The Cost of Integrity: Why Your ‘Yes’ Must Mean ‘Yes’

• Integrity and Honesty 00:03:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the theme of the believer's need for honesty and integrity as the focus of the sermon, building on previous teachings about righteousness.
• [Matthew 5:33-37](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A33-37&version=KJV) 00:04:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reads the scripture passage where Jesus instructs believers not to take oaths but to let their yes mean yes and their no mean no.
• Cultural Deception 00:06:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that modern culture is built on deception, citing advertising, sales tactics, and political promises as examples of broken trust.
• Trust and Promises 00:12:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that when promises become common, trust becomes rare, and asks the congregation to evaluate their own trustworthiness as Christians.
• Pharisaical Legalism 00:13:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that Jesus was addressing the Pharisees who twisted God's law to justify dishonesty through complex rules and loopholes.
• Trust and Integrity 00:12:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the natural human reaction to sales pitches with the Christian call to be a person of integrity, asking if people can trust the believer.
• Old Testament Law and Oaths 00:13:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that Jesus is summarizing OT passages (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers) that forbid false oaths and require keeping one's word to God.
• Pharisaical Legalism vs. True Righteousness 00:15:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor critiques the Pharisees for twisting the law to justify dishonesty and creating loopholes, contrasting this with the true question of how to become a man or woman of integrity.
• Voluntary Vows and Modern Application 00:20:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor clarifies that Jesus forbids voluntary oaths to avoid hypocrisy, not mandatory legal oaths, and warns against making guarantees by things we cannot control.
• Kingdom Righteousness and Trust 00:24:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines kingdom righteousness as God's goodness deposited in believers, which naturally leads to honesty and builds trust, describing trust as a 'cheat code for life.'
• Cultural vs. Biblical Views on Lying 00:28:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the Western cultural view that 'white lies' are harmless with the biblical view that any dishonesty harms the self and dishonors God.
• Integrity and Self-Deception 00:31:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies that people lie to themselves most often by breaking commitments to themselves, which erodes self-trust and testimony.
• The Weight of Words 00:32:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor emphasizes that words have weight and that Jesus' teaching protects us from the consequences of our speech, referencing James 5:12.
• Consequences of Sin 00:35:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of knocking over a liquor store to illustrate that while God forgives sin, there are still earthly consequences and costs to pay.
• Specific Examples of Dishonesty 00:36:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor lists specific areas where Christians fail in integrity, including being late, canceling plans, overcommitting, and using AI to fake reading books.
• Kingdom Righteousness and Testimony 00:41:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines kingdom righteousness as valuing one's witness and ability to lead others to Jesus above personal gain, explaining that the Holy Spirit reorders values to prioritize this credibility.
• The Impact of Integrity on Witness 00:42:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces a diagnostic question for believers: 'How will this decision impact my testimony?' He argues that dishonesty risks losing the trust necessary to lead others to Jesus.
• Humility and Selflessness 00:47:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites Philippians 2 to explain that Christians should do nothing out of selfish ambition but should consider others more important than themselves, following Christ's example of emptying himself.
• Salvation and Grace 00:48:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor acknowledges universal sinfulness but emphasizes that Jesus saves sinners, citing Romans to show that God's love was demonstrated while humans were still sinners, providing the motivation for integrity.
• Salvation and Repentance 00:52:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the audience to repent, turn from sin, and place their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
• Public Confession of Faith 00:52:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages a physical act of faith (lifting a hand) to publicly affirm the decision to follow Jesus.

• Sermon Illustration 00:08:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife catching him using the phrase 'honestly' in normal conversation, illustrating how people use reassurances to cover up lies.
• Sermon Illustration 00:10:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references George H.W. Bush's 'read my lips, no new taxes' promise and his subsequent failure to keep it, using it to illustrate broken political promises.
• Sermon Illustration 00:08:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the experience of buying a house where the online pictures looked beautiful but the actual house was falling apart, illustrating deceptive advertising and sales practices.
• Sermon Illustration 00:12:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a salesman making promises to illustrate how trust decreases when people feel manipulated, contrasting this with the Christian call to be trustworthy.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the Pharisees creating a 'labyrinth of rules and regulations' to justify dishonesty and find loopholes in God's law.
• Sermon Illustration 00:17:20 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor illustrates modern corporate culture where the focus is on legal liability and 'getting Rob on the phone' rather than telling the truth or doing the right thing.
• Sermon Illustration 00:26:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the book 'Never Split the Difference' by FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss, who teaches that one should never lie to anyone because lying destroys credibility and trust.
• Sermon Illustration 00:26:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Chris Voss, an FBI hostage negotiator, who teaches that one should never lie to anyone, even terrorists, because lying destroys all credibility and trust, making negotiation impossible.
• Sermon Illustration 00:28:57 ▶️ 📄
  > A story about an Indonesian seminary student who left multiple-choice questions blank on an exam because he believed guessing incorrectly would be a lie, contrasting with the American professor's view that winning is more important than integrity.
• Sermon Illustration 00:32:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the common behavior of saying 'I wish I could make it' or 'I'll be praying for you' when one has no intention of following through, labeling these as lies that harm the speaker's integrity.
• Sermon Illustration 00:35:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of knocking over a liquor store to explain that while God forgives sin, the earthly consequences (jail) remain, illustrating that sin always has a cost.
• Sermon Illustration 00:39:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the behavior of using ChatGPT to summarize books for life groups instead of reading them, highlighting this as a form of deception where one acts like they did the work but did not.
• Sermon Illustration 00:39:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about using ChatGPT to summarize a book he didn't read for a life group, illustrating the internal guilt and self-deception of 'faking it' to please others.
• Sermon Illustration 00:43:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells a story about a pastor who received excessive change from a bus driver, initially rationalizing keeping it, but then returning it after realizing the driver was testing his integrity based on a previous sermon.
