The Triumphant Church

The Triumphant Church

Don't just believe every spirit. John says, "... try the
spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world" (v. 1).
Notice that the Bible talks about false prophets in
connection with evil spirits. That's because prophets
operate in the spirit realm and they should be
motivated by the Holy Spirit, but too many times they
are motivated by wrong spirits because they don't
discern the difference.
Verse 4 says, "Ye are of God, little children.... " That
refers to our position in Christ and our rightstanding
with God. It also refers to our authority over the devil
because as children of God we are seated with Christ in
heavenly places (Eph. 1:20).
Then what does the rest of that scripture say? "Ye
are of God, little children, and have overcome THEM ..."
(1 John 4:4). Who is "them" referring to? What have
believers overcome? The word "them" is referring to the
evil spirits that John mentioned in the previous verses.
In other words, when Jesus overcame Satan, because
we are in Christ, Jesus' triumph over Satan is our
triumph! In Christ we are to enforce Satan's defeat in
our lives by standing against the devil with God's Word.
The Bible doesn't say, "You are going to overcome
evil spirits and demons in the sweet by and by." It said,
"You have overcome them because .. greater is he that is
in you, than he that is in the world"' (v.4).
The Bible says, "... Christ in you, the hope of glory"
(Col. 1:27). Jesus spoiled and put to naught
principalities and powers and made a show of them
openly by triumphing over them in the Cross (Col. 2:15).
Therefore, because Jesus overcame the devil and every
evil spirit, and you are in Christ, you have overcome
them too. That's a past-tense fact!