Hello friend, my
name is Pastor Alden Ho.
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I run a ministry
in Berrien Springs, MI
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that is dedicated
to serving young people
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all around the world.
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It's called
Wheel Salt Ministries.
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I want to talk to you
today about decisions.
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We all make decisions.
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You wake up in the morning.
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How do you know what
you're going to wear?
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How do you know
what you're going to eat?
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What actually determines
what you will do for that day,
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maybe what radio station or what
song you're going to listen to,
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which pair of shoes
you're going to wear,
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or which shoe you're
going to put on first?
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We all have
decisions we have to make.
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There are things that guide
us through these decisions.
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And sometimes we
make good decisions
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and other times we make
decisions that are not so good.
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The talk that I want
to share with you today
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is called Christian Ethics.
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Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
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I thank you for
allowing us to make decisions.
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I thank you for
Your great love for us,
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that You don't dictate
to us what we have to do.
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Although, that
might be easy sometimes
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it's because of that
love that You have for us
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that You allow
us to make choices.
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But Lord, help us to
recognize the fact that
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there are good choices to make
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and there are bad choices.
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Speak through me this day
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so that we can better
see what You have for us
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and that we may
follow Your will.
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In Jesus name. Amen.
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Kelly was in the fourth grade.
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Several students in her class
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they took an object
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from the teacher's desk.
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Well, when the teacher was out
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they started playing
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with this object and pretty soon
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the inevitable happened.
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The object broke.
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When the teacher came back
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into the classroom
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she asked all the
students in her class
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what had happened.
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Well, all the students
denied anything to do with that
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except when it came to Kelly.
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Kelly explained to the
teacher exactly from her heart
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what had happened.
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Well, you can
imagine what happened.
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The rest of the
class ridiculed her
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for making that decision
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and for being able to
tell the truth with that.
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She felt very bad.
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That night Kelly's dad
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pulled her aside and said,
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"Kelly, you know, you
did the right thing. "
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In spite of what
other students have said
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in spite of the
harassment you've received
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you did the right thing.
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Kelly's dad asked her,
"Kelly, is lying wrong? "
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And Kelly
answered, "Well, yes. "
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"Well, why is it wrong? "
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"Well, because the
Bible says it's wrong. "
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Her dad responded,
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"Why does the
Bible say it's wrong? "
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"Because God
commanded it? " Kelly said.
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And her dad responded by saying,
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"Why did God command it? "
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Now Kelly had a
blank look on her face.
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She did not exactly
why God had commanded her.
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And she said, "I don't know! "
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Her hands went up in the air
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and her father said,
"Because God is Truth. "
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and truth comes from His nature.
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And anything that is
contrary to God's nature
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is sin.
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You see, if you
are a mom or dad,
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in fact if you're a young person
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or if you're any age, really,
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there are things
that guide us through.
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And it's not enough
for us to simply know
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the why or that something
is either right or wrong.
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The Bible actually
gives us a strong indication
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as to what is
right and what is wrong.
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If we are to keep the culture
from capturing our young people
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we must instill in
them biblical values.
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They must know the WHY.
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They must know the answers
as to why things are right
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and why things are wrong.
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Many of our youth
today are struggling
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with the concept
of what morality is
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and who defines it.
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In fact studies indicate
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that today's youth are confused
about which morals are absolute
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and what makes them absolute.
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Consequently they are
making conditional decisions.
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Choosing what seems to be in
their best interest at the time
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without actually any
reference to any morals
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that are absolute of any kind.
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And that really is quite scary.
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Let's look at
three people for example.
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Imagine that
there are three people
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in a vehicle there is a
$50 bill on the front seat.
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The car door is unlocked.
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The first person goes by
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and they want to take the money
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but they pass up the
opportunity to take the money
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for fear of punishment if
they were caught in the act.
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The second person goes by
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they see the money,
they turn and they walk away.
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That second person
rejected the temptation
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out of a conviction that God
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makes certain
rules for us to follow.
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And one of those rules
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is that we shouldn't take
things that don't belong to us.
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The third person walks by
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they see the $50 bill
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and they refrain
from taking the money
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simply from the fact of empathy.
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They're aware of how
frustrated they would be
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and angry themselves
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if someone had
stolen their own money.
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Now the decision that
each of these three people made
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to not take the money
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was for three very
different moral reasons.