• Sermon Illustration 00:45:37 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a personal experience at a restaurant where a waitress recognized him and complimented his sermons, highlighting how everyday interactions serve as opportunities for witness and how dishonesty can ruin that credibility.

• Pastoral Charge 00:23:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to prepare to take notes on practical applications of integrity.
• Pastoral Charge 00:50:20 ▶️ 📄
  > Stand with the pastor for a moment of prayer.
• Pastoral Charge 00:51:23 ▶️ 📄
  > Bow head, close eyes, and focus heart.
• Pastoral Charge 00:52:24 ▶️ 📄
  > Lift up hand to signify decision to repent and trust in Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge 00:52:14 ▶️ 📄
  > Lift up your hand to say yes to Jesus and make a decision to repent and put faith in Him.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:45] Hello, Freedom House Central Campus. Uh-oh. That other one was just too powerful. They had to restrict the power. Well, it's great to be here with you today. My name's Olin Carter. I serve here on our teaching team. And if you are new here to Freedom House Church, something you will see in everything we do, our vision here, what drives us is equipping people to experience Christ's freedom in their everyday lives. What does that mean? We don't want to just be a Christian, a good Christian at church on a Sunday.
[00:01:16] It's all about taking it outside of these four walls.
[00:01:20] How do we equip you to live every day with your family on your job for Jesus Christ?
[00:01:28] And so I love that vision.
[00:01:30] I'm honored to be a part of the team.
[00:01:31] We have a team.
[00:01:32] We have a live communicator or pastor at each one of our campuses each and every week, which I just love.
[00:01:37] And I love being a part of this team.
[00:01:38] We do everything here as a team.
[00:01:40] Now, before I jump into God's word, I do want to say a big welcome to our online campus today. You guys give it up for them. They join us each day. You might not know how big we really
[00:01:53] are as far as how many people are with us, but we have folks joining us right now in North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, South Carolina, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Montana, Idaho, and South Africa. Come on. All around the world,
[00:02:13] people are tuning in or with us here today. And I just want to welcome you guys. You're part of our family. And if you're ever in town, we would love for you to come here, worship with us. We'd
[00:02:22] love to just give you a big hug and we love you guys very much. Now, this whole summer, we've been in this series, Summer on the Mount. How many of you guys have been here for some of these messages?
[00:02:32] Maybe you've caught at least a few of these. Yeah. Awesome. Most of you have. I know we're traveling, vacation, but I would encourage you. This is so important that we get this in our heart. If you've
[00:02:42] missed a few of the messages, go to our YouTube channel, check it out, go watch some of the other messages because we've tried our very best with events and different campuses and our rotation.
[00:02:54] It's impossible to get the whole book covered in three months at every campus. But if you go online, if you listen to all, you can fill in the different ones and really get a good
[00:03:05] understanding of the Sermon on the Mount. It's so incredible. I'm going to continue today kind of building in the section on our righteousness, the righteousness of the believer. If you were here, if you heard my last message, it was in chapter five, Matthew chapter five, where Jesus
[00:03:22] teaches us all about the Christian's character, the Christian's influence, and the Christian's righteousness. And I believe everything we need to live as a believer, like to know what Jesus wants us to be like, how he wants us to act and respond and believe, we can find it in the Sermon
[00:03:41] on the Mount. It gives us so much about life in the kingdom of God. And today we're going to continue in this section and we're going to really focus on the believer's need for honesty
[00:03:54] and integrity, that we're called to be people of integrity. So open your Bibles, read with me. We're going to put this up on the screen for you as well. We're in Matthew chapter five, starting in
[00:04:05] verse 33. This is Jesus speaking. He says, again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, you must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. But I tell you,
[00:04:20] don't take an oath at all, either by heaven, because it is God's throne, or by the earth, because it is his footstool or by Jerusalem because it is the city of the great king.
[00:04:31] Do not swear by your head because you cannot make a single hair white or black, but let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. Anything more than this is from the evil one. Now I believe that
[00:04:50] Jesus's teachings, they're all important. They're all relevant for us today. Can I get an amen?
[00:04:55] by the Christians today, right? I mean, like if Jesus said it, we should probably believe it, right? But I got a sneaky suspicion based on some of my own personal experience, based on about 172 years in church. I was born in church. I've been in more church services. When we get
[00:05:15] to heaven, they're going to tally it up. I know I'm, I gotta be in the top 10 all time human beings that have attended church, right? I've heard a lot of sermons in my life. And after
[00:05:24] hearing many, many, many, many sermons, I can tell you most of us as Christians, when we're reading the amazing Sermon on the Mount, it's incredible, isn't it? It's powerful, right? We get to this section on oaths and we just kind of skip it. It's like, I very rarely hear anybody preach on this.
[00:05:43] And I think for most of us, I know for a lot of my Christian life, I really didn't understand like, what is Jesus talking about? Right? We don't use this language today. We don't talk
[00:05:54] about oaths and vows. Like when I say vow, what do you think of? Marriage vows. When I, when I say the word oath, don't break your oath. What do we think of? We think of like an oath of office,
[00:06:04] right? I don't know about you. I didn't get sworn into my job. Most of us in here, we're not the mayor. We're not a Congressman. Like, right. Like we're thinking of, Oh, like what Jesus,
[00:06:13] what are you talking about here? Here's what I promise you today. I think you will see that this passage, this little passage, few scriptures here is actually one of the most relevant in our modern age today. It's actually one of the most important and most relevant to
[00:06:33] us once you understand what Jesus is actually talking about. Now, where am I going with this?
