Sermon: Honesty ? 2 of 4 AL BREEMS,
Pastor
Text: Dt. 25:13-16
Last week, for those of you who weren't here, I began a new series of
messages talking about the need for a new type of independence in our nation,
a new freedom that is needed--not from the control of Great Britain or
some other nation who is trying to take over our country--but from a bondage
which sadly we too often take on voluntarily in our lives, a freedom from
the slavery or bondage to debt.
And what I said last week was the road out of debt or the road to avoid
debt is really outlined by God in the Bible. It is a road which consists
of some very simple, fundamental steps or character traits which we need
to develop and strengthen in our lives. I am convinced that
the more we as Christians begin to obey the Lord in the areas which I am
going to cover this month, the more the Lord is going to bless us and protect
us from the traps and pitfalls of debt.
Last week, I began the very simple and yet often overlooked or lost
trait of hard work. As I said, the more we are willing to work hard first,
pray, and then make the purchases in our lives, the less likely we are
going to sink ourselves into debt by purchasing things which either we
don't need or which we can't afford in our lives.
Today, I'd like to come to a second thing God teaches all throughout
the Bible, a second type of obedience to God, a second type of character
trait which we as Christians more than anyone else need to exhibit in our
lives and which can play a major role in freeing and protecting our lives
from debt, and that is honesty.
When you read the Bible, one of the things that comes through from cover
to cover is that there is a huge and sometimes hidden, sometimes a very
obvious battle, that is being waged in this world--a battle between good
and evil, between God and the devil, between Jesus and Christians and the
demonic world of darkness. It is a battle, which even though it manifests
itself on a physical or emotional or psychological level in this world,
is nevertheless a battle, which at its deepest level is being waged at
a spiritual level.
But one of the things I'd like you to realize this morning is how much
honesty--telling the truth--stands at the center of this battle. From the
very beginning, when the devil took the form of a snake and tempted Eve
in the garden to eat the forbidden fruit, what was it that the devil used
as his tactic or weapon to convince Eve to disobey God? A lie, right?
He was dishonest with by telling her that if she ate the fruit instead
of dying as God said would happen, Eve would become on the same level of
power and knowledge with God Himself.
And when you read further in the Bible, you will come to see that dishonesty
is really the MO of the devil. It is his way of doing business with all
of us. The Bible says about the devil that he is the "father of lies and
deception," and I would guess that even now for many if not most of you
sitting here this morning, just as he did with Eve, the devil is telling
you some kind of a lie about yourself, your future, your family, or your
marriage, and if you believe it, it will destroy you.
Not only does the devil attempt to deceive and use dishonesty to tempt
us, as he did Eve, but I also believe what the devil does is attempt to
get us join him in dishonesty. Over and over again, the devil is going
to look for ways to get you and me to rationalize why it's OK for us to
in some way shape or form, lie, to deceive ourselves or others around us.
And this is where I believe we, as Christians need to be different from
the world around us. There are far too many people who live their lives
by giving in daily to the devil, who actually depend on deception as a
way of life, who think little or nothing of telling lies, and they have
all kinds of reasons why that's OK.
But I'd like you to think about something in connection with Jesus.
Do you remember what He said about Himself in connection with honesty?
He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life...." Not only did He make
a statement about Himself, that He stood for truth and honesty in the world,
that He is the source of all truth and honesty in the world, but He also
said to you and me that it will be "truth that will set us free." The more
we live our lives by truth and honesty, and not the lies or deception or
falsehood of the devil, the more we will live in freedom.
And I'd like us think about this this morning in connection with our
lives and debt especially. We are going to take a look today at a passage
that talks about how God's people need to be honest especially in their
financial or economic dealings in the world. Because here's the connection
to debt. When we put our name on the line for credit, we make a promise
to pay that credit; and we need to uphold that promise by paying the debt.
To fail to pay the debt. therefore, in many ways is dishonest. Now,
I am a believer, that when we sign on the line, we do so by putting faith
in the Lord and not ourselves, that we are only going to be able to pay
off that debt with the Lord's strength and not our own; however, we must
realize that we cannot use the Lord as our out. It's not His name on the
line. It's ours. And if He puts us in a situation where we are in financial
woe, we still have made the promise, and we cannot in all honesty say,
we'll He didn't provide. He's not on the line. We are. And for the sake
of integrity and honesty we need to find a way to pay off that debt.
