This sermon was preached at Grace Baptist Church Eldorette by Pastor Naftali Ogalo. Let's turn to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 7. That is where we have our reading of God's word, and I will be preaching from one of the verses there. So turn, please. to that passage. Matthew chapter 7, I am going to read the first 12 verses but I will preach from one verse. So Matthew chapter 7, I read from ESV verses 1 to 12. The Bible says this, let's all pay attention, please. This is what we read. Judge not that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye? but do not notice the log that is in your own eye. Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, And then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 7. 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 the one who seeks, finds. And to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Or which one of you If his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are 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? Verse 12, So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Let's just pray. Oh Lord our God, we have read your word, but now we desire to have the understanding of it. Lord, if your Word would benefit us. If this morning we have come to this place for a purpose, it is to the end that your Word will benefit us. And therefore, Lord, I pray, I plead, that you will speak to us. Open your Word Help us to have the understanding of it. And Lord, may it be indeed that when we see what it means, then we would be able to cry out to you for mercy, for grace, And that indeed, some here will be able to say, create within me a new heart, oh God. Otherwise, we have come for nothing. Please, do not let us go out the way we have come. But we have come because you are pleased to bless. And you know how to give good gifts to your children. You know that. So pour upon us a great measure of your Spirit that we will benefit surely. For this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Before us is God's Word. I have been preaching through Matthew's Gospel. And this time, for a number of weeks now, I've been showing you what God's Word is telling us from chapter 7. You will remember when we began chapter 7, verses 1 to 5, we learned about God as Judge, and that God as Judge helps us to see ourselves more clearly. Unless we see ourselves more clearly, we will get everything wrong. We will be seeing problems in other people, not our own. So it's important to see ourselves clearly. We saw that in verses 1 to 5. Then, in verse 6, we saw something, that God helps us to see others more clearly. It is that strange verse, you remember, which told us, do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pals before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. That that otherwise strange verse teaches us to see others more clearly. Last Sunday we saw in verses 7 to 11 how God helps us to see himself now more clearly if we are to be of help to other people. And of course, we saw a number of areas how that is applicable to us. Today, though, we move on. And please, I want us to see verse 11, verse 12. Verse 12, even in a number of your passages in your Bibles, it has been entitled or titled, the golden rule, the golden rule. And so I want us to see the truth from this verse, the golden rule. It's just a small verse. It simply says, so or therefore, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophet, or prophets. Now, if you're thinking when you read your Bible, It is very easy and initially, rightly so, to ask what is the reason why that verse is there? It doesn't look like it is actually tied with the verses that have gone ahead. No relevance or no connection, it appears. However, verse 12 is closely connected with what we have been seeing right from verse 1 all the way to verse 11. In fact, verse 12 is connected with the oil salmon on the mount. And therefore, chapter 6 and chapter 5, this small verse, But let me just bring one point to show you the connection. In my version, verse 12 begins by saying, well the first word in verse 12 is, so whatever you wish that others do to you. And in some of your Bibles, it begins with the word therefore. Now, that alone clearly show us the strong connection of verse 12 and the verses that have gone before. Very important. In other words, if we would judge other people in a genuine way, in a fair way, if we would judge others God's way, then remember this golden rule. That is the connection. And this golden rule, I hope, We will know it is there. I hope next time if someone talks about the golden rule, you will remember it is in chapter 7 verse 12. This verse, very important. So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. It's a great rule. It's a special rule. There is no rule like it. In fact, it appears in other forms, but the same truth. This morning we had already looked at that passage in the book of Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13 and verse 9. Romans 13 verse 9 if you can turn there verse 9 you see after the long list let me just read those for the commandments You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet. And any other commandments are summed up in this word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And that last phrase in chapter 13 of Romans, verse 9, echos. the same truth in Matthew chapter 7 verse 12. So when you think of what Romans 13 verse 9 says, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, and you come back to our passage of study, Matthew chapter 7 verse 12, so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. You will agree that we are actually talking about relationships. Relationships is what is being taught here, how we relate