A Good Name - [Proverbs 22:1]

Biblical Character and the Meaning of a Good Name

Tonight's message is not going to be expositional. It is going to deal with the subject of biblical character, of virtue, and what that means. And you always try to think, how am I going to begin speaking of this topic?

What great thing can I pull out of my mind as far as some introduction? And I was thinking, when I was a young child, I remember I grew up in Westboro, Massachusetts. And downtown, there were a couple of stores, but one of them was better than the other.

They had a penny candy area of the store. And with a dollar, you could go a long way than what you can today. And you get behind that counter, you get right behind it. You could go, and you could begin to pick and fill your bag with all the things that you'd like.

And as a kid, of course, you'd go for the three for a penny and two for a penny. You get a huge, huge bag. We graduate from that, don't we? And we just go on to just give up those things as far as just going after the little things.

And of course, we don't, because now we can just point and click online and get what we want. We can go to the mall, search the store, and get whatever it is that we're desiring to get, or go and drive, or whatever.

Catalogs, the things that we go after. And sometimes, you think about it, if you go to the mall, you're going after something that you might need for clothing. You go to some electronics store for something for the house.

A Reputation Is Not Something You Can Buy

But is there such a thing as a reputation store? So I can go someplace, and turn with me, if you would, to Proverbs, chapter 22. I can go get what the scripture says here in Proverbs, chapter 22. How do I choose this, or where do I go to find what is mentioned here in this verse?

Proverbs, chapter 22. Since there's no clock in the back, I'm going to try to set up my watch here so I can see it. I'm not usually all that great when it comes to time, but I'll try to be good tonight.

Proverbs 22, in verse 1, the scripture says, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.

In the day in which we live, it is few and far between where we hear of or we talk with people who are seeking after a good name, who are desirous of an impeccable character in their lives, or a testimony that shines for the grace of God.

You see, the world would say when it comes to this about being good, or having a good name, you just want to be able to live a life where at the end of your days, you've just been a good old boy. That's who you are.

Or maybe you might hear it, as those who would say you want to achieve some great feat, or invent something, or do some great philanthropic work, and leave behind your legacy because of what you did. Why these, I'm leaning towards, by saying these, I'm leaning towards the wrong motive of wanting to be recognized by men.

Wanting to be recognized for what you have accomplished rather than for who you are and what your life is all about. Charles Bridges wrote, a good name is gained by godly consistency. And I desire to speak of godly character, true virtue.

And that character that stands out in the fallen world in which we live. This was evident in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ as we hear of his account recorded by Luke in chapter 2, verse 52, where he said, Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Increased in favor with God and man. But this is not a trait just for the Lord Jesus alone, for we see the similar words describing the young prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 26. In the young child, Samuel grew and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men.

And it doesn't end with Samuel. If you consider the lives of other men in scripture, other people in scripture, what about Moses? What about Joseph? You think of their, as you think of these men, and you think of the struggles and the trials and the temptations that came their way and the decisions that they made.

Moses, Joseph, Joshua, Daniel, and even in the Apostle Paul, just to name a few. And we'll get into some of the details of those as the message continues on. What was it that God had worked or wrought in the lives of men such as these to set them apart from others?

What was it that God had done? A great work in their life, yes. And I will not take and exclude this or separate this from the work of salvation in the life of the believer. That must occur first. It must be that we're visited from on high.

It must be that God breaks in upon our life. And as Skogol wrote, that we must possess the life of God within our souls. And that comes from the wonderful gift of salvation in Christ. But salvation that comes to us is not alone.

Salvation is life-changing. And one of the things that it does in our lives, one of the things it does is it gives us a different will. It gives us a different volition for choosing. And here in this verse, it speaks to us of something that we ought to choose above riches, above wealth, above that which we could possess physically.

And that is a good name and loving favor, but a good name. And I believe that God's work of divine grace in the life of the believer is something that so changes us that we become a people of character.

It is so much easier for me, and I've talked to my wife about this over the years. It's so much easier for me to do this than to teach it. It's so much easier to live it than to preach it, to be able to put it in words.

