Integrity - Do You Have It? - Zechariah 7:1 - 8, 23

How often do you observe practicing it?

Somewhere there is a person that has affected your life simply because you can trust them. In your eyes that person has integrity. A person with integrity is sound and complete and they live their life on a daily basis adhering to a code of ethics acceptable to God. Complete integrity means that nothing can or will cause a person to compromise their code of ethics. True integrity means that one has vowed to keep God’s commandments to the best of man’s ability.
A person with integrity is one that has all the combined attributes of honesty, truthfulness, sincerity, fair-mindedness, that controls their every action even when there is no one present and observing. In government, we call them statesmen—that is, we used to call them statesmen when they were present—they are a diminishing breed in this generation. We become discouraged because of the lack of integrity in our government officials [and often in our clergy]…however, it is not a new problem, since we find that it was a problem in the days of Zechariah.
After the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah was taken captive by Babylon there was a system of fasting and prayers established to help the people remember their former favor in the eyes of God and the destruction that came as a result of their disobedience. Now that the city has been rebuilt and the remnant is home again, in the seventh chapter of Zechariah we find the new direction given by God was that he expects integrity and not fasting. A delegation was sent to the priest and prophets and asked this question. “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
As God so often does, he answered their question with another question—which was “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that fasted or were you just celebrating for yourselves?” Then the prophet told the people that God was not interested in their selfish attitudes but that he was concerned with their integrity toward others. He told them that this is what the Lord says; “Administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think of evil of each other.”
In verses 5 to 7 we find that the Israelites had lost their sincere desire for a Christian relationship with each other and a loving attitude toward God. The prophet told them that they had been fasting without a proper attitude of repentance or worship. They fasted and mourned during the exile with no thought of God or their sins that caused the exile in the first place. He told them that their sacrifices were for selfish reasons and showed no integrity toward God or other people.
In verses 11 and 12 Zechariah explained to the people that their ancestors brought Gods wrath on themselves because of the hardening of their hearts. This practice had continued down through the generations. This warning is very applicable to all of us today. There is something about sin that causes it to get easier and people feel less guilty as they repeat the same sin. As our hearts become hardened, it becomes easier to sin and feel no guilt. Ignoring God’s call to repentance works in the same way—it is bothersome at first, but repeated failure to heed God’s warning can soon result in self-satisfaction with little or no guilt feeling attached. NOTE: This is not pertaining only to the lost soul…it applies to the Christian as well. There is a proven remedy—Read God’s word often and regularly and apply it to your life. It will result in a sensitivity that will bring about submission to his word that will soften your heart and allow you to live a life of INTEGRETY.
In the eighth chapter Zechariah tells the Israelites that the Lord has promised to bless Jerusalem. He quotes God as saying; “I will return to Zion [Jerusalem] and it will be called the City of Truth.” Truth is integrity and therefore on with integrity is truthful, dependably, helpful, and will operate on a Christ-like code of ethics. The promise God made means that one day soon Christ will reign in his kingdom here on earth. There all of his own people will live with him. We dream of a world of peace where we can live freely and without fear of harm—but I believe the bible teaches that day will not come before the second coming of our Lord. This seems somewhat depressing but peace will not come by our power or might…But by his spirit…by his presence as King of Kings.
Verses 4 and 5 speaks of troubled times when the very old and the young seem to be the first to suffer. As we write, the population of older people is growing and conditions that offer health care and acceptable living conditions for the elderly is a major problem even in the more prosperous nations. In the countries of the less fortunate, children are starving and disease ridden in conditions that are deplorable. These verses picture great numbers of the old and young that is filling the streets with normal everyday activities. This seems to me to be a sign of the complete peace and prosperity of Gods new earth.
In verse 6 the remnant referred to the small number of exiles that returned from Babylon to rebuild the city and temple. They were struggling to survive and it must have been very difficult for them to believe that things were going to turn around completely bringing them peace and prosperity. I just want to bring to your attention that the conditions on earth today are approaching or even surpassing the troubled times of the remnant. Read the front page of the news paper during the next week and compare the good news with the amount of bad news and see if you can not imagine that we are suffering some of the same pangs of depression, worry, war and fear of the terrorist. Read your bible, consider the promises of God and you can know that there are better days ahead. Our God is all-powerful; he can do anything when he is confronted by the impossible. Just remember “With God all things are possible, [Matthew 19:26].
8:8 The covenant relationship will be renewed, and the city and country will be filled with the presence of God. This is a universal promise of forgiveness and restoration that extends to Christian people wherever they are found. In verses 9 through 11 God gives the temple workers a little push to get them moving ahead. They had heard the prophet tell them what was going to happen and now it was time for them to do more than listen; they needed to get busy doing what they had been told to do. We are his hands and feet in Heber Springs, and now that we know what he has commissioned us to do, it is time to start and complete the task for the modern day church. To do so is called OBEDIENCE.
13-15 For more than fifteen years, God through his prophets had been urging the people to finish building the temple. In these verses he encouraged them by showing visions of the future. I hope I am not stretching my imagination too far, but I can visualize our congregation is this same position. About ten years ago our church faced some troublesome times that caused us to loose a great number of our younger members. For some reason we have not found a way to regain the momentum in physical growth. Could the problem be that we have been tempted to slow down because people are not responding as we had hoped? Are we physically or emotionally drained? Do we have some that are uncooperative? Is our task too difficult, or not worth the effort? Is the problem in the leadership or follow ship? God’s promises about our future should encourage us NOW. We must prayerfully seek God’s guidance and return to our commitment to grow his church.
The 14th verse returns us to God’s demand for integrity among his people. The remedy for the problem in Jerusalem is the same remedy that will solve our problems. 16 “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this.”…
If we will follow the instructions given the Jews we will soon reach the place where we will have no need to fast for our sins but we can replace the fast with feasting and joy. Now read verse 23 and see how it transposes to Heber First Baptist.
This is what the Lord Almighty says; “In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”
I believe that these last verses tell us that if we will regain our integrity of worship and commitment that there will be many people from this community, and from other places that move here that will hear the Word of God preached in its purity and simplicity and they will hold on to the hem of our church robe and find Jesus Christ as their savior. May god help us to seek the Lord’s guidance, may the Holy Spirit help us to recognize his will and May the Lord Jesus Christ hear and answer our prayers of repentance and renewed commitment.