The Golden Rule

I invite you to open your Bibles and turn to Luke 6. We'll begin reading in verses 27-36. Luke 6, 27-36. Now, the heading in my Bible for this passage says, Love your enemies. It is within this passage that we find what many refer to as the golden rule. The golden rule. And that'll be the title of today's study, The Golden Rule. So let's read this passage together here. Luke 6, in verse 27. He says, But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you.

To him who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask for them back. Verse 31, here it is. Just as you want men to do to you, you do also to them likewise.

Verse 32, But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?

For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those for whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But, verse 35, love your enemies. Do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the Most High. For he is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore, be merciful, just as your father also is merciful. Let's stop there.

Quite a passage, so we find ourselves here this afternoon coming to this passage. And specifically, verse 31 here, the golden rule, as they say. The rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

A rule, we might say, is maybe one of the most frequently quoted in all the Bible.

But also, though, we will see today, maybe the most misquoted and misunderstood in all the Bible. The golden rule, do unto others as you want them to do unto you. Again, it's a statement in which many have laid a hold of and used, but seemingly used without really any understanding. Any understanding of its actual meaning or actual context, so frequently used that we almost discredit it in many ways, don't we? We've heard it so many times we might even discredit its meaning. In our lives, but that would be regrettable because we know it to be part of the very foundation of Jesus Christ's teachings. The very foundation, love God and love neighbor. And so being part of that very foundation, we can see that it's so important and so vital for us to understand it in its proper meaning, in its proper context. So let's consider this matter here today. The golden rule. Prior to the time of Jesus, prior to the time that he walked this earth, this rule was pronounced. It was pronounced in the Old Testament, but often pronounced. You'll notice in the negative form as it relates to others. For example, do not murder one another. Do not covet that of your neighbors and so on. In other words, what you don't want others to do to you, don't do to them. Law is pronounced in the negative, in how they are relayed to us. So often in the Old Testament, it is in this negative fashion. But Jesus comes and he now states it in this positive fashion here, positively.

And that's what we want to notice first and foremost here. As we consider this rule in Luke, if you want to call it a rule, we need to understand as it's been given in this positive fashion. Why is that important? Why is that important? Well, Jesus is making clear that it's simply not enough to be refraining from treating others poorly.

He's making clear it's not enough to be just refraining from teaching others poorly. Jesus's followers are to be initiative takers, putting forth love, not just refraining from poor treatment of others. Very important to know. Now, it's not that Jesus came and he sets aside all the negative stuff, as some people you'll hear say. Jesus came and he replaced all that negativity with positivity.

Maybe you've heard that. Replace the old negative harsh law with this new and different law of love as exemplified in the golden rule. And you know, I'm really not into that Old Testament stuff, you will hear them say. That Old Testament negativity. I'm really into the New Testament positive dimension. I like this golden rule. You will hear them say. But as they say that, it's really based upon a false conclusion. Because what Scripture makes clear is this. The negative prohibitions of the Old Testament actually find their fulfillment in the working out of this positive statement.

It's not that an old law is being done away with, but rather it's an old law that's finding its fulfillment in this new way. Let me say that again. The negative prohibitions of the Old Testament find their fulfillment in the working out of this positive statement. For example, you take the negative prohibitions. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not kill.

You shall not steal. You shall not covet. You know, you shall not do these things against your neighbor. And Jesus comes and he sums it all up in this one positive dimension. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Do. And so the negative prohibitions are finding their fulfillment in this way. And the Apostle Paul actually spoke very clearly on this, and very specifically on this very thing. So let's see this. Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13. Turn there with me, if you will.

It's interesting that Paul took that teaching and really put it specifically and very succinctly here in Romans 13. And it's the understanding of just that again, that the negative prohibitions of the Old Testament are finding their fulfillment in the working out of this positive statement. So Romans 13. Let's read verses 8 through 10. Romans 13 verse 8 through 10. Now you see in my Bible it has, Love Your Neighbor here at the title. So Paul explains this. Romans 13 verse 8. He says, Oh, know when 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's any other commandment, all are 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. Isn't that amazing?

So he's talking about taking the initiative to show love toward one another. And that love then actually fulfills the commandments. The commandments given at Mount Sinai. And he actually states the commandments. You know them, he says, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not lie, do not covenant, whatever other commandment there may be. It's almost as if he it's this catch-all phrase. He didn't forget.

