Christian Character 3

       The word character is not used a single time in the King James Version and only three times in a translation so recent as the New American Standard. But the idea of what we mean by the term is an essential subject of emphasis in the Bible. The Biblical model of good character is without doubt Jesus, and there is one place which especially demonstrates this with reference to the derivation of our word "character." In presenting Jesus in his roles of supreme Prophet, Creator, and Savior, Heb. 1:3 also states that "He is the radiance of [God's] glory and the exact representation of His nature." Notice the phrase that calls Jesus "the exact representation of [God's] nature," because the two words "exact repre-sentation" translate only one Greek word. And that word is carakthr (kah-RAK-tayr … character), which is the original of the English word character. 

      It's very interesting and very significant that this is the only occurence of the word in the Greek New Testament and that then it is applied only to Jesus. In several other places Jesus is called the eikon (aye-KOHN …image) of God, but this word is often appplied to others also. In fact, in Gen. 1:26, all men are declared to be made "in the image of God." This means we are all endowed with a living spirit that corresponds to the anture of God who gace it, (Gen. 2:7). Of course, Jesus possessed the divine image to a degree we can never attain, but nevertheless we all do have at least a spark of that divine nature within us, (Jas. 3:9). But never of any man except Jesus does the Bible say that he is "the exact representation of God the Father. Any valid and profitable study of character must therefore begin with a careful examination of the Person of Jesus in the Scriptures.

      There is yet more in this phrase of Heb. 1:3 to enlighten us. In 1st Century Koinê Greek, the verb form of carakthr is carasso … (KAH-ras-so … to stamp, impress). It was specifically used to signify stamping coins in a mint with a picture and an inscription. There is little doubt the writer of Hebrews had that precise idea in mind when he aimed at informing his readers about the true nature of Jesus. And when they read this special word, they would have made the precise connection easily.  When the die was stamped into the metal, it left in it a perfect, exact representation of the image and wording on the die. Likewise, when a baby was born in a stable in Bethlehem to Mary, God as the die stamped Himself into that tiny baby of flesh and left therein the exact representation of Himself. This is what Heb. 1:3 is telling us. It also clarifies what Jesus meant in Jno. 14:9 when He said to Philip, "Have I been so long with you, and yet have you not come to know Me? He who has seen Me has seen the Father."

      When we begin to grasp these essential ideas, we are already beginning to develop an idea of what character truly is and why it's so important. Character is not merely a configuration of certain virtues in an individual that gives him moral strength. In its original connotation, which has just been shown in reference to Jesus, character is what is left when one's life has been impacted by the person of Jesus. When God was stamped into human flesh, the character of Jesus was the result; and when Jesus is stamped into the life of an individual, Christian character is the result.

Christian Character 2

THE PROBLEM OF CHARACTER FLAWS

      Sometimes it is said that a person has a character flaw. In such a case, the individual usually has most of the components of a good character. But one of the necessary constituents is poorly developed, warped, or missing, and sooner or later it will show up in his life in bad behavior. Such a case happened in an outdoor tent meeting, when an evangelist was preaching the Gospel very effectively.  Each night people were persuaded to repent, confess faith in Jesus, and be baptized. Interest and enthusiasm was growing each day, and each night more people crowded into the tent to listen to the preacher.  Then the worst happened in response to a very small irritation. A stray cat had wandered into the tent and up onto the platform where the preacher was speaking. Lonely, hungry, and forsaken, the little creature began to rub against the ankles of the evangelist.  This became a distraction to him and a mounting irritation. When he almost stumbled over the cat, the man's temper flared. He viciously kicked the kittie to the wall of the tent. The people were shocked at the preacher's outrage and cruelty to the poor feline. One after the other, they arose and left the tent, until half were gone. The next evening, the attendance was very small; everyone in the community was describing the man's loss of temper and hateful treatment of the little cat. The next evening, no one appeared at the tent except the preacher. His opportunity to win more souls to Christ was lost. One of the greater features of good character is self-control, and the man demonstrated before everyone he lacked it. He had a character flaw, and it cost him the opportunity to finish the meeting with great success.

      We all have character flaws to some extent, and when the stress of life presses upon us, we cave in at the point of weakness. And it costs us dearly in our relationships with other people, especially the people closest to us. Another element of Christian character is sincerity. A play on words can be made with this term to demonstrate the main idea in it. It can be separated into two parts, sin- and -cerity. "Sin-" suggests the Latin word sinê (without), and "-cerity" suggests the Latin word cera (wax). This is not the actual derivation of the word "sincerity." It's rather a good analogy that reveals a vivid meaning.

