Please turn in your Bibles this morning to I John chapter 2 as we look at the anointing and what that is all about and why we need it today. You see, people have some strange concepts of what the anointing is and what it isn’t and that then leads to unbiblical actions by those who adhere to these things. Thus, there is a right way and a wrong way to read the Scriptures. You don’t read them to prove what you believe is right; you let God’s Word speak to you by the power of His Spirit because God has a specific meaning to what He is saying. The problem comes today because we don’t want to offend anyone by telling them they are wrong as this story illustrates for us. This story was quoted in The Berean Call and we are told:
As I checked in for an outpatient test at a local hospital last week, the admissions lady . . . inquired, “What is your religious preference?” I was tempted . . . to repeat what Jonah said . . . “I am a Hebrew, ma’am. And I fear the Lord, the God of heaven . . .” But that would surely have got me sent to psychiatry rather than X-ray. So I desisted.
In ancient times, they asked “Who is your God?” A generation ago, they asked your religion. Today your creed is a preference . . .
According to Chesterton, tolerance is the virtue of people who do not believe in anything . . . When it is believed that on your religion hangs the fate of your immortal soul, the Inquisition follows easily; when it is believed that religion is a breezy consumer preference, religious tolerance flourishes . . . After all, we don’t persecute people for their taste in cars. Why for their taste in gods?
Oddly, though, in our thoroughly secularized culture, there is one form of religious intolerance that does survive . . . the disdain bordering on contempt . . . [for] those for whom religion is not a preference but a conviction . . .
Every manner of political argument is ruled legitimate in our democratic discourse. But invoke the Bible as grounding for your politics, and the First Amendment police will charge you with breaching the sacred wall separating church and state . . . Call on Timothy Leary or Chairman Mao, fine. Call on St. Paul, and all hell breaks loose . . .
Associates of [Hickman] Ewing [Whitewater prosecutor who has been called a “religious fanatic” by some] defend him thus: “His open Christian faith. . . is left at the prosecutorial door.” An interesting form of exoneration. Ewing is fit to carry out his judicial duties after all. Why? Because he allows none of his Christian faith to corrupt his working life. Charles Krauthammer [said], “Will it be coffee, tea or He? Religion was once a conviction. Now it is a taste.”
- (Essay, Time, June 15, 1998), Quoted in The Berean Call, August, 1998
This morning we are going to take a stand for what is right, which may offend some people but folks, I would rather please and serve the Lord than be a man pleaser and misrepresent God. Thus, with that said, let’s begin reading in I John chapter 2 starting in verse 24 and see what the Lord has for us this morning.
Now, to understand what John is saying here, you have to understand what he was just speaking about. In I John 2:18-23 John is dealing with the deception that has come in these last days, this last hour. The heresy that is infiltrating the church, the one that John is speaking of is the one where they were denying the deity of Jesus Christ. We see those same heresies today with groups like The Jesus Seminar and The Emergent Church movement where they are denying the deity of Jesus, that He is God or denying that He is the only way to the Father, to heaven. John says of those that are spreading these lies, these deceptions, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. . . . Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” I John 2:19, 22-23.
So John just got done speaking of the deceptions that have come into the church and now he is speaking of this anointing, what in the world is he talking about? It is not that difficult to understand unless you approach the Scriptures with some preconceived ideas. Now, before I tell you what this anointing is, and I think you already know, let me tell you what it is not.
In the ultra-charismatic movement you will find this word “anointed” used very liberally. In fact, it is probably the most overused, overworked, misunderstood, and misinterpreted word in this movement. You will hear them say things like, “I am under the anointing.” or “I feel the anointing in this room” and-so-on. And they will tell you that not all Christians have this anointing from God and those that do can administer this anointing to those that don’t but it will usually cost you something, a seed faith offering or whatever!
You may remember the story in Acts chapter 8 as Philip witnesses to the Samaritans and a revival breaks out, they are getting saved! And the Apostles come from Jerusalem when they hear what is going on and as they pray for these new believers the Holy Spirit comes upon them, empowering them to spread the Gospel message as Jesus said would happen in Acts 1:8. Among these people was a man named Simon who previously practiced sorcery and had this so-called conversion experience. And when he saw this power, this outpouring of God’s Spirit upon these believers, not him though, he wanted that power to give out, probably to make a profit off of!
Thus, he offers Peter money to receive this power of God’s Spirit, and we are told in Acts chapter 8, starting in verse 20, “But Peter said to him, ‘Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.’” Acts 8:20-23. You see, he wasn’t saved and this power can’t be bought, God gives it out as He sees fit and yet, today, we see people saying they can bestow this power on you if you give them some money! That is totally wrong and not Scriptural just as it was back then!
