Integrity- Pastor Andrew Maneval

Thank you for listening to this message from Lifehouse Church.

Well good morning Lifehouse. Well that was a little bit weak. I think we do better than that.

Good morning Lifehouse. Yeah that's a little bit better. Well good morning. We're so glad you guys

are here with us on Student Sunday. Whether you were joining us in the house this morning or online

it's great to have you. Or if you're checking this out after the fact at the during the podcast,

that's also another great way you can hear the sermons this morning. But for those of you that

may not know me, my name is Andrew Manovil. I have the privilege and the honor of being the

student ministry pastor here at Lifehouse. I get to be all these kids pastors, all these

teenagers pastors. It's a great privilege and an honor for me to do that. But we are here,

my wife and I and our little girl Lucy have been coming to, she is with her grandparents.

This morning everyone knows Lucy, she's Lifehouse famous at this point. Or infamous I should say

maybe. But yeah so this morning, but anyway so we've been part of Lifehouse since 2016,

since we got married and moved to the area. But it's great to be here this morning with you guys

as well. But this morning I want to open up with a story. And the story, it's a Monday like any other

one day and a pastor is on his way to the office. He's on his way into work or after preaching the

sermon, preaching on Sunday. And he takes the bus to work this day. And unlike normal he goes and

he pays his fare for the bus, but this Monday morning the bus driver gives him too much change

back. And the pastor takes the money and looks at it and he gets back in his seat and he's counting

it and he's like, oh that's too much money, the bus driver gave me too much money. So he starts

doing what a lot of us Christians would do. We start rationalizing, we're like, oh well God has

blessed us and we've been so like privileged and you know, God's taking care of me. But the longer

his ride went, the more it went on, he said, I can't, it can live with himself. And he went to the

bus driver at the end and said, hey sir, I'm sorry there's been a mistake, you gave me too much change

back. And the bus driver said, no there's no mistake actually. He just smiles at him and says,

no there's no mistake actually. And the pastor looks at him inquisitively and he says, well

he says, pastor I was at your church on Sunday and you preached on integrity and I was putting you

to the test. So this morning we're gonna talk about integrity. Integrity as defined by the world is

nothing more than just living a steadfastly to a moral or ethical code. But as followers of Jesus,

integrity for us is so much more. For us, we are commanded by God to not just possess integrity,

not just have it in, you know, not just have integrity, but to live a life full of it. God

rather expects us to live a life full of integrity. And you might be saying, well, you know, maybe I'm

not a hundred percent honest all the time. Maybe I, you know, what's the point, what's the harm in a

white lie, right? At least I go to church, you know, on Sunday mornings, at least I'm here,

you know, for one gathering or maybe even two sometimes. And you know, these little white lies

never really hurt anybody, right? Maybe isn't that more important to God that I'm here than if,

you know, if I was completely honest all the time? Isn't that better me being a good Christian than

having this integrity? But we're gonna turn in our Bibles to Proverbs chapter 21 and verse 3.

Proverbs 21 · chapter mention

If you got your paper Bibles, which is awesome, I'm always encouraged when I see people bring

in their Bibles or if you got your iPads or whatever, or the words, the verse will be on

the screen as well. But before we dig into the passage, I want to give a little background on

the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs is in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is mostly

authored by one man and that is King Solomon. King Solomon was one of the ancient kings of the

nation of Israel, a son of David, and was one of the most honored and revered and successful kings

in all of the history of Israel. Well, Solomon was so honored and so revered by his people because

he honored God, because he lived a life that was pleasing to God. So God comes to him in a

dream one night and he says, Solomon, ask me for whatever you want and I'll give it to you.

