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00:00:02 The Scriptures do not say specifically 00:00:06 that the Devil fathered any of the Nephilim. 00:00:10 But Jesus’ words at John 8:44 reveal the fact 00:00:14 that the Devil does indeed have children, 00:00:17 figuratively speaking. 00:00:20 He can’t create humans, 00:00:22 but he can influence people 00:00:25 to reflect his characteristics. 00:00:28 And that is what makes them his children. 00:00:33 Turn with me to John 8:44. 00:00:36 We’ll read the entire text of Jesus’ words. 00:00:41 Knowing that the religious leaders were out to kill him, 00:00:46 Jesus’ words point out who their father is. 00:00:50 At John 8:44, Jesus said: 00:00:54 “You are from your father the Devil, 00:00:58 “and you wish to do the desires of your father. 00:01:02 “That one was a murderer when he began, 00:01:05 “and he did not stand fast in the truth, 00:01:08 “because truth is not in him. 00:01:12 “When he speaks the lie, 00:01:14 “he speaks according to his own disposition, 00:01:18 because he is a liar and the father of the lie.” 00:01:23 So according to the text, at one time he was in the truth. 00:01:28 But he had free will, 00:01:30 and he toyed with wrong thinking 00:01:33 to such a degree that it eroded anything that was good, 00:01:36 and nothing good was left within him. 00:01:39 And he made himself into “the father of the lie” 00:01:43 —Satan the Devil. 00:01:46 Now, if we add Jesus’ words 00:01:48 with what John wrote at 1 John 3:10, 00:01:53 we can identify specific characteristics 00:01:57 of “the children of the Devil” 00:01:59 and “the children of [Jehovah] God.” 00:02:03 Let’s read that together at 1 John 3:10. 00:02:08 It states: “The children of God 00:02:11 “and the children of the Devil 00:02:13 “are evident by this fact: 00:02:17 “Whoever does not practice righteousness 00:02:20 “does not originate with God, 00:02:24 nor does the one who does not love his brother.” 00:02:29 We must “practice righteousness,” but it’s not self-righteousness. 00:02:34 We don’t establish what is righteous for ourselves. 00:02:37 It’s Jehovah’s righteousness. 00:02:39 Isn’t that what Jesus said at Matthew 6:33: 00:02:41 ‘Keep on seeking the Kingdom and his righteousness’? 00:02:45 The standards that Jehovah God has set for us 00:02:49 —that is what righteousness is. 00:02:51 And one of the points about being righteous and serving God 00:02:56 is that we are “no part of the world.” 00:02:59 And what’s interesting about that idea 00:03:01 is that there are many people in the world who think they are righteous. 00:03:05 They set their own standards. 00:03:08 There are people who believe they’re practicing righteousness 00:03:11 as they set about to bring about social justice 00:03:16 or remove injustices 00:03:18 in the political, the commercial, the economics of this world. 00:03:23 They want to see justice for all. 00:03:25 No more racial inequality 00:03:27 and so many other items they follow through on 00:03:30 to remove them from this world scene today. 00:03:34 And they feel that they truly are being righteous. 00:03:40 When it appears, though, that one injustice is removed, 00:03:45 and it only appears that way in many cases, 00:03:48 isn’t there always another one that comes up? 00:03:50 Aren’t there a multitude of injustices in this world? 00:03:55 It makes me think about a longtime faithful servant of Jehovah 00:03:58 who was approached by a group of men 00:04:01 who criticized Jehovah’s Witnesses because we don’t get involved 00:04:05 in working against the social injustices of this world. 00:04:11 Our brother, who was known for being straightforward and outspoken, 00:04:16 said that what these men were doing 00:04:19 in their fight against injustices in the world 00:04:22 was battling against spiderwebs. 00:04:26 Injustices were like spiderwebs, and they would fight and battle, 00:04:31 and they would demonstrate to bring down a spiderweb. 00:04:34 But another spiderweb was being woven, being spun, 00:04:39 or maybe the same one in many cases just came up again. 00:04:44 And it just continues on and on that way. 00:04:47 And then he looked at the men, and he said: 00:04:48 “But we are going to get 00:04:52 “the spider, Satan the Devil. 00:04:54 “You’re after the webs, what he produces. 00:04:57 “You’ve got to go to the source and see that the spider is eliminated. 00:05:01 “And it’s Jesus Christ who is going to abyss Satan the Devil, 00:05:06 “the spider who’s spinning all of these things to distract people 00:05:11 “from the real issue about God’s Kingdom 00:05:14 “and serving Jehovah wholeheartedly. 