May 28, 2023
Morning Service

Anointed with the Holy Spirit

The Apostle John, is his grandfatherly tone, challenged us last week to walk in the light by loving our brothers.  He also instructed us to be careful not to love the things of this world that are contrary to God’s ways.  He defined them for us into three categories; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  John summed up with this statement that needs to be embedded within us as we make choices along life’s journey.

1Jn 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

            His intent was to keep us focused on where our treasure lies and into what are we investing.  If our goals are all set within this world, then they will soon pass away, but anything we invest in following Jesus will last forever.  Keep your eyes on eternity, and be sure the path you are choosing leads you closer to God not farther away.  This morning, John warns us of what the future holds and also how we are equipped to recognize the danger and overcome it.

 

1Jn 2:18-19 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.  (19)  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.

            John speaks here of a time period he refers to as the “last hour.”  This is the time between Jesus’ first coming and His second.  As John wrote this over 2000 years ago, he was living in the last hour just as we are today.  As part of God’s wisdom, only He knows when Jesus will return to bring us home.   If we knew He was coming in 24 years, we would act differently than if we thought he could come in 24 hours; God wants us to be ready in this present moment.  Towards the end of the last hour, we know that scripture tells us of the coming of one specific Antichrist.  He is defined as the “man of sin, the son of perdition” by Paul.  He will set himself up and “exalt himself above all that is called God, sitting in the temple showing himself to be God.” (2 Thess. 1-12).  John, however, here does not choose to go deeper into the one antichrist at the end times, but warns us of the many antichrists that are around us now.

            These antichrists “went out from us, but they were not of us.”  These false teachers that John is warning us of once identified as being Christ followers, but have left the church and now teach another false gospel that opposes the truth.  John tells us that “if they had been of us, they would continue with us.”  A truth in nature is that “like produces like.”   An acorn always produces an oak tree, never a dogwood.  Those who are truly born again in the image of their Lord and Savior will continue to follow Him because that is who they are, children of God.  If we are children, we will be like Him.  John continues that thought:

 

1Jn 2:20-25 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.  (21)  I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.  (22)  Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.  (23)  Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.  (24)  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.  (25)  And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

            We have been gifted (anointed) with the Holy Spirit that guides, teaches and reveals what is truth to us so that we may “know all things.”  The Spirit “illuminates” the truth for us so that we can recognize it and apply to our lives.  He blesses us with the gift of discernment to be able to discern between what is true (of God) and what is not (of the evil one).  John gives us one easy definition in that anyone who denies the Jesus as the Son of God or His Father are antichrists and those who profess Him are of Him.  This is foundational truth in which there is no room to compromise.  There is no “new revelation” coming to us other than the truth given to us through the gospel message so we must “abide” in that truth always.  It is an easy test for us to recognize them by if they are teaching the “whole truth and nothing but the truth” or a watered down version that compromises to the current culture.  God’s Word is infallible (without error) and needs no improvement or perfecting from us who are following.  John digs deeper into our anointing.

 

1Jn 2:26-27 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.  (27)  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.

            John wrote to warn us of the deception that we will face (and already do) and to inform us how we are equipped to defend against it.  Each of us, somewhere in our time of accepting Jesus call to follow Him, received the Holy Spirit into their lives.  In the scriptures some received it at the moment of conversion, some at their baptism and some immediately following it just as Peter preached in his first sermon.

 

Act 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

            This builds our faith that we have received the Holy Spirit.  It does not say “if” of even “sometimes,” it says you “shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit;” every time without exception. We can take full confidence if we have followed this process of hearing the gospel, receiving it, repenting of your sins, and completed it with baptism then we have been given the Spirit of God to abide within us; accept it believe it.

.  With that established, John tells us that since the Spirit abides in us, it is He that will teach us all things that are true.  We can personally read the Bible and the Holy Spirit within us will reveal things to us that on our own we could never have known or seen.  It again “illuminates” our cognitive abilities to bring the things of God into the light of our understanding and comprehension. Jesus said “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”  It is His Spirit within us that empowers us to “know the truth.”  In these times where deception is running wild and the truth is hard to define we have an ace up our sleeve in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  It is up to us to be able to listen for His voice and know when He is speaking and to obediently and actively follow His lead (being doers and not hearers only).  Sometimes He speaks to us through His Word, a song, or a sermon.  Sometimes I have found Him to speak in still small voice in my spirit, by causing me to be uneasy or uncomfortable causing me to pray or survey my path for something happening.  Sometimes it is putting someone on my heart that I need to pray for or give a call.  Sometimes as I am witnessing to someone about the Lord, the words flow so freely that I know it is the Spirit speaking not me.  The more we are in tune with God the easier it is for Him to communicate with us.  We often are too busy to hear that still small voice that is trying to lead, guide, teach or reveal something to us.  Stay tuned in to the Holy Spirit’s channel all the time (it is free to download).  John closes this chapter with a challenge to live just in that manner.

 

1Jn 2:28-29 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.  (29)  If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

            There is a manner of living and pursuing God that builds a confidence in us.  We all fall short of perfection, but when our heart belongs to Him and we “hunger and thirst” after righteousness then we know we are His, giving us a confidence in our relationship.  When we seek Him, we will find Him.  The opposite is also true.  If we only think on the things of God on Sunday morning and allow ourselves to go all week without engaging with Him, we are a bit ashamed of our effort.  Remember, following Jesus is a relationship, not a religion.  Think of it in this manner, if you only spoke to your spouse or children once a week, how close would that relationship be?  Instead of feeling confident that you have been there for them, you would feel ashamed that you had not placed them as a priority in your life.  To “abide in Him” is to have constant fellowship with Him and He promises to never “leave you or forsake you.”  Embrace that along with what we have learned about the Holy Spirit today and truly “abide with Him,” not day by day but breath by breath.  With that we will begin to imitate Him more and more in our daily lives becoming a little more like Jesus and little less like me.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for blessing us with Your Spirit that leads us to the truth.  Please help us to fully yield ourselves to the Spirit’s guidance and open to recognize His voice.