Participants: Alden Ho (Host)
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000305
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00:30 Hello friend, my name is Pastor Alden Ho.
00:33 I run a ministry in Berrien Springs, MI 00:36 that is dedicated to serving young people 00:38 all around the world. 00:39 It's called Wheel Salt Ministries. 00:41 I want to talk to you today about decisions. 00:44 We all make decisions. 00:46 You wake up in the morning. 00:48 How do you know what you're going to wear? 00:51 How do you know what you're going to eat? 00:52 What actually determines what you will do for that day, 00:56 maybe what radio station or what song you're going to listen to, 00:59 which pair of shoes you're going to wear, 01:01 or which shoe you're going to put on first? 01:04 We all have decisions we have to make. 01:07 There are things that guide us through these decisions. 01:10 And sometimes we make good decisions 01:13 and other times we make decisions that are not so good. 01:17 The talk that I want to share with you today 01:19 is called Christian Ethics. 01:22 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 01:25 I thank you for allowing us to make decisions. 01:30 I thank you for Your great love for us, 01:32 that You don't dictate to us what we have to do. 01:35 Although, that might be easy sometimes 01:37 it's because of that love that You have for us 01:40 that You allow us to make choices. 01:42 But Lord, help us to recognize the fact that 01:46 there are good choices to make 01:48 and there are bad choices. 01:50 Speak through me this day 01:53 so that we can better see what You have for us 01:57 and that we may follow Your will. 01:59 In Jesus name. Amen. 02:01 Kelly was in the fourth grade. 02:06 Several students in her class 02:08 they took an object 02:09 from the teacher's desk. 02:11 Well, when the teacher was out 02:13 they started playing 02:14 with this object and pretty soon 02:16 the inevitable happened. 02:17 The object broke. 02:19 When the teacher came back 02:20 into the classroom 02:21 she asked all the students in her class 02:24 what had happened. 02:25 Well, all the students denied anything to do with that 02:31 except when it came to Kelly. 02:33 Kelly explained to the teacher exactly from her heart 02:36 what had happened. 02:39 Well, you can imagine what happened. 02:41 The rest of the class ridiculed her 02:44 for making that decision 02:45 and for being able to tell the truth with that. 02:49 She felt very bad. 02:51 That night Kelly's dad 02:53 pulled her aside and said, 02:55 "Kelly, you know, you did the right thing. " 02:57 In spite of what other students have said 03:00 in spite of the harassment you've received 03:01 you did the right thing. 03:03 Kelly's dad asked her, "Kelly, is lying wrong? " 03:08 And Kelly answered, "Well, yes. " 03:11 "Well, why is it wrong? " 03:13 "Well, because the Bible says it's wrong. " 03:17 Her dad responded, 03:18 "Why does the Bible say it's wrong? " 03:20 "Because God commanded it? " Kelly said. 03:23 And her dad responded by saying, 03:25 "Why did God command it? " 03:27 Now Kelly had a blank look on her face. 03:30 She did not exactly why God had commanded her. 03:33 And she said, "I don't know! " 03:34 Her hands went up in the air 03:36 and her father said, "Because God is Truth. " 03:38 and truth comes from His nature. 03:41 And anything that is contrary to God's nature 03:44 is sin. 03:45 You see, if you are a mom or dad, 03:49 in fact if you're a young person 03:50 or if you're any age, really, 03:52 there are things that guide us through. 03:55 And it's not enough for us to simply know 03:58 the why or that something is either right or wrong. 04:02 The Bible actually gives us a strong indication 04:06 as to what is right and what is wrong. 04:08 If we are to keep the culture from capturing our young people 04:13 we must instill in them biblical values. 04:17 They must know the WHY. 04:19 They must know the answers as to why things are right 04:22 and why things are wrong. 