[00:06:40] Well, I believe firmly, I think most of you will agree that we live today in a culture culture of deception. We live, we're immersed in a modern world that everything is built, the underpinnings of our very culture, our very language is one of deception. Think about
[00:07:02] advertising today. You go on amazon.com, you go on, you know, social media, you're seeing ads, you're getting, you know, like in every product you see is the best product ever. It's the best, just the cheapest, just the first, just the most innovative. Like somebody's lying. Every product
[00:07:22] I look at, right? Like every one, every TV can't be the greatest TV ever made for the best price ever given on the best sale. Like somebody's lying to me. Like, come on. It could be the 15th
[00:07:35] best. Every one of them can't be the best. I think we understand there's so much lying and advertising. What about salespeople? Now, listen, if you're a salesperson, I am not here to beat you up because I is one. All right. I love sales. I've been in sales like my whole life, my whole
[00:07:51] adult life. Sales done right with integrity is a noble profession. But I think most of us have even come to expect that a lot of salespeople, they're just maybe stretching the truth a little bit. Like I'm in the mortgage and real estate industry. And listen, have you ever gone to Zillow
[00:08:10] or like realtor.com and you look at a house and you look at the pictures and then you actually go look at the house. Like I have clients call me and they're like, man, I went to look at the house.
[00:08:23] I think they took pictures of a different house. Like I don't even know what they do. Like AI is not even this good. Like what in the world? It looked beautiful. And then they go look at the
[00:08:34] house and they're like, it was falling apart. Like what in the world, right? Our common language, our idioms, our vernacular are built around reassurances. Now I got to be vulnerable.
[00:08:45] I am guilty of this one. And my wife busts me on it all the time because I'm in just normal conversation talking about nothing, you know, nothing important. And just, you know, and I'll come out with this, Hey, you know, honestly, and my wife will stop me. She'll, Hey, honestly,
[00:08:59] were you lying to me before? Why'd you have to throw the honestly in there? You know, like we all do it, you know, we, you know, to be honest. And since I wrote this message, I've been paying
[00:09:10] attention. I listen to a lot of podcasts and things like that. And everybody says it. Like, it's just, it's our vernacular. It's how we speak as Americans in the modern world. Online reviews.
[00:09:23] Are they fake? Are they real? Are they AI generated? Like you're reading a review. Is it even a human being trying to figure out where to eat dinner, man? I'm like, is this a real person
[00:09:32] that ate food or is this some bot in the Ukraine? You know, like is, I don't know. No one knows everything's fake political promises what a joke what a joke political promises how many let's see
[00:09:46] if you can complete this read my lips see y'all see y'all are old y'all just dated yourself right there so i go to south end and i use that reference i'm like read my lips and they're all like
[00:09:59] we're reading them what are you talking about man they're all like 12 year old 12 years old down there i'm like they don't know you know they're like none of them remember anything They're all so young. And I'm like, it makes me feel old, you know, gray beard here. And I'm like,
[00:10:14] that was the first Bush for you young people. The Bush, you know, this was his dad. So his first time he runs for presidency, he wins, but he tours the country saying, read my lips, no new taxes.
[00:10:30] Then he gets elected. And about 10 minutes later, there's new taxes, right? And we know, listen, Even with our favorite politicians, you know, we all get tribal with this stuff and I like this guy
[00:10:41] and I don't like that. Hopefully we're all voting for Christian values. Can I get an amen?
[00:10:46] But I think we've all come to expect, even the politicians we vote for, we don't really expect them to tell the truth all the time. We don't really expect that they're going to keep their
[00:10:55] political promises to us. Like they say all this stuff in the campaign. And then as soon as they get in office, we're like, well, you know, they got to make deals to get things done. You know,
[00:11:05] Like we make excuses for them. And what about contracts and terms and conditions? Anybody bought a new service lately or software lately? App on your phone? You go to buy the thing and then there's this little thing called terms and conditions, right? Have you ever read all of them?
[00:11:25] No, none of us have. Why? Because it would take a year. You'd have to quit your job.
[00:11:33] like, you know, it would be a full-time thing. Like it would take you for, you would never get done reading it. You go to the grocery store, the receipt is so long, you need a bag for the receipt,
[00:11:42] you know, and they're just, it's just printing all this stuff out. Why? Why? Because they want loopholes. They want all this legal verbiage there so they can lie to us, so they can take advantage, so they can do things without any kind of legal consequence for it. We understand this.
[00:12:03] Here's the truth, guys. The truth is when promises become common, trust becomes rare.
[00:12:12] When promises become common, trust becomes rare. You're buying a car. The salesperson says, trust me, don't worry about it. We got you. I guarantee every time the salesman makes a promise, a commitment, a reassurance, does your trust level go up or down? It goes down. You trust
[00:12:40] them less. Why? You feel like you're being manipulated. You feel like you're being lied to. Here's the question for us today individually as Christians, as followers of Jesus. It's a simple one, but it's an important one. Am I trustworthy? Am I trustworthy? Should people
[00:12:59] trust me? Do people trust me? Can people trust me? Am I a man or woman of integrity? As Christians, we have to ask ourselves that question. Now, we don't use the terms oaths and vows and things
[00:13:12] like that today. So I think what's important, we need to understand what is Jesus talking about, okay? Because this passage, especially if you read it in the King James or some of the older translations, like you read it and it's like, huh? Like, what is he talking about here? How does this
[00:13:26] apply to our everyday life? Well, you see, the Pharisees had twisted the law of God. They twisted it to justify dishonesty. They twisted God's word, God's law. They made this labyrinth of rules and regulations so that they could get away with stuff. Jesus is pointing here to a summary of
[00:13:52] several old Testament passages that required people to follow through on oaths made to God or in God's name. Okay. So let's read these passages, Exodus 20. There's many, but these are several of the key ones that theologians think Jesus is quoting and looking at
[00:14:12] in this passage. So Exodus 20 verse seven, it says, you shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Leviticus
[00:14:26] 19, 12. This is the key one most theologians think that Jesus was talking about here. It says, you shall not swear by my name falsely. So you will not swear by the name of God
[00:14:38] falsely. In so profane the name of your God, I am the Lord. Numbers 30 verse 2, it says, if a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break
[00:14:57] his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what these commands are for, what they're really saying, right? I mean, it's pretty simple. It's pretty obvious, self-obvious what God is asking here.
