2. Your Father the Devil

The Sons of the Devil

Neil Girrard
Scriptures Referenced in This Article:
          (Follow the Scripture links if you want to study the Scriptures for yourself.)
Gen. 2:16-17 π Gen. 3:4-5 π Gen. 3:15 π Isa. 14:12-14 π Mk. 7:21-23 π Jn. 1:1 π Jn. 3:19-21 π Jn. 5:39-40 π Jn. 8:43-44; 2nd π Jn. 8:44; 2nd; 3rd; 4th π Jn. 8:47; Jn. 8:47 π Rom. 8:5-7 π Rom. 16:17 π 1 Cor. 11:19 π 2 Cor. 4:4 π 1 Tim. 4:1 π Heb. 4:12 π Heb. 6:12 π Heb. 12:5-11 π 1 Jn. 1:5-7 π 1 Jn. 3:11-12 π 1 Jn. 3:15 π 1 Jn. 4:1-6 π 1 Jn. 4:6 π 1 Jn. 5:19 π Rev. 3:17-19

“Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” ( Jn. 8:43-44 , 47; top )

Not Able to Listen to My Word

“Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil...” ( Jn. 8:43-44; top )

One of the first attributes we find of someone who is truly a son of the devil is that they are unable to hear the word of God. They may diligently study the Bible, know the words in it quite intimately and even be able to quote and teach what the Bible says. But they are like the Pharisees of whom Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” ( Jn. 5:39-40; top ) The Pharisees, we should recall, were those who handed Christ, the One about whom all the Scriptures are written, over to the Roman governor and demanded His execution.

But what is the word of Christ? The writer of Hebrews says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” ( Heb. 4:12 ) Let us be careful to notice what it is not. The word of God is not a cold, hard fact. It is not the opposite of fiction. It is not a scientifically proven hypothesis. It is the living Person of Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” ( Jn. 1:1; top )

One of modern Christian religion’s greatest weaknesses is that men, through the processes of logic and reason, try to deduce from the Scriptures what the will of God might be. This is closely akin to asking a blind man to draw you a map or to describe a color but that does not stop many ?pastors? and leaders from concocting their eloquent sermons in just this manner. Thus, these tares among the wheat will teach doctrines they have conjured up in their own minds - sometimes with the assistance of demons ( 1 Tim. 4:1; top ) - and they will present them as “the word of God.” No, no, a thousand times no!

It is not merely a question of reaching a mistaken conclusion. To teach or believe a false doctrine means that the teacher has been listening to the wrong spirit - either they listened to their own soul, which may have endured years of listening to someone else teach that false notion, or they have actually listened to a demon, a lying spirit. In either case, they have clearly demonstrated that they are unable to hear, to listen to and obey, the Word, the Person of the living Christ. Modern religion’s dismissal of those who believe they hear God on a regular basis is only proof positive that modern religionists are the tares among the wheat. If you don’t, can’t or won’t hear the word of the Lord yourself - but instead you require the “pastor’s” sermons to be spiritually “fed” long past the time when you should have been feeding yourself and others too ( Heb. 6:12; top ) - then the word of the Lord says that you may be a son of the devil.

The Desires of Your Father

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” ( Jn. 8:44; top )

The person who is actually a son of the devil will desire to do whatever the devil desires. This will be manifested in two ways. First, he will seek to do whatever the devil desires him to do. John wrote, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” ( 1 Jn. 5:19; top ) A son of the devil will be susceptible to the machinations and enticements of Satan and will be a pliable tool, a relatively helpless puppet, in his hands.

And just what are the desires of Satan? God described Satan to Isaiah and said, “For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.? ( Isa. 14:12-14; top ) A son of the devil, a tare sown among the wheat, will do whatever Satan bids him to do to further the devil’s attempt to usurp the authority of God.

The second way a son of the devil, a tare among the wheat, will desire what his father wants is by imitation. He will display the same arrogance and rebelliousness that Satan displays toward God. He will seek to exalt his own seat of power and to build his own empire - in direct opposition or in the place of what God would do to establish His kingdom, a full-blown expression of the spirit of antichrist. Thus a “pastor,” operating in the role of CEO (Chief Executive Officer), will build up his own “church” empire, practicing division by indoctrinating his followers to his own or to his denomination’s notions and teachings, and surrounding himself with “yes men” who see nothing wrong with their CEO’s unScriptural behaviors. Then they call this “a work of God” and demand that anyone who attends must agree with the “pastor” or leave!

Anyone who is a tool in the hands of Satan for this or any kind of divisiveness and destruction or who imitates the arrogance and rebellious nature of Satan is simply a son of Satan, a tare among the wheat. Such a one is not to be given the honor of being received as a leader in the body of Christ.

A Murderer from the Beginning

“He was a murderer from the beginning...” ( Jn. 8:44; top )

The first murder recorded in the Bible is Cain’s murder of Abel, right? So, is this a reference to Satan operating in Cain in an attempt to snuff out the human lineage of Abel from which Satan thought would come the One who was to crush Satan’s head? (see Gen. 3:15; top ) Actually the first murder in the Bible is not Cain?s murder of Abel. And while it is indeed certain that Satan in some way prompted Abel’s murder, that is not what Jesus is referring to here.

Genesis records, “And the Lord God commanded man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” ( Gen. 2:16-17; top ) This was God’s command - and warning. There was a consequence associated with disobedience.

Later, Genesis records, “And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” ( Gen. 3:4-5; top ) Here the serpent comes to the woman and deceives her. He convinces her that she can disobey God and escape the consequences. In truth, Satan has just committed murder using the weapon of deception for in that day, Adam and Eve did surely die. And this is really why he is referred to as “a murderer from the beginning.”

