Many of you may know Corrie Ten Boom. She's passed away, but Corrie was a Dutch watchmaker who, along with her family, saved nearly 800 Jews from Nazi arrest and deportation during the Holocaust in World War II. And they did that by hiding the Jews in their home. Again, at great cost to them. but they did that. They themselves were caught and she and her sister Betsy were arrested and they were sent to Ravenstrock concentration camp. Listen to what Corrie says about the goodness of God. She says, often I have heard people say how good God is. We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic and look at the lovely weather. Yes, God is good when he sends good weather. But God was good when he allowed my sister Betsy to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsy that I thought God had forsaken me. You ever feel that way? No, Corey, said Betsy. He has not forgotten you. Remember his word. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. Corey concludes, there is an ocean of God's love available. There is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love, whatever the circumstances, end quote. Although life in a fallen, sin-cursed world does not always look like what it is that we want to see. It doesn't always look like God is good, that He is there, that He hasn't forsaken us, that He hasn't forgotten us. Life doesn't always look like that. but we must cling to the biblical truth that God is good all the time. This is one of the things that I believe we'll be seeing this morning as we continue on in our study of the Sermon on the Mount. Turn your Bible with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter seven. In Matthew 7, verses 7 through 12, passage we're gonna be looking at this morning, as I've been studying through this, it seems to me I can see three truths that I believe should motivate us to obey God's command to love others as ourselves. Three truths that should motivate us to obey God's command to love others as ourselves. The first truth is this. I call it God's promises to answer our prayers. God promises to answer our prayers. Look what Jesus says in verses seven and eight. 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. To him who knocks, it will be opened. Now, last time, if you remember, we saw where Jesus commanded in verses one through six of chapter seven to stop being judgmental, to take the log out of our own eye so that we can see clearly how we can take the speck out of our brother's eye. and also to be discerning so as not to throw what is holy and precious, the word of God, the gospel, before the wicked who ridicule, mock, and reject it. Since it is impossible to show such Christ-like love to others in our own strength, When all of that is happening, those things are going on. To be able to show Christ-like love, to respond in a way that's pleasing to the Lord, it's impossible in our own strength because of that. Jesus now commands us here in verses seven and eight to pray for God's grace so that we might be able to live the way God calls us to live. The word you mentioned three times in verse seven refers to only born-again believers. As I've said before many times, as we've been going through the Sermon on the Mount, that this, again, can only be lived out by a born-again believer. These are not principles, things to follow that the world, if they just did, again, things would be better. because unregenerate man cannot do, does not want to do the things of God. The heart, there has to be a heart change, and Jesus has focused on that all along. Only born-again believers, those who have repented of their sin, placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, only they can do this. And it is to us as believers that Jesus gives these three commands, ask, seek, knock. They're imperatives. They're imperatives in the Greek. An imperative is a command. He is commanding us to do this. And these are metaphors for prayer. He is calling us to pray in this way, for God's grace, in order to do what it is He is calling us to do. Although what Jesus says in this passage is not His complete teaching on prayer. We've already looked at the Lord's prayer, or better stated, the disciples' prayer. We've already looked at that. but it is through prayer that God supplies his enabling grace that is available to all of his children. Let me just ask, are you praying daily for God's grace in your life to be able, as you move through your daily life, to be pleasing to him, to live the way he wants you to live? We can't just get up and take off and do it in our own strength, in our own wisdom. We need God's grace. It's available to all of us children, first and foremost, for our salvation. It's by grace that we're saved. And then after we're saved, we still need his enabling grace throughout our lives to be more and more conformed into the image of Christ. We cannot live the Christian life on our own. Each of these commands, ask, seek, knock, is in the present tense. Not only is it a command, it's in the present tense, which means keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Together they speak of the persistence or the perseverance that we are to have. in prayer. We are to continually be praying for what only God can give us. And notice in each case that God promises to answer our prayer. God promises to answer our prayer. Allow that to sink in. Do you believe that? When we pray, God hears and he answers our prayer. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Prayer is the means by which God has chosen for us to express our conscious, our desperate need as well as our humble dependence on him. As I've said many times before, most concisely defined, prayer is dependence. Prayer is simply an acknowledgement of my dependence on God. Lord, I need you. I'm coming to you. I'm laying this out. I'm dependent upon you. We express our desperate need of God's grace to live and to love others as He commands through our persistent prayer. But since God promises to answer our prayers, why is it that it so often seems like He does not answer? He does not answer as we want. We prayed to pass a test but failed it. Well, hopefully we studied for it. We prayed to get a particular job, but didn't. We prayed to be healed of an illness, and it got worse. We prayed for someone's salvation, and yet they died without trusting Christ. We prayed for safety while traveling, and we got in an accident. I remember one of my professors telling us in class how he prayed for his brother who was taking a flight and that very flight crashed in Colorado and killed him. How often in those type of situations have we been tempted to doubt God and to say prayer doesn't work? but it's wrong to think that Jesus is here giving us a blank check that we can just fill out for whatever we want before God's throne and that he is then now obligated to honor it. Imagine the intolerable burden on frail human wisdom if by this prayer promise of God He pledged to give us whatever we want, whenever we ask, and in exactly the terms that we ask. Imagine that. That's a little scary. After a while, we would be afraid to pray for anything. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, I think said it best and I quote, I thank God that he is not prepared to do anything that I may chance to ask him. I am profoundly grateful to God that he did not grant me certain things for which I ask and that he shut certain doors in my face. Why? Because we're not wise enough. We don't have God's perspective on things. God promises to answer our prayers, but he does so in accordance with his good and perfect will for each one of us. And when he does answer, he answers either yes, no, or wait. When we pray for things according to God's will, he answers yes and he grants them. When we pray for things that God knows are either not good in themselves for us or not for our spiritual best. He answers no and he withholds them. Even if we pray for them persistently. A good example is my wife who's been sick for going on 31 years. We prayed from the moment she was not feeling well. God has a different plan. That many times we don't understand, we may never understand this side of heaven. And when we pray for things according to God's will, but the time is not right, he answers, wait, and grants them in his time, in his time. Because He sees the big picture, the beginning to the end. He inhabits eternity. He has all wisdom, infinite wisdom. He knows what is best. Do we believe that? Do we trust that? to assure us the certainty that God answers prayer, then Jesus says the same thing in a much more stronger form in verse eight. Look what he says. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks, it will be opened. Maybe not exactly the way you prayed it and what it is that you wanted, but God is going to answer. The word everyone here again refers to all born again believers. Only the children of God have this promise. The only thing that hinders prayer in our lives is harboring unconfessed sin. Harboring unconfessed sin. Psalm 66, 18 says, if I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear. Again, hear, the word hear is talking about hearing with the intent to answer in accordance with what we're asking. James 4, 2 and 3 states, you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, sin in our heart, so that you may spend it on your pleasures, on your own sinful, selfish desires. God's grace is available to love others as Christ commands, but we must ask him for it in prayer. The second truth that should motivate us to obey God's command to love others as ourselves is this, our father's good gifts include love. I call it our father's good gifts include love. The knowledge of that should motivate us to love others. In his illustration of a child coming to his father with requests, Jesus Ask two questions about the Father's response in verses nine through 11. Look what he says. For what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. Now stop there. Of course, a loving father is gonna give his son something wholesome to eat, a loaf of bread, a fish, not something that looks like a loaf. Back then in the Sea of Galilee, they had these stones that were kind of limestone that were kind of rounded. They look like a loaf of bread, but it was a rock. A loving father's not gonna do that. give him something that looks like a loaf, but is an inedible stone, or something that looks like a fish, but in reality is snake meat, which is forbidden in Leviticus 11. Jesus went on to say in Luke 11, 12, or if he asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? Remember, Matthew and Luke both have versions of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew's is the most detailed, and that's why we're looking at this. Again, no loving father would ever give his son something that would be harmful or fatal, like a scorpion. Certain Near East scorpions were large. They resembled a bird's egg when they curled up to sleep. He's not gonna just give that to his son. Jesus then says in the first part of verse 11, look at that, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, if you, Notice that he's not saying we, he's excluding himself. Again, he's God the Son, the God-man who is sinless. So he doesn't put himself with them, but he asserts here the inerrant sinfulness of all mankind, which disproves the modern concept that people are basically good. That's what we hear today. By the word evil, Jesus is referring to all fathers being sinful by nature. Sinful by nature, which is true of everyone as well. We're all sinful by nature for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's why we've gotta repent of our sin and come to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus is not talking here about only those fathers who are especially wicked, cruel, and abusive. That's not who he's talking about. He's talking the more general. Every father is sinful by nature. And even these sinful fathers can still love their children and give good gifts to them. This whole point And this illustration is in the comparison between these sinful men and the Heavenly Father. He's drawn a comparison between the two in what's called an argument from the lesser to the greater, from the sinful men to the Heavenly Father. Look again at verse 11. If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father or your Father in Heaven give what is good to those who ask Him? If they do that, what do you think your Heavenly Father's gonna do? Once again, only born-again believers can rightly claim that God is our Father. That's why in The disciples' prayer that we looked at, we started off, our Father who is in heaven. He's our Father. He's not the Father of everybody. Jesus made it very clear in John that the Father of the unregenerate before we came to saving faith in Christ is the devil. He is our Father. It's only when we place our faith in Christ is now the living God our personal Father. John 1.12 says, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. Romans 8.15, for you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons. by which we cry, Abba, Father. Our heavenly Father