Background on the last two weeks Sins of O and Co and resolve, we talked about how God was with Joseph, he was content didn’t covet, resisted temptation, respected his authorities but something bad still happened to him he was put in jail.
Genesis 40 Now Joseph was in jail and the chief butler and baker of Pharaoh were both put in jail also. They both had dreams and were troubled by them.
Joseph being in charge at the jail house asked why are you so sad?
The interpretation of the butlers dream was good, he would be restored and Joseph said remember me and the bakers dream was bad, he would be killed.
Both of those things came to pass and of course the butler did not mention Joseph.
Chapter 41 2 years pass and Joseph was still in jail and Pharaoh had a dream.
Vrs 1-8 Pharaoh’s dream 7 cows and 7 stalks of wheat. He called all the wise men for interpretation.
Vrs 9-13 The Butlers memory was jogged, oh yeah Joseph
Vrs 14-16 Pharaoh called for Joseph and Joseph said it was God
Vrs 17-24 restates the dreams don’t read
Vrs 25-33 Joseph interprets seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine
Vrs 33-36 Then Joseph gives the advice of saving one fifth for the famine years
Vrs 37-45 Pharaoh is pleased and elevates Joseph to second in charge of Pharaoh.
Vrs 46-57 then talks about how Joseph did his Job, and had two children named Ephraim and Manasseh.
Things we can learn from this time in Joseph’s life.
Joseph allowed himself to be “Used” by God
1. 40:38 Has God’s Spirit- We have God’s spirit so we are equipped to serve Him
Gospel
1 Cor. 12:7 “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”:
Some of the gifts are evangelism, helps, teaching, wisdom, encouragement, faith and leadership.
At the moment you trust is Jesus God gives you at least one spiritual gift to use for Him.
We also have natural talents and abilities in which can also use. Drama, music, good with children, maybe good at a sport or excel in a certain career or field. God wants us to use those things for Him as well.
We all have God’s Spirit in us when we trust in Jesus the question is, are we going to heed to the Spirit and use our gifts and abilities for service?
God was with Joseph and he allowed Him to use him
2. 40:8 & 41:16 In God’s hands- all service belongs to God
We are just joining on the work that He is doing
John 15:1-8 Vine and branches. This passage is really saying without Jesus we are useless but with a abiding relationship with Him we can be useful.
Vrs 6 to some seems to be a problem, some may say “if I don’t abide or follow Jesus gets rid of me” no
Breakdown of verse 6
“He is cast out” loss of fellowship with Jesus and others, if you are not following God and serving Him you are not obeying which is sin, sin mars fellowship with Jesus. It also mars fellowship with other believers, the best way to have fellowship with others is to serve them and serve along side them.
“and withered” not vital, a growing Christian is one who serves, I don’t think you can show me a vital, effective growing Christian that does not have a ministry.
“thrown into the fire and burned” loss of rewards, remember we talked about being rewarded for service, at the day of judgment you will suffer loss if you do not allow yourself to be used.
3. 41:39-45 God will lift you up when you are used by Him- The more we serve God, He will lift you up.
Being “used” is humbling
Humble yourself in His sight James 4:10.
Romans 12:3-6a not think to highly of ourselves and 14:18-19 this will edify others. When God uses you, you should be thankful that He did
We will not truly be used unless we humble ourselves
Look what happened to Joseph God made him second in charge in all of Egypt and the distributor of the food.
4. 40:51-52 He named his children after what the Lord has done in his life. Forget your troubles and God will bless even in a land that he was afflicted.
Being used gets your mind off your own problems and focuses them on the tasks and the fact that there are people around you who need the Lord and need to be ministered to.
“when life gives you lemons…make lemonade” make the best out of a bad situation
-Notice in 40:7 “Why are you sad?” The thing we see here with Joseph is that he cared and had compassion for the needs of others even though he was in jail. We need to have the attitude of caring for others when we get involved in ministry. No one desires to put themselves second but when we do God blesses us.
3 Catagories of being used
1. Over extend yourself. You’re a door mat
2. Don’t do anything and maybe think you do, you bless us with your presence and call it ministry
3. Allowing yourself to be used in a healthy Biblical way which means having a ministry and doing it well and being committed to it.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hey Joe Series: "Resolve"
Vrs 1-6a Joseph was sold into Potiphar’s house and Potiphar realized that there was something different about Joseph “the Lord was with him” and “the Lord made all that he did prosper”
Potiphar trusted him so much that he did not even know the affairs of his own business
Vrs 6b-10 Potphar’s wife advances toward Joseph and his resolve is not to “sin against God” and she kept trying
Vrs 11-18 The wife tried to seduce him again and then made up a story to tell her husband because Joseph left his coat behind.
