(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Hi New Life Baptist Church, coming to you from all the way in Sydney, in this communist country of Australia where I can't cross the borders just yet. I wish I could be with you guys, but I heard Brother Sam's and Brother Jason's preaching on Sunday. Fantastic guys, you did a great job in my absence, I really appreciate the hard work you guys are doing as song leaders and everyone else that's helping out in the church. Thank you all for just serving the Lord with your time. So please take your Bibles and look at Psalm 26. So what I've decided to do, we did Psalm 25 on Sunday, the last Sunday that I was there, and I just thought well I'll just go through my three Psalms and then I'll select a new book for us to go through. I'm assuming most of the preaching you're going to be hearing will be topical sermons from the several men that will be preaching in my absence, so if we just continue going through the book of the Bibles, the books of the Bibles and chapter by chapter, I think that'll be the best balance for the church up there on the Sunshine Coast. So look at Psalm 26 and verse number 1, but your Bibles might say a psalm of David, and so we definitely see that it was King David that wrote this psalm, and that's important later on, but it says here, judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity. The title for the sermon tonight is Walked in Mine Integrity, Walked in Mine Integrity. I have preached on the topic of integrity before. It's such an important topic. What is integrity? When you think about this idea, quite often you might hear preaching on being consistent for the Lord. You might hear sermons on not backsliding, pushing forward, running the race. All of these things have to do with your integrity. The word integrity means something that is whole, that is complete, that is without fractional divisions or things like this, you know, it's a whole number as it is an integer. And so the idea is that we remain consistent, you know, that we're not Christians just for church services. We're not just Christians on a Sunday, and then we're living like the devil, living like the world on a Monday and Tuesday, and then maybe Wednesday night we're back to being Christians once again. That would not be someone that is consistent. That would not be someone of integrity, okay? That would be someone that is tossed to and fro with the top of environment. He finds himself in. And so this psalm is all about maintaining our integrity, how can we assure that we continue serving the Lord? How can we be sure that we continue in church and growing in the Lord and these kinds of ideas? And I think this is very important, especially, you know, I don't think of myself as anything, but I just think, you know, anybody, any church that is out there past for a period of time, you're going to have that temptation of just maybe not giving your best to the church. You know, quite often, and you know, we shouldn't think this way, but unfortunately we do because we are human beings. You know, first of all, we should go to church because that's what God requires of us. That's what God commands of us. And so we go to church because we know the Lord wants us there, isn't it? But because we're failures in human beings and we have that sinful flesh and we sometimes look up to men the way we shouldn't, sometimes we go to church because what will pastor think of me? What will this pastor? And I've been there. I sometimes have gone to church because I thought, well, what would pastor think of me if I didn't turn up to church? What would other people think of me if I didn't turn up to church? So look, if that's what's getting you to church, I mean, that's something good at least. If the fear of man is getting you to, well, I better be in church because I don't want someone to think low of me. If that's getting you to church, well, thank God for that, but really your focus should be on what does God want from me? What does God expect? And we know that God wants you to be someone of integrity, someone that keeps walking up to the Lord, that you're not doubting and going back to your old sinful habits and things like that. So this is what this Psalm really focuses on. Let's read verse number one again. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. And it says, I have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I shall not slide. So this is where we get the idea of the backslider. He says, look, I'm not going to slide, I'm not going to backslide because I've walked in my integrity. And he's asking for God to judge him on the matter. Is David truly walking in integrity? He's willing for the Lord to be the judge of that situation. Now, if you can, please turn to the book of Proverbs. Keep your finger there in Psalm 26, and let's go to Proverbs 19, because you're not too far away. Proverbs chapter 19, and look at verse number one. Proverbs 19 and verse number one reads, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool. You know the Bible saying here, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity. You know, the Bible's telling us that if you had a choice between being rich, okay, not being poor, but being rich in wealth, in possessions, or being someone of integrity, well, it is better to be someone of integrity, even if you are poor. You know, brethren, it's unlikely we're going to be the billionaires of this world. It's highly unlikely that we're going to be just flourishing and in wealth and possessions. And the reason for that, the reason why a lot of Christians are not wealthy, you know, we might be middle class or maybe even lower than middle class many times, is because God knows that if we have too much wealth, our hearts will be after those material gains. And he wants our heart fixed upon him and fixed upon the wealth that comes in heaven in our heavenly rewards. And so it is better, brethren, to be poor. But as long as you have integrity, you're doing better than the billionaires, the millionaires in this world that