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The first person's ethics,
I guess you could say was:
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'Whatever you do
don't get caught. '
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The second person's ethics
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would have been,
'Thou shalt not steal. '
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And the third person who
walked away because of empathy
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well their morality is built on
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'Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you. '
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So what determines the
decisions that we make?
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Are all decisions calculated?
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Actually, I
mean, do we consciously
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think about the
decisions we make
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as to what's
right and what's wrong?
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Or do we just
naturally allow it to happen?
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For some the choice between
right and wrong, good and evil
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is based on actually
what is most convenient
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at the time, unfortunately.
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others base their morality on
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a cultural conviction.
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Some actually base
it on media influence.
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But as Christians we must
take our values from the Bible.
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A persons who
lives by God's morals
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doesn't steal because
that's God's standard.
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Not because a person
doesn't like to steal.
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Understand that
Biblical theology
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has moral implications.
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It is these implications
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that provide us
with the framework
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of discipline called ethics.
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Now morality is
actually a life style
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and ethics is a science.
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Morality is a way of life and
ethics is the study of morality.
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Now there's different
things involved in these values.
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There's three different
areas we want to look at.
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The first one
is intrinsic value.
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Intrinsic value is
something that can be measured.
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For example gold,
life, love, freedom, loyalty.
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The second one is extrinsic.
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Extrinsic value is something
that somebody puts a price on.
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For example maybe a
decision at a hospital
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whether a person
should live or die.
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That would be
an extrinsic value.
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The third one is
actually referred to
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as utilitarian value.
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Utilitarian value is
in the eye of the beholder
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and may mean a lot to one person
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but absolutely
nothing to another.
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Let's look at a story
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if we look at a story
that's found in Genesis 39:7
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we find that Potiphar and Joseph
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it's the story of both of them
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Joseph was put in
charge of Potiphar's household.
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And because
Potiphar was gone a lot
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Joseph was
basically the man of the house
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in charge of all his belongings.
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And we find that it
wasn't too long after that
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that Mrs. Potiphar started
taking quite a notice to Joseph.
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His olive skin,
his nice complexion
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his great looks.
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She began to get a
little more interested
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in what was beyond those looks.
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She wanted him.
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Let's take look at
the story of Joseph here
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found starting in Genesis 39:7
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It says, "It came to pass "
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"after these things
that his masters wife "
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"cast longing eyes on Joseph "
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"and she said, 'Lie with me. ' "
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Well, we can definitely
see that Mrs. Potiphar
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had other plans for Joseph.
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So let's look at
these values again
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in light of Joseph,
Potiphar and his wife.
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Intrinsically, Joseph placed
value in loyalty to Potiphar
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and love and obedience to God.
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Extrinsically, Potiphar
placed an extrinsic value
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on Joseph by giving him
charge of his entire household.
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well, on the other value
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the utilitarian value,
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Potiphar's wife
placed value on Joseph's body
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and wanted it for
her own enjoyment.
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You see, many decisions such
as which shoe do I put on first
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or what color to buy
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lake such importance.
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Decisions acquire
moral and religious value
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as they affect our
relationship with people
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and our relationship with God.
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The way we acknowledge
our relationship with God
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Is actually more important than
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the rightness or
wrongness of a specific action.
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You see, when Jesus
commanded His disciples
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to go and make
disciples of all nations
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teaching them to
observe all these things
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that I've taught you. To
preach, teach and baptize
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He required them to
communicate Biblical ethics.
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Biblical ethics
therefore establishes the basis
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that produces goodness
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purity and holiness.
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God's character is reflected
in these Biblical ethics.
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You see, God is morally perfect.
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And all Biblical values are
an extension of His character.
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Perfect.
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His divine
attributes proclaim His holiness
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and are
translated into moral values.
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All the pleases and thank-yous
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are derived from
Biblical imperatives.
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Thus God defines these virtues
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as we find in one of the first
texts we're going to look at
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here in Philippians 4:8
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Those are some of the
things that God defines
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as right virtues.
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Let's look at
some other ones here.
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They're found in Galatians 5:22.
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Galatians 5:22
00:11:40.89\00:11:47.31
This is very interesting
when it comes to these values
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that God is talking about here.
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Paul writes these and he says,
"Look the fruit of the Spirit "
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and if you look
at that text again
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go back and read in your Bible
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Galatians 5:22 you'll find
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that it is actually singular, it
says the 'fruit' of the Spirit
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he's not saying, 'the
fruits of the Spirit. '
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Why does he not refer to
them as 'fruits ', plural?
