In this enlightening episode, delve into the profound concept of integrity as explored through Ecclesiastes chapter 5. David Hawking leads a thoughtful discussion on the erosion of integrity in today’s society, particularly within business and personal commitments. Explore how careless words and empty promises impact not only personal relationships but our connection with God. Understand why integrity is not just a personality trait but a fundamental aspect of spiritual living.
What is integrity? It’s a cautious response toward God that recognizes the need of worship, of coming to the Lord. I see a lot of things clearly when I come to worship the Lord. My life changes, my principles, my values, my priorities. The ultimate objective of every person is the worship and praise of God. The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Why were we made? The Bible says for his pleasure, for his glory, for his honor, for his worship, for his praise. Everything that God made was to glorify him.
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This is Hope for Today. We live in a world where promises are cheap, words are thrown around, and integrity is often the first thing to die when convenience shows up. People say one thing, do another, and call it normal. Ecclesiastes chapter 5 calls that what it is. It’s not a personality quirk. It’s not a phase. It’s a spiritual problem. Today, Bible teacher David Hawking begins a new study called What Happened to Integrity? From Ecclesiastes chapter 5, God’s Word shows us the danger of careless words, empty vows, and a life that sounds religious but isn’t rooted in truth. Get into the passage in just a moment. First, a quick word about our ministry letter, the Hope for Today monthly ministry letter. You can subscribe and stay connected to what God is doing through Hope for Today. It includes ministry updates, special offers, and specific prayer requests, so you can know what’s happening and how to pray for Hope for Today. As a part of the Hope for Today family, it’s a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of this ministry and stay in step with what the Lord is doing. Sign up for the Hope for Today monthly ministry letter at davidhawking.org or call us at 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, and Bible is 242-53. Or turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verses 1 through 7 now. And here’s David with day one of his message, What Happened to Integrity?
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In the Wall Street Journal, there was a series of articles dealing with the matter of integrity. It was under the subject of business ethics, and it was telling us about the serious problems that exist in this country in business. As people make promises that they do not keep, they inflate the value of their products when in reality they know they’re not worth what they just said. Integrity is also a lost cause, it seems, in American business because so many are cheating and manipulating with financial figures and facts, embezzlement, cheating the government, cheating their place of employment, and it appears to be a national problem. Now Solomon is the wisest person who ever lived in the ancient world, and he was very much aware of the problem of integrity, and that’s our subject today from Ecclesiastes chapter 5. So open your Bibles there as we continue this study of this great book. It’s a cultural apologetic. It’s explaining to a Gentile secular pagan world about the God who made us, understanding who he is and what he requires of each one of us. In Ecclesiastes 5, in the first seven verses today, we want to look at the subject of integrity. There’s enough in these verses, by the way, to make you miserable. I just want to prepare your heart for it so you just know what’s coming. How many times have you made a promise to do something and have not kept it? There’s enough in this passage to make every one of us miserable. This passage is about saying that you’re going to do something, but you never do it. And worst of all, making a promise to God, making a commitment before God that you will do something, but you never did it. You never followed through. That’s what this passage is all about. Whatever happened to integrity? Verse 1, chapter 5. Walk prudently when you go to the house of God, and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth. And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through much activity. And a fool’s voice is known by as many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it. For he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity, but fear God. Let’s look to the Lord in a moment of prayer as we begin. Father, we thank you for your word and we ask that you would speak to our hearts today. That we, Father, would understand the importance of keeping our promises and commitments that we’ve made. And I pray, God, that you would restore to our hearts the importance of integrity before you. that you are a God that knows what we say and what we think and what we do. You tell us that all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to deal. You’re a God who knows the end from the beginning, and we’ve never done anything, said anything, or thought anything that surprised you or fooled you. God, I pray that you develop integrity in our hearts as we come to you, for we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. I want to tell you from this passage today what I think are five ingredients of integrity. Five things about integrity from this passage, and they’re rather surprising when you think about it in its total, as to what it really means to have integrity in your life, to do what you said you would do, to keep your promises, to make sure that your statements