      It is a fact that ancient Roman sculptors would inscribe on the base of a statue the two words sinê cera, meaning "without wax." A wealthy person would commission an artist to produce, e.g., a beautiful statue of a water nymph to place beside the pool in his ornamental garden. The artist would indeed make an exquisite statue that looked almost lifelike. But somewhere the thing would get chipped and blemished. He was not about to spend months producing another statue, which might also get cracked or chipped. So, he would simply reattach the chipped part with a bit of hard wax. The client would not notice it and so would display it proudly beside the pool. Then, on an oppressively hot summer day, the wax would melt and the chip would fall off. Reputable artists, however, when delivering a statue to a customer, would inscribe upon the bottom of it a guarantee ... sinê cera.

      A person without sincerity is one whose character is held together, so to speak, with wax. And when pressure is applied to him, the wax melts, and he falls apart. Surely, every reader of this has seen it happen to someone who was considered a solid person, and it quickly provoked great disappoinment. Do we not then use the vivid expression, "He came unglued!"?

Christian Character 1

      There are words in our language that we use so much they become trite and lose their significance. Character is one of those words. In fact, it has come to have contradictory meanings in various appli-cations. With admiration, when we wish to praise someone who uniformly exerts a good influence, we say he/she is "a person with character." On the other hand, we call someone a "character" who acts silly, or engages in unexpected, unusual behavior, or causes trouble and fouls things up. It goes without say-ing that when we state that "character is important," we are referring to its positive, beneficial nature rather than the negative connotation the word can have.

      As I contemplated the basic meaning involved in this term, I looked up its derivation and found its origin in the Greek word carakthr, which designated "a tool for engraving." The basic idea involved is something that is set or established. The ancient Greek had two main ways of writing, with a stylus on a wax tablet, or with an iron tool upon stone. When something was written on wax, it was easily erased by smoothing the wax with the other end of the stylus, with a finger, or by heating. But when a message was engraved on stone with hammer and iron point, it was put there to stay. To remove it, one had to exert great effort to chisel or sand away the inscription. I have never read or heard of a single inscription on wax that survived from ancient Greece, but thousands of lines of script chiseled in stone still exist.

      As philosophers and theologians pondered human nature, it occured to them that the constitution of some people is like a wax inscription, and for others it is like a configuration engraved in stone by iron. Hence the application of the word "character" from the iron engraving tool. A person without character is unstable and therefore undependable; neither he nor his works will endure. Like an inscription in wax, his life will vanish and leave nothing behind for anyone to read or use. But a person of charater has fixed qualities that do not move with the storms of life and changes in the enviornment.

                                                                    (There will be much more to come on this subject in future articles. BFW)

THE GREATEST OF ALL RIGHTS

Rev. 22:7,14 ... “Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. ... Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”

      The book of Revelation reaches its conclusion in this chapter. The long and universal war between good and evil is over, and the victory has gone entirely to the force of good. The age-long conflict between God and Satan is finished, and God stands unmoved in triumphant glory in heaven. His arch-antagonist, "the great dragon ... the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan," (Rev. 12:9), has been "thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone ... and will be tormented day and night forever and ever," (Rev. 20:10). With Satan and all the forces of evil confined forever in hell, those who devoted their lives to the service of God are eternally delivered from sin and the danger of being tempted to sin.

      The book of Revelation utters seven beatitudes (pronouncements of divine blessing) upon a people or group of people who have pleased God and gained His acceptance. The last two of these wonderful blessings are given here in this chapter. The first is, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it," (1:3). Obedience to God is absolutely essential in man's relationship with Him. The life that is based upon it will succeed (Mt. 7:24-25), but the life that ignores or spurns it will fail miserably, (Mt. 7:26-27). Nothing can be substituted for obedience, although many think it possible. King Saul thought that worship could be exchanged for obedience, but Samuel corrected him with the declaration, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams," (I Sam. 15:22). There are people today who have the idea that they can put money, self-styled righteousness, and benevolent service in the place of obedience to God's law, but it can't be done. This effort was the fallacy of Jews to whom Paul wrote, "Not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God," (Rom. 10:3). But those who deny their own will and submit their lives to the will of God shall receive His blessing that is pronounced here in Rev. 22:7. They shall live eternally with God in heaven, separated forever from sin and its fiendish promoter, Satan.

