Latest / Collierville Radio Network / Admonition Podcast - The Godly Rule - Walker Cain - July 26, 2026

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Admonition Podcast - The Godly Rule - Walker Cain - July 26, 2026 · Collierville Radio Network

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This morning we spoke of the things that love wouldn't do the fact that it would not puff itself up.
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So many the way it would not parade itself.
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So many other things we could describe about what love will not do to those around it.
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In fact, those things are not the things of love, they are the things of selfishness.
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Now there is a way that our world often summarizes doing things in such a way that we show care for others.
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We show the fact that we want the best for them.
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We call it the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto
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unto you.
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Now this is called the golden rule.
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What we want to talk about today is the godly rule.
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Now it's very close, but just a little bit different.
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Matthew seven, twelve, therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.
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It looks like it says the same thing, and really it does.
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Just as you want men to do to you, do to them the same.
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But we need to remember the rest of Scripture and how it ties into it.
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What is the first and greatest commandment of the
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of them all.
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Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy soul, and thy mind, and the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
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Now there's something interesting there.
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You hear you have this verse that says, Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
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Now, with what we just read, what we just looked at with the greatest command, it can be easy to look at Matthew 7.12, 21 is not correct up there, but Matthew 7.12 and say, okay,
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well, uh I have a I'm having a day where i there are those who have days where it's a bad day and they don't want to be on this earth.
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Well, does that mean that uh well if I don't want to be on this earth I should be able to take someone's life or because I want to have a bad day I should make a bad day on someone
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else?
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There are times where what I want to do isn't really what I want done to me isn't what I should do to others.
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What if it's the case that there's sin that I want to follow?
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I want someone to offer me a way to sin.
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Is that what I should do for others?
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No, that's not what the golden rule is saying.
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Or that's not what the godly rule is saying.
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If we remember, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy soul, and thy mind, it says, the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as what?
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As thyself.
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Okay, so if you're going to love your neighbor properly, you will love yourself properly.
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You're going to have this love that cares about what you need, and what you need is not following after sin.
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What you need is not finding a new way to have a bad day.
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What you need is that which God has said you do.
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So if we tie in the greatest commandment of Scripture and what it shows about the fact we need to have an own healthy appreciation for self, if we follow the godly rule, we will do
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unto others as we would have them do to us, but under the guise of godliness, under what is proper in the sight of our Lord.
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Now there are an infinite number, a countless number of things we could talk about on this matter, but we'll just briefly mention three today.
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Three things we want to ask how do we treat them?
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When it comes to how I treat others, how do I treat their business?
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How do I treat their plans?
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And also how do I treat their possessions?
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When we talk about their business, we're talking about the things going on in their lives.
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When we talk about their plans, what they want to do in the future as things move forward.
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And finally, looking at that idea of possessions, which is going to go deeper than just the gold and silver, the riches, the cars, the physical things that they have.
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But first
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How should I treat others' business?
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If I'm going to practice the godly rule, if I'm going to do unto others as they should do to me, as I would have them do, what is it I must do?
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I must first be helpful and not metal.
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If you will turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
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The Thessalonians had an issue among them.
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In their first epistle, Paul wrote to them and talked about them about the coming of Christ.
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And he was going to come in the twinkling of an eye, the trump was going to sound.
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And then in 2 Thessalonians, after they heard that, they were like, Well, Paul told us about this.
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I guess it's going to happen sometime real soon.
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So they were acting as though Christ was going to come at any moment.
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Well, what good is working if Christ is going to come?
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Why would you go build up a 401k if Christ is going to be coming in judgment day?
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during your lifetime.
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It so they just stopped working.
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They stopped building up their income and then they didn't have anything to do with their time.
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Paul is going to show what they should have been doing.
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First th 1 Thessalonians 4, 11 and 12
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He commands them that ye study to be obedient, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward them that are
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without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
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If I'm going to practice the godly rule, practice the golden rule of doing it to others as I should do unto them.
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or doing to others as I would have them do to me, I must first be willing to take care of my own business rather than go and mess with everyone else's.
