EVIL:
INHERENT OR LEARNED BEHAVIOR?
by Pastor Max
Solbrekken,
D.D.
"For My people
have committed TWO EVILS; they have forsaken Me the fountain
of living water and have hewn themselves out cisterns,
broken cisterns that can hold no water." (Jer.
2:8-13)
EVIL -
INHERENT OR LEARNED BEHAVIOR
Several years ago - on
Canada Day - I was a guest on RADIO CJCA's Ron Collister
Show. For many years I had joined that popular host and his
listeners in lively debate, on interesting and relevant
topics.
Our July 1st program
featured the very important subject, 'Is EVIL inherent or is
it a product of environment? Is a person born with the
propensity to do evil or is it a learned behavior?'
And Ron asked each caller
the same question he asked me: "Which of these - GOOD
or EVIL - is winning in our world today"?
Most of the callers seemed
to think that the scourge of evil was dominating our society
and winning big! The callers felt that evil was ruling this
world.
My answer mirrored the
words of Jesus when He referred to the increase of evil as a
sign of the last days: "Because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold". (Matt. 24:12)
"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the
days of the Son of man... Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot...even thus shall it be when the Son of man is
revealed." (Luke 17:26-30)
HOW EVIL WERE CONDITIONS ON
EARTH, BEFORE GOD SENT THE FLOOD AND WIPED OUT SODOM &
GOMORRAH WITH FIRE & BRIMSTONE?
The conditions on earth
were very evil, very corrupt, perverted and violent in the
days of Sodom & Gomorrah - a lot like today! Here's the
Bible record of the EVIL that existed during those two time
periods.
"And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of his heart was only EVIL continually.
"And it repented the
Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him
in his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man..."
(Gen. 6:5-7)
Again, Moses reports:
"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth
was filled with VIOLENCE". (Gen. 6:11)
WHAT ABOUT
SODOM & GOMORRAH?
So IMMORAL, EVIL and
VIOLENT were the men of Sodom that when two angels visited
Lot - to evacuate him and his family before the destruction
began - they demanded that Lot bring out the two strangers
so they might sodomize them!
"But before they lay
down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed
the house round, both old and young, all the people from
every quarter:
"And they called unto
Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came into
thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know
(have sex) them." (Gen.
19:4-5)
When Lot refused, the
large crowd of homosexuals tried to break down his door, TO
COMMIT GANG RAPE! They told Lot to get out of the way,
warning him: "Now we will deal worse with thee than
with them". (verse 9)
Please notice...the
homosexuals in Sodom were violent, evil and brutal!
They threatened Lot with violence and punishment if he
refused to turn over these two young strangers to satisfy
their abnormal, EVIL and perverted lust!
The angels forcibly
rescued Lot and smote the attackers with blindness, in order
to prevent them from tearing down the door!
Wow! That's strong, and
hits close to home...when you consider what's presently
happening in many unhealthy, suicide plagued, AIDS infested
and fear charged homosexual communities around the world!
The violence and evil is all over this earth, this world,
and we are in days as EVIL as the time of Sodom &
Gomorrah.
St. Paul warns that Evil
will escalate as we near the last days, the end of this age:
"This know also, that in the last days PERILOUS
TIMES SHALL COME. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
"Without natural
affection, truce breakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God.
"But evil men
and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and
being deceived." (2 Tim. 3:1-4, 13)
Again, he admonished:
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and DOCTRINES OF DEVILS;
"Speaking lies in
hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot
iron." (1 Tim. 4:1-2)
When you consider the
recent EVIL, brutal and horror filled deaths of eight
foreigners in Uganda’s National Park by Rwandan rebels,
it’s not hard to believe that they were unconscionable!
A study of the horrible
raping and killing of dozens of young women by pornography
sadist Ted Bundy, and the serial killings of dozens of young
homosexual men - whom he first sodomized - by pervert killer
John Wayne Gacy proves that consciences can become seared.
The killing of little
children by their mothers like Jones of Alabama, and
recently the three small children killed by their mother, as
well as the killing of parents by children like the Menendez
case when the two Menendez brothers brutally murdered their
mom and dad for their wealth is ample evidence of the evil
that reigns in the heart of lost and depraved humanity!
No wonder the prophet
declared: “The heart is deceitful above all things &
desparality wicked: Who can know it?”
IN THE END, RIGHTEOUSNESS
SHALL TRIUMPH BECAUSE JESUS SHALL RETURN AS KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS!
I answered Ron Collister:
"Yes, it appears that evil is gaining ground and at
present, may have the ascendancy but in the end,
RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL TRIUMPH. One day, Jesus Christ will
return and put away EVIL for good".
I interjected that there
is however, some good news, a great revival of righteousness
is presently occurring in our world!