He didn't go through five and forget. He didn't forget at all. He was the Pharisee of the Pharisees. But what he's saying is that they're all summed up in love to another. And then verse 8, how clear is this? He who loves another has fulfilled the law. Verse 10, love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

And then he adds this very interesting statement in verse 11. Get this, he says, and do this knowing. Let me set how important this is to you, to his audience. Do this knowing the time, and the time is high time to awake out of your sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than we first believed. That's quite an explanation point, he puts at the end of this teaching here. So Paul is writing to the Roman Christians and he's saying, now listen, the time is short. You better shake yourself. You better awaken yourself to what I'm giving you here.

In many ways, Paul is saying, you know, I've given you all this doctrine. I've given you found the foundational elements of being a Christian. And now he says, I've moved from the doctrinal indicatives to the moral implications. And the moral implications, the moral imperatives, which I now confront you with, they're all grounded in the Old Testament commandments. Here is the moral imperatives. Love your neighbor. And just in case you're questioning it, they're all grounded in the Old Testament commandments. Make no doubt, he says. And he says, what I'm actually telling you is what the commandments look like when they're fulfilled, when they're carried out. And he says, I want you to awaken to this. Make sure you're loving towards one another because otherwise you're failing to fulfill the commandments.

If you're not loving one another in this way, you're failing to fulfill the commandments. Quite a powerful statement. So we need to understand that the way you fulfill the do-nots, the way you fulfill the do-nots, is applying love towards one another. It's that simple. And if you're not fulfilling the law in this way of love, I need to tell you, you don't have much time, Paul says.

So, the takeaway. What this means to me, it's not simply enough to be refraining from treating others poorly. Jesus and his followers are to be love initiators, actively putting forth love. So with that, I ask myself, am I simply a refrainer from treating others poorly? Or am I actively putting forth love? That's an important question. Think about the relationships in your life right now. And more specifically, think about the poor relationships in your life, the ones that aren't going so well. Are there some relationships in your life that you're simply tolerating each other?

Relationships in which you're simply not doing bad to them, you're not doing bad to them, but you're not loving them. Well, with those relationships, Paul would tell you if he was here today, wake up. Because it's not enough. To simply not do bad against them is not enough.

To simply tolerate them, it's not enough. You're not fulfilling this rule. Let's go back to Luke chapter 6 here. Luke chapter 6. There is so much wrapped up in this this rule, if you will, this golden rule, than we could ever delve into at first glance. And so it really warrants this deep look into today. And a dig in. So Luke chapter 6 again, when you're digging into this this rule, one thing to notice is what it doesn't say. Very important. And we want to notice what it doesn't say. Now, it does not say treat others as they treat you.

You may need to look at the verse there, verse 31, to check to see if I'm telling you correctly. It does not say treat others as they treat you, but that's all you hear, really. And it's all that's put forth. If someone does something to you, you treat them the same way.

But if that were the instruction, of course, that would give us all kind of mandates for all kinds of behavior. But rather, it's treat them in the way in which you would like to be treated by them. Verse 31 again, see this instruction. Verse 31, the end there, just as you want men to do to you, you do also do to them likewise. So Jesus is saying, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Think about that for a moment. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Don't treat them the way they treat you if it's poorly.

The followers of Jesus Christ are to be distinct in this way. Distinct. If you treat others the way they treat you, how does that make you distinct in any way? And that's what is beginning to be brought forth here in verse 32. Jesus begins to explain about the distinction of His, those that are His. So verse 31, the golden rule, and then you'll see here in verse 32, 33, and 34, what comes next are three consecutive questions. And it's the same question in every verse, so it must be important. Jesus asked it three times. What's the question in these three verses? It's the question, what credit is that to you? Let's read this again. Verse 32 is the 34. Verse 32, But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to only those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those to whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners who receive as much back. So three verses, and he's making clear this essential fact, in our dealings with one another, it has to be selfless. It has to be a giving of yourself, an unselfish moving and motivation amongst each other. Fulfilling the golden rule, it means you will be completely selfless.

Selfless. That's a hard thing to do. It's a hard word to say. But the test of whether you're fulfilling this rule is if the love you're giving, you're not doing it to receive anything back.

