Integrity is defined as “the steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.”

If you think being a dynamic Christian is a cake walk, I am going to break your bubble this morning! However, if you think being a dynamic Christian is not worth the effort, listen up!

This is not the way most people see God today! We like to think of God as a loving, kind, indulgent old gent that lets us get by with about anything! But the message here is, “Don’t mess with God!”

However, if you think God is always out to punish you, this story confirms your worst fears.

Things have changed since the first century! Nowadays we let the family know before we bury the dead. That being said, can you imagine being the pastor or church council member in a church like this scripture describes? When someone tells a lie they drop dead on the spot? Wow!

I cannot think of any other situation like this in the New Testament; however Simon the Sorcerer came close. He became a believer and was baptized. When he saw that the people the Apostles prayed for receive the Holy Spirit, he wanted in on the action. He offered them money to give him the same gift.

Peter rebuked him and told him to repent!

Why was God so tough on this couple? Certainly we have seen greater scandals since that time. I believe that God set the standard high so that there would be integrity in the church. Judgment usually does not come as swift and dramatically these days, however we can be sure that when we stand before God to give an account of our lives, all the sins we have not repented of will be made known to all! (This is a different Ananias then the man who prayed over Saul for the recovery of his sight.) This couple wanted people to think they were more spiritual than they really were. We call them hypocrites.

Sometimes it is hard to tell the hypocrite from the struggling saint – and certainly we are not to judge people. God knows the heart and His judgment is right.

Ananias and Sapphira were not true disciples. They were torn between a love of money and a love for recognition.

The Holy Spirit took quick action because they sought to deceive the apostles. Peter was able to discern the deception through the gift of discernment, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Ananias died on the spot. When Sapphira lied, she too died on the spot.

While Satan was behind the sin, he did not cause the sin. Satan can only tempt us. We respond to the temptation. As a result, they died physically. Adam and Eve died spiritually when they went along with Satan’s scheme. Fortunately we have time to repent!

 The sin was not retaining part of the price of the land. They could have kept it all. The problem was the desire to deceive. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:7

“Great fear seized the whole church!” Matthew Henry states, “The shock was an act of mercy to a lot of people. It led to strict self-examination, prayer, and dread of hypocrisy, covetousness, and vain-glory. It would prevent the increase of false professors. Let us learn how hateful falsehood is to the God of truth, and not only shun a direct lie, but all advantages from the use of doubtful expressions, and double meaning in our speech.”

Why is God concerned about our integrity?

The church is the body of Christ and is made up of all believers of all faiths. It is our responsibility to represent Christ in everything we do. Integrity is simply keeping your word… paying your vows… keeping your promises.

One of the first marriages I officiated was for a young couple who faithfully promised me that they would stick it out through thick and through thin, through sickness and health… boy, did she lie! They seemed to be happy. Before long they had 3 little children.

Then, much to my chagrin, they got a divorce!

Later I asked the wife about it. She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Oh, I didn’t want to be married. I just wanted to have some children.”

That, my friend, is a lack of integrity.

There are 4 areas of integrity:

                        The integrity of God

                        The integrity of Scripture

                        The integrity of the Church

                        The integrity of the Individual

 

I. The Integrity of God

Satan’s first trick was to deceive Adam and Eve by getting them to doubt God. He told them that God did not want them to eat the fruit because it would make them like God.

Things have not changed much. God gets a lot of bad press and people blame Him for everything!

When someone has a serious illness or a tragedy in their lives they often get angry with God for doing it to them.

Storms are called “Acts of God.”

Yet He keeps on loving us.  Think about this:  If a storm was an act of God, then Jesus would be fighting God when He and the disciples were crossing a lake. Jesus rebuked the storm and chided them for their lack of faith. 

II. The Integrity of Scripture

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

We may not agree with every scripture, and we certainly cannot understand every message, but if we start tossing aside the portions we do not like or understand, then we violate the integrity of scripture and make it easy for the enemy to destroy our faith.

The work of the Holy Spirit includes helping us understand the God’s word. If we will rely on God to teach us as we grow spiritually, we will never go wrong.

III. The Integrity of the Church

This gets more difficult!

One article said, “Today in America, there are more than 1500 different faith groups professing many diverse and conflicting beliefs. It would be an understatement to say that Christianity is a severely divided faith.” http://christianity.about.com/od/denominations/a/denominations.htm

Anticipating this, the Holy Spirit had St. Paul pen the following words in 1 Corinthians 1:10, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

“You can’t please everyone” was never truer than when it comes to church work! Therefore, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling!”

IV. Personal Integrity

Proverbs 10:9  “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.”

Integrity is defined as “the steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.”

Ephesians 2:4-7  “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

According to verse 6 we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. Willard H. Taylor writes in the Beacon Bible Commentary, “The new life in Christ is resurrection life. As Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, we share not only the resurrection of Christ, but also His exaltation. God hath raised us up together, and made us sit together. These verbs express completed action. As Bruce says, ‘…believers are viewed as being already seated there with Christ, by the act and in the purpose of God. Temporarily, we live on earth so long as we remain in this body; but “in Christ” we are seated with Christ where He is.’”

Simply put, if a Christian will commit walking in integrity and to serving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, he/she will walk in newness of life and can walk above sin. No, he will not walk in sinless perfection. Only God can do that. However, if we will consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ, sin will no longer have dominion – or rule – over us.

Usually we are about as happy as we make up our mind to be… and we are also as close to God as we make up our mind to be. But, like any other success in life, it will require hard work!

A few evenings ago I was feeling tired and frustrated because I still have a few symptoms of myasthenia gravis. In my frustration I said, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

My wife came out of her chair! “No you are not! You are getting better every day and are almost well! God is healing you! NEVER say you are sick and tired!”

Yes ma’am!

Let me tell you, the next day I was stronger than ever!

By sitting together with Christ in the heavenly realms we have constant contact with Jesus! Thus we can “have the mind of Christ.”

In Ephesians 1:15-23 we find another great word picture. Christ is the head of the church. The church is the body of Christ.  If Christ is the head and we are the body, then Satan is under our feet. Verse 21 states, “Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion…” According to Ephesians 6:12, that means over Satan and his forces!

         Praise God!  If we will walk in integrity and commitment to keeping every commandment of God, we can have power over Satan!

          But if honesty and integrity are lacking, look out!  You have given place to the devil, and he will beat you to a bloody pulp as he did Ananias and Sapphira.