The apostle John was the longest living apostle among those who were personally associated with Jesus. As such, he was the one privileged to pastor and give guidance and direction to the Christian Church of the first century. No wonder, he with Peter and his brother James were among those who have been blessed with so many special privileges which were not given to the other nine- because of the need for these experiences and special manifestations for the particular work they were going to do in their future work.
John had to contend with the Gnostics, Judaizers and other false teachers of his day who were avowed enemies of the church. In his first epistle written to the church, he talks about the spirit of the antichrist and antichrist himself who was already out in the world to wreak havoc to the church and the believers. John warns the believers that while there are manifestations of the true spirit, there were a lot more of the evil kind that are out in the world who were out to deceive them with their cunning delusions and false teachings. Thus the necessity to “try every spirit” whether they are of God.
The apostle exhorts the Christian believers that they need to stay in the truth and keep faith in Jesus, the Son of God who came to be manifest in the flesh. And whatever power, strength or wisdom these spirits may have, they can always be safe in the shelter of the Almighty. In fact he declares: “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4.
To John, the Christian faith is simply trusting in the power of God. The world is full of evil. It is cursed because of the results of the work of the evil one. But we need not fear, nor should we be afraid. In whatever size or shape the challenges or problems may come to us, God is bigger than any of them. Let us remember John’s reassuring words, “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
The Holy Spirit abides in us. That is enough. With Him, we can take care of any problem the devil may throw upon us. Let us take John at his word. The Holy Spirit in us is greater than anything there is in this world that may be against us!