00:05:17 “That spider will be thrown into the abyss. 00:05:21 No more spiderwebs.” 00:05:24 Truly, the Devil’s lie to Eve 00:05:26 about becoming like God, knowing good and evil, 00:05:30 has had far-reaching consequences 00:05:32 that affect people more than ever right down to this day. 00:05:36 We see it —the world’s attitude. 00:05:40 They’re independent. 00:05:41 ‘You don’t need God. 00:05:42 ‘We don’t need to be guided by Scriptural principles—what the Bible says. 00:05:46 ‘You decide for yourself how you want to live. 00:05:49 ‘There are no moral standards. 00:05:51 You fix your own standards.’ 00:05:53 Isn’t that precisely what Satan told Eve? 00:05:56 ‘You can be like God. 00:05:57 ‘You decide what’s good, what’s bad, 00:05:59 and what’s right for you and not right.’ 00:06:02 And they feel so sophisticated and so wise. 00:06:06 ‘We can fix our problems.’ 00:06:08 Oh, really? 00:06:09 We look at the world scene today. 00:06:11 Are they really fixing the problems? 00:06:13 What do we really see happening? 00:06:16 It’s out of control. 00:06:17 The entire world scene is out of control. 00:06:22 The world in its wisdom prefers the lie. 00:06:27 Even though they don’t recognize the liar, 00:06:30 they still prefer the lie 00:06:33 instead of recognizing their need for Jehovah God. 00:06:37 And the outcome for the world 00:06:39 is stated for us at Jeremiah 8:9: 00:06:43 “The wise have been put to shame. 00:06:45 “They have become terrified and [they] will be caught. 00:06:48 “Look! They have rejected the word of Jehovah, 00:06:52 and what wisdom do they have?” 00:06:55 But, you know, you might ask the question: 00:06:58 ‘Why? 00:06:59 ‘Why are people so determined to go their own way? 00:07:03 What’s wrong with their thinking?’ 00:07:06 There are various reasons, but there is one that truly stands out. 00:07:10 And the apostle Paul spoke about it 00:07:12 at 2 Thessalonians 2:10. 00:07:15 And this is what Paul said in part. 00:07:18 He tells us that people will perish 00:07:21 “because they did not accept 00:07:24 “the love of the truth 00:07:27 in order that they might be saved.” 00:07:29 Yes, “the love of the truth.” 00:07:32 People really don’t love truth. 00:07:34 They want to make up their own truths, which are lies. 00:07:37 They’re not truths. 00:07:39 We must accept the love of the truth. 00:07:42 And it’s really quite wonderful that Jehovah has made the truth in such a way 00:07:46 that it appeals to our heart 00:07:49 as well as to our head. 00:07:51 Think about the time when Jesus taught the truth 00:07:54 to his disciples who were walking on their way to Emmaus. 00:07:57 Remember how they responded? 00:07:59 It’s at Luke 24:32. 00:08:03 They said: “Were not our hearts burning 00:08:06 “. . . as he was speaking to us on the road, 00:08:09 as he was fully opening up the Scriptures to us.” 00:08:12 And I found a very interesting comment 00:08:16 in The Watchtower on this verse. 00:08:19 It’s The Watchtower of 1962, April 15, page 227. 00:08:24 This is what it said: 00:08:26 “Only when we have real love for the truth 00:08:30 will we go through the experience of burning hearts.” 00:08:35 Isn’t that fascinating? 00:08:38 Think about when your heart has burned 00:08:42 —when you’ve observed a drama, 00:08:44 when you’ve heard an encouraging talk, 00:08:48 when you sang a wonderful Kingdom song. 00:08:53 Think about the Hezekiah drama. 00:08:56 When we saw the angel spread his wings 00:09:00 while facing the Assyrian troops 00:09:03 and then devastation came, 00:09:05 didn’t your heart burn? 00:09:08 Or we think about when armed troops 00:09:10 were stealthily advancing on our brothers in an open field, 00:09:14 and then in the opened-up heavens 00:09:16 we see Jesus on a white horse with bow in hand 00:09:19 ready to take vengeance on those who hate Jehovah. 00:09:23 That’s a reality foretold in Scripture. 00:09:27 That fires the heart. 00:09:29 And there are other things that fire our heart 00:09:32 —when we hear beautiful songs that are meaningful, 00:09:35 such as “Never Alone” 00:09:38 and “Give Me Courage” 00:09:41 and many others. 00:09:43 The heart that loves Jehovah does indeed burn. 00:09:47 And this is not just emotion. 00:09:50 Our thinking ability and our emotions work together 00:09:53 and motivate us to know and to feel 00:09:56 the power of the truth. 00:09:58 As The Watchtower I quoted from declares: 00:10:02 ‘Our life depends on whether we have love for the truth.’ 00:10:07 So love Jehovah. 00:10:08 Love our neighbor. 00:10:10 And, yes, we must love the truth.
