The Spirit Who Speaks Of His Own

n the Gospels, we find a revealing interaction that helps us to understand just how the Spirit of the LORD functions. This same Scriptural example also helps us to diagnose the Spirit of Antichrist. The idea in the present exposition is to recognize the supernatural character traits, which are revealed in the interaction between the Spirit of the LORD, and the Spirit of Antichrist, in an effort to apply that knowledge to our own lives.

This amazing passage is found in the book of John, where we find Jesus has been accused by the religious authorities of being in league with Lucifer, and operating in the power of the Devil. Responding to this blasphemous accusation from the Pharisees, Jesus said

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44)

The first thing we notice is the object of the denunciation immediately shifts from the priests who were accusing Christ, to the Devil himself. The LORD starts out addressing "ye" (the religious leaders), but quickly moves to the "he" – as in his opponent's Spiritual father – whom Christ knows to be the one lurking behind the verbal attacks.

We've all read the often-quoted New Testament verse:

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers...against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12)

This verse pointedly reveals the true identity of our enemy, yet we don't always recognize that JESUS certainly knows His real antagonist as well. In short, in the interaction we're examining, Christ is fully aware that his opponent is not the Pharisees themselves, but the Spirit that empowers them. Thus, He focuses His words on the Spiritual intellect known as the Father of Lies. In the process, we gain some interesting insight into the way that wicked one operates.

For example, when the text tells us "he speaketh of his own," there is more than one sense in which we may perceive this statement. One way to look at this verse is to say that when Satan lies, he is speaking in a fashion that is consistent with his own nature. Because he is the very definition of a liar, when he speaks, it is a lie because that's the nature of a liar – he lies.

However, another way to read the statement is a bit deeper. It would indicate that when a person is lying, or speaking from within the Spirit of Antichrist, he is manifesting the fact that he (or she) is actually the Devil's "own," referenced in the verse. This is a mystical concept, but we are examining some deep spiritual things here, so bear with me.

Referring to Satan, Jesus says "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own…" (John 8:44)

We tend to forget that none of us actually hears Satan speaking – yet it is certainly clear that Jesus is referencing Satan speaking in this verse. So who is doing the speaking? This verse is telling us the person who is speaking in this fashion belongs to the Devil. They are "his own."

In fact, this verse is telling us when we hear speech of this nature, we are actually hearing Satan speak.

I might digress for just a moment and note that, I've learned that whenever I find a subtle shift in the way a verse may be perceived, the faulty view is usually contained within the modern translations. Sure enough, other translations, besides the King James Version, which I know and trust, actually add the word "nature." For example, The Amplified Bible reads

"...when he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him..." (John 8:44, Amplified Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers)

The NIV (Never Inspired Version), and others based on the same faulty Vaticanus and Sinaiticus manuscripts which resulted in the NIV, have a similar slant. The NIV renders Christ's statement as follows:

"When he lies, he speaks his native language..." (John 8:44, NIV, The International Bible Society)

However, when we read the Textus Receptus Greek manuscripts, which were used to produce the KJV, we see a subtle change. To illustrate this, we need to consult an Interlinear. For those unfamiliar with this, it is a Bible constructed from the Greek phrasing, but using the English words.

Those versed in multiple languages know different languages construct their syntax in a fashion that is frequently dissimilar to English. This means that a Greek Interlinear constructed from the Greek manuscripts behind the King James Version gives us the precise reading in English, but with the Greek syntactic structure – a rather useful tool on occasion. The Interlinear that I use renders this phrase as follows:

"Whenever he may speak falsehood, from his own he speaks…" (The Interlinear Bible, KJV Edition)

Those familiar with our work know that we do not use the Greek at the expense of the English, for the King James Bible is the inspired Word of God. We use the Greek (and the Hebrew in the Old Testament) to harmonize with, and to help shed further light upon, the inspired English.

Once again, the Greek text actually says that whenever Satan speaks a lie, "from his own he speaks."

These astonishing words are clearly stating that whenever Satan lies, he does it from a vessel that belongs to him.

The operative word in the Greek lexicon here is the word ek, which is rendered "from" in the Interlinear. This means that the King James translators viewed the word they used ("of") as essentially synonymous with "from." Indeed, this is confirmed in the same Interlinear, where the Greek ek goes the other way, and renders ek as "of," when Revelation describes how the Antichrist Beast's 8th Head is "of "the seven:

"And the beast which was, and not is, also he an eighth is, and of the seven is, and into destruction goes." (The Interlinear Bible, KJV Edition)

By the way, this means it could be said the 8th "head" of the beast will come from the seven – another tantalizing clue in prophetic understanding. For more on the identity of the 8th head, see The Beast With 7 Heads Revisited Again, from the present author.

Dr. Robert Gundry, a professor of New Testament and Greek at a California college, writes concerning how the Greek word ek not only means "from" and "of," but it means out from within:

"The basic idea of emergence from within is illustrated by usages in other verses of similar expression….Essentially, ek, a preposition of motion concerning thought or physical direction, means out from within." (The Church And The Tribulation, Dr. Robert H Gundry, page 55)

This idea of the evil angel Lucifer, showing himself to the world through the human vessels which articulate his words, is a particularly mysterious truth – but it is the truth. Once fully grasped, the believer in Jesus Christ who genuinely loves the truth, will realize that prophecy is not at all the way it has been portrayed.

For instance, we find another example of Satan manifesting his Spiritual presence in "his own" in the end times. The Apostle Paul told us the collective vessel of believers known as the "church" would experience a huge falling away from the truth, and the Spirit of Antichrist would emerge.

The following remarkable text speaks of the Devil's Spiritual presence in complete control of the collective identity we commonly call the church:

"...so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (II Thessalonians 2:4)

Most of us have been taught the comic-book version of prophecy, complete with antichrist occupying a rebuilt Jewish temple, a 7-year treaty, and so forth; however, the Word of God plainly tells us the believers are now the temple of God:

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16 )

As vessels of God, we demonstrate who owns us by the Spirit that is manifested "out from within." However, the Scriptures tell us this Satanic Spirit of Antichrist will indwell the church in the end times. It further tells us that when Satan speaks through the "church," he is, in effect, showing that he is the God of that vessel.

The Good News is, The Lord has promised that He will always Spiritually anoint and preserve a righteous remnant, and they will manifest what Spirit drives them by their deeds, and the Words which they speak:

"But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your father which speaketh in you." (Matthew 10:19,20)

Which spirit speaks out from within you?

– James Lloyd