are really well thought out and are clear and honest and open. with all people, and especially with the Lord. I think integrity, first of all, in verse 1, is the matter of a cautious response toward God. I don’t know how to say it any better. A cautious response toward God. Integrity is not flying into the presence of God and demanding what you want to. Integrity is not coming to God in familiar terms that we might talk with friends down here, though we have the right to be familiar with Him because of the work of Jesus Christ. It is not saying that I can take advantage of God. It is not saying that I can be frivolous with God. It is not saying that I can be pushy with God or manipulative with God. Integrity is a cautious response toward God. It understands who God is. It is my strong conviction that that our culture has lost a sense of the presence and power of God. I believe we have watered God down to a point that he is palatable, that somehow we can take him, we can understand him, we can relate to him, but in our relational thinking we have somehow lowered the infinite God from who he really is. Now there’s a danger of making God so transcendent, that is so far above us, that none of us can reach him. But there’s also a danger of making him so much a part of us that he’s something less than what he really is. God is not like man, but God is also like man. We need to understand in what sense is he like us and in what sense is he different. In the sense in which he is like us, he has personality, and so do we. God thinks, we think. God feels, we feel. God makes decisions, we make decisions. But in the sense in which he is different from us, it deals with all of his great attributes. God is eternal, and we are not. God is omnipotent, and we are not. We’re limited in our power. God is omnipresent. He’s everywhere at once, and we’re not. We’re localized in one place. God is omniscient. That is, he knows everything, and we don’t. We’re limited in our knowledge. God is perfect, but we’re not. We’re imperfect. God is infinite. There’s no limit to his resources or his understanding or his power, but we are limited. Now, God is different from us, therefore, but he’s also the same as us in personality. And what I believe has happened in our culture is because of relational differences, thinking that is we all want to relate to each other today we got needs the focus is on man and self and how I feel and so those kind of things cause us to relate to God really horizontally rather than vertically we no longer as the scriptures teach fall down in our face before a holy God understanding whose presence we stand in but now we’re kind of chummy with him side to side And I’m not being critical for no reason at all. I see it in literature. I hear it in programs. I hear Christians talk. I do the same thing. We’re very relational in this age. And I think there’s a sense in which we’ve lost our accountability and integrity before God because of it. God is not simply limited to who we are. God is much more than who we are. And his greatness sometimes is violated by the way we approach him. Now, we need a cautious response. I notice the text opens up this way. And by the way, these are the first exhortations in the book of Ecclesiastes. So far, he’s been talking about things as they relate to life, but now he is applying it. And here’s what he says, in the light of all I’ve said to you so far, that life is basically futile without our trust and confidence in the Lord. He said, then walk prudently. Walk prudently. New American Standard says the same thing. The old King James said, keep thy foot. New International Version says, guard your steps. Watch the way you come to the house of God. Guard the way you are walking. Guard the way you are acting. Guard your conduct very carefully because you’re entering the presence of God. Walk prudently when you go to the house of God. I think there are two things here that we ought to bring out. One is that this kind of cautious response toward God recognizes the need of worship. It is the sense of worship that is lost in our culture. We need to recognize our need of worship when you go to the house of God. I want to talk about this a little bit because I think there’s some confusion among a lot of evangelical teaching today about worship and the house of God. Now people say, therefore, and this is the thinking of today, therefore in our relationalism with people, therefore there’s not great thought and meaning and majesty to the place where Christians meet. Now at that point I wonder if we’re really thinking biblically or rather it’s just something we want to say. Is it a put down of a location where the Christians meet, a location and a building that they might have dedicated to God? Is it a put down in order to not be involved with that? Or is it a real understanding that the church is a body of people? First of all, I believe that anything in life can be sanctified or dedicated or set apart by the Word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy chapter 4 says so. That all things that are given to us by God can be received with gratitude, and they can be sanctified or dedicated or set apart by means of the Word of God, scriptural principles, and prayer. That’s what 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 3 and 4 tell us. Now I’m looking at that and I’m saying, what does it mean when I come to the house of God? In the Old Testament, the temple. we learn is the dwelling place of God. But if we think that the temple is the only place where God dwells, then we make a mistake. As Paul said on his great message at Mars Hill in Athens, in Acts chapter 17, he said, the God who made us does not dwell in temples made with hands. He knew that as a good Jew. So