Vrs 19-23 So Potiphar threw him into prison and again God raised him up and the highest ranking guard put everything under his control.
What can we learn from this?
1. Vrs 2,5 and 21 The Lord was with Joseph.
-If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior the bible says in Acts 17:26-27 that He has placed you where you are so that you will seek God and perhaps find Him. 2 Peter 3:9 God desires all to come to know Him. If you are here today and wondering is God real and if so what does it mean to my life. God loves you and wants to forgive you of your sin the bible tells us that we have to trust that Jesus’ death on the cross was enough to forgive us of our sins 3 days later he rose again to prove that He was God and has victory of sin and death.
-If you trusted in Jesus as your Savior no matter where you are or what situation you are in, God is with you. At your job or school, with friends or in your family He is there with you. Jesus says He “will never leave us or forsake us.”
Hebrew 13:5 Joseph is an illustration of this passage.
2. Lets look at the other things that passage says
“Let your conduct be without covetousness;”
Joseph did not covet what Potiphar had Vrs 6-9 we see that Joseph was in charge of and had access to everything in Potiphar’s house except his wife. Instead of coveting what Potiphar had, his wife, he refused to sin with Potiphar’s wife.
Many times in life we have so much but we still covet after more, we are unhappy with or jobs or our possessions and we feel that we need better or we need more. Maybe you are not content with your relationships in life and you covet others around you because they have a girlfriend or a boyfriend or they have children you and don’t. But God is saying don’t covet be content.
3. Contentment,” be content with such things as you have.” Joseph was content event though he was sold into slavery and was no longer with his father in his own land he was still content Vrs 4 Because Joseph was content he was able to serve. And with that service found favor in the eyes of Potiphar.
Are you content with where God has placed you, your job, school and relationships. If you are not content it will show and eventually you will have a bad testimony among the people around you. When we are content in any and every situation we are a good testimony to those around us.
Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor."
Benjamin Franklin
When you are content you have a good testimony among unbelievers and God will elevate your positions in life.
Paul writes from jail in Philippians 2:11“for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content"
1 Tim 6:6-9 Because Joseph was content he was able to resist temptation
4. Joseph resisted Temptation. Last summer I had a message about Temptation and the focus was Jesus’ temptation. Lets take a quick look at Josephs temptation. Potiphar’s wife was aggressively pursuing him but he did not give in. Vrs 9b “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
Maybe you are constantly in situations where you are tempted to do something wrong, sexual sins, drunkinness, gossiping, dishonest gain.
Christian Author John Piper Said “The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
Whatever the temptation may be there is some advice and comfort from the Bible
-1 Cor 10:13 There is a way out
-Luke 22:40 Jesus says pray that you will not enter into temptation.
-James 1:12 says we are blessed if we endure under temptation
-2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptation.
5. Joseph had respect for the authority Romans 13:1-3 Potiphar was over Joseph and Joseph was his slave. But he still respected him Vrs 8-9a This would have been a good way to mock his master “your wife wanted me”
We all have authority over us, our bosses, teachers parents, do you respect that and heed to there direction? Or do you look for and take opportunities to mock them? If you want to be a good testimony for the Lord you will respect them.
6. Even though he did everything right something bad still happened to him. He was wrongly accused and was thrown in jail. But God was still with him Hebrew 13:6 Joseph can boldly say…
You may have been struggling because you seem to have your relationship with God on track but things still seem to go wrong.
Well join the club 2 Tim 3:12 “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”. When we suffer for doing what is right it is just a reminder that this world is not our home and we need to look toward heaven and not be to comfortable in this life on earth.
Potiphar trusted him so much that he did not even know the affairs of his own business
Vrs 6b-10 Potphar’s wife advances toward Joseph and his resolve is not to “sin against God” and she kept trying
Vrs 11-18 The wife tried to seduce him again and then made up a story to tell her husband because Joseph left his coat behind.
Vrs 19-23 So Potiphar threw him into prison and again God raised him up and the highest ranking guard put everything under his control.
What can we learn from this?