don't have integrity, right? That speak out of two ends, both ends of their mouths, that say one thing, but you don't really know if they really believe that. I mean, a lot of our politicians are like this. You know, they promise one thing, but then they practice something completely different. That is not someone of integrity. The person of integrity ought to be a Christian, the believer, the person that comes to church. It doesn't matter how big your bank account is, you should still strive for integrity. If you go to Proverbs chapter 20 now, look at Proverbs chapter 20 in verse number seven, just across the page there, Proverbs 20 verse seven, it says, the just man walketh in his integrity. Then it says, his children are blessed after him. The just man. You know, we've been justified because of salvation, we've been justified because of Jesus Christ, and because we're just, we ought to walk in our integrity. And here's the promise that this Psalmist, this prophet is telling us that if we do that, that our children will be blessed. You know, I'm sure as parents, we want our children to be blessed. It's wonderful, and it's a blessing to grow up in a Christian home. But really, the child's not getting the maximum blessing if his Christian parents are not parents of integrity. You know, if they don't live out the Christian life in their own home, if they don't follow through the things that they hear from church, you know, your children will pick up on these things. They will pick up on when mom and dad are, you know, hypocrites, when they're not obeying the Word of God, and you know, that will remove a blessing for them. I'm sure we all want our children to be blessed. We want our children to succeed, you know, in this world, yes, to some extent, but more so that they succeed in their Christian life, that they become great men and great ladies for our Lord God. And the Bible's telling us here, if we as parents walk in integrity, then our children will reap the rewards, they will be blessed. This truth will be seen later as we keep going through this psalm, this great truth that children are blessed because of the parents' integrity. And now if you can go to Psalm 37, go to Psalm 37, please, in 31, Psalm 37, verse 31. So we learn a couple of things in this psalm that we're reading that, you know, in order for you to be someone of integrity, you know, you will not backslide, you know, to prevent backsliding, to prevent going back in your spiritual life and your spiritual growth, you have to be someone of integrity, because it said, therefore, I shall not slide, okay? So it tells us how we can be sure of not backsliding, we must be people, therefore, I shall not slide because I have walked in mine integrity, okay? And you might ask the question, well, how then? Yes, I understand that we have to walk in integrity, but how do we walk in integrity? We look at Psalm 37, verse 31, Psalm 37, verse 31, it tells us how, it says here, the law of his God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide. So there it is, the backsliding, none of his steps shall slide. Why will none of his steps slide? Because the law of God is in his heart. So brethren, how is it that we can be people of integrity? Well, we must have the law of God in our hearts. Now, this is important because we all have heard the law of God, I mean, you're hearing preaching right now, you know, we've all heard Bible preaching, we've all read the Bibles, we know what the Bible contains, but it's more about knowing what the Bible contains, it's more than just having a mental understanding of what the Bible says, but you must transfer the law of God, the commandments of God into your hearts, it has to be in your most inner being. It has to be something that you love. You see, knowing is one thing, but walking is something completely different. You know, David says that he has walked in his integrity, he has learned what is integrity from the Word of God, from the law of God, okay, this is what it means to be a man of integrity, and then he's made the decision, well then, now that I know these things, I'm going to walk in the path of my integrity by keeping the law of God in my heart. And so, when we see that David is asking God to judge him, he's basically saying, Lord, can you judge me in accordance to your law? Lord, I believe that I've been walking according to your laws, I've not been sinning, you know, habitually sinning against you, I've not been, you know, just desiring to turn my back on you, Lord, I have a love for you, I'm walking after your commandments the best I can, Lord, and is willing for God to judge him in that situation. And so, you have to have a heartfelt love toward the Word of God. And one way for you to judge that, brethren, is how often do you pick up the Word of God? You know, do you go days upon days where you don't even pick up the Bible, you don't pick up the law of God? Well, if that's your situation, then you don't have a love for the law of God, okay, because if you love something, you can't wait to be part of that, right? I mean, I love my wife, I love her company, right? It's not like I enjoy being away from her, but when I am away from her, I have a desire to come back to be with my wife. You know, if we have a love for the Word of God, you know, it means that, you know, every day that you have the opportunity, we just want to pick up that book and have a read of it, don't we? You know, if that's not in your heart, then you don't love the law of God, and you're likely, you're the likely candidate to slide, to backslide, you know? So this is something we all have to work on. And you know, the way we have the law of God penetrate our heart is to stop being hardened toward the law of God, is to be willing to say, Lord, I know I'm a sinner, and I'm willing to be judged by your law, I'm willing to be corrected, and it's not, it's not, no one likes to be corrected, like nobody likes to say you are in the wrong, okay? But someone that loves the law of God will be willing to be humble enough to just admit