And how do you describe to a person that which God has done to you over decades? What God has done to mold, and shape you, and change you, and give you different passions, and give you different desires, and changing in your want-tos, and your wishes, and the way that you step one foot in front of the other?

But I will attempt, by the grace of God, to at least teach this in a way so hopefully, as our brother Steve said this morning, maybe we'll go away knowing what Brother Dave was preaching about. Sometimes my wife tells me, you know, you keep saying the same thing over, and over, and over again.

Well, I do that because I need to hear it over, and over, and over again so that I get it. And if I need it, maybe there's one or two others in the room that will need the same thing over, and over, and over again.

So please bear with me. Now, in contrast to the person that Brother Steve preached on this morning, the fool in Psalm 14, I don't know if you picked this up, but one of the things Brother Steve said was that when you think of a foolish person, there is a life that demonstrates the absence of godliness.

That phrase just blew open to me this morning. In the life of a foolish person, it is a demonstration of a life that is absent of godliness. Well, the man or woman, the boy or girl who has a good name, who has a reputation, yes, this is all umbrellaed under the great and wonderful working of God in the life of the soul.

But the person who has a good name is a person where godliness is present, where character is present, where virtue is present, where right living or righteousness is present. Christians are people, yes, that are saved by the grace of God, saved from the penalty of sin, and saved from the power of sin, and saved out of their sins and out of a life of sin.

And they are a people who pursue holiness. And that is something that the grace of God teaches us. They are people who desire to possess biblical character, or they have a drive to do that which is right.

They want to live right. They want to choose for right. They want to fight for that which is right. They want to be right. They want to act right, and think right, and do right. In essence, they want to be righteous people, possessing a testimony of a good name.

Proverbs 22, 1 again, the good name is to be sought after more than riches, more than what the world says is important. In Proverbs 23, if you look over there, just across maybe your page, in Proverbs 23, notice what it says about these riches.

Why pursue a good name over riches? What is it that is characteristic of riches? Well, Proverbs 23, 5 says, Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings.

They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. And for some, it flies a whole lot quicker and a whole lot higher than others. But what an empty grasp to try to choose riches, to get our arms and our lives around that which is vanity, that which will fly away, that which we cannot take with us.

Naked came we into the world, and naked we shall leave this world. We'll leave it with nothing. For we came in that way. What is more important? Proverbs 10, you don't have to turn there, but Proverbs 10, well, how about this?

A good name, a good name leaves an indelible mark upon people. Riches fly away, and they're just temporary and fleeting, but a good name leaves a mark. It's an indelible mark upon others. And in Proverbs 10, in verse seven, it says, The memory of the righteous is blessed.

The memory of the righteous is blessed. And you talk about legacies. You always hear about the presidents who are going out, and they've got to do one last thing to leave a legacy. And I'm not saying legacies are bad.

I'm not saying that some of these things we have to live with, even with riches and money and the things that, but what about our priorities? And what are our motives? And what is it that we set our hearts upon?

And when it comes to our name, when it comes to our testimony, when it comes to our reputation, is that something that is a priority to us? That's the message for this evening. Is that something that is important to us, or can we say that in my life, my legacy will be of what I possessed?

My life is what I have. My life is all wrapped up in what I could get with my checkbook, what I could get from what was in the bank, what I could get from the mall, what I could get from the store, what I could get from online, or is my life one that exhibited characters?

The Inner Life, Absolute Standards, and a Pursuit of Holiness

A character can be defined as doing that which is right because it is right. If you turn with me, you can hold your place in Proverbs because we're gonna come back here. In the Psalm chapter 37, I think Brother Lewis visited this Psalm not too long ago, and I just wanna show you a couple of verses out of there that just struck me this week as I was thinking about this text and this topic.

In Psalm 37, I'll just throw, I have more verses, but we'll just do a few for the sake of time. Notice Psalm 37 .3, "'Trust in the Lord and do good. "'So shalt thou dwell in the land, "'and verily thou shalt be fed.'".

Now, there's a lot of promises in here for those who would obey the principles of the Word of God, apply these principles, and apply these precepts in your own life. And here, it says that we ought to trust and do good.

