A Life of Nobility: How to Define Yourself with Christian Values

I.       What are the Christian values?

A.     Shepherd vs. tiller of the ground. (Ge 4:2)

1.        Abel lived a religious life. He defined himself with Christian values.

2.        Cain lived a laborous life.

3.        Priority is different: Christians treat God as their first priority in life. Non-Christians treat tilling of the ground as their priority in life.

B.     Sojourner vs. high officer in the world. (Ge19:9)

1.        Abraham looked forward to another hometown.(Heb 11:15f)

2.        Lot became a high officer in the sinful world.

3.        Destination and goal is different. Christians treat this life as a “passage” to eternal life. Non-Christians want to gain as much as they can in this life.

C.     Dwelling among the tents vs. a man of the field.(Ge25:27)

1.        Jacob stayed in the tents.

2.        Esau was a man in the field.

3.        Environment is different. A Christian will choose to stay in the house of God to learn all the time. A non-Christian will choose to hunt in the wilderness all the time.

D.     Giving up the world for Jesus vs. Leaving Jesus with sorrow.

1.        Moses grew and he chose three things to show his values. (Heb 11:24ff)

 a.      Affliction with the people of God to replace the pleasure of sin.

 b.      Disgrace for the sake of Christ to replace the treasure of Egypt.

 c.      Forsaking Egypt, what was visible, and seeking for God who is invisible.

2.        The rich young man left Jesus with sorrow. (Mk 10:22)

 a.      He was a youth who abided by the commandments of God.

 b.      He left Jesus in sorrow. He had too many possessions to follow Jesus.

 c.      Do you know his name? Can he have remembrance in the bible?

3.        The choice is different. A Christian will choose Jesus. A non-Christian will choose the fortunes of the world.

II.    How to define/Identify yourself with Christian values?

A.     You are different in the world. (Num23:9)

1.        Abraham was called “Hebrew” which means: “from the other side of the river.” (Ge 14:13) Hebrew means: “one from beyond”. “Across (other side of the river.)

2.        Joseph was called a “Hebrew” too. (Ge 39:14,17) He did very different things from an ordinary 17-year old high school kid.

3.        Hebrews are especially hated by Egyptians. (Ge 43:32) ex. Jesus also mentioned that because we believe in the Lord, the world will hate you. (Jn 15:18-19).

4.        We are spiritual Jews. Israel is the sand of the sea, and we are the stars in the sky. (Ge 13:6)(Ge 15:5). There are many similarities between Jews and Chinese.

5.        You are different from the rest of the world. (Eph 2:2)

B.     You are precious in the eyes of God. (1Jn 3:1)

1.        You shall not let others put a label on you according to human values.

A human has his own way to evaluate a person. Society evaluates a person by the clothing you wear, the car you drive, the place you live, the vocabulary you use, the school you go to, the credit you have, the salary you earn, and the taxes you pay.

2.        We’ve got to understand that the Lord requests our best, our ability.

 a.      When people offered to God, Jesus commented that the widow’s two coins were the best offering. Why? Her percentage is 100% of their offering while others only offered a certain percentage in their life. (Mk12:41ff)

 b.      Another parable that Jesus mentioned is of the one that had 5 talents, the one with three talents, and the one with one talent. (Mt25:14ff) What one needs to do is try his best.

3.        Peel the label from man off and put the label of God on us.

 a.      God chooses people for a purpose. Even the homeless pick up useful garbage from the trash can.

 b.      David said, “Is there not a reason for me to be here.” You shall have the same feeling. God chose Paul for the Gentiles, Peter for the Jews. God chooses you for a noble purpose. You’ve got to find that out. No matter what you do in your life. You could be an accountant, a librarian, or an engineer. Remember, your job is only a means in life. Your goal in your life is not your job. Your goal is to love man and God, to expend God’s kingdom.

C.     You shall dare to be different. It takes courage to be different.

1.        Daniel can be different in his eating and drinking. This is a daily life issue. Dare you to be different in the way you dress?

 a.      Your hairstyle shall be different from the punks.

 b.      Your earrings. Some brothers say that they have sympathy to the gays, so they wear earnings. Sympathy to the people is one thing; identifying yourself with them is different. Just because you have sympathy to the prostitutes because of their background does not make you to dress like them, and to behave like them.

 c.      Your clothing shall be normal. Normal is odd in nowadays standard sometimes.

2.        Daniel’s three friends can be different in religious choice.

 a.      Can you be convinced that all are wrong, all are worshipping idols? But only three of them had the right religious choice.

 b.      Are you truly convinced that the TJC is the only church that provides salvation?

 c.      Do you support your God, your God’s body, which is the church, to the point of death?

3.        Joseph was different by not committing wrong conduct. He knew that there is a God. To sleep with the master’s wife is totally wrong in the eyes of God. Can you be different in your moral values? TJC has the highest morals.

 a.      The sinned ministers can not serve anymore.

 b.      Oral sex is sex. You cannot marry in the temple of God.

 c.      The vision of Ezekiel: the wall was so tall. We are making the wall as tall as the vision does.

 d.      Homosexuality is a sin.

 e.      Dare you ID yourself with the standard of the Bible?