The Winning Wind Series

Determining the superiority of either side in either conflict is

difficult since the decisive factor in gaining a victory is often hidden.

This was certainly the case when the Spanish Armada sailed against

England. It was one of the greatest fleets ever assembled, and the

Spanish ships dwarfed the English vessels. They towered above the

sea, and the very sight of them threw fear into the English. It

appeared to be no mystery where the superior power was, until an

unforeseen factor entered the picture. A strong wind began to blow

up the English Channel and it was discovered that this made the

large Spanish ships unmanageable, whereas the smaller English

vessels could still maneuver. The result was, the Spaniards were at

the mercy of the wind, and were blown up the channel into the

North Sea, and around the coast of Scotland, and finally on to the

Hebrides where they were smashed to pieces.

The wind changed the whole picture, and gave the victory to the

apparently inferior. The winning wind was the decisive factor. It is

the wind that changed the whole picture in the battle of light against

darkness also. Go back to Pentecost, and you find a small group of

120 people facing a Roman Empire, and an unfriendly Judaism. A

picture of weakness facing a great strength. Yet, when the wind

came upon the 120, they received the promised power of the Holy

Spirit, and they went out and turned the world upside down. The

wind was the decisive factor, and again, the apparently inferior

gained the victory. Pentecost was the day of the anointing of the

church, and from that time on all who enter in the body of Christ by

faith in Christ are anointed with the Holy Spirit. John is saying to

the Christians of his day that it is this anointing that is still the

enabling power to be superior over evil forces, and it keeps the

believer from being deceived by the antichrists.

In verse 20, John with one blow destroys the professed

superiority of the Gnostics. They said they were unique and above

all others, for they knew what only the initiated could know. Those

who had not gone through their particular rites just were not

capable of knowing the mysteries of God. John tells the Christians

that this is nonsense, for he says to all of them, "You have been

anointed by the Holy One-Jesus Christ Himself." He said, you know

all things, or as the modern versions have it, you all know. John is

contrasting the Christian position with that of the Gnostics. They

say only the elite can know the deep truths of God, but John says all

Christians know the deepest truths possible to know in knowing

Christ. John did not make a distinction between the slave and the

educated Roman convert, or the even more knowledgeable Jewish

Christian. They all had the anointing of the Spirit, and they all

knew the basic truth of Christ's deity, and the need for faith in Him

alone for salvation.

Every Christian is equal when it comes to the knowledge of God's

greatest truth. Educated Christians go deeper, but none can go

higher, for knowing Christ is the pinnacle of Revelation. All of the

true believers are one here, and this is why John knew that those

who went out of the fellowship were not true believers, for had they

been anointed of the Spirit, they too would have known Jesus to be

the Christ, and could never have forsaken Him or His body.

The word here for anointed is chrism, and so all Christians have

a chrism from Christ. As He is God's Anointed One, so we are His

anointed ones. We are Christ's Christ, or as one has said, we are

little christs-miniature messiahs seeking in Christ's stead to bring

the world to be reconciled with the Father though Him. Every

believer is protected by the Holy Spirit within from being lead

astray by the folly and deception of the antichrists. This explains

why, when the antichrist comes, that Paul speaks of in II Thess. 2,

that though all the unsaved in the world will be deceived, there will

be none of the elect deceived. They cannot be, for the Holy Spirit

within makes it impossible for them to be deceived, for they know

Christ, and can recognize any lie that would seek to deny this most

fundamental of all truths.

This whole concept of the anointing takes us back to the Old

Testament where priests and kings were anointed for God's service.

It was a special thing for them only that set them apart to be used as

instruments of God's Spirit. Now in the New Testament age all

believers are anointed. We see in this another support for the