don’t think they thought that God only dwells in the temple. That’s not true. But God made a portion of his presence manifest in in the temple and that’s why it was precious to the jew but the temple itself was a place you came to worship god you offered sacrifices yet the bible continually told them that god is in heaven and you are on the earth and though a cloud would come on the holy place of the tabernacle in the wilderness and though the shekinah which means the dwelling glory of god would appear in a temple Yet there was a sense in which that was only a part. That was only God saying amen to what you just did. That was only God saying I agree with your worship today and manifesting something of his presence. That was not all there was to God. So the temple was not the dwelling place of God in one sense. It was in another sense. He said that’s where I’ll put my name. That’s where I will meet you. That’s where I want you to worship me. It seems that in the New Testament in this age, we’ve lost the sensitivity of coming to a place to worship and praise God. I think there’s a danger in that. First of all, we don’t have a priesthood today. Every believer is a priest. And in a sense, we don’t have an altar today. The altar is our own hearts and the sacrifices we bring are our lips giving praise to God. But on the other hand, it bothers me when we don’t have the sense of worship. It bothers me when we think… That the place where we come and we gather to assemble to worship God’s name can somehow be treated lightly or like any other place or like our homes. In the Old Testament, God distinguishes very clearly from the homes of the people and the place where they came to worship the Lord. Now, could the Jews worship in their homes? Oh, yes. In fact, they were instructed to. But when they gathered as a corporate body, when they were called together with the blowing of the trumpets and all the congregation gathered, there was a special sense of their corporate worship. My friends, that has not changed. Each of us can worship in our homes or in our private place or out under some tree. But when the body of Christ gathers together, the Bible speaks of the worship and the praise of God as the sacrifice we bring to the Lord. I read this text and I start out with what integrity is. It’s a cautious response toward God. It’s guarding your foot. It’s walking prudently. It’s being careful when you come to the house of God. The whole sense of worship. Coming before the Lord. I believe this recognizes the need of worship. When you come. When you go to the house of God. Turn back to Psalm 73. I want to show you something interesting here. It seems to me that regular and sincere worship of the Lord is the best way… that we believers can keep our priorities properly aligned. I think we get messed up in integrity. I think we get off base and we start doing things we ought not to do in word and deed and thought because we lose our sense of who God is and our worship of God. I believe that very strongly. In Psalm 93, 5, by the way, which we’re not turning to, holiness, the Bible says, adorns your house, O Lord, forever. Forever. holiness the fact that he is separate from sin and separate from those whom he created holiness beautifies the place of god it isn’t the building in the stone and i want to remind you that that temple that solomon built was one of the most beautiful if not the most beautiful buildings that has ever been constructed in the history of the world nothing has equaled it in beauty and in value Yet David said concerning that place, the tabernacle and the temple, the place where they came to worship, that holiness is what beautifies it. That’s true also of our lives. If our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, it is holiness staying away from sin that beautifies the temple of God, our bodies. Integrity as it comes to God recognizes the need of worship. In Psalm 73, Psalm 73, look at verse 16. David said, when I thought how to understand this, and he’s dealing with the seemingly pressures of the wicked who scoff at him and speak loftily and set their mouth against God, unbelievers who care nothing for God. And so he says in verse 16, when I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me. Now watch this. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. Jump down to verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but you? David talking to God. There is none upon earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry, but it is good for me to draw near to God. Combine that back at verse 17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all your works. What is integrity? It’s a cautious response toward God that recognizes the need of worship, of coming to the Lord. I see a lot of things clearly when I come to worship the Lord. My life changes, my principles, my values, my priorities. The ultimate objective of every person is the worship and praise of God. You say, wait a minute, unbelievers don’t do that. But one day they will. The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Why were we made? The Bible says for his pleasure, for his glory, for his honor, for his worship, for his praise. Everything that God made was to glorify him. Whether we eat or whether we drink, we are to do all to the glory of God. Even unbelievers who’ll spend an eternity apart from God will one day bow the knee at his great white throne judgment and acknowledge who he is.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David’s back in a moment or two with the conclusion of today’s study time. Important points are just ahead, so stay tuned. First of all, Matt and I have a great study resource to share with you, and you might just want to add this to your home study library. Matt?
