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1 John 4:5 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁵They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

They are from the world. This was one of the marks by which those who had the spirit of antichrist might be known. They belonged not to the church of God but to the world. They had its spirit; they acted on its principles; they lived for it. Comp. 1 John 2:15.

Therefore, they speak from the world. Comp. 1 John 3:31. This may mean either that their conversation pertained to the things of this world or that they were wholly influenced by the love of the world, and not by the Spirit of God in the doctrines which they taught. The general sense is that they had no higher ends and aims than they have, who are influenced only by worldly plans and expectations. It is not difficult to distinguish, even among professed Christians and Christian teachers, those who are Godly in their conversation from those who are influenced solely by the spirit of the world. ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,’ and the general turn of a man’s conversation will show what ‘spirit is within him.’

And the world listens to them. The term “world” here evidently means not the material world, but the people who dwell on the earth, including all idolaters, and all sinners of every grade and kind. The people of the world—the woke, the lovers of money, the proud, the overly ambitious, the sensual—receive their instructions, and recognize them as teachers and guides, for their views accord with their own. A professedly religious teacher may always determine much about himself by knowing what class of people is pleased with him. A professed Christian of any station in life may determine much about his evidence of righteousness (holiness), by asking himself what kind of individuals desire his friendship, and wish him for a companion.