Since the break-up of the
Soviet Union, a revival of Christianity is sweeping Eastern
Europe. Recent estimates put the figure at 6,000 conversions
to Jesus Christ every day!
Although gangsters, evil
and crime is rampant in those countries, yet a mighty
statement of righteousness and goodness is being made
through the successful endeavors of God's people!
I might add, that in our
recent crusade (1992) in Truskavets, Ukraine - a health
resort city which boasts many sanitariums and draws people
from across Eastern Europe - Mikhael Gorbachev's sister -
Galina Sergiovana - answered a salvation altar call to
confess Jesus Christ as her Saviour!
Evangelical Christianity
is so strong in South Korea, the Church is growing faster
than the population in that former Buddhist stronghold!
And in 1986, Newsweek carried
a story titled,
‘LATIN AMERICA: TRADITIONALLY ROMAN
CATHOLIC RED IS TURNING PROTESTANT BLACK’.
The large feature article
reported that the gospel of Christ as preached by
Evangelical Christians were gaining converts at 400 per
hour. That’s 9,600 every 24 hours! The ‘red’ spoke of
the scarlet colors used by Roman Catholic prelates and the
‘black’ referred to the Bible carried to church by
Protestants!
CHRISTIANS TORTURED:
DYING FOR
THEIR FAITH!
Believers in Jesus Christ
are being tortured in a number of Muslim dominated
countries, and forced to convert to paganism under threat of
death and starvation!
A classic case is Sudan,
where fanatical Muslims have since 1989 murdered more than a
million black Christians in an unparalleled
"religious cleansing".
They are being given the
ultimatum, "Convert to Islam, or die". From
numerous authenticated reports, we understand that this
present genocide is much greater than that of the demonized
Muslim strongman, Idi Amin, who terrorized Uganda in
the not too distant past. And who is presently being granted
protection by Saudi Arabia.
Several years ago, ‘Newsweek’
carried a report by one of their journalists who had
proof that the Muslims of the north were selling black
animist & Christian women as slaves for $15 US.
Recently, Rev. Cal Bombay,
long time TV broadcaster with 100 Huntley Street together
with a TV camera crew traveled to Sudan, met the Muslims and
documented the purchase of 319 black Christian & animist
women and girls, into freedom!
After his initial success,
Bombay undertook a second dangerous and costly journey to
purchase the freedom of hundreds more slaves from their
Muslim captors!
The ‘Canadian
Press’ quotes Bombay: “I want the world to know
what a rotten thing is happening in the south of Sudan, by a
rogue government that is fundamentally violent and trying to
force people to become Islamic”!
The inhumane, EVIL
treatment of Christians in Muslim dominated lands today, has
to go down in history as comparable to Adolf Hitler's
holocaust of 6 million Jews, Joseph Stalin's murder of 7
million Ukrainians by starvation in 1933 and Mao tse Tung's
genocide of between 40 to 80 million Chinese!
According to Dr. David
Barrett, an Anglican minister & statistician - who has
been tracking this phenomenon for more than a decade - an
estimated 330,000 Christians are martyred every year,
somewhere in the world - for their faith in Jesus Christ!
That is what I call real EVIL!
Oral Roberts said a
number of years ago: "I don't know how we're doing it,
but somehow we are winning". And Billy Graham
stated, "I've read the last chapter in the book
and it says: 'We win'!"
EVIL -
EXACTLY WHAT IS EVIL?
Daniel Webster
defines 'evil' as "morally wrong, immoral,
sinful, wicked, causing injury, mischief, trouble, pain,
bad, harmful, repulsive".
And his definition of 'inherent'
is: "forming an essential or intrinsic element of;
existing inseparably within an object or person".
I s the human race cursed
with two strikes against it at birth? Could there be a
genetic defect in those who rise to infamy such as Attila
the Hun, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussein,
Jeffry Dahmer or John Gacy?
Or has this evil come to
us because of the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve,
as the Bible states?
WHAT ABOUT ENVIRONMENT:
home, church, school, friendships, fraternities? What part
does upbringing, training, nurturing, learning and
companionship play in a person's character?
In more than 35 years of
very active Christian Ministry, I have formulated a definite
opinion that - without doubt - EVIL is both inherent and
learned!
The Bible states, "The
wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they are born, speaking lies". (Ps. 58:3) And, "The
scripture hath concluded all under sin". (Gal.
3:22)
You don't need to teach
infants how to lie. We've all seen them do that even before
they can talk. Holding a cookie behind his back, little
Billy will shake his head saying, "No, I didn't raid
the cookie jar".
St. Paul blames Adam for
our fallen condition: "Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned".
