Adrian Rogers - How God Develops Christian Character
God’s precious Word is going to be precious to us this morning as we turn to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, in a moment, we will begin reading in verse 3. I want to talk to you today about character and «How God Develops Christian Character». Now, when you’re saved, when you receive Christ as your personal Savior, then God begins to work on you. Nobody is born full-grown, and so after you receive Christ as your personal Savior, then God begins to build your Christian character. Now, in order for you to have a Christian character, first of all, you must receive Christ. Some people are trying to develop character, but they have no base to develop character.
Years ago, I read of a missionary wife, who, with her husband, moved into the missionary home. And she wanted it to be as beautiful as it could be, and she was used to Western standards and she looked at the floor and the floor seemed dirty. So she said to herself, the first thing I will do is to scrub this floor. And so she got her big brush, she got her suds, she got her pail. She got down on her hands and knees and she began to scrub the floor in that house. She scrubbed and scrubbed, and scrubbed and mopped, and rinsed and scrubbed, and scrubbed and mopped, and rinsed and scrubbed, and scrubbed and scrubbed, and scrubbed. And she said, «I’ll never get the dirt off this floor». One of the locals said, «I need to tell you, the reason you can’t get the dirt off the floor is it is a dirt floor».
What she had been doing was scrubbing a floor that was made of dirt. That’s all there was. It was just hard packed dirt. So she could not possibly get the dirt off the floor because that’s all there was there on the floor, was dirt. Now, some people are trying to develop a character just like that. They scrub, they rub, they wash, they rinse, they mop, they dry, but dear friend, there’s nothing there to really scrub until you’ve been born again. Until you have been saved, until you have that foundation, then once you have received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, then upon that foundation, then upon that base you can build a Christian character.
Now, Romans chapter 5, and I begin in verse 3 and we’ll read through verse 5, here’s the way that God builds Christian character. «And not only so but we glory in tribulations also. Knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience, experience». Now many translations give that «patience, character and character hope. And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us». Now listen to me, my dear friend, when you give your heart to Jesus Christ, ipso facto, you do not have a Christian character, you have the basis for a Christian character, but then God begins to develop Christian character.
You know the Bible says in Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, «He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it». So when you get saved, God just simply begins a good work in you. You are not a finished product. As a matter of fact, one day many years ago, I saw a man wearing a lapel button and on that lapel button it said this, «Please be patient with me. God is not finished with me yet». I like that. Please be patient with me. God is not finished with me yet. «He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it». That is, He will complete it. God will build that Christian character. Now, how does God build Christian character? Four steps. They’re right here in these verses, I want you to see them.
Step number one, God allows pressures to come. Now look in Romans 5 and verse 3, «And not only so but we glory in tribulations». Sorry about that folks, «we glory in tribulations». And the word tribulation literally means pressure. It was a word that was used when they would crush grapes in the vat or when they would crush olives, if they wanted wine or if they wanted oil. First of all, the grapes and the olives had to go through tribulation; had to go through pressure. Now, God wants wine and oil in your character. He wants the oil of gladness. He wants the wine of joy. He wants that which will sustain and give strength to come out of you. But the only way that God will get it out of you, my dear friend, is to press it out of you. To press it out of you. «We glory in tribulation».
And is something bad happening to you right now? Are you having trouble? Are you feeling pressure? My dear friend, these things are not obstacles, they are opportunities. They are things that God has engineered to build character into your life. Maybe you can’t understand it. You say, «I’m having bad luck». No, you’re not. You’re saying, «Well, it’s just my fate». My friend, will you take the word luck and the word fate and get them out of your vocabulary as a child of God? Anything that rankles me is for me to go off to preach somewhere and somebody says, «Well, good luck». Oh, my dear friend, I’m not interested in luck; that’s a pagan concept. I’m not interested in fate; that’s a pagan concept. «All things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to his purpose.» Romans 8:28.
Our God is a sovereign God and if you cannot understand the trouble that you’re having and the pressure that you’re having, then just stand under it. You don’t have to understand it. The great pilgrim Thomas Watson said, «Where reason cannot wade, there faith must swim». Faith, just simply trust God. Let me say to you my friend, if you’re thinking about giving your heart to Jesus Christ or if you’ve already given your heart to Jesus Christ, don’t get the idea that if you become a Christian it will be all honey and no bees. It is a false gospel that says there will be no adversity, no misfortune, no persecution, no pain, no sickness, no sorrow, no moan, no groan. «We glory in tribulation».
