Moral Values that Don't Bend Under Pressure

Studies show that traditional moral values are on the decline in America, and they've been that way for quite a while. And more and more people are accepting the new moral trends. In a study that came out some years back, and it's been a good number of years ago, but I don't think conditions have changed any. This study concluded that Americans are making up their own rules. They are making up their own moral codes. Only 13% of that time believe in all of the Ten Commandments. The real commandments and the rules that many people live by, one of them is, I will steal from those who won't really miss it. 74% of people felt they would steal from people who won't really miss it. 64% I will lie when it suits me so long as it doesn't cause any real damage to anyone. I will cheat on my spouse after all, given the chance he or she will do the same. 53% would cheat on their spouse.

50% I will procrastinate at work and do absolutely nothing about one full day in every five. It's standard operating procedure. And 30% I will cheat on my taxes to a point. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not more than 30%.

So the study concludes that old-fashioned customs are on their way out, and people are just accepting more and more whatever way of living that they want to accept. Many have no problem then lying, cheating, stealing, and it's even been called the post-truth age, the age we live in. As mentioned in the Beyond Today magazine, Mr. Kubik mentions this in his article. This is the post-truth age. He writes about some of these things that I'm speaking about today in his article, the lead article in the current issue. Brethren, what about us? In this age where iniquity abounds, does the love of truth and firm moral values, are we firm in our moral values?

Are they strong? Would they possibly ever bend under pressure? Or do we have a solid inner core of godly values and morals that just don't bend? We have some very high moral principles in the Church of God. And would our moral values ever bend or break under pressure? That's the title of the message this afternoon, Moral Values That Don't Bend Under Pressure. That's our goal, young and old alike, to have strong and solid moral values that will not bend. They just are solid to the core. We have in the Bible examples of holy men and women of God. You might think, well, these men and women of God, they have strong morals they never bent.

Well, let's notice that actually they had their weaknesses. They were human, just like we are, and circumstances came up and they weakened and their moral values bent. And they had to learn and had to grow so that their moral values would be firm and they would not bend. They would not do anything that was wrong. You know, even Abraham—let's go back to Genesis 12. He and Sarah had to learn because they actually lied and it didn't work out well. They learned lessons by it.

Let's go to Genesis 12. And not long after they came into the land of Canaan, Abraham was—remember what age? 75. What age was Sarah? She was 10 years younger, so she was 65. So here's this old man, 75, and of course people were living longer back at that time. Abraham would live to be 175 years of age, and Sarah lived to be 137, so at 65 she was about at her midpoint in life. They came into the land and Abraham and Sarah—let's notice what happened in chapter 12 and verse 12.

Verse 11, it came to pass when he was close to entering Egypt that he said to Sarah and his wife, Indeed, I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Here's the 65-year-old woman that was beautiful to look at. Verse 12, therefore it will happen when the Egyptians see you that they will say, this is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.

And so it was when Abraham had come into Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful, and Sarah and I was taken to Pharaoh's house. Well, we know that didn't turn out too well, and Abraham and Sarah had to learn a lesson. They said, well, Sarah, that's my sister, that's not my wife. They fudged in the day. Was that a little white lie or isn't a little white lie really still a lie? You know, the sad thing in a way is that they had to have this happen a second time.

Turn over to chapter 20. So Abraham had to learn and grow, and I think that's good for us to realize. They made some mistakes. They had to learn by things that they experienced, mistakes that they made. In Genesis chapter 20, and here they are journeying to the south and dwelling in Jarar, in verse 2, Abraham said to Sarah, his wife, she said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister.

And Abimelech, king of Jarar, sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said, you are a dead man because the woman you have taken, she's a man's wife. Well, Abimelech had done what he did in good conscience. After all, Abraham had said, this is my sister. Did you know that even before they came into the land, there's interesting verses you read on down in verse 13.

Maybe in verse, might pick it up in verse 11. Abraham said to Abimelech, well, Abimelech in verse 10 said to Abraham, what did you have in view that you have done this thing? Why did you tell that Sarah is your sister? Abraham said, because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife. But indeed, she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

You know, she was Abraham's half-sister, but she was his 100% wife. So, you know, he still, you know, was not representing the truth. It was not a right thing to do. And Abraham goes on to say something interesting in verse 13.