[00:15:15] Don't be dishonest. Don't commit perjury or what in the old Testament was called bearing false witness. And don't break your word. If you make a commitment, keep a commitment. Does everybody get that? Like, it's pretty simple, right? It's pretty clear. But the Pharisees in true self
[00:15:34] righteous fashion, they turn the question, the real question, the true question, what we should be asking of ourselves each and every day is how do I become a man or woman of integrity?
[00:15:46] How do I honor God by, by reflecting his nature, his truthfulness, his integrity, his honesty, because the Bible says God is not a man that he should lie. I mean, know our God does not lie. He does not deceive. There's no darkness in him. When God says it,
[00:16:02] he's going to do it. So the real question for me as a believer, as a follower of God is how do I emulate that? How can I be a person of true integrity? How can I, how can I emulate God
[00:16:12] to the world? But the Pharisees, they turned that instead of asking, Hey, how can I really be like God? How can I really, you know, honor God? They turned the question into exactly what kind of
[00:16:24] promise am I legally obligated to keep? Where's the loophole here? What exact verbiage do I have to use to be legally obligated? They created a legal structure that focused on the wording of the oath or the vow. So in Jesus's day, if I were to swear by heaven or swear by the temple
[00:16:52] or swear by my own head and then not honor my commitment, break my word.
[00:16:57] That was not technically breaking the law because technically I didn't swear by God's name.
[00:17:06] I didn't swear by Yahweh.
[00:17:08] I didn't swear to Yahweh.
[00:17:10] So technically I can get out of it.
[00:17:15] And isn't that the exact culture we live in today?
[00:17:20] Every corporation, every board meeting, the question is not, how do we tell the truth? How are we transparent and honest? How do we do the right thing no matter what it costs us? Give me a break. Like we know some of us have been in
[00:17:36] those meetings. That's not the question at all. Here's the question. Hey, get our attorney, get Rob on the phone. Hey, Rob, hey, we're all here kind of, this is an important issue.
[00:17:48] um, what exactly is our legal liability here? So we know we're not telling the whole truth.
[00:17:57] We don't really care. What we really care about is how much trouble can I get in?
[00:18:06] And sadly, many Christians and many churches are run the same way. We see scandal after scandal after scandal where church boards and even pastors lie to people or hide the truth why because our culture tells us what's most important is not my testimony it's not my word before God
[00:18:32] it's making the deal it's winning the day it's getting what I want it's it's protecting myself and the organization. It's everything but being people of integrity, people of our word. That's always the problem with self-righteousness. It causes us to pursue loopholes instead of
[00:18:53] righteousness. Self-righteous people are more concerned with justifying their sin than with the condition of their heart. And so when you're caught in a situation where you're like, I don't know that I handled that right. I don't know that I told the full truth there.
[00:19:09] where does your concern go to first is it oh my I could get caught and get in trouble here or is it wow why did I say that why did I do that what's in my heart that I would have to
[00:19:25] deceive or take a shortcut or cheat or lie why didn't I just trust the Lord see when you're living in a righteousness that's come from God the goodness that God deposits in us not what I
[00:19:38] earned by my flesh. Not the selfishness that the Pharisees had, but a true spiritual righteousness, the goodness of God. It makes me more concerned about my heart. Jesus commands us in verses 34 and 37, do not take an oath at all. He says, rise above this. Remember, Jesus doesn't lower the bar.
[00:19:59] he raises the bar he says let what you say simply be yes or no let your yes mean yes say what you mean and follow through be a person of integrity this wasn't because the old testament law forbade
[00:20:17] all oaths deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 22 look at it with me it's just but if you refrain from vowing you shall not you will not be guilty of sin what does this mean it means there are many
[00:20:28] voluntary vows that you could take in the Old Testament, but God's letting you know you don't have to. You don't have to make all these grand gestures. You don't have to get up in front of
[00:20:38] everybody and I pledge to give this or do this great righteous thing. He's like, no, no, no, no, no. If you don't do that, there's no sin in that. Just, just, you could just say the thing or just
[00:20:48] do the thing. If you want to give some money, just give the money. You don't have to go make this grand gesture about it. But if you do, verse 23, you shall be careful to do what has passed
[00:20:59] from your lips for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord, your God, what you have promised with your mouth. Now, why do I bring that up? Because many denominations, Christian denominations have taken this passage of scripture, totally misunderstood it and said, well, as Christians,
[00:21:20] we can't, you know, pledge allegiance to the flag or take an oath in court. Listen, you go to court, you better raise your right hand and do the thing or you're going to get in trouble because you're
[00:21:30] required to take that. That's not what he's talking about here. He's talking about voluntary oaths. And when we deceive people or when we issue guarantees or commitments, and then we don't honor our word, we make promises or guarantees by things we have no control over. And it dishonors God.
[00:21:50] Who am I to swear by my own head? Jesus asked us, he's because a lot of times they, I'm not going to swear in God's name, but may my own head, may I lose my own head if I'm lying to you today.
[00:22:00] for you to swear by your own head. You can't make one hair white or black or apparently make one grow. I've tried. I mean, it's like, come on, man. Like, nothing happens. You can't control it.
[00:22:15] What's he really talking about there? White or black? He's talking about your aging. When you're black, your dark hair turns white because you're turning old. He says, you don't control that.