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Second Thessalonians chapter three, verses ten through twelve.
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For even we were with you, when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
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For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
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Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with all quietness they work and eat their own bread.
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Rather than meddling in that which belongs to others, rather than thinking I need to have my nose in or ha have a finger in the pie,
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Paul was showing them the fact that they needed to be working on their own business.
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Be somebody busy, not some busybody.
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Be one who is looking for what needs done, how we can go and help others, rather than meddling in their business.
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Proverbs 26, 17 says, He that meddleth in a conversation not his home is as he that taketh a dog by the ears.
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The one who does this, who goes and finds out how he can be in it, rather than looking at how he
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help.
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He is the one who is taking a dog by the ears.
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Now we have our dogs that in our time.
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We have little chihuahuas.
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I personally don't think a chihuahua's all that cute.
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But you have chihuahuas, you have all these other little critters that we like to keep.
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Now, if you grab one of those by the ears, you might get nicked on the face.
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It might you you might get a need to get some stitches.
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Their dogs, they didn't have chihuahuas.
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They had dogs that roamed the streets at night searching for bodies, searching for dead carcasses, and were willing to take up anything.
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You don't leave your children around these dogs.
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You don't even think about trying to pet these dogs.
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You certainly don't grab them by the ears.
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Because, best case scenario, you won't have a face by the end.
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of it.
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Worst case, you won't have your life.
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This was something serious.
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And that's what the Proverbs writer shows us about other people's business.
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How often is it the case that we can look back and see, you know what, that wasn't really my trouble, that wasn't really my fight.
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I got caught up in it, and then it led to trouble.
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Now, there's a balance here, as with so many things with scripture.
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Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
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If I'm in trouble, I want someone to come and help me.
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But also if there is something that is my own business, I don't want someone coming in and trying to make a mess of it and then hurting them their own selves in the process.
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Trying to follow this golden rule, doing as the Lord says, requires finding that balance.
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And that means we have the proper goals.
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Rather than thinking other people's business is a means for us to find something to do, rather than us thinking that the drama at work is, oh man, this is the new thing, this is
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the pastime before another client comes in.
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We're looking for how we can help.
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Rather than information being what I use so I can lift myself up above others, rather than information being what I hold up ahead of others, I use everything I know for good, even
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if that means holding on to what I know and not saying it.
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I must be helpful and not meddle with other people's business.
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I must also respect privacy and not expect private access.
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John 16, 12, the Lord is talking with the apostles.
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And he tells them, There are many things I would tell you, but you can't bear them now.
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The apostles were with Jesus for three and a half years, following him and listening to his teachings.
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And they were told, You're on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know yet.
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There were things that they were not ready to hear.
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There's other people's business that it is simply we're on a need to know basis and not a want to know basis.
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It's about what needs to be known.
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Now with the apostles, they were going to know all of what they needed.
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This context was of one where they were not prepared for it.
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In our lives, there can be times where we aren't quite prepared yet for what there is to hear, about what is going on in someone's life.
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People can keep some information quiet about maybe a t a terminal sickness.
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They want to wait till they say it.
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Or a new
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A life is coming into the world.
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I must respect privacy, not expect private access.
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How do I want others to treat my business?
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Would I want them trying to pry and find it or allow me to tell it when it was time to?
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So many times we can build trust and friendships when we are willing to slow down and let other people work in their own time when it comes to these things.
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I must be helpful, I must not meddle.
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I must respect privacy, not expect private access.
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And also, I must use discretion, not just distribute.
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With this, other people's business is other people's business.
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It belongs to them.
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When we say mind your own business, we're literally saying what is yours is yours, what's mine is mine when it comes to the information we're dealing with here.
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When we talk about discretion, we're talk just because I hear something does not mean it is mine to share.
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Just because I know it doesn't mean I need to share it with others.
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Well now look at a few Proverbs on this idea.
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First Proverbs 10, verse 19.
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Proverbs 10, 19.
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In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
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It is going to be the greatest benefit to those around me, if I am able to refrain my lips, able to keep from speaking that which I might even desire to say.