He goes on to say, Sarah is my sister. They had made an agreement. They may have told this story in more than just two places. We don't know. We just have the two places that are revealed. But what would you have done? Here they were coming into a strange land, people speaking a foreign language. Here you are. You've got a beautiful wife, and you don't know what these people might do to you to take this beautiful woman. What would you do? They weakened. They had to learn. And they did. They firmed up in their character, where they did not bend. But could we have done the same if we had been in those circumstances? Well, you know, Isaac, I guess, inherited something because he's guilty of the same thing. Let's go to Genesis chapter 26. So I think it's interesting to look at the example of some of these patriarchs, these holy men and women of old, and realize they had to firm up in their own moral values and character, where Abraham, what he should have done, he and Sarah, they should have just told the truth. This is my wife. This is my husband, and trusted God to protect them. God would have looked out for them. Nothing evil or bad would have happened to them. But they had to learn. They were human, just like us. What about Isaac and Rebekah then? Genesis 26 in verse 6. Isaac dwelled in Jirar. The men of the place asked him about his wife. And he said, She is my sister.

Rebekah was not even a half-sister. So this was a whole lie, not a half-lie. She is my sister, for he was afraid to say she is my wife, because he thought, lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold. It came to pass, though, when he had been there a while, that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked through a window and saw. And there was Isaac showing endearment to Rebekah, his wife. They were probably doing a little bit of kissing and caressing. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Quite obviously, she is your wife, so how could you say she is my sister? And Isaac said to him, because I said, Lest I die on the account of her. So Isaac also had to learn to firm up his character as well, he and Rebekah. But what about us? Would we have done it any different? We may have weakened just like they did. We won't go into reading all the Scriptures. What about Jacob? Jacob had to learn, too. First of all, he connived to buy his brother, his older brother. He saw was older, was born first. He had the birthright coming. But Esau came in from hunting, and he was so hungry, he was about to die, and Jacob had this soup. And so he sold his birthright. Jacob connived to buy the birthright from Esau for a bowl of soup. Well, that was not right, was it? Later on, when Isaac was going to bless Esau and confer the birthright promises upon Esau, then Jacob and Rebekah connived. They dressed up, as you remember the story Jacob put on these skins. They made him smell like Esau, feel like Esau. And then Jacob came in before his brother was able to come in with the game from the field. Jacob came in and said, I'm here! He tried to fake being Esau. And Isaac said, well, how is it? You came so soon. Oh, God has provided for me this game. And Isaac was suspicious. He was blind. He couldn't see. And so Jacob came near, and Isaac said, are you really my son Esau? Because he sounded like Jacob and claimed to be Esau. And Jacob said, yes, I'm your son Esau. And so Jacob had him come near, felt him, smelled him, and then conferred the birthright promises upon Jacob. Well, you know, Jacob and Rebekah didn't have to do all that deceit. God would have worked it out, but they had to learn, didn't they? Jacob and Rebekah had to learn. So, you know, these patriarchs of old had to learn and grow just like we do. There is an excellent example of someone that did not bend under circumstances that came his way. Let's look at Joseph in Genesis 39. These are wonderful examples, aren't they, brethren, for us when we consider firm moral values that do not bend under pressure.

So here is one that an interesting story beginning in Genesis 39 in verse 1. Joseph was brought down to Egypt, Pate, for bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites. In verse 2, the Lord was with Joseph. He was successful. And in fact, the Master, verse 2, verse 3, rather saw that God made all that he did to prosper.

And Joseph found favor, verse 4, he was made overseer of the whole house. And so it was from the time that he was made overseer, God blessed Potiphar's house. Verse 5, verse 6, he left all that he had in Joseph's hand. And he did not know what he had except the bread that he ate. And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. So here was this handsome young man. Well, verse 7, it came to pass after these things. His Master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph. And she said, Lie with me.

Here was Joseph, a servant in Egypt. And for all he knew, he might never have an opportunity for sex like this. And Mrs. Potiphar may not have been all that unattractive. She may have been a very attractive-looking woman. But she saw Joseph, and she tried to force him to enter a sexual relationship. Lie with me. Verse 8, he refused and said to her, Look, my Master does not know what is with me in the house. And he has committed all that he has to my hand.

And there is no one greater in this house than I. Nor is he kept back anything from me but you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? I tell you, Joseph had firm moral values, didn't he? He did not give in at all to Mrs. Potiphar. But guess what? She didn't give up on him. Verse 10, so it was as she spoke to Joseph day by day that he did not heed her to lie with her or to be with her. And then one day she grabbed him his garment.