gives only good gifts to his children. And these good gifts include the Holy Spirit himself and all of the spiritual blessings that the Spirit bestows in our lives. And again, there's all kinds of blessings, spiritual blessings that he gives to us. A couple examples, daily forgiveness, deliverance from evil, from sin, when we confess our sin. Increased faith, he brings things in our life to increase our faith, to draw us closer to him. Righteousness, humility, purity of life. God has called us to be holy even as he is holy and he working to bring that about in our life. Spiritual growth, love, many other blessings. Our Father's good gifts include love. Because that's the whole topic here. But that only comes by God's grace. Romans 5.5 says that the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Love is the first fruit of the Holy Spirit, as you see in Galatians chapter five, verse 22. The very first fruit of the Spirit when he is controlling our life is love. Again, it's from God by His grace. It's impossible for our loving Heavenly Father to ever give us anything that is evil. Since He is infinitely good and wise, it is foolish to think that God is against us when something unpleasant, something painful, something tragic happens to us. However difficult it might be, it's foolish to think that he's against us. Why? Because it goes totally against what God has revealed to us about himself and his word. That's why we've got to cling to the word of God, its absolute truth. There's all kinds of voices out there saying, God's not there, he's against you, he doesn't love you, feels like our own feelings, he's forsaken me, he's forgotten me. That's not true according to the word of God. God's telling us himself. That's not true. God knows the difference between good and evil in a way that no one else does. and he never makes a mistake in his love for us. I've said it before, but Charles Spurgeon's quote I think is appropriate in this context. Spurgeon said it well, and I quote, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are? Right now, whatever you're dealing with, divine love would have put you there. If any other condition had been better for you than the one in which you are now, divine love would have put you there. That means whatever we're dealing with, God has ordained this, as painful as it might be. Our loving Father calls us though in the middle of that, to always trust Him. Especially when we don't understand what He is doing. Have you ever noticed He never asks our permission before He brings things into our life? Doesn't that irritate you? He is God. He is at work in his children's lives to conform us, to make us what he wants us to be. And he uses trials, he uses difficult things to bring that about. He calls us to trust him when we don't understand what he's doing and when the difficult times that he is allowing in our lives don't look like he is good, that he is truly sovereignly in control. Doesn't look like it, but He is, because He's told us in His Word. Romans 8, 28 promises, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Remember, remember this. than when it says that he causes all things to work together for good, that this is God's definition of good, not ours. We've gotta bring our definition in line with his. At those times especially, we must persist in asking God for his grace to faithfully cling to the truths of his word, to die to self, and selfishness to continually surrender our will to His will. Remember, Jesus, not my will, Father, but Your will be done. Otherwise, we will become angry. We'll become angry at God, at life, at other people. We'll become depressed, discouraged, wanna quit, will cry out, I've had enough. I can't take anymore. And in that moment, we are unable to love other people because we are so self-consumed. Our father's good gifts include love, but we must continue to trust him. for His enabling grace in our circumstances to be able to show that love. The third truth that should motivate us to obey God's command to love others as ourselves is this. I call it loving others has fulfilled the scriptures. Loving others has fulfilled the scriptures. Look what Jesus commands in verse 12. In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the law and the prophets. This is probably the most famous and universally praised statement that Jesus ever made. and is without parallel in all of the various teachings of the world. It's been called the golden rule, the topmost peak of social ethics, the Mount Everest of all ethical teaching. William Barclay said, and I quote, this is something which had never been said before. It is new teaching and a new view of life and of life's obligations, end quote. Now the word therefore here points immediately back to verses seven through 11, the previous passage that we just looked at that focused on the good and loving nature of our heavenly Father and how we as His children are to imitate Him in our relationships with other people. But this statement can also be used to summarize the whole entire body of this sermon, going clear back to Matthew chapter five, verse 17, all the way to this. Again, this is a word that is summarizing and bringing everything together. The golden rule is known to many world religions and philosophies. but only in the negative form, in the negative form, which essentially says this, do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. Don't do to them what you don't want them doing to you. It's in the negative form. Jesus' statement is in the positive. Treat people the same way you want them to treat you. He not only commands His followers to live by this selfless, sacrificial, and other-centered standard of love, but He also empowers us to be able to do that by His grace and by His Spirit. And notice the scope of which He will empower us to be able to live that out. The very first words, in everything. in everything, even the most difficult of relationships that you have, even while going through difficult situations with people that may be persecuting you, in everything. Nothing is excluded from the scope of this golden rule. Now, the difference between the negative and the positive forms are profound. For example, the negative form teaches, if you do not enjoy being robbed, don't rob others. If you do not like being cursed, don't curse others. If you do not enjoy being yelled at, don't yell at others. It could go on and on. Jesus' positive form commands that we put ourselves in the other person's shoes. See, it's other centered. We put ourselves in the other person's shoes