Treating Others As You Want To Be Treated

This morning on the way to church, I didn't normally have a song in my heart today. And I just remember on the way to church saying, Lord, I need something from you. And, you know, he filled my heart with praise songs. And I just started praising the Lord. And you can just feel sometimes the cloud lift when you get those fill your heart. You know, and it's good to praise the Lord at all times, but it's also good to ask the Lord for these things. And sometimes we're lacking. I know I am. And especially in that relationship with the Lord, I know that it could go deeper. But one thing we can do is we can ask the Lord, and the Lord who's rich in mercy and kindness will come and meet us with where we're at. So I was grateful to have a song of praise in my heart this morning. I wanted to read something from Matthew chapter 11, I believe. Sorry, Matthew 7. Matthew 7, verse 7. It says, ask, and it shall 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. And to him who knocks, it will be opened. For what man is there among you when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? 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, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him? In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you. For this is the law of the prophets. If you look at where the context of this scripture is actually placed, it's in between the point where the first six verses of that chapter talk about do not judge. And then he says, ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. And at the end of that little blurb, it says, in the way that you treat people, it's the way that you're going to be treated. And, you know, sometimes we need to ask the Lord for help to treat people the way that we would want them to treat us. And that's a difficult thing to do because a lot of the time we are so focused on our own things that we forget about other people and maybe their situations and their burdens. And that's what causes us sometimes to disdain or judge others is because we're so focused on ourselves and not on the interests of God. And, you know, it says right here that you were supposed to ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. So what does that mean? It means that in areas that we don't have the answer, we need to ask the Lord for that answer, and we need to seek for help from Him. We need help in a situation on how to treat people in a right way. We need to ask the Lord to help us to do that, to be patient with people. We need to ask the Lord to help us to do that, to come under people and help support them and encourage them. We need to ask the Lord for help to do that. Ask, seek, and knock, and these things will come to you, and the Lord will help us treat people in the way that we want to be treated. I don't know about you, but many times I get to a place of maybe status or stature, and, you know, the Lord is quick to remind me of how quick I can fail, you know, in these areas. I remember recently a person came to me, and they mentioned to me that, you know, Dan, I've been really encouraged by the worship lately, and it's amazing. And you know what? I sensed even a sense of pride come in. And you know what? Since that day, the Lord has given me a difficult time in the way that I've led worship. And I've been like, Lord, you know, you have an easy way of humbling me, to remind me that it's all of Him and it's not of myself. I was sharing a burden with a guy yesterday, and he was actually at Joshua House, and it was Peter. And I was sharing with him some of the struggles that I had, and he says, you know, Dan, I think the Lord, he just sometimes wants to remind us that we can't be confident in ourselves. Our confidence needs to be in the Lord. And so we must remember where we've come from. We must remember the things that the Lord has brought us from, so that we don't look down on others. When we start to look down on others, that's when we fall. I want to read something in 1 Corinthians 10, about an attitude in our hearts that we need to have, guys, of humility and of looking inward first versus looking outward at others and seeing all their problems. It will be a safeguard for us spiritually when we look inwardly first, and then we will see clearly on how to alleviate the situation outwardly, maybe with somebody that we're around all the time. So we need the Lord to give us grace in this area so that we can grow spiritually. Jesus is the perfect example of this, is that He never sinned, and yet He never looked down on people. The only people He looked down on were the people who looked down on other people. And so we have to be careful that we don't think we're more spiritual than we are. We need to look at the reality of our situation. There was a gentleman there a little while ago who was filling up at the gas tank, and this man, when I had first gotten born again, I was living on my sister's couch, and I would walk to work, and I would meet this guy, and me and him would talk about doctrine. He was very much into the charismatic movement and the signs and wonders, and I said, you know, I like those things, but those things don't concern me. What concerns me right now is that I get a stable lifestyle, that my life changes, that I get free from sin, and that I learn how to keep a job, I learn how to be responsible, I learn how to be a Christian as to what the Bible says, because you can look at my life, and the reality is my condition is not good, no matter how many signs and wonders I've seen. And you know, the other day I ran into the same guy, and he's living on the street, and he came up beside me at the gas station and grabbed a thing of pop, and he started drinking it from a garbage can, and I looked at him, and I said, Sir, you remember me? He says, Yes. And I said, You know, I love you, man. And he says, You know, I had a prophecy again about me, and this and that. And I said, Sir, we need to be honest with the condition of where we're at. And he stopped, and he listened to me, and he said, You know, we need to be real. What's our true condition? We can't think of ourselves being in a good place when our true condition is not in a good place. And the Lord will quickly remind us of this, that we have need of change. