Falsehoods

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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 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. 1 John 4:1-3

Has anyone ever told you something that you knew for certain was untrue? How did you know? Was it because you had read somewhere what the truth was or was it how the person was telling you the facts that exposed the false information?

There are a lot of stories and facts out there about Jesus. Many of them are very true and just as many of them are lies. Why would there be so many lies about Christ? It is because faith in Christ has eternal consequences. Satan wants nothing more than to spread as many lies about Jesus as he can in order to either lead people away form their belief in Jesus as the Son of God and our Messiah, or to keep as many people as possible from believing the truth about Christ. But how can we know which are lies and which are truths?

John gives us the answer. If someone comes proclaiming that Jesus was not from God, or was not God, and did not come in the flesh, they are a false prophet. I believe that this encompasses a lot of other facts about Jesus also. Jesus was both fully man (Romans 5:18-19) and fully God (John 1:1). Jesus was born of a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25). Jesus was tempted, but never sinned (Hebrews 4:15-16). Jesus bled and died on the cross  to pay the penalty for our sins (John 3:16, 1 Peter 2:24). Jesus arose from the grave, ascended into Heaven and is alive today (1 Peter 1:3, Colossians 3:1-4, Acts 1:9-11, Hebrews 1:3). Jesus will return to earth one day (Revelation 1:7, Mark 13:26). It is important for us to be vigilant in “testing” the spirits.

The world is full of antichrists and religions that teach false doctrine about Christ. A collision is coming and there will only be two sides. One that believes the truth about Christ and the other that is believing the lies. We know who will be victorious, but there will be a lot of collateral damage that occurs. There will be many that we know and love that will believe the lies and suffer the consequences. Next time you are at the mall, or at a baseball game, or even at church, think about how many people that are there that believe the lies of the antichrists and will suffer the consequences. It should break our hearts. It breaks God’s heart.  

I echo the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

Father, I pray for those that I know that do not know you and the truth of your Son Jesus Christ. Lord I pray that their eyes and hearts would be open to the truth of your love for them and the salvation they need in Christ. Lord I pray for those that are here in the room right now as I am praying this that do not know your Son. Lead them to a knowledge of You and if there is anything that I need to do in order to show them Christ, please give me the courage and the strength to do so. It is by Your grace that I have been saved, and it is by Your grace that I live. Help me to be Your evangelist to everyone that crosses my path so that You name may be praised. – Amen