04:24 Many of our youth today are struggling 04:27 with the concept of what morality is 04:30 and who defines it. 04:31 In fact studies indicate 04:33 that today's youth are confused about which morals are absolute 04:37 and what makes them absolute. 04:39 Consequently they are making conditional decisions. 04:44 Choosing what seems to be in their best interest at the time 04:47 without actually any reference to any morals 04:50 that are absolute of any kind. 04:54 And that really is quite scary. 04:57 Let's look at three people for example. 05:00 Imagine that there are three people 05:02 in a vehicle there is a $50 bill on the front seat. 05:07 The car door is unlocked. 05:09 The first person goes by 05:11 and they want to take the money 05:12 but they pass up the opportunity to take the money 05:15 for fear of punishment if they were caught in the act. 05:17 The second person goes by 05:21 they see the money, they turn and they walk away. 05:24 That second person rejected the temptation 05:27 out of a conviction that God 05:29 makes certain rules for us to follow. 05:31 And one of those rules 05:32 is that we shouldn't take things that don't belong to us. 05:35 The third person walks by 05:37 they see the $50 bill 05:39 and they refrain from taking the money 05:41 simply from the fact of empathy. 05:44 They're aware of how frustrated they would be 05:47 and angry themselves 05:48 if someone had stolen their own money. 05:50 Now the decision that each of these three people made 05:54 to not take the money 05:56 was for three very different moral reasons. 05:59 The first person's ethics, I guess you could say was: 06:02 'Whatever you do don't get caught. ' 06:05 The second person's ethics 06:08 would have been, 'Thou shalt not steal. ' 06:10 And the third person who walked away because of empathy 06:14 well their morality is built on 06:17 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. ' 06:20 So what determines the decisions that we make? 06:23 Are all decisions calculated? 06:25 Actually, I mean, do we consciously 06:29 think about the decisions we make 06:31 as to what's right and what's wrong? 06:34 Or do we just naturally allow it to happen? 06:37 For some the choice between right and wrong, good and evil 06:42 is based on actually what is most convenient 06:45 at the time, unfortunately. 06:46 others base their morality on 06:48 a cultural conviction. 06:50 Some actually base it on media influence. 06:54 But as Christians we must take our values from the Bible. 06:58 A persons who lives by God's morals 07:00 doesn't steal because that's God's standard. 07:04 Not because a person doesn't like to steal. 07:07 Understand that Biblical theology 07:10 has moral implications. 07:12 It is these implications 07:14 that provide us with the framework 07:16 of discipline called ethics. 07:19 Now morality is actually a life style 07:22 and ethics is a science. 07:24 Morality is a way of life and ethics is the study of morality. 07:28 Now there's different things involved in these values. 07:31 There's three different areas we want to look at. 07:33 The first one is intrinsic value. 07:36 Intrinsic value is something that can be measured. 07:38 For example gold, life, love, freedom, loyalty. 07:43 The second one is extrinsic. 07:46 Extrinsic value is something that somebody puts a price on. 07:50 For example maybe a decision at a hospital 07:53 whether a person should live or die. 07:56 That would be an extrinsic value. 07:59 The third one is actually referred to 08:01 as utilitarian value. 08:03 Utilitarian value is in the eye of the beholder 08:06 and may mean a lot to one person 08:09 but absolutely nothing to another. 08:11 Let's look at a story 08:13 if we look at a story that's found in Genesis 39:7 08:18 we find that Potiphar and Joseph 08:22 it's the story of both of them 08:23 Joseph was put in charge of Potiphar's household. 08:26 And because Potiphar was gone a lot 08:29 Joseph was basically the man of the house 08:32 in charge of all his belongings. 08:34 And we find that it wasn't too long after that 08:38 that Mrs. Potiphar started taking quite a notice to Joseph. 08:42 His olive skin, his nice complexion 08:46 his great looks. 