Loving What Is Right
Jas. 1:25.
A. In trying to quote the Golden Rule, some people say, Do
not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.
But, we need to understand that the Golden Rule of Jesus in Matt.
7:12, is phrased positively. It contains a crucial element that
is absent when stated negatively.
a. The difference between negatively refraining from doing well
and positively acting to
do good is illustrated by the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke
10:25-37.
(A) The Priest and Levite were Good Moral People. They abhorred
the disgusting
immorality of the thugs who beat up and robbed the man by the
roadside. They would
never think of doing that themselves. They were honest, upright,
moral people.
(1) They and their friends were clean, decent, upstanding people,
who basically, were on the side of what is right.
What are the characteristics of the good moral person
as we usually think of him?
Do we not tend to define morality in terms of not murdering, not
stealing, not committing adultery, not lying, etc.?
Do we not perhaps even secretly congratulate ourselves for being
above average morally. After all, we would not stoop to engage
in the despicable things we see others doing?
(2) Is the strength of our morality measured by the intensity
of the negative feelings we have about im-morality?
Are we good because we have a long list of practices
we are against?
If this is our morality, we are no better than the
Pharisees for they were people who scrupulously avoided
un-righteousness.
(B) Pharisaical self-righteousness is well illustrated
in Luke 18:9-14.
(1) What the Pharisees possessed, was not sanctification, but
sanctimoniousness (hypocritical high-mindedness).
Our righteousness must exceed this type, not merely in quantity
but in quality, Matt. 5:20, Jesus said, For I say unto you,
that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom
of heaven.
Whats the point Jesus is making? There is more to being
Moral than looking down on Immorality.
Loving what is right is all together different from hating
what is wrong and feeling right about it.
(2) There are obviously many things in the world that we ought
to feel a genuine
revulsion for. But do not confuse these feelings of revultion
with a true love for
what is good.
We do not truly qualify as being on the side of truth and goodness
if all we do is criticize sin with our lips. Jesus stated an important
principle in Matt. 15:8, These people draw near to Me with
their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is
far from Me.
God is concerned with what We DO about WHAT we know TO DO.
b. Whats the problem? We tend to judge others by their actual
performance, while
we judge ourselves by our ideals.
(1) We think of ourselves as being fairly good because
we know our goals are good, we know that we are capable of doing
good, we know what we intend to do.
(1) But the person who truly loves what is right is not merely
the person with high ideals and positive potential. He is an actual
Doer of good.
(1) Can do and have done, dont even live in the same
neighborhood!
(2) The Book of James has some clear teaching regarding the difference
between knowing and doing.
(2) Turn to the Book of James and read about this Divine principle.
(1) Jas. 1:21-27; 2:14-26; 4:17, Now, add to that 1 John 3:16?20,
(2) Remember Edmund Burkes statement, All that is
necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
(3) Are people really good when they passively sit
by and let evil triumph, while disapproving of it?
(2) Talk is cheap! Loving what is good requires Doing good.
(1) When it comes to standing on the side of right,
are we actually guilty of standing on the other side?
(1) Heres how Jesus described the fool in Matt. 7:26-27.
(2) There is happiness and blessing in doing the right thing when
we know to do it.
(2) Jno. 13:17.
(a) Jas. 1:25.
(b) Acts 20:32.
Spur - 6/3 /2001 pm
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