Kind of reminds you of the hymn, trust and obey, right? For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey, no other way to be blessed of God. And that's what it says here, "'And verily thou shalt be fed, "'and you will dwell in the land.'".

Notice in this chapter, verse 27, "'Depart from evil again, "'and do good and dwell forevermore.'". A person who has a reputation of leaving evil, shunning evil, running from evil, reminds you of Joseph, doesn't it?

"'Depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore.'". But in particular, one of the verses that really stood out to me was verse 37. "'Mark the perfect man,' or mark the blameless man, "'and behold the upright, "'for the end of that man is peace.'".

And the word there, mark the blameless man, or mark the perfect man, is to look at that person in such a way that you want to do what he's doing, or what he or she is doing. You know what that infers to us is that people are watching us.

I just talked to a sister here this morning at the door over there, and she was saying of another Christian in this church, she was saying, I wonder if that Christian actually really realizes how many of the little ones in the church are watching them because they make such an impact, because they are, because I know that they are, because my daughter is watching this person as they were talking to me.

And there are littler girls in the church that are watching my daughter. And people are looking at us, and people are taking note of our lives. And we are an influence, and we are an example to other people.

And we need to take care and be careful in the way in which we order our lives. The steps of a good man in this Psalm, verse 23, are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in His way. Though we fall, we shall not be utterly cast down, verse 24, for the Lord upholds Him with His hand.

We ought to be very careful of what it is that we're doing when it comes to living and thinking and moving about in our lives because people are watching us, and we are leaving a name behind. Is it going to be a good name?

Or is it going to be a bad name? And is it going to be a poor reputation? Or is it going to be a good one? In order for a person to do that which is right, we first got to lay some groundwork and agree on a couple of things.

And the first thing I think we need to agree on is that when it comes to the life of a person who's going to do right, there has to be an absolute standard by which we define right and wrong. People of character don't make up their own rules as they go along.

I know we have some folks in here that are really great at board games. I know one time we were playing a board game called Risk with a family member. And it was the first time for some of us, and this family member knew how to play this game.

And as we were going along, of course, we got all the ground rules. We got all, this is the major rules as you go on. This is the whole purpose of this game. And some of us weren't faring quite well. And this family member was doing really good.

And we couldn't quite figure it out until about halfway through the game, we were told, oh yes, if you want to, something about getting around the world, you could come around this way through this country or something.

I can't remember what it was, but it was a great enlightenment. And it really helped out if you wanted to be strategic and win this game. But when it comes to living the Christian life, we don't make the rules up and we don't change them as we go along.

We are acquainted with the absolute standards of God. We don't go along with the world who will ask, well, what's right for me? Or what's right for the situation? In which I'm facing. I mean, you know, we live in a modern day and we have just different situations and different circumstances.

The problem is, is that the heart of man has not changed. And the problem of a man has not changed. And God has not changed. And His standard has not changed. And He desires of His people that we be holy, a peculiar people, separated unto God.

Just like when Moses went before Pharaoh and God gave him the message to tell Moses to let, Moses telling Pharaoh, let my people go so that we can just go in the wilderness and have a great time and frolic in the wilderness and just kind of hang out and go by the nice pools and build sand castles and whatever.

No, it was let my people go so that they might serve me. And we're to be a holy people, a different people, living unto God with a testimony that shines for the grace of God. So we don't say, you know, with the world like what's right now or what's right for the circumstance.

No, we ask what is right and what is the mind of God for this matter? We know that there's one standard for everyone and everywhere and for all times. And we know that everyone is responsible and accountable to God to keep His Word.

And anyone who knows the Lord knows they are accountable to God's standard revealed to us in the pages of God's Word because God is immutable and He's unchangeable and His absolute standards never change.

He's always desired to have a people for Himself. And He's always desired that those people have a pursuit of holiness and seeking God and loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and that they live differently, that they live as it were in the Old Testament.

There were things that we heard about just last Sunday evening that set Israel apart from all the other nations. There were things that they were supposed to do in their customs and their dress and all that made them different than others.

And there's things that God would have His people do today, Christians, to be and how they ought to act and how they ought to behave to set us apart from this world, not to be unequally yoked with this world, not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather to reprove them, to shine as lights in this dark, dark world.