the fact that we're not always right, we do things wrong, and we're willing for God's law to be the judge of our situation. And when you realize that you've been judged by God, and you realize that you come short of His standards, then you need to make those necessary changes out of love and walk in His paths. And if you can do that, brethren, consistently, you'll be someone of integrity. But if you don't do that, you're going to be the candidate, you're going to be the one that slides away, you're going to be the backslider, you're going to get yourself out of church, you're going to get yourself away from the Bible, and you're going to go back to the old lifestyle that you once used to have, that you once hated, you know, when you were walking with the Lord, you looked back at your old lifestyle and said, well, that's a horrible way to live, why did I live that way? And you're going to want to go back to your vomit, you know, you're going to be like that dog that returns back to its vomit. And we don't want to be that way. Let's go back to Psalm 26 and verse number two. And look, what we're about to read are difficult words, you know, it's even difficult for your pastor to say these words to God. But he says, Examine me, O Lord, and prove me, try my reins and my heart. So look, only a man of integrity could say such words. You know, I mean, just asking the Lord, can you prove me? Can you try me? Can you see what's in my heart, Lord, boy, you know, the Bible tells us that our heart is desperately wicked. You know, there are so many thoughts, you know, the thought of foolishness is sin. You know, we all have foolish thoughts, we all have wicked thoughts, you know, that stem from the heart and, you know, the challenge brethren is this, that we would be willing and be a man of integrity so much so that we're willing for God to ask God to judge our hearts. Lord, can you look at our hearts and make judgment upon that? Can you see if there's any wicked way in me, the Psalmist is asking, David is asking here. And yet I think many would say, would prefer saying, God, actually, can you just ignore my heart for a moment? Can you not look this way, Lord, because I'm ashamed of what's in there? And so that's the goal. That's a target that we see in the Psalm. The goal is to get to the point that we're walking in integrity to the point that we are comfortable with God examining the deeper, darker thoughts that we have in our hearts, you know, that he tries that. And, you know, hopefully God comes and says, you're a man of integrity, you know, and we can, you know, we can become men of integrity, women of integrity, as we keep looking at this Psalm. We'll look at this. Verse number three, for thy loving kindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in thy truth. First of all, loving kindness is before mine eyes, you know, God's kindness when God, you know, God shows us a lot of kindness, doesn't he? But it's not just kindness, it's loving kindness, you know, God acts out of love toward us. His kindness is not a fake kindness, you know, sometimes as human beings, we can be kind to somebody, but we don't really mean it. We don't really have a love for that person. We do it because for whatever, whatever reasons we may have. But when God shows us kindness, it's loving kindness. He has a love for his people. And what we notice next thing here, you know, David says that he walked in his integrity. Well now he says, and have walked in thy truth. So now we have, how can we be people of integrity? What can we develop? Number, point number one is we have to walk in truth, walk in truth, keep your finger there. Let's go to Jeremiah 23. Let's go to Jeremiah 23. We have to be people that walk in the truth of God. Jeremiah chapter 23. And let's look at verse number 14. Jeremiah 23 verse 14. We're going to be looking at the prophets that Judah had. And many of them were wicked prophets, many of them, many of the preachers there in those days were doing it for the money, were doing it for the status, I suppose. And you know, it's just like any, we've got a lot of preachers like that today in 2020. It's not much different at all, okay. And we see how these preachers are in verse number 14, it says, I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem and horrible thing, they commit adultery and walk in lies. Now look, if we're people of integrity, we're commanded to walk in truth, to walk in God's truth. But we see the prophets of this day and age, even in 2020, many of the preachers are walking in lies. And look, they commit adultery. I mean, there are so many preachers, brethren, that are just unfaithful in their marriage. You know, so many preachers, they do it for the, you know, they're just serving self. It's no longer, they've lost sight of serving God if they ever served God. They don't think about serving the brethren, if they're brethren, you know, it becomes all, it all becomes self-centered for them, becomes how much can I make in the ministry? You know, what can I take out of the ministry? And before you know it, you know, they find themselves in a situation where they're committing adultery, they walk in lies, let's keep going, they strengthen also the hands of evildoers that none doth return from his wickedness. They are, they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. And so the way, so because these prophets, these preachers, because they're so weak in their preaching, because they don't rebuke sin, they strengthen the hands of evildoers. Again, it says that none doth return from his wickedness, okay? So instead of coming to church and being challenged about your sin, they just, they're not challenged at all and they just, they don't, they're still in their wickedness, they don't return from their wickedness. They stay in their wicked state. They don't turn from their sins in their Christian life, right? And because of this, the reason they're doing this is because the preachers are so weak, they're so watered down, they walk in lies rather than preaching the truth of God. Let's