1. Vrs 2,5 and 21 The Lord was with Joseph.
-If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior the bible says in Acts 17:26-27 that He has placed you where you are so that you will seek God and perhaps find Him. 2 Peter 3:9 God desires all to come to know Him. If you are here today and wondering is God real and if so what does it mean to my life. God loves you and wants to forgive you of your sin the bible tells us that we have to trust that Jesus’ death on the cross was enough to forgive us of our sins 3 days later he rose again to prove that He was God and has victory of sin and death.
-If you trusted in Jesus as your Savior no matter where you are or what situation you are in, God is with you. At your job or school, with friends or in your family He is there with you. Jesus says He “will never leave us or forsake us.”
Hebrew 13:5 Joseph is an illustration of this passage.
2. Lets look at the other things that passage says
“Let your conduct be without covetousness;”
Joseph did not covet what Potiphar had Vrs 6-9 we see that Joseph was in charge of and had access to everything in Potiphar’s house except his wife. Instead of coveting what Potiphar had, his wife, he refused to sin with Potiphar’s wife.
Many times in life we have so much but we still covet after more, we are unhappy with or jobs or our possessions and we feel that we need better or we need more. Maybe you are not content with your relationships in life and you covet others around you because they have a girlfriend or a boyfriend or they have children you and don’t. But God is saying don’t covet be content.
3. Contentment,” be content with such things as you have.” Joseph was content event though he was sold into slavery and was no longer with his father in his own land he was still content Vrs 4 Because Joseph was content he was able to serve. And with that service found favor in the eyes of Potiphar.
Are you content with where God has placed you, your job, school and relationships. If you are not content it will show and eventually you will have a bad testimony among the people around you. When we are content in any and every situation we are a good testimony to those around us.
Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor."
Benjamin Franklin
When you are content you have a good testimony among unbelievers and God will elevate your positions in life.
Paul writes from jail in Philippians 2:11“for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content"
1 Tim 6:6-9 Because Joseph was content he was able to resist temptation
4. Joseph resisted Temptation. Last summer I had a message about Temptation and the focus was Jesus’ temptation. Lets take a quick look at Josephs temptation. Potiphar’s wife was aggressively pursuing him but he did not give in. Vrs 9b “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
Maybe you are constantly in situations where you are tempted to do something wrong, sexual sins, drunkinness, gossiping, dishonest gain.
Christian Author John Piper Said “The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
Whatever the temptation may be there is some advice and comfort from the Bible
-1 Cor 10:13 There is a way out
-Luke 22:40 Jesus says pray that you will not enter into temptation.
-James 1:12 says we are blessed if we endure under temptation
-2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptation.
5. Joseph had respect for the authority Romans 13:1-3 Potiphar was over Joseph and Joseph was his slave. But he still respected him Vrs 8-9a This would have been a good way to mock his master “your wife wanted me”
We all have authority over us, our bosses, teachers parents, do you respect that and heed to there direction? Or do you look for and take opportunities to mock them? If you want to be a good testimony for the Lord you will respect them.
6. Even though he did everything right something bad still happened to him. He was wrongly accused and was thrown in jail. But God was still with him Hebrew 13:6 Joseph can boldly say…
You may have been struggling because you seem to have your relationship with God on track but things still seem to go wrong.
Well join the club 2 Tim 3:12 “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”. When we suffer for doing what is right it is just a reminder that this world is not our home and we need to look toward heaven and not be to comfortable in this life on earth.
Hey Joe Series: "O or Co?"
Chapter 37:1-11 Background
Jacob who is also known as Israel had 12 sons and v3 states that Jacob had a special place in his heart for Joseph and he gave him an expensive coat.
V4 his brothers hated him v11 and envied him.
Vrs 5-10Now Joseph had two dreams in which can be taken as his brothers and his father and mother will eventually bow down to him. This made his bothers hate him even more.
V18-20n Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him.
V 21-22 Reuben stood up for Joseph and wanted to get him back to Jacob so he came up with a plan, just throw him into a well.
V23-28 So the brothers decide to sell him into slavery.
V29-30 Reuben was upset and mourned the loss of his brother
V 31-32 They wanted to cover up what they did so they lied to their father. Sin leads to more sin
V33-35 Jacob was saying he would never get over the death of his son.
Today I want to talk about sin
There are two categories of sin…sins of commission and omission
Commission - Acting or doing that which was decided upon
The brothers planned out their sin. They hated and were jealous of Joseph so they decided to get rid of him.