Verse 12, saying, Lie with me. He left his garment. And she came up with this false accusation. And Joseph ended up in prison. But God was still with him there. He prospered in prison. And eventually he was set free when he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. So, Joseph is an excellent example for young people.

Young people, keep your moral values strong as far as sexual values. Do not give in to a wrong way. Remember the example of Joseph. So, Joseph did not bend. Excellent example for all of us. But what about King David? Well, David, as a young person, slew the giant. He said, Who is this uncircumcised Philistine to defy the armies of the living God? He also would not kill Saul after he had been ordained or anointed as the next king of Israel.

Twice God let circumstances develop where he could have slain Saul the king. But he would not. He said, Someone is not innocent to slay, but raise his hand against the Lord's anointed. But to know later in life, later in life, David did bend. Let's go to 2 Samuel 11. We're very familiar with this story, but it fits right into the sermon very nicely.

2 Samuel 11. Because it shows that we can fall into a situation where we are, where we give in. And that's what happened to David. 2 Samuel 11. And we're going to pick up the story. Well, let's begin in verse 1. 2 Samuel 11. It came to pass in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with them, and all Israel.

And they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Raba, but David remained at Jerusalem. Now, I'm estimating that David could have been in his 40s, aged 40s, around this time. That's just a wild guess. Well, verse 2. It happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house.

And from the roof he saw a woman bathing. Well, when people bathe, they're naked. He saw this woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. I'll tell you, the hormones, I guess, begin to mount up the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes in David for this woman. And so he went to inquire, and someone said, well, is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliom, the wife of Uriah, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

This woman is married to Uriah, Uriah's wife. David proceeded, though, with his lust of the flesh and eyes. He sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity, and she returned to her house. Oh, this king, the man after God's own heart, caved in to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.

His moral values bent. I'd say they broke in a bad way. But guess what? Now the plot thickens in verse 5. The woman conceived. So they sent and told David, or she sent and told David and said, I am with child. Uh-oh. Wow. King David, the man after God's own heart, here, having committed adultery, now has the woman expecting through that adulterous relationship. I'm with child. What shall I do? King David must have thought. Oh, I'll bring in the husband, and I'll try to see if I can't palm off this pregnancy on him. So he had Joab, the commander of the army, to send Uriah home.

And David said to Uriah, verse 8, to go down to your house, wash your feet. So Uriah departed, and verse 9, but he slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his Lord, and did not go down to his house. Here's a man of a lot of character. He had been out fighting in battles for maybe days and weeks, comes in, the king brings him in, does not go down to his house, doesn't go into his wife.

This man Uriah, I'm looking forward to meeting him. I guess it would be the second resurrection, but a man of character.

Well, David, in verse 10, was told David, saying Uriah did not go down to his house. And then David called Uriah and said, Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house? Uriah said to David, Well, the Ark of Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my Lord Joab and his servants encamped in the open fields. Shall I go into my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.

David said to Uriah, Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And notice what David did further. He said, Boy, maybe if I get him drunk, then he'll go into his wife. So verse 13, David called him. He ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk. At evening he went out to lie on his bed with his servants, the servants of his Lord, but he did not go down to his wife.

And so then David concocted this scheme to get rid of Uriah, wrote a letter, sealed it with his own king's seal. Uriah took his own death note to the commander of the army, Joab, and he was put in the forefront of the battle, and he died.

And he'll be in the second resurrection as far as we would understand Uriah. But what a story then. David, you know, must have... he had conquered in battles, he had been faithful, but this was just a weaker moment in his life. And he caved in, he gave in. His moral values bent. Well, there are so many other examples in the Bible, we won't begin to read them all.

But what about Daniel and his three friends? They came into Babylon, they were captives of Nebuchadnezzar, brought to Babylon. They were given all kinds of foods and meats, unclean, not prepared properly, foods and meats. And they refused to eat of the king's table. And that was not a very healthy or wise thing to do. But God blessed them. They ate vegetables. God blessed them and gave them wisdom and God was with them. What about the three friends of Daniel? They were told when King Nebuchadnezzar made this giant image of gold, everybody, when the band strikes up, the music strikes up, bow down and worship this golden image.

The three friends of Daniel said no, and they were called before the king. And then they said, our God is able to deliver us. You can read it in Daniel chapter 3. We don't have time to read all of these. But they said, our God will deliver us, but if he does not deliver us, we will not bow down to this golden image. Nebuchadnezzar was so angry, he heated up the furnace seven times hotter. And it was so hot that when the three men, they bound up these three friends of Daniel, and when the three men went to toss them into the furnace, the men themselves were burned up.

