Do Ye Even so to Them

Driving home: We are to act toward men in such a manner as our hearts and consciences would deem it reasonable that they should act toward us in a similar situation.

Martin uses the example of preparing steak for a guest (rare with mushrooms vs. well-done with no toppings) to clarify that the Golden Rule means doing 'as you would have them do to you' (i.e., discovering their preference), not simply doing what you prefer for yourself.

Let me illustrate. Suppose I were to come to your house, or let's switch. You were to come to my house, and my wife was going to serve steak for dinner. And maybe I like my steak smothered with mushroom, and I like it rare.

14:04 - 14:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Take time to think through how you like to be treated in various circumstances of life.

He uses the example of driving on Bloomfield Avenue and someone letting you out of a side street to illustrate how a small act of kindness, driven by the Golden Rule, can significantly impact someone's day.

When you're going to eat? When you're going to eat? When you're going to eat? When you're driving your car down Bloomfield Avenue and you're coming out on one of these side streets where there's no light?

18:21 - 18:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Husbands and wives, apply the Golden Rule to the responsibilities of home life, considering what would bless your mate.

Martin illustrates a husband applying the Golden Rule by offering to do dishes and help with kids, giving his wife a break from the daily grind, which can refresh her spirit.

facing the four walls, day after day, the same dishes that you dirty and the kids dirty, the same dirty duds until they wear out and you get some new ones to get dirty and get worn out.

21:36 - 21:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Wives, greet your husbands with a smile and make your home an oasis, even when you don't feel up to par.

He uses the metaphor of a home being an 'oasis in the desert of moral filth' to encourage wives to greet their husbands with kindness, applying the Golden Rule to create a welcoming atmosphere.

Do you want to see more sour faces and hear more ugly words? No, you'd like at least your home to be a little oasis in the midst of that sea of moral filth or I should say desert of moral filth to keep the analogy an oasis in the desert of moral filth and that which would discourage. All right, you wives, then, even though you don't quite feel up to par, just get yourself together and crank out a smile.

23:05 - 23:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Apply the Golden Rule to your traffic habits, being considerate and understanding of other drivers.

Martin shares his personal experience driving on Bloomfield Avenue multiple times, observing the 'absolute selfishness' and 'thoughtlessness' of drivers, which he uses as proof of human depravity and a continuous challenge to apply the Golden Rule to driving habits.

I mentioned earlier in the message and I guess that's mostly on my mind because I've made that trip down Bloomfield Avenue and back this past week every night to Union. So I go down, back, and then Friday night teaching down at the Newark Evening Bible School, down, back, and I've never seen such a breach of the golden rule as I've seen this week. I've needed no more proof of the depravity of human nature than to drive up and down Bloomfield Avenue seven times in a week.

35:55 - 36:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Apply the Golden Rule to your traffic habits, being considerate and understanding of other drivers.

He uses the example of accidentally running a stop sign to illustrate that when others make similar mistakes, we should extend the same understanding and grace we would want to receive, applying the Golden Rule to judgment of others' errors.

As you would that others do to you. Do to them. Did you ever make a mistake and run through a stop sign unwittingly? You weren't out to kill people.

37:06 - 37:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize your need for God's forgiveness for every failure to keep the Golden Rule, and flee to the cross for mercy.

Martin uses the analogy of trying to swim a hundred yards in the Passaic River with concrete blocks tied to one's feet to illustrate the impossibility of keeping the Golden Rule with only Adam's fallen nature, emphasizing the desperate need for the Holy Spirit's supernatural work.

you as a roommate there at the school have carried out your own plans at the expense of the plans of your roommate at the expense of his dignity and rights as an individual if that's sin every time you've selfishly done or said that thing that you would not want done or said to you in the same circle if that's sin then beloved I know there's one place all of us will be this morning and that's down at the foot of the cross pleading God's mercy pleading His forgiveness pleading the cleansing of His precious blood and a text like this that searches us can be our greatest friend if it drives us to...

43:32 - 44:58 Read in full sermon