You see, because men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil, but we ought to shine like a city set upon a hill, shine for the Lord and have a great testimony. And we ought to be where trophies of grace set upon display for the world to see that that is what a Christian is, that is what God...

That is the way they breathe, that is the way they think, that is what they pursue, that is their heart's desire, that's how they treat each other, that's how they treat the world, that's how they work, that's how they play, that's what they do as far as the forms of entertainment or reading or whatever it is it has to do in their lives.

Our reputation and our character is vitally important. Secondly, for us to be able to do what is right, we presuppose the ability and willingness to obey. Agreeing with the rules of the game is one thing, but playing by those rules is a totally different thing.

I've mentioned board games before, but I've played ball games, different kinds of situations in the past where right in the middle of the whole thing, I mean, playing pool or ping pong or whatever, somebody just throws this rule in.

You know, it's like, where did that come from? And it kind of messes up the whole thing. I mean, how can you know what we're shooting at here, what the goal is if it keeps changing all the time? I remember at work last fourth quarter of last year, the state of Massachusetts was mandating some insurance regulations and they hit us with this like 60 or 80 page document that we were supposed to comply to.

Well, the problem was, is the document kept changing and it was a moving target and we had all these people focused on these projects, but there was no way they were gonna be able to hit this target because the state kept changing their mind or what it was that they wanted to mandate at any given time.

And it was almost like virtual unreality when it came to trying to hit the mark here. Well, when it comes to the Christian life, it is not something that is questionable. It's not something that's variable.

It is the rock solid foundation of the word of God. It is God's word that is the lamp under our feet and the light unto our path. It is that which we are to love, that which we are to embrace, that which we are to meditate upon, memorize, live by and call our very own in the walk and the way of it.

And men and women of character, not only have agreed that God's word is the code for us, it is the code of ethics and of morality for us. We live it and desire to live by it. Psalm 119, 34, give me understanding and I shall keep by law.

We're asking the prayer there is, God, give me understanding. And I will keep by law, yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. You see, Christians are those who trust in the Lord and they do good, Psalm 37, three, as we read.

They do that which is right at all times, no matter what's going on around them, no matter what people think about them, no matter what people say, no matter what distraction comes their way, no matter what temptation comes, whatever the fiery doubts of dart might be, they hold up the shield of faith and they believe God because let God be true and every man a liar.

They want to do what's right before God. And they wanna do what's right, even if it hurts. I believe Brother Steve read Psalm 15 this morning. And there's a little phrase in one of those verses that says that the person who is going to be close with God, the person who is gonna be able to dwell in his tent, dwell close by God and have fellowship with God and walk with God, is a person who, one of the things that says that they swear even to their own hurt.

That means that they may make a promise even if it hurts. What is, how can I put some flesh on that one? Well, let's say you make a promise, parents to your children, that you're going to be there on Tuesday at five o 'clock to take your child to go do something.

And at two o 'clock you're at work and one of the folks that you work with comes up and says, I got some free tickets to the Red Sox game or whatever it is that really floats your boat. For that evening at six o 'clock, and all of a sudden you gotta make the decision, am I gonna do that which is right or am I gonna do that which pleases me?

Because you've made a promise. And that's just a little promise. I mean, that's just a little example of what I'm talking about. But it is absolutely incredible, even in Christian realms, how little a person's word is worth.

And I believe that our word ought to be our bond. And I believe that if we do make a promise that we ought to keep that promise. As much as is humanly possible, unless providentially hindered. I mean, we're laid up in bed or something.

If we have a choice between two things and one of them is for us and one of them is to keep the promise that we make, we ought to go ahead and keep that promise. We wanna do that which is right. That's an example of biblical character.

Character in the Unbelieving World and the Call to Integrity

Now, let's examine this subject by looking comparatively with an eye toward the unbelieving world and what their pursuit is. What is the pursuit of those that are outside of Christ? Well, you can go and think of all different types of things, but I kind of focused on this.

I think we could all agree that it is a focus and a drive for personal achievement, for personal satisfaction, and for personal fulfillment. Now, although men and women of character are not opposed to personal fulfillment, we ought to at least have different priorities.

