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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Brian Hindman

Building Character

You know, God wants to ask you a question this morning, and that question is actually found in Jeremiah 23, and verse 28.

The Bible says, the prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream.

And he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.

And then he asked this question, what is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?

So it's God speaking, what is the chaff to the wheat?

He has just said, and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.

And then he asks, follows up with, what is the chaff to the wheat?

Well, I would submit to you that the wheat is the word of God.

And the question that he's asking, what is the chaff?

What is anything else compared to the wheat from the word of God?

What value, what profit and benefit is there from anything else than the precious pages and the message from the Word of God?

So this morning as we look at our subject, Building Character, it's actually found in your Bible.

So as we begin our time together, if you'll just bow your heads with me and let's seek the Lord in prayer.

Father in heaven, Lord I thank you so much for each person who has gathered here today to worship you.

Lord we've come to hear a message from your throne.

We've come to hear and learn from your word and so I pray Lord today that you would grant us understanding.

Hearts to hear, minds to receive, that you would open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of your word.

Bless us today, Lord, I pray earnestly, for Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.

Well, It was a very serious and sobering event back in 1945.

The first atomic bomb was dropped on a city in Japan called Hiroshima.

The effects of that were truly devastating.

It destroyed everything within a 1 and a half mile radius from where that bomb detonated just before it hit the ground.

They reported that the temperature of the ground reached an unimaginable 10832 degrees Fahrenheit.

And then everyone, practically everyone, within a 2 and a half mile radius was burned to death.

2 and a half mile radius around from the epicenter, everyone was burned to death.

There was a tremendous wind that came at the speed of 2.7 miles per second, not miles per hour, but 2.7 miles per second that was generated from the bomb that caused even cement buildings to collapse, broken glass to fly as far away as 10 miles that shattered and landed 10 miles away.

The radiation from the bomb was so unbelievably strong that it caused those that were exposed to this to lose all bodily functions and their cells to undergo apoptosis.

Apoptosis, which is a kind of cellular suicide.

Between the blast itself and the resulting fires that came from it throughout the city, an estimated 200, 000 people lost their lives in Hiroshima.

Well, in the midst of all this devastation, there was a story that emerged that not 1 Seventh-day Adventist perished or was even hurt in this bomb that was dropped that was living there at that time, Not 1.

Several years ago, an investigative reporter named Asako, with a doubtful heart, went back to Hiroshima and began trying to investigate and find if it really was true that not 1 Seventh-day Adventist was hurt or killed in this bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

And so he began visiting all those who were still alive and these church members and found story after story that in fact it was true.

That although there was a terrible destruction that took place that day, that not 1 church member perished, including 1 that was within 1 kilometer, which is .6 of a mile, from the epicenter when it exploded.

Amazingly, they were all preserved and continued and survived without any long-term effects or damage from that.

Now that is a miracle, and it reminded me of another story in the Bible of people who went through a similar fire, and that, of course, was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

I think the dropping of that atomic bomb probably was hotter than Nebuchadnezzar tried when he heated the furnace 7 times hotter than it had ever been heated before, but yet God preserved his people.

And so the question for me today is a simple 1.

Are we building our lives on the principles of God's Word that can withstand any storm, any fire, any devastation that might be thrown at us or that might come our way.

We understand that a greater storm is coming than any atomic bomb.

We must build on the sure foundation of the Word of God.

Indeed, to build on that foundation is something that will provide and present us in such a way as to be immovable so that we cannot be moved.

This morning, our subject is entitled Building Character.

And while in a sense it might pertain to, especially to younger folk, it applies to all of us.

Character building, the attributes and qualities of our lives is a lifelong process that takes place as long as life lasts.

Notice this statement from Christ Object Lesson, page 332.

A character formed according to the divine likeness that is after the pattern of Jesus Christ is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next.

The characters that we choose to develop with the talents and the abilities that God has given to us here on this earth.

Those who are under the instruction of Christ in this world will take every divine attainment with them to the heavenly mansions.

And in heaven, on the other side of glory, we are continually to improve.

How is it possible to improve when you're perfect?

Well, that might mean that we don't fully grasp and understand what character really is.

Our characters, it's our attributes and our qualities, but it's formed on 2 key components, our thoughts and our feelings.

And even as we get to heaven, can our thoughts advance and progress and learn?

Yes, based on what we learn from our thinking and from what God reveals and shows to us through all eternity, can our corresponding feelings also advance and broaden and deepen in our understanding of what God reveals to us?

So character can continue to be developed to grow for time and for all eternity.

Well, it says here at the final part of this statement, how important then is the development of character in this life?

It is the only thing that we take with us in the world to come.

The attributes that we develop, it is within our power to develop them as we cooperate with God, of course.

I don't know if he's preaching or if he's teaching.

There is a study guide if you would like to follow along.

It makes me feel better to know that there's something in your hand that you can have to write notes on or to follow up on as we look at today, practical Christianity and character building.

You know, at its essence, Christianity must be practical, which is something that's useful, something you can practice.

The word practical is something that's practicable.

You can use it and apply it to your life, and the benefits, of course, are tremendous.

This first 1 is from the book Education, page 225, and It says this, character building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings.

Character building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings.

So this is very important and significant.

And never before, before the time we're living in today, was its diligent study so important as now.

Never was any previous generation called to meet issues so momentous.

Never before were young men and young women confronted by perils so great as confront them today.

So our characters, our lives must be fashioned and built upon the solid rock of Jesus which is found in His Word." This is another statement from Signs of the Times, September 10, 1894.

Speaking to us as parents and as those leaders in a church, here is your work, parents, to develop the characters of your children in harmony, in connection with the precepts of the Word of God.

This work should come first, For eternal interests are here involved.

And then here comes this follow-up statement that really grabbed me the way it's stated.

The character building of your children is of more importance than the cultivation of your farms, more essential than the building of houses to live in, or of prosecuting any manner of business or trade.

More important than anything else we can do as a parent or as a grandparent or aunt and uncle is to develop and focus on the training and building of the character of our children and our young people.

There's nothing more important than that.

Having said that, let's just have a study, a simple study from the Word of God in a practical sense how can we build our characters after the divine pattern.

Well, a key Bible principle study is found in Isaiah 28 and verse 10.

It simply says, for precept that must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.

And so we understand from that Bible verse a key principle in all Bible study, that we compare Scripture with Scripture.

That is the way we understand the whole Bible, is comparing the Bible with other parts of the Bible.

The Bible explains and interprets itself.

And so this is a simple principle that will do us well in all of our Bible study.

When we read something that's unclear or seemingly complicated, we read other passages that relate to the same subject or topic or word or phrase, and it oftentimes always will shed light on what's not seemingly so clear.

Question number 2, how do we respond to God's Word?

Asking some simple questions this morning, how do we respond to God's Word?

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Building Character

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