      The seventh beatitude of Revelation is, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city." The substance of this blessing is the same as the last. In other words, God's will offers a double reward to anyone who will obey it. Notice the clause, "so that they may have the right to ...". In contemporary America we have become a "rights" obsessed people. We demand the "right" to do whatever we want to do, go wherever we want to go, live in the place of our choice, gain membership in whatever organization we wish, etc. If the way seems blocked to gaining any "right," we protest, demonstrate, and initiate litigation aimed toward the Supreme Court. This activity has been prominent in our social, political, and economic life throughout the past century and promises to continue into the future. These "rights" may seem all-important here on earth. But their importance is nothing compared to the "right to the tree of life" in heaven. That right is gained through obedience to God's law in the spirit of peace, humility, and goodness in the present life. I fear that those who continually push for their "rights" in social, political, and economic spheres may lose sight of and then forfeit the greatest right ever to be, the "right to the tree of life." If one should gain every possible right in life on earth, but lose this supreme right beyond the grave, he has indeed lost everything!

THE ETERNAL ELIMINATION OF PAIN AND SORROW

Rev. 21:4 ... "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death;  there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

      "The first things have passed away!" What a statement this is! What it signifies is absolutely won-derful. In v.1 it says that "the first heaven and the first earth passed away." So the text is pointing to a time when the earth and life on it will be past history. Not to a "time," actually, for in reference to the same subject in Rev. 10:6 John heard a "strong angel” from heaven (who) “swore by Him who lives  forever and ever ... that there will be delay (time, KJV) no longer.” From the perspective of the text above Jesus has already returned to take His loyal subjects from earth, and the earth and universe have been destroyed by fire. Time has been swallowed up by the infinitude of eternity. In fact, the judgment has already occurred; the unfaithful have been consigned to eternal torment in hell; and the faithful in Christ have been ushered into the glorious beauty of heaven, which is described in this chapter in the imagery of an ideal city protected by massive walls.

      One can imagine the vivid scenes of the judgment. A faithful Christian wife is received into heaven, but her faithless and disobedient husband is cast into torment. God-fearing parents disappear into the beauties of heaven, but their rebellious and pleasure-seeking children descend into inextinguishable fire. Reverent people pass through glorious portals, but dear friends and neighbors who had no respect for the Lord are ordered through infernal doors to eternal doom. The faithful, humble, reverent souls who are saved would not deserve their glorious reward if they were not stricken with the worst kind of sorrow and anguish to witness the everlasting departure of their beloved family members, friends, and neighbors into what they know is a never-ending state of horrible punishment.

      Our text, however, proclaims that one of God's first acts in welcoming the saved into His celestial court is to remove this awful pain and anguish they will doubtless be experiencing. With the power of His infinite kindness He will "wipe away every tear from their eyes." He will separate from their minds the memory of their lost and doomed loved ones so that their spirits will be free to enjoy heaven.

      Another cause of perpetual sorrow and tears on earth is the death of those with whom we have close attachments. Death is never far from anyone, and when it confronts us, we are powerless to escape it. The grave yawns before us as an insatiable monster to whom we yield the still, silent bodies of our families and friends. But it is never filled. "Sheol (the nether world) and Abaddon (the place of perish-ing, i.e., the grave) are never satisfied," (Pro. 27:20). One of the sublime comforts and securities of heaven is that "there will no longer be any death." The bonds that unite souls in heaven will never be sundered by death the tyrant, and this persistent source of grief on earth will never be known in heaven.

      During this life we must cope with pain from birth until death. We are confronted by countless diseases and by injuries from which there are no complete recoveries. Surgery and drugs can mask or diminish some of this pain, but ere long it returns in full force. One of the great benefits of heaven is that "there will no longer be any ... pain." Pain will be only a dim earthly memory, but even that faint trace shall quickly fade into extinction. When this earth is wrecked and annihilated, and when the judgment is past, I want to be found in the blessed group of redeemed souls who are emptied of all pain and sorrow forever, and who never again have to contend with the threat that death incessantly imposes upon us now. Don't you, too, my dear reader?

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

Rev. 20:12 ... :I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

      The prevailing view of history among educated people in ancient times was what is called the circu-lar view. It was believed that all events have their place on a gigantic chronological circle, or wheel, which irresistibly turns on an axis. One complete revolution is an eon. On the next turn all the events of the previous one are duplicated, so that history literally repeats itself. Biblical thought differs radically from this view, for it presents what is called the linear view of history. According to it, history has a distinct beginning point: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," (Gen. 1:1). Then time follows a forward course to another distinct point where it shall end. This terminal point is the subject of the text above.

      When Paul visited Athens, he spoke on Mars Hill to an assembly of intelligent Grecians, most of whom probably held the circular view of history.  After speaking about the deception of worshipping idols, he then proclaimed, "God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead,“ (Acts 17:30-31). The apostle was informing these intellectuals that history is irresistibly moving toward a grand conclusion. He emphasized that the authentic God is in control of the process, having Himself appointed "the day" when The End shall come. On that day, says Paul, God will judge the world by the "Man whom He has appointed," meaning Jesus Christ. The canon of judgment will be "righteousness," which has been perfectly demonstrated in the human sphere in Jesus' life.