08:48 She began to get a little more interested 08:51 in what was beyond those looks. 08:53 She wanted him. 08:54 Let's take look at the story of Joseph here 08:58 found starting in Genesis 39:7 09:01 It says, "It came to pass " 09:02 "after these things that his masters wife " 09:05 "cast longing eyes on Joseph " 09:07 "and she said, 'Lie with me. ' " 09:09 Well, we can definitely see that Mrs. Potiphar 09:13 had other plans for Joseph. 09:15 So let's look at these values again 09:17 in light of Joseph, Potiphar and his wife. 09:20 Intrinsically, Joseph placed value in loyalty to Potiphar 09:25 and love and obedience to God. 09:27 Extrinsically, Potiphar placed an extrinsic value 09:31 on Joseph by giving him charge of his entire household. 09:35 well, on the other value 09:38 the utilitarian value, 09:39 Potiphar's wife placed value on Joseph's body 09:44 and wanted it for her own enjoyment. 09:46 You see, many decisions such as which shoe do I put on first 09:52 or what color to buy 09:55 lake such importance. 09:57 Decisions acquire moral and religious value 10:00 as they affect our relationship with people 10:03 and our relationship with God. 10:05 The way we acknowledge our relationship with God 10:08 Is actually more important than 10:10 the rightness or wrongness of a specific action. 10:14 You see, when Jesus commanded His disciples 10:17 to go and make disciples of all nations 10:19 teaching them to observe all these things 10:22 that I've taught you. To preach, teach and baptize 10:24 He required them to communicate Biblical ethics. 10:28 Biblical ethics therefore establishes the basis 10:32 that produces goodness 10:34 purity and holiness. 10:36 God's character is reflected in these Biblical ethics. 10:39 You see, God is morally perfect. 10:43 And all Biblical values are an extension of His character. 10:46 Perfect. 10:48 His divine attributes proclaim His holiness 10:50 and are translated into moral values. 10:53 All the pleases and thank-yous 10:55 are derived from Biblical imperatives. 10:59 Thus God defines these virtues 11:01 as we find in one of the first texts we're going to look at 11:05 here in Philippians 4:8 11:30 Those are some of the things that God defines 11:33 as right virtues. 11:35 Let's look at some other ones here. 11:37 They're found in Galatians 5:22. 11:40 Galatians 5:22 12:00 This is very interesting when it comes to these values 12:04 that God is talking about here. 12:06 Paul writes these and he says, "Look the fruit of the Spirit " 12:10 and if you look at that text again 12:13 go back and read in your Bible 12:14 Galatians 5:22 you'll find 12:17 that it is actually singular, it says the 'fruit' of the Spirit 12:22 he's not saying, 'the fruits of the Spirit. ' 12:24 Why does he not refer to them as 'fruits ', plural? 12:28 He says singular because 12:30 all these things are what make up the virtues 12:34 that God wants us to have. 12:36 It's like a bowl that we call fruit cocktail. 12:39 We don't refer to it as fruits cocktail. 12:42 We refer to it as fruit cocktail. 12:44 All of it together is the fruit. 12:47 However, if you look back 12:49 in a few verses back 12:51 in Galatians 5:17 it says, 12:55 "for the flesh lusts against the Spirit. " 12:59 and it says, "These are the lusts of the flesh. " 13:02 And they were listed as plural. 13:05 Lusts. Because there are many. 13:07 All it takes is one of those lusts of the flesh 13:10 to wipe out the fruit of the Spirit. 13:13 That's why it's important to have all these fruits. 13:17 All of them together is what we need for our virtue 13:21 and to be able to guide us. 13:24 These virtues that are listed 13:27 are not subject to personal or private interpretation. 13:32 They are as God stated them to be. 13:34 Without God there is no basis for objective ethics 13:38 and moral behavior. 13:40 Because if there was it would be 13:42 very tenuously governed by subjective personal opinions. 13:46 Our opinions. 13:47 All values become relative at that point 13:50 because they are based on what I think or what you think 13:54 rather than on what God says. 13:56 I guess there is security in knowing 14:00 that these values are actually derived from the Bible. 