A. Today’s sermon is the final sermon in our series from Proverbs called “God’s Wisdom: More Valuable Than Gold.”
1. I hope this series has been a blessing to you! It’s been a blessing to me.
2. We started this series back in April and since then, we have explored many important truths from Proverbs.
3. We have talked about how God’s wisdom is the most valuable thing in the world.
4. We learned that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
5. The rest of the sermons have been about learning to be wise about specific things like:
a. Being wise about friendship and self-control.
b. Being wise about sex and alcohol and your tongue.
c. Being wise about money and work and parenting.
d. And last week, we discussed being wise about justice.
B. It seems fitting to conclude our sermon series by focusing on being wise about integrity.
1. In many respects, integrity involves consistently putting all of God’s wisdom into practice.
2. The dictionary defines integrity as “the state of being complete, unified.”
3. When people have integrity, their words and deeds match up.
4. They are who they are, no matter where they are or who they are with.
5. People with integrity are not divided (that’s duplicity) nor are they merely pretending (that’s hypocrisy).
6. People with integrity are “whole” and their lives are “put together.”
7. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear – their lives are open books.
C. It seems that there was a time in the United States when maintaining one’s integrity was more important than almost anything else.
1. There was a time when people really guarded their name and their reputation.
2. But I’m afraid most of that has been lost in our day and time.
3. Morals are crumbling around us, Wall Street and business seems to reek with corruption, Washington is full of people who seem less than upright and truthful, the judicial system seems to be compromised, and it seems that we expect that most people can’t be trusted.
4. But it is against that kind of dark background that Christians are called to shine brightly.
5. When living with wisdom and integrity, we can, as Paul wrote, “be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life.”
D. Proverbs calls us to live lives of integrity and to be blessed by it.
1. Proverbs 2:7 says: He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity.
2. Proverbs 10:9 says: The one who lives with integrity lives securely; but whoever perverts his ways will be found out.
3. Proverbs 11:3 says: The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the treacherous destroys them.
4. Proverbs 13:6 says: Righteousness guards people of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner.
5. Proverbs 28:18 says: The one who lives with integrity will be helped, but one who distorts right and wrong will suddenly fall.
6. I’m sure that all of us want the good and positive blessings of living with integrity: being successful, being shielded and guarded, being guided, being secure, and receiving assistance.
7. And I’m sure that all of us want to avoid the negative consequences of not living with integrity: being unsuccessful, being unshielded and unguarded, being unguided, being undermined, being found out, being without help, and being destroyed.
E. Integrity is a very practical and personal thing.
1. Before Adam Clarke wrote his famous commentary on the Bible, he worked in a dry goods store where he sold fine silks and satin fabrics to a very cultured clientele.
2. One day, Clarke’s employer pulled him aside and encouraged him to try stretching the materials as he rolled them out for measuring.
3. Such a tactic would increase sales and profits.
4. As the story goes, Clarke looked at his boss straight in the eye and courageously said: “Sir, your silk my stretch, but my conscience will not!”
5. That’s what integrity is all about – it is holding to God’s principles with a clear conscience.
F. In a similar story, I read about a teenage boy who was thrilled to get his first job in a store.
1. When he showed up for the first day of training, the manager explained to him: “Wisdom and integrity are essential in the retail business. By ‘integrity’ I mean if you promise something you have got to keep that promise – even if it means we lose money.”
2. Then the boy asked: “And what is wisdom?”
3. His boss answered: “Wisdom is never making a promise you don’t want to keep.”
4. That manager was right – the promises we make and keep prove our integrity and wisdom.
G. When the writers of the New Testament were trying to communicate the quality of integrity, they would sometimes use words like “truthful” or “incorruptibility” or “sincerity.”
1. The word “sincerity” has an interesting background in its literal meaning.
2. The root word in the Greek means “judged in sunlight” and the English word is derived from a Latin root word which means “without wax.”
