Does the Bible say anything about man's character development?

Actually, the Bible has quite a bit to say about this topic.

(1) To give a good definition of righteous character, as we want to apply this term in this Q&A, we would like to quote from several of Herbert Armstrong’s writings, the late Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God.

In “What Science Cannot Discover About the Human Mind,” copyright 1978, he wrote about righteous character as “the ability in a single entity to come to comprehend and distinguish the true values from the false, the right way from the wrong, to choose the right and reject the wrong, and, with power of will, to do the right and resist the evil.”

In “Mystery of the Ages,” copyright 1985, he elaborated, as follows:

“Perfect, holy and righteous character is the ability in such separate entity to come to discern the true and right way from the false, to make voluntarily a full and unconditional surrender to God and his perfect way — to yield to be conquered by God — to determine even against temptation or self- desire, to live and to do the right. And even then such holy character is the gift of God. It comes by yielding to God to instill HIS LAW (God’s right way of life) within the entity who so decides and wills. Actually, this perfect character comes only from God, as instilled within the entity of his creation, upon voluntary acquiescence, even after severe trial and test…”

(2) What we have to keep in mind, then, is that godly character is a gift from God. It must also be noted that this gift must be acquired and developed over time.

In “What Science Cannot Discover About the Human Mind,” Herbert Armstrong wrote:

“God’s purpose in creating man is to reproduce Himself—with such perfect spiritual character as only God possesses—who will not and therefore cannot ever sin! (1 John 3:9). Such perfect spiritual and holy character cannot be created by fiat. It must be developed, and that requires time and experience… But if man is to become God, in the process of God reproducing Himself, then the character that is to be built in him must emanate from God—and the spirit life that is to be his also must emanate from God.”

We might pose the question why God could not create character by fiat. Is there anything that God cannot do? Absolutely. For instance, God cannot sin. The reason is, He has willed never to sin, and His Will is perfect. We are also told that we must reject sin, but due to temptations and weaknesses, we do still sin from time to time, even after we have received God’s Holy Spirit. This is not to say that it would be impossible for us to keep God’s Law. God would never command us to keep the Law if He knew that we could not do it. With the help of God’s Holy Spirit in us, we CAN keep the Law–both in the letter and even in the Spirit. Jesus Christ, when He lived in the flesh, never sinned. He overcame sin in the flesh. He lived a PERFECT life. He did it because He was ALWAYS close to God the Father. His Will never to sin was PERFECT.

The only difference is that God the Father gave Christ His Holy Spirit without measure from His inception. Today, when God’s disciples receive His Spirit, they initially receive only a small portion of it. But we are to grow in God’s Spirit. We are to become perfect. And with God’s help, we can. When we sin, it is because we are not as close to God as we should have been. And, perhaps, because our will never to sin has not yet reached perfection, either.

But that is what character development is all about. We need to learn the right, choose the right, and live the right. The more we do, the more we develop godly righteous perfect character in our lives.

When we say that God could not create perfect character by fiat, we need to go back to our definition of godly character, which requires that a free moral agent needs to choose the right and reject the wrong, and to actually do the right and refuse to do the wrong. With THAT definition, God could not have created such character by fiat. Of course, He could have created beings who would automatically do the right and refuse to do the wrong–but they would not have been free moral agents with the POWER to choose. That power and ability, leading to right character, if applied correctly, requires time; so, by necessity, it could not have been created ad hoc.

We need to understand that God is reproducing Himself through man. The purpose of man’s creation is to ultimately become God. And in order to become God, man must develop the character of God. He must become perfect, as God is perfect. (For more information on this vital subject, please read our free booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.”).

Regarding the need of character development in man, Herbert Armstrong also wrote the following in “Mystery of the Ages”:

“But there was one super-important quality that even God’s creative powers could not create instantly by fiat — the same perfect, holy, righteous CHARACTER inherent in both God and the Word! This kind of character must be DEVELOPED, by the CHOICE and the INTENT of the one in whom it comes to exist… I repeat, such perfect character must be developed. It requires the free choice and decision of the separate entity in whom it is to be created. But, further, even then it must be instilled by and from the Holy God who, only, has such righteous character to endow.”