keep going. And look, God compares them to Sodom and Gomorrah, boy, you know, I would hate for this preacher to be ever referred to as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah for walking in lies. Verse 15, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, behold, I will feed them with wormwood and make them drink the water of gold. For from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart and not of the mouth of the Lord. And so brethren, in order for us to walk in truth, what do we learn here? We must not hearken to every prophet. We must not listen to everybody we think is preaching God's Word. We must try them. We must prove them. We must see if they are truly preachers of God. We must see if they truly love God, if they truly love the brethren, how do they love the brethren, brethren? How do they do it? By preaching the truth, by walking in truth, okay? As I said earlier, we're commanded to walk in truth. Go in truth. Gain knowledge is wonderful, brethren, but it all means nothing if you don't take the truth and walk in those paths. And even the preacher, the prophets, the people you listen to, they ought to be setting a good example of the truth they preach and they teach, whether you can see in their life that they are walking after God, that they love God, that they are living after his ways. These are the preachers that you can listen to if you see a preacher walking in truth. That will encourage you, brethren, to get to return from your weakness, to turn away from your sins, and for you not to walk in lies but to walk in truth as well. If we only absorb truth but not walk in it, brethren, you're just taking up space, you're taking up ground. God doesn't want you to just know truth. He wants you to walk in that truth. What's the point of you knowing 10 truths of the Word of God and not walking in any of them? You would rather be the person that knows one truth and walks in accordance to that one truth. Because that person that walks in truth with that one item is doing more than the person that knows 10 truths and is not walking in the ways of God. And so to be people of integrity, we must be people that walk in truth. Let's keep going there in the Bible. Verse number, back to Psalm 26 and verse number 4. What else are we to do? Well, let's look at verse number 4. It says, I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked. So point number 2, brethren, point number 1 was walk in truth. Point number 2 is walk away from the wicked. Walk away from the wicked. The Psalmist says, Lord, I'm not going to hang around, I'm not going to spend time, I'm not going to make friends with wicked people. Verse number 4 said, I have not sat with vain persons. What does it mean to be vain? It means emptiness, right? He says, look, I don't hang around people that have empty, meaningless lives. And then he says, neither will I go in with dissemblers. Dissemblers are what we would term maybe as fake people, you know, people that are fake. They portray one side of them, you know, they want to be seen as one type of person. But you know after a certain time, after you've known them for a while, that person's fake. You know, the things they say, what they claim to, you know, they claim to be a friend to me, they claim to love me, but really they're backstabbers, really they're there for themselves. They're not trying to be a help, they're trying to take what they can from other people. That is a fake person, someone that hides their true intentions. And so the Psalmist, you know, as he gets around people and he makes friends, you know, he eventually in time figures out who are those fake people, who are those people that are full of vanity. And verse number five, you know, it says, I will not sit with the wicked at the end of it. So he works out who are the wicked and says, I'm not going to have anything to do with these people. He walks away from the wicked. In order for us to walk in integrity, brethren, we must also walk away from wicked people. Now what I find interesting about verse number five, it says, at the beginning, I have hated the congregation of evildoers. Now when we think about the word congregation, you know, it's the same word. The Old Testament word for congregation is the New Testament word for the church, okay. So let's take a different perspective here, rather than just your general friends. Let's take the perspective of a church here. He might say it this way in verse number five, I have hated the church of evildoers. Now brethren, this is why it's important for us to be in a good Bible preaching Baptist King James only soul winning church, okay, because there are many churches that are full of people that do evil, evildoers. And listen, brethren, there's nothing more evil than a false gospel. There's nothing more evil than a word space gospel that will send you to hell, that will make you believe by following this gospel, believe in that gospel, that somehow you're going to make your way to heaven, and ultimately just sends you to the lake of fire. There's nothing more evil than blinding people from the truth, than leading them to the lake of fire. And so brethren, when he says I hated the congregation of evildoers, you know, I backed that 100%. I hate every fake church that's out there. I hate every church that preaches a false gospel. Yes, the cults, yes, the churches that come under the Christian umbrella, yes, even the Baptist that may teach a false gospel of works. You know, I hate the congregation of evildoers. And so brethren, we need to make sure that, you know, even though we understand that we need to be in church, and that's what God commands of us, that we don't just choose whatever church that's out there. Oh, they say claim to believe in Jesus. Oh, well, you know, he said salvation is by turning from your sins, but I'm going to be okay with that. You know, brethren, yes, you know, we need to give people the benefit of that. We need to let people explain themselves. But when a church is outrightly teaching works, you know, outright