Character Studies - ElectronicGospel

a. sometime you may be the only one around who can right a wrong or stand up for someoneand will you wash your hands of their trial because it would put you in danger or expose you to the sameslander and bitterness that was aimed at them?b. it is God who gives opportunities to do right and the same God will hold us accountablewhen we choose to ignore them (James 4:17)4. the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was little more than God-given opportunity meeting hard-nosedhumanity; we lament Pharaoh’s folly, but will we replicate it as well?C. What is Truth?1. consider again Pilate’s great philosophical response to Jesus (John 18:37-38)2. Pilate wasn’t a seeker of truth like Nicodemus, or he would have stayed by the Lord’s side tohear an answer; instead he walked outside, convinced that Jesus was not a rival to Caesar and not a threatto Judea3. as for truth, it was meaningless to a moral relativist like Pontius Pilate, who has manydescendants in the world todaya. many who dismiss the concept of an objective, identifiable, singular truth that eliminates allother claims as mere pretenseb. others who espouse the ironic concept that there are many equally viable but contradictorytruths, found in religion, philosophy, even atheismc. still others who consider a truth true until there are consequences, at which point some liebecomes the new truth, for the sake of politics or convenience or prosperity and at the expense ofrighteousness and salvation4. the question “What is truth” had long confounded the many contradictory schools of Greekphilosophy, competing to become the answer to that questiona. Pilate considered Jesus to be an ignorant Hebrew fanatic and he mocked him by puttingbefore him the curiosity of the deepest Greek thinkersb. Barnes writes, “Thousands ask the question in the same way. They have a fixed contempt forthe Bible; they deride the instructions of religion; they are unwilling to investigate and to wait at the gatesof wisdom; and hence, like Pilate, they remain ignorant of the great Source of truth, and die in darknessand in error. All might find truth if they would seek it; none ever will find it if they do not apply for it tothe great source of light-the God of truth, and seek it patiently in the way in which he has chosen tocommunicate it to mankind. How highly should we prize the Bible! And how patiently and prayerfullyshould we search the Scriptures, that we may not err and die for ever!” 75. God’s word is a truth that sets believers apart from unbelievers (cf. John 17:17), “a lamp to myfeet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105)a. truth is as singular as is God, the church and baptism (cf. Ephesians 4:1-6)b. it is objective and not vulnerable to the shifting sands of popular approval or denominationaledictc. it liberates us from sin, error, superstition, self-delusion, carnal ambition, speculation,sectarianism and every false way (John 8:31-36)ConclusionUnless the apocryphal writers can be believed, Pilate lived and died with little character beyond thepolitical. For men today to rise above his ignominious end, we must stand on conviction and avoidcompromising the integrity of our consciences.Character Studies! 105