However, we can also gain insight into other reasons why Satan is a murderer by examining Cain’s motives - Cain being the first human murderer. In the third passage that describes the sons of the devil which we will be examining, the apostle John wrote, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” ( 1 Jn. 3:11-12 ) John also wrote in that passage, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” ( 1 Jn. 3:15; top )

Jealousy which leads to hatred is another key sign of a son of the devil. May we not be so religious that we no longer see the simple truth of God’s word.

Does Not Stand in the Truth

“He...does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.” ( Jn. 8:44; top )

This seems so obvious that there seems no reason to comment on it - except perhaps to combat the rampant Biblical illiteracy which is in our society today. Following are a few passages which speak of light and truth. Comment seems unnecessary as the Scriptures speak so plainly. Let he who has ears, hear.

Hearing the Lord, walking in the light of truth, being cleansed from all sin - these are the requisite characteristics of the children of God. Not being able to hear God or His true servants, avoiding the glaring light shining from a holy God, and remaining trapped or comfortable in a lifestyle of sin - these are the requisite characteristics of the children of Satan. One is either a child of God or a child of the devil. One can have no other father than one of these two.

From His Own Resources

“When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” ( Jn. 8:44; top )

There is an important point to notice here: God did not create the devil with an evil nature. The evil that resides in the devil and that is loose in the world is something of the devil’s own manufacture. Only someone who has rebelled against and departed from the source of all goodness and of life itself could produce the evil that is rampant in the world today - God is neither its source or author. The sinful nature, that nature which insists on rebellious independence from God, is the “creation” of the devil. So when he rebels against God, he draws from his own resources.

This is true of the human as well. Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” ( Mk. 7:21-23; top )

And Paul wrote, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to God, nor indeed can be.” ( Rom. 8:5-7; top )

The human who draws upon the powers and strength of his soul and sinful nature is imitating the devil and practicing enmity against God. We must never again neglect to see that there is no middle ground in this war between God and Satan. The person who continues to live only to please his own soulish and/or sinful pleasures is a tare among the wheat who will be uprooted before the harvest at the end of the age.

Not of God

“He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”( Jn. 8:47; top )

We have no problem understanding that unbelievers are not able to hear God. But this statement goes much deeper than that. Modern “churches” are filled with people who haven’t a clue what God is saying to His people at this time - some of whom are even able to actually agree that the modern “church” system is a construct of the devil! They can reason and guess at some of the truths of Scripture - just as did the Pharisees who crucified Christ - but they have no ability to hear what God is saying to them now.

This is primarily (but not exclusively) because the “church” has excluded the prophets - those whom God primarily gifts with the ability to hear Him. The “churches,” and especially the “pastors” and leaders of these divisive sects we call “denominational churches,” are quick to denounce anyone who speaks like a prophet, that is, one who condemns the fleshly works of men building only their own “church” empires. They especially target anyone who actually receives the designation of prophet - no matter how many other people in the body of Christ have previously confirmed that person as a true prophet. As soon as a prophet speaks against their unScriptural practice, they will label him either a nut case or a false prophet and they point to their years of “church” service and leadership as a sure sign that they, and not this “self-proclaimed prophet,” this “loose cannon,” have God’s approval. These actions of the “pastors” and leaders is precisely the divisiveness Paul commands us to avoid. ( 1 Cor. 11:19 ; Rom. 16:17; top )

John wrote, “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” ( 1 Jn. 4:6; top ) This verse is an easy one to take out of context. Anyone with a built-in “us and them” mentality will read this and say, “us,” as if John the apostle, writing in the first century, intended to include 20th century readers in his usage of the word “us” - people whom he never met nor knew nor had any clue or idea what or how they, being from a vastly different culture, would think and do, nor that they would even exist. No, “us” is anyone who holds faithfully to the Person of Jesus Christ. Even holding to the teachings or practices of the New Testament is not enough. The “us” John the apostle has in mind is the apostles and prophets and the other disciples who held to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaimed Him.

Those who are “of God” will listen to those who are truly holding to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be a recognition of the Spirit resident within them and there will be a recognition of the truth they speak. Those who are not of God but who are of the devil - even if they are the most respectable and faithful “church” members or “church” leaders - are unable to hear either God or those who speak for the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. These sons of the devil are of a different spirit, the spirit of this age, the god of this world who blinds men’s minds to the truth. ( 2 Cor. 4:4; top )

Jesus spoke to the blindness of religiosity in His letter to the Laodiceans: “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked - I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” ( Rev. 3:17-19; top )

Being rebuked and having one’s soul disciplined by the Lord is the sign that we are truly God’s sons. ( Heb. 12:5-11; top ) Reliance on the strength and powers of the soul, characterized by a false and deceptive view of one’s self, is the sign of lukewarm, compromising religiosity. Religiosity is the primary characteristic of a tare sown among the wheat, one destined to be uprooted and burned.


The Sons of the Devil

Neil Girrard

1. The Wheat and the Tares
2. Your Father the Devil
3. Elymas the Sorcerer
4. The Children of the Devil
5. Sin - the Work of the Flesh
6. The Children of God



I’d love to hear comments and/or questions from you! Email me!

Site Panel π Home π MNQs π New Posts π Songs π Books π Series π Articles π PDFs
Scriptures π Greek Dictionary π Top 25 Scriptures π Top 50 Writings π Twisted Scriptures π Bible Bullets
Authors π Subjects π Titles π Links π Donations