3. In ancient times, porcelain and marble creations often had flaws or cracks that would sometimes be hidden with wax.
4. A craftsman might say that his creation is sincere or “without wax,” or that it has been “judged in sunlight.”
5. To test whether something was sincere (without wax) all you had to do is put it in the sunlight for few minutes and if it contained wax it would melt, thus being “judged by the sunlight.”
6. As we try to live lives of integrity as disciples of Jesus, we want our words and lives to be sincere (without wax) and we want them to be able to hold up under being exposed to the light.
H. The idea of integrity is a key theme in the story of Job.
1. The first verse of Job 1 says: There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.
2. Then in verse 8, God says this about Job: Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”
3. Throughout the rest of the story of Job, there is the tension and question: Will Job keep his integrity and why will Job keep his integrity.
4. Thankfully, Job believed in God enough and was committed to God enough that he lived out his faith with integrity.
5. Job is our model for how to live with integrity when we go through suffering.
I. The idea of integrity also is a key theme in the story of King David.
1. Psalm 78:72 says this about David’s integrity: And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; and with skillful hands he led them.
a. That text is telling us that the thing that made David’s reign as king so wonderful was that he was a man who performed his task of leadership with integrity.
2. In 1 Chronicles 29:17, David said, “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.”
a. That verse reveals two important things about God: First, that God does indeed search the human heart. Second, that what God is looking for inside the human heart is this quality of integrity and God is pleased when He sees someone living with integrity.
3. In 1 Kings 9:4-5, we notice what the Lord said to Solomon, David’s son: “As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever.”
a. God was telling Solomon that He values integrity so much, that if he would be a man of integrity as David was, then God would establish his throne over Israel forever.
b. Unfortunately, Solomon did not walk in the kind of integrity that David had and the kingdom was divided after Solomon.
J. Let’s explore a number of practical aspects of living with integrity.
1. Let’s start with this: First, Integrity means telling the truth and keeping your promises even when it hurts.
2. Proverbs 12:17 says: A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies.
3. Psalm 15:1 says: Who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous.
a. Then the Psalmist gives a list of what it means to be righteous, including Psalm 15:4 which says: He who keeps his oath even when it hurts.
b. The person of integrity keeps their promises even when they would rather not.
4. In an earlier illustration in this sermon, a store manager said that “wisdom is never making a promise you don’t want to keep.”
5. Therefore, following the path of wisdom would suggest that we:
a. Guard our words.
b. Make fewer promises.
c. If you know you can’t, then don’t say you can.
d. If you don’t know, then say you don’t know.
e. Obviously, avoid making rash vows.
f. Learning to say “no” upfront is better than saying “yes,” then later coming back with “no.”
6. People of integrity speak the truth and keep their promises.
K. Second, Integrity means owning up to our mistakes.
1. None of us are perfect nor will we ever be perfect.
2. When we know we have made a mistake, then the sooner we own up to it the better.
3. Proverbs 14:9 says: Fools make fun of guilt, but the godly acknowledge it and seek reconciliation.
4. Back in 1990, a professional golfer named Steve Elkington owned up to his mistake and it cost him a lot of money.
a. Two weeks earlier, Elkington had won his first PGA tournament.
b. Two weeks later, he played in the USF&G Classic in New Orleans, but wasn’t the winner.
c. When he read the newspaper two days after the tournament, he saw that the official results showed him with a final round of 79 that was good enough for a tie for 21st place and $10,000 in prize money (that’s worth $25,000 in today’s money).
d. The problem was that he had actually shot an 80 on that day, not a 79.
e. He checked and discovered that he had signed an incorrect scorecard for the round.
f. Rather than keep his mouth shut and take his chances on getting away with it, Elkington contacted PGA tour officials and told them about his mistake.
g. You might be thinking, “No big deal, right? Just drop down a place or two in the standings and collect a few hundred dollars less, right?”
h. Wrong – under PGA rules, signing an incorrect scorecard means disqualification from the tournament in question and forfeiture of all prize money.
5. Elkington did the right thing and the honorable thing, and even though it was an honest mistake, he owned up to his mistake and he paid a price for doing so.
