Integrity/Uprightness #2: (Context/Elements)

Driving home: the basic concept of integrity is the quality of being complete no essential moral element lacking from one's thought or action and uprightness means to be straight or even and unbending moral straightness so that integr…

Martin uses the analogy of 'what is done to the child' (chastening) and 'what is said to the child' (admonition) to explain the two primary means of nurture in Ephesians 6:4, focusing on molding character through action and verbal instruction.

But in our study this morning, I trust as we approach it, if you've been with us for any number of these, that you're convinced and are firmly rooted in the fact that Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 4 is a watershed text with respect to parental responsibility. For in it, God the Holy Spirit says, And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord. And we learn, among other things, from that text, that the primary means which God is appointed to be used by parents for the nurture of their children are chastening and admonition. The f...

0:38 - 1:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: the basic concept of integrity is the quality of being complete no essential moral element lacking from one's thought or action and uprightness means to be straight or even and unbending moral straightness so that integr…

The example of Job is used to illustrate that holding fast to one's integrity in the face of false accusations is not pride, but a substantial expression of moral wholeness and straightness, even when one cannot understand God's dealings.

or not he's walking in integrity david could say in psalm twenty six judge me oh lord for i have walked in my integrity and that was not at all inconsistent with his being conscious of sin and failure and need of god's grace but in the midst of it he could say that by the grace of god the pattern of his life was one of moral wholeness and straightness he had walked with integrity and uprightness indicating that the consciousness of these qualities and the profession and if necessary the protestation of them in the face of contrary allegations is not a matter of pride for when joel is accused a...

5:15 - 6:36 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin presents Proverbs 28:18 as a capstone text promising deliverance for the upright. He then expounds on the story of Abimelech in Genesis 20 as a vivid example of integrity…

The story from Genesis 20, where Abimelech takes Sarah believing her to be Abraham's sister, is used as a detailed example of integrity. Abimelech acted with moral wholeness based on his perception, and God acknowledged his heart's integrity despite the potential for an adulterous act, illustrating that integrity is about the heart's intention.

He will have God as his deliverer many times in this present life, but if not fully in this life, in the age to come, God will vindicate the uprightness and the integrity of all who have truly walked before him in those qualities. But he that is perverse, he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once. Often God makes that promise fulfilled in this life, but it surely will be fulfilled when he says to the perverse, depart from me ye cursed, and they shall fall at once into outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And then for that example of integrity that ...

8:38 - 10:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if your children can say of you that you acted with integrity and uprightness in all dealings with money, specifically regarding tithing and honesty.

Martin shares a personal memory of his father consistently setting aside tithes and offerings on the old upright piano, regardless of financial circumstances. This illustrates how a parent's integrity in handling money, specifically tithing, deeply imprints a biblical concept of honoring God on a child's mind.

Remembering, as I've alluded to some of you privately and perhaps in times past publicly, but so many of you are new among us, it bears repetition, that one of the most important things in the life of a person is to remember that he or she was a child of God. One of the most vivid memories in my mind growing up in our home is that when we lived in Connecticut and then the family moved to Pennsylvania, that twice a month, the old upright piano, first it was an old player piano, then an old third, fourth hand upright piano that sounded terrible, miserably out of tune. And one of the great memori...

17:32 - 18:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if your children can say of you that you acted with integrity and uprightness in all dealings with money, specifically regarding tithing and honesty.

Martin recounts being sent back to the store by his mother to return 32 cents of overpaid change. This illustrates the importance of honesty 'to a penny' and how parental integrity in small financial dealings teaches moral wholeness and straightness.

Son who as a wage earner has had that model of integrity. He has had that model of integrity. He has had that model of integrity and uprightness stamped upon his consciousness growing up so that the thought of not giving to God his portion in lean times and in difficult times is as abhorrent and unthinkable as chasing another woman. The use of money, honesty to a penny, being sent back to the store because my mother discovered that when they added up, and that's back in the day, days when there was a pencil on a brown paper bag and everything was added up, that she checked it and found out tha...

19:40 - 21:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if your children can say of you that you acted with integrity and uprightness in all dealings with money, specifically regarding tithing and honesty.

Martin reflects that he was never afraid of an IRS letter because his father acted with integrity in his taxes. This illustrates how parental integrity in financial matters provides peace and a clear conscience, setting an example for children.