What does God say about that.
Proverbs 6:16-19 God hates when people make wicked plans
Isaiah 30:1 Like they brothers then lied to the father in life when we Sin leads to more sin
So are you planning out your sin or helping others sin?
In my time in ministry I have seen some interesting things, a Christian family putting their daughter on birth control just in case she has sex. “hey if she is going to sin she is going to do it responsibly”
-maybe you are in a dating relationship and you are planning your evening around how you can get into a temping situation and then blame your falling into sin because the temptation was to strong, meanwhile you planned your night so that you would wind up in the situation.
-Maybe you are making money in a dishonest way and you have planned this out.
-Maybe you are planning the rude and nasty things you are going to say to your co-worked, friend or family member because they wronged you and you want to retaliate.
-Maybe you ask people just the right questions so they will gossip about someone and so you can start gossiping about someone.
When we plan out our sin God is not pleased
Sins of commission usually involve regret for what was done because we start to realize our intention was to sin.
Maybe you are saying to yourself “I don’t plan out my sin, I’m good I catch myself in the early stages.
There is another group of sins called
Sins of Omission - Neglect or failure to do that which should have been done. Omitting that which should be done.
When in life do you have an opportunity to do the right thing and you pass it up?
James 4:17
In the story of Joseph, Reuben was an example of someone who did not commit a sin of omission. He did not agree with his brothers and he tried to stop the effort. Some sit back and don’t do anything.
Luke 10:30-37 The priest and the levite did nothing. Many of us see others in need and have the resources to meet them and do nothing about it.
Some sins of omission that are common among believers. Not praying, not giving Mal 3:8, not going to church Heb 10:24-25, not serving, not helping others in need Matt 25, not exposing wrongdoing Eph 5:8-12, not stopping others from doing wrong. James 5:20
What are the results of the sins of omission and commission?
It separates you from God. Gospel
Look what sin does…consequences
It affects the others around us, look at what the sins of Joseph’s brothers did to Jacob.
Hitler planning out the Holocaust and when the US came in we stopped what was going on, but what if we didn’t it would have been a huge sin of omission. The consequences were catastrophic and could have been worse if we ignored it.
What do we have to do?
-Repent, some people think that this word means we turn from sin and never do it again and if you do you have not truly repented
Greek word in the NT is Meta noia is primarily an after-thought, different from the former thought; a "change of mind and heart",
Biblical repentance is a change of mind basically it is looking at our lives through the eyes of God and His Word. When it comes to sin it is saying this action that I commit or fail to do is wrong. Even though you may fall back into it at times you still realize it is something that is wrong and unacceptable to God.
If you leave here today and have a sinful pattern or a sin in your life and you say to yourself it is ok or it is not so bad you have not repented meaning not changed your mind
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
You have to change your mind first about what you are doing or in some cases not doing. That is why I am up here every Sunday to bring the Word so our minds can be changed.
Jacob who is also known as Israel had 12 sons and v3 states that Jacob had a special place in his heart for Joseph and he gave him an expensive coat.
V4 his brothers hated him v11 and envied him.
Vrs 5-10Now Joseph had two dreams in which can be taken as his brothers and his father and mother will eventually bow down to him. This made his bothers hate him even more.
V18-20n Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him.
V 21-22 Reuben stood up for Joseph and wanted to get him back to Jacob so he came up with a plan, just throw him into a well.
V23-28 So the brothers decide to sell him into slavery.
V29-30 Reuben was upset and mourned the loss of his brother
V 31-32 They wanted to cover up what they did so they lied to their father. Sin leads to more sin
V33-35 Jacob was saying he would never get over the death of his son.
Today I want to talk about sin
There are two categories of sin…sins of commission and omission
Commission - Acting or doing that which was decided upon
The brothers planned out their sin. They hated and were jealous of Joseph so they decided to get rid of him.
What does God say about that.
Proverbs 6:16-19 God hates when people make wicked plans
Isaiah 30:1 Like they brothers then lied to the father in life when we Sin leads to more sin
So are you planning out your sin or helping others sin?
In my time in ministry I have seen some interesting things, a Christian family putting their daughter on birth control just in case she has sex. “hey if she is going to sin she is going to do it responsibly”
-maybe you are in a dating relationship and you are planning your evening around how you can get into a temping situation and then blame your falling into sin because the temptation was to strong, meanwhile you planned your night so that you would wind up in the situation.