He went on to say:

“God is more than one single person — God is a family — God is the supreme divine family — he is the Creator of all that is, and he has an ultimate PURPOSE — the creation of perfect, holy, righteous and spiritual CHARACTER, in MAN made immortal, to become part of that God family… WHY did the Creator God put MAN on the earth? For God’s ultimate supreme purpose of reproducing himself — of recreating himself, as it were, by the supreme objective of creating the righteous divine character ultimately in millions unnumbered begotten and born children who shall become God beings, members of the God family…

“WHAT, then, is man? He is a living being made from the dust of the ground. He is CLAY, and GOD is the Master Potter, molding, shaping, forming our CHARACTER — if we respond when he calls and draws us to him. With our willingness he is infusing into us HIS VERY OWN SPIRITUAL HOLY, RIGHTEOUS and PERFECT character!”

Please also note the following comments made in our booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World“:

“God wants us to build holy, righteous, godly character. We must develop the will to never sin, as well as the ability to carry out that will to never sin. We are to prove to God that we mean business. That requires time, and it requires the help of God’s Holy Spirit in us. We have to learn to resist the downward pull of Satan and his demons. We must overcome temptations to sin, even in the face of satanic persecution. God wants to see that we will not give in to the ‘dark side.'”

(3) Does the Bible support the claim that we must develop godly righteous character in our Christian lives–that God is creating His character in His disciples?

Absolutely!

It is true, however, that we will not find the word “character” in the Authorized Version or the New King James Bible. But the concept of character development is clearly conveyed–even in annotations in the New King James Bible, as we will see. In reviewing other modern translations, we discover that they actually use the word “character” in numerous places. Although this might be more an interpretation than a literal rendering of the original, they are nevertheless correct in their understanding of the meaning of those Scriptures.

(a) In general, the need to have a good or noble character in our lives is emphasized in these passages:

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11, New International Version).

Boaz said the following about Ruth: “All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character” (Ruth 3:11, New International Version).

Beginning with Proverbs 31:10, a “virtuous woman” is described. The New International Version translated the introductory verse as follows: “…a wife of noble character who can find?”

In addition, the New King James Bible has the following headline to Psalm 15, where David answers the question who will be accepted by God: “The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the LORD.”

Regarding Ananias who was sent by God to Paul to baptize him, we read Paul’s testimony about Ananias in Acts 22:12, that he was “a pious man who obeyed the Law and bore a good character with all the Jews of the city” (“The New Testament in Modern Speech,” by Richard Francis Weymouth; the New King James Bible says, “having a good testimony with all the Jews”).

And notice 3 John 1:12: “The character of Demetrius has the approval of all men, and of the truth itself. We also express our approval of it, and you know that we only give our approval to that which is true” (Weymouth; the New King James Bible says, “has a good testimony from all”).

2 Peter 1:5 points out:

“But for this very reason–adding, on your part, all earnestness–along with your faith, manifest also a noble character: along with a noble character, knowledge…” (Weymouth; the New King James Bible says, “virtue.” As we have seen, the “virtuous woman” of Proverbs 31 is a woman of character.).

(b) The Bible also shows that godly righteous character must be DEVELOPED in man:

Luke 1:80 tells us the following about Jesus Christ, according to Weymouth: “And the child grew and became strong in character, and lived in the Desert till the time came for him to appear publicly to Israel.” The New King James Bible says that He became strong in spirit. This would include, becoming strong in character.

As Christ grew in godly character, so must we. Of course, Christ never sinned. But He had to continue throughout His human life to choose the right and reject the wrong, and to live the right and refuse to live the wrong (compare the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 7:14-16).