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Inside Is Life Worth Living, my dad expresses his sincere desire and prayer that his study of Solomon’s messages in Ecclesiastes under the direction and supervision of the Holy Spirit will powerfully motivate and encourage your life.
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And in the application of its message, you will find wisdom, peace, and much joy as well. Matt, this month we’re offering Is Life Worth Living by David Hawking together with the complete set, the complete set of audio messages for our current radio series in Ecclesiastes, the complete package. For just $40. Well, hey, let’s take a quick look inside the pack for the topics covered. And Matt, this is incredible and so perfect for what our listening friends are facing today. Amen. I see the chapter one is all is vanity. Chapter two, Matt, living for your job. Oh, we got a time for everything, a time for judgment. Wow. In Chapter 5, the tragedies of life, Solomon’s reflections on that. Wow. The importance of friendship from Chapter 6. Chapter 7, Matt, what happened to integrity? Yeah, right? Yeah. Chapter 8, the problem with wealth. Matt, this and so much more are in store for you inside Is Life Worth Living? David Hawking’s 172-page deep dive into the riches of Ecclesiastes.
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Everything you’ll hear in the Ecclesiastes series on radio, plus the book, Is Life Worth Living, are in our featured resource pack this month for just $40. The Is Life Worth Living pack will bless you.
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And your purchase will bless and help the ministry of hope for today. Add a donation to help us continue this radio and online outreach, or simply send your most generous contribution and join with us in ministry. And please continue praying for hope for today. Well, to get your copy of the Is Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes Package, call 800-75-BIBLE or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also order online at DavidHawking.org. And just before David returns, it’s the end of the month, and we want you to consider standing with the ministry of hope for today. End of the month support helps us stay strong on the air and online. And automatic monthly giving provides the stability that keeps God’s word going forth day after day. Give a one-time gift, become a regular monthly supporter, or set up automated support at davidhawking.org. or call us at 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also give by writing us a note, and we love reading your letters. They are so encouraging to us. In the United States, write to Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S, 8P1. And thank you.
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Here’s David. While we’re continuing our study of this great book of Ecclesiastes, what I like to call cultural apologetics, finding out what life is really all about and how to live it for the glory of God, how to enjoy the things that we have and the things that we do without becoming obsessed with the wrong pursuits. A lot of things in life are vanity. It’s just soap bubbles and emptiness, and it doesn’t accomplish anything. It’s meaningless. And a lot of us are doing meaningless things. They lack purpose. They lack direction. The Bible says in Psalm 119, 105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And in this particular chapter, chapter 5 in the opening seven verses, we’re calling it integrity. What happened to integrity? I don’t need to tell you that we’re suffering greatly in our culture today because we don’t have integrity. Integrity certainly means to tell the truth, and integrity does mean that honesty controls most of what you do in life. We mean all that you do, but I’m saying in relationship to things and business and so forth. Integrity doesn’t mean that you go to God and demand what you want. You’re not pushy with God. You’re not trying to manipulate Him. You need to understand who He is and what He wants of us. And this is why this particular section is so crucial to what’s going on today in our society. We need to get back to true biblical integrity. And that recognizes the need for worship. That’s for sure. That’s what happens in the opening verses here of chapter 5. Even understanding what the nature of worship is and how it should be done. We’re just not getting that, folks. Integrity is a vital part of that. Well, I hope that you’re also looking at our commentary, Is Life Worth Living?, If you don’t have one, be sure to call us at the United States office, 1-800-75-BIBLE. Or if you live in the provinces of Canada, call our Canadian office, 1-888-75-BIBLE. God bless you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, thank you, David. And by the way, if you missed any part of today’s program or a recent broadcast, catch up on our website, davidhawking.org. Just go there, click on the radio tab, and you’ll find our latest programs there for a limited time. Well, next time on the program, we’ll look at the importance of doing all we do for God for the right reasons. It’s day two of What Happened to Integrity? Be sure to invite someone to listen along with you as we bring you the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible right here on Hope for Today.