[00:22:25] You don't know how long you're going to live. You don't control your own physical body and health and life. And you don't control the temple. You don't control heaven. You don't control any of that. So why are you making all these guarantees and saying all these proud statements based on
[00:22:38] things you don't even control? Jesus is teaching that loopholes don't get you out of your commitment. So stop making grand promises and guarantees. Simply say yes or no. Look with me here. James chapter four, the great pastor James, he has a pastor's heart. So practical. He says
[00:23:01] here in verse 13. Come now, you who say today or tomorrow, we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make profit. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will
[00:23:13] bring, what your life will be for you are like a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes, poof, you're gone. Instead, you should say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this
[00:23:27] or do that. But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Let your word be enough. Build a life of such integrity that people will take you at your word. Now,
[00:23:46] how do we do that? I want to make this practical for you today. I want to give you some real life examples. You guys ready to take some notes? I'm going to give you some practical stuff,
[00:23:54] stuff you can use today. Okay. Number one, number one, how do we do this? Number one, kingdom righteousness builds trust through honesty. Kingdom righteousness builds trust through honesty. Now, why do I phrase it like that? I'm going to phrase all these like this
[00:24:13] because kingdom righteousness is not my righteousness. It's the righteousness of God in Christ, that he gives me as a gift that I receive by faith. God puts his goodness in us.
[00:24:25] And then we learn to obey and let that goodness out. So when God puts his goodness in us, that goodness, when we are led by the spirit, will push us towards honesty and integrity with other people. And when we do that, we will develop, we will build trust.
[00:24:45] Now, God designed people to run on trust.
[00:24:49] Now, many of us, we think we run on carbs and fat and protein.
[00:24:55] I've been trying to run from the carbs lately.
[00:24:58] They're chasing me, but I'm running.
[00:24:59] I'm running hard.
[00:25:00] I'm like, right?
[00:25:02] Sometimes you just got to eat a carb, right?
[00:25:05] But you know, our body, our society, we don't really run on that.
[00:25:10] We run on trust.
[00:25:12] The Bible says that we don't live by sight, right?
[00:25:16] We live by faith.
[00:25:19] What is faith?
[00:25:21] Faith is relational trust in God.
[00:25:24] And let me just tell you something, you young people, this is important for you to understand.
[00:25:27] This will absolutely, positively change your life forever.
[00:25:33] If you will follow what Jesus teaches you here, if you will learn to develop a life of trust, it is absolutely a cheat code for life.
[00:25:42] Now, what do I mean by that?
[00:25:43] if people can trust you, if you can trust you, and if you surround yourself with people you can trust, life is, it is 10 times easier on the counter. If you can't trust you, if people can't
[00:26:05] trust you, if you're surrounded and you work all the time with people you can't trust, everything takes longer. Everything costs more. Everything is more difficult. Life is hard. It's way harder without trust. When you inject trust into any relationship, in any situation, life gets better.
[00:26:31] Now, one of my favorite authors, book I read a few years ago, a guy named Chris Voss. If you've never heard of the book, it's called Never Split the Difference. I would highly encourage the book.
[00:26:41] great read, fun read. This guy was the lead hostage negotiator internationally for the FBI.
[00:26:49] He's worked with Harvard University, brilliant guy, brilliant negotiator. And he writes this book, Never Split the Difference, how to be a great negotiator. So there's amazing stories in the book, but here's what stands out to me in the book. His number one key philosophy or foundational
[00:27:05] principle or value of what he teaches people when it comes to negotiating? Never lie to anyone ever.
[00:27:17] I've seen interviews with this guy and people are dumbfounded. They're like, dude, you're negotiating with a terrorist. Lie. Like, what are you saying? Like, why would you not lie? Like, say whatever you got to say to get the hostage released, to get the thing done,
[00:27:32] to get the person in custody, to stop them from blowing up the building. Like, say what you need to say? And he's like, no, the moment you lie, you lose all credibility, all trust, and you cannot
[00:27:46] negotiate with that person any further. He said, you never, ever lie to anyone. Once you lie to someone, trust is broken. Moving forward is either impossible, or like I said before, it becomes way more difficult and way more costly. But here's the problem, guys. We think in our culture, this is how
[00:28:07] we define dishonesty or lying. We feel like lying is only bad when we are directly dishonest with the intention of harming someone. So a little white lie, a lie to help someone out, you know, that's not really a big deal. Don't worry about that. But the problem with thinking
[00:28:27] that way is that every time we are dishonest, we harm ourselves and we dishonor God. Now I'm reading a book right now on biblical interpretation through culture. So like, how do we view the Bible
[00:28:41] through Western eyes versus, you know, the Bible was written by Eastern cultures. And the guy, one of the coauthors of the book, he tells this amazing story. He's a professor and he's over in Indonesia. This was a few years ago. And he's teaching seminary students. So these are Christians,
[00:28:57] young men and women that love Jesus. They're trying to learn how to be pastors or teachers or whatever. And he's their professor. And so one day he gives them a test and it's their first
[00:29:06] multiple choice exam. So they all take the test. He gets them back. He's grading their exams and he notices something really peculiar. Several of the students, many of them in fact, leave a few of the questions blank. They don't answer at all. It's multiple choice. They leave it blank.
[00:29:27] He's shocked by this. He takes the test. He gets this one young man in particular left several blank and he takes the test over to the young man. He says, hey man, can I talk to you about
[00:29:36] something? He says, yes, sir. He says, well, I'm looking at your test here, graded it. And he said, you left a few of these blank. You didn't even answer. And the young man, without skipping a beat,
[00:29:44] he looked up. He said, yes, sir. He said, why would you do that? And he says, well, I didn't know the answer. He said, right. But it's multiple choice. You should have at least taken a guess.
[00:30:00] And the young man was appalled. His eyes got real big. He said, but professor, what if I would have guessed correctly wouldn't that insinuate that I knew the correct answer when I really didn't professor that would be a lie and the theologian the teacher the leader
[00:30:24] the professor oh he was blown away he had never even looked at it like that why because he's an American and through his American cultural lens, we think and we teach, we're raised that winning
[00:30:41] the deal, getting the best score, accomplishing the mission, winning the, you know, whatever it is, the prize, earning the thing, winning is more important than our integrity. If you got to lie a little bit, cheat a little bit, fake it a little bit, hey, as long as you come out on top. And this
[00:31:01] is a professor. And it took this Indonesian student to show him that's not real integrity.