No anticipation of receiving anything in return. I'm sure you agree that that's what he's saying here. Love toward your neighbor, extending love to them, is not to be driven by anything that you get back from them. You shouldn't judge or measure in any way how much you're going to give, but based upon what they've given to you. If we love only in return of love received, why would that be worth any recognition? Jesus says. If someone is very loving to us and we love them back, what strength is that? If you love those who love you, big deal. What credit is it to you? Or just do good to those who are good to us? How does that distinguish us in any way? It's fairly common. People do that all the time, every day. They're good to those who are good to them. If we operate financially, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. How is that any different than the culture that surrounds us?

Think this out. Jesus here is calling for a radical lifestyle. I want us to really get that. This is not normal. This is not natural. Jesus is calling individuals to a lifestyle that is in complete opposition than the framework of the culture today.

What credit is to you? If you love those who love you, good to those who are good to you. Lend, knowing that the percentage is right for return.

So I know I can't put my head on my pillow tonight and feel like I've done something done something good if I'm just simply doing these things. I'm good to those who are good to me. I show love to those who love me. I'm lending, making sure I can get it back. And to those who treat me poorly, I'm tolerating them. I'm not treating them bad. I'm not treating them bad. So I feel pretty good about myself.

No. Paul says, wake up. Wake up. So if you want to be distinct, if you want to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, you have to be radical in your thinking and radical in your behavior towards one another. And he says, let me tell you how radical this is. A son and daughter are the most high. If that's who you want to be, that's who you're striving to be. Look at verse 35 and 36. Look at how radical this is. Verse 35, But love your enemies. Do good in land, hoping for nothing in return.

And your reward will be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the most high. For he is kind to the unthankful and the evil. For he is kind to the unthankful and the evil. Therefore, be merciful, just as your father also is merciful. Let's stop there. Now that's radical, isn't it? Absolutely radical thinking and behavior.

Love your enemies. Do good. Land for hope, but nothing in return. If we do good to those who are good to us, that's not a result of regeneration, is it?

You say, well, I'm not treating them poorly. Is that enough? Is that enough? People are happy to be with those, eat dinner with those, drink coffee with those who are good to them.

That's not a result of regeneration. That's understandable human behavior.

And Jesus says, if that is the extent of your love, what credit is it to you? It's not irrelevant. It's not wrong. It's good to do those things. But if we're solely operating at the ethics of the normal culture, does that mark us as a true follower of Jesus Christ?

We haven't done anything credit worthy. Ah, but a son or a daughter of the Most High, we move amongst each other on a completely different dimension. It's a completely different dimension. It's a dimension of the supernatural. The supernatural. And in case it's not immediately obvious to you yet, do not think this is the natural response of ordinary men and women. It's the supernatural response of ordinary men and women. This requirement here, we could admit it here, have this kind of love in verse 35. We cannot do it. It's not possible. With some of the people you've been moving with, it's been a poor relationship, finding this kind of love for them, it's not possible of your own strength. We've got to make that clear.

It cannot be fulfilled of and by ourselves. Many people have tried it, and you believe you come to church, you hear the pastor say, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your enemies. Do good and land, hoping for nothing in return, and you head out of services, and you think that sounds right. I'm going to give a good try at that. And you move out amongst each other with an honest attempt. And what happens? You fail miserably. Because by nature, it's not in us. It's impossible to respond in a supernatural way, right?

Unless, of course. Impossible unless, of course, I should be introduced to the power of God.

And that power comes and lives in me. It's the very power and love of Jesus Christ. And then that love of Jesus Christ then flows from me to that person who I've been tolerating. The love of Jesus Christ flows through me to that person who's been treating me poorly. Because if we say, oh, you know, we can work this out, and we have that notion of working it out of and by ourselves, we quickly have a miserable time doing it. So again, we have to quickly realize that we cannot feel the golden rule by ourselves. It will only be as God works it in that we can work it out.

That's Philippians 2. Let's turn there and see this. Philippians 2 in verse 12 through 13. Philippians 2, verse 12 and 13 for a moment. Let's turn there. This is important to get, because the golden rule trying to fulfill it, it'll be a great tyranny to you if you're trying to fulfill it yourself. Because no matter how hard you try, this kind of love, it's impossible for us. But with God's help, that's a different story. Look at Philippians 2 in verse 12 through 13.