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Letting it be that the family can talk with these other family members about what's going on, rather than the family members hear about it on Facebook.
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I must be willing to say, okay, how would I want to be treated in this situation?
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Well, I want someone else to be able to share this before me if it's not mine to share.
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Proverbs ten nineteen, but also eleven thirteen is a similar idea.
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Eleven thirteen.
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And I closed my Bible so now we're repeating the same process.
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A tailbearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
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What kind of friends do we want in this world?
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Do we want faithful friends or do we want unfaithful friends?
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If I'm going to be the friend for others that I want them to be to me, then I will be the faithful friend who can refrain his lips, not speak that which, even if I really want to,
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is not mine to share.
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Proverbs twelve, verse thirteen.
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The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips, but the just shall come out of trouble.
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So often if we decide not to use discretion, just distribute what we know, whether it be in the realm of gossip, whether it be on social media, whatever the case, if we find
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ourselves going after and spreading rather than thinking about it, so often we end up hurting ourselves.
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The wicked is snared by the transgression of his own mouth.
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I must ask, am I being
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being wicked with my words, or are they being used wisely for the Lord's work?
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Proverbs 17, verse 9.
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He that covereth a transgression seeketh love, but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
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Now, in a court case, there are things that need repeated.
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If we're dealing with judicial matters, or even a parent trying to figure out, okay, sons, which one of you did this?
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That's a case where matters need to be repeated.
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But when it comes to things that can be laid to rest, things that have they have been resolved, there's no need to bring them back up again.
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There's no need to speak of them again.
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He that covereth the transgression, the one who does not just keep on pressing on it.
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One who doesn't play the history game seeks love.
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They seek the benefit of those around them.
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But he that repeateth the matter separateth very friends.
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So often in marriage it can be easy to play the history game, where, you remember you did this.
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Or I remember the time you left your toilet seat up.
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All of these different things that we could all play.
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By the way, my wife and I have not had that conversation.
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Yeah.
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But so many times we can have this going on where we want to repeat matters rather than letting what is resting stay at rest.
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But if we do that, it is only going to hurt those around us.
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If we're going to follow the godly rule of doing unto others as I would have them do to me, then I'm going to let these things rest that need to rest, rather than speaking about
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them and bringing them up to the person who did it, or bringing it to other people who never needed to know in the first place.
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Proverbs twenty verse nineteen.
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He that goeth about as a tailbearer revealeth secrets.
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Therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
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We spoke of a faithful friend who conceals a matter.
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Right here we have it saying, the scripture's saying, if you have someone who is not going to refrain his lips, someone who is a tailbearer, don't speak at all to him.
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If we're going to be the friends that we need as brethren, then we need to be able to be faithful, be that faithful friend who conceals a matter rather than the tailbearer who
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reveals secrets.
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Proverbs 25, 9 and 10, as a final passage.
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twenty five, nine and ten.
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Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, and discover not a secret to another, lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.
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How was it Christ said to deal with problems with when he was speaking with the apostles and the disciples?
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He said, If you have an offense with thy brother,
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Go to him by yourself.
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If he doesn't hear you, take two or three more.
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And then if he doesn't hear all of you, then take it to the church.
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And if the church doesn't hear him, then count him as an infidel, as a publican, as a sinner.
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God from the Old Testament to the net New Testament has been the same.
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And He has always believed in keeping something as secret as it can be, without it being dishonest, of keeping things where they need to be.
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Debate thy cause
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with all of your neighbors about your neighbor?
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No.
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Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, and discover not a secret to another.
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This is about if this discussion, if this dissension is between my neighbor and me, it's not supposed to go to anyone else.
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It's between him and me.
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I must use discretion, not just distribute what all I have to know or say about this.
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If we do spread
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Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thy infamy turn not away.
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If we end up not be using discretion, we do not practice what the Proverbs writer is telling us.
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It's going to lead to shame and hurt both for ourselves and all of those involved for going to practice the godly rule of doing unto others as I would have them do to me.