It killed them. And we know that God, though, delivered those three friends of Daniel. But they would not bend. An excellent example. And if we ever face a situation like that, then we should remember that we will not do what is wrong. We won't have our moral values to bend, even if it does mean death. These men were willing to die. They didn't know. We know the end result of the story. We read about it today. It's very easy for us. But if we were to be in that situation, then it would not be easy at all.

But we should remember that God will deliver. And if he does not, we still won't have our moral values to bend. We know that Daniel also himself, when he was old, he was probably in his eighties. We many times think of Daniel and the lions, then, this young Daniel. No, he was under a Persian king. By that time, he was probably about 80 to 90 years of age.

And it was the law that nobody would bow down, would pray to anybody except the king. Well, Daniel kept right on praying like he had three times a day. He went to the open window, even. Didn't even try to go to a closet where he could hide. He just kept on going where he had gone before. And sure enough, the punishment was to be thrown into the lion's den. Well, we know that God delivered him. Daniel would not bend. Excellent examples. But let's go to an example where some people of God, holy men of God, did bend, and they had to learn.

Let's go to Mark chapter 14. The twelve apostles had to learn. They bent their moral values bent on the night before Jesus died in Mark chapter 14 and verse 27. Now, this is right after the Passover or at the Passover service or celebration, where Jesus had blessed the bread and handed out the wine.

Mark 14 and verse 27, Jesus said to them, All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night. Because it's written, I'll strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. Jesus said, all after he had done the bread and the wine and the Passover meal that evening, all of you are going to stumble because of me this evening.

But afterward, we'll be getting together. Well, Peter said to him, verse 29, Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not. I will not stumble. Jesus said, assuredly I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But Peter spoke more vehemently, if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. But notice it goes on the same, and they all said likewise.

All the twelve disciples said they were not going to deny Jesus Christ. Well, what happened? In verse 66, let's begin. Let's pick up the story. Jesus had now been apprehended. He was being falsely accused. And it was just slightly in the wee hours of the night, slightly before sunrise. Verse 66, As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest saw Peter warming himself, and she looked at him and said, You also were with Jesus of Nazareth. You were with him.

Well, Peter denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying. He lied. His moral values bent. I neither know nor understand what you are saying. And he went out on the porch in a rooster crowed. That's the first rooster crow. Well, the servant girls saw him again and began to say to those who stood by, This is one of them. But he denied it again. That's two times. And a little later, those who stood by said to Peter, Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean, and your speech, your accent, shows it. But he began to curse. How about that? He began to curse and swear. I do not know this man of whom you speak. That's the third time. And the second time the rooster crowed. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And when he thought about it, he wept. This sobered up Peter. He thought he was a lot stronger than he was. He was willing to die earlier that same night. But when it came right down to the wire, he denied Jesus Christ three times. And the other disciples also turned and ran from Jesus Christ as well. But later on, the disciples would learn. They would grow. Peter was so strong when he wrote 2 Peter, he knew the time was near. When he would put down his tent, his physical life. He knew he was going to be martyred, as Jesus had told him. And he wrote 2 Peter very calmly. There's no indication of fear. The same as the Apostle Paul who wrote 2 Timothy just before he died. He said, The time of my departure is at hand. These men were calm in facing their martyrdom. How about us? I look at myself. Would I be as calm as Paul, as calm as Peter before they were martyred? They wrote these 2 books that we can read. And they were very, very calm as they wrote those books. And they knew they would be martyred. And martyrdom would not be an easy thing.

But they held fast. Then during their ministry in the book of Acts, and when they were solid, their moral values then came to the point that they would not bend. There are many other examples. But we read thus many of the examples because we see that God's people went through circumstances where they weakened, maybe, at first. But they had to grow. They had to learn. And maybe we do as well. Our inner moral values also have to grow and be strong, where they will not bend under pressure. That's the testing of our moral values when there's pressure put on.

Let's consider briefly the basis of our moral values. What are our moral values? What are they based on? Well, they're based on God's laws and God's commandments. The Ten Commandments and the biblical laws and statutes of God. That's the basis of our moral values. That's what we believe is what our conduct is based on. And this value system says, as far as the Ten Commandments, don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, don't commit sexual sins, don't murder, honor your father and mother, no idols, serve the true God, uphold God's name, and keep the Sabbath holy. And it's a pure and holy, righteous way of life. Our conduct is based upon a way of life that what if everybody lived by those Ten Simple Commandments? What a different world it would be. It would be the world tomorrow, today. Now, other laws say, keep the annual holy days, honor God with tithes, eat only the clean meats.