This is how it's possible. It says, verse 12, Therefore, my beloved, he's speaking to those beloved, Christ followers, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence alone only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And here it is, verse 13. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Stop there. Work out your own salvation here. For it is God who works within you both to will and to do his good pleasure. So we need God's help in working out this part of our salvation. And make no doubt, it is a huge part of our salvation to work out. But we know it is only as God works it in that we can work it out. Only he can produce this supernatural response in us to those who treat us poorly, especially. So we're beginning to see the heights. There are great heights involved in fulfilling this rule. The true fulfilling of the golden rule requires a supernatural power of God flowing through us. And it's only by that power are we to fulfill such an imperative here to love your enemies, do good, and lend. Can you imagine lending to an enemy, hoping for nothing in return? Can you imagine lending time, lending your heart, lending prayer towards doing good, hoping for not to an enemy, hoping for nothing in return? What can go through your mind when you start to think about that prospect? Oh, they're just going to take advantage of me. They're going to step on me even more.

I've had that. You know, we have those thoughts. It's a very vulnerable position.

We put ourselves in in fulfilling the golden rule. Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. It requires a supernatural power of God, we could say, and we know. And if that's true, if we're only able to fulfill this imperative of love towards others with God's help, then we can conclude then that it would be wrong for us to think about separating the rule of love neighbor from that of love God, of the commandment of loving God. If it's only by God's help that we're able to fulfill love neighbor, then we cannot separate love towards neighbor from that of love towards God.

And Jesus made that clear. He didn't come to separate love of God from love of fellow man, and we can't look at that either in that way. The two great commandments are inseparable from one another, but people try to separate them all the time. You will hear, you know, if you listen, how many times you hear some the golden rule in some form or fashion throughout the week, you'll be amazed. You will hear people say, you know, all that really matters is that we love one another. I've even said that in a concluding statement. You know, you have a serious conversation with someone, and as you're partying, you know, you say, well, you know, really, I guess all that matters is that you love, we love each other. Well, yes, that's true, but that's not all of it. But society, secular society even, is very happy with loving your neighbor as yourself. Confucius teachings teach that. Buddhism, all kinds of new age teachings, they're okay with, and they're very happy with loving your neighbor as yourself. Where they get off the train is when you follow up and say, and love God. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and your strength. But you see, you can't separate the two. The commandment of loving God is never separated from loving your fellow man. They cannot truly be fulfilled without each other. Loving neighbor cannot be fulfilled without loving God. That's why we live in a world that's in such conflict. They're trying to solve their neighbor problems without loving God. That's the problem. They need this supernatural ability. Let's go back to Luke chapter 6 here. Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6. The application is clear here. We must love God first because it's only by His power they were able to fulfill this kind of love towards neighbor. And that's what Jesus we see here in in Saul in verse 32 and 33 and 34. We are to prove ourselves to be the sons and daughters of the Most High by loving our fellow man in this radical way.

That's how we we garner that power in order to do so. Because it says, as it says there in verse 32, 33 and 34, even common sinners do good to those who are good to them and so on. But you and I, we are no longer common sinners, are we? We're not common sinners anymore. And the reason people know we're not is the evidence of verse 35. They see the evidence that we love our enemies and we're doing good and lending with no hope of return. That's the evidence that we're not just common sinners.

That's the evidence that we're the sons and daughters of the Most High.

But as we sit here today, we know it's profoundly challenging, maybe the most challenging aspect of being in a body, in a congregation.

And without question, it's uncomfortable.

I know I'm not the only one who has trouble with this. You know, I can preach what I want, but am I actually truly showing love towards my enemies in this radical way? Or am I tolerating a smile, a pass-by, an avoidance? What enemy do you need to love today? What enemy do you need to bring under this golden rule?

If we think about the Good Samaritan who did good, but he did good without any calculations. He didn't allow any calculations to enter into his heart. See if this sounds familiar, this scenario. He could have walked over to the bloodied man on the side of the road and immediately allowed himself to be turned over to the thoughts, the imaginings, the hating of the presumed life choices that would have brought such a man to be lying on the side of the road bloodied. Have we done that before? You're helping someone, all the while calculating.