      During His earthly sojourn Jesus often spoke of the end of time and the great judgment. After Paul, other New Testament writers emphasized this same event. The description by John in Revelation 20 is the last reference to it in the Bible. It was revealed to John in a vision, a sort of preview of that tremen-dous scene. He first saw "a great white throne" occupied by God, and before His glorious face "earth and heaven" (the universe) receded into extinction. Then every person who ever lived, "the great and the small," were assembled to stand before God. This presumes, of course, the resurrection of all the dead. (The Athenian philosophers mocked the resurrection when Paul spoke of it. See Acts 17:32 and above.)

      Then John saw two "books" opened. One contains God's record of the life of everyone who lived on earth, including a perfect account of every thought, word, and deed. It once seemed incredulous that a single mind, even the mind of God, could have the capacity to store and recall such a vast amount of information. The development of computers to the capacity where they are able to store and retrieve huge quantities of detailed data should diminish our incredulity. The skeptic needs only to think of God's mind as the ultimate computer with infinite storage capacity and perfect retrieval ability. The traditional word to cover this idea is omniscience.

      The other book John saw opened was "the book of life," which evidently contains the names of all the redeemed. The first book, (literally "books," plural ), may very well indicate the Bible, the collect-ion of sixty-six books that is the only standard of righteousness by which men shall be judged. It is decreed that "the dead were judged from the things which are written in the books, according to their deeds." Then v.15 concludes, "And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. "

THE SUPREME MARRIAGE SUPPER

Rev. 19:9 ... "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

      This text is the fourth of the seven beatitudes found in the Book of Revelation. A beatitude is the pronouncement of a blessing upon a person or group of people. God blesses someone when He bestows a favor upon him. In this case the favor, which is offered to everyone, is an invitation "to the marriage supper of the Lamb." But what does this mean?

      As usual in Revelation we are dealing with symbolism. The symbol here is the Jewish form of marriage, which was conducted in three stages. First, there was the betrothal, the pledge of the bride and groom to marry each other. This was a formal arrangement, even to the extent of being legally binding. To dissolve it was considered a divorce. The second stage was a period of waiting during which the couple made preparations. It was often prolonged, stretching out several years. Jacob served Laban seven years for Leah and seven more for Rachel. The third stage was the marriage supper, during which the couple were united as husband and wife. When the time for this event came, the groom went to the bride's home with a procession of friends and family. Singers and musicians were secured to enhance the festivities. The Parable of the Virgins in Matthew 25 features this third stage of the Jewish marriage, especially the groom's procession to claim his bride.

      This Jewish convention is used to show the relation of Jesus to His church. While He was on earth, Jesus selected the church to be His holy bride, (Eph. 5:22-23; Rev. 21:2). He was then betrothed to her. Consequently, the church is now the betrothed, beloved bride of Christ. When He returned to heaven, (Acts 1:9-11), the period of waiting began. We are assured that, even at present, Jesus is preparing in heaven a home for His bride, (Jno. 14:1-3), while His bride on earth is preparing herself to be taken up by her Lord and beloved Groom. When He returns from heaven, (I Ths. 4:16-17), Jesus will bring with Him a grand procession of angels (Jude 14) to claim His bride and enjoy the great marriage supper with her in the beautiful home He has prepared for her, (Rev. 22:5). Indeed, "blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." They will be those who constitute His bride, i.e., they will be Christians who are the members of His church. More specifically, they will be those who made themselves ready (v.7) by clothing their lives with righteousness (v.8) during their years of toil on earth.

      This passage, (Rev. 19:7-9), emphasizes the special importance and sanctity of the church. Every-one needs to become aware of this emphasis, because there is growing disrespect in society toward the church. In many instances this negative attitude advances into contempt and avowed hostility. There are those who want to be identified as Christians, but who want nothing to do with the church. Their cry is, "Jesus, yes! The church, no!"

      A true Christian cannot be alienated from the true church. It is not possible to be a Christian in the primitive sense without being a faithful, active member of the church. When a person is saved, the Lord Himself adds the person to the church (Acts 2:47), because that is where He wants him to be. To separ-ate yourself from the church is to forfeit your identity as a Christian and lose the blessing of Rev. 19:9. Those who show disrespect toward the church dishonor Christ's beloved bride. Those who hold the church in contempt offend Christ's bride, and we can be sure He will settle accounts with them. Those who attack the church make themselves enemies of Christ. Only those who honor the church, uphold her sanctity, and bravely defend her honor, will be "invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."