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He says singular because
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all these things are
what make up the virtues
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that God wants us to have.
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It's like a bowl that
we call fruit cocktail.
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We don't refer to
it as fruits cocktail.
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We refer to it
as fruit cocktail.
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All of it together is the fruit.
00:12:44.58\00:12:47.03
However, if you look back
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in a few verses back
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in Galatians 5:17 it says,
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"for the flesh lusts
against the Spirit. "
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and it says, "These are
the lusts of the flesh. "
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And they were listed as plural.
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Lusts. Because there are many.
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All it takes is one of
those lusts of the flesh
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to wipe out the
fruit of the Spirit.
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That's why it's important
to have all these fruits.
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All of them together is
what we need for our virtue
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and to be able to guide us.
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These virtues that are listed
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are not subject to personal
or private interpretation.
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They are as God
stated them to be.
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Without God there is no
basis for objective ethics
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and moral behavior.
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Because if there was it would be
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very tenuously governed by
subjective personal opinions.
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Our opinions.
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All values become
relative at that point
00:13:47.82\00:13:50.70
because they are based on
what I think or what you think
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rather than on what God says.
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I guess there is
security in knowing
00:13:56.79\00:14:00.49
that these values are
actually derived from the Bible.
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And they are unchanging.
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These moral requirements
by which Christians live today
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are the same
yesterday, the same tomorrow
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and the same today
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because Jesus Christ
as we read in Hebrews 8
00:14:13.97\00:14:19.33
implies this
00:14:19.36\00:14:20.95
Implied here is this:
00:14:28.53\00:14:29.99
These timeless values
flow out from His character.
00:14:30.02\00:14:34.00
Yesterday, today,
tomorrow they do not change.
00:14:34.03\00:14:37.39
Just like the Ten Commandments.
00:14:37.42\00:14:39.40
They do not
change they hold fast.
00:14:39.43\00:14:42.12
Christ did not come to do
away with the Ten Commandments
00:14:42.15\00:14:46.50
they weren't nailed to the cross
00:14:46.53\00:14:48.54
He came to fulfill
those commandments.
00:14:48.57\00:14:50.82
And in the same way
these timeless values
00:14:50.85\00:14:53.66
flow out of His character.
00:14:53.69\00:14:55.68
This is who He is.
00:14:55.71\00:14:56.88
Now, parents who turn their back
00:14:56.91\00:15:00.67
on the only
legitimate source of values
00:15:00.70\00:15:03.19
God's revelation
00:15:03.22\00:15:04.73
allow personal values
to substitute for truth.
00:15:04.76\00:15:08.48
And eventually,
believe it or not, it shows up
00:15:08.51\00:15:11.05
in your children.
00:15:11.08\00:15:12.05
Let me give you an example.
00:15:12.06\00:15:13.48
The phone rings and
your child answers it.
00:15:13.51\00:15:16.84
The child says,
"The phone's for you. "
00:15:16.87\00:15:19.69
But you tell them to say
we're not home right now.
00:15:19.72\00:15:24.61
Tell them we're not at home.
00:15:24.64\00:15:26.27
So the child gets on the phone
00:15:26.30\00:15:28.36
and right in front
of the mom or dad says,
00:15:28.39\00:15:30.58
"I'm sorry my mom or
dad is not here right now. "
00:15:30.61\00:15:33.12
What is that exactly relaying
to your child as far as values?
00:15:33.15\00:15:38.92
What values are
you setting for them?
00:15:38.95\00:15:41.31
For the community of believers
00:15:41.34\00:15:43.61
what is at stake is
our Christian values,
00:15:43.64\00:15:46.46
our Christian witness.
00:15:46.49\00:15:47.88
No non-Christian can damage
a case for Christian ethics
00:15:47.91\00:15:53.20
as bad as a Christian parent
whose child is continually
00:15:53.23\00:15:57.68
out of control.
00:15:57.71\00:15:58.94
Or a parent who
is continually making
00:15:58.97\00:16:01.34
excuses for those behaviors.
00:16:01.37\00:16:03.40
The bottom line in
Christian ethics is this:
00:16:03.43\00:16:06.19
We are to call
right, wrong, good and evil
00:16:06.22\00:16:10.78
what God calls
right, wrong, good and evil.
