No one had heard of the name Jack Bennett or
New Era Foundation until May 13th of this year.
But Mr. Bennett and that foundation promised
about 2 ,000 nonprofit organizations that he
would double their money in six months if they
would invest their money with him. And as a matter
of fact, for six years, he did exactly that.
He doubled the money of every organization that
put that money with him. But on May the 13th,
time ran out, for he was running an old con game
that is called a Ponzi scheme, in which he takes
in someone's money and promises to pay it back,
but he takes in somebody else's money to pay
the first guy back. And you can do that for a
while as long as there's enough cash flow. But
in May of this year, it was disclosed that he
owes some 300 organizations, both Christian and
non -Christian, $551 million. with only $80 million
of assets to pay them. He had been thoroughly
checked out. He had a marvelous reputation, but
he lacked character. Reputation, you see, is
what people think about you. Character is what
God knows about you. We sang the chorus from
1 Samuel this morning. God does not see the same
way people see. People look at the outside of
a person, the Lord looks at the heart. Reputation
is usually based upon what you can do, but character
is based upon what you are. Dwight Moody said,
character is what you are in the dark. There
is one word that should describe the character
of a Christian, and that is the word integrity.
A life foundation that is resting on integrity
is secure, but a life foundation that lacks integrity
is in deep trouble. You and I as children of
God must determine to be men and women of integrity.
We must not allow integrity to be undermined
in our lives. And let's keep this in mind too,
that it is ultimately the people of integrity
who make a difference in this world. The Apostle
Paul was such a man. I invite you to open your
New Testament to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1
Thessalonians chapter 2. Paul had been accused,
falsely, of being two -faced, of lacking credibility.
Now the fact is that anyone can throw a mud ball
of accusation, but if one has integrity, that
mud will eventually wash away. As Paul is writing
in our text today, he is defending his character
against his detractors, the liars who were seeking
to gain some advantage by attacking Paul. It
is an interesting thing to observe in life, and
I think we all observe this from time to time,
that people of little character sometimes seek
to gain stature by unjustly criticizing others
who threaten their sense of importance. And that
is the case here with those who were attacking
Paul. He writes beginning in verse 1, For you
yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to
you was not in vain. But after we had already
suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as
you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak
to you the gospel of God amidst much opposition.
For our exhortation does not come from error
or impurity or by way of deceit, but just as
we have been approved by God to be entrusted
with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing
men, but God, who examines our hearts. For we
never came with flattering speech, as you know,
nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness.
Nor did we seek glory from men either from you
or from others, even though As apostles of Christ,
we might have asserted our authority, but we
proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother
tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus
a fond affection for you, we were well pleased
to impart to you not only the gospel of God,
but also our own lives, because you had become
very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our
labor and hardship, how working night and day
so as not to be a burden to any of you. we proclaim
to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses,
and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and
blamelessly we behave toward you believers, just
as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging
and imploring each of you, each one of you, as
a father would his own children, so that you
may walk in a manner worthy of God who calls
you into his kingdom, his own kingdom and glory.
In this text that we have read, we learn a number
of things about integrity. First I want you to
observe that integrity involves absolute moral
principles. I want you to think about that a
minute. Integrity involves absolute moral principles.
The Apostle Paul talks here about being examined
by God. He was not out to please man, he was
out to please God. God has absolute moral standards.
Now we live in an age of relativism. Our culture
is collapsing into a black hole of relativism.
Those who believe in relativism say to us that
there are no absolute moral principles. And we
say, are you sure? And they say, absolutely.
What I'm illustrating is that there is a certain
self -contradiction in that very statement that
they make, that there are no moral absolutes.
If there are no moral absolutes, even that statement
is relative then. It is self -contradictory.
And yet, that's what our culture is based upon.
Relativism makes it impossible to define integrity
in any traditional sense. Since there is no standard
in our culture of right and wrong, any action
or any idea can be called right or loving. It
leads to situational ethics. But true integrity
has a standard. an absolute standard by which
to be measured. And that standard is God's nature,
God Himself. You see, God defines for us what
is right and wrong. We talk about the righteousness
of God. It is God's righteousness that gives
us the Ten Commandments, for example. A brilliant
and wonderful statement of moral ethics that
are absolute. True integrity has a standard.
