MONDAY – 1 John 4:4-6, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” Last week we introduced “Testing The Spirits” and now we see where John continues his thoughts as it relates to the believer and his discernment concerning false teaching and teachers. To open the chapter, John gives the command that we are to test what we hear and see that professes to come from God. He warns us that there are many false prophets in the world who are not from God and are not of God but are rather deceived and deceiving. The test that the apostle gives us right out of the box is to see what the teacher and teaching has to say about the person of Jesus Christ. Those who are not from God (antichrist) and are deceiving spirits have a wrong view concerning the Divinity and humanity of Jesus. You mess up the facts concerning who Jesus is and the whole message goes south. The true nature of Jesus Christ is inevitably denied by false teachers and their false systems and teaching. Now John picks up and reminds us as true believers concerning the discernment we have from The Holy Spirit to understand and hear and accept truth. We rightly understand Jesus Christ and portray Him and His work accurately proving we possess the Spirit of truth.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Am I firm and clear concerning who Jesus is? Can I see the deception and misrepresentation of so many false teachers and teaching today? Father, help me to study the Word and see clearly how You have portrayed and defined for me the person and work of Jesus.
TUESDAY – 1 John 4:4, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” John begins here with the pronoun you to emphasize to his readers that you, yes you, are of God. We must never forget that we have God as our Father beloved and therefore have a Divine heritage. We are different from the rest of the unbelieving world in that we are of God, born of God, children of God. But we are also reminded we are little children. Spurgeon comments, “Little children are frequently timid. They are sometimes terrified when left alone; they are generally afraid of strangers. You are very weak and feeble, but do not be dismayed because of that, for there is a power dwelling in you that is mightier than the power that dwells in the world. Satan dwells in the world, and he is mighty. But God dwells in you, and He is almighty; therefore do not be afraid.” John tells us that even as little children we have overcome them. The perfect tense verb is here used which tells us we have already overcome (past tense) but also we continue to overcome (currently). The them is plural and is in reference to the false teachers previously discussed who have been in error concerning the person and work of Jesus. The ONE who is in us true Christian is greater than the one who is in the world. Two opposing forces: the Holy Spirit opposes the spirit of the antichrist. And our Father, by His Spirit, lives with us His children and is greater than the evil one who is in this hostile, God opposing world.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Think for a moment beloved that the Almighty God, the omnipotent creator and sustainer of all things lives within You. We have overcome by faith in Him through His revealed word and can look to Him in times of temptation, doubt, and weakness for protection and deliverance. Thank God for Jesus word in John 10:29, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
WEDNESDAY – 1 John 4:5, “They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.” The word world is significant, because it appears three times in this verse. It here has a different meaning from where its used in verses. There it has a broad reference to the place of human life. Here it means a world of people who are hostile to God. The false prophets are of the world. The principles they live by, the ambition they put forth in life, the goals they set and their total existence is coming from a place that is hostile toward God and in line with the selfish, proud and sin exalting system of Satan who governs over this evil as “ruler of this world” (John 12:31). The world’s teachings, opinions, and values are dishonoring to God and antichristian. In light of this reality John says they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. The words they speak are persuasive to the ears and hearts of those in opposition to God and lost in their sin so they agree with the teachings of the false teachers and therefore participate in opposing God as well. It is James who tells us in clear terms that “…Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). True believers resist worldly ideas because we have overcome the world (John 16:33). The world loves its own vain philosophical, feelings based, selfish doctrines. They love to flatter with worldly self-exalting rhetoric. False teachers speak according to the fashions of the world, so it is no wonder that the world and worldly minded crowds listen. Through what they say and how they live, false teachers demonstrate that they are anything but genuine servants of Christ.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Do you recognize and discern the “worldly” wisdom that is being proclaimed in the name of Christian teaching today? Who or what groups today fit into this category that John is explaining? Father, help me to be on guard and aware of so much false teaching that comes from so many sources including “Christian” speakers today.
THURSDAY – 1 John 4:6a: “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. ” We have just seen in verses 4-5 that the forces of the evil one surround us as believers through much false teaching but we need not despair. John says, We are of God. The pronoun we speaks of John, the apostles, and the other writers of Scripture. Like them, all true teachers accurately proclaim the Word of God, and those who know God listen. In contrast, anyone who is not from God does not listen to their teachings. John here echoes the words of Jesus: “He who belongs to God hears what God says” (John 8:47, also 10:27). True Christians listen to true preachers because true preachers proclaim God’s Word which has divine authority and God’s people hear his voice when it is proclaimed. The unsaved do not listen to the proclamation of his Word because they refuse to believe the truth and would rather go listen to lies and false teaching that appeals to their selfish sinful desires. It is Scripture and not our feelings that is the sole authority by which Christians must test all things. As Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Scripture is “more sure” than human experiences, feelings or senses (2 Peter 1:19). It is eternal, unchanging, enduring forever (1 Peter 1:25, Isaiah 40:8). It is trustworthy down to the jot and tittle (Matthew 5:18). Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) What is my attitude toward Scripture? Is it, “Yes, but…?” Do I love the truth, put my feelings under it and obey? Father, help me love and obey Your Word where You have provided the wisdom and food I need to grow and flourish. Thanks for giving me life to desire, enjoy and understand.
FRIDAY– 1 John 4:6b: “By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” John finishes saying By this we know. How? Again, Scripture is the dividing line. It is the standard of truth (John 17:17) by which, with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13), believers know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. We can recognize truth from error by observing the reaction to God’s Word. In 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 Paul says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” Spurgeon comments, “I read in a certain learned theologian the other day a declaration that the evangelical doctrine that we preach is not Christianity, but Paulinism. By that utterance this theologian condemned himself. He who does not hear the apostles does not hear their Master. He who dares say that Paul has not given us the gospel is not of Christ, for Jesus says, “The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me” (Matt 10:40). The testimony of the Holy Ghost by apostolic lips is as sure as the testimony by the Son of God Himself, and it is flat rebellion against the Holy Ghost to graduate His utterances, whether they are through prophets, apostles, or the Christ Himself. He who makes this to be true and that to be false, or this true and that truer still, has disparaged the Spirit of God, who speaks as He pleases but is always infallible. He who questions what the Spirit says does not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him.”
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Father, thanks for Scripture which is the final Word.