-Maybe you are making money in a dishonest way and you have planned this out.
-Maybe you are planning the rude and nasty things you are going to say to your co-worked, friend or family member because they wronged you and you want to retaliate.
-Maybe you ask people just the right questions so they will gossip about someone and so you can start gossiping about someone.
When we plan out our sin God is not pleased
Sins of commission usually involve regret for what was done because we start to realize our intention was to sin.
Maybe you are saying to yourself “I don’t plan out my sin, I’m good I catch myself in the early stages.
There is another group of sins called
Sins of Omission - Neglect or failure to do that which should have been done. Omitting that which should be done.
When in life do you have an opportunity to do the right thing and you pass it up?
James 4:17
In the story of Joseph, Reuben was an example of someone who did not commit a sin of omission. He did not agree with his brothers and he tried to stop the effort. Some sit back and don’t do anything.
Luke 10:30-37 The priest and the levite did nothing. Many of us see others in need and have the resources to meet them and do nothing about it.
Some sins of omission that are common among believers. Not praying, not giving Mal 3:8, not going to church Heb 10:24-25, not serving, not helping others in need Matt 25, not exposing wrongdoing Eph 5:8-12, not stopping others from doing wrong. James 5:20
What are the results of the sins of omission and commission?
It separates you from God. Gospel
Look what sin does…consequences
It affects the others around us, look at what the sins of Joseph’s brothers did to Jacob.
Hitler planning out the Holocaust and when the US came in we stopped what was going on, but what if we didn’t it would have been a huge sin of omission. The consequences were catastrophic and could have been worse if we ignored it.
What do we have to do?
-Repent, some people think that this word means we turn from sin and never do it again and if you do you have not truly repented
Greek word in the NT is Meta noia is primarily an after-thought, different from the former thought; a "change of mind and heart",
Biblical repentance is a change of mind basically it is looking at our lives through the eyes of God and His Word. When it comes to sin it is saying this action that I commit or fail to do is wrong. Even though you may fall back into it at times you still realize it is something that is wrong and unacceptable to God.
If you leave here today and have a sinful pattern or a sin in your life and you say to yourself it is ok or it is not so bad you have not repented meaning not changed your mind
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
You have to change your mind first about what you are doing or in some cases not doing. That is why I am up here every Sunday to bring the Word so our minds can be changed.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
"Matters of the heart" Part 4: Integrity
Matthew 5:33-37
Lev. 19:12 God was saying if you use My name in an oath or a promise you better not lie or not keep up your end of the oath. .
The Pharisees and religious leaders at the time would swear and not use God’s name but instead things like heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or themselves, then when they broke the promise, lied or did not follow through they would say they did not sin because they did not swear by God’s name
Jesus raises the bar “do not lie at all” and keep your promises in other words have integrity.
Lets look what Jesus says
-First your loop hole is not that bright. Vrs 34-36 these things all belong to God because He is the creator.
They were looking for loop holes in order to benefit themselves.
-The second thing Jesus is saying here is Yes be yes and No be no
Yes - follow through with commitments
No- don’t be afraid to stand up and say no
Jesus is saying as followers of Him we need to be people who have integrity.
Tonight I want to talk about integrity because our personal integrity reveals our heart.
Integrity is- adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
the state of being whole
in simplest form “Who you are when no one is around” Your beliefs are solidified and real when you do the same in private as you would in public.
A questions you can ask yourself is “would I do this if no one would ever find out?” What ever the answer to that is, that is a reflection of your heart and what God sees and that is your integrity.
In biblical times people had a way to find out the integrity of a pot, if it has cracks then it is not whole, is it a cracked pot, the merchants were trying to get rid of the cracked pots so it was not a waste to them so they would glaze over the cracks, in order to find out the integrity of the pot (if it was whole and good) the buyer would hold the pot up to the sunlight to see if they could tell if there were any cracks.
Well God holds us up to the light of His son to see if we are cracked pots, and when He sees the cracks He wants to work on the integrity of our hearts. The first step in having personal integrity is trusting in the truth of God’s word- Gospel
Unfortunately as believers in Jesus our personal integrity is constantly under attack.