I'm uh they brought this on themselves, I'm sure. I'll help them. I can just presume this life choice that brought him to be in such a condition that they're in. He didn't allow his thoughts to go there. Rather, he loved without a calculator. He loved them without calculating this or that. Ah, this poor sap. I'll help him. Get you know, come on, let's get up. You should have made better decisions in your life. No, he didn't do any of that. He picked him up, bloodied, cleaned him off, took him to the end, paid two silver coins, gave it to the endkeeper, said, I'll return and pay you whatever else you reimburse, whatever extra expense. There was no prospect that this man was going to be able to pay him back. Zero prospect.

Do you think he thought he was going to get paid back?

Or do you think he did it out of Jesus Christ's supernatural love of flowing through him to do such a thing? Do you think he was a son of the most high at that moment? You bet he was. It was just full of God's love flowing through him with no calculator. No calculator. He was fulfilling the golden rule. That's a particular weakness that we can fall into.

We help, but we tabulate. We tabulate.

No, he saw a need. He filled it, a burden. He buried it. Responsibility, he took it. That's what Jesus Christ wants you and I to live, the same way. It's absolutely countercultural. That's important to get across because you'll know you're fulfilling it usually when you realize it's not your first instinct. That's when you know you're fulfilling it. When it's not your first instinct. When it hurts a little bit. When you're vulnerable a little bit. He says, I want you to love your enemies. Incredible.

Maybe one of the most uncomfortable demands on the part of Jesus Christ, but it's the way to be a son and daughter of the Most High. Love your enemies, do good to them, lend without expecting anything back. Because after all, he says at the end of verse 35, if you think about it, God loves man in this way. God is kind to the ungrateful, it says, and he's kind to the wicked.

You know, as sons and daughters of the Most High, wasn't that a wonderful sunrise this morning? I don't know how many of you were able to see the sunrise this morning. Wonderful, beautiful sunrise. Was that sunrise just for God's people?

Could anyone else see it? Or was it just for God's people, those who have been chosen, called now, because we're redeemed in this way, we're the only ones that could see this beautiful sunset, sunrise, and everybody else couldn't see it? No. Do the ungrateful and wicked deserve to see such a beautiful thing from God? No. Do we? No. So how does God treat the ungrateful and wicked? No. He's extending his mercy and kindness to all, and all will have the opportunity to become his very children. And if he treats the wicked and the ungrateful with such kindness and mercy, shouldn't we?

And we think about then, our minds immediately go to what kindness and mercy God's shown us. There's so many writers throughout the Bible who have written on this very principle of the golden rule, but I'd like to move to a conclusion today and finish with the writings of the Apostle John. So if you'll turn with me to 1 John 4, John is the perfect person to finish a conclusion of such a topic as this. 1 John 4, we're going to see his expressions of this very rule. 1 John 4, let's read verse 7 through 12. And again, of course, he's really the best writer to conclude with. He expressed the kind of love. And really, here in this first letter of John, he is saying one thing to his beloved. He is saying here that if you are truly Christ, then you cannot just express your love toward him and the Father. You must express your love toward one another. If you're truly his, love cannot only be expressed to him, but must be expressed to one another. So let's read this. 1 John 4, let's read verse 7 through 12. Hear these words. Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested towards us, that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation of our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been made perfected in us. So that's quite a passage. And John was fully aware of the contradiction of the concept that someone could say that they loved God while merely tolerating a fellow brother or sister. John understood godly love. He saw it. He was with Jesus Christ, walked with him, saw how he expressed love to those who weren't so lovable. And he knew that, that we cannot express love toward one another if we don't express love toward one another. We're putting ourselves on a really rocky road of being able to claim assurance that we belong to God. If we're not expressing love toward one another in this way, it's a very rocky road. And it's a rocky road of our assurance that we belong to him. This is why I saved John's words for the last year. It really is. He states it with such clarity and gravity. And he gives us really, and I want to touch on four aspects here as we conclude, as to why verse seven must be worked out in our experience. Verse seven, let us love one another for reasons as to why we should love each other in this way and why we should wholeheartedly commit ourselves to the fulfilling of this rule. First, verse seven tells us, Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God. So love is of God's nature. And he's saying our expression amongst each other stems from the fact that we've been brought in the same family of God with each other. He's writing to those beloved, those who have received God's Holy Spirit. So this happened to us, the faith in Jesus Christ. Not only were our sins forgiven, but we were partakers of that very nature. And what is that very nature? Love.