L. Third, Integrity means treating people justly, equally and without prejudice
1. We spent last week’s sermon on this subject, so we won’t go into detail on it today, suffice-it-to-say that we can’t be considered persons of integrity if we show prejudice, partiality or favoritism.
M. Fourth, Integrity means being a good steward of our finances – paying our debts, being generous, and never stealing or cheating.
1. We cannot be considered people of integrity if we don’t pay our debts and don’t follow through with our financial promises.
2. Obviously, we can’t be considered people of integrity if we cheat and steal.
a. Proverbs 28:6 says: Better a poor person who lives with integrity than the rich one who distorts right and wrong.
3. We also can’t be considered people of integrity if we are selfish and stingy.
4. Psalm 37:21 says: The wicked person borrows and does not repay, but the righteous one is gracious and giving.
5. Proverbs 11:24 says: One person gives freely, yet gains more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
6. Proverbs 22:9 says: A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
N. Fifth, Integrity means fulfilling our responsibilities – being faithful to our spouse, children and parents.
1. We can’t be considered people of integrity if we cheat on our spouses or neglect our children or our parents.
2. People who say they love God and who say they love their family, must be faithful to carry out the most basic responsibilities to their families.
3. Certainly showing love and faithfulness as well as basic financial provisions are a minimum to be considered living with integrity.
4. Paul wrote: But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Tim. 5:8)
O. Sixth, Integrity means being a hardworking and trustworthy employee.
1. We devoted a week in our sermon series from Proverbs on being wise about work.
2. Proverbs has a lot to say about working with integrity, as does the rest of the Bible.
3. Because of our devotion to God and commitment to ethical living, Christians should be the hardest working and most trusted employees.
4. No one should have to watch us closely or motivate us repeatedly to make us be productive and be honest workers.
5. If our overall goal is to please God, most earthly bosses will be easily pleased with our work.
P. Finally, Integrity means being a good citizen by obeying the laws of our country.
1. Paul said it well in Romans 13, when he wrote: 1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience. (Rom. 13:1-5)
2. People of integrity try to be law-keepers, not law-breakers.
3. We should follow the law, not just because we are afraid of legal punishment, but because of our conscience and our commitment to God.
4. As people of faith, who are trying to live in obedience to God, we must also live in obedience to the laws of our country and state.
5. Unless the laws of our country and state violate the laws of God, then we must submit to them out of reverence for God.
6. We cannot be considered people of integrity if we have a disregard for the law and flaunt if by driving above the speed limit, driving or fishing without a license, building without a permit, or working under the table, just to name a few ways that people often break the law.
7. Striving to live uprightly, with integrity and without reproach, has to do with religious, moral and legal things.
Q. Near Florence, Alabama, there is a cemetery where most graves are 150 to 200 years old.
1. In that cemetery, there’s a grave of someone who died around 1865 that has this one statement engraved under their name: “A man of unquestioned integrity.”
2. What a phrase to have put on your tombstone!
3. How wonderful that his integrity was so strong during his life that even after his death, no one could call his integrity into question at all.
4. That’s the kind of life that pleases God.
R. Let me end with something written by Ted Engstrom (a Christian leader and author) in his book “The Making of a Christian Leader”:
The world needs men (and women) who cannot be bought;
whose word is their bond;
who put character above wealth;
who possess opinions and a will;
who are larger than their vocations;
who do not hesitate to take chances;
who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;
who will be honest in small things as in great things;
who will make no compromise with wrong;
whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;
who will not say they do it “because everyone else does it;”
who are true to their friends through good report and evil report,
in adversity as well as in prosperity;
who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning and hardheadedness are the best qualities
for winning success;
who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular, who can say “no”
with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says “yes.”
S. The world and the church need people with that kind of integrity!
1. I hope we will be people with that kind of integrity.
2. And as we end this sermon series, I hope we have concluded that God’s wisdom is more valuable than anything.
3. I pray that all of us will put God’s wisdom into practice with integrity.
4. And the church said: “Amen!”
Resources:
• Integrity: The Ultimate Virtue, Ray Pritchard
• Integrity, Sermon by Jimmy Haile, SermonCentral.com