Describing Jesus Christ as He is now, Hebrews 1:3 refers to Him as “…being the brightness of His [God the Father’s] glory and the express image of His person…” The word “image” is translated from the Greek word “charakter,” which means “engraved,” “stamped” or “carved.” Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible renders the Greek expression as, “impressed character.” Moffat translates Hebrews 1:3 as, “He, reflecting God’s bright glory and stamped with God’s own character, sustains the universe with his word of power…”

Christ is the image, character, imprint, stamp or exact representation of the Father’s “person,” “nature,” “being,” “substance” or “essence.” And so, Christ’s disciples are to engrave the nature of who and what God is–His righteous and holy character–into themselves through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Weymouth translates Hebrews 12:10, as follows:

“It is true that they disciplined us for a few years according as they thought fit; but He does it for our certain good, in order that we may become sharers in His own holy character.” The New King James Bible says here, “that we may be partakers of His holiness.” When we do, then we are partakers of His holy character. This is a remarkable rendering, as it shows the correct understanding that God wants to create His holy character in us.

A general description of one aspect of God’s righteous character (which we are to acquire), can be found in Hebrews 6:17: “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us” (Revised Standard Version).

Weymouth translates 2 Corinthians 13:11 as follows, showing that we need to grow in perfection regarding our righteous character:

“Finally, brethren, be joyful, secure perfection of character (the New King James Bible says here, “be complete”), take courage, be of one mind, live in peace. And then God who gives love and peace will be with you.”

Compare, too, Romans 5:3-4: “… we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope” (New International Version).

The Living Bible renders this phrase, as follows: “And patience develops strength of character in us…” The Revised Standard Version says: “… endurance produces character, and character produces hope…” The New American Bible states: “… affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope…” Lastly, the New Jerusalem Bible renders it in this way: “… perseverance DEVELOPS a tested character…”

Weymouth renders Romans 14:19 as follows: “Therefore let us aim at whatever makes for peace and mutual upbuilding of character.”

Similar Weymouth’s rendering of 1 Corinthians 14:26: “What then, brethren? Whenever you assemble, there is not one of you who is not ready either with a song of praise, a sermon, a revelation, a ‘tongue,’ or an interpretation. Let everything be done with a view to the building up of faith and character.”

Note, too, Colossians 4:12: “Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, sends greetings to you, always wrestling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand firm–Christians of ripe character and of clear conviction as to everything which is God’s will” (Weymouth).

Take also note of James 3:2: “For we often stumble and fall, all of us. If there is any one who never stumbles in speech, that man has reached maturity of character and is able to curb his whole nature” (Weymouth).

Notice also the following requirement for a minister of God:

“He [a minister, overseer, elder] must have a good report of them which are without. Have an established character which speaks well for the church among the unconverted” (1 Timothy 3:7, People’s New Testament).

1 Corinthians 15:33 warns us not to allow the hindrance of the development of our good character, by associating ourselves with those whose standards and life style are ungodly and detrimental to our spiritual growth: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character'” (New International Version).

And 1 Corinthians 3:13 adds: “… the true character of each individual’s work will become manifest. For the day of Christ will disclose it, because that day is soon to come upon us clothed in fire, and as for the quality of every one’s work– the fire is the thing which will test it” (Weymouth).

As mentioned, even though the word “character” is not used by the Authorized Version or the New King James Bible in the above-quoted Scriptures, they do describe the different aspects of godly character in those passages.

In conclusion, the Bible teaches the concept that we must develop godly and righteous character in our lives–and that it is God who creates His character in His disciples–over time–and with their ascent and cooperation.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

We sent out this week the new member letter, as well as a copy of our new booklet, “The Book of Zechariah–Prophecies For Today.

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and YouTube. It is titled, “Our Only Hope for Survival.” In the program, Norbert Link discusses the following: Obama visit to Russia unsuccessful. G-8 leaders meeting in Italy without substantial results. More civil unrest in China and Honduras. Conflicting messages on a coming war between Israel and Iran. Troubling news about the U.S. economy. What is the solution? Do we need a world authority, as proposed by Pope Benedict XVI? What IS man’s only hope for his very survival?

Please have a look at our new design at YouTube. Just go to one of our more recent StandingWatch programs, as posted on YouTube, and click on “standingwatch” (in blue) at the top of the right-hand corner.  As of now, 200 viewers have become regular subscribers to our StandingWatch programs, as posted on YouTube.

Norbert Link’s video-recorded sermon “How Real Is God to YOU?,” dated July 11, 2009, has been posted on the Web.