(Rom. 5:12)
Then, he gives us the
antidote or remedy against EVIL. "For as by one
man's (Adam) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of One (Jesus Christ) shall many be made
righteous". (v. 19)
Again, the Bible says,
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God; Being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus". (Rom. 3:23-24)
Here, we find the dilemma
of the human race. We were born with a nature that is at
enmity with God. We are sinners by birth, by
nature and unfortunately, sinners also by choice!
But God, sending His Son
to die for our sins - as our substitute - paid the ransom
price to purchase our salvation. Through His grace, we
receive a new nature and are born again from above!
Here is the good news,
then: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". (Rom.
6:23)
In the letter to the
Romans, St. Paul agonizes over the fact that: "For I know that in me (that is in my
flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is
present with me; but how to perform that which is good I
find not, for the good that I would I do not: but the
evil which I would not that I do.
"O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?" THEN HE GIVES US THE KEY: "For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the
law of sin and death". (Rom. 7:18, 19, 24; 8:2)
EVIL IS ALSO A LEARNED
BEHAVIOR!
The Bible verifies this as
well: "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt
good manners". (1 Cor. 15:33)
Here are a couple of true
sayings: "Birds of a feather flock together", and
"Show me who your friends are and I'll show you who you
are".
It's a known fact that
most child abusers were themselves abused as children. And
the majority of perverts were themselves corrupted by older
relatives, friends or authority figures!
Sad to say, the fourth
case involving molestation of young boys in the Edmonton
area - within the last number of years - was reported among
the Uncles-at-Large membership!
Homosexual perverts know
how to infiltrate places of respectability, influence and
position of authority among the most vulnerable to their
advances, namely teenage boys!
Proof of this has been
documented and reported far too often in the past few years,
about young Canadian hockey players sexually manipulated,
intimidated and perverted by coaches and others working
around hockey arenas!
Our hats go off to NHL
hockey player Sheldon Kennedy - who fingered well-known
hockey coach, the homosexual predator, who is now serving
time in prison for his EVIL sexual crimes!
It is no wonder the
sodomist community around the world rejoiced in jubilation
when OUR GUTLESS CANADIAN GOVERNMENT, against all decency -
lowered the legal age of homosexual activity to 14,
something which the perverts who have been lusting after
young boys have desired for years!
COMMUNISM - EVIL OF EVILS!
US President Ronald Reagan
called the former Soviet Empire an "evil empire"
and he was right! Now we know the enormity of the crimes of
that wicked system, with Eastern Europe bankrupt
economically and the ecology so terribly polluted that it
will take billions of dollars and decades of hard work to
bring things back to normal there!
The Bible says that God
will destroy those who destroy the earth! (Rev. 11:18) The
callous attitude of Soviet Communists toward human life and
the ecology has brought God's judgment upon them.
God’s Word warns about
those who, "call evil good and good evil".
(Is. 5:20) Prophet Amos exhorted, "Seek good and
hate evil". (5:14-15) And Moses warned: "Thou
shalt not follow a multitude to do EVIL". (Ex.
23:2)
LORD'S PRAYER: DELIVER US
FROM EVIL!
Jesus knew that we would
be targeted by the “enemies of righteousness”, who seek
our destruction. Being in “all points tempted” like
ourselves. He knew that we would be tempted, tried and
buffeted by the flesh, the world and the devil!
He gave us ‘His Model
Prayer’; so that we would know how to pray and what to
pray about, in order to receive strength from Almighty God!
Our Lord declared: "Even so every
good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit."
"Wherefore by their
fruits ye shall know them."
(Matt. 7:17-20)
Again Jesus stated:
"For out of the heart proceed EVIL thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies:" (Matt. 15:19)
The tragic killing of
two-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool, England a
number of years ago by two ten-year-old boys certainly tells
us something about EVIL!
How the two boys could
have conceived in their hearts to trick a little toddler -
who had walked away from his mother in a shopping mall -
into accompanying them to his death is inconceivable!
Except for one thing...
THERE IS A REAL DEVIL AND
HE CAME ONLY TO "STEAL, KILL AND DESTROY", AND
HE'S TO BLAME! AND SO ARE PARENTS WHO REFUSE TO SERVE GOD
THEMSELVES AND HAVE NO REGARD FOR THEIR CHILDREN'S SPIRITUAL
UPBRINGING!
And now, the golden text
of the Bible: "For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life". (John
3:16)
Jesus said: "And this
is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because THEIR DEEDS
WERE EVIL". (v. 19)
He invites us all:
"Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest". (Matt. 11:28)
WE CAN NEVER BECOME GOOD
ENOUGH, IN OUR OWN STRENGTH, TO PLEASE GOD OR BECOME
RIGHTEOUS. ONLY THROUGH THE ALL-ATONING DEATH OF JESUS
CHRIST ON THE CROSS FOR US, CAN WE ATTAIN RIGHTEOUSNESS OR
GOODNESS!
