May 29,
2003
THE
GOLDEN RULE, Part II
"Therefore,
whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this
is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12, NKJV).
"The
golden rule teaches, by implication, the same truth which
is taught elsewhere in the Sermon on the Mount, that 'with
the measure you use, it will be measured back to you'
(Matthew 7:2). That which we do to others, whether it be good
or evil, will surely react upon ourselves, in blessing or
in cursing. Whatever we give, we shall receive again. The
earthly blessings which we impart to others may be, and often
are, repaid in kind. What we give does, in time of need, often
come back to us in fourfold measure in the coin of the realm.
But, besides this, all gifts are repaid, even in this life,
in the fuller inflowing of His love, which is the sum of all
heaven's glory and its treasure. And evil imparted also returns
again. Everyone who has been free to condemn or discourage,
will in his own experience be brought over the ground where
he has caused others to pass; he will feel what they have
suffered because of his want of sympathy and tenderness.
"It
is the love of God toward us that has decreed this. He would
lead us to abhor our own hardness of heart and to open our
hearts to let Jesus abide in them. And thus, out of evil,
good is brought, and what appeared a curse becomes a blessing.
"The
standard of the golden rule is the true standard of Christianity;
anything short of it is a deception. A religion that leads
men to place a low estimate upon human beings, whom Christ
has esteemed of such value as to give Himself for them; a
religion that would lead us to be careless of human needs,
suffering, or rights, is a spurious religion. In slighting
the claims of the poor, the suffering, and the sinful, we
are proving ourselves traitors to Christ. It is because men
take upon themselves the name of Christ, while in life they
deny His character, that Christianity has so little power
in the world. The name of the Lord is blasphemed because of
these things...
"Search
heaven and earth, and there is no truth revealed more powerful
than that which is made manifest in works of mercy to those
who need our sympathy and aid. This is the truth as it is
in Jesus. When those who profess the name of Christ shall
practice the principles of the golden rule, the same power
will attend the gospel as in apostolic times." (See Acts
4:32-34; 2:46, 47)--Thoughts From The Mount Of Blessing,
pp., 136, 137.
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