14:03 And they are unchanging. 14:05 These moral requirements by which Christians live today 14:08 are the same yesterday, the same tomorrow 14:12 and the same today 14:13 because Jesus Christ as we read in Hebrews 8 14:19 implies this 14:28 Implied here is this: 14:30 These timeless values flow out from His character. 14:34 Yesterday, today, tomorrow they do not change. 14:37 Just like the Ten Commandments. 14:39 They do not change they hold fast. 14:42 Christ did not come to do away with the Ten Commandments 14:46 they weren't nailed to the cross 14:48 He came to fulfill those commandments. 14:50 And in the same way these timeless values 14:53 flow out of His character. 14:55 This is who He is. 14:56 Now, parents who turn their back 15:00 on the only legitimate source of values 15:03 God's revelation 15:04 allow personal values to substitute for truth. 15:08 And eventually, believe it or not, it shows up 15:11 in your children. 15:12 Let me give you an example. 15:13 The phone rings and your child answers it. 15:16 The child says, "The phone's for you. " 15:19 But you tell them to say we're not home right now. 15:24 Tell them we're not at home. 15:26 So the child gets on the phone 15:28 and right in front of the mom or dad says, 15:30 "I'm sorry my mom or dad is not here right now. " 15:33 What is that exactly relaying to your child as far as values? 15:38 What values are you setting for them? 15:41 For the community of believers 15:43 what is at stake is our Christian values, 15:46 our Christian witness. 15:47 No non-Christian can damage a case for Christian ethics 15:53 as bad as a Christian parent whose child is continually 15:57 out of control. 15:58 Or a parent who is continually making 16:01 excuses for those behaviors. 16:03 The bottom line in Christian ethics is this: 16:06 We are to call right, wrong, good and evil 16:10 what God calls right, wrong, good and evil. 16:13 Moral judgments should not merely be personal opinions. 16:18 For the Christian an ethical lifestyle 16:21 is a matter of allegiance to God. 16:23 It's not one of personal interpretation or preference. 16:28 Biblical ethics first serves to reveal God's holiness. 16:33 Second, it establishes a character 16:36 of acceptable behavior. 16:39 And third, to reveal sin. 16:41 Do you know that of all the ethical systems in the world 16:46 there is no higher standard for moral behavior 16:50 than the Bible? 16:51 For there are many wonderful religions 16:55 and ethical teachings in the world. 16:57 But the motives for doing deeds of righteousness 17:00 is the pursuit of salvation, 17:02 man seeking favor with God. 17:05 For many, individual acts of goodness 17:08 are but just steps to heaven. 17:10 Not so for the Christian. 17:12 For the Christian, we're to have 17:15 a very different to it. 17:17 We are actually not working 17:18 our way to heaven. 17:20 Let's see what Paul writes here in Colossians 3:1,2 17:25 Colossians 3:1,2 17:44 There is a call that Paul speaks of, 17:47 'Don't set your values based on this world. ' 17:51 Don't set your values, friends, on Hollywood. 17:54 Hollywood should not dictate how you live your life. 17:58 Just because some actor or actress shows up 18:02 wearing this particular garment 18:04 doesn't mean you have to go out and get it. 18:07 That's becoming more like the world. 18:09 And Christ tells us we are to be separate from the world. 18:12 We are not to be of this world. 18:15 We live here. But we're not to be part of it. 18:18 We shouldn't dress the part. 18:20 And if you've noticed the way fashions are nowadays 18:24 it's all going to pot. 18:26 The body is so revealed 18:29 in the way fashions are. 18:30 I don't think that's what God's morals were. 18:33 If you look at the fact that in the Garden of Eden 18:36 when Adam and Eve sinned 18:38 they put on fig leaves. 18:41 Well, God didn't actually think that was good enough. 18:44 So he covered them with furs. 18:47 He actually covered more of their bodies 18:49 then they covered themselves initially. 