A new German sermon, titled, “Das Buch Hiob–Fuer Uns Heute,” (in English, “The Book of Job–For Us Today”) was posted on the Web. The sermon addresses Job’s suffering, his unhelpful unmerciful friends, God’s answers, as well as Job’s self-righteousness and God’s righteousness and mercy.

Just Be Thankful

by Michael Link  

Lately, work has been tough at times and oddly enough, despite the economic troubles we are currently facing, it has been rather busy.  Now I’m not complaining that I’m still employed and that the company I work for is presently in good standing, but I sometimes feel that I’m being taken advantage of with certain expectations that may seem a bit unreasonable. Every time when my job performance is pushed yet to another level and I address it, I hear the same statement from my immediate supervisors: “Just be glad you have a job.”

My managers and I get along very well, and we communicate often, but there are certain things that could be done to make the job flow more easily when it comes to performance and operation. My company just recently went through a huge merger, and this week there were many new unfamiliar tasks that had to be done. All of this required a lot of patience, teamwork, learning, and a “just do it” attitude.  

Yes, my patience and attitude have been tested, getting myself frustrated at work with some of my co-workers; especially, when new things were thrown at us that we were expected to learn almost immediately.  I got myself caught up in the negative when those around me also complained about what was going on. It shouldn’t be like that, however, since I know that I need to be an example and look to the positive.

Sometimes I get sidetracked easily, but it doesn’t take long for me to realize that I need to snap out of it. I tell myself that what is happening right now at work is hopefully only temporary, and I have to believe that things will get better. But even if they don’t get better, I have to think beyond that and know that God will take care of me. With that in mind, I need to perform to the best of my abilities, maintain a positive attitude, and be thankful that I do (still) have a job.

What does it mean to bless our enemies and those who curse us?

Actually, the command to bless others even though they may not seem worthy of our blessing is to be found throughout the Bible.

We read in Matthew 5:44: “But I say to you, love your enemies, BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE YOU, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Compare, Luke 6:27-28).

Romans 12:14-20 adds:

“BLESS THOSE who persecute you; BLESS AND DO NOT CURSE… Repay no one evil for evil… If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves… If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

1 Corinthians 4:12 states: “… Being reviled, we BLESS; being persecuted, we endure…”

1 Peter 3:9 adds: “… not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”

The word “bless,” in the context of the above-quoted Scriptures, conveys the meaning of “calling down by prayer a blessing on him who persecutes us.”

The Greek word for “bless” is “eulogeo.” It is a compound of “eveu,” meaning “good” or “well,” and “logos,” meaning, “word, something said, speaker.” It can include “thought.” The word for “bless” means, then, “to speak well of” or “to invoke blessings upon a person.” (Compare Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, No. 2127, and W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).

When we bless someone, we refrain from cursing him. We bless with our lips, by what we say, but our blessings of others need to come from the heart; not only from our lips. Psalm 62:4 warns us not to behave like the wicked, when they bless others: “They only consult to cast him down from his high position; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly.”

The Hebrew word for “bless” is “barah” and means, literally, “to kneel,” and by implication, “to bless God (as an act of adoration) or man (as a benefit).” (Compare Strong’s, No. 1288).

A good example of how to bless our hateful enemies can be seen in Luke 23:34 and Acts 7:60, when both Jesus and Stephen asked God to forgive their enemies and not to charge them with their sin of murder.

When we bless those who curse us, we do this with our mouth–but our words must be coming from the heart. This includes, praying for them. Our prayer could include, asking God to grant them repentance so that their sins may be forgiven. It could include asking God to prevent them from continuing their evil deeds, since their attitudes and conduct harm themselves and others.

Our prayer might include the plea to God to let our enemies see that what they are doing is wrong. We are not to avenge ourselves because we know that God will avenge us–and if this means that God will allow or bring trials on our enemies to bring them to repentance or a recognition of the evil of their doing, then that, too, would be a blessing for them.

The commentary of Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says about Matthew 5:44:

“Bless them that curse you – The word ‘bless’ here means to ‘speak well of’ or ‘speak well to:’ – not to curse again or to slander, but to speak of those things which we can commend in an enemy; or, if there is nothing that we can commend, to say nothing about him.”