[00:31:11] See, the truth is, guys, the person that we lie to the most, unfortunately, is ourselves.
[00:31:17] Most people operate with a trust gap in their own integrity. We say things like, hey, I'm going to get up at a certain time. I'm going to follow a certain diet plan. I'm going to live on a budget.
[00:31:27] I'm going to spend more time with God. I'm going to read the Bible more. I'm going to go to this study group. I'm going to spend more time with my family. I'm going to prioritize my spiritual life.
[00:31:37] And then we wake up, we hit the alarm clock and we break every commitment we made to ourselves the day before. We do it all the time. We make commitments to ourselves that we never keep. And
[00:31:54] I know I have been guilty of this many times in my life. And in hindsight, if I could go back in my life and change something, this would definitely be one of the things top of the list. I'd make
[00:32:04] far fewer commitments and I would try with everything within me to keep the ones to myself because it costs you something. Listen, if I can't trust me, why would anyone else?
[00:32:17] And if the world runs on trust, which it does, that is a very big deal. All right. Number two, number two, kingdom righteousness understands the weight of our words. Everybody say weight.
[00:32:36] say my words have weight. Your words matter. They're important. In Jesus's day, the problem wasn't always outright lies. Sometimes it was exaggeration or delayed follow through. You know, the little half lies that we use today, things like, oh, I wish I could make it. Your friend
[00:32:57] says, you know, they invite you to the party and you can't come, you know, you find a reason.
[00:33:02] Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not going to be able to make it Saturday, but oh, I wish I could come. I sure wish I could make it. You liar. Inside of you, you're doing little cartwheels. Like you were
[00:33:18] looking for a reason to say no. Like, thank God I don't have to go to this stupid party. I didn't want to go anyway. I wanted to stay home and, you know, watch Netflix and like, you know,
[00:33:28] I wanted to just relax. I didn't want to go to their stupid party. But what do we say? Oh, Oh, my heart. I'm going to miss you guys so much. Oh, I wish I could make it. What do us
[00:33:45] salespeople say? We say, oh, I'll get right back to you. What do we mean? Maybe if I remember in a few days, if you're lucky. Here's the worst one for us as Christians. And we say this little lie
[00:33:57] right here in church. We look at people all the time and we say, hey, hey, I'll be praying for you. I'll be praying for you. You lying devil. You ain't even going to think about praying for
[00:34:10] that person. We say it all the time. I'll be praying for you. They leave. Woo. It's out of mind. And we never pray for that person one time. And we do it over and over and over again. Why?
[00:34:22] Not because we want to harm them. Not because it's their evil, any evil intention, but it's just the way we talk and the way we think. I don't want to hurt their feelings. I want to be encouraging. So
[00:34:32] I just say the thing. I don't mean it. I don't follow through on it. Deception like this is often not meant to harm. But part of the reason for Jesus's teaching is to protect us from us.
[00:34:49] Look with me at James chapter five, great pastor James again, verse 12. He says, but above all, you notice this, this is important. He says, but above all my brothers do not swear either by
[00:35:02] heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no. Why? There's a comma there. This is the part that's really important, guys. Look at this. So that you may
[00:35:18] not fall under condemnation. What is this saying? It's saying what I've heard Jordan Peterson say in all of his years of clinical practice. He said, you know the thing that scares me most?
[00:35:29] he said, I've never seen anyone get away with anything ever. You will never get away with anything. Oh, but I'm a Christian. And if I pray, God will forgive me. Yes, God will forgive you.
[00:35:42] But that sin is going to cost you something. Don't believe me? Leave here today. Go knock over a liquor store. God will forgive you, but the cops won't. You're going to jail.
[00:35:56] There's going to be consequences. And when we lie, even to ourselves, we pay a price.
[00:36:04] We lose a little bit of trust in ourselves.
[00:36:06] We lose some of our testimony.
[00:36:09] We tarnish the name of Jesus.
[00:36:12] There's always a cost.
[00:36:15] There's a heavy price to be paid when we fail to honor our word, even in the little things.
[00:36:20] And I'm gonna give you a few examples, some little things that all of us have probably been guilty of it sometimes.
[00:36:25] So hear me, I want this to be convicting, but not crushing.
[00:36:30] Because I, like Paul said, I'm the chief among sinners, guys.
[00:36:33] I mean, I've struggled with some of these this week.
[00:36:35] So we all struggle in different areas.
[00:36:38] This is an area, I want this to make you alert to something that maybe you weren't that worried about that could be really damaging you, your integrity, or your testimony, all right?
[00:36:49] Number one, showing up late.
[00:36:52] Ah, I was just three minutes late, but you didn't say you were gonna get there at 9.03.
[00:36:57] You said you were gonna get there at nine.
[00:37:00] That's not honest.
[00:37:02] You broke your word.
[00:37:04] You need to apologize.
[00:37:05] And here's what we as Christians do all the time.
[00:37:07] And we don't even think nothing of it.
[00:37:08] We show up late to church.
[00:37:10] That went over about like I thought.
[00:37:19] Some of us show up late for church.
[00:37:21] Some of us show up late to serve at church.
[00:37:24] In all my years of church, there's two different types of people that serve at church.
[00:37:28] One type of person would never, like you'd have to kill them for them not to show up because they take serving at church as more important than their paid job.
[00:37:37] Because it's like, I do this for the Lord.
[00:37:40] So I've got, man, I got to be there, man.
[00:37:43] I got to be there, man.
[00:37:43] This is my serve, man.
[00:37:44] This is important.
[00:37:45] The other type of person shows up a little late, doesn't call, maybe sometimes doesn't even show up.
[00:37:50] And when you say, hey, buddy, you're running a little late.
[00:37:55] We were supposed to start at 8.30 and you got here at 8.45.