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12, it says, Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. The attitude in his mind before he falls into sin is he thinks he stands. And when we start to think that we've come to a place of position, we've come to a place of recognition, or we've come to a place of honor, or we're doing just fine, that is the dangerous place to be because there's a quick fall right around the corner. It's when you have the attitude of, You know what? Thank you, Lord, that you've brought me to this place, but I know the weaknesses in my flesh, and I can quickly turn from you, Lord. I can quickly become proud. And when you become proud, the Lord's hand is removed from you, and it's a terrible place to be. We need to stay humble and little in our own eyes, but it's a difficult thing to do, especially when the Lord starts to exalt a man or starts to bless him or starts to help him take ground. That's when you really need to have a fear of God in those situations so that we don't move past where the Lord wants us to be. He wants to bless us. He wants us to grow. He wants us to change. But it's that attitude in our hearts that so quickly will allow him to remove his grace and without his grace, we're not going to stand, you guys. Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has come to you, but such is as common to man. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, also that you may be able to endure it. So no temptation has come into your life that is such as common to man, but God's will is that not that we would subject ourselves or succumb to the temptation, but that we would get victory over the temptation. But we need to have the attitude that, man, I need your grace, and we need to be on guard at all times about these things. I want to read in Ephesians 6 here about standing. Just a few more verses. Ephesians 6, about standing in the Lord. We need to be able to stand firm in the faith. We need to be able to stand on our own two feet. We need to get our feet underneath us so that we can stand against the temptations and difficulties that are coming our way. Especially after we've walked with the Lord for a while. You know, one of the greatest things that you can do is you can stand firm in the Lord. And no matter what, if the onslaught comes against you, you're not moved. Whenever a trial comes your way, what is your reaction to it? Do you blow up in anger? Do you get frustrated? Do you want to throw in the towel? Do you want to just give up? Do you want to run to your vices and your crutches? This shows that we are not standing firm in the Lord. It shows that we are quickly moved, and we're easily tossed by every wind, by every storm, by every trial. God does not want us to be in that situation. He wants us to learn to become stable whenever it gets difficult. You know, and that's something that comes as we walk with the Lord, and we learn to trust Him, and we stand on His promises. And even though we don't see the answer, or we don't know what to do, we can look into His Word, as Johnny shared, and we can look into His Word, and we can get an answer from Him. And we can stand firm on those promises. In Ephesians 6, it says here, in verse 10, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. We need the strength of His might to be able to do what? Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. There's a person who thinks he's standing, and he's quickly falling, but the way that we do stand is we stand firm in the Lord, and in the strength of His might, and in the armor of God. It's not something you put on. It's something that you act out. Randy shares this often. It's not something you just pray on. No, it's something that becomes real in your life. The belt of truth, loving the truth, not believing lies, not listening to lies, not listening to the accusations that fill your mind about other people. Don't listen to those things. We need to have on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness is a person who is walking in the truth. They are being obedient to the Word of God. That's when you have the breastplate of righteousness. The helmet of salvation, the helmet of the hope of salvation, where we remind ourselves of the Word, and we put that on our head. This is my hope. My hope is this. We sang that song, Jesus be the center, and it's the devil's trick, especially as Christians who've walked with him for a while, to get focused on every other thing, and your mind is filled with every other thing that you can do, every other thing that there's an opportunity to do. But we need to renew our mind and remember that the number one thing we must do is put our hope in His salvation. We have plans. We have desires. But we need to ask the Lord what truly is of His will versus what is of my will. And that's where the hope of salvation is. And finally, it says we need to take up the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is what? It's the Word of God. And the way that you're going to resist the devil and stand firm against him is with the Word of God. And as John shared, exactly what he says, I can relate to this, I have every other desire, and I have much energy to do lots of other things, but when it comes to reading the Word of God, well, that's a task. This is bad. This shows where our heart is at. This is not good. It says right here, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Our struggle is not against family members. Our struggle is not against them. Our struggle is not against our brothers and sisters in the Lord. My struggle is not even against the enemies that I have. That's not my struggle. The people who give me a tough time, those are not my struggle. But they are against the rulers, against the powers of darkness working through these people, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. These are things that we cannot see. Even authority sometimes that pushes the hand down on you and says, I need you to do this and to submit to this. And we don't want to do that. But yet the Lord is testing us to see if we will humble ourselves under his hand. If we'll humble ourselves under his hand so that he may lift us up at the proper time. We must remember that, hey, sometimes the Lord is testing me to see what my attitude is towards authority. We need to learn to just submit and yield our will. And in that place the Lord will give you a greater blessing. Do you know what it is? It's a spiritual blessing. It's a spiritual blessing in the spirit and will give you freedom in doing those things. That's a wonderful place to be. It says right here, verse 13, Therefore take up the full armor of God so that you would be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything, to stand firm. To stand firm again after you have done everything, everything in your power to do and stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Lord, I need you again. I'm asking you for help. I need something from you. Fill my heart with songs of praise. On the drive here I had nothing and the Lord filled my heart with songs of praise. And I just started praising and it's like the cloud lifts and you're just so grateful for the Lord. And it's all because of him. It has nothing to do with us or what he can do for me. It's just because he's great. He's mighty. He's awesome. He's so good to us, you guys. We have so many blessings. We have many reasons to rejoice. We have many reasons to rejoice. He's kept us this far. He's brought us this far. He's carried us