The rule to end all rules! – Matthew 7:12-14
By Pastor Lee Hemen
June 2, 2019
In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy they try to take back a special ring called the One Ring. It contained an inscription that read: “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!” There are times when we all wish that life was simpler and long for one simple rule to guide us. The Hebrews had enslaved their people by interpreting over 600 volumes expanding on the Ten Commandments of God! President Obama on his last day in office signed into law over 30,000 pages of new laws! Is it any wonder we long for one rule to end all rules!
Jesus understood that his people and all people had been subjected to self-imposed rules that were heavy burdens for them to bear. He desired to simplify their lives. In this he gave all of us the rule to end all rules. Let’s discover what it means for us today…
READ: Matthew 7:12-14
In continuing on in his teaching concerning God giving good things to those he loves and how we should do the same Jesus teaches his disciples exactly why it is so important for them to get this one thing right in life. Jesus teaches us that the rule to end all rules is…
I. The sum total of everything we are to do with our lives! (v. 12)
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
1. An expert in the Jewish law asks Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40 NIV) And here Jesus tells his Jewish listeners “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you”! Herein is the foundational truth they were to live their lives by. However, the only way this could be achieved is through the love of God as expressed in Jesus! The world utterly fails when it tries on its own to do good things for others thinking that by doing so they are fulfilling what Jesus taught. Now how in the world could I say this, because of what Jesus goes on to teach them that namely “this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” The Hebrews found it difficult if not downright impossible for them to express love or compassion for anyone other than their fellow Jews. They had been the bane of and the doormat for the rest of the world for centuries; how could they do to others what they would have them do to them? Impossible! Yet it isn’t if one knows God first in the love and compassion of Jesus. The love of God had continually been expressed to the Israelites but they had not always remained true to him who loved them! His love and devotion, his love and sacrifice, and who they were to worship was summed up in the Law and the Prophets! The term “Law and the Prophets” meant the entire Word of God, what had been written, what had been revealed, and what now was being revealed to them through Jesus God’s only Son! Believe me no Israelite would have sacrificed his life for the life of a nonbeliever; that would’ve been like asking them to die for a Roman soldier! So we discover Jesus sharing with his listeners a new way to live: Jesus’ way. And it is here we discover the rule to end all rules in the sum total of everything we are to do with our lives!
EXAMPLE: While we are young we think we have all kinds of time to do whatever we decide to do but then we grow older and realize that time goes by quicker than we first thought. I remember asking an older adult how they felt turning 70 and they responded, “I feel the same as when I was 20 but I can’t do the same things I could do when I was 20.” As we grow older we begin to understand that what we do with our lives even when we were younger has an impact on our lives as we grow older. The same is true for our spiritual existence as well. What we do not do or what we do has a huge impact on our lives for eternity. In describing the rule to end all rules Jesus shared that how we treat others is the sum total of everything we are to do with our lives!
There is a heresy that has gained a foothold within the Christian church that tacitly teaches that our worship experience is all that matters. Rather than a means to encourage the saved to go out and win the lost it’s more about how to discover happiness in one simple sermon. This goes against the very nature of the gospel message and Jesus’ rule to end all rules teaches us that…
II. We do not live as the world does! (Vv. 13-14)
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
1. Jesus continued on with his new teaching of how they were to live and I am sure that many of his listeners that day were already thinking to themselves, “What you are teaching is impossible!” And it was if they were trying to live that way on their own. But Jesus begins to clarify what he meant by telling them that they had to enter into this new way of living differently than they had before. It was not the way the world took. In fact they had to “Enter through the narrow gate.” It was the idea of entering one at a time. No one could go with them and no one could do it for them, they had to walk through the gate all by themselves! Gates were often made narrow so that enemies who tried to force their way in could be easily stopped from doing so. However the world, the marketplace desires a wide way in; a broad way so-to-speak! It looks easy and it is easy to navigate however the outcome may not be what you expect: “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” While the world espouses an outwardly friendly “y’all come attitude”, such an attitude leads to total devastation! There are those who want Christians to “soften” their “harsh” attitude in thinking that there is only one way to God or that there is only one means of salvation, but if we do so we are leading people down the broad path of death! Jesus bluntly taught: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 NIV)” Peter would declare, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12 NIV)” Paul would write to those who would have you believe that what we place our faith in is simply made up or fairytales and nothing could be further from the truth! Paul wrote, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:19-20 NIV)” The way of the world is broad and easy but the way we live for Jesus is narrower, not narrow-minded, but a whole lot harder than the easy do whatever you want whenever you want ungodly lifestyle of the world we live in! Jesus teaches us in the rule to end all rules that we do not live as the world does!
EXAMPLE: A few years ago there was a term teens used when someone pretended to be a member of a group that they are not actually a member of. Poser. They were also called a “wannabe”. For example, by adopting the mode of dress, mannerisms, speech patterns, etc. of a specific group we are posers. There are a lot of Christian posers within the church and outside of the church; those who want to be seen as “Christian” because of their feelings or actions rather than their actual faith. People who pose as believers is nothing new and Jesus warned here that we do not live as the world does!
Conclusion:
The sum total of everything we are to do with our lives! We do not live as the world does!
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This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
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