And Solomon said, Lord, give me wisdom. So the book of Proverbs is this wisdom that Solomon has

had gleaned from God and through that quest for wisdom, we see Solomon's writings in the book

of Proverbs. But Proverbs 21.3 says, the Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and what is

just than if we offer him sacrifices. This verse is saying that God is more pleased when we live

a life full of integrity than if we never miss a Sunday sermon or a night of Bible study and

life groups. It doesn't mean anything to God if we listen, if all we do is just listen to Christian

radio or watch movies and TV shows that are on Pure Flix and nothing else, right? If we don't

have that integrity, that doesn't mean anything to God. God's not impressed with our Jesus bumper

stickers if we're driving around cutting people off and flipping people to bird. God doesn't care

about that. It's not impressive to him, right? That cool Jesus t-shirt that you love, that

LifeHouse t-shirt is awesome, but don't wear it if you're gonna go and be rude to people at Walmart,

okay? God doesn't care about that. God is not impressed with that. However, this verse is not

saying that we shouldn't, obviously that religious practices don't matter. It's not saying that they

shouldn't be practiced. It's just saying that don't go to church. It's not saying don't go to

church and don't worship. No, it's rather saying that they mean nothing if we don't have a life

full of integrity. That means that everything we do as Christians should be honoring to Jesus.

Biblical integrity, it looks like in our lives, putting Jesus first in everything that we do.

The apostle Paul, I like how he puts it in Ephesians 4 verse 22.

Ephesians 4:22

And this theme of integrity is threaded all throughout scripture.

And Paul is saying in Ephesians 4 22, he says, throw off your old and sinful nature

and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Deception, that's the

opposite of integrity, right? It says, instead, let the spirit renew your thoughts and your

attitudes. Put on your new nature created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.

He says it again in Titus 2 7, it says, and you yourselves must be an example to them doing

good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the what? The integrity

and the seriousness of your teaching. He takes it one step further in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 3 5 says, so put to death these earthly things lurking within us. Have nothing to do with

sexual morality, impurity, lust or evil desires. Don't be greedy for a greedy person is an idolater

worshiping the things of this world. Some intense language, put it to death, right?

What does this look like for us? How do we as Christ followers, how do we as Christians

get a hold of that kind of integrity? What does it look like for us to show that kind of integrity

in the world around us? I believe one of the best examples of biblical integrity like this

is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you're like me and you grew up in church or

even if you didn't, you may have heard of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It's a very common Sunday

school story here, but the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is found in Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

We're gonna start in verse one and we'll make our way through the story. So hang in there with me.

We're gonna have the words on the screens as well. If you got your Bibles with you, turn there.

But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they're the words that we're gonna use.

But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are Jewish captives. They were captured prisoners of war,

if you will, but not like the prisoners of war that we're familiar with. These were young men

who were taken and they were put into positions of power and authority. They were given, they were

lavished gifts upon by their captors to help indoctrinate them into the culture in which

they were taken, right? So we know Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were appointed to their positions

of power by their friend Daniel, you know, who the book is named after. But they're in the land of

Babylon and we see the people of Israel, all throughout the Old Testament, they go through

these cycles, right? And this is one of the downswing, some of the cycles that they go through.

The people of Israel go through these cycles where they worship God, they praise God,

and they're successful in their military campaigns. And then they turn away from God and they sin

and then God's judgment and God's wrath is upon them. Well, this is one of those times in the

history of Israel where God's wrath and judgment is upon them. So the nation of Israel is captive

by the nation of Babylon here. So there were others, not just Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

a lot of young men, a lot of people were captured by the armies of Babylon. The king of Babylon,

his name was Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar was a great military tactician, one of the most

prolific kings or emperors of the Babylonian empire at this time. His reign lasted a staggering

40 years, which doesn't sound like a lot, but in that time was a super long time. He was also a

visionary and a builder. He is credited with building lots of things, one of which being the

hanging gardens of Babylon, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

But Nebuchadnezzar had a fatal downfall and his fatal downfall was that he thought very,

very highly of himself. And historians have even found carved stone tablets that read things like

King Nebuchadnezzar the Great, King of the universe. Assess the stage a little bit here for

Daniel chapter three, verse one, it says, King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, 90 feet tall

and nine feet wide. You got to think pretty highly of yourself to build a 90 foot tall statue

of yourself and to put it up. And so he says, he built a 90 foot wide statue and set it up on the

plains of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then he sent messages to the high officers and the

officials, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges and magistrates, and all of the provincial officials

to come to the dedication of the statue that he had set up. So all of these officials came and stood

before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And then a herald shouted out, people of all races,

nations and language, listen to the king's command. When you hear the sound of the horn, the flute,

the zitar, the lyre, the harp, pipes and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship

King Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue. If anyone refuses to obey, anyone who refuses to obey will

immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace. I want us to imagine for a second, imagine for a

second, close your eyes and imagine it with me, that you are Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego. You're

placed in a position of a power and authority in a strange land. And you have all kinds of riches and

all kinds of authority at your disposal. And you're in this position and you're all of us

sudden you're placed with this huge conundrum, this huge challenge of your integrity that you know God

expects you to have. They were told to worship this false manmade image or be burned alive.

The music starts playing and you know what's at stake. It's a little more stake here than just

some extra pocket change like in the story beginning. Let's continue in verse seven. It says,

so at the sound of the musical instruments, it says all of the people, everybody say that with me,

all of the people. If you're all online, put that in the chat. We're gonna come back to that,

underline that in your Bible. If you got a paper Bible with you, we're gonna come right back to

that. But it says, whatever their race or nation or language bowed to the ground and worshiped the

golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. But some of the astrologers or your translators

might say Chaldeans went to the king and informed on the Jews. They said, King Nebuchadnezzar,

long live the king. You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold

statue. When you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the zitar, the lyre, the harp pipes and

other musical instruments. That decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into

a blazing furnace. So the music plays, all the instruments start up and the music plays and we

see in verse seven, that all of the people, there are other Jewish people, there are other people of

the nation of Israel in Babylon with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And it says that everybody

bows down, all of the people. And there are others who know the true and living God.

But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stand alone. They stand alone in their refusal to worship this

false God. Verse 12 says, the Chaldeans were continuing and they said, but some Jews,

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon,

they pay no attention to you, your majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the

gold statue that you have set up. They refuse to worship the gold statue that you have set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be brought

before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, is it true,

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue

that I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made

when you hear the sound of musical instruments. But if you refuse, you'll be thrown immediately

into the blazing furnace and then what God will be able to rescue you from my power.

We see in this passage that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stand up, literally stand up for what

they believe in and they do not worship the statue like they're commanded. But we see their

integrity is not met with respect or understanding, no, on the contrary, it is met with hatred and

condemnation and contempt. But the boys stand firm regardless. They stand firm exemplifying a life

full of integrity. When we stand up for what is right and what is just, when we walk with the

integrity that God expects us, sometimes the people around us are not gonna be happy about it.

Living a life full of God expected integrity will not always please those around us.

I remember a couple of years ago, I was selling a vehicle. I was selling a vehicle to a gentleman

on the internet and we agreed on the price and we met up and he gave me the money and we go to do

the title transfer, go to the tag transfer and all that stuff. And he says, before we go in,

he says to me, hey, before we go in, I wanna, I just wanted to see, you know, you're okay

if I tell them that, tell the DMV, tell them that I only paid like $200 for this car. And it was,

you know, a couple thousand dollars for this car. But he's like, you okay if I just tell him that?

He's like, I don't really wanna have to pay the taxes on this. And I kindly informed him,

no, I'm not comfortable with that. You know, I do my best to live a life full of integrity.

And he lost it. Start screaming and swearing and carrying on something terrible, almost backed out

of the sale. And he was like, I don't wanna pay the taxes on this. And I was like, I don't wanna

buy it. I'll just get out of the sale, all because I stood up for integrity. And I informed him,

I said, listen, I said, I'm not comfortable doing this. I said, I've, you know, I, you know,

I try to follow Jesus and, and as best I can and live this life full of integrity,

but he didn't understand. He was not happy about it.

Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, sometimes when we live a life full of integrity,

and get turned up.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego reply to Nebuchadnezzar

in verse 16, and I absolutely love their reply.

It's my favorite scripture's in this whole passage.

It says, oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need

to defend ourselves before you.

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace,

the God whom we serve is able to save us.