That standard is God, and that was the standard
that Paul was using as he talks about his own
life and ministry. Now, we have to admit something
at this point, and that is that none of us has
perfect integrity. None of us can measure up
to the perfections of God. None of us can keep
perfectly the Ten Commandments. We are in need
of forgiveness, and thank God He has provided
for that through the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. So that we may be given integrity
we don't have of our own It is the righteousness
of Christ the integrity of Christ that we are
given as a gift When we become believers in Jesus
Christ that is our position before God God declares
us righteous God declares us to be people of
integrity perfectly in Christ as our position
But what I'm talking about this morning is not
our positional integrity, it's our practical
integrity. In my position, I am a citizen of
the United States of America. But I don't always
live like a good citizen. If I fail to vote,
I have not fulfilled my responsibilities of citizenship.
Likewise, in Jesus Christ, I have perfect righteousness,
but I don't always live that out. Now what we're
talking about this morning is how important it
is to have that righteousness truly in our hearts
and expressed in our lives. Integrity is not
whatever somebody defines it to be. Integrity
is based upon the absolute moral principles of
God. Having it, having integrity, is reflecting
the beauty of God's moral principles in our character.
To live with integrity is to, as Paul says here
in verse 12, walk in a manner worthy of the God
who calls you. You see, there is the standard.
God. We are exhorted to measure ourselves against
God and he says conduct yourself in this world
in such a way That you walk worthy of God the
one who calls you So my first point this morning
is this that integrity involves absolute moral
principles To whatever degree we may have adopted
the ideas of relativism, let's flesh those ideas
and understand that God's principles are laid
down in His Word. They are based upon who He
is, what He is like, and that is our measurement.
In the first place, that ought to bring us onto
our knees in repentance before God, seeking His
forgiveness through Jesus Christ. And then having
found that forgiveness, it ought to bring us
to our knees asking God that that integrity be
written in our hearts. That His righteousness
be fulfilled in our lives. Secondly, integrity
concerns personal authenticity. Are you real?
I asked someone that question a few months ago.
Our group was in Amman, Jordan staying in a hotel,
one of the nice hotels of Amman. We had gathered
for dinner one night and we were in a line for
dinner and one of the guys in our group took
some soup and salad and his hands were filled
before he got to the main course. He can afford
to do that, he's young. And so I said, hey, why
don't you just take that all over the table and
come on back and get in line? And from behind
me came a voice that said, we're not going to
have any of that here. And I thought, this guy's
joking. So I turned around. There's a guy about
this tall, about 10 years older than me. And
I said, well, who said so? And immediately he
grabbed me by the arms and began pushing me back
through the line in this hotel. And that's when
I asked the question, are you for real? Are you
for real? He said, you better believe it. And
I said, you're an authentic nut. He let his hands
go. We went back and got in line. And I repeated
my observation. He said, you're a mental case.
And that's exactly what he was. A real, authentic
mental case. Are you for real? Not a mental case.
But are you for real as a person? Are you for
real in your character? Genuineness is deeply
respected in a world that is filled with pretense
and sham. To a lot of people, life is really
a game of charades. They're always pretending.
But integrity means being an authentic person,
at least in three opinions. And Paul talks about
those in verse 10. He says, you are witnesses
and so is God how devoutly and uprightly and
blamelessly we behaved. Three opinions in those
three adverbs. The first one is devoutly. Here
he talks about the opinion of God. The King James
puts it, how holily. Boy, that's hard to say.
I'm glad mine says devoutly. But the idea is,
does God see me as a pure person? As a holy person?
In God's opinion, in God's measurement of me,
am I holy? Am I consecrated to Him? Am I real?
The second word that he uses is uprightly. And
here he's talking about how he lived in the sight
of others. He said, you are witnesses as well
as God. As far as Paul was able to tell, In the
sight of others he had lived uprightly. The word
means to live honestly, to be fit, to live without
injuring anyone else. It is the living out of
the golden rule. Do unto others what you would
have them do unto you. And so when we talk about
being real, do others see you as real? as being
an authentic person of integrity. And then the
third word Paul uses is the word blamelessly.
Here he's talking about living in the sight of
his own opinion. How he knew himself. Paul was
able to say that as far as he was able to tell
he lived blamelessly because he had no self -condemnation.
There was no guilt in his own heart. Do you know
yourself to be a real person? That's perhaps
the hardest question of all Because we can fool
others And although we cannot fool God we assume
that God is going to be gracious and merciful
But we can really be hard on ourselves Integrity
concerns personal authenticity. It means being
real in our character. Third, I observe that
integrity touches life's spectrum. Integrity
is not limited to some narrow range of what life
is about. Integrity touches everything in life,
the whole spectrum of it, the whole gamut. Paul
mentioned several here he talks about his vocation
in verse 4 he says we were entrusted with the
gospel So we speak This is Paul's calling in
life it may not be yours But it was Paul's and
he says here's what God has called us to do His
calling is that we preach the gospel and so we
do that he was true to his calling. And again
in verse 9 he says, brethren, you recall our
labor and hardship, how working night and day
so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaim
to you the gospel. Paul was willing to work with
his own hands day and night, he says, in order
to support himself and not require anything of
the Thessalonians. so that he could preach the
gospel to them freely. Authenticity. Integrity.