with other people. And I say this, my friends, is one of the greatest problems in the world. It is. Whether we think in terms of family, relationships in families, That's a big problem. We narrow it down when we are thinking of family and we narrow it down to marriage. Relationships in marriage, big problem. But you know, one would wish that such problems are locked up in our families and in marriages. But when we come to church, it is a thing of the past. But no, that is not the case because even in churches, relationships is the big problem. In the neighborhood, the whole problem is relationship. In the country, that is the problem. how we relate with others and so we extend it it doesn't stop there even in the world you know friends if only if only every one of us let me use my own example if only When I am to deal with anyone and everyone else, I would think this way. Now, what do I like? And having thought or listed what things I like, then I would ask myself, what don't I like? What are the things which hurt me? Therefore, I don't like them. I can list them down. The things I like, what I don't like, the things which cause me concern. But you don't stop there. I don't stop there. Having listed what things, how I respond and react to situations, then I must ask myself, what does my brother or my sister like? In all fairness, I've listed mine, what things I like, what things I don't, what things hurt me. But before I make a move, I list what does he or she like, what does he or she hate or does not like, things which hurt them, so that I say, because these are the things they like, I want to move towards them according to what they like. But they don't like these other things. These other things hurt them. Therefore, I will not do that to them. You know, if only life was like that, But of course we know. We know my friends that it is not the way. Often we start with, and there's nothing wrong to start there, with what I like, what I don't like, what hurts me. And it's like why is he treating me like this and I don't like these things. We have not gone to the other side and said what do they themselves like and don't like and what things hurt them. So we come to this passage with the golden rule And please, it is not enough to say, well, the Lord Jesus says to us, so whatever you wish that others will do to you, do also to them. Let's go and do it. I wish that I could come and just announce this passage and say, the Lord Jesus tells us that what we want others to do to us, let's do the same to them. Let's go out, let's finish our final him and pray and we go let's go do this we will not succeed we will not succeed for one and very importantly please look at this passage again when he has said so whatever you wish that others will do to you do also to them listen to this for this the law and the prophets. The sentence does not end by doing things for others. The sentence goes on and it tells us for this is the law and the prophets. Though so often that last bit is left out or no one cares about the last part of that passage. You see, generally, people appreciate the golden rule. People love it. They even tell you, don't treat me like that. Whatever you like others to do to you, do to me also. We like that bit. But of course, we fail to carry it out in our lives. We do! And certainly, even among believers, we fail to carry out this golden rule. You may say, this morning you are judging us too hard. We are believers, surely we don't... Ah, wait a minute, my friends, wait a minute! What do you say about backbiting, the gossip that goes on between two believers or more when they meet together? What would you say about that? What about the selfishness that is so much rampant? This golden rule, we find it ever so hard to carry out. No, we admire it. We even attempt to do it. But we fail to carry it out. The question must be asked, why is it not obeyed? How come it is not obeyed? Now in a very small way I've shown you that actually it is not obeyed. We desire it, we love it, we quote it, usually when it is on our favor, but we don't obey it. So why? I've got a reason to set before us this morning why we fail to obey the golden rule and then after showing that I assure you I'll not have just finished my sermon in the second place then I'll show you our hope for obeying this rule. So one is the golden rule is not obeyed for a reason and the reason is because of sin. because of sin. The golden rule is not obeyed because man is sinful. And I use the word man for all of us human beings. We are sinful and because of that we are not carrying out what the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of a very important teaching says. So whatever you wish that others will do to you, do also to them. And yet we don't. Why? Sin. Sin. You see, what I want us to see is that our disobedience to this rule, to use a big word, it doesn't need to scare any of you because we have used it here in the past, Our disobedience is theological. Our disobedience has to do with God, has something related to God. Theology is the study of God. So when we fail something theologically, we are actually failing where God is involved, where God is concerned. You know, when man fell in sin, the consequence of that fall goes so far and so deep. When Adam fell in sin, his sin has brought untold problems. And sadly, sin is like that. And that's why my friends, let me plead. That's why we should keep away from sin as far as possible. Let's not poke sin. Let's not scratch sin and see and admire. And sin knows no full stop. If we are not careful to move away should we see or spot or sense sin, by the time we realize we are already in it and it is too late. When Adam fell in sin, his falling in sin