In the 60s something crept into our society by way of a man in ministry an Episcopal priest named Joseph Fletcher, it was not a new idea but He wrote a book called Situation Ethics The basic premise or idea of the book is that as long as the greater good of love is achieved wrong and right are only based on the situation. For example Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, Fletcher would say the rich had a lot of money the poor had none Robin Hood was displaying love to the poor by giving them the riches money. This seems loving unless your rich but Fletcher would say the greater love was achieved based on situation.
What Fletcher is proposing is that there is no absolute wrong or right it depends on the situation. As long as the outcome promotes love it is right. “The end justifies the means”
So in this book he came up with situations such as a women seducing and sleeping with a person from another government to get secrets to stop a war that would kill thousands. Moral compromise so the greater good is achieved.
There are several problems with this but the biggest one is that it is saying that you can’t rely on God. As believers we have to realize that God cares about our hearts and wants us to do the right thing and He will take care of the details.
George Muller in the 1800’s was a preacher, evangelist and philanthropist. He opened several orphanages and in his life saw 23,000 orphans educated. A man of great faith and integrity relied on God to provide his needs and for the needs of the orphans. One morning they did not have breakfast for the a rather large group or orphans and he sat down at the table and thanked the Lord for the food that He would provide, and no sooner did he say amen there was a knock at the door of a bakery delivery wagon that had a broken wheel and not be able to complete the deliveries and the food would go bad so he wanted to give the food to the orphans.
Muller could have went out before breakfast and stole, or manipulated, after all there are starving orphans. But he trusted God. Unfortunately we normally don’t live life like this and we lack the trust is God.
The situational line of thinking has penetrated our society and caused people to lack integrity because there are no absolutes therefore there is nothing to judge the purity of integrity so now we cannot even recognize integrity and sometimes we even call integrity stupidity. Football player illustration.
Goodness is the only investment that never fails. ~Henry David Thoreau
What are some things that compromise our integrity?
-Tragic situations should not compromise our integrity
Job 2:9 his wife,4:6 friend encourages him your integrity is your hope, Then in 25:4-5 Bildad asks Job the question how can a man be righteous before God? Job’s reply 27:5 says he will not put off his integrity or as we can say what is pure in his heart which is his trust in God Like us today if we trust in Christ in our heart we are righteous before Him. Then Job wants God to know his integrity 31:6 the real test of a person is how they respond when things do not go their way. So lets see where Job’s integrity comes from. 42:1-6 I reject myself and the idea I had that the Lord always rewards the righteous in this life. His integrity is that trusts God no matter what happens.
-Facing adversity or obstacles should not compromise our integrity Another OT example is found in Dan 3:16-18 Situational ethics
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the keys to living your life with integrity.”
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”
-Other people should not make us compromise our integrity
1 Thess 2:4 Here Paul was saying we preach the Gospel not to please people but to please God. The Gospel is an unpopular message 2 Cor 2:16 says we are offensive to those who are dying because we are the aroma of Jesus.
Why would we listen to the world after all we learned in the last month and half that the world thinks we are crazy
So what does having integrity do for us?
Titus 2:6-8 others will not be able to say anything evil against us.
-Integrity provides security, we don’t have to worry about where we stand before God and others if we have integrity.
Pro 10:9 Romans 13:3 no reason to fear authorities if you have integrity
-You always know the right thing to do because you are resolved to do the right thing Proverbs 11:3
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. ~Mark Twain
Bottom line Proverbs 20:7 The righteous person walks in his integrity.
We see our integrity “who we are when no one is around” really sums up all the Matters of hearts”
Lev. 19:12 God was saying if you use My name in an oath or a promise you better not lie or not keep up your end of the oath. .
The Pharisees and religious leaders at the time would swear and not use God’s name but instead things like heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or themselves, then when they broke the promise, lied or did not follow through they would say they did not sin because they did not swear by God’s name
Jesus raises the bar “do not lie at all” and keep your promises in other words have integrity.
Lets look what Jesus says
-First your loop hole is not that bright. Vrs 34-36 these things all belong to God because He is the creator.
They were looking for loop holes in order to benefit themselves.
-The second thing Jesus is saying here is Yes be yes and No be no
Yes - follow through with commitments
No- don’t be afraid to stand up and say no
Jesus is saying as followers of Him we need to be people who have integrity.
Tonight I want to talk about integrity because our personal integrity reveals our heart.
Integrity is- adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
the state of being whole
in simplest form “Who you are when no one is around” Your beliefs are solidified and real when you do the same in private as you would in public.