That touched Paul's vocation, his calling in
life. And then I noticed that Paul's motives
also were touched by integrity. Verse 3, Our
exhortation does not come from error or impurity
or by way of deceit. He says we're not pulling
the wool over anybody's eyes Verses five and
six he says we didn't come with flattering speech
or with a pretext for greed We didn't promise
to double your money in six months We didn't
seek glory from you or from others We were proven
to be gentle among you Paul is here talking about
the motivations of his heart. Ladies and gentlemen,
integrity must touch our motivations as much
as it touches our actions. Why do we do what
we do? Are there hidden dishonest motives in
our lives? Integrity touches those. washes them
away and replaces them with honesty. And then
I see Paul talking about his affiliation because
he records that his relationships with them were
relationships of integrity. So much so, he compares
himself to a mother in verse 7 and a father in
verse 12. Now we have to acknowledge up front
that Mothers and fathers are not always people
of integrity. But that's the ideal, isn't it?
And that's the way Paul was able to reflect his
relationship with them. He said, we were as gentle
as a mother, we were as faithful as a father.
In light of what I'm saying about integrity touching
life's spectrum, I wonder... If your moral principles
touch the way that you conduct your business,
whatever you do, does integrity affect the way
that you pay your bills? Or the time that you
put in at the office? Or the products that you
make or that you sell? Does integrity affect
the way that you advertise or the respect that
you have for your employer or your employees?
How does integrity affect your vocation? Those
are some tough questions that it's good for all
of us to ponder because integrity needs to get
down into those areas of our lives where we often
disallow it. It needs to bring conviction, it
needs to bring change, so that we walk worthy
of God. What about the hidden motivations of
your heart? The whys of your life? What about
the way you treat others? What you expect of
them? How you talk about them? How does integrity
affect the way that you think about ministry?
About the church? You see, each one of these
questions opens up a different area of our lives,
and I go through them quickly, and the tendency
then is to just let the light poke in and then
it moves on somewhere else, but we need to take
time to think through each of these. And see
that integrity touches life's spectrum, all of
it, the full gamut. We can't escape that. And
it's good. That's not bad. It's good because
when integrity begins to deal with these areas
of our lives, it conforms us to God's absolute
standard. It makes us real, authentic people.
And then I noticed that integrity allows for
heart transparency. Paul was not ashamed or hesitant
to tell them exactly how he felt about them,
verse 8. Fond affection, he says. That was a
term used in the nursery in that day for your
care for an infant. But that's how Paul felt.
He says, we had fond affection for you. You'd
become very dear to us. You see, there's a tremendous
benefit to integrity. When we live a life of
pretense, it requires a tremendous amount of
energy to keep covering up. A good deal of life's
resources are spent on covering up the truth.
so that people don't find out. When we live a
life of integrity, we don't have to use that
energy for that purpose anymore. We free up that
energy. What a benefit that is for life. And
what an example Paul sets for us here, especially
for us men. Somehow women are able to be more
transparent than men. But we men, too, need to
learn to be transparent. How freely do you, can
you, express your affection for your wife? For
your children? For those who are close to you?
Do they really know how you feel about them?
Well, yeah, sure, I show it to them all the time.
That's wonderful. But can you also say it? Will
you say it? You see, integrity allows us to be
transparent. We don't have to cover up. There's
nothing to be ashamed of. Even with Paul, we
can compare ourselves in some respect, even we
men, to being like mothers in affection and gentleness.
Those are the things that God values. Integrity
is important for spiritual maturity. It is important,
I think, also to mental and emotional health.
And so we need to allow someone to see inside.
And if we are people of integrity, there's no
problem there. And again, none of us is perfect
yet in practice. And so whenever we allow someone
to see inside, they're going to see some junk.
That's okay. It's okay because they have junk
too. Because then we can pray for each other
and talk with each other and help each other.
Integrity allows for heart transparency and finally
integrity eyes the value of its destiny. Integrity
is living out kingdom values now. with an eye
on what's coming. Notice in verse 12, so that
you may walk in a manner worthy of God who calls
you into his own kingdom and glory, integrity
applies to the present reality of life, the truths
that will be normative in the coming kingdom.
We do not want to live now according to the standards
of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, the pride of life. We want to live
here and now the values of the coming Kingdom.