Our affections should be set upon things above and not upon the things of the earth. And they ought to be set upon things above as we know that God's kingdom is more than food and drink. It is more than riches.

It is more than silver and gold because a good name is rather to be chosen, is more, it's better to be chosen. It excels over that which we could choose when we come to the silver and gold, a good name is important.

For us to demonstrate true character, personal obedience has a greater priority than personal achievement. Self-control is more important than self-fulfillment. Personal righteousness is more valuable commodity than personal satisfaction.

Just two days ago, I was speaking to a Christian brother and they told me that there's somebody that we know here. I was speaking to this brother and he said that he had had some dealings with another Christian not too long ago.

And this Christian promised to fulfill a commitment that they had made to him. And sure enough, he had tried over and over again, but this commitment kept falling through. And the person would not do what they promised that they said they would do.

And it was very troubling to this Christian brother. I was trying to help him through it, just kind of encourage him what he should do, give the benefit of the doubt, try over again, love covers a multitude of sins.

But eventually, this other Christian would not comply, would not keep the promise. And of course, he had to deal with this other person in a way because they were unreliable. They did not have a sense of the importance of what it meant when they made a promise, when they made a commitment.

And why do you think friendships break up? Why do you think marriages are in a mess? Why do you think the church is in a mess, or churches, if we hear about it? We have people who come here week after week because there are things that are going on in churches that ought not to be named.

There are things that ought not to be done in the testimony, in the life of a New Testament church. They are coming because they desire to go someplace where the word of God is preached, where Christ is exalted, and where people will just do what the Bible says and to live right before God.

I mean, we're not perfect, and we never said we were, but we do desire with all of our hearts to make it a matter of priority that we will focus on a reputation. We will focus, not for the reputation of men per se, just so that we can get patted on the back, but just so that people can look at us and say, my, God does do a good work when He saves somebody.

Isn't it amazing what God does when He changes the heart of a sinner and makes them a holy saint and a child of God, and they begin to live and to walk and to breathe and to act and to speak and to think and to decide differently?

You see, if you were to ask around, most people would not be opposed to character. They would say character is important. People aren't opposed to that, but only a few will make it, the pursuit of it, to find favor, to find this loving favor in the sight of God and of man so that God gets the glory in it.

That's the difference. Not that we get to toot our horn, but that God would get the glory in it. In Proverbs 20, if you'll turn there, you're in 22, you could just turn back to Proverbs 20. Notice what it says.

There's this piercing, probing question in Proverbs 20, in verse six. Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find. And wouldn't you just, by the grace of God, want to put your name in there just saying, I want to be that type of person?

I would desire for God to make me that type of person to where I would be considered faithful. I would be considered reliable. I would be considered a person of integrity. I would be a person who would do what they promised.

And when it comes to, even when it comes to integrity, I mean, there's no distinction between what I say and do. That's what basically, integrity means complete. It just means we get the word integer, one from it.

When you integrate things, you put them together, they become one, and our life is one. It's complete in that what we say and what we do, there's no distinction between the two of those. They're exactly the same.

And that's why I said it's sometimes easier for me to actually live this than to teach this. It's sometimes hard because you don't want to get up and you don't want to brag, of course. If we're going to brag, we're going to brag on the Lord.

This is the goodness of God to be able to work this in the life of anybody. And when it comes to integrity, just think about this. I mean, what kind of integrity, what type of character would there be if, let's say, on our job, we are a person who rebels against the boss, speaks about the boss, listens to all the bad stories about the boss, gossips with our coworkers, we produce a shabby product, I mean, it's just worthless.

What we put out, it's crummy work. We just, we do that. And then at the end of the day, we want to go over to somebody and hand them a gospel track and say, smile, God loves you, and I want, you know, God has a great plan for your life or whatever, how it is that we want to talk to them.

And of course, that's not the gospel presentation. I'm just kind of using that in a way that we're trying to come across as being something that we're not. The opposite of integrity is hypocrisy. If we don't have character, if we don't have integrity, if we're not this one that we're a people who are hypocrites, I mean, you've heard, I've heard of a story once where there was a person who had gone to a restaurant, a Christian, and they rode the waitress the whole time.