through very many trials, through water, through fire. And yet he's put us in a place of abundance spiritually where we can draw from that well, that source, that life, that center that we can focus on. And we can say, Jesus, I want to know you more. I'm so thankful for all that you've done. You've carried me this far and I'm asking you to carry me a little bit more. Carry me a little bit more. Carry me a little bit more. Bring me to that place that I can have sweet fellowship with you more. Help me, Lord, to raise my family in the right way. Help me to run my job or do my job in the right way. Help me to love people. Help me not to be strong. Help me to be weak. Help me to care about the lost. Help me to have time for you, Lord. Put you first in my life. I want to read one last warning of Romans. In Romans 14 about standing and the way that we judge people. We have to be careful. We have to make a distinction between what is judging and what is discernment. Judging will produce in you not a bitterness towards them. When you're judging someone, you're going to have bitterness towards them. You will. You'll have an enmity towards them in your heart. But when you can truly make a distinction with somebody, maybe they're doing wicked things. Maybe they're thinking, but you still have love for them. That's different. You're discerning. You don't partake with them. You don't join in with them. But you don't have bitterness and want to see them harmed. That's a difference. And there was a division in the church in Romans 14. Real quick about standing. About how they can have and you can have differing beliefs in the church. You can have people who have faith for some things and not some faith for some other things. But in Romans 14, verse 1, it says, But not for his purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. And so this is where we need to learn to be patient with people. Patient with people. I'm circling back to this again. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but one who is weak eats vegetables only. They're vegan. They only eat vegetables. But that's what their heart says. That's what they do. And some of us can pass judgment on them because they only eat vegetables. But God is saying that those men are weak in faith. But that doesn't give you an opportunity to judge them. It doesn't give me an opportunity to do those things. And it doesn't give you an opportunity for those who eat vegetables to judge those who eat meat. It doesn't. If you're fasting and you're doing these things, it doesn't give you the opportunity to judge those who are not doing these things. And this is what causes divisions in church. Because you have one brother who's fasting and praying and doing all these things. And you have one sister who's not doing that. And they judge each other based on that because they're not doing it the way that they think it should be done. No, what you do, you do is unto the Lord and that's it. That's what, that's it. And the other person they do is unto the Lord and that's it. And you don't pass judgment on each other for that. Just because they do it because there's liberty and freedom to eat meat. There's liberty and freedom to eat. You don't have to do those things. You don't have to fast all the time. No, you have to trust the Lord. You have to trust the Lord to do the work in your life. It says, the one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat. And the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats for God has accepted him. If they're doing is it unto the Lord, that's good. If they're doing things that are sinful, that's a different story. But these things are not simple. Who are you to judge the servant of another to his own master, he stands or falls and he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand. There's a wonderful verse that the Lord is able to make him stand in that situation. He's not talking about unlawful things. Unlawful things that sin, you don't partake of that. That's not good. But when it's lawful things like this, and one person does one thing, another person does another thing, it's not for an opportunity to produce judgment. And the devil's schemes can come to do this in a church. Randy shared the other week about one says I'm of Apollos or Paul and Peter. And so you can judge each other in the church and you become divisive. And that's because I like listening to that guy's sermon or I like it when that guy plays music or I like it when this guy does this. And you have an attitude of pride towards one another. But the Lord is able to make each of them stand in whichever position they are. In the measure of faith that they have, as long as it's in the will of God. And so that's a caution for all of us. As we start to fall, some of us would say, why did I fall into sin? It's somewhere down the line. We got proud and we judged another person, maybe unrighteously because they were doing something we didn't think they should do. And then the Lord says, hey, well, what about you, Dan? You do all these things. What gives you the right to judge that person who does that thing? You can't put my yoke on them. And I've struggled with that for many years. I have, and I've asked the Lord to cleanse me of this, cleanse me of this, so that we learn to show mercy to people. We show mercy to people who we think should be doing better than they are. No, God is able to make them stand. And I'm thankful for leadership that helps me with this. I've been reminded of this for years, to just show mercy to people, to be patient with people. Because my natural tendency is to be hard on people. And that's not what God wants. He wants us to be merciful. And we can ask the Lord to give that to us. We can ask the Lord to help us with this situation. And you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna find you're gonna have greater fellowship, greater unity in the body of Christ. And you're gonna learn to dwell with one another until we come to a maturity of the faith, until we come to a unity of the spirit, until we come to a mature man or woman in Christ. And that's the goal, is that we would be presented faultless before his throne, to him who is able to keep us from falling, and he is able to stand blameless before him on that judgment day. That's Jesus. And we can thank Jesus for how patient he is with us. Let's ask the Lord to help us to be patient with others, to have mercy towards others, as the Lord works in their life. And may we pray for them. May we pray for them that the Lord will help them to see sometimes the error of their way and give them time so that they can learn these things. My friends, this is not something you learn through a book. It's something that you learn over time. As the Lord takes you through things, allows you to stumble and fall so that we learn to show mercy to others and be able to lift them up. May the Lord bless you. Amen.