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I must handle their information like it is precious, like I am, just as I would be a steward of someone else's money, of their possessions if
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If they let me borrow their vehicle for a little bit of time, I'm going to treat it well.
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I'm going to probably fill it up with gas and try to take it to the through the car wash before it gets back to them, also.
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I take care of what doesn't belong to me.
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And we should do the same when it comes to information.
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And even those things that do belong to me, even those things that are my business, sometimes no one else really needs to know about it.
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Just as when we were talking about the one who debates his cause with his neighbor himself and does not discover a secret to
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Another.
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We must use discretion and not just distribute.
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That's how we should treat other people's business, but also how should we treat other people's plans?
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If you will turn to Deuteronomy chapter 13.
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Deuteronomy 13.
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So often family members can
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Act as though because there is a relationship, there it can be compromise.
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You've known me for this long, so it's fine if you and me go do this, right?
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Or friends have known each other so long that, it's fine if we just go get a little drink, right?
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They can just go do whatever they want, and one should follow the other just because of the relationship there, because they're buddies.
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What does Scripture have to say on that subject?
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Deuteronomy thirteen verse six
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If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or the son of thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is thine o which is as thine own soul, enticed thee secretly,
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saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, namely of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off
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from thee, from the one end of the earth, even to the other end of the earth.
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You can do it if it's your close friend because you have a relationship with him and you should just go have some fun with your buddy.
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No, verse eight, thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him, neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou
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shalt surely kill him.
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Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people, and thou shalt stone him with stones that he die, because he that sought to thrust
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thee away from the Lord thy God, because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of
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land of Egypt from the house of bondage, and all Israel shall hear and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this among you.
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Even if you have a friend who is as your own soul, a brother who ha you have grown up with him, or even a spouse that comes and say, Let's go serve another God, there was supposed
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to be exposure of the one who did the wrong, and then the sentence of death.
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He was to be the first one who laid his hands up or cast the stone at the one who did the wrong.
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The one who was asked, hey, how about we go do this?
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Now this idolatry, this wasn't just worshiping objects.
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They were worshiping objects.
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What was wicked wasn't just the fact they were doing that, but the fact that it was how they were worshiping.
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This was wicked, licentious, this was extremely physical and carnal worship, taking the most sacred moments between a husband and wife, making them public and wicked and lewd,
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and saying, We worship our Lord by doing these acts.
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By doing these things, we we bring the fertility of the fields to the land.
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They were finding excuses to do whatever they wanted to do.
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And because of that, because of this wicked, filthy, addictive form of idolatrous worship, they were the Lord laid a death sentence on it because it was so serious to him.
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Sin is always serious to our Lord, whether it be idolatry in that literal sense, or whether it be anything that we put above our Lord, whether it be the dollar, whether it be
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the bottle, the cigarette, whatever the case, if I'm willing to pick something up rather than serve my Lord, taking up my cross daily, something has gotten in between me and my
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Lord.
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Now that's between the Lord and I.
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Then comes the question of: do I expect other people to follow sin with me?
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Do I expect other people to go be fine with it because I do?
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A preacher can think that his his preacher buddies, his other friends, they should quiet down when he's teaching false doctrine because they've known each other so long.
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Why are you going after me?
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We've known each other all these years.
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Or it can be that there are friends at work who say, just go get a beer with us.
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We'll just hang out for a little bit.
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No.
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Now there's no death sentence.
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The Lord has not mandated that if one has told ask you to go out and drink, you shall go and kill him.
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But what he does say
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Is don't even touch the bottle.
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Don't even touch that cup that sparkles, as the Proverbs writer says.
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He shows us what we need to do.
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And no relationship on this earth is going to compromise that.
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And if I love others properly, I'm never going to act as though they should follow my sin just because of the relationship we have.
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I'm never going to try to get my spouse to sin because
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He or she is my spouse.
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I'm going to do things for the benefit of that other person, not try to bring them down into the depths of sin with me.
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Should my plans lead others into sin?
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Should my plans lead others at all?
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Now there is the context of when we have leadership.
