AP

1 John 4:4-6  You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.  We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.  This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

The Apostle John is warning his readers to recognise that each of them is a battlefield – the site of an intense spiritual battle between the ‘prince/ruler of this world’ (see John 12:32, 14:30, 16:11) and the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Good News is that the battle has already been won, and that Satan’s current efforts are only a failed, yet still intense, rearguard action.  The atoning Death and glorious Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ/Messiah are undeniable proof that “the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”.  The problem is that then, and more so now, those who “speak from the viewpoint of the world” (ie from a purely humanistic world view) seem to have gained the upperhand because “the world listens to them”.

It is more the case today because modern technology ‘forces’ us, in an ‘in-your-face’ way, to listen to the arrogant voice of humanism whenever we use it!

With this constant battle raging, let us always remember that our triumphant God is sovereign, and therefore that “we are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.”  John probably was recalling when he heard Jesus say: “The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:25b-29) – noting the significance of the fact that Jesus did not say, “you are not my sheep because you do not believe”, but rather said, “you do not believe because you are not my sheep”, a very important distinction.  God’s Sovereign Grace in the doctrine of predestination/election means, not only that the overall battle against Satan is already won, but that the individual battle for each human soul whom God has chosen is also already won!

Let us all take heart, and be greatly encouraged, by all this as we faithfully play our part in the battle today. Let us remain thoroughly committed to the infallible truth of God’s Written Word, the ‘sword’ of the ‘Spirit of truth’, and by our whole lives, our speech and our actions, expose the falsehood that is so rife around us!

– Bruce Christian