Children of the Devil

 

[Successive ice and snow storms kept us out of church for two weeks in a row, so this is the first since mid-January.  The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 8th of February, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Family, do you remember the phrase, “Who’s your daddy”?  It was popular slang years ago, heard in a lot of movies and TV shows, implying dominance of one person over another, like a daddy dominates his child.  Sometimes it was spoken more as a kindness, a promise to take care of the other person, like a daddy looks after his child.  Either way, it speaks of the relationship between a father and his children.

Jesus tells us that because of our belief, because of our faith, we are children of God, so if anyone ever posed that silly question to us, we could answer, “God’s our daddy”.  But then, isn’t it fair to ask, who is Satan the daddy of?

Stepping back to the days our Lord walked the earth, the Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus for Him to say if she should be stoned, as demanded by Moses in the Law.  We know the story… Jesus told them whoever had never sinned could throw the first stone.  And one by one the Pharisees turned and walked away.  Once He forgave the woman and told her to sin no more, the Pharisees accused Him of bearing witness of Himself and they claimed themselves to be children of Abraham, children of God.

Please listen and follow along to how Jesus responded, as recorded by the Apostle John in verses 37 through 47 of the 8th chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning – this starts out with Jesus speaking…

37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”

39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.”

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father — God.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 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. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

--John 8:37-47 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for adopting us as Your children.  And thank You for giving us the faith that makes that adoption possible.  Father, we are well aware that there are those who serve Satan.  We see evil all around, with the devil’s hands at work everywhere in this world.  He has turned the minds and hearts of so very many people who now do his bidding, whether they realize it or not.  This can happen even to good people, just as Saul didn’t realize he was doing the work of Satan as a Pharisee before Jesus showed him the truth.  It’s been said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to stand by and do nothing.  Please give us the courage to stand against evil, to resist temptation, and to not give in to the children of the devil.  Please forgive us, Father, when we falter and remain silent.  Strengthen us in the fight for goodness.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Nigel Wright, in his 1990 book, The Satan Syndrome, wrote:

“The devil is not impersonal like stones or bureaucracies; he is a non-person.  The Devil has become all that God is not; he is not beyond personality -- he is without it.  His purpose in creation is not to destroy God; he knows that he cannot do that.  He wants to draw us into the vortex of non-personhood that he has become, and the nothingness of non-being that he is becoming.  Satan, in short, aims to take as many of us with him as he can.”

Prominent English Puritan pastor and prolific author, Thomas Brooks, added:

“Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst;

he promises honor and pays with disgrace;

he promises pleasure and pays with pain;

he promises profit and pays with loss;

he promises life and pays with death.”

Pray for those who Satan calls his own.  And pray for those who are perilously close to falling under his spell.  His offers always look and sound so great, so interesting, so wonderful, but they always end just the opposite.

We were created in the image of God, not of Satan.  Righteousness looks good on us.  Evil looks horrible, it just doesn’t fit.  Sadly, it’s not always easily recognizable, for Satan is the great deceiver and very good at hiding the truth.  Our best defense is prayer and trusting in God.

Family, we see the effects of sin all around us in the world today.  We see Satan's children gleefully at work carrying out his mission.  It’s not like we haven’t been told the difference between what is right and what is wrong.  Way back when the Israelites first fled captivity in Egypt and were wandering in the wilderness, God, through Moses, clearly commanded them…

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

--Exodus 20:13-17 (NKJV)

This was so important for us to understand and remember that God made sure it was included twice in our scripture.  Moses recorded these words - five of the ten commandments - first in his Book of the Exodus, chapter 20, verses 13 through 17, and then again in the Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verses 17 through 21.

The Apostle Matthew recorded Jesus in the 5th chapter of his Gospel account, in verse 21 and the first part of verse 22, during our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount when Jesus warned…

21 “You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”

--Matthew 5:21-22a (NKJV)

This is a warning from Jesus that again carries God’s instruction of what is evil, and then adds clarity to it.  Murder is bad, and the murderer will stand in judgment for that act.  But Jesus says we run the risk of that same judgment if we get angry at someone for no good reason.

Now, I think that we humans can always come up with a “good” reason for getting mad at someone else, but would God consider our reason good and just?  We must be careful of anger, for it is a dangerous weapon, to ourselves and to others.

And then there’s the Apostle Paul, a man who surely knew about the personal perils of sin.  As the Pharisee Saul, he watched and held the cloaks of the men who stoned and martyred Stephen, agreeing to his execution.  He travelled far and wide under the authority of the chief priests and religious leaders, rounding up those early Christian converts and bringing them in for trial, often leading to more executions.  How ironic - murder in the name of God.

But then Jesus blinded Saul so He could open his eyes to the truth, and Paul became aware of and convicted of his sin.  Therefore he could write this to the church in Rome, from verses 1, 18, 25 & 26, and 28 through 32 of his Letter to the Romans…

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...

25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, greed, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

--Romans 1:18, 25, 26, 28-32 (NKJV)

This is perhaps the greatest warning for us to resist the devil’s attempts to sway us.  Paul says that the wrath of God has been shown against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

Think about how many times in our Bible we read of God exercising His righteous wrath against the evil acts of mankind.  There’s the exile from the garden, the great flood, the Tower of Babel, the destruction of Sodom, the drowning of Pharoah’s army, the walls of Jericho, 40 years in the wilderness and the serpents released there, the rending of the Temple veil, and so on and so on, all examples of how God reacts to evil.

So yes, we have ample proof and knowledge of what is good, and what is evil.  We see the children of the devil dancing as he plays the tune, spreading evil with every note, every step.  If only we were as dedicated to serving God and Jesus as they are in serving the devil.

The choice is ours.  We can remain the children of God, or we can start calling Satan our daddy.  Let’s serve God, spread goodness, and stand firm against evil.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God,  our Brother, our Savior, our Friend.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for revealing what is good in Your eyes and what is evil.  And thank You for leaving us so many examples of how You react to the evil deeds of mankind.  We know that Satan is the ultimate evil.  Since he can’t defeat You, He tries to pull us away from You, through deceit, through temptations, through lies.  His children run amok, doing his work, creating chaos, tearing down the names and good works of the righteous.  Father, please forgive those who knowingly and unknowingly do the devil’s bidding.  And forgive us when we allow ourselves to be led astray by the world’s ways and Satan’s charm.  Please strengthen us to stand in the face of evil and fight for righteousness.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You remind us of what is good and bad, and even give more clarity to God’s commands.  Most of all, You show us righteousness by how You lived Your own life while You walked among us.  Thank You, Jesus for teaching us how to live so that we’ll be seen as right in God’s eyes.  Thank You for showing us the way and the truth.  Please strengthen us and encourage us to take action in the fight against the devil.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.