Blessing would mean not to slander our enemies or to speak evil of them, by inventing facts or “adding to” the truth. It does not mean hiding the facts if there is a need to speak out, but even then, we must be sure that we do not speak or act with hate and with a desire to avenge ourselves (2 Timothy 2:17-18, 20-21; 4:14-15; 1 Timothy 1:18-20).

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states about Matthew 5:44:

“… when wicked men curse you, as Shimei cursed David, do not ‘render evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing’; give good words, use kind language, mild and soft expressions; such as may either win upon them, or put them to shame and silence: ‘bless, and curse not’; the latter belongs to them, the former to you; ‘let them curse, but bless thou’: curses better fit their mouths, and blessings thine. Blessing here, does not signify praising them, for that would be sinful…”

He adds in his comments about Romans 12:14:

“… bless them; that is, to pray for them, that God would show them their evil, give repentance to them, and the remission of their sins; which is the order Christ gave to his disciples [in Luke 24:47] and encouraged to an observance of, by his own example [Luke 23:34] and has been followed herein by his disciples and apostles [Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 4:12]. Moreover, by ‘blessing’ may be meant, giving them good words, mild and soft answers, ‘not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing’ [1 Peter 3:9]; but, on the contrary, blessing, in imitation of Christ, who, ‘when he was reviled, reviled not again’ [1 Peter 2:23]…

“… and curse not: to have a mouth full of cursing and bitterness [Romans 3:14] is the character of an unregenerate man, and what by no means suits one who names the name of Christ; for blessing and cursing to proceed out of the same mouth, is as absurd and unnatural, as if it should be supposed that a fountain should send forth sweet water and bitter, or salt and fresh [James 3:10]…”

Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible writes about Romans 12:14:

“Bless them, pray for them, and on no account curse them, whatever the provocation may be. Have the loving, forgiving mind that was in your Lord.”

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible states about Romans 12:14:

“Bless, and curse not – Bless only; or continue to bless, however long or aggravated may be the injury. Do not be provoked to anger, or to cursing, by any injury, persecution, or reviling. This is one of the most severe and difficult duties of the Christian religion… To curse denotes properly to devote to destruction. Where there is power to do it, it implies the destruction of the object. Thus, the fig-tree that was cursed by the Savior soon withered away [Mark 11:21]. Thus, those whom God curses will be certainly destroyed [Matthew 25:41; that is, if they remain under the curse and refuse to repent]. Where there is not power to do it, to curse implies the invoking of the aid of God to devote to destruction. Hence, it means to imprecate; to implore a curse from God to rest on others; to pray that God would destroy them. In a larger sense still, it means to abuse by reproachful words; to calumniate; or to express oneself in a violent, profane, and outrageous manner.”

When we curse someone and wishing him ill and longing for his destruction, we are motivated by Satan the devil; not by God. When James and John, the “sons of thunder,” asked Christ whether they should command fire to come down from heaven to destroy and devour the Samaritans who had refused to provide shelter for them, Jesus rebuked them and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:55-56).

Satan is called the destroyer (Revelation 9:11–the Hebrew word for Satan, “Abaddon,” means “Destruction,” and the Greek word for Satan, “Apollyon,” means “Destroyer”). On the other hand, Jesus is the Savior of the world (John 3:17; 4:42). We need to follow Christ’s example, not Satan’s. Moses prayed to God to relent from killing the nation of Israel when they had greatly sinned against Him (Exodus 32:7-14); and Abraham asked God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous (Genesis 18:20-32).

In conclusion, we must be careful not to curse anyone, including our enemies who are hateful towards us and try to do us harm. Vengeance is God’s alone. Rather, we are to bless our enemies and pray for them, asking God to help them to see the evil of their ways and to repent. Our love towards all men will
be seen if we do good to those who hate us, and our righteous attitude will also be manifested when we ask God to do them good. God is kind even towards the unthankful and evil (Luke 6:35). He shows His perfect love for mankind when He “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Jesus said that we must become perfect in love as our Father’s love is perfect (compare Matthew 5:46-48).