And so if we've been regenerated in that way as a child of God, and we know God is love, then that very nature has been put into us. And so for us to be in his family at the same time, unloving in our relationships with one another, it's as ridiculous as children not resembling their father or their mother. It's that preposterous. That's why he says he who does not love, and verse eight, he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. So when he looks down on our congregation here, and he takes our pulse, this is one of the pulses that he's taking. Is this fellowship in our brethren here, is the pulse beating strong with this kind of love, or is it faint? John says, beloved, let us love one another because God, it's his nature, and you've been given that nature to express. Secondly, secondly, why are we to love one another? Why are we to wholeheartedly fulfill this rule? Well, it's because God has given us his Son. Even in our ugliness, God has shown us such love through his Son, even in our ugliness. That's verse nine and ten here. In a sense, he's saying we're going to have to be careful about how we speak about this love, because this kind of love is expressed in terms of Jesus Christ giving his life.

And if you notice, it's initiative love, the initiative of divine love. So God didn't look down and decide to show us love because we were so lovely. No, we were so ugly. He loved us.

So think about that and you moving through your relationships with one another, showing love even in ugliness. That's the divine initiative that God showed to us. And it's different than human love. We tend to love in response to the loveliness we see, but he set his love upon us despite what he saw.

Expressing love in that way. Initiative love despite the ugliness.

So as John says, we need to love one another because of the love that's been given to us through the life of Jesus Christ. It's selfless. It's selfless. Jesus Christ made himself vulnerable for us. Weak. That's the kind of love it is. Thirdly, why are we to love one another and to fulfill this rule wholeheartedly? Because if God has loved us in this way, how could we not? How could we not? And that's verse 11. If God has loved us in this way, beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another. How could we not love one another because of the love that God has given us? It would be inconceivable we wouldn't. Think of all the love and forgiveness that's wrapped up in the stake that Jesus Christ hung on. Think of all the times God has forgiven you, set you back up on your feet, and he's saying, listen, are you really going to be holding on to those those things, those petty things, amongst each other? How many followers of Jesus Christ have been destroyed by their unwillingness to forgive? I wonder. We have to learn to say, I'm sorry. We have to learn to say you're forgiven.

That's what he's saying. Dear friends, don't come to me today saying how wonderful it is what God has done for me while holding on to an unforgiving spirit. We have to stir ourselves up, stir up God's spirit in us, that love. But we tend to be stirred up by so many other things. We can certainly get stirred up. But he says, dear friends, stir up love to one another so that we might live in this realm of unity. And we're all bowing in the same direction. Our affections are all burning with the same flame.

Our aims are with the same end. We all have the same end. Impossible, someone says. You think of that man or that woman comes to mind, your brother or sister. Impossible. No. Not with Jesus Christ, the kind of love that's flowing through us. It's not. Fourthly and finally, the invisible God is made visible when we love each other in this way, with this radical love. The invisible God is made visible when we love each other in this way. And that's verse 12. Verse 12, no one has seen God at any time, but if we love one another, God abides in us. His love has been perfected in us. And again, in a phrase, the invisible God is made visible amongst his people when we love one another. So when the world looks on and they don't understand much of what we have to say, well nevertheless, they're going to encounter God's love as we express it amongst each other. They're going to see it. They might not understand what we're saying, but they're going to see a love there as we express it amongst each other.

Yeah, I think about the individual who says, you know, wow, you're starting to look so much like your father. You know, you think about what that does to a child, a child who admires his father. You're starting to look like your dad, especially a father that's well spoken of. The child stands a little bit taller, but it's humbled at the same time. And he goes back into his room and he says, you know, I don't see myself at all. I'm kind of a wretch in so many ways. I'm so much unlike my father, but that person down the street said I was beginning to look like him.

That's what the golden rule produces in us. By our loving, by our lending, by our doing good, we begin to look like the father, our father. So this afternoon, we come before God and we ask, is the golden rule being fulfilled in my life? And if it's not, start. Start fulfilling it. And maybe start with your enemies. Maybe start with those who have been a little ugly. Start with those, because that's where God started with us. Well, let's conclude here in 1 John with these two verses. I think John just says it. There's no better way to say it. 1 John 4. Let's conclude here the message with verse 20 and 21. And with this, we'll conclude. Verse 20. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? In this commandment we have from him that he who loves God must love his brother also.