teaching another gospel, have nothing to do with that church. You know, many of you have come from some Pentecostal church, you know, that's a congregation of evildoers, a false gospel. You know, many of you have come from bad churches or cults or whatever it is, brethren, you know, and you need to have the answer of the Psalmist and say, look, I hate that congregation. I want nothing to do with those people, because they are evil doers, you know, they teach evil things. They're leading people to hell. Can you please take your Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter six, 2 Corinthians chapter six for me. And let's look at verse number 14, 2 Corinthians chapter six and verse number 14, 2 Corinthians chapter six, verse 14, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion have lights with darkness? And what concord have Christ with Belial? Or what part have he that believeth with an infidel? Infidel is an unbeliever. Verse number 16, and what agreements have the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God have said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And so we have this warning here in the New Testament, that we can't yoke ourselves with unbelievers. To be yoked is the idea of, you know, putting a yoke, you know, upon two beasts that may be plowing the ground. And so it's about working closely together. Now this is not saying that you can't have a job, because, I mean, listen, you've basically if you in order for you to have a job, you're going to be working with unbelievers, you know, if you're, it's your work colleague, could be a manager, could be employees, could be contractors doing a job for you. That's not what it's talking about. It's obviously speaking about a close relationship. You know, our best friends, the people we hang around with the most should not be unbelievers. Okay, we should make sure we spend time with the people of God. And the best place to find the people of God is in your local church. You know, it says here, what communion? Have light with darkness. You know, your unbelieving friend is being referred to as darkness, and you ought to be light. And so when the light shines, it also lights the darkness. Now, if you have friends that are unbelievers, and if you're truly a friend, if you truly love that person, you ought to be someone that preaches them the gospel. You ought to be someone that wants to see that person saved, you know, and, you know, stretch out your hand of love by demonstrating the love of God by sacrificing Jesus Christ as Savior. And then it keeps going, verse number 15, and what concord have Christ with Belial? Or what part have he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement have the temple of God with idols? I mean, what God is saying here, brethren, is that if your closest friends, people you're hanging around with the most, is an unbeliever, it's like the difference between God and the devil. And you know what, if you're able to just comfortably be around a bunch of unbelievers, you know, for hours on end, and just participate in all their conversations, participate in all their wicked thoughts and their wicked gossip, then that really shows you your heart. It shows you that you're not somebody living after God, you're not someone walking in truth, and you're not someone of integrity, because someone of integrity would be willing to say, hey, these people are bad for me, I cannot hang around these people. You know, and if truly, you know, I think everybody that has been saved for some period of time, and is walking after the Lord, they will experience this. It's not like you have to run away from your friends so much. It's just by you living a Christian life, you changing and molding your mind to the mind of Christ, and being in church and giving to your church and going soul winning, and doing the things that God wants you to do, you're gonna find that it's your friends that leave you. Okay. And I mean, I've experienced that, my wife experienced that, I know several Christians that will testify of that same truth, you know, my friends, they walked away from me simply because I stood for the truth of God's Word. And so, brethren, the next point that I wanted for you, point number two is in order for you to be a person of integrity, you must walk away from the wicked. You know, don't have, don't yoke yourself with unbelievers. Back to Psalm 26 and verse number six, Psalm 26 and verse number six. The Bible reads, I will wash mine hands in innocency, so will I compass thine altar, O Lord. So it says, look, I wash my hands. This is like, you know, Psalm is saying that he confesses his sins before God, he keeps his hands clean, he keeps his heart clean, and then it says, so will I compass thine altar, O Lord, so he goes to the temple of God, he goes to the house of God, offering a sacrifice, making sure that his heart is right with God, okay? Verse number seven, that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works. And so what do we see here? The next walk that we need to do, point number one was we need to walk in truth, point number two is that we need to walk away from the wicked, point number three is that we have to walk with God. We have to walk with God. We have to have a fellowship with God. You know, the Psalmist comes to God with innocent hands, he comes to the temple of God, he comes to the altar of God, he spends time with God, and because he does that, he's able to publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all the wondrous works. So what do we learn here, brethren? We learn that, you know, God's plan for you is not just salvation. Of course, we make that a priority because that is the most important thing, you know, making sure that your soul does not end up in the lake of fire, but that it is home forever with God in eternity, in heaven. But once we are saved, God's plan for you is that you walk with him. He wants to have a fellowship, a relationship, as the many churches claim, right, today. Hey, we don't have to have a relationship with God to