And Jesus defined our value system in Matthew 4 and verse 4, that we live by every word of God. Our conduct, our moral values, are based upon every word of God. And we must go on to be strong so that we do not bend under pressure in keeping this code of conduct. Our ethics, our values, our morals, our conduct, is all based upon the word of God. There's no situation at ethics. There's no situations that justify lying, justify stealing, cheating, killing, sexual sins.

There's no compromising. There's no bending. Some specific areas that we might check ourselves on would be monetary matters. We are to be honest and fair and ethical in business dealings. That's with people in the church and also people in the world. We're to pay our debts, we're to pay our taxes, we avoid get-rich schemes, we're not to be covetous or greedy.

Another area would be our word. Make sure that our words are as good as gold. If we say we'll do something, we do it. If we say we'll be there, then we're there. Make sure your word is then as good as gold. And strong moral values does not allow for little white lies or still lies. Slanting the truth to favor us or make us look better, that's still bending. No, just let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Tell it just the way it is. That's what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Sexual morality. Choose godly sexual morality instead of the immorality that is all around the world. Resisting the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. In 1 Corinthians 6, let's turn to read these verses. Because sexual sins are something that really bring on a lot of bad consequences. We don't want that. Avoid sexual sins. Before marriage, there's some good advice in this sermon today for our young people that are not yet married. We do have some young people here who we appreciate very much.

And it would be good for them to remember, avoid sexual immorality. Keep yourself clean and pure sexually. Save sex for marriage. It is sin outside of marriage. In 1 Corinthians 6, in verse 13, midway through the verse, the body is not for sexual immorality. That's not why God gave us a body. It's for the Lord and the Lord for the body. But in verse 18, it goes on to say, flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

He's harming himself more than he knows, even in his own physical body. Flee, then, sexual immorality. And Joseph is a good example. Joseph fled. He left his garment behind. Mrs. Potiphar was going to force him into bed with her. He left his garment behind. He ran. And he tried and he made sure he was not in the house or around her anymore. Well, he was actually put in prison before too long. But turn your head. And that is true even on television. You see, ill-clad women and men. Turn your head. Turn also or close your ears.

You don't want to be tempted by a sexual sin. I know a man that I counseled many, many years ago. A whole different part of the country, so we won't know. But this man had a wife. He was a beautiful wife. He was a member of the Church of God. She was not. But she came to church. They had a couple of beautiful children. But this man on the job got involved sexually with one of the secretaries, when nobody else was there except them. He was in a situation where he weakened. He got involved. It was found out.

It almost ruined his marriage. His wife, I think she continued coming to the Church. I don't know if she became a member of the Church or not. But in counseling with this man and trying to put all this back together again, because it shattered their relationship, their marriage, he said that he was not really all that attracted toward this woman.

He would never have wanted to marry her. But he got involved in a moment of weakness. You know, that, well, King David, that's what happened to him. Everything was going well in King David's life. He had won battles and victories. He stayed behind in the battle while Joab and the army went to fight. He just stayed behind. And in a moment of weakness, he gave in to the lust of the flesh, while the lust of the eyes first.

He saw this beautiful woman, the lust of the eyes, and then the lust of the flesh, they took over. So sexual drives are strong. We have to really recognize that. So watch out as far as your moral values. Make sure that you do not bend as far as sexual morality. Also, in the holy things of God, the Sabbath, do you know when the sun sets each week? And making tonight is six o'clock. So I imagine it's just a little bit, let's see, a little bit later here, I guess. Anyway, it's close to that six o'clock hour. But I've known members who, in the summertime when the sun sets maybe about quarter till nine, real late, who have gone to a social event or a movie or sporting event, they say, well, it begins at eight o'clock.

Well, it's still the Sabbath at eight o'clock. It's the Sabbath all the way until the sun sets. You can't fudge on that. You have to keep your moral values strong regarding the Sabbath and the holy days. And make sure we're keeping them as God commands us to. And with tithing also, why, it's stealing. Let's go to Malachi 3. Would we rob someone? We are robbing God when we do not give him his ten percent.

That first ten percent belongs to God. In the book of Malachi, chapter 3 and verse 8, will a man rob God? I can't think of something much worse than that. Can you? Robbing God. Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me, but you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You're cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation.