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

The Fool

On July 18, 2009, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, respectively, “The Fool.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

Please have a look at the new design of our website, www.standingwatch.org.

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and YouTube. It is titled, “The Bones of the Apostle Paul–Found?” In the program, Norbert Link discussed the announcement of the Catholic Church that the bones of the Apostle Paul were found in Rome. Der Stern wrote that there is NO EVIDENCE that these were the bones of the Apostle Paul. Die Welt added that there can be no certainty that the bones are those of the Apostle Paul, and that experts DOUBT the accuracy of the Pope’s claim. Zenit admitted that over the centuries the original tomb of Paul “disappeared from view and eventually could no longer be identified.” Why is this? Could it be that the remains of Paul are not to be found in Rome?

The German version of the same program (“Die Gebeine des Apostels Paulus–Gefunden?”) was also posted on YouTube and on our German website (www.AufPostenStehen.de).

A new member letter has been written and will be sent out next week, together with our new booklet, “The Book of Zechariah–Prophecies for Today.“

A new German sermon was recorded this week and will be posted shortly. It is the final part in the series on the Nature of God and the Potential of Man and is titled, “Die Zukunft des Menschen” (“Man’s Future.”)

Why will Satan attempt a second coup to try to overthrow God?

The Bible does not say specifically why Satan will attempt a second coup, but it does give us several hints and indications which we might want to consider.

Prior to the physical creation, God brought into being the spirit world of angels. After God had created the physical universe and the earth, an archangel named Lucifer was placed over one third of the angels here on earth to beautify it. This was long before man was created with the ultimate potential to become a full-fledged member of the God Family. Nothing is said in the Bible that Lucifer or any of the angels had that same potential which would later be given to man.

According to Ezekiel 28:12-16 and Isaiah 14:12-15, Lucifer was perfect as far as his creation was concerned. However, Lucifer made wrong choices–he allowed pride to enter his mind. This pride corrupted his thinking, just like a virus can corrupt a computer. This corruption led him to believe that his abilities were greater than God’s; that he was not rewarded properly by God in accordance with his talents and achievements; and that the way of competition and get was superior to God’s way of give and love and concern for others. He managed to influence the angels under his control to participate in his first rebellion (Revelation 12:4). In resenting God’s government, he did the unthinkable and attempted to overthrow God and take over the rule over the entire universe. Of course, Lucifer, whose name was changed to Satan (meaning enemy or adversary), lost this battle, and he and his angels (now known as demons) were thrown back to this earth where they still rule today.

When God created Adam and Eve, Satan was there to deceive Eve, and he has been deceiving mankind ever since. In fact, Satan has deceived the whole world. He tried to deceive and tempt Christ, but failed. Christ, in defeating Satan, qualified to rule this earth in the near future.

Evidence for the fact that Satan was and is ruling this earth is given at the temptation of Christ, when Satan offered the kingdoms of this world to Him, if He would fall down and worship Satan. All these kingdoms were in and under Satan’s power, and he was able to give them away. Christ never corrected him on that claim, but Christ never fell for Satan’s offer and remained sinless (Matthew 4:8-10). Today, Satan and his demons are still ruling this earth, and they will continue to do so until Jesus Christ–the second Adam–returns to take over all rule. Those whom God has called out of this world must reject Satan’s offer–exactly as Christ did–so they can also qualify to rule under Christ at His return.

It does not seem to make a lot of sense, then, at first sight, as to why Satan would attempt for the second time to overthrow God and to become the supreme ruler of the universe, seeing that his first attempt failed so miserably. Still, the Bible says that he will try again (Revelation 12: 7-9).

What one has to bear in mind is that Satan does not think straight. We might want to consider some humans who keep making the same foolish mistakes and who do not seem to learn from the errors they make. Satan is unwilling and therefore incapable of learning from his mistakes. His mind has been corrupted beyond any hope of change. He does not want to repent and submit to the government of God; therefore, he cannot repent.