A questions you can ask yourself is “would I do this if no one would ever find out?” What ever the answer to that is, that is a reflection of your heart and what God sees and that is your integrity.
In biblical times people had a way to find out the integrity of a pot, if it has cracks then it is not whole, is it a cracked pot, the merchants were trying to get rid of the cracked pots so it was not a waste to them so they would glaze over the cracks, in order to find out the integrity of the pot (if it was whole and good) the buyer would hold the pot up to the sunlight to see if they could tell if there were any cracks.
Well God holds us up to the light of His son to see if we are cracked pots, and when He sees the cracks He wants to work on the integrity of our hearts. The first step in having personal integrity is trusting in the truth of God’s word- Gospel
Unfortunately as believers in Jesus our personal integrity is constantly under attack.
In the 60s something crept into our society by way of a man in ministry an Episcopal priest named Joseph Fletcher, it was not a new idea but He wrote a book called Situation Ethics The basic premise or idea of the book is that as long as the greater good of love is achieved wrong and right are only based on the situation. For example Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, Fletcher would say the rich had a lot of money the poor had none Robin Hood was displaying love to the poor by giving them the riches money. This seems loving unless your rich but Fletcher would say the greater love was achieved based on situation.
What Fletcher is proposing is that there is no absolute wrong or right it depends on the situation. As long as the outcome promotes love it is right. “The end justifies the means”
So in this book he came up with situations such as a women seducing and sleeping with a person from another government to get secrets to stop a war that would kill thousands. Moral compromise so the greater good is achieved.
There are several problems with this but the biggest one is that it is saying that you can’t rely on God. As believers we have to realize that God cares about our hearts and wants us to do the right thing and He will take care of the details.
George Muller in the 1800’s was a preacher, evangelist and philanthropist. He opened several orphanages and in his life saw 23,000 orphans educated. A man of great faith and integrity relied on God to provide his needs and for the needs of the orphans. One morning they did not have breakfast for the a rather large group or orphans and he sat down at the table and thanked the Lord for the food that He would provide, and no sooner did he say amen there was a knock at the door of a bakery delivery wagon that had a broken wheel and not be able to complete the deliveries and the food would go bad so he wanted to give the food to the orphans.
Muller could have went out before breakfast and stole, or manipulated, after all there are starving orphans. But he trusted God. Unfortunately we normally don’t live life like this and we lack the trust is God.
The situational line of thinking has penetrated our society and caused people to lack integrity because there are no absolutes therefore there is nothing to judge the purity of integrity so now we cannot even recognize integrity and sometimes we even call integrity stupidity. Football player illustration.
Goodness is the only investment that never fails. ~Henry David Thoreau
What are some things that compromise our integrity?
-Tragic situations should not compromise our integrity
Job 2:9 his wife,4:6 friend encourages him your integrity is your hope, Then in 25:4-5 Bildad asks Job the question how can a man be righteous before God? Job’s reply 27:5 says he will not put off his integrity or as we can say what is pure in his heart which is his trust in God Like us today if we trust in Christ in our heart we are righteous before Him. Then Job wants God to know his integrity 31:6 the real test of a person is how they respond when things do not go their way. So lets see where Job’s integrity comes from. 42:1-6 I reject myself and the idea I had that the Lord always rewards the righteous in this life. His integrity is that trusts God no matter what happens.
-Facing adversity or obstacles should not compromise our integrity Another OT example is found in Dan 3:16-18 Situational ethics
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the keys to living your life with integrity.”
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”
-Other people should not make us compromise our integrity
1 Thess 2:4 Here Paul was saying we preach the Gospel not to please people but to please God. The Gospel is an unpopular message 2 Cor 2:16 says we are offensive to those who are dying because we are the aroma of Jesus.
Why would we listen to the world after all we learned in the last month and half that the world thinks we are crazy
So what does having integrity do for us?
Titus 2:6-8 others will not be able to say anything evil against us.
-Integrity provides security, we don’t have to worry about where we stand before God and others if we have integrity.
Pro 10:9 Romans 13:3 no reason to fear authorities if you have integrity
-You always know the right thing to do because you are resolved to do the right thing Proverbs 11:3
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. ~Mark Twain
Bottom line Proverbs 20:7 The righteous person walks in his integrity.
We see our integrity “who we are when no one is around” really sums up all the Matters of hearts”
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