18:50 You see, God's values are far more than ours. 18:54 In 1 John 4:7 19:14 You see, therefore we are to be targets of God's love. 19:21 We ought to be targets of one another's love. 19:25 This is actually the summation of the entire Ten Commandments 19:29 and the duty of us if we are called to be Christians 19:32 if you consider yourself to be a Christian 19:34 this is actually what we're to do. 19:36 We are to treat one another the way we want to be treated. 19:41 That is part of Christian ethics. 19:44 Love God. Love your neighbor. 19:48 According to what Mark 12 says. 19:51 Now, this is a very interesting situation. 19:54 We have to follow what God says 19:57 God has the highest authority. 20:00 Over any worldly empire authority 20:03 over any movie, yes even over our moms and dads. 20:08 Recently I was in the country of Ghana 20:11 holding some meetings there. 20:13 I was speaking at the Beckwye SDA secondary school there. 20:18 Many of the 1500 students 20:21 that attend the school there 20:23 are not Seventh Day Adventists. 20:24 Many of them are Christians. 20:26 But many of them are not Adventists. 20:28 In fact there were some of them 20:29 who were not considered Christians themselves. 20:32 What I find that was interesting 20:34 in the course of the meetings 20:35 there were some young people 20:37 who came to me and said, 20:38 "Look, I hear the message that you are preaching " 20:41 "I understand, God is calling us to keep the Sabbath holy " 20:45 "the seventh-day Sabbath. " 20:46 "My father is a Muslim. " 20:49 "Or my father is a Pentecostal preacher. " 20:52 "Now, I want to honor my father " 20:57 "cause the Bible tells us in the Fifth Commandment " 20:59 "that I am to honor my father. " 21:01 And in fact, it writes here 21:03 Paul writes here in Colossians 3:20 21:14 Well, if we look at Christian ethics here 21:16 these young people in Ghana 21:18 are facing a struggle. 21:19 And the struggle is this: 21:21 They're stating this, "Look, the Bible " 21:22 "tells us: 1. I need to honor " 21:25 "my father and mother " 21:26 "and it tells us again that " 21:27 "we are to obey our parents in all things. " 21:29 But here is what you must understand: 21:31 Yes Paul does write to the Church at Colossae 21:35 and he says you need to obey 21:37 your parents in all things. 21:39 Because he is writing to a church 21:42 that was a Christian believing church. 21:45 And because they were a Christian believing church 21:48 the children were to obey their parents 21:50 in all things. 21:52 Because that's how they were raised. 21:54 They were to be raised because 21:57 their parents were believers in Christ. 21:59 However, at the same time 22:01 Paul writes to a different church. 22:04 He writes to the church at Ephesus 22:06 and he says something a little different there. 22:09 Let's look at Ephesians 6:1 22:21 Now why this difference? 22:22 First he writes, "Obey your parents in all things. " 22:26 Now he writes, "Obey your parents in the Lord. " 22:28 Well, he's stating this because 22:32 for you young people, for anybody 22:36 we are to obey our parents 22:39 in the Lord, because if they are not believing parents 22:44 if your parents have not accepted 22:46 Jesus Christ as their own Savior 22:49 and you're struggling with the fact to accept them 22:52 but your parents say no 22:53 who has the higher authority? 22:55 Paul is writing here to confirm the fact that 22:57 we are to obey God first. 23:00 God we must obey first and foremost. 23:04 Then our parents and then ourselves. 23:07 There's a simple word, an acronym we can use 23:10 the word is JOY. 23:11 Jesus = J, O = others, Y for you, JOY. 23:17 Jesus first, others second, you yourself last. 23:21 It's very interesting, we will have to take a stand. 23:25 These ethics that we have will be tested. 23:28 So, in light of all this 23:31 the young people in Ghana 23:33 it was very interesting to watch. 23:35 73 young people were baptized during those meetings. 23:39 Young people came forth after they understood 23:42 what this passage meant and that they were to obey God first, 23:46 then their parents. 