Not everything is black and white . . . but some things are. Not everything is either this side or that side . . . but in some matters you need to pick a side — and to not pick a side, is really still picking a side. With some things there might be some “wiggle room” . . . but when it comes to Jesus . . . ah, not really any wiggle room at all . . . so says John in my reading this morning.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because 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 of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God . . . By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1John 4:1-3, 6)

There are a lot of voices in our world today . . . tons of data . . . unlimited forums through which “truth” can be advertised and declared. Look no further than the internet and you have found a public platform by which every manner of “thought leadership”, opinion, and views on the deeper things of life can be voiced. Everything from the “weird and whacky” to the “sounds solid to me”. But I’m reminded this morning to careful . . . for many false prophets have gone out into the world . . . many of them, via their word processors, blogs, and web cams. I’m reminded that there is a spirit of truth and there is a spirit of error. And, I’m exhorted to to test the spirits . . . to examine . . . scrutinize . . . and apply an acid test to determine if it’s genuine or not, just as you would a precious metal. And that acid test? Jesus.

Jesus is kind of a dividing line. He’s “true north.” To get it right on who Jesus is, is to set a foundation from which greater truth can be spoken. But, get it wrong about Jesus and everything that follows is kind of suspect. And the bottom line validation of the source of purported truth is the question Jesus asked His disciple, “Who do men say that I am?” (Mark 8:27)

Who was Jesus? It all starts there. Was He Jesus the Christ . . . the prophesied Messiah . . . the forever Heir to the Throne of David . . . Jehovah’s Anointed . . . God’s Holy Servant . . . the One spoken of by the prophets as He who would redeem His people? And was He Messiah come in the flesh . . . Emmanuel . . . God with Us . . . the I AM in guise as a carpenter from Nazareth . . . One with the Father fully able to experience the reality of being human . . . God’s faithful High Priest tested just as we are, yet without sin, that He might be able to aid those who are tempted?

Every person who honestly acknowledges that the Promised One, the Son of God, has come to this earth in the flesh and that, being in the Person of Jesus . . . that person has the Spirit of God . . . and is grounded in the Spirit of truth . . . and is so much better set up to be a discerner of greater truth. But that person who denies Jesus as Christ . . . who, if acknowledging Him at all, declares Him to be nothing more than another man who occupied time and space . . . that person is in error . . . and subject to accepting greater error concerning man and God and the things of life and eternity. That person’s anti-Christ anti-Messiah belief system only opens him up to more lies from THE Antichrist.

If we “get it” about Jesus, it’s because by God’s grace, He opened our eyes and unplugged our ears and gifted us with a bit of faith which we could choose to exercise and declare, just as Peter did, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Matt. 16:16). No boasting . . . just believing.

And with that simple confession of faith, the doors of heaven are open and the things of truth are freely available. And ours is to have ears to hear along with a discerning spirit . . . exercising the mind of Christ which we possess through the Spirit of God . . . examining the voices of “truth” about us . . . recognizing the counterfeit . . . embracing the authentic . . . aligning to our great “True North” . . . that we might be the “real stuff” to those seeking truth . . . for their salvation and blessing . . . and for the glory of God . . .