In this message we will fellowship about dealing with our disposition and character. The words disposition and character both have many different denotations in dictionaries and lexicons. We have used these words very much in their spiritual denotations for the last forty to fifty years. In one of the early trainings in Taiwan, we presented thirty points of character which were later published in the book Character. Later, we began to stress the matter of our disposition very much. I have discovered that character is the expression of something inward, that is, the matter of disposition. Outwardly it is character, but inwardly it is disposition. To deal with the character but neglect the disposition is futile.
I have used the words disposition and character in my ministry concerning the spiritual life because I was forced to find terms which would help the saints to understand the soul-life, the self, the “I,” and the old man. The terms natural life and natural have also been used related to the spiritual experiences of dealing with our self. The self is our soulish life, and the soulish life is something natural. In addition to these terms, Paul mentions the old man in Romans 6:6. Each of these terms denotes a certain spiritual reality. With human beings there is something called the self, the soul-life. The soul-life is also called the old man. The self, the soul-life, and the old man are all something natural, something of the natural life.
In our fellowship concerning disposition and character, we do not use the definitions and denotations which are commonly used in the many dictionaries and lexicons. Rather, we define these terms according to their spiritual significance. Disposition refers to something within our being, and character refers to something in our outward being. Within we have our disposition, and without we have our character. Disposition is what we are within, and character is what we express without. The inward disposition and the outward character are the extract, the essence, of our being. If our character and disposition were taken away, there would be nothing left to our being.
The terms character and disposition cannot be found in the New Testament, but the facts are implied in verses such as Matthew 16:26 and Luke 9:25. Matthew 16:26 and Luke 9:25 are parallel portions which use self and soul-life as synonyms. Matthew 16:26 says, “For what shall a man be profited if he should gain the whole world, but forfeit his soul-life?” Luke 9:25 says, “For what is a man profited, having gained the whole world, but having lost or forfeited himself?” The soul-life in Matthew 16:26 is the self in Luke 9:25. The soul is the life of the self, and the matters of disposition and character are very much related to both the self and the soul.
To illustrate the differences in disposition, we may use different animals, such as a turtle and a rabbit. A turtle walks slowly, and a rabbit runs quickly. Each activity is related to a particular thing within the nature of each animal. This inward thing is what we may call its disposition. The turtle and the rabbit each has its own disposition, its own makeup.
In our Christian experience, there is something within us called our disposition. This disposition is what we are in our makeup. Each of us has a particular and unique disposition. Inwardly in our disposition, we are quite different from one another.
Your disposition denotes what you are in your makeup by birth. Whatever you are by birth is your disposition. If you are slow, you were made slow by birth; being slow is your disposition. Likewise, if you are quick, quickness is your disposition. One may be silent or talkative; both are matters of inward disposition. Although our disposition is something made by God, yet it still needs to be dealt with by God. This seems to be contradictory-something given by God must be dealt with by God. However, this is very much according to the divine revelation, and it is also confirmed by our experience.
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