Integrity eyes the value of the destiny of the
child of God. Integrity knows where it's headed.
and the reward that awaits there. I am going
to take a couple of extra minutes to turn to
Hebrews chapter 11 to illustrate my point with
Moses. In verse 24 it says, By faith Moses, when
he had grown up, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure
ill treatment with the people of God than to
enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. considering
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the
reward. Moses was a man of integrity and he had
his eyes on what was coming. He did not act in
the here and now based upon what benefited him
now. He said, I see what is coming in the future
and because of that I am going to live this way.
And he lived a life of integrity. There's my
point. If we disallow ourselves to see the here
and the now and the present realities, we are
sorely tempted to live lives that are less than
honest. lives that conform to the values of this
current world. But integrity looks beyond that.
Integrity sees the value of what's coming, of
the destiny that is ahead. And it says, I'm going
to apply those values here and now. Moses did
that. It requires faith. And for that, he was
honored. And so we have the exhortation that
is given in chapter 12 of Hebrews. Therefore,
since we have so great a cloud of witnesses,
including Moses, let us also lay aside every
encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles
us. He's talking here about becoming a person
of integrity. Lay aside the encumbrances and
the sin that trips us up. and run with endurance
the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes
on Jesus. There's our destiny. He's at the goal
line, standing there encouraging us, come on,
come on in the race. And the writer of Hebrews
says, fix your eyes on Him, on what's coming.
And live now, run your race as a man, as a woman
of integrity. It is the people who have lived
with integrity, who have made a difference in
our world. Not all of them are Christians. There
are people who are non -Christians who are people
of integrity. George Washington said, for example,
let us with caution indulge the supposition that
morality can be maintained without religion.
Let me read that again. Let us with caution.
indulge the supposition or the idea that morality
can be maintained without religion. What is our
whole culture saying today? We don't need God.
Separation of church and state! George Washington
said, be cautious about the idea that you can
maintain morality as a nation without religion.
He went on to say, reason and experience both
forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
He says, you exclude religious principle and
your national morality will get down the tubes.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what
is happening in America today. Abraham Lincoln
said, the probability that we may fail in the
struggle ought not to deter us from the support
of a cause we believe to be just. Integrity.
Integrity. The hot July of 1776, there were men
who gathered in Philadelphia. to forge a document
declaring the independence of the United States.
We remember that next weekend. It was their moral
principle that guided them. It was their integrity
that helped them to establish a foundation for
a new nation, a foundation that has lasted more
than 200 years. What I'm saying to you is people
of integrity who make a difference in the world.
People without integrity may make the news. People
without integrity may star in the latest box
office hit. People without integrity may rake
in the most cash from their exploits. But they
will never be truly happy people. Nor will they
enjoy any lasting significance without integrity.
That's why I'm talking to you this morning about
it. Because this is something in our lives that
must be firmed up as we think about firming up
our foundation. Being men and women of integrity.
Ability will enable a person to get to the top,
but it takes character for him to stay there.
How's your character? Are you a person of integrity?
Wherever that may be lacking, and God can show
each of us where we lack, then let's determine
today to firm up that foundation. To acknowledge
our sins and to say, oh God, in this area of
my life where I have failed, I ask you to go
to work. and make me the person that I ought
to be by the grace of God. Let's pray. With our
heads bowed and before God and God examining
each of our hearts, I wonder if you would be
willing to say today, Pastor, there is an area
of my life that God knows I lack integrity. I
haven't got it together there. And that is my
opinion. I believe it's God's opinion. It may
even be the opinion of others. I am not a real
authentic person in that area of my life. And
I want to acknowledge that before God and ask
His help, to ask His grace to be active in my
life to make me a person of integrity. I want
to firm up this foundation. Would you lift your
hand and put it down? Yes. You know in a congregation
of this size, for ten hands to go up, What does
that say? Well, it says that there's a lot of
us who have it together. It may say that there
are some of us who aren't willing to acknowledge
a lack of integrity. That in itself is a problem,
isn't it? We're not being real. If you are a
man or a woman of integrity and character, I
thank God for that. If you've lifted your hand
today, I want to pray for you and for myself
because I too need integrity in areas of my life.
Father, we come before you with hearts open and
deeply desiring to be people who are characterized
by integrity. We want to be honest. We want to
be authentic. And God, as you see our hearts,
you know us today, and many of us lift our hands
to say to you, we confess our sins, and we ask
you to work in us by your grace to firm up this
foundation of our lives. For Lord, we want to
be people who will make a difference in our world.
Whether we're wealthy or famous is not the point.
Father, we want to be people of significance
as you measure it, who make a difference in the
lives of others. And so may it be, and so may
you work by your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.