Well you say, «Well, if that’s what it takes to be a Christian, then I don’t think I want to be a Christian». Oh, friend, you’re going to have tribulation whether you’re a Christian or not. «Man that’s born of woman is full of trouble». If you got here any other way, then you’re excused. But, «Man that is born of woman,» the Bible says in Job 14:1, «is full of trouble». But a child of God sees that God engineers what happens to him. He can say, «We glory in this tribulation». We glory in it. I read a book entitled, «If it Ain’t Broke…Break It»! by Mr. Robert J. Kriegel; it’s a book for business people. It’s not a spiritual book, not a religious book at all. It’s just simply saying to businessmen, don’t keep on going through the same old ways just because you think it has always worked this way. He’s trying to teach them to be new and innovative. But in the introduction to that book, there’s a story that is worth the price of the book.
Now, he didn’t make the spiritual application, but I want to make the spiritual application. Let me read to you the story that’s in the beginning of this book, «If It Ain’t Broke…Break It»! Listen, «For several centuries down through many dynasties, a village was known for its exquisite and fragile porcelain, especially striking were its urns. High as tables, wide as chairs, they were admired around the globe for their strong form and delicate beauty. Legend has it, that when each urn was finished, there was one final step. The artist broke it and then put it back together with gold filigree. An ordinary urn was then transformed into a priceless work of art. What seemed finished, wasn’t until it was broken».
Here’s a beautiful urn, it’s perfect. Then the artist takes a hammer and he shatters it, he breaks it, it’s broken in pieces, and then with gold filigree, he puts it back together. Can you see that in your mind? I can see an urn like that. I would love to have one in my home, put back together with gold filigree. You see, listen, friends, men throw broken things away. God never uses anything until He first breaks it, till He first breaks it. Psalm 51 and verse 17, «A broken and a contrite spirit, Thou wilt not despise, O God,» and God is trying to break your life.
My dear friend, no preacher can ever preach as he ought to preach unless he preaches from a broken heart. No singer can ever sing as he ought to sing unless he sings with a broken heart. No teacher can ever teach as he ought to teach unless he teaches with a broken heart. «We glory in tribulation». God knows what He is up to. May I tell you, dear friend, very clearly and very plainly that first of all, God brings pressure into your life. Secondly, look at our text again, Romans 5 verse 3, «And not only so but we glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience».
There’s the second step in building a Christian character. First of all, pressure and then patience. Now you have to have the pressure in order to have something to be patient about. The Bible teaches that God wants to work in your heart a character quality known as patience. But the word patient here is not passivity. Actually, the word means endurance or constancy. The New American standard says, «Brings about perseverance». Goodspeed translates it this way, «Produces endurance». Endurance. Now, what do you do when troubles come? What do you do when you’re in the olive vat being pressed? What do you do when you’re in the wine vat being pressed? What do you do when the artist takes the hammer and begins to break the urn? What do you do?
Well, the Bible says you are to develop a character trait known as patience, perseverance, constancy, endurance. You’re not to drop out. You know, some people, they get saved, they give their heart to Jesus and then troubles come and they just drop out. They try to escape. They think maybe a plane ticket or a pill or a bottle, a needle, a gun. Somehow they drop out, they give up. Other people, they get cynical. They shake their fist in the face of God. What do you do, my dear friend? You simply endure.
God wants to teach you endurance. It’s His way of building in you a Christian character. Barclay has said some very poignant words, I want you to listen to them. I copied them down. «It is not the patience that can sit down and bow its head and let things descend upon it and passively endure until the storm is passed. It is the spirit which can bear things, not simply with resignation, but with blazing hope. It is not the spirit which sits statically and enduring in one place, but the spirit which bears things because it knows that these things are leading to a goal of glory».
Now, listen to this sentence, «It is not patience, which grimly waits for the end, but patience, which radiantly hopes for the dawn. Not patience, which grimly waits for the end, but patience that radiantly hopes for the dawn». My dear friend, listen, one of the greatest marks of your faith and your confidence in the Almighty is your patience, your endurance, your perseverance, your constancy when trouble comes. First, pressure then patience. Then my dear friend, purity. Look again here, «And patience,» Romans 5 verse 4, «And patience works experience».
Now, I’ve told you that the word experience is translated in many Bibles, character. And why? Because it has to do with the idea of purity. This word was used to speak of gold. Gold that had been put in the fire and had been refined by the refiner until it is pure. It speaks of gold tested in the fire. It’s the same word if you’re using the King James as translated experience. It’s the same word that is translated in many Bibles character, but it speaks not just of a character, but a character that is pure. A character that has gone through the experience of tribulation and has gone through the experience of perseverance and God begins to burn out the dross. Now, many of us don’t want that. Very frankly, I’ve had all of it I want, but yet I want some more. You understand what I’m saying? I want God to continue to work in my heart and into my life until He burns out that dross.