The Bible says, "The
blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all
sin"! (1 John 1:7)
And St. Paul states:
"If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature;
old things are passed away, behold all things are become
new". (2 Cor. 5:17)
“For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.” (Eph. 2:8-10)
"For
unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given...of the
increase of His government and peace there shall be no
end....with justice from henceforth even for ever." (Isaiah
9:6)
God is
eternal and infinite. He does not think with a finite
mind as we do! His thoughts and actions reflect His
omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence and eternalness!
God's
plans and purposes for this universe and all of us, were
formulated in His mind before He created the foundations of
the world. He
cannot make a mistake, lie or be wrong in His intentions of
deeds, for He is totally righteous, all knowing and all
wise!
EVERYTHING
GOD DOES IS FOR ETERNITY!
He
knows the future and sees the pitfalls and snares that await
our stumbling feet. And He helps us, protects us from
the devil, the world and ourselves! In these the last days,
the last days before Christ returns in the blessed Rapture,
God is protecting his children from evil.
WHY
ARE WE SO IMPORTANT TO GOD?
Firstly, we were made
in His image. Secondly, Jesus personally died for our
sins and finally, through the new birth, we are a part of
Him - his body!
The
words, "there shall be no end" and "for
ever", show the eternal purposes of God in the birth of
Christ. THE INCARNATION WAS SERIOUS STUFF!
The moment, of God
the Son - wrapping Himself in human flesh - coming down to
save us, was deliberately and perfectly timed and executed!
"But
when the fullness of time was come, God sent His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons." (Gal. 4:4-5)
This
wasn't an after thought or a fill-in. The decision to
send King Messiah to this earth, was communicated to Satan -
the adversary - immediately after Adam and Eve's tragic
fall.
"And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou
shall bruise His heel." (Gen. 3:15)
Here,
God promises a "virgin born" savior (her seed),
Who would conquer Satan through His substitutionary death.
In the process, the Savior would suffer a minor wound
(bruise His heel), and Satan would be totally defeated (bruise
his head)!
Although
Jesus suffered more than any man, was wounded and marred for
our total salvation, it was minor because He laid down His
life of His own free will. (John 10:15-18) Satan
could not take it from Him! And He arose again on the
third day, destroying Satan and his power over us!
"Forasmuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He
also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil;" (Heb. 2:14)
FROM
THE INCARNATION TO THE RESURRECTION, AND THROUGHOUT THE
'GOSPEL AGE', GOD HAS CONTINUED THE EXECUTION OF HIS ETERNAL
WILL, THROUGH HIS CHURCH, THE CALLED-OUT-ONES!
This
is why it is so important that we live with "eternity
in mind". All our plans and goals should
reflect this mind-set, in our relationships to God, the
Church - His body - and the world! We need to prepare, in
these last days, for eternity, for Christ's return and to
spend eternity in heaven with God.
Let us
study the Word, pray, witness and give joyfully, to help
build His eternal Kingdom!
Jesus
said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
Kingdom of God. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye
must be born again." (John 3:3,7)
The
Bible makes it clear that, "He who hath the Son hath
everlasting life: and he who believeth not the Son shall not
see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John
3:36)
That
means that all those who do not personally know Jesus
Christ, must receive Him as Savior and Lord in order to be
saved!
A
REAL HEAVEN & A REAL HELL
St.
John emphasized: "If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness
of God which He hath testified of His Son. He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself:
he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he
believeth not the record that God gave His Son. And
this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,
and this life is in His son. He that hath the Son hath
life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son
of God." (I John 5:9-13)
HERE
IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH - All who reject Jesus Christ and
refuse to receive Him as Lord & Savior are calling
Almighty God a LIAR, "because he believeth not the
record that God gave of His Son." (verse 10)
Do you
think for one moment that anyone will escape the judgment of
God when they reject Jesus Christ - His gift to the world -
and call Him a liar?
That's
serious stuff, since He is the judge of the entire world!
How do you think an earthly judge would react if someone in
his courtroom called him "a liar"? He would
immediately be guilty of 'contempt of court' of worse!
St.
Paul puts it all in perspective when he says, "For if
the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard
him." (Heb. 2:2-3)
In the
Apocalypse, St. John warns: "And the DEVIL that
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the BEAST and the FALSE PROPHET are, and SHALL BE
TORMENTED DAY AND NIGHT FOR EVER AND EVER. And I saw a
great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from Whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no
place for them."
"And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the
book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their
works."
"And
the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and
hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works. And death
and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev.
20:10-15)
HERE
IS THE GOOD NEWS! Jesus invites, "Come
unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
"For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." (John 3:16)
MAY
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE LOVE OF GOD THE
FATHER AND THE FELLOWSHIP AND COMMUNION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
BE WITH US ALL, BOTH NOW AND FOREVERMORE.
last
days, l
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