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There is a man who has his home and he has to make plans, and the family needs to go with it.
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That's the way the Lord set that up.
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There are times.
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Our entire lives should follow the Lord's plans.
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We are part of His church.
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We follow the design of the church, doing the things that He would have the church to do.
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There are times that my plans start to revolve around others.
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But there are also times where I need to back off, where it's not about what I want.
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Saul needed to learn this.
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First Samuel twenty.
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First Samuel twenty verses thirty and thirty-one.
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Now, at this point, Saul did not have a good relationship with David.
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In fact, David was on his most wanted list.
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He was wanting to kill him, and then there was this feast where David, being one of the people for the king, it was time for him to be there too, but he David knew that he was
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going to be killed if he went.
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So he did not go.
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He did not stay there because David had two cents about him.
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Two at least two licks of cents about him.
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Now Jonathan was there and he was trying to figure out exactly how bad this was, about how much hate there was with Saul and if David could ever return.
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Verses 30 and 31, after Jonathan defends David and says, He's not here, he's gone doing this and that.
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Verse 30, then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of a perverse, rebellious woman.
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Do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion and to the confusion of thy mother's nakedness.
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For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom.
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Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
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Saul looks at Jonathan, and in this he scorns and ridicules Jonathan's own mother, Saul's wife.
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And then with all of that, he acts as though Jonathan should expect to be king.
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Now, what is it that Saul was told before by Samuel?
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David was going to be king.
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The kingdom was going to be given to a better person.
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What is it that Saul says to Jonathan?
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He says, As long as David lives, you're not going to be king.
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The Lord had said, Saul, your lineage isn't going to reign.
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You aren't going to have a seed line in Israel because of what you have done.
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Saul said, Well, I'm going to kill the one the Lord has chosen so that my seed line can continue, so that what I want can move forward.
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Now, he already had that between him and God.
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That's bad enough.
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But he thought that he could bring his son into it.
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He thought his son should have had the same goals he did.
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It's like, Jonathan, don't you know if John if David lives, you're never going to be king.
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Jonathan knew David was going to be king.
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They were woven together.
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They were friends like brothers, closer than brothers.
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And Jonathan knew that David was going to be king.
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Now Jonathan himself thought that he was going to rule on the other side with David.
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They were going to be with each other.
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David, of course, being king, but Jonathan being like his right-hand man.
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That never happened because Jonathan died in battle with his father.
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But he knew that David was going to be king.
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And Jonathan was willing to live by the fact that God told David he was going to be king, rather than following after his own exaltation, rather than trying to do what his father
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wanted.
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Saul thought that Jonathan should want the same thing he did, should have the same goal of establishing this kingdom.
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He thought that Jonathan should be do everything he could to rule one day, while Jonathan was doing what the Lord wanted.
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There are times in our lives where it can be easy for a father to say, Son, I've been a doctor.
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It's time for you to be one as well.
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Son, it's time for you to be a preacher.
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Because that's what your daddy's been all this time.
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Or mom says, So I've been I've been in veterinary or n I went to vet school and and daughter, now it's time for you to do it as well.
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Not even when more than just the father-son, mother-daughter relationship, friends can think, you know what, I think you'd be better off going to this college.
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Why don't you go there?
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Or why don't you go here with me?
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Things that aren't inherently wrong, about that are in people's dis under people's discretion.
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Do we act as though we should control them?
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Or do we realize that people make their own decisions?
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It is up to them where they go and what they do.
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Now that applies in everything, but there's consequences for what they do.
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It especially applies in those things that are not inherently sinful.
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If Jonathan followed after what his father wanted, it would have been wrong because the Lord already said who would be king.
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But even if it wasn't, Saul, even though he was a father, he did had no right to tell Jonathan that he needed to be king or he was going to be killed.
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How should I treat others' plans?
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I shouldn't try to lead them into sin.
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I should treat them in such a way that I want to help them out of sin.
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How should I treat their plans?
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I should realize that I can be here to give advice.
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I can be here to give counsel and wisdom and even an opinion, put in my own two cents.
