LIFE is not a Game - Integrity

LIFE is not a Game

Integrity

The First Law of Life is LOVE

The Second Law of Life is Integrity

There is a difference between Image and Integrity.

Imagine is what others perceive me to be

Integrity is what I really am

In ancient China the people wanted security against the barbaric hordes to the north, so they built the Great Wall. It was so high that no one could climb over it and so thick that nothing could break it down. They settled back to enjoy their security. But during the first hundred years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times. Not once did the barbaric hordes break down the wall or climb over it. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right through the gates. The Chinese were so busy relying on the strength of their walls of stone that they forgot to teach strength of character to their children.

The wall was an image of protection

But the integrity of the people was lacking and it brought destruction

According to American Heritage Dictionary Integrity is defined as

The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.
My words and my deeds match up.
I am who I am, no matter where I am or who I am with.
People with Integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear.
“A person of integrity is one who has established a system of values against which all of life is judged.” Senior Editor of Christianity Today V. Gilbert Beers

Two older women wee walking around a somewhat overcrowded English country churchyard and came upon a tombstone. The inscription said: “here lies John Smith, a politician and an honest man”
“Good heavens” said one woman to the other. “Isn’t it awful that they had to put two people in the same grave!”

Today I want to look at a sad character in the Bible. His name was Saul. He was the first king of Israel. His life is the opposite of how we want to live LIFE. He had the image. He was a head above all the other men – he was the king of Israel – He was a great warrior that won many battles, But He lacked Integrity

Saul

1 Sam 13:5-15

1 Sam 13:1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.

1 Sam 13:2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

1 Sam 13:3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!"

1 Sam 13:4 So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

1 Sam 13:5 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven.

1 Sam 13:6 When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.

1 Sam 13:7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.

1 Sam 13:8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter.

1 Sam 13:9 So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings. " And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

1 Sam 13:10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

1 Sam 13:11 "What have you done?" asked Samuel. Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash,

1 Sam 13:12 I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

1 Sam 13:13 "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

1 Sam 13:14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

1 Sam 13:15 Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

Integrity - Obedience when the going gets tough

Saul was told to wait until Samuel came to offer a sacrifice

But in his mind things kept getting worse. * The Philistines were coming

His own army was going, running and hiding - The pressure was on.

He decided he would take things into his own hands

He was not a priest but decided he would offer up a sacrifice.

In doing this he was not obedient to what God had told him.

Wait for Samuel

Obedience under pressure or stress is a sign of character and integrity.

When things are pressing in around you will you hold the course?
Will you run or will you take things in your own hands?

Saul couldn’t withstand the pressure and so he sinned against God.

Consequences: His kingdom would not last.

God has anointed another man
David – a man after God’s own heart

It is interesting that at the end of the day Saul counted 600 men.

300 more than Gideon had and won a huge victory over the Midianites.

Maybe God was going to give him a greater victory with only 600 men

If he had just waited.

Integrity - Doesn’t hold others to a higher standard than we can maintain ourselves.

Chapter 14:24-30

1 Sam 14:24 Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the troops tasted food.

1 Sam 14:25 The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground.

1 Sam 14:26 When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out, yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.

1 Sam 14:27 But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

1 Sam 14:28 Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, 'Cursed be any man who eats food today!' That is why the men are faint."

1 Sam 14:29 Jonathan said, "My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey.

1 Sam 14:30 How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?"

Saul declares a fast for some reason.

Because Saul had sinned he was looking to redeem himself

He had in his mind that sacrifice would satisfy God

The men were exhausted from battle yet they couldn’t eat

His son Jonathan didn’t hear about the fast and ate some honey.

The story continues when Saul finds out that Jonathan ate

He was going to have his own Son killed.

The men stood up for Jonathan.

Look at this story:

Saul had disobeyed God
Now he was going to have his own son killed because of some dumb rule he had made up

Is it more important to obey God or man.

God didn’t kill Saul.

Integrity does not set a higher standard for others than we are able to maintain ourselves.

Integrity - Partial obedience is not obedience

Chapter 15

1 Sam 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD.

1 Sam 15:2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.

1 Sam 15:3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"

1 Sam 15:7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt.

1 Sam 15:8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.

1 Sam 15:9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Saul didn’t do what God had asked him – he did most of it but not all it.
Partial obedience is not obedience
He didn’t destroy everything and everyone.

This mistake leads to others

Integrity is doing the whole will of God.
We cannot pick and choose what we want to obey and what we don’t.
We must be obedient to God

Integrity - Don’t seek recognition from Men

1 Samuel 15:12 (NIV) 12Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

Now Samuel confronts him…

1 Sam 15:13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the Lord's instructions."

1 Sam 15:14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"

1 Sam 15:15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."

1 Sam 15:16 "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul replied.

1 Sam 15:17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.

1 Sam 15:18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.'

1 Sam 15:19 Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"

Intrgrity Doesn’t blame other people for our own mistakes

1 Sam 15:20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.

1 Sam 15:21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

Excuses instead of acceptance of fault

Denied his disobedience

Blamed other people

Do you see the downward spiral Saul is on.

Unable to wait for the Lord.
Took things in his own hands
Takes credit for the victory
Builds a monument to himself
Blames other people for his problems

A lack of integrity will eventually catch up to you.

Men are the sum of the decisions they make.

—Patrick M. Morley, quoted in Men of Integrity,

Samuel stops him -

1 Sam 15:22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

1 Sam 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

MSG

22Then Samuel said,

Do you think all God wants are sacrifices—empty rituals just for show?

He wants you to listen to him!

Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.

23Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult.

Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors.

Because you said No to God’s command, he says No to your kingship.

God is not interested in sacrifice, - image
God is interested in obedience & humility - integrity

Saul won great victories in the battlefield – Image

Could never win the battle of the heart - Integrity

We can win the battle for image by what we have

But we can only win the battle for integrity by what we are.

Image doesn’t last - Integrity does

Image vs. Integrity

Are you more concerned with imagine or integrity

Consistency: Are you the same person no matter who you are with

Choices: Do you make decisions based on what is best for others even when another choice would make you look better?

Credit: Are you quick to recognize others for their efforts and contributions to your success

1 Sam 15:31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

Saul was rejected as king but not as a person.
God offers forgiveness to all who will come to Him.

You will win at life when you keep The Law of Integrity

I. Integrity - Obedience when the going gets tough

1 Samuel 13.1-15

II. Integrity – Doesn’t hold others to a Higher Standard than we keep Ourselves

1 Samuel 14.24-30

III. Integrity – Complete Obedience

1 Samuel 15

IV. Integrity – Doesn’t Seek Recognition from Men

1 Samuel 15:12

V. Integrity – Doesn’t Blame Others for our Own Mistakes

1 Samuel 15:20-21