[00:37:58] The response is, how dare you?
[00:38:03] I am a volunteer.
[00:38:05] I'm not paid for this.
[00:38:08] You should be lucky I'm even here.
[00:38:14] And listen, I agree with you, Big Shot.
[00:38:16] We're all, we feel privileged that you would grace us with your magnificent presence.
[00:38:24] No argument because you are something. But, but when you're late, when you don't show up, what does that say about your integrity and your honesty? RSVPing to things, events, dinners, and then canceling at the last minute just for convenience. You didn't really want to
[00:38:47] say no, but you didn't want to go, and you just wait till the last minute, and oh, something came up. Overcommitting because we don't want to disappoint people. I've been very guilty of this in my life. I'll be honest, guys. I like to please people. I like to help. I like to say yes a lot,
[00:39:00] and sometimes I overcommit. It's not right. It's not good. Sometimes you have to know what your responsibilities are, and you have to say, hey, I can't do that. I can't do that. Agreeing to do a
[00:39:10] favor and then not following through. Agreeing to volunteer without checking our schedule. Agreeing to read a book for life group or for a work study group or something, or a book club. And then we
[00:39:23] show up to the group and we didn't read the book. And so we were supposed to read chapter two. And so this used to be a little more difficult, but today, today it's really easy because we pull up
[00:39:35] in our car. We know we haven't read chapter two. And what do we do? We take out our phone and we go, chat GPT, summary, chapter two, now. Got it. And then we go into our life group and we can
[00:39:50] answer every question. In fact, we might answer the questions better than everyone else. We can fake it so well, but the whole time, you know what your soul is telling you inside your own brain?
[00:40:00] You liar. You are lying. You are deceiving everyone, acting like you did the work, but you didn't do the work. Promising a customer at work a timeline you know is unrealistic.
[00:40:18] Saying, I'm almost done when I haven't even started. Paying our bills late or not at all.
[00:40:27] Listen, Christians, we should have good credit. We should. But hear me, if you're struggling with your credit today, don't let that be crushing to you. God never condemns, he convicts. So what's the point of all these things. It's not, Oh, I'm a, I'm a terrible Christian because I got a low
[00:40:45] credit score. It's like, no, Hey, this is, here's an opportunity for God to show his glory in transforming me from someone who used to not take their obligation seriously to now somebody who has a great credit score that I can then show off the goodness of God that I can even brag about it
[00:41:04] to people, man, my credit used to be terrible, but then I found Jesus. The Lord changed me. He change what's important to me. I pay my bills early now. Why? Not because I have to, but because
[00:41:13] I want to. I want to reflect Jesus in every area of my life. When we don't do this, we pay a personal price in self-doubt, lost confidence. We lose trust from other people and we get a weakened or
[00:41:29] even ruined testimony when we are dishonest. Last one, kingdom righteousness. This goodness, this supernatural goodness that God puts in us values, testimony, our witness above personal gain to the man or woman filled with kingdom righteousness
[00:41:53] this miraculous goodness of God my ability to lead someone to Jesus to pray with them, to love on them to give a scripture, to share with my faith to them to invite them to church or to life group
[00:42:07] that credibility, that opportunity is worth more to me than any amount of money or business deal or anything else in this world. Why? Because the Holy Spirit reorders our values. He comes inside of us and he changes what's really important to us. So here's a great question. I want you to write
[00:42:30] this down. Here's a great question to ask when tempted to give an easy answer, to obfuscate, to cut the corner, to manipulate, to mislead, to deceive, to say anything other than the whole truth. Here's the question. How will this decision impact my testimony? Ask that question. Don't just
[00:42:51] live in the here and now. Well, I don't want to say that. That's going to be uncomfortable. Yeah, for five minutes. But if you take the easy road, if you lie, if you deceive, if you don't tell the
[00:43:03] whole truth, what is the risk there of losing trust in the ability to lead someone to Jesus down the road? I read a story the other day about a pastor, much like myself, Sunday morning. He is
[00:43:18] preaching this sermon on honesty, integrity. He's thundering away, man. He's preaching hard.
[00:43:23] man you've got to be honest you've got to have integrity Monday morning rolls around and he lives in a big city often rides the bus and he has some errands to run he gets on the bus
[00:43:32] he pays his fare he gets his money back on the way to his seat he notices the bus driver made a mistake he gave him way too much change back and not like an extra dollar it was like a wrong
[00:43:44] bill like a 20 or a 50 or something it was a significant amount and so the pastor this man of God. He takes the money, goes to his seat. Like many of us, he says, the Lord has blessed me.
[00:43:56] Right? I mean, he starts to rationalize. Man, I helped so many people and this money could really go a long way. I mean, it's probably better in my hands than someone else's. I mean, I'm going to do
[00:44:05] good things with this money, God. God, isn't this from you? God, tell me this is from you.
[00:44:11] We've probably done the same before. The bus driver gets to the stop. The pastor stands up.
[00:44:16] He goes to leave the bus, his newfound riches, and he stops, can't get by his conscience.
[00:44:27] He turns around, he says, hey, excuse me for a minute.
[00:44:31] Man, you made a mistake.
[00:44:33] He hands him the money.
[00:44:34] He says, you gave me way too much change.
[00:44:37] The bus driver has this weird smile on his face.
[00:44:39] He looks up at the pastor.
[00:44:40] He says, I didn't make a mistake.
[00:44:45] He says, see, pastor, I go to your church.
[00:44:50] I heard your big message on honesty and integrity.
[00:44:52] and he said, I saw you today and I thought I'd just put you to the test.
[00:45:00] See, our integrity is often tested when no one seems to be watching, but someone usually is.
[00:45:10] You don't always know. And even when no one else is, God is, the world is looking for people whose lives match what they say they believe. Our honesty may seem insignificant in some moments, but it can either strengthen or undermine the credibility of our witness.
[00:45:35] I learned this a few years ago.