brought untold misery. And one of the things that his sin brought about is hatred of God. Adam now came to hate God. No, you may say no, but he just feared. If you read Genesis chapter 3, after the serpent had deceived them, God was coming, they hid themselves. But when that passage is unpacked, then you see was nothing less than hatred. The God who made them, the God who gave them everything, the God who said, do this and he will leave. They hated the way of God and gone their own way. And since then, he's been suffering and suffering and suffering. And friends, since Genesis chapter 3, man has not been able to keep God's law. Now, let's turn back to Romans. We had read it earlier. Please turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, and let us see what we're learning from verse 7. Okay, Romans chapter 8, verse 7. We read this. For the mind, for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile, I hope you see the hatred there, is hostile to God. It does not submit to the law of God. Indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. That Romans chapter 8 verse 7 is crucial. It tells us, it explains why the golden rule is not being obeyed. Sin has come in. The fall has brought this hatred. You see, when we turn against the very God who made us, then we cannot function His way. We cannot. We will not bring glory to Him. We will not do what pleases Him. Why do people fail to keep the golden rule They look at themselves, not the one who made them. And that we call selfishness. People now are self-centered. Their concern is not God, it is themselves. You know, my friends, when God saves a believer, you know, a sinner. He becomes a believer. We are believers as God's people. The Bible teaches us that there are remaining sins within us that we've got to fight. We've got to put them to death each day, each moment. Now, my remaining sins would be different from your remaining sins, but we all must put them to death. However, The one sin that remains within us, but which seems to be very common, is the self-centeredness. The self-centeredness is that one sin that remains. And we've got to contend, we've got to fight it. But it is there. And you know, Even we as believers, this verse 12 is not for the unbeliever. Even we as believers, those who are true believers here, this sermon comes, the golden rule challenge comes and knocks us on the head. It is speaking to everyone of us. You may have looked at this verse when we began or if you read it before you came to church and said, wow, today is just going to be a glorious day. You know, the golden rule is going to be expounded to us. Wonderful. Let it come. And then you now see it challenges everyone who calls themselves Christians. Selfishness. Dear friends, this sin of selfishness is what ails our country. It's the big problem we have in our country. I know I began with the relationship in the family, in marriage, in church, in community, but that relationship problem looked upon from the other angle, but selfishness, what do I depend on? Honestly, that's what it is. When you think of the whole matter of the BBI, people are talking right now about the BBI. If this was not a problem, selfishness, there would not have been the need for the BBI. It is here now because selfishness has brought Kenya to this constantly, five years every time, the brink of destruction. Five years again, the brink of destruction. Selfishness has been there. So now people are desperate, let's do this, let's put this, so that we can move on together. We here, I'm talking about you because my summary is not even going to go to the politicians and the rest of the country. We here must not think the BBI is our hope. It will not be because I've shown you our biggest problem is sin. sin in the heart, sin that brings out selfishness. That is our problem. While sin remains in the human heart, obeying the golden rule is what we call a mirage. You're walking on a hot day on the tomach or even in the car, in a matatu, but a head looks like kuna maji kwa bara bara, right ahead, because the sun beats on the, on the stomach. And it's like, wow, it's been raining this side. Maybe it's not the best example now because it's raining a lot, but think of those times when it's very dry. But then a head, as the vehicle is going, or as you're walking, Just see. But as you go, as the vehicle goes closer to that, you never reach it. If anything, it has further moved. It has moved ahead. That one is called a mirage. It appears to be there, but as you approach it, it's not there. It's like a vapor. while sin remains in the human heart. Obeying this rule, the golden rule, is a mirage. So that is why this rule is a challenge even to us this morning, because sin still remains in us. But quickly, let me bring this point. If that's the case, on a passage that you may have thought, wow, today we're just going to be really encouraged and then just go back home and do it. I hope you have seen, surely, it's a challenge. So far what we have seen is a challenge. It's rebuked us. It's shown us. This is pegged to the law of God and the prophets. And that means the Old Testament is not just a New Testament thought. It's hinged upon the Old Testament teaching of God's Word. So it will not change. And then you can ask, and rightly so, so what hope is there? If even the golden rule this morning you are showing us that there's no hope for keeping it because of sin, what hope is there? In the second place then, hope for obeying the golden rule. Hope for obeying the golden rule. And there are two things for us that will be done under that. One, the first hope is Knowing God. Knowing God. In other words, my friends, when we read this passage, Matthew chapter 7 verse 12, For whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Our heart should go out immediately and say, God, I need to have dealings with you. I need to know you. If I'm going to carry out this that you have commanded in your word, God, reveal yourself to me. Knowing God. You know why I am insisting it must begin by knowing God? It is here written in verse 7, you know, it's titled in our Bibles, the golden rule. But I want us now to just see another passage where the same truth comes up and see how it is closely tied to the knowledge of God. Please turn in the same Matthew but now turn to chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22 and we read verses 37 to 40. This is what we read. Of course, someone had asked Jesus among the Pharisees, well, let's read it from verse 34, so we have the context. Verse 34, Matthew 22. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they, now Pharisees, they gathered together and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, verse 36, which is the great commandment in the law? Which is the great commandment in the law? Verse 37, and he said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and the first commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I hope you see that. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. I hope you now see why then. If you, my friend, you are to obey the golden rule, you better begin with God. You can't escape God. You can't sideline God. We just say, well, we've been taught to go love our neighbors as ourselves. Let me go do it. You've got dealings with God. Why? Because loving Him is the first commandment, loving our neighbours is the second, and we are told that on these two commandments depend all the Lord and the prophets. So you see, you can't reverse the order, or you can't leave one out and think that you will succeed. When you come to know God, when you come to know God, what will you get to know? It's like, okay, today the subject is knowing God. What at the end of our session, the end of the lesson, what should we pick with us? What should be the little baskets that we carry? Surely we should, walking away from such a lesson, we should be able to say, God, you are holy. From this lesson about you, I am saying that you are holy. But not only holiness of God, we also see that God is almighty. There's no one to be compared with Him. He's all-glorious. He doesn't stop there. He's all-powerful. that is all-powerful. And so, now actually we could add, we could go on. He's not only holy, almighty, powerful. We can go on, but surely if we are to learn about God, we would end up with those truths. If that is what we are seeing about God, because we must start with Him, then we walk away. Not proud that we have learned about God. That's true. He's holy. He's almighty. He's powerful. But you know that has an effect. God's holiness and God's almightiness and power. You know what that does? to creatures like ourselves, we begin to say, then who am I? What am I? Am I anything before God? This holy, almighty, powerful God? I am nothing. I am nothing. Honestly, I'm so unworthy You should be saying like that. You should be able to end up saying, for who God is, I've got no rights on my own. And so we can go on. Now, that's the knowledge of God. That's what the knowledge of God brings. Basically, the knowledge of God humbles us. Humbles us. But the beauty of it is, it also begins to help us to see others differently. We now begin to see others on the basis of God. In other words, they, like myself, are otherwise nothing if it's not God. equally depend on this God for everything. That's why, my friends, it must be that we begin with God. We see ourselves and we see our friends. They are helpless. They are dependent on God. It doesn't stop there. If all we knew about God is, God is holy, God is almighty, God is powerful. If I say, let's go home, we've learned about God, we'd all be discouraged. We'd all say, then what can we do? We're finished. But no. We start with the knowing of God and then we come to realize that we depend on His grace alone. So, not only knowing God, but depending on His grace alone. You know, our relationship with God is on the basis of grace alone. What is grace? is that which we don't deserve. Oh, there is that hymn we have sung in this church for a long time. Sadly, in one sense, it's been overtaken. But it needs to come back. Grace is a gift of God that we don't deserve. We need to come back to that song. And so our relationship with God is on the basis of grace alone. God never deals with us on the basis of what we deserve. Something happens to someone and they say, but this is unfair. Why is God treating me like this? This is unfair. You talk of fairness when you're dealing with God? You talk of fairness? I'd rather not finish my sentence. We don't depend or deal with God on the basis of fairness or on the basis of what we deserve. Oh, my friends, we are those who depend on nothing but the grace of God alone. You see, our salvation comes by grace alone. If you turn to Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, 9 and 10, tells us in many other passages that we stand on the basis of grace alone. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Friends, it must be said, dealing with God, it is grace, grace, all of grace. But how does this grace of God If all we can ever get from God is what we don't deserve, but He gives it, how does it reach us? It reaches us in no other way but through Christ alone. And so it is grace alone, through Christ, or in Christ alone. And we can go on, but surely that is what we are learning. Would we carry out the golden rule by ourselves? We can't. We cannot. Because of sin. We can't. We can't love others as we love ourselves. The only thing is if we turn and say, God, you are holy. You are almighty. You are powerful. I am undone. You have given me a task here. I cannot carry out this task. Then we conclude by saying, God, but for your grace in Christ alone. Then, my friend, it will be possible. It will be possible to carry out this task. This is what these things mean to us. By way of lessons or application, just two of them. This rule, and please see where it appears, this golden rule appears here in verse 12. After the first 11 verses, this rule appears here. Why? The Lord Jesus wants us to learn to deal with others in a particular way. He wants us to deal with others in relationship to God. That is what will help. See others in relationship to God. And therefore it is placed in verse 12 in a very fitting place. When He has taught us, Now, love others and desire to do to them as you desire them to do to you. In other words, God must be at the center of our dealings with other people. Is that the case with you? Do you, my friend, genuinely think of God and think of others through the spotlight of God? Could that explain why gossip is ripe among us as believers, why there's so much murmuring and complaining about what a brother did or said or what they didn't do or didn't say. This passage finds us out. If we are honest with ourselves, we should be able to say, wait a minute, I have not thought of my brother or my sister in the spotlight of God, with the glasses, if you like, the lenses of God, seeing him or her as one who just depends on the mercy of God and the grace of God. Could it be that's why we tear one another down by our remarks? The Lord Jesus wants us to deal with others in relationship to God. And now may God help us to begin to do that. Put it this way, none of us is perfect. And whenever we are thinking, remember we looked at it when we were dealing with the earlier verses. If we are those who have received grace, We are those who have experienced the grace of God, our sins forgiven. We will move with grace towards others because we are conscious that it is God who has brought the difference. You know, my friends, in the second place, let me say this. When we look at people as those who also stand in need of this grace and mercy, just like us, what will happen? We will begin to love them as ourselves. So this is now more positive. We will begin to love our brethren because we realize They only stand by grace alone. It's a hymn we've been singing in our house, at least with my wife, quite a lot. Only by grace can we enter. Only by grace can we stand. Not by human endeavour, but by grace alone. If he was to mark our iniquities, no one would stand We will begin to love our brethren as weak as we are when we consider that they stand in the position where we also stand. Desperate men and women, boys and girls, humbly depending on the grace of God alone. And so, friends, this is what I leave with us today from this passage. The Lord Jesus wants to teach us, and is teaching us, to relate with others in relationship to God. If we do that, then we'll be able to begin to love them as the Lord Jesus is showing us here. So whatever you wish that others do to you, do also to them. This is the will of God. This is what the word of God teaches throughout the law, throughout the prophets. But you know, friends, If this is where we are found, people who can only relate with one another in the context of God, people who then will relate with one another in mercy, in grace, because of what God has done to us, we begin to love Him. We are not going to build our own empire up here and say, it's cozy here. Let's leave here. Let's leave the world. Yesterday in the morning we found in our men's breakfast, as we go through history, that's one of the mistakes that the early church or the early Christians did. Some of them separated themselves because they felt they had found God. They were now believers. They moved away from the world. The world needs us. Needs us. Why am I bringing yesterday's and church history into this? Simply this. We need to plead with God in prayer. We need to plead with God. Plead with God to have mercy on those who are still not saved. Why is there no salvation in our church? And it hurts me. I talk about it. I pray about it. We need to plead with God. Sinners are helpless. They cannot save themselves. That's why we don't see people saved. No one can save themselves. And so, friends, if you are saved, we need to lock God in prayer. We need to be a praying church, pleading with God. These people cannot love their neighbours themselves. They cannot relate in their marriages. They cannot relate with their neighbours. Why? They don't know you God. God save them, save them. We need to be pleading with God. Let us pray. Oh God, Your word finds us out. It's a verse we like to quote. It's a verse generally we just love. The golden rule. Doing to others what we would like them to do to us. But when we begin to open it up, it breaks us to our very hearts. It reveals our hypocrisy. It opens up our remaining sins and we feel ashamed. It also shows we have not been praying as we ought, for sinners among us, who as we have seen, helpless in sin, unless you yourself changes them. Please, Lord, please, we plead with you, bring good, bring good, from your word. Please hear us then. Hear us. For these things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We do hope you have been blessed by the sermon you have heard. We want to encourage you to tune in to more of similar messages. We also want to encourage you, if you are able, come and join with us in our worship services at Grace Baptist Church, West Indies, Eldoret, just behind Kogo Flats. Thank you.