He will rescue us from your power, your majesty,

but even if he doesn't, we wanna make it clear to you,

your majesty, that we will never serve your gods

or worship the gold statue that you have set up.

They tell Nebuchadnezzar, it doesn't matter

what happens to us.

We are not going to bend, crack, falter, or cave.

Even if that furnace gets heated up

a million times hotter than it already is,

we are not going to fail.

We are not going to lose our integrity.

Man, that is the kind of integrity

that I wanna seek after.

Knowing the punishment, knowing what's going on,

knowing what will happen, what's going to happen,

that literally the decree said, worship the statue

or be thrown in the furnace.

It's a complete ultimatum.

Even if it means their death,

they hold fast to their integrity.

We may never be threatened with being thrown

into a literal fire for holding fast to our integrity,

but we will surely be tested.

Maybe not as intense as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

but I have no doubt that our integrity will be tested.

Students, for you, maybe that looks like a friend

somehow came across the answers to your test on Friday.

And they say, hey, I'll give these to you

if you don't want them to be tested.

And you really need that A on your test, right?

So maybe you don't actually cheat,

but you use the answers as a study guide

and you follow along and then you take the test.

Or maybe you're working a job, you're in an office

and one of your coworkers comes up to you and says, hey,

they heard such and such gossip

about somebody else in the office.

And you could use that information as ammunition

to put that in your boss's ear.

And you could use that information as a tool

to help you get through the test.

Put that in your boss's ear

so that you can put yourself in better light with them.

Or maybe you work a blue collar job,

mechanic, a plumber, a builder of some kind,

and you're light on work for the week.

So when you're working on the job, you see something else

that doesn't really need fixed, but maybe you say, hey,

add that into it as well.

It doesn't really need fixed now,

but it will eventually, and we justify that kind of stuff.

Or maybe it's tax season.

Tax season rolls around,

we don't wanna pay the government any more

than we already do.

So maybe you fudge some numbers on your TurboTax

or you cut some corners

and no one's really getting hurt by that, right?

It doesn't really matter to God all that much.

Verse 19 says, Nebuchadnezzar was so furious

with Shadrach, Meshach, and the others,

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

that his face became distorted with rage.

Ever seen someone's face get distorted with rage?

It gets all twisted up, they're like really gnarly looking

and all, that's just a picture of that.

He's just like, he's so furious his face is twitching.

But he commands that the furnace be heated up

seven times hotter than usual.

And then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army

to bind, to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

and throw them into the blazing furnace.

Verse 21.

So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace,

fully dressed in their pants, turbans, robes,

and other garments.

And because the king and his anger had demanded

such a hot fire in the furnace,

the flames killed the soldiers

as they threw the three men in.

So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego securely tied,

fell into the roaring fire.

It says, but suddenly, say but suddenly.

But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement

and exclaimed to his advisors,

didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?

And they said, well, yes, yes we did.

Yes, your majesty, we certainly did, they replied.

Look, Nebuchadnezzar shouted, I see four men, unbound,

walking around the fire unharmed.

And the fourth looks like a god.

Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door

on the flaming furnace and shouted,

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

servants of the most high god, come out, come here.

So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire

and the high officers, officials, and governors,

and advisors crowded around them

and saw that the fire hadn't touched them.

Not a hair on their heads was singed

and their clothing was not scorched.

They didn't even smell of smoke.

God protects Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

because of their integrity.

This is a miracle, right?

There is no humanly conceivable way that this is possible

that you can throw somebody into a fiery furnace

and they come out completely unscathed

and not even smelling like smoke.

We do campfires at our house sometimes

and I am not in the fire, I am just near the fire

and I always end up smelling like smoke, always.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stand up

when no one else was.

In verse seven it says all the people bowed down

but not Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And God looks after and protects those

who live this life full of integrity.

Verse 28 continues, then Nebuchadnezzar said,

praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him.

They defied the king's command and were willing to die

rather than to worship or serve any God except their own.

Therefore I make this decree, if any people,

whatever their race or nation or language,

speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb

and their house will be burned into a heap of rubble.

There is no other God who can rescue like this.

