August 18, 2019
Evening Service

To begin with we should understand the word integrity and how it applies to most things as we know them. So let’s start with what Webster has coined as the definition to this word. Integrity - firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values, an unimpaired condition, the quality or state of being complete or undivided. So this word definitely is used to describe the quality of many things in conversation. I have heard it used in the description of people, places, and things like an adjective, but Webster clearly says it is a noun and in this case a thing. Integrity was broken down into three descriptive definitions, the first was a firm adherence to a code of values and this of course as it relates to being a Christian would be the Ten Commandments given to us by God through Moses as moral ethics we should live by to be pleasing to our Lord. When we choose to live by the commandments, we can live a life that is incorruptible. Secondly, it was described as an unimpaired condition and this would relate to all Christians abiding by the Word of the Lord, as written in the bible. Many examples are in the bible of how we are to treat one another and how not to treat others also. If everyone claiming to be a Christian followed the rules of love given by Jesus and others in the bible, we would exist as a group totally unimpaired by other doctrines or influences. These actions detailed how we should live our lives and will give us a quality of soundness and surety in life and to our fellow persons. Thirdly, the state of being complete or undivided is exactly how our God wants us to be as a people. He wants us to follow the same doctrines outlined in the bible with Jesus as our Lord and Savior and using the blood of Jesus to cover our sins so that we do not have to be separated from our Father in Heaven. We need a Savior because no matter what we do or have, we cannot be in the company of our Father in Heaven without the blood of Jesus and His righteousness clothing our humanly forms, this is what makes us Christians complete and whole with Jesus in our lives. This strict following of the very thing that defines us as Christians, is also what unites us as a people. Many times in the bible, unity is stressed as something important to our Lord, to stand on the one Truth that is in Jesus our Lord and to not deviate from this in any way, a people undivided.

So now by taking these parts of the descriptive definition one at a time, let us look at what the bible says about these individually. When a Christian’s integrity is so solid he is viewed as being incorruptible, this is exactly what our Lord commands us to behave like.

1 Peter 3:16  having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 

Luke 16:10  He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 

Proverbs 10:9  He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known. 

Titus 2:7-8  in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. 

Very clearly we can see that if we abide by the Word of the bible, which is Jesus speaking to us Christians, we can live and be seen by others as incorruptible. When we let the bible guide our lives and actions, we will not decay to the worldly ways and not become subject to the person we once were and God delivered us from by making us a new creation in Christ. We will become unable to be bribed or morally corrupted because we honor the sacrifice made for us by Jesus our Lord. It is not just picking and choosing the parts of the bible we desire to obey, but by obeying the Word as a whole and adhering to it firmly to make our way straight and pleasing to the Lord.

Secondly, the descriptive definition states integrity is an unimpaired condition. This of course is not allowing anything that can weaken or diminish in the ability, function, or quality of our walk with the Lord. This can happen to us sinners in many ways, by slowly allowing things we know are not what God wants in our lives to become a part of them. Our brains will tell us that a little of something is not going to hurt us or our walk with the Lord, but what truly happens is that the little of something is the start of something bigger or the little something gets repeated again and again. Over time, the little something must get larger in order to create the same sensation as when it was first experienced. This leads to a never ending insatiable desire for more and it applies to many things and not just substances. It applies to a whole plethora of things, doctrines not of the Lord, sexual desires, the love of money, and even engaging in conversations that are not healthy for Christian growth. Jesus said our words from our mouths are important and not just aids in conversation.

Matthew 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

James 3:8-10  But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 

Our best plan is to plant our feet on the solid rock of Christ Jesus who will walk beside us in life and give us the strength to persevere through life’s trials. By placing God first in our lives, everything else will find its appropriate placement without much help from us to guide it along.

1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.    

James 1:22-25  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

In short, we must pray to God to help us when we are in tempting or dangerous situations which threaten to degrade our walk with our Lord. He is faithful to provide the help we need and when we need it to see us through the storms of life.

Lastly, the descriptive definition of integrity is to be complete and undivided. This description suggests purity and unity as a group of believers and how the Word of the Lord instructs us to conduct ourselves. By being unified in our beliefs and fully furnished with the living Word of God to guide our behaviors, we can exist as a group full of integrity in our service to God.

Proverbs 11:3  The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. 

1 Corinthians 1:10  Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

After Jesus cast out the demon of a blind and mute man so that he could now see and speak, the multitudes were amazed and the Pharisees were saying Jesus cast out the demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.

Matthew 12:25  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 

Matthew 18:19-20  "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." 

God is faithful and just to do as the Word says he will do and there are many promises in the bible we can stand on to help us in our daily walk. Also, the parables were written to help us to understand how we are to treat one another according to what Jesus wants us to have in our hearts. We have said this many times in our bible studies and spoken messages in the church, but if we love one another the way God loved us, we will be doing exactly what he wants us to do and our rewards will be heavenly and actually have a lasting value to them unlike earthly rewards or the rewards of man.

John 15:12  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.                                     

Matthew 22:37-40  Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall lover your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." 

 

Lord help us to always be striving for Christian living with high integrity and honor to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gave His life in order for us to live eternally with Him in Heaven!