I mean, nothing was right. There weren't even enough ice cubes in the glass. I mean, nothing, I mean, absolutely nothing. The way she held the plate, you name it. Everything was just terrible and got after this waitress.

And then at the end of it, they wanted to leave their gospel track and, you know, a subpar tip because the waitress didn't do a good thing. That just doesn't go together. That isn't integrity. I mean, when you have that kind of raw disposition, that just judgmental spirit, and just that disregard for other people and treat them in such a way, and then try to come back and say, well, I'm a Christian.

You see the bad name that that is, the poor testimony that that is? And maybe I'll try to give a couple of examples later as we go on. A faithful man, who can find? Faithful Christians who possess character.

What a rare jewel in our churches today. People without character are quick to compromise their standards and violate their consciences if that's what it will take to get ahead or get to what they want for gratifying themselves.

And today, sadly, it is not very important what you are on the inside because the concentration is what you are on the outside. That's the society in which we live. Spurgeon said that character is what a man is in the dark.

And I heard someone else say that character is what a man is when no one else is looking. You tell me, is that not a piercing statement? Character is what a man is when no one else is looking. And when no one else is looking, what is it that we're doing?

What is it that we're thinking? What is it that we're consumed by? What is it that we're looking at? That's what character is. Webster defines character as a person's pattern of behavior or personality.

Their moral constitution, their moral strength. It is a person's reputation. So character is what we are really made of. Dr. William Mitchell wrote this little thing. I thought it was just very eye-opening.

He said, watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. And watch your habits, because they become your character.

And watch your character, because it becomes your destiny. And I'm not saying that. I know he wasn't saying that based upon, you know, it's a work salvation. But it does say something about, even Jesus as was mentioned this morning, Matthew chapter seven.

You look at a tree and you know what kind of fruit is growing on that tree. And it tells you what kind of tree it is. A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. The good tree does not bring forth corrupt fruit.

And it's so vital, what kind of fruit, what kind of life that we're living. What is it that comes forth out of our lives? So this is a very, very important subject. There aren't too many places that you can go nowadays to help out in the area of your character.

And we have lots of places that we can go on to improve the outer man, don't we? Because that's the emphasis, as I said earlier, in our society. I mean, the people we rub shoulders with are consumed with the outside, with the exterior, with the hair and the clothing and the skin tone and complexion and the muscles and the lack thereof, or the cellulite and the lack thereof, and the accessories and the perfume and the clones and possessions and so on.

And we can come up with a long list of places that you can go to to get help in these areas, like beauty shops and tanning centers and malls and health clubs and specialty shops. And we are bombarded every day with advertisements to improve our external look, aren't we?

But there's not a long list when it comes to the places that we can go to develop good character. Other than the church, other than the home of a godly Christian brother or sister in Christ who would encourage us, other than going to the Word of God and seeing what God has to say, there's not many places that we can go to nowadays.

I mean, we were told this morning that even when it comes to the so-called Christian bookstore, you can have that little shelf over here. I mean, why pay the big rent, right, brother? Just have that little kiosk, you know, save a lot of money.

I mean, it is appalling what is in the Christian stores today. I mean, I get so grieved almost to tears when I look at just the T-shirts, the sayings that are on there, trying to equate the things of a holy God and the infinite truth of God and trying to match it up with some product like Coca-Cola or toothpaste or something else.

I don't think, I would find it very hard to be a Christian bookstore owner with all the books that are in those stores today and try to maintain a godly Christian character. It would just be difficult for me, anyways.

I believe that this is an important subject. I believe that this is something that we should pursue. And yet the problem in our nation that we have, as I said earlier, the problem with society is that it is totally committed to the outer person and neglects the inner man.

And that is the problem with our nation. It stems from a lack of character among our leaders and its citizens. And developing inner character is essential to godliness. It will take a sacrifice for us to pursue and develop character in our lives.

And I believe that it would be right for us to be called upon as Christians today, this evening, to be a people who pursue biblical character. We're people who are pressing on to higher ground, are we not?