00:16:10.81\00:16:13.65
Moral judgments should not
merely be personal opinions.
00:16:13.68\00:16:18.00
For the Christian
an ethical lifestyle
00:16:18.03\00:16:21.34
is a matter of
allegiance to God.
00:16:21.37\00:16:23.60
It's not one of personal
interpretation or preference.
00:16:23.63\00:16:28.09
Biblical ethics first
serves to reveal God's holiness.
00:16:28.12\00:16:33.66
Second, it
establishes a character
00:16:33.69\00:16:36.84
of acceptable behavior.
00:16:36.87\00:16:39.04
And third, to reveal sin.
00:16:39.07\00:16:41.79
Do you know that of all the
ethical systems in the world
00:16:41.82\00:16:45.98
there is no higher
standard for moral behavior
00:16:46.01\00:16:50.40
than the Bible?
00:16:50.43\00:16:51.53
For there are many
wonderful religions
00:16:51.56\00:16:55.00
and ethical
teachings in the world.
00:16:55.03\00:16:57.03
But the motives for
doing deeds of righteousness
00:16:57.06\00:17:00.44
is the pursuit of salvation,
00:17:00.47\00:17:02.96
man seeking favor with God.
00:17:02.99\00:17:05.18
For many,
individual acts of goodness
00:17:05.21\00:17:08.90
are but just steps to heaven.
00:17:08.93\00:17:10.87
Not so for the Christian.
00:17:10.90\00:17:12.94
For the Christian, we're to have
00:17:12.97\00:17:15.13
a very different to it.
00:17:15.16\00:17:17.12
We are actually not working
00:17:17.15\00:17:18.95
our way to heaven.
00:17:18.98\00:17:19.97
Let's see what Paul
writes here in Colossians 3:1,2
00:17:20.00\00:17:25.47
Colossians 3:1,2
00:17:25.50\00:17:28.51
There is a call
that Paul speaks of,
00:17:44.95\00:17:47.67
'Don't set your
values based on this world. '
00:17:47.70\00:17:51.09
Don't set your
values, friends, on Hollywood.
00:17:51.12\00:17:54.86
Hollywood should not
dictate how you live your life.
00:17:54.89\00:17:58.31
Just because some
actor or actress shows up
00:17:58.34\00:18:02.37
wearing this particular garment
00:18:02.40\00:18:04.37
doesn't mean you
have to go out and get it.
00:18:04.40\00:18:07.03
That's becoming
more like the world.
00:18:07.06\00:18:09.68
And Christ tells us we are
to be separate from the world.
00:18:09.71\00:18:12.91
We are not to be of this world.
00:18:12.94\00:18:15.05
We live here. But
we're not to be part of it.
00:18:15.08\00:18:18.90
We shouldn't dress the part.
00:18:18.93\00:18:20.34
And if you've noticed
the way fashions are nowadays
00:18:20.37\00:18:24.58
it's all going to pot.
00:18:24.61\00:18:26.14
The body is so revealed
00:18:26.17\00:18:29.07
in the way fashions are.
00:18:29.10\00:18:30.44
I don't think that's
what God's morals were.
00:18:30.47\00:18:33.41
If you look at the fact
that in the Garden of Eden
00:18:33.44\00:18:36.90
when Adam and Eve sinned
00:18:36.93\00:18:38.68
they put on fig leaves.
00:18:38.71\00:18:41.32
Well, God didn't actually
think that was good enough.
00:18:41.35\00:18:44.92
So he covered them with furs.
00:18:44.95\00:18:47.14
He actually covered
more of their bodies
00:18:47.17\00:18:49.01
then they covered
themselves initially.
00:18:49.04\00:18:50.84
You see, God's values
are far more than ours.
00:18:50.87\00:18:54.04
In 1 John 4:7
00:18:54.07\00:19:00.41
You see, therefore we are
to be targets of God's love.
00:19:14.73\00:19:21.45
We ought to be
targets of one another's love.
00:19:21.48\00:19:25.32
This is actually the summation
of the entire Ten Commandments
00:19:25.35\00:19:29.32
and the duty of us if we
are called to be Christians
00:19:29.35\00:19:32.45
if you consider
yourself to be a Christian
00:19:32.48\00:19:34.17
this is actually
what we're to do.
00:19:34.20\00:19:36.35
We are to treat one another
the way we want to be treated.
00:19:36.38\00:19:41.79
That is part of
Christian ethics.