be saved, but once you are saved, God does want to walk with you. God does want to spend time with you. He does want to fellowship with you. You know, when God was speaking to the Old Testament Israelites, I'll just read it to you in Leviticus 26, verse 11. He says, and I will set my tabernacle among you. Of course, that's where the altar of God was. And then he says, and my soul shall not abhor you. So God is saying, look, I'm not going to hate you. God wants to walk with us, you know, he wants us to be in his presence. And then it says in verse number 12, and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. See God wants to walk amongst us. God wants to walk with us. God wants to have a fellowship with us. And brethren, this goes beyond church attendance. That's part of it, but it goes beyond that. That is in your daily life. You know, that's you picking up your Bible. That's you praying. That's you just getting away for a while, away from the house, finding a quiet place and just spending time with God. Just pouring your heart out to God, just listening to his word. This is what God wants from you, brethren. It's great that you're saved, praise God. But now, do you have that fellowship with God? Are you spending time with God? Are you giving God time in the morning, time in the evening, to give him thanks, to give him glory, to speak your heart to him, and for him to speak to you through his word. Your fellowship with God is so important in order for you to maintain your integrity. If the only reason you live a Christian life is because of a preacher preaching your church, what happens if that is removed? What if you lose those things? Where are you going to stand? You ought to have your own personal walk with God. That's the most important thing, brethren, because church is only a few hours. Preaching is just a few hours. But you have 24 hours, seven days a week, where you ought to be someone that remembers the Lord, that you spend time with God. You praise God. You give him glory. You give him honor. You give him thanks. I'll just read a passage to you, and this, again, goes with the fact that the psalmist has washed his hands of innocency. And this comes, of course, in 1 John 1.6. If we say that we have fellowship with him, that's with God, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. And so what's wonderful about being walking with God is that it's the blood of Jesus that gives us that forgiveness. This is why it's so easy, and sometimes challenging, but yet easy, for us to go to God and ask him to forgive us for the wrongs that we've done. It's the blood of Jesus that washes us from all our sins, brethren. And when you're clean, when you've washed your hands in innocency, you can then walk with God, and God can walk with you. God's going to reveal so many great truths to you just by spending time with him. Not every truth is learned from church. Many truths is just in your own time with God, where God's Spirit can speak to your spirit, can speak to your heart, and develop many great truths. And just out of that fellowship, out of that relationship with God, it's so important, brethren. And again, look at verse number seven, that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works. In order for you to not be ashamed, for you to have boldness, to be able to speak the works of God, you must have a relationship with God. You must have a fellowship with God. The more time you spend with God, the more bold you're going to be to proclaim the works of God. And of course, think of soul winning. Many times, the idea of going and knocking doors and giving the gospel to a total stranger, it's a fear of many people. And if you're lacking in an area, well, the Bible's very clear. For you to have that boldness, you must walk with God. You must spend time with Him. You must spend time in His Word. The more time you spend with God, you won't be able to bear it. It'll be just coming out of your belly, the fire in the belly, the fire in the bones as it is. You're just going to want a desire to just tell somebody about the great gospel message that God has given us. Back to Psalm 26, verse number eight. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth. So we see the house of God here, of course, is the tabernacle, the temple in the Old Testament. But he says, you know, David says that he loves the habitation of God's house. And of course, God's house, the house of the Lord in the New Testament, the house of God is the local church. You know, for New Life Baptist Church, it's New Life Baptist Church. When you guys get together, that's the house of God. Now again, we can go to God's house and, you know, you might be forced to go. You might feel like, oh, you know, I won't look good in the eyes of others if I don't go. And that's, you know, if that gets you to church, that's great. But it's more than just turning up to church. The attitude you ought to have is like the psalmist, you ought to have a love for the habitation of his house. And so going to church is good, but loving his church is what God wants from you. You know, do you love New Life Baptist Church? You love that time, that hour and a half, you know, of singing praises, of hearing God's Word, of fellowship with your brethren, say, I don't really love it. Well, you know, you're not someone of integrity. The person of integrity is somebody that loves the house of God. And if you keep going that verse, it says, and the place where thine honor dwelleth. You know what the house of God ought to be? It ought to be a place where God is honored. You know, I really appreciate, you know, the week, the weekend of the anniversary. And of course, it was our farewell and departure from the Sunshine Coast. And I really appreciate, you know, the gifts and the kind words that I received. But and I, you know, I really, I do appreciate, I don't want you to misunderstand, but at the same time, I was very uncomfortable because, you know, church is not about honoring men. You know, it's not about, you know, just setting our eyes upon