Now, most of us, we’d rather just have a good time, but how many of you really, really grew in your Christian life when everything was smooth? How many of you really, really grew in your Christian life when everything was just fine? But how many of you really grew in your Christian life when you had trouble and heartache and pressure and pain and misunderstanding and bewilderment? How many of you grew then when you had nowhere to go but to God? When you had to keep searching your heart and saying, «Oh, God, what’s wrong? God, what are You trying to tell me? God, what are You trying to teach me? What do You want me to confess»? And God begins to take the heat of the furnace and cause that gold ore to bubble and the scum to come to the top, and then He begins to take the scum off. They say that a refiner of silver, a refiner of gold, knows when the ore is pure, when he can see his own face reflected in it.
And so our Lord wants to see His character reflected in us. Job chapter 23 verse 10, «He knoweth the way that I take. He hath tried me, and when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold». Job knew what it was to be in the furnace of affliction. He knew what pressure was, but he also knew what endurance was and my dear friend, he knew what purity was. Malachi chapter 3 verse 3, «And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He,» God, «shall purify the sons of Levi». And somewhere I heard these words, «I walked a mile with pleasure, she chatted all the way, but left me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow, not a word, said she. But all the things I learned from her when sorrow walked with me».
You see, God wants to build men. God wants to build women. God wants to build Christian character. And how does God do it? Not by scrubbing a dirt floor, my dear friend, but by getting you saved and putting the likeness of Jesus Christ into you. And then God brings pressure and that pressure causes patience. And that patience, my dear friend, then brings purity, purity. And that purity gives a prospect, my dear friend, and a persuasion that we call hope. Look, if you will now in Romans 5:4, «And experience, hope,» H-O-P-E, hope.
God now has come to this fourth quality in Christian character. And what is the word Hope? It doesn’t mean wish or desire, it means rock-ribbed, assurance based on the Word of God and the character of God. You see, how do we get hope out of affliction, pressure, perseverance, and purity? Well, when we go through these things and we come out the other side, we have learned that God is faithful. God is faithful. God did not fail. God did see us through. And when that happens, then we can say with the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 verses 38 and 39, «For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord».
My friend, that is hope. I looked up some definitions of hope while in my study. Let me tell you some wonderful ones that I’ve heard. I love this one. «Hope is faith in the future tense». That’s what hope is. «Hope is faith in the future tense». Thomas Brooks said, «Hope can see Heaven through the thickest clouds». John Bunyan said this, «Hope is never sick when faith is well». Hope, hope, hope. My dear friend, if you don’t have hope, you don’t have anything. Oh, listen, hope is one of the greatest assets that you have. Faith believes, but hope expects. And hope, a person who lives by confidence in God and God alone and looks to God alone no matter what, has, my friend, Christian character.
And the devil wants to blow out the light of hope in your heart, in your mind. He tells you you’re too sick or he tells you you’re too bad or he tells you the situation is too desperate. He wants to blow out every light of hope. I was reading about World War II in the North Atlantic Ocean. There was an aircraft carrier out there and they sent up six pilots with their planes to scout for enemy submarines. The night came, the captain aboard that ship said, «We’re in danger. I issue this command, every light on this carrier shall be turned off. Every one». They said, «What about our boys that are up there»? He said, «Turn off every light». These men who’d gone out to reconnoiter finally came back and they radioed to the carrier, turn on the lights so we can land.
The man on the radio said, «I’m sorry, but we cannot turn on the lights». Another of the six pilots said, «Give us a light so we can land. We can’t see». They sent back and said, «We are under orders. We cannot turn on a light». A third pilot radioed in and said, «Give us one light, just one. We don’t know where you are». And they sent back and said, «I’m sorry. We cannot give you one light. Those are our orders». And six brave American pilots went down in the cold North Atlantic Ocean because they could not find one light in the darkness.
My dear friend, there are a lot of people like that who are circling and saying, «Oh, someone, somehow, somewhere give us a light. Where is the light of hope»? I want to tell you that Jesus Christ is that light. But the Bible speaks of those in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 12 who are without hope in this world because they know not the Lord Jesus Christ. But oh, I, sat in my study late one night, almost midnight, and I opened my Bible and I turned to Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 19, where the Bible speaks of hope. And it says, «Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, steadfast and sure». Oh, «Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul steadfast and sure».