00:19:41.82\00:19:44.44
Love God. Love your neighbor.
00:19:44.47\00:19:48.56
According to what Mark 12 says.
00:19:48.59\00:19:51.13
Now, this is a very
interesting situation.
00:19:51.16\00:19:54.68
We have to follow what God says
00:19:54.71\00:19:57.96
God has the highest authority.
00:19:57.99\00:20:00.26
Over any
worldly empire authority
00:20:00.29\00:20:03.37
over any movie, yes
even over our moms and dads.
00:20:03.40\00:20:08.44
Recently I was in
the country of Ghana
00:20:08.47\00:20:11.47
holding some meetings there.
00:20:11.50\00:20:13.28
I was speaking at the Beckwye
SDA secondary school there.
00:20:13.31\00:20:18.07
Many of the 1500 students
00:20:18.10\00:20:21.41
that attend the school there
00:20:21.44\00:20:23.08
are not Seventh Day Adventists.
00:20:23.11\00:20:24.47
Many of them are Christians.
00:20:24.50\00:20:26.06
But many of them
are not Adventists.
00:20:26.09\00:20:28.33
In fact there were some of them
00:20:28.36\00:20:29.56
who were not considered
Christians themselves.
00:20:29.59\00:20:32.07
What I find that was interesting
00:20:32.10\00:20:34.33
in the course of the meetings
00:20:34.36\00:20:35.78
there were some young people
00:20:35.81\00:20:37.36
who came to me and said,
00:20:37.39\00:20:38.37
"Look, I hear the
message that you are preaching "
00:20:38.40\00:20:41.17
"I understand, God is calling
us to keep the Sabbath holy "
00:20:41.20\00:20:45.16
"the seventh-day Sabbath. "
00:20:45.19\00:20:46.47
"My father is a Muslim. "
00:20:46.50\00:20:49.48
"Or my father is a
Pentecostal preacher. "
00:20:49.51\00:20:52.00
"Now, I want to
honor my father "
00:20:52.03\00:20:57.28
"cause the Bible tells us
in the Fifth Commandment "
00:20:57.31\00:20:59.45
"that I am to honor my father. "
00:20:59.48\00:21:01.14
And in fact, it writes here
00:21:01.17\00:21:03.38
Paul writes here
in Colossians 3:20
00:21:03.41\00:21:06.38
Well, if we look at
Christian ethics here
00:21:14.12\00:21:16.11
these young people in Ghana
00:21:16.14\00:21:18.17
are facing a struggle.
00:21:18.20\00:21:19.91
And the struggle is this:
00:21:19.94\00:21:21.09
They're stating
this, "Look, the Bible "
00:21:21.12\00:21:22.83
"tells us: 1. I need to honor "
00:21:22.86\00:21:25.25
"my father and mother "
00:21:25.28\00:21:26.33
"and it tells us again that "
00:21:26.36\00:21:27.64
"we are to obey our
parents in all things. "
00:21:27.67\00:21:29.89
But here is what
you must understand:
00:21:29.92\00:21:31.95
Yes Paul does write
to the Church at Colossae
00:21:31.98\00:21:35.66
and he says you need to obey
00:21:35.69\00:21:37.78
your parents in all things.
00:21:37.81\00:21:39.52
Because he is
writing to a church
00:21:39.55\00:21:42.45
that was a
Christian believing church.
00:21:42.48\00:21:45.02
And because they were a
Christian believing church
00:21:45.05\00:21:48.02
the children were
to obey their parents
00:21:48.05\00:21:50.84
in all things.
00:21:50.87\00:21:52.23
Because that's
how they were raised.
00:21:52.26\00:21:54.92
They were to be raised because
00:21:54.95\00:21:57.41
their parents were
believers in Christ.
00:21:57.44\00:21:59.47
However, at the same time
00:21:59.50\00:22:01.47
Paul writes to a
different church.
00:22:01.50\00:22:04.19
He writes to the
church at Ephesus
00:22:04.22\00:22:06.54
and he says something
a little different there.
00:22:06.57\00:22:09.29
Let's look at Ephesians 6:1
00:22:09.32\00:22:12.68
Now why this difference?