Son who as a wage earner has had that model of integrity. He has had that model of integrity. He has had that model of integrity and uprightness stamped upon his consciousness growing up so that the thought of not giving to God his portion in lean times and in difficult times is as abhorrent and unthinkable as chasing another woman. The use of money, honesty to a penny, being sent back to the store because my mother discovered that when they added up, and that's back in the day, days when there was a pencil on a brown paper bag and everything was added up, that she checked it and found out tha...

19:40 - 21:05 Read in full sermon

The point: When you sin by losing your temper or speaking angrily, confess it to your spouse, to God, and then to your children, asking for their forgiveness.

Martin describes parents who, after losing their temper and speaking angrily, would confess their sin to each other, to God, and then to their children, asking for forgiveness. This illustrates integrity in owning sin and modeling repentance for children.

Willingness to own sin. Blessed are the children. Who have parents who when they have plainly sinned. By losing their temper.

23:20 - 23:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Provide an example of moral wholeness and straightness in the area of moral purity, specifically regarding how you look at and interact with other women.

Martin shares a personal memory of never seeing his father cast a 'leering glance' at other women. This illustrates a father's moral purity and integrity in the area of sexual conduct, providing a blessed example for his son.

A righteous man that walks in his integrity. Blessed are his children after him. What a wonderful thing. To be able to say that as close as I was to my father.

24:40 - 24:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Do anything short of sin to obtain and maintain a context of teaching integrity to your children that is reflective of Proverbs 20:7.

Martin paraphrases Jesus' words about the scribes and Pharisees sitting on Moses' seat (Matthew 23) to apply to professing Christian parents. He uses this analogy to warn children to 'do what they say but don't do what they do' if their parents are hypocritical, highlighting the shame of such an indictment.

ourselves right smack in the context of Matthew 23 where Jesus speaks his most scathing words probably his most scathing words ever spoken in his earthly ministry to whom does he speak them not to harlots and to publicans and to the riffraff of Jerusalem and the larger regions of Palestine but he speaks to the religious leaders then said Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples saying the scribes and pharisees sit on Moses seat all things therefore whatsoever they bid you these do and observe but do not ye after their works for they say and do let me give an application paraphrase of this ...

26:56 - 27:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Constantly remind your children of the ever-present, all-seeing eye of God upon them, teaching them texts like Proverbs 15:3, Hebrews 4:13, and Psalm 139.

Martin tells the story of Mr. Stenekes, a profligate sailor whose father's last words, 'Son, never forget, there's an all-seeing eye upon you,' followed him through years of sin until he heard the gospel in New York and was converted. This illustrates the powerful, convicting, and comforting truth of God's omnipresence.

5. Thou hast searched me and known me. me. Thou knowest my down-sitting, my uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Not a word in my tongue, but, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. Wherever I am, whatever I do, whatever I think, an all-seeing eye is upon me. I'll never forget some of you who go back, way back, three decades, who remember old Mr. Stenekes. He was a rough, cursing, profligate sailor, a Dutchman by birth and by rearing. And he went out to sea as a young man, and he said his father put his hand upon him, and his last words were, Son, never forget, there's an all-seein...

33:01 - 34:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Constantly point your children's minds and hearts to the gospel of God, so they understand how to deal with the guilt revealed by God's law and judgment.

Martin uses the example of a child tempted to cheat on a test to illustrate how the gospel, specifically the love of Christ and His death for sin, provides a powerful motivation for integrity, asking if one is prepared to 'rub salt in his wounds' for a better grade.

And in the gospel alone is the source of power and effective motivation to walk with integrity and uprightness. When it says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, involved in that power is not only power to forgive and to give them a righteousness that will stand the scrutiny of the eye of God, but power to defend, throne the reign of sin, power to fill their young hearts with motives such as 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 14, the love of Christ and strength. If Jesus died for the sin of cheating, am I prepared to rub salt in his wounds just to get an A instead of a B? What a motive to hel...

46:46 - 47:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Constantly point your children's minds and hearts to the gospel of God, so they understand how to deal with the guilt revealed by God's law and judgment.

Martin uses the example of children being tempted to look at a 'girly magazine' to illustrate how the gospel provides motivation for moral purity, asking if one's eyes should look upon that which 'caused Jesus to groan and to bleed upon the cross'.

And in the gospel alone is the source of power and effective motivation to walk with integrity and uprightness. When it says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, involved in that power is not only power to forgive and to give them a righteousness that will stand the scrutiny of the eye of God, but power to defend, throne the reign of sin, power to fill their young hearts with motives such as 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 14, the love of Christ and strength. If Jesus died for the sin of cheating, am I prepared to rub salt in his wounds just to get an A instead of a B? What a motive to hel...

46:46 - 47:49 Read in full sermon