Worship call 0714 speaking with integrity

Friends, you are what you eat! 1 Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value for all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come. A significant response to the current pandemic has been medical professionals in various places offering valuable advice on the role of diet toward building and increasing our body's immunity to viruses and disease in general. This kind of advice can be truly salutary, even life-saving. Yet the aphorism, "You are what you eat", though often heard, isn't always taken as seriously as we might...And that may contribute to unpleasant health consequences. But how much more applicable and consequential does it apply to our spiritual health? My answer is "Garbage in … garbage out…!" If we fill our minds with things that pollute soul and body, spiritual junk food as it were, our spiritual immunity will be duly compromised for fighting off the constant incursions from the enemy of our souls. And while poor physical immunity will subject us to the ills of life on Earth, compromised spiritual immunity will have severe consequences both here, and also when we cross into eternity. Anyone can see that spiritual wickedness is increasing, and so spiritual immunity is more important every day. We all need now to watch and improve our diet, since it could even mean survival. friends, a healthy spiritual diet isn't rocket science. It's actually a matter of "taste"....that is, "Taste and see that the LORD is good." Be with Him, first and foremost. Just spend quiet time in His presence, without feeling like its an obligation. "The Word of God is living and active..." The Holy Spirit will bring that Word to greater life in your soul and body. 1 Timothy 4:8 adds: "For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value for all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come." Let's not neglect a healthy spiritual lifestyle — in these days we need to be on top of our game. Avoid spiritual junk food! That quiet time to be at complete peace, in God's Word, in prayer, will feed your soul with the spiritual nutrition needed to fight the daily battles... with powerful immunity! Your family in the Lord with much agape love, George, Baht Rivka, & Obadiah Pryor, Oklahoma

And this is another fine day in the Lord

Matthew 5:33–37 (NASB95) — 33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

In a society or culture or an organization or the sects like the religious groups like the Pharisees, lying lips was so common that one had to parse the words of another in order to determine whether he was being lied to. It was necessary often to give an oath to qualify one’s own integrity.

Even when one personally cannot be trusted and one knows it and even cares little about own personal integrity will give an oath to quality his own words.

But Jesus is giving value to ones’ words over an oath.

IN the Light of the Pharisees once again where they were notorious for making oaths and vows by heaven, for the earth, and for Jerusalem. If in fact they would have to break their vow, they could in their legalistic fashion, weasel out of it because God did not have anything to do with it. However, Jesus makes it a point to clear up the misconception of the way the Pharisees operated in regard to vows.

Matthew 5:33 (NASB95) — 33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’

33.464 ἐπιορκέωa: to swear that one will do something and then not fulfill the promise—‘to forswear, to break an oath, to swear and fail to keep.’[1]

Both the “YOU’s” here are singular. That is, “you,” personally. Not a group. Jesus is dealing with the responsibility of personal integrity with each individual person. It does not matter what everybody else is doing, it does not matter what your culture is in the habit of doing, you are accountable for your own integrity.

Matthew 5:33 (NASB95) — 33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’

33.463 ὅρκος, ου m; ας f: to affirm the truth of a statement by calling on a divine being to execute sanctions against a person if the statement in question is not true (in the case of a deity taking an oath, his divine being is regarded as validating the statement)—‘to swear, to make an oath, oath.’

Lev 19:12; Num 30:2; Deut 23:21, 23

Matthew 5:33–35 (NASB95) — 33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Though there were those who got around getting out of their vow by excluding God none the less the Lord says that God is involved. For these things belong respectively to God. God’s Throne, God’s earth, and God’s Jerusalem.

Vows were still bidding

And swearing by one’s own life or well being.

Matthew 5:36 (NASB95) — 36 “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Such as

May lightning strike me if I do not fulfill this vow. May I fall off a cliff if I break the vows.

IN Genesis 15 we see Abraham going through the process of laying out the sacrifices to make an oath with God.

Genesis 15:9–10 (NASB95) — 9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

What the participants would do (in this case Abram and the Lord) would make their vows and then hold hands and walk through the sacrifices. The message is that whoever breaks this vow may whatever happened to them happen to the one who breaks this vow.

Jesus says do not swear in this regard for the plain fact is that the unforeseeable can happen and what happens when you cannot fulfill your vow by no fault of your own. You are still accountable, having made the vow.

It takes me to the time when it was time to pass on the covenant to his son Esau. It was passing to Him the inheritance. Jacob had already manipulated his older brother out of the birthright and now Jacob goes in to deceive his Father out of the inheritance disguised as his brother.

After mistakenly blessing Jacob thinking he was Esau Isaac did not reverse the blessing. What was said was said. (Genesis 27)

Another example was the deception of the Gibionites who deceived Joshua and it was Joshua who made a covenant with these people under false pretenses and when the truth was found out, Joshua did not tear up the contract which was made verbally.

Matthew 5:37 (NASB95) — 37 “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

This all falls into personal integrity. Your integrity which as an imager of God and of His Christ should reflect the image of God rather than you with lies and deceit reflect being an offspring of the devil.

Jesus speaking to the Pharisees says

John 8:44 (NASB95) — 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Being Salt and Light demands virtue. Demands that one reflect the image of the one who said

John 14:6 (NASB95) — 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

The church has been tasked with a commission.

Matthew 28:18–20 (NASB95) — 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The Gospel demands that the message comes out from a vessel of honor. A vessel that can be trusted.

It is often said by others, making an excuse about not going to church, is that it is full of hypocrites. Having experienced a particular church where lying and deception was part of the natural way of doing things, I understand the indictment.

If one cannot be trusted, how can one trust you when you tell them about Jesus and about the kingdom.

God is Truth or veracity.

A lie is no small thing of those who are to imagers of the Christ.

Being imagers is regard of reflecting the qualities of the one whom we abide in. our personal integrity bears no fruit, it discredits, the whole vine and it takes the Lord’s reputation in vain.

A liar does not produce good works. If in indeed a child of God who is a liar doing everything else exemplary, will find his works burnt up at the Judgment seat of Christ, for this person is minus any Godly character.

[1]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 440). United Bible Societies.

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