated his life to preaching repentance and His Kingdom!

Reflecting the SON, 

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com