00:22:21.50\00:22:22.90
First he writes, "Obey
your parents in all things. "
00:22:22.93\00:22:25.96
Now he writes, "Obey
your parents in the Lord. "
00:22:26.00\00:22:28.19
Well, he's stating this because
00:22:28.22\00:22:32.00
for you young
people, for anybody
00:22:32.03\00:22:36.54
we are to obey our parents
00:22:36.57\00:22:39.22
in the Lord, because if
they are not believing parents
00:22:39.25\00:22:44.07
if your parents
have not accepted
00:22:44.10\00:22:46.18
Jesus Christ as their own Savior
00:22:46.21\00:22:49.41
and you're struggling
with the fact to accept them
00:22:49.44\00:22:52.20
but your parents say no
00:22:52.23\00:22:53.22
who has the higher authority?
00:22:53.25\00:22:55.13
Paul is writing here
to confirm the fact that
00:22:55.16\00:22:57.83
we are to obey God first.
00:22:57.86\00:23:00.69
God we must obey
first and foremost.
00:23:00.72\00:23:04.06
Then our parents
and then ourselves.
00:23:04.09\00:23:07.25
There's a simple
word, an acronym we can use
00:23:07.28\00:23:10.37
the word is JOY.
00:23:10.40\00:23:11.96
Jesus = J, O =
others, Y for you, JOY.
00:23:11.99\00:23:17.20
Jesus first, others
second, you yourself last.
00:23:17.23\00:23:21.33
It's very interesting, we
will have to take a stand.
00:23:21.36\00:23:25.75
These ethics that
we have will be tested.
00:23:25.78\00:23:28.72
So, in light of all this
00:23:28.75\00:23:31.90
the young people in Ghana
00:23:31.93\00:23:33.54
it was very
interesting to watch.
00:23:33.57\00:23:35.04
73 young people were
baptized during those meetings.
00:23:35.07\00:23:39.21
Young people came
forth after they understood
00:23:39.25\00:23:42.42
what this passage meant and that
they were to obey God first,
00:23:42.45\00:23:46.07
then their parents.
00:23:46.10\00:23:47.77
Young people came forward
00:23:47.80\00:23:49.30
and they came to
the waters of baptism.
00:23:49.33\00:23:51.53
Isn't that a wonderful thing.
00:23:51.56\00:23:53.30
We praise the Lord for the
good things He did over there!
00:23:53.33\00:23:56.37
Now, I want to tell you a story.
00:23:56.40\00:23:59.64
This story takes place at the
University of South Carolina.
00:23:59.67\00:24:03.81
There was a professor there,
00:24:03.84\00:24:06.58
a professor of philosophy
00:24:06.61\00:24:08.89
He was actually tenured.
He'd been there many years.
00:24:08.92\00:24:11.46
And he would make a point
00:24:11.49\00:24:13.31
at the beginning of
his philosophy class
00:24:13.34\00:24:15.17
to ask if there was anybody here
00:24:15.20\00:24:17.55
who believed in Jesus.
00:24:17.58\00:24:19.19
And then he would
go on to ridicule them
00:24:19.22\00:24:22.87
and make them so small they
would shrink from the class.
00:24:22.90\00:24:25.71
Among the 300 students
that attended that class
00:24:25.74\00:24:29.57
not one in all his years
ever stood up to take a stand
00:24:29.60\00:24:34.54
that they accepted Jesus
Christ as their personal Savior
00:24:34.57\00:24:37.64
and they believe
everything He says.
00:24:37.67\00:24:40.41
Year after year,
class after class
00:24:40.44\00:24:43.73
the professor
would mock Jesus Christ.
00:24:43.76\00:24:48.67
There was a student in the class
00:24:48.70\00:24:51.20
who was told of the
challenges of taking this class
00:24:51.23\00:24:54.89
and what the
professor would say.
00:24:54.92\00:24:56.26
That student prayed about this.
00:24:56.29\00:24:59.76
And so, earnestly said,
"Look, I understand the appeal "
00:24:59.79\00:25:03.90
"I understand. But I
must take a stand for Jesus. "
00:25:03.93\00:25:07.77
At the end of that class
00:25:07.80\00:25:09.44
at the end of that term
00:25:09.47\00:25:11.67
the professor stood up
00:25:11.70\00:25:12.75
If there's anybody
here who believes in Jesus
00:25:12.78\00:25:16.00
let him stand up.
00:25:16.03\00:25:17.04
This one man stood up.