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But also, my plan others' plans don't revolve around me.
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If I'm going to practice the godly rule, then I'm going to recognize that they need to make their own decisions.
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And finally, should I disregard the plans of God?
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God.
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James 4, verses 13 through 17.
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In Matthew 7, 12 it says, Whatsoever men should do to you, do ye even so to them.
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It applies with more than just men, though.
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If we think about our relationship with our Lord, how is it that we want Him to treat us?
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Do we want Him to listen to us?
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James 4, verse 13.
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Go to now ye that say to day or to morrow, we shall go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain, whereas ye know not what shall be on the
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morrow, for what is your life?
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It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
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For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.
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But now ye rejoiced in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.
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Now what is the wrong that these people had done?
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They had left God out of their plans.
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They might have been going to build up a Bible bookstore and go make business off of that, but they did not say or think in their heart if the Lord will.
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They thought the Lord was going to automatically go with whatever they wanted rather than recognizing the fact that their bearing was on God.
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Now we prayed to our Father.
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He told us that he wants our prayers and supplications to be made known unto him.
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If we want the Lord to listen to us, ought not we listen to Him?
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Ought not we listen to the plans that He has for us when it comes to how He wants us to live?
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And even making sure that we pray and ask, Lord, am I doing this by your will?
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He's not going to let us know by some miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit or whatever else.
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But the Lord can teach us through his word, and he can open doors providentially.
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We must simply ask, are we following the plan of God?
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On this subject, the last verse says, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin.
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Often this verse is taken to mean that anything that we do that anytime we know that we can do something good and we don't do it, you have a sin right there.
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It's not what the verse is teaching.
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What is the rest of the context we just saw?
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The sin that was done was the fact they didn't keep God in their plans.
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And because they didn't keep God in their plans, then came verse 17.
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The one who doesn't know to do this good, this good of keeping God in their plans, he is the one that sins, who does wrong.
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If I want God to listen to me, if I want God to even think about answering what I ask for, ought not I listen to everything that He says and do as He requires?
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How do I treat others?
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But also and most importantly, how do I treat my Lord?
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If we follow the godly rule, we're going to ask, how do I treat other people's business?
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Like it is mine or like it belongs to them?
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I'm going to ask, how do I treat their plans?
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Do I treat their plans as though they belong to me or like they are their own?
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And finally, how should I treat other people's possessions?
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And first
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There comes what it is so often cut first comes to mind.
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How should I treat their possessions?
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How should I treat their belongings?
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The things that are physical?
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Luke twelve fifteen, a man comes to Christ and says, Lord, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.
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In that day and time you had and when you had a father and he had his children, you would have the firstborn who would receive a double portion compared to what all the others got.
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If a man had four children, it would be split into five parts.
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And the firstborn son would get two of those parts.
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This subsun thus someone came to the Lord and said, Tell my brother to split the inheritance with me.
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It's very well the case that this was a man, it didn't even belong to him.
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It wasn't even his right to have what he was asking for.
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But he just wanted it split down the middle, even though the Lord had already said it in the old law how this was supposed to go.
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And the Lord says, Man, who made me a ruler and judge over thee?
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And then he says, Beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the things which he possesseth.
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Life is not about what I own, and it's certainly not about what others own.
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We talked about the idea of envy.
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Now it's fine to s as Aaron said earlier, if someone's got a new truck out there, I can say, man, I'm glad he's got a new truck.
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I'm glad I get to look at it and drool every once in a while because man, it just looks so good.
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As long as it's not me thinking, you know what?
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He has that truck, but I want it more, and I'm going to take it from him.
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That is covetousness, that is this envy, where I desire what belongs to others and for them not to have it.
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And that has no place if I'm going to practice the godly rule.
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If I'm going to practice the golden rule of doing unto others as I would have them do to me.
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I do not own others' belongings.
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Whether it be the tool I borrowed from a friend, or whether it be the money that I borrowed from mother and father, whatever the case, what I what does not belong to me,
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does not belong to me.