And so we are robbing God when we do not give him that tithe that belongs to him. But you know, God also has entrusted another ten percent to us, and that is the festival tithe.

How easy would it be in a time of financial need to dip into that festival tithe that God has us to save, to go to the feast and appear before him and worship and rejoice at the feast? Well, it's very, very easy to dip into that festival tithe, and that's been done by some. And they've had to learn that, hey, we're not under God's blessing when we dip into the festival tithe, which has been entrusted to us to keep in order to observe the Holy Days. So we have to be firm in not dipping into our festival tithe, save it faithfully, and use it as God instructs us to. That's the way we will be blessed.

This message today has a special application, I believe, for our young people. And parents, I hope that you're teaching your young people firm moral values that will not bend, whether it's monetary matters, whether it's sexual matters, their word, stealing and cheating, being wrong and not to do that. I'm very thankful that my parents taught me some moral values. Moral values in the country were stronger back in the 40s and 50s when I came up, than they are now. But young people, as you come along, you get to the point where you can choose strong moral values. You can choose to obey God's laws. You can be faithful with keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days and tithing. You can be respectful and obedient to your father and mother. You can be kind and good to your brothers and sisters. Sometimes children, young people, are not always kind to their own brothers and sisters. You can be. You can choose to not lie. Tell the truth. Even if you're going to get spanked for it or if there's going to be some kind of penalty for it that will come your way. Don't cheat at school or anywhere else. Young people can choose not to do that. They can avoid video games that involve killing and stealing. Some of these video games, a lot of them, do involve killing and stealing. Well, avoid that. Indirectly, that's killing and stealing. You can resist, also, young people can resist sexual immorality. I can remember Joseph. Joseph resisted Mrs. Potiphar, and he did flee immorality. I knew a young lady, a young girl, who was married. I learned about her years after she was married, but she had determined years before, when she was about, I think, 14 or 15, that she was not going to get involved in kissing and caressing and things like that, that quite often lead to sexual immorality. So she made up her mind, the first one that I'm going to allow to kiss me will be the one that I marry. She was going to wait until the time of engagement. But even there, before marriage, the kiss has to be like a peck. It can't be a long, drawn-out kiss, because that can get dangerous. But she determined the first one that kisses me is going to be the one that I marry. As far as I know, she did live up to that because her parents were telling me about it. I thought that was a very strong example of, as far as sexual morality and being strong, where her moral values would not bend. Okay, time is running down, so let's see what we can say here.

Every day, our value system is being tested and is a strong and godly moral value system being developed in us, one that will not bend under pressure. Our moral value system is actually God's divine nature that is being developed in us. It's God's character, and God's character does not bend. It does not break His law.

Let's go to Titus chapter 1. We have an interesting verse here. We're just about done. Let's go to Titus chapter 1 and verses 1 and 2.

Titus chapter 1 and verses 1 and 2.

Titus chapter 2 and 2.

He cannot lie because his character is such that he will not lie. God will not lie. And so that's what we have to also take on, a character where, sure, we could lie, but we won't. We just won't lie. And we take on the character of Almighty God. And it's actually God's law that is being written and God's character, His divine nature that is being written in us. So let us grow and perfect that character that will not bend under pressure. As it says in Hebrews 6 and verse 1, let us go on to perfection. Abraham did. He and Sarah, yeah, they lied when they were younger in the faith, you might say. Isaac, yeah, he did. David, yes. The twelve apostles, yes. But they went on to grow and learn and have that moral value system that would not bend. We read of Christians in Revelation 12, 11, who loved not their lives unto death. They would die rather than bend their moral value system. Our moral value system, they must not bend, even if it's life and death. Well, like Daniel's three friends. We also read in Hebrews 11 about those who were tortured. They were tortured. You know, I thought about that. I wouldn't, it wouldn't be as hard if somebody just hit you over the head and put you under quickly or shot you and that was it. But when you're tortured, and this may drag on over time, it's painful. We read then of those who were tortured, they went through a painful experience. But then it goes on to say, not accepting deliverance. They could have been delivered, but they would not. Their moral values would not bend. We also read in Hebrews 12 that there are those who will be in God's kingdom who cannot be shaken. Our moral value system has to be such that it cannot be shaken. Well, I hope this will help us as we think about what is happening in our own lives. And hopefully we're at a level where we all bent. No doubt we've made mistakes. I know I have, but have grown to have that value system that will not bend. There's something about us that must become absolutely unshakable. It's that inner core of values and morals that will not bend.