and we ask this, how would I like to be treated in that situation? How would I like to be treated in that situation? If I enjoy being loved, which that's what I would desire, Love others. If I like to be helped in need when I'm hurting, help others. If I would wish to be forgiven, forgive others. If I desire to be understood, understand others. If I like being appreciated, appreciate others. If I want to be respected when I make a mistake, respect others. You know, if we did this when we're driving our car on the road, things would be a lot different. the same way we desire to be treated by others. This is his point, treat them. Is that how we approach relationships? The same way we wanna be treated, we are now treating them. It's not merely that we are to refrain from harming someone, or cussing them out or doing something bad to them, we are to take the initiative to do them good. Totally different. The difference is profound. Why are we to act this way? Not because we expect the same in return. Well, if I just do this, if I scratch their back, if I do, this nice thing, then I'm gonna get it back. You see how selfish that is? That's not why we're doing this. Love is other-centered. Love is selfless. It's sacrificial. We do this because Jesus says this loving conduct, look at the end of verse 11, is the law and the prophets. We do it because it's the law and the prophet. Well, what's that mean? The law and the prophets refers to all of Old Testament scripture. Because this is the word of God. This is what he has set up for us. This is how he has designed us to live. Jesus will later, in Matthew 22, 36 through 40, say, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor. The word neighbor refers to everyone, not just the person next door to you. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. A lot of people have used that in psychology to say, well, I hate myself, so I can't love people. No, with the same commitment that we already have to ourselves, we are to have that towards other people. That's what this means. Jesus goes on to say, and on these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. In other words, the whole intent of the word of God is to make us better lovers of God and lovers of other people. Notice the order. First, love God and then love others. As I've said many times before, loving God and loving others are inseparably connected. You can't say I'm loving God if I'm not loving others. And if I'm loving others, it's only because I am first loving God, he's controlling my life, enabling me to be able to do that. They too are connected. That's what he's called us to do. The golden rule is the epitome of the second commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. But our relationship with others will never be right until we are first right with God. That He is in our life, we're born again believer, and we are walking in obedience to Him, controlled by the Spirit of God. Romans 13, eight through 10 says, owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. Only born again believers, as I said, controlled by the Spirit of God, empowered by Him, giving us the grace of God to be able to do that, can live out the golden rule in loving others. That's what He calls us to do. Unbelievers can't do that. They can have many ethical things that they do, but they have no capacity within them to be able to love the way that Jesus commands. So what is it that hinders us as believers from obeying Jesus' golden rule? To treat people the same way that you want them to treat you. What's the problem? What's the block? The core problem is sinful pride. Sinful pride. Because being selfish, stingy, self-centered is the opposite of Christ-like love, which I already said is selfless. It's a selfless, sacrificial, God-centered, other-centered love. They're two opposites. We're born with this sinful selfishness that is the essence of pride. and we are to put to death the deeds of the flesh to where we can then become more conformed to the image of Christ where we are living out what he wants us to live. James 4, one and two says, what is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures? Again, your sinful, selfish desires that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You're envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You see, the result of selfish pride is always, always a violation of love in relationship, always. Instead of representing Christ when we're hurt by someone, we respond in like kind. We use our pain to justify our sin. You hurt me, I hurt you back. You yell at me, I yell at you back. You disrespect me, it's coming at you. As believers, when that happens, we need to recognize we're nowhere close to what God wants us to be. We need to repent of our sin, confess it to the Lord, make things right with Him, and then go, as we saw last time, and then make things right with the one we sinned against. Even though they may have sinned against us, we need to address that. All selfishness. violates love and all selfish violations of love cause trouble, angry disputes, division in relationships, whether it's between two people, whether it's within our family, within our community, within our nation, and even between nations internationally. Where do you think wars come from? This very thing in the heart of man. But living by the golden rule transforms our actions. When we treat others the same way we want them to treat us, we're not mean and harsh, angry and cruel, but rather we manifest the loving fruit of the Holy Spirit that always encourages and strengthens relationships. Three truths that should motivate us to obey God's command to love others, as ourselves, God promises to answer our prayers, our Father's good gifts include love, and loving others has fulfilled the Scriptures. Let me ask you this morning, are you treating people the same way that you want them to treat you? If you don't get anything from this message today, grab ahold of that. Ask yourself this week, am I treating other people the same way that I want them to treat me? God wants to see his good and loving characteristics embodied in the lives of his children. Like father, like child. We've seen that all throughout the Sermon on the Mount. Nowhere Is this more important and more noticeable than our relationships with other people? How are we treating them? May we all, by God's grace, practice Jesus' golden rule in our daily lives by taking the initiative to love others so that we will glorify God by being a shining witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.