The passage we are about to read I believe is a great help to motivate
us and encourage us to do just that, to make sure that we handle all of
our dealings in life, especially those of a financial matter, with honesty
and integrity. So, with that in mind, let's read the passage....
Now, a couple of important lessons we can learn from this ancient text
for our world and our lives as God's people today. Here's the first, very
simple: don't cut corners.
If you look at vv.13-14, you will see that what God was trying to establish
with His people back then, the ancient Jewish people, were standards of
honesty and integrity in their financial dealings with each other. You
must understand their situation back then. Most of the people made a living
by either farming or the caring for and tending of flocks. They didn't
have currency yet in their economy; so the way they would pay for things
was in the form of commodities: flour, grain, oil, milk, etc.
And the way they would measure those commodities was that they would
have these weights or these bushel baskets called ephahs that were standard
units of measurements. So for example, you might say to someone, "Hey,
I'll give two stones worth of cheese for 3 ephahs worth of flour." And
that's how you would go the grocery store, by measuring and trading different
goods with one another.
Well, people being people, out their sinful nature, there was a tendency
of some to be dishonest. And what they would do was sort of a slight of
hands trick. When they were getting a commodity from another person, they
would take out the big stone, the heavier stone, or they would use the
larger deeper ephah. That way they got more for their money. However, when
they were selling a commodity to another person, they'd get out the little
stone or the smaller ephah so that they were losing less from their own
goods. Get the picture?
And so it was in light of this type of practice that had become rampant,
that God commanded them to be honest with one another. Literally what it
said in v.13 was stone for stone. In other words, God didn't want anyone
to deceive anyone else, and if they said it was to be one stone's worth
or one basket's worth, then a stone had to be a stone, no more, no less.
An ephah had to be an ephah, no more, no less.
And what that says to you and me, I believe is this simple truth. Don't
spend your life looking for ways that you can cut corners, and "get away"
with spending less or getting more than you really deserve. Let your business
be done with honesty.
And I believe this is important for us as Christians to do no matter
what we are involved in, because one of the ways in which we so often think
about ways to cut corners, to cheat or be dishonest is when it's only a
small thing, when it really doesn't matter: keeping extra change, disregarding
the speed limit, fudging a little bit on our taxes, taking things from
work, deciding we aren't going to pay the visa bill or the phone bill this
month.
Think about it, when they had these two stones, it wasn't like one stone
was huge to buy and the other tiny to sell. How dumb do you think people
were back then? Obviously, the difference between the stones or baskets
had to be minuscule to make the deal work, right? But did God say, "Oh,
if it's only a little thing like a few ounces more for one than the other,
hey let it go." No, God says I detest this. I hate it.
You know the Bible says, "He who is faithful in little things will be
given much." Some of you have some huge bills. You need the Lord's help
big time in paying those off. Well, if you want His help in paying off
the bills, then start by being faithful in the little things. Avoid the
temptation which we all face to cut corners, to be a little bit dishonest
thinking that because other people don't know or because it won't make
that big of an impact it doesn't matter.
Learn to live by honesty and integrity. As the Bible says, "Let your
yea be yea (your yes, yes), and your nay, nay (your no, no)." If you say
you will pay a certain amount, pay it. If you promise to pay off something
by a certain time, do it.
Now, that's the first lesson to be learned from the passage. Here's
the second, and it is an important lesson because how well we do with the
first point, learning not to cut corners in this world, is largely dependent,
I believe in how well we do with the this second point, and the point is
this: believe God rewards honesty.
If you look in your Bibles at v. 15, you will see that the command not
to be dishonest with the stones and baskets was followed up with a promise
from God, and basically the promise was that if you are honest in your
dealings with others, things will go well with you in the land.
Now, that expression, "you will live long in the land the Lord is giving
you," was an expression that meant basically, God was going to watch over
you, take care you, and even prosper you in this world for a long time.
You could have a peace and encouragement about your life and your future
because you would know that God was pleased with you and would bring His
blessings in whatever form He decided they would take into your life.
Interestingly enough, I don't know if there are any of you who recognize
this expression, that "you will live long in the land the Lord your God
gives you," but it was an expression that was attached to one of the 10
commandments. Do you know which one? It was the commandment about honoring
your father and mother in this world. The more we honor our parents, the
more the Lord promises a long life of blessings from Him. In the same way,
here in Deut. it says the more we are honest in our business dealings,
the same.