23:47 Young people came forward 23:49 and they came to the waters of baptism. 23:51 Isn't that a wonderful thing. 23:53 We praise the Lord for the good things He did over there! 23:56 Now, I want to tell you a story. 23:59 This story takes place at the University of South Carolina. 24:03 There was a professor there, 24:06 a professor of philosophy 24:08 He was actually tenured. He'd been there many years. 24:11 And he would make a point 24:13 at the beginning of his philosophy class 24:15 to ask if there was anybody here 24:17 who believed in Jesus. 24:19 And then he would go on to ridicule them 24:22 and make them so small they would shrink from the class. 24:25 Among the 300 students that attended that class 24:29 not one in all his years ever stood up to take a stand 24:34 that they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior 24:37 and they believe everything He says. 24:40 Year after year, class after class 24:43 the professor would mock Jesus Christ. 24:48 There was a student in the class 24:51 who was told of the challenges of taking this class 24:54 and what the professor would say. 24:56 That student prayed about this. 24:59 And so, earnestly said, "Look, I understand the appeal " 25:03 "I understand. But I must take a stand for Jesus. " 25:07 At the end of that class 25:09 at the end of that term 25:11 the professor stood up 25:12 If there's anybody here who believes in Jesus 25:16 let him stand up. 25:17 This one man stood up. 25:18 And the professor called that young man and said, "You fool! " 25:22 "How can you believe in Jesus? " 25:24 "If you believe in Jesus " 25:25 and customarily he always did this, he took a piece of chalk 25:29 and he would drop the chalk 25:30 and the chalk would shatter on the ground 25:32 Year after year, class after class 25:35 he would drop the chalk 25:36 and it would shatter. 25:38 And he said to the young man, 25:39 "If you believe in Jesus " 25:41 "let Him stop this chalk " 25:44 "from breaking on the ground " 25:45 "and shattering into hundreds of pieces. " 25:47 And with that the professor went to drop the chalk 25:50 and in the process of dropping it 25:51 he stumbled on the chalk. 25:53 It rolled off his cuff link 25:55 and it went down his pants 25:57 and it rolled down off of his shoe 25:59 onto the floor unscathed and unbroken. 26:02 With that the professor in horror, ran out of the class. 26:08 He was shocked. Never in all his years 26:11 had that ever happened. 26:12 But it took just one person to stand up for Jesus. 26:15 That one young man went down to the front of the class 26:20 and he shared his testimony and the love of Jesus 26:24 with the other 299 students who were in the class. 26:28 You see, we are coming to a time friends 26:32 where we will be tested. 26:34 We should not be afraid to stand for Jesus Christ. 26:37 We should not be afraid to call right, right 26:42 and wrong, wrong. 26:43 In fact, there is a passage in 'Education' found on page 57 26:48 a little old lady wrote it 26:50 her name is Ellen White. 26:51 And she writes, "The greatest want of the world " 26:54 "is the want of men. " 26:55 "Men who will not be bought or sold, " 26:57 "men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, " 27:00 "men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, " 27:03 "men whose conscience is as true as the needle to the pole, " 27:06 "men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall. " 27:09 Friends, will you be that man? 27:12 Will you be that woman, 27:13 who will stand for the right no matter what? 27:16 Time is ticking away. 27:19 Jesus is coming soon. 27:21 He needs to know whose side you're on. 27:25 Will you stand for Him no matter what? 27:28 Will you be true as the needle to the pole? 27:31 I pray that you will be. 27:33 Let's pray. 27:35 Father help us. Help us to stand true 27:39 and point true north. 27:40 That is what you would want of us. 27:42 That's what you would do yourself. 27:44 And we want to be like you in all that we do. 27:47 So Father, continue to direct our ways. 27:50 In all that we do, we love You. 27:53 In Jesus name. Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17