1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (1 John 4)
Thoughts: The western world's leading philosophy is postmodernism. Postmodernism's dictum is that there is no real truth. That your sincere truth is as good as anyone else's view. The problem is, we don't and can't live like that. If you decide you want to drive down the wrong side of the road, I would dispute your view of truth. If you are a nurse and you decide it doesn't matter what kind of medicine you give out- I would dispute that way of looking at things- for one person's medicine is another's poison. The obvious problem of postmodernism is it devalues meaning and purpose in life with the hope that if we say it doesn't matter- people will get along better. But when we say that your meaning is as good as my meaning- in the end there is no meaning- for there is no truth to live for- only feeling. Your feelings may get in the way of my feeling. I think this was evident somewhat in the supreme court confirmation hearings this week. Feelings and lust for power seemed to own the day. But the real search for truth was downgraded. For some, one religion is as good as another. But then something like 911 happens- fueled by misguided beliefs.
So our passage says to "test the spirits" to see if they are really from God. This implies there are some that are not from God. The measure of the test is not our feelings or how much we want something selfishly. The measure of truth is the way, the truth, and the life- Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord, give me the will to not just go with the flow of popularity or my feelings. Help me to test everything by you- the ultimate rule and standard of truth.
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