00:25:17.07\00:25:18.82
And the professor called that
young man and said, "You fool! "
00:25:18.85\00:25:22.82
"How can you believe in Jesus? "
00:25:22.85\00:25:24.42
"If you believe in Jesus "
00:25:24.45\00:25:25.84
and customarily he always did
this, he took a piece of chalk
00:25:25.87\00:25:28.99
and he would drop the chalk
00:25:29.02\00:25:30.54
and the chalk would
shatter on the ground
00:25:30.57\00:25:32.71
Year after year,
class after class
00:25:32.74\00:25:35.62
he would drop the chalk
00:25:35.65\00:25:36.80
and it would shatter.
00:25:36.83\00:25:38.59
And he said to the young man,
00:25:38.62\00:25:39.91
"If you believe in Jesus "
00:25:39.94\00:25:41.76
"let Him stop this chalk "
00:25:41.79\00:25:44.07
"from breaking on the ground "
00:25:44.10\00:25:45.18
"and shattering into
hundreds of pieces. "
00:25:45.21\00:25:46.97
And with that the
professor went to drop the chalk
00:25:47.00\00:25:50.22
and in the
process of dropping it
00:25:50.25\00:25:51.74
he stumbled on the chalk.
00:25:51.77\00:25:53.22
It rolled off his cuff link
00:25:53.25\00:25:55.57
and it went down his pants
00:25:55.60\00:25:57.50
and it rolled
down off of his shoe
00:25:57.53\00:25:59.79
onto the floor
unscathed and unbroken.
00:25:59.82\00:26:02.96
With that the professor in
horror, ran out of the class.
00:26:02.99\00:26:08.25
He was shocked.
Never in all his years
00:26:08.28\00:26:11.27
had that ever happened.
00:26:11.30\00:26:12.32
But it took just one
person to stand up for Jesus.
00:26:12.35\00:26:15.83
That one young man went
down to the front of the class
00:26:15.86\00:26:20.24
and he shared his
testimony and the love of Jesus
00:26:20.27\00:26:24.41
with the other 299
students who were in the class.
00:26:24.44\00:26:28.31
You see, we are
coming to a time friends
00:26:28.34\00:26:32.37
where we will be tested.
00:26:32.40\00:26:34.04
We should not be afraid
to stand for Jesus Christ.
00:26:34.07\00:26:37.20
We should not be
afraid to call right, right
00:26:37.23\00:26:42.41
and wrong, wrong.
00:26:42.44\00:26:43.65
In fact, there is a passage
in 'Education' found on page 57
00:26:43.68\00:26:48.64
a little old lady wrote it
00:26:48.67\00:26:50.65
her name is Ellen White.
00:26:50.68\00:26:51.80
And she writes, "The
greatest want of the world "
00:26:51.83\00:26:54.48
"is the want of men. "
00:26:54.51\00:26:55.67
"Men who will not
be bought or sold, "
00:26:55.70\00:26:57.55
"men who in their inmost
souls are true and honest, "
00:26:57.58\00:27:00.22
"men who do not fear to
call sin by its right name, "
00:27:00.25\00:27:02.97
"men whose conscience is as true
as the needle to the pole, "
00:27:03.00\00:27:06.65
"men who will stand for the
right though the heavens fall. "
00:27:06.68\00:27:09.42
Friends, will you be that man?
00:27:09.45\00:27:12.62
Will you be that woman,
00:27:12.65\00:27:13.92
who will stand for
the right no matter what?
00:27:13.95\00:27:16.84
Time is ticking away.
00:27:16.87\00:27:19.65
Jesus is coming soon.
00:27:19.68\00:27:21.72
He needs to know
whose side you're on.
00:27:21.75\00:27:25.25
Will you stand for
Him no matter what?
00:27:25.28\00:27:28.39
Will you be true as
the needle to the pole?
00:27:28.42\00:27:31.38
I pray that you will be.
00:27:31.41\00:27:33.57
Let's pray.
00:27:33.60\00:27:35.01
Father help us.
Help us to stand true
00:27:35.04\00:27:39.39
and point true north.
00:27:39.42\00:27:40.74
That is what you
would want of us.
00:27:40.77\00:27:42.66
That's what you
would do yourself.
00:27:42.69\00:27:44.39
And we want to be
like you in all that we do.
00:27:44.42\00:27:47.33
So Father,
continue to direct our ways.
00:27:47.36\00:27:50.61
In all that we do, we love You.
00:27:50.64\00:27:53.39
In Jesus name. Amen.
00:27:53.42\00:27:55.51