Now these groups have a boatload of ideas regarding this anointing but they are not Scriptural, as you will see. Here is just a small sampling of these bizarre ideas of what this anointing is, at least in their minds:
I can go on-and-on but I think you get the idea here, there are a lot more of these so-called anointings, but this is not what the Scriptures are teaching us and yet so many follow their heresies, they don’t even question what is being taught, they just jump up and down and scream and yell, but there is no substance to what is being said!
First of all the Old Testament describes the anointing as being consecrated or set apart or set aside for God. Often we see the priests, prophets and kings anointed with oil as they are set apart by God. In the New Testament this anointing is for all believers. Let me explain. In I John 2:27 we are told, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
How can this anointing teach a person anything if it is a power? The only way that can happen is if the anointing is not a power, but a person and that is the case. The anointing is the person of the Holy Spirit and thus, the Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force but the third person of the Holy Trinity, He is God!
Now, do you see how this flows out of what John just spoke of, the false teachers? In fact, we are told in I John 2:26, “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.” That word “deceive” can mean those who “lead you astray.” Isn’t it amazing what people believe in, the lies they hold onto, and how they reject the truth of God even though it is so plain, so clear? Let me illustrate this with the following story. We are told:
At a country fair there was a Buffoon who made all the people laugh by imitating the cries of various animals. He finished off by squeaking so like a pig that the spectators thought that he had a porker concealed about him. But a Countryman who stood by said: “Call that a pig squeak!’ Nothing like it. You give me till tomorrow and I will show you what it’s like.” The audience laughed, but next day, sure enough, the Countryman appeared on the stage, and putting his head down squealed so hideously that the spectators hissed and threw stones at him to make him stop. “You fools!” he cried, “see what you have been hissing,” and held up a little pig whose ear he had been pinching to make him utter the squeals. Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.
- Aesops Fables
One of the big problems in Christianity today is the lack of discernment among Christians. They hiss at the truths of God and embrace the lies like they are from the lips of God! I have seen unsaved people have more discernment as they watch these televangelists, like Benny Hinn, and see it for what it really is, GARBAGE! Then I watch and see the millions that support these ministries who teach things that are unbiblical, and they have no problem with what is being taught. How can the unsaved have more discernment in these matters than the saved when we as Christians have the Holy Spirit teaching us all truth and they don’t?
I think Paul told Timothy the reason. First of all the warning is given to us in I Timothy 4:1-2 where Paul tells us, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” Then the reason for their following these doctrines that are not of God but of the Devil, and that is given to us in II Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” The Amplified Bible puts these verses here in II Timothy like this, “For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold, And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.”
You see, when a person is not satisfied with God’s Word, they will look elsewhere for that satisfaction, they will look for new things, things that will tickle their ears and make them feel good! Now some don’t see this as a problem, they feel they know God so what is the harm, what is the difference? There is a big difference and I think A. W. Tozer hit the nail on the head when he said, “The unattended garden will soon be overrun with weeds; the heart that fails to cultivate truth and root out error will shortly be a theological wilderness.”
How true that is today as we see the masses in Christianity departing from the truths of God’s Word and ending up in a theological wilderness that doesn’t know what it believes! Dorothy Sayers observes the following, “In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair. . . . the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is noting for which it will die.”
Did you know that some estimates of those who are involved with this Emergent Church Movement are over 20 million Americans, that is more than Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Mormons put together! Pastor Mike Clawson of the Christus Community Church said of this movement, which he is actively involved in, “It’s really not a rebellion so much as it’s just finding a new set of answers, a different way of being Christians.” Pastor Julie Clawson said, “I think it’s a new reformation. I think it’s a new way of looking at the Bible.” Interestingly enough, the Bible tells us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12. You see, it is not my way or your way but YAHWEH!
Now, in saying all that, let’s look at these verses here in John a little closer and see what we can glean from them, what we can apply to our own lives so we will not be deceived by these false teachers with their doctrines of demons!
Look again at I John 2:24-25 for a minute. John tells us, “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life.” John is speaking of abiding in the truth, which tells me there must be absolute truth out there as there are lies out there and we must be able to discern between the two!
The problem today is that many Christians don’t believe in absolute truth, that the Bible is the Word of God or if it is, it needs to be interpreted to fit into today’s society, what is happening today. Thus, the Bible is living in the sense that it is constantly changing, like homosexuality was wrong then, it is okay today! Obviously that is wrong! Way back in 1997 the Barna Research Group reported that 50% of Christians in America believed in absolute truth. Then, by 2000 that number dropped down to 40% and by 2002 that number went down to 32% of born again Christians that believe in absolute truth!