[00:45:37] I was at a restaurant one Sunday.
[00:45:39] I preached that Sunday and had my family and we ate.
[00:45:42] And waitress never said a word.
[00:45:45] At the end of the day, I'd already paid the check.
[00:45:49] Thank God I tend to be a pretty good tipper.
[00:45:53] She came back and she said, hey, by the way, I really enjoy your sermons.
[00:45:59] And from that day forward, man, it really hit me, the importance.
[00:46:04] Man, people are watching.
[00:46:06] They don't just watch pastors.
[00:46:09] They know you go to church.
[00:46:11] They know you believe in Jesus.
[00:46:15] You're one of those Jesus fanatics, right?
[00:46:17] Like, they're watching you.
[00:46:19] Their eyes are trained.
[00:46:20] Are you going to live this thing out?
[00:46:23] And even when you think they're not, listen, somebody's always watching.
[00:46:27] and how you respond can make all the difference in someone else's life. You lie, you cheat, you hold back. Listen, that person may never receive from you again. Hey, they say they love Jesus, but I called them. They lied. They, they cheated. They were dishonest. You can ruin your
[00:46:46] testimony. Why is this so important? Because Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, he set the example for us. He didn't care more about himself, his comfort, his, his, you know, ability to just stay in heaven as God. No, he came here and he served us. Philippians chapter two, verse three, it says,
[00:47:06] do nothing Christians, do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interest, but rather to the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus who existed in the form
[00:47:25] of God, but did not consider equality with God as a something to be exploited. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.
[00:47:39] And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross. Every one of us in this room have lied, have sinned, have been dishonest.
[00:48:00] Every one of us. I think about my own guilt sometimes and it's overwhelming to think the things I've done, the way I've treated people at times in my life. But here's the good news.
[00:48:12] Jesus saves sinners, even sinners like me. That's why I get so happy when I come to church.
[00:48:21] that's why I lift my hands that's why I pray I sing I shout I glorify God because he saves sinners like me somebody who would always put me above you but God in my war saw me
[00:48:37] and he didn't leave me and he didn't leave you the Bible says that God commendeth his love he shows his love he demonstrates his love in this that while we were sinners not when we were cleaned
[00:48:52] up. Not when we had our act together, but while we were sinners, Christ died for us. When you were at your worst, he loved you the most. So why should I have integrity? Why should I walk in
[00:49:06] honesty? And even when it hurts me, even when it costs me, because I have to show God gratitude for what he's done in me. How could I possibly live any other way when I understand what he's
[00:49:25] done for me. We have a special opportunity church. I don't think the darkness has ever been quite so dark, but when we stand, when we let the brightness of Christ shine, and that's not perfection. Some
[00:49:46] of you I know might right now, you, you might be thinking, man, I've let God down and I've let my, my family down. I've let my coworkers down. Sometimes the greatest testimony is owning your
[00:49:59] sin and just telling people, man, you know what? I messed up and I'm sorry. When we stand up with an honest heart, a sincere heart, God will use it. No matter where you are right now,
[00:50:13] God wants to use it. He wants to use you. He wants to change everything in you, everything around you.
[00:50:20] He can do it if you just trust him. You have an opportunity to do that right now. I'm going to ask you to take just a moment, stand with me. We're going to have a moment of prayer. We do this each
[00:50:31] and every week. It's not a ritual. It's not a routine. I know sometimes you come to church for a long time, you know, kind of get like, we do this, then we do this, then we do this. Let me
[00:50:41] tell you something. It's very intentional. We take this moment because we never want to assume for one moment where you are with God or what you need from God right now. I'm here to tell you
[00:50:55] the Holy Spirit is here. His spirit is here to forgive, to redeem, to restore, to save. Whatever you need, wherever you're at, God will meet you right there. He knows your heart. He knows it
[00:51:09] better than you do. And his Holy Spirit is here to touch you today. I'm going to ask you to take just a moment to bow your head, close your eyes, focus on your heart. Where is your heart right now?
[00:51:23] Are you his? Do you know him? Are you walking with him with integrity, with truth? Are you owning your sin? Are you living this transparent life where people feel like they can trust you?
[00:51:34] Are you on that road of discipleship with God? Or maybe have you gotten off the path? Are you here today and maybe you're kicking the tires. You're like, and I want to know more about Jesus.
[00:51:44] Listen, you don't have to be a Bible scholar to know him. It's a relationship. If you're here today and you can simply believe in Jesus that he died for your sins. He says, if you'll profess
[00:51:56] that faith, if you'll trust him in your heart, he will make you new. You can start a relationship with him today. If you're here today, every head is bowed, every eyes closed. No one's looking
[00:52:05] around. This is a moment between you and God. If you're with us online, this is for you as well.
[00:52:14] If you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and savior, I want to ask you right now to make a decision. If you would like to say yes to God, to repent, just to turn from the sin and turn
[00:52:24] toward God, to give him your heart, to put your faith in him. If that's you, would you be bold right now? And will you just lift up your hand? It's a little small act of faith. Just lift up
[00:52:34] your hand to say yes to Jesus right now. Just lift up your hand. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[00:52:42] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being bold and lifting your hands. If you're online, we have people that'll pray with you. There's a button you can click in the chat. Please do this. Be a part
[00:52:50] of this with us. Church, I'm going to ask us all to join in together. And maybe you're, you know, you're saved. You know, you're a Christian, but you know, there's been some dishonesty, some things
[00:52:59] maybe you've been hiding in your life. God can help you with that right now. Let's pray this together. Say, father, God, thank you. You are faithful and you are true. Even when people lie, you never lie. I want to put my faith and my trust in you today. I believe with my heart
[00:53:23] that your son, Jesus died for my sins. He rose again and he has power to change me, forgive me for any time i've been dishonest i want to be a person of integrity fill me right now
[00:53:46] with your holy spirit give me the power to walk this out in jesus name amen