00:00:02 The Scriptures do not say specifically 00:00:06 that the Devil fathered any of the Nephilim. 00:00:10 But Jesus’ words at John 8:44 reveal the fact 00:00:14 that the Devil does indeed have children, 00:00:17 figuratively speaking. 00:00:20 He can’t create humans, 00:00:22 but he can influence people 00:00:25 to reflect his characteristics. 00:00:28 And that is what makes them his children. 00:00:33 Turn with me to John 8:44. 00:00:36 We’ll read the entire text of Jesus’ words. 00:00:41 Knowing that the religious leaders were out to kill him, 00:00:46 Jesus’ words point out who their father is. 00:00:50 At John 8:44, Jesus said: 00:00:54 “You are from your father the Devil, 00:00:58 “and you wish to do the desires of your father. 00:01:02 “That one was a murderer when he began, 00:01:05 “and he did not stand fast in the truth, 00:01:08 “because truth is not in him. 00:01:12 “When he speaks the lie, 00:01:14 “he speaks according to his own disposition, 00:01:18 because he is a liar and the father of the lie.” 00:01:23 So according to the text, at one time he was in the truth. 00:01:28 But he had free will, 00:01:30 and he toyed with wrong thinking 00:01:33 to such a degree that it eroded anything that was good, 00:01:36 and nothing good was left within him. 00:01:39 And he made himself into “the father of the lie” 00:01:43 —Satan the Devil. 00:01:46 Now, if we add Jesus’ words 00:01:48 with what John wrote at 1 John 3:10, 00:01:53 we can identify specific characteristics 00:01:57 of “the children of the Devil” 00:01:59 and “the children of [Jehovah] God.” 00:02:03 Let’s read that together at 1 John 3:10. 00:02:08 It states: “The children of God 00:02:11 “and the children of the Devil 00:02:13 “are evident by this fact: 00:02:17 “Whoever does not practice righteousness 00:02:20 “does not originate with God, 00:02:24 nor does the one who does not love his brother.” 00:02:29 We must “practice righteousness,” but it’s not self-righteousness. 00:02:34 We don’t establish what is righteous for ourselves. 00:02:37 It’s Jehovah’s righteousness. 00:02:39 Isn’t that what Jesus said at Matthew 6:33: 00:02:41 ‘Keep on seeking the Kingdom and his righteousness’? 00:02:45 The standards that Jehovah God has set for us 00:02:49 —that is what righteousness is. 00:02:51 And one of the points about being righteous and serving God 00:02:56 is that we are “no part of the world.” 00:02:59 And what’s interesting about that idea 00:03:01 is that there are many people in the world who think they are righteous. 00:03:05 They set their own standards. 00:03:08 There are people who believe they’re practicing righteousness 00:03:11 as they set about to bring about social justice 00:03:16 or remove injustices 00:03:18 in the political, the commercial, the economics of this world. 00:03:23 They want to see justice for all. 00:03:25 No more racial inequality 00:03:27 and so many other items they follow through on 00:03:30 to remove them from this world scene today. 00:03:34 And they feel that they truly are being righteous. 00:03:40 When it appears, though, that one injustice is removed, 00:03:45 and it only appears that way in many cases, 00:03:48 isn’t there always another one that comes up? 00:03:50 Aren’t there a multitude of injustices in this world? 00:03:55 It makes me think about a longtime faithful servant of Jehovah 00:03:58 who was approached by a group of men 00:04:01 who criticized Jehovah’s Witnesses because we don’t get involved 00:04:05 in working against the social injustices of this world. 00:04:11 Our brother, who was known for being straightforward and outspoken, 00:04:16 said that what these men were doing 00:04:19 in their fight against injustices in the world 00:04:22 was battling against spiderwebs. 00:04:26 Injustices were like spiderwebs, and they would fight and battle, 00:04:31 and they would demonstrate to bring down a spiderweb. 00:04:34 But another spiderweb was being woven, being spun, 00:04:39 or maybe the same one in many cases just came up again. 00:04:44 And it just continues on and on that way. 00:04:47 And then he looked at the men, and he said: 00:04:48 “But we are going to get 00:04:52 “the spider, Satan the Devil. 00:04:54 “You’re after the webs, what he produces. 00:04:57 “You’ve got to go to the source and see that the spider is eliminated. 00:05:01 “And it’s Jesus Christ who is going to abyss Satan the Devil, 00:05:06 “the spider who’s spinning all of these things to distract people 00:05:11 “from the real issue about God’s Kingdom 00:05:14 “and serving Jehovah wholeheartedly. 