A great ship will put down a huge steel anchor, an iron anchor with those prongs of that anchor, and one of those prongs will go under a rock and get hold of that rock, anchored to that rock steadfast and sure. And the writer of the book of Hebrews says, that’s what our hope is like. Let the storms rage. Let the waves buffet us. Let the wind blow by, the anchor holds. I went to Russian and preached in Moscow. On Easter Sunday, I was there. What an experience. What an experience. I told Joyce, «I will not be in Moscow on Easter Sunday, if I can help it, without visiting the tomb of Lenin. I want to see Lenin, I want to see his body and I want to see it on Easter morning».
And so we lined up and walked through that tomb there in Red Square where the body of Lenin lies entombed. He is there in a crystal casket, a crystal sarcophagus. He died in 1924, but they have his body so embalmed, it looks as if he had died yesterday. And on that casket, on that crystal sarcophagus, is engraved these words, I want you to listen to them. «He was the greatest leader of all peoples, of all countries, of all times. He was the Lord of a new humanity. He was the Savior of the world». And there he lay dead. He was, he was, he was. My dear friend, He is, He is, He is! Oh, there is that man dead. And I thank God for my precious wife who always wants to do everything right and never break the rules. And they say, when you go through Lenin’s tomb, you’re not supposed to speak. You’re supposed to have all of that respect. Don’t say a word.
There’s a guard at each corner of that dead body. Well, when my precious wife, who normally obeys the rules, walked past each one of those guards. She just simply said, «Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Christ, He is risen»! And my dear friend, that is our hope. That is an anchor of the soul, steadfast and sure. A man had taught his daughter, there is no God. He was one of these intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals, no real intellectual in my estimation can be an atheist. A pseudo-intellectual. He’d taught his little daughter that God does not exist. A Salvation Army worker reported this story. She had been witnessing to that family, but this man was witnessing on the other side, saying, «Don’t listen to this Salvation Army girl. There is no God. God does not exist».
The girl in the family of the atheist was taken with a sudden illness. She got worse and worse, was about to die. The Salvation Army girl had gone to the upstairs apartment where they were, was about to knock on the door. And this is the conversation that she heard. The father was saying to his daughter, the atheist was saying to his daughter, «Darling, daddy loves you. Darling, daddy is so sorry that you’re sick. Daddy wants you to be better, but you’re getting worse. Darling, daddy has heard from the doctor that you’re going to die. But sweetheart, just hold on. Just hold on. Hold on, darling. Please hold on. For daddy’s sake, just hold on». And that dying girl said to her atheistic father, «Father, you’ve told me there’s no God. You’ve told me there’s no Bible. You’ve told me there’s no life after death. You have told me there’s no hope. And now you tell me to hold on. But daddy, there’s nothing to hold on to». Nothing to hold on to.
I thank God my anchor holds. My anchor holds, which hope, my dear friend, we have as an anchor of the soul and my anchor holds. Now, here’s what God wants to do. He wants to give you that kind of hope. I mean, He wants to give you that faith in the future tense. And so here’s the plan, here’s the way it works. First of all, pressure, that’s tribulation. And then patience. And then after patience, purity, character. And after that, prospect, persuasion, rock-ribbed trust, confidence in Almighty God. The Bible calls it hope. My hope is built on what? Nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. It begins there when we’re saved and it ends there when we go to Heaven.
Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Oh, my friend, aren’t you tired of just scrubbing a dirt floor? Aren’t you tired of scrubbing a dirt floor, trying to get better, trying to be better? No matter how much you scrub, nothing really happens. You need Jesus. You need to receive Christ as your personal Savior and Lord and be born again. Romans 5:1 says, «Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ». And if you would pray a prayer like this, God would save you today. Pray like this:
Oh, God, I believe that You exist. I know that You love me. I know that You want to save me. Jesus, I believe You’re the Son of God. I believe You died for my sins. I believe You were buried. I believe You were raised from the dead by the power of God. I believe it with all of my heart. And You told me, if I would trust You, You would save me. I do trust You, Lord Jesus. Right now, this moment like a child, I commit my life to You by faith, and I receive You into my heart as my Lord, my Savior, my master, my friend, and my God, forever.
You say, «Pastor, I can’t remember all of that». Just pray, «Lord, save me». He knows what you mean. «Lord Jesus, come into my heart and save me». Father, I pray that many today, will say yes to Christ and be saved. In His dear name I pray, Amen.