The king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

to an even higher position in the province of Babylon.

We see in this story because of their integrity,

King Nebuchadnezzar recognizes

and praises the true and living God.

That's a challenge for us, right?

Can the people around us see our integrity so much

and see the God that we serve through how we live our lives?

We see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

are rewarded by God for this.

They're promoted even higher in the province of Babylon.

They're promoted even higher.

They were already in a position of authority,

but God said, you know, but Nebuchadnezzar said,

I'm gonna place you in a higher position.

And God, you know, ordained this and has moved them

and blessed them and rewarded them

because of their integrity.

Zach and the praise team,

if you guys would come in closing here,

God will reward us for living a life full of integrity.

Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

we can also be blessed by God

if we live a life full of integrity,

live that life full of integrity that he expects of us.

We don't often talk about reward in church,

but it's true, God wants to bless us.

He wants to reward us for living this life full of integrity.

This is why he expects this of us

because he wants us to receive this reward.

And this reward, whether it be,

here on earth or it be in heaven,

that reward's waiting for us.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were so certain

of this reward that they stood fast.

And they told Nebuchadnezzar,

we don't have to defend ourselves against you.

The God whom we serve is able to save us

and he will rescue us from your power.

But it says, even if he doesn't,

they were so certain of that reward.

They were so certain of the God that they serve.

They had faith that God was with them

and that even if he didn't,

he would be with them and that even if it killed them,

that they would be rewarded for it in the next life.

James 1.12 says that God blesses those

who patiently endure testing and temptation.

I'd say that fiery furnace was some testing.

It says afterward, they will receive the crown of life

that God has promised to those who love him.

Not just in heaven, but on earth, God can reward us as well.

The expectation of integrity that God has placed upon us

is not to be burdensome or restraining.

It's freeing for us when we live that life full of integrity.

Because of this, God will bless us.

So students, I want to tell you something.

I want you to stand strong and stand firm in your integrity

so that when that friend gives you the opportunity

to compromise your integrity,

you say, I'm not gonna do that.

And God will give you a better grade

because you didn't compromise than if you would have cheated.

Or that gossip you heard in the office,

it just goes in one ear and out the other.

And you say, I'm not gonna entertain that kind of toxicity

in the workplace.

And your boss looks at you and says,

hey, I heard what happened.

I heard about this going around and I know you didn't spread

it and then promotes you because of your integrity.

Blue collar workers, I could personally attest to this

that God can do more with what we gain with integrity

than we could ever do with our ill gains.

Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

God expects each of us to live a life full of integrity.

The big question is, is how do we respond

to that expectation?

Would you please stand?

More than anything in this life,

God expects us to live a life full of integrity.

It's more important to God that we live a life

full of integrity than us being here this morning in church.

God expects us to live a life with nothing but integrity

and because of that expectation, He will reward us for it.

I know this isn't a real,

ameny message, it's a challenge, it's work.

It takes energy and time and work to do this

but it's worth it.

God will reward us for that, let's bow.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for everyone

under the sound of my voice.

God, I pray that your word would not return void.

God, that you would help each and every one of us

to walk the life full of integrity that you expect to live.

God, so that when these trials and these tribulations

and these temptations come, God, we can stand firm

like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

When nobody else around us is standing,

God, help us to stand.

God, and we thank you in advance for the reward

that you will bestow upon us

for standing firm in our integrity.

God, we thank you in advance for the reward

that you will bestow upon us.

God, thank you for giving us this example of integrity

that we can see it and we can learn from it.

God, I pray that you would bless everybody

under the sound of my voice

that is already walking with integrity,

that walks with you every day.

God, and those of us, myself included, that struggle,

God, give us grace, Jesus, help us to become more like you

each and every day.

Lord, and those in the house that may not know you,

that say, I want to live this life of integrity,

I want to walk this out, but it's so hard to do on my own.

God, wrap them in your loving arms today.

God, reveal yourself to them in a way that only you can.

Heavenly Father, I pray these things

in your Son's precious and holy name.

Amen and amen.

We love God, we love people every day.

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