Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4:1-6 ESV
The latter part of verse 4 in this block of scripture is one that I hear frequently quoted in the same way I hear Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” When we look at this scripture in context, we understand this scripture really means that Christ will empower us to weather the trials and tribulations of our Christian walk with perseverance and an ability to do so in a manner that is Christlike and worthy of the gospel…not that we can walk around lifting buses with some superhuman ability like a Marvel character.
When I hear this said, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world,” it sometimes has this connotation as if “you better watch out, because the greatness in me is gonna whoop up on whatever is in you” (a certain pastor I know has a fantastic story about this!). And I believe it’s true that the Lord God triumphs over every kind of evil, satan, and all the powers of this world. He could 100% give them a whooping–and He will one day put all these things and more under the feet of Jesus! This can be a great comfort when things come against us in this present world. However, I’m not sure that’s what John is trying to convey in this scripture. He’s not trying to beef us up to punch the devil in the nose but rather to make sure we stand firm in the face of all things anti-Christ and that we are not swayed by the errors and untruths that are swirling about in our midst. He who is in us, this greatness, is placed within us to help us “by reason of use have [our] senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:14). We don’t need physical, superhuman reflexes; instead, we need the superhuman mind of Christ to guide us, direct us, and steer us into all truth. We need ears to hear like the sheep of John 10, who know their master’s voice and follow Him alone. God’s flock will flee in the presence of a stranger’s voice.
My question for His flock today: When we are confronted with ideologies, principles, and well-meaning sentiments uttered in this present age, can we discern which of these align with the word of God and the character of our Master? Can we discern between God’s wisdom and the enemy’s folly–which sound good and well-intentioned but come from a Stranger’s voice trying to lure us into the woods with candy so that we may be devoured like Little Red Riding Hood? Those who are God’s children have been empowered to hear His voice of truth; we must listen.
John says that we are endued with power from the Holy Spirit–who is greater than us and the world–so that we may overcome the spirits of the Antichrist who would lead us down the broad way to destruction through error. We can stand firm in the faith, heeding not the doctrines of demons, and continue to believe the truth given to us through Jesus and His apostles so that we may persevere on the Narrow Way–through and to Jesus Christ our King. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life, our sheep gate, and our Good Shepherd. As we cling to the Son Jesus and His Word, we will fully abide in Him and not be swayed by the false prophets or the false goodness of this world.