00:05:17 “That spider will be thrown into the abyss. 00:05:21 No more spiderwebs.” 00:05:24 Truly, the Devil’s lie to Eve 00:05:26 about becoming like God, knowing good and evil, 00:05:30 has had far-reaching consequences 00:05:32 that affect people more than ever right down to this day. 00:05:36 We see it —the world’s attitude. 00:05:40 They’re independent. 00:05:41 ‘You don’t need God. 00:05:42 ‘We don’t need to be guided by Scriptural principles—what the Bible says. 00:05:46 ‘You decide for yourself how you want to live. 00:05:49 ‘There are no moral standards. 00:05:51 You fix your own standards.’ 00:05:53 Isn’t that precisely what Satan told Eve? 00:05:56 ‘You can be like God. 00:05:57 ‘You decide what’s good, what’s bad, 00:05:59 and what’s right for you and not right.’ 00:06:02 And they feel so sophisticated and so wise. 00:06:06 ‘We can fix our problems.’ 00:06:08 Oh, really? 00:06:09 We look at the world scene today. 00:06:11 Are they really fixing the problems? 00:06:13 What do we really see happening? 00:06:16 It’s out of control. 00:06:17 The entire world scene is out of control. 00:06:22 The world in its wisdom prefers the lie. 00:06:27 Even though they don’t recognize the liar, 00:06:30 they still prefer the lie 00:06:33 instead of recognizing their need for Jehovah God. 00:06:37 And the outcome for the world 00:06:39 is stated for us at Jeremiah 8:9: 00:06:43 “The wise have been put to shame. 00:06:45 “They have become terrified and [they] will be caught. 00:06:48 “Look! They have rejected the word of Jehovah, 00:06:52 and what wisdom do they have?” 00:06:55 But, you know, you might ask the question: 00:06:58 ‘Why? 00:06:59 ‘Why are people so determined to go their own way? 00:07:03 What’s wrong with their thinking?’ 00:07:06 There are various reasons, but there is one that truly stands out. 00:07:10 And the apostle Paul spoke about it 00:07:12 at 2 Thessalonians 2:10. 00:07:15 And this is what Paul said in part. 00:07:18 He tells us that people will perish 00:07:21 “because they did not accept 00:07:24 “the love of the truth 00:07:27 in order that they might be saved.” 00:07:29 Yes, “the love of the truth.” 00:07:32 People really don’t love truth. 00:07:34 They want to make up their own truths, which are lies. 00:07:37 They’re not truths. 00:07:39 We must accept the love of the truth. 00:07:42 And it’s really quite wonderful that Jehovah has made the truth in such a way 00:07:46 that it appeals to our heart 00:07:49 as well as to our head. 00:07:51 Think about the time when Jesus taught the truth 00:07:54 to his disciples who were walking on their way to Emmaus. 00:07:57 Remember how they responded? 00:07:59 It’s at Luke 24:32. 00:08:03 They said: “Were not our hearts burning 00:08:06 “. . . as he was speaking to us on the road, 00:08:09 as he was fully opening up the Scriptures to us.” 00:08:12 And I found a very interesting comment 00:08:16 in The Watchtower on this verse. 00:08:19 It’s The Watchtower of 1962, April 15, page 227. 00:08:24 This is what it said: 00:08:26 “Only when we have real love for the truth 00:08:30 will we go through the experience of burning hearts.” 00:08:35 Isn’t that fascinating? 00:08:38 Think about when your heart has burned 00:08:42 —when you’ve observed a drama, 00:08:44 when you’ve heard an encouraging talk, 00:08:48 when you sang a wonderful Kingdom song. 00:08:53 Think about the Hezekiah drama. 00:08:56 When we saw the angel spread his wings 00:09:00 while facing the Assyrian troops 00:09:03 and then devastation came, 00:09:05 didn’t your heart burn? 00:09:08 Or we think about when armed troops 00:09:10 were stealthily advancing on our brothers in an open field, 00:09:14 and then in the opened-up heavens 00:09:16 we see Jesus on a white horse with bow in hand 00:09:19 ready to take vengeance on those who hate Jehovah. 00:09:23 That’s a reality foretold in Scripture. 00:09:27 That fires the heart. 00:09:29 And there are other things that fire our heart 00:09:32 —when we hear beautiful songs that are meaningful, 00:09:35 such as “Never Alone” 00:09:38 and “Give Me Courage” 00:09:41 and many others. 00:09:43 The heart that loves Jehovah does indeed burn. 00:09:47 And this is not just emotion. 00:09:50 Our thinking ability and our emotions work together 00:09:53 and motivate us to know and to feel 00:09:56 the power of the truth. 00:09:58 As The Watchtower I quoted from declares: 00:10:02 ‘Our life depends on whether we have love for the truth.’ 00:10:07 So love Jehovah. 00:10:08 Love our neighbor. 00:10:10 And, yes, we must love the truth.