men. And you know, I'm uncomfortable about it because I know that I'm a sinner, you know, I know that I could be doing more, I could be a better pastor, I could be doing so much more. You know, when we compare ourselves to God's Word, we always come short, don't we? And so, you know, church ought to be a place where God is honored. You know, where we thank God, you know, we thank God for Pastor Kevin for the three years. We thank God for that, though. You know, it's God that was able to get new life after this church started. It was God's hand, it was God's movement that got the people together. And it's God that's adding to the church. It's God that gives us the wisdom through His Word to preach His Word. You know, we give all honor and glory to God. That ought to be what the house of God is like. And you know, if you go to a house of God, so called a house of God, but it's only men getting honored. It's only men getting praised. It's like, oh, look how amazing that man is. Look how skillful that man is. Look how great of a singer that person is. You know, that's not the house of God. The house of God, you know, ought to be a place where only God receives worship and only He receives honor. You know, if we have a great singer in the midst, praise God, God gave that person the gift. You know, we thank God for the great singer rather than just, you know, focusing upon that individual person. You know, and so we need to make sure and keep that in mind that we don't elevate man above his station, that the house of God is always a place where God receives honor. Verse number nine, gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men, in whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. And so, you know, David's saying here, look, don't gather my soul with sinners. You know, he realizes as a man of integrity, as a man that knows God's word, that God's judgment is going to fall upon sinners, that God is going to correct these people, you know, ultimately in the lake of fire. But even on this earth, many times people fall in their own devices. Many times God will just judge the wicked people. And David is saying, look, I don't want to be caught up in that judgment, right? Don't gather me together with these others. I'm trying to be different, Lord. I'm trying to live a different life. And so, you know, he's requesting to not be judged amongst the unbelievers. And you know, many times in the nation of Israel, you know, you're reading your Bibles and you see how God judged the Old Testament nation of Israel. And they deserve the judgment. They deserved God's hand of chastisement upon them. But don't forget that even though the nation as a whole was very wicked, just like the time of Jesus, right, when Jesus was walking the earth, and he looked at the Jews, I mean, that nation was very wicked. But weren't there righteous people in the midst? Weren't there good people that were faithful to God? You know, that's where he got his disciples, you know, so many people came listening to God's Word. I mean, there were a lot of people that received Jesus as their Savior, okay, but yet the entire nation was wicked. And so when we look back at the Old Testament, and we see the nation of Israel being judged, you know, yes, they deserve it. But don't forget that within that nation, there are still faithful men, there are still people that love God, that serve God. And many times those people, because of God's, you know, curse that would fall upon that nation, that those faithful people would be affected by that judgment, okay. And David recognizes this, and he says, Look, you know, Lord, when you bring judgment upon the wicked, please don't count me in that midst, keep me safe and secure from that. And so, you know, sometimes, you know, we live in a wicked nation, Australia is a wicked nation. And you know, when God brings his chastisement upon this nation, even as believers, we may very well be affected. And so we ought to be a person, like we see in this psalm, that asks God, God, when you judge this wicked nation, can you please don't count me in that midst, keep me safe. You know, it's just like when God would judge Egypt, right, when the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians, and God brought his plagues upon the Egyptians. Well, the Israelites were in the land of Goshen, and God kept them safe. God kept them protected from his plagues. And so that ought to be our request to God, God, when you judge the wicked nation, please keep me safe in the land of Goshen, you know, away from your judgments. You know, another great example, so many examples, you know, think of Lot, you know, Lot's how, you know, he was living in a wicked nation, we saw some Gomorrah being mentioned. And yet when before God brought his final judgment upon that place, you know, he made sure that Lot was removed. But once again, you know, even though you know, there can be times when God removes you completely from that judgment, or most likely you're going to be affected even in that judgment. But hopefully, you know, in that even in that situation, you can still go to God and ask for deliverance. Another example of this would be Daniel and his three friends, you know, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you know, God's judgment fell upon Judah, with a Babylonian captivity. And you know, even faithful men, someone like Daniel was taken into captivity, you know, even he suffered the consequence of God's judgments. But because these men were faithful to God, they were in a better place, you know, they were given positions of stature and positions of prominence in the kingdom of Babylon. Whereas the other, you know, Jews were not given that kind of freedom, I suppose, you know, that kind of liberty. And so even when God's judgment falls down, you know, God can make sure his people, his faithful people of integrity are safe and secure. Verse number 11, but as for me, I will walk in mine integrity, redeem me and be merciful unto me. So we see how David started speaking about walking integrity, we see