This is very similar to “the dog in the manger” syndrome. A vicious dog which does not, of course, eat the straw in the manger, will prevent other animals from eating it. We may have experienced or seen a similar phenomenon in an uncooperative and selfish child who has a toy and doesn’t want to share it with a friend. Rather than following our insistence to share it, he might rather want to destroy it, so the other child cannot play with it. Satan is of the same mindset. He would rather see humankind destroyed completely than turning over his rule to Jesus Christ and those who will rule with and under Him (Revelation 5:10; 20:4, 6).

It is also interesting to consider the behavior of some rats. If a strong animal chases rats into a corner and there is no escape route for them, they will actually turn on each other or on the animal which is chasing them.

The same can be said regarding Satan. Although it is clearly prophesied in Revelation 12 that his second attempt to overthrow God will fail, that fact doesn’t seem to register in his corrupted and twisted mind. Even though Satan knows the Bible, perhaps he does not believe the Bible, thinking he is more powerful than God and what God says, so he can try that second coup and still win. We could see a parallel in certain people today, who know what the Bible says but think they don’t need to obey God and can go about life in a different way.

It is also possible that Satan will launch his second coup because he just does not care. Even though he understands that the Bible predicts that he will lose, he is the destroyer and murderer, and his whole goal in life is to destroy and to kill and to bring pain and suffering to others. The Bible reveals that his demons behave that way too–on one occasion at the time of Christ, a demon tried to kill his human “host”–which would lead to his having to lose the body he possessed and looking in despair for another body–but he just did not care, as he was set on destroying his “host” (Mark 9:17-22). His urge to destroy was too powerful and could not allow him to make a “reasonable” decision–even for himself. There is also another example when Christ allowed demons whom He cast out of men to possess a herd of swine–with the result that the swine threw themselves over the cliff and were killed (Mark 5:11-13).

Satan, the prince of the rulers of darkness, cannot control his urge to destroy and fight God all the way–and so he is trying again to knock God off His throne–even though he knows that God’s Word says that he will fail–rather than wanting to voluntarily transfer to Christ and man his rule over this earth.

We know that the whole world will soon enter the terrible and unprecedented time of the Great Tribulation. That time is also referred to as “Satan’s wrath.” This world will come to the brink of total annihilation, which will be caused by Satan and his demons. If God would not intervene by sending Jesus Christ just at the right time, no flesh would be saved alive (Matthew 24:22). No human or animal flesh would survive. So we see the mindset of Satan exposed here: He would rather see all mankind perish than turn his office and position over to Christ at His return. His demons will participate in that last coup, as they know that their positions will be given to Christ’s disciples who have qualified in this life to rule in the coming Kingdom of God.

Satan and his demons hate God’s Church. They will persecute it in the future (compare Revelation 12:13). Satan is described as a roaring wild lion walking around to see whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). Being compared to a vicious animal–like a poisonous untamable snake–he cannot control himself. He and his demons will try, whenever they can, to destroy God’s people. Paul warns us not to be indifferent about this fact, and he tells us in Ephesians 6:11-12: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the RULERS of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

To summarize, Satan and his demons will attempt another coup against God because they know or at least consider the possibility that their reign of terror will end in the near future. Filled with wrath and a desire to destroy, and thinking perhaps that they still can avert the certainty of their fate and not having learned anything from their previous failed attempt, they will try again and be defeated once more.

Lead Writers: Rene Messier and Norbert Link

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and YouTube. It is titled, “America and Europe–Friends or Foes?” In the program, Norbert Link is pointing out that in spite of their “unified” presentation during a press conference in the White House on June 26, 2009, President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are “deeply divided” on critical key issues, such as the financial crisis and climate change. At the same time, the EU rendered the “most important decision of the year.” The EU and the USA are on a collision course–without any hope for substantial improvement.

A new German sermon was video-recorded this week and placed on the Web. It is titled, “Lasset Uns Menschen Machen…” (“Let Us Make Man…”) and is the second part in a series on the Nature of God and the Potential of Man. The first part is titled, “War und Ist Christus Gott?” (“Was and Is Christ God?”) and is posted on our German Website.

Norbert Link’s new video-recorded sermon, “Babylon the Great,” has been posted on the Web.

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