A more recent study from 2005 found:
How can over 65% of Christians not believe in absolute truth when Jesus tells us in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” It is because they have itching ears and are not being taught the Word of God. Thus, they are succumbing to the lies of the Devil. Let me explain:
Once the Devil was walking along with one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. “What did he find?” asked the cohort. “A piece of the truth,” the Devil replied. “Doesn’t it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?” asked the cohort. “No,” said the Devil, “I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it.”
- Klyne Snodgrass, Between Two Truths – Living with Biblical Tensions, p. 35
Folks, that is what we are seeing today, people grabbing a piece of truth here and there, kind of a smorgasbord religion where you get to pick and chose what you want and don’t want, a have it your way faith! I recently listened to a debate dealing with The Emergent Church between Doug Pitt from Solomon’s Porch who is very pro-Emergent Church and Bob Deway who is warning of the dangers of this movement. And as I listened to Doug Pitt I had no idea what he believed because he refused to take a stand against anything, except for the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, which he was against! This is more of an experience driven religion and they misinterpret what God’s Word says, they make it fit their theology instead of letting God speak for Himself! Yes, they have some truth but so did the Devil in the Garden of Eden and look what the Devil did with part of the truth of God, he deceived Eve with it!
John has said that the lies, the errors are out there, the spirit of Antichrist is moving and one day it will usher in the Antichrist, but we have the truth, don’t play with it but abide in the truth and as you do you will have the assurance of eternal life. That means apart from the truths of God’s Word, there is no assurance of eternal life!
Then, in verses 26 –27 of I John chapter 2 John tells us, “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” Notice the contrast – there will be those bringing in their destructive doctrines, they will try to deceive you, but you have the truth of God, you have the anointing!
This anointing from God abides in us, He is influencing our lives, our hearts and thus, He will keep us from the dangerous errors that are out there and the ones that are coming onto the scene! In John chapter 14, starting in verse 15 Jesus is speaking of His departure and He tells us, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. . . . But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:15-21, 26.
Also, in John 16:13 Jesus tells us of the Holy Spirit, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of TRUTH who will guide us, watch over us, teach us the truths of God found in the Word of God. You see, we don’t have to be seduced by these lies, these errors, these doctrines of demons. We don’t have to fall away like John said of these deceivers in I John 2:19-20, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.”
Paul, in I Corinthians 2:10-16 makes this same point of the Holy Spirit teaching us the truths of God, that we might know the mind of God. He says, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”
You see folks, as we abide in the Lord, as we abide in His Word, the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts, He shows us what is right, He shows us what is wrong, He shows us how to get right when we have gone astray, and He shows us how to stay right! It is just as Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17.
As I begin to close this morning, let me share this story with you that I pray will help drive home this point off knowing the truths of God and how it will set you free from the lies, you won’t be deceived. You see, if you let the lies get in the way of what God is saying, it will confuse you as this story shows us. We are told:
Pigeons are famous for their ability to find their way home, even over enormous distances. One pigeon released by the US Army Signal Corps actually traveled over 3700 kilometers to find its way home! That’s why it was extraordinary in 1988, when 3,000 homing pigeons released in France nearly all failed to find their way home. What went wrong? Well, scientists have discovered that one of the ways pigeons navigate is by following the earth’s magnetic field. In this instance, a solar flare, a massive explosion on the Sun, occurred just two days before the French pigeons were released. This flare temporarily but severely disrupted the earth’s magnetic field. The pigeons were confused and unable to find their way home.
- Scott Higgins, Scientific info from Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki’s New Moments in Science #1
In a way we are very much like those pigeons. You see, God has designed us to hone in on His truth, to be guided home by His truth, but the massive explosion of sin into this world has disrupted our ability to see clearly. Thus, God has given to us His Word and by His Spirit He will lead us home, He will guide us in the Truth because His Word is Truth and the Spirit of Truth will open the Word of God up to us!
Folks, we have this anointing from God, the Holy Spirit who will show us all we need to know regarding the truth, and yes, there is absolute truth and this truth is found in the Word of God opened up to us by the Spirit of God. Remember what John said, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.” I John 2:20. Yes, we are living in the last days where deceptions are growing, but we don’t have to be deceived – the Holy Spirit will guide us in all truth because He is the SPIRIT OF TRUTH!