how he ends. Now there is a difference between verse number one, if you look at that very quickly, in verse number one, it says, I have walked in mine integrity, okay. So he's saying in the past, I have walked in integrity. And then we will look at verse number 11, he says, I will walk in mine integrity. So this is a man of integrity. I've walked in integrity in the past, but in the future, I also will continue down the road of integrity. This is important, because maybe you are a great Christian, maybe in the past, you've done wonderful works, you've served God faithfully, you know, in the past, you've been somewhat of integrity. But now, now in the present and in the coming future, you've lost that state. You know, you're sliding back, you're backsliding, as it were, well, you look, you need to make that commitment, say, Lord, I've walked in integrity in the past, I'm going to continue walking with integrity in the future. That is a real man of integrity, someone that does it both in the past and also in the coming future. Now let's, let's go to 1 Kings, keep your finger there, let's go to 1 Kings 9. I'm almost done now, 1 Kings 9. And so we see David speaking of himself, he's walked in integrity, he's going to walk in integrity. But let's see what God has to say about David, right? It's one thing for a man to say of himself that he walked in integrity, but don't forget, he asked God to be the judge, he asked God to judge him, right? So if he asked God to judge him, let's see what God says about the integrity of David, if he had it or not, 1 Kings 9, verse number two, 1 Kings 9, verse number two, God speaks to Solomon here, Solomon being David's son, of course, it says, that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he appeared to him at Gibeon. And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer in thy supplication, that thou hast made before me, I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there forever, and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. Look at verse number four, and if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and will keep thy my statutes and my judgments. Before I keep reading, you see that David, the Lord speaks of David, he says, look, David has walked with me, David has walked in the integrity of heart, integrity of his heart. And so what a wonderful thing for David to say, hey, I'm striving to be a man of integrity, and the Lord is able to testify of that and say, yes, your father, David, he was a man of integrity. And he's telling Solomon, his son, hey, be like this, if you walk in the same way, you're going to be blessed. Hey, what did we see in the proverb that, hey, if you're someone of integrity, that the children will be blessed because of their parents' integrity. And so Solomon was blessed because of David, you know, Solomon was the king of Israel when Israel was at its best, you know, it was at his, it was a united kingdom, it was a time of peace, there was great wealth, there was great wisdom, people would travel to Israel to learn the great wisdom of God through Solomon. And so Solomon was greatly blessed because of the integrity of his father. Look at verse number five, he says, Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David, thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. So let's set this aside for a moment, we're not all kings in that sense, earthly kings. But what the Bible's telling us here, brethren, is that as parents, if we walk in integrity, we can pass those blessings onto our children. And if our children walk in integrity, then they will pass that blessing onto their children. We can have generation after generation after generation of people of integrity. But it begins, it begins with the parents, it begins with the parents, making sure that you show an example of integrity like David did to his son Solomon, and that God can look down at your children and bless your children greatly, because of what you've been able to accomplish through your integrity. Back to Psalm 26 and verse number 12, Psalm 26 and verse number 12. It finishes up by saying, My foot standeth in an even place. In the congregations, will I bless the Lord. So once again, the congregations, the church, right, he blesses God at church, but he says, My foot standeth in an even place, what did verse number one say, that he's not going to slide, he's not going to backslide, right? Instead of your Christian life being on a slide, no, your Christian life ought to be on an even place, okay? And again, what do we have to do then, brethren, in order for us to stand in an even place, a place where we will not backslide, if we want to be people of integrity, number one, we have to walk in truth, not just no truth, but actually live out that truth that we see in God's Word. Number two, we need to walk away from wicked people, people that are a bad influence to us, bad friends that we may have. We need to walk away from those unbelievers, not yoke ourselves up with people like that. And number three, we need to walk with God, we need to have a walk, a fellowship, a relationship with God, spend time, not just church, but your own personal time with God, so we can be people of integrity. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for this opportunity to preach to New Life Baptist Church. Lord, I just pray that this would be a blessing, and Lord, I pray that we would be a church not just of people that are made up, not just a church of integrity, but that each individual person would be a person of integrity. Help parents, Lord, to have a beautiful marriage, a beautiful family, and to teach their children what it is to be someone of integrity. Lord, we need your help. We are sinners. We are fallen human beings. We do have a weak flesh, and Lord, we need your power. We need the Holy Spirit working in our lives to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit so we can be people that you can walk with. Lord, help us to walk in light and not in darkness. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.