Think about it, what is it that drives us to cut corners? It's more
than just a desire for money. Often there are other factors at work in
our hearts and minds that motivates us to be less than honest especially
in our finances. On the one hand, there is often a fear factor involved.
We look at all we need to pay for, and we are afraid that we aren't going
to have enough. And because of that fear, there is a voice that tells us,
"You better get what you can when you can, because if you don't, you're
going to be sorry later." So out of fear, we take what we can get, even
if it's done in a dishonest way.
On the other hand, there is also a sense of pride that I believe gets
into the mix of dishonesty in finances. The pride has to do with
the thought that it really is up to us to solely provide for ourselves.
If we don't find a way by hook or by crook to get the money, then we're
going to face financial crises. That's where we convince ourselves
to take matters into our own hands. We convince ourselves that it's OK
for us to be dishonest, even in small ways, because we someone need it
or even deserve it, and besides they won't miss it, or that's what they
get for making a mistake.
But the truth is, as I said before, we are not in charge of our lives.
We do not have the power or authority on our own to generate money. Rather,
we need to learn a healthy dependence on the Lord to pay the bills of our
lives. I really believe it needs to work this way: we honor Him, and He
provides for us. We are obedient to Him, and He is gracious and loving
to us.
Too often I believe we think of God only when we get stuck financially.
That's why, until that point we see no problem in finding our own ways
of supplying for our financial needs including ringing up all kinds of
debt. The question is are we going to look to credit with the world to
solve our financial needs or are we going to look for ways to ring up credit
with God?
And the best way to ring up credit with God is to be honest, to have
integrity in our dealings with other people. As a matter of fact, I believe
that many times, without us even realizing it, what God is doing in our
lives, sometimes daily, is putting us through little tests, tests in which
God is trying to see whether we are going to lean on ourselves, our creditors,
or whether we are going to trust Him.
And listen closely, being honest financially in the world sometimes
hurts. Sometimes it will involve a cost. Sometimes we will lose money or
we will not be able to get things that we want in this world or we will
have to go through a time of struggle and suffering, but the test from
God is to believe that even though there is a cost, being honest eventually
will pay off, and the reward from God for honesty will far outweigh whatever
it is we have to give up in this world.
The Bible says of Jesus, "there was no deception in Him." Did Jesus
have struggles and sacrifices in His life on earth -- absolutely. However,
was it worth it for Jesus to remain true to God in all He did -- without
a doubt. Just as his Father in heaven rewarded Him for His honesty and
integrity on earth, there is a long life of rewards for the long haul,
for you and me.
Now, that's one side of the coin in terms of the motivation given to
us in these verses as to why we need to be honest, the positive side, to
believe that God will reward us. In v.16, however, the Bible turns to the
other side of the coin to warn us that if we chose not to be honest, there
is also a cost, the anger or displeasure of God.
And here's the lesson I'd like us to learn from this last verse: remember,
you can fool others, but not God. The Bible reminded those people back
then that even though they could pull off a fast one on other people with
whom they traded for their goods with the different stones or baskets,
they were not fooling God. God was all too aware of what was going
on, and as it says in this verse, "detested" their dishonesty.
There's a verse in the Bible I'd you to commit to memory: "Do not be
deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, so also shall he reap."
You can fool other people around you with dishonesty, but you cannot fool
God. You can get away with ringing up debt and not paying it off, but you
will have to answer to God for breaking your word.
And you know what, God has a perfect right to be upset when we are dishonest.
Part of the reason is because He is God and He is Holy and perfect and
detests any type of sin, but there is more with dishonesty, I believe.
You see, when it comes to the way in which God measures our lives, when
He puts us on the scale, God has not only been fair. He has been more than
fair. When we were found
lacking and wanting before God, God sent His Son to pay the death penalty
for you and me.
And that's why I believe after all that God has done for us in terms
of being more than fair, in terms of being very, very gracious and forgiving,
when God sees us treat others in unfair, dishonest ways, as large or small
as they might be, it hurts God and angers Him, and as it says, He detests
dishonesty. Actually the word used is the same word that is used for something
that is an abomination to God.
The Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When
it comes to our finances, it is my hope and prayer that you and I will
be motivated to be people who are notoriously, persistently, and consistently
honest. That in our love for, faith in, and even fear of our God,
we will treat others not just fairly but with God's love and kindness,
with grace and forgiveness. That if we say we are going to do something,
we are people who live up to our word, who make good on our promises because
God has been so good and faithful to us.
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