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And just as I would have others treat my possessions properly, I should treat those properly of others.
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But there are things that go
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Beyond the riches of this world.
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They go beyond the physical things that we can touch and handle.
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How do I treat other people's moods?
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Romans 12, 15, rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep.
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If someone is happy over good news, there's a family, it's it's a military family, and the father has come back.
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It's good news.
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And then there's friends to that family and
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That other family lost their father in that war.
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And then you have this one family who is rejoicing, and this other family who's mourning.
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What do you do?
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What's stronger?
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Who should everyone be mourning or should everyone be rejoicing?
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Who owns the mood?
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Who owns the right to say, nope, we need to be happy?
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Or nope, we need to be sad?
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Nobody.
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We rejoice with those that do rejoice.
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We say, I'm so happy for you, for those that have something to be happy about.
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And we weep for those that weep when we have those who are suffering from the fact they have lost.
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We treat other people's moods as we would have them treat ours.
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We want people to be excited when we're excited.
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How do we feel when we're excited and then others they aren't going along with us?
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It just brings it down further than it was even before the good news came.
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We want others to react well to what we have going on.
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We should do the same for others.
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How do I treat others' physical belongings?
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How do I treat other people's moods?
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And a final idea, how should I treat their history?
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Now we talked about this kind of idea between a husband and wife.
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Having their discussion of, you remember when you did this, remember when you did that?
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You have the man who came to Christ and he owed 10,000 talents.
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And he said, Lord, have patience with me and I will pay thee all.
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He was about to be sold off and his entire family as well.
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And then that Lord had compassion.
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And then that man went out and found a servant who owed about who owed something that would have been
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Significant to us, a hundred to three hundred days' wages, but was nothing like what he owed, which was upon millions and millions of dollars.
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He owed that and he went and he wrung his brother by the neck, saying, Pay me what thou owest.
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He thought that he owned what his brother had done.
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He thought that he can squeeze a debt out of anyone, rather than treating others the way he was treated.
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He received forgiveness for a debt he could never pay back.
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And then he went out to a
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Brother for a debt that could be repaid and then threw him in prison for it.
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He did not show the same kind of love that he was shown.
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When the Lord shows us love, when the Lord shows us that he is willing to forgive us, and us as Christians, those who have been forgiven, we have been forgiven of the fact that we
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have nailed the Son of God to the cross with our sin.
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If we are willing to go out and forgive others when they have wronged us,
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What difference is there between us and this servant who went out and grabbed his brother by the neck?
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I must be willing to ask, am I treating others' people's history properly?
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Or am I holding a grudge that I ought not hold?
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I can't forgive until someone has asked for forgiveness.
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The Lord Himself does not even do that.
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But am I reaching out for the opportunity to forgive?
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Am I practicing God's rule of how I should treat others?
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We've looked at how we should treat other people's business.
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The information that is their own.
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And that should be left as their own.
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Other people's plans.
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The fact that what they do is between, while I can offer advice, I can offer good, it is between them and the Lord.
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And they should be it just as I serving him in what they do and what they plan.
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James chapter 4.
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And finally, how do I treat other people's possessions?
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What belongs to them?
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Whatever it be, physical, whether it be something abstract.
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Am I treating them the way I would want them to treat me?
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If it is the case that you are not a Christian and looking at Scripture and what Matthew seven twelve says, if that's just a surprise because there hasn't been a chance to look at
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scripture in your life, and now you're wondering what else it has to say.
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There is a chance now to come and learn about what the rest of it says, about how to obey his word, and if there is any here who desires that.
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I or any Aaron or anyone else would love to study with you on that.
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But from what my eyes can see, everyone here is a Christian.
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Everyone here has obeyed the gospel and you are serving your Lord.
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If you have fallen away from him, if you are not following your God properly, and you want to turn back to him, there is an opportunity now.
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To come to Him and take the forgiveness that He offered in first John chapter one verse nine, where if we confess and forsake our sins He is willing to forgive us.
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If you desire to show the same love that your Lord showed for you, both to Him and to others, would you please come forward as we stand