6/16/2013
Morning Worship
Text: 1 John 2:20-27
Subject: The Priesthood of Believers
Title: The Priestly Anointing
Happy Father’s Day!
I used to get together with Charlotte’s brothers and brothers-in-law and nephews once a year to play golf. None of us were very good – some of us just not as bad as others. The last year we played was about five years ago. I remember something very specific about that day. I had been targeted by Charlotte’s family as the one to beat. I have no idea where that came from, but I guess they thought that since I was a pastor that I must have a lot of time to play golf.
I remember one particular comment that Charlotte’s brother Ted made. I had asked him why he thought that he had to beat me. What made that so special? He told me that he noticed that I was one of those guys who did well at anything they tried. That’s how he saw me and not how I saw myself. And after thinking about it I saw that there was an element of truth to what he was saying. I was a late bloomer as far as athletics go. I didn’t get very good at anything until after I was out of school. Then I just started being pretty good at everything I tried. Whether it was softball, basketball, or horseshoes I began to take the extra time to get good at whatever I was doing. It didn’t stop with athletics. I worked harder at my guitar playing. I advanced in my factory job faster than anyone else. I learned the carpenter trade quickly. That was just the way I was wired. I was going to be good at anything I did.
I suppose that aspect of my personality transferred over to my spiritual life as well – or at least what I thought was spiritual. When Charlotte and I were married and I joined her church I worked hard a being a good church member. However, unlike my life in the material world, I eventually realized that my abilities really had no impact in the eyes of God. It wasn’t until that cold winter night in February of 1988 that everything changed and I also changed. It was on that night that I gave myself to Jesus that I saw myself in the same light that God saw me – a sinner in need of a Savior. When I made that decision I quickly began to take the same spiritual track that I had taken in my natural life. I wanted to be the best that I could be. If I’m going to be a Christian I’m going to do everything I can to be the best. The only difference between then and now is that I no longer am in charge, but the Spirit of the Living God has anointed me.
This is the beginning of a series on who you are as a Christian. I want to focus on 1 Peter 2:9-10, 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God…
If you look in the Scriptures one of the first things you see about the priesthood is that they were anointed and set apart for the Lord.
1 John 2:20-27,
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.£ 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.
26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
I believe this is God's Word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I appropriate it to my life today…
You have the anointing as the priesthood of God.
I. THE ANOINTING COMES FROM GOD. (20-23) Verse 20, But you have an anointing from the Holy One… What does that mean? 1) Whatever John is talking about here is for “YOU”. 2) What is for you is “an anointing” The Greek word translated “anointing” means “a special endowment from the Holy Spirit.” 3) This “special endowment” comes from God. Jesus told His disciples in Luke 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed (or, endued) with power from on high. So John is saying that you, both as the church and as an individual temple of the Holy Spirit have a Holy Spirit endowment that has come from God. Verse 21, I do not write to you because you do not know the truth… John isn’t writing to the church because they didn’t know that had a special anointing. He is writing to remind them of the anointing they have. In 2 Timothy 1 Paul wrote to encourage and remind Timothy that he had something special in him as well. “5I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Paul was expecting Timothy to stir up the anointing that was in him. It was his responsibility. You see the anointing isn’t for unbelievers but it is for the church. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. It is the anointing from God that opens your eyes to the truth contained in His word. It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that illuminates scripture to you so that you see and understand things that you’ve never seen and understood before. It is that Holy Ghost anointing that stands in faith and refuses to give in to the lies of the enemy who would tell you that God’s promises are not valid for today, that you are not good enough to receive anything from God, or that God’s word isn’t true. It is the Holy Spirit’s witness in your spirit that confirms the word of truth in your inner man and reveals the lies of the devil for exactly what they are – deception intended to bring death and destruction to believers. Verse 22 reveals how the devil will do that. He puts people in churches or in close proximity to believers in order to deceive them concerning God’s promises. 22Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. “Anti-Christ” isn’t referring to the “anti-Christ” of the Great tribulation but to the spirit of anti-Christ that stands against the truth of God’s word. There are sincere people who absolutely refuse to believe that God’s promises are true because their church tradition says that God does not heal, does not bless, does not provide, does not respond to prayer, or does not supply all your needs. Even though everything that Jesus has promised us was brought to fruition with His cross and resurrection and will be brought to completion with His second coming, they refuse to accept those promises. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; The word “denies” means to contradict, disavow, or reject. Whoever rejects the Son rejects the Father. John 14:10-11, 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. The John who wrote the gospel is the same John that wrote 1,2, and 3 John. His continuing line of thought is Verse 23, whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. The anointing to believe in miracles is from God who had given His Spirit to all who have asked Him.
II. THE ANOINTING WILL SEE YOU THROUGH (24-25) Verse 24, See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you… From the very beginning of the church Jesus and the disciples knew that there would be distortions of the truth that would come along. Let’s look at what they said about it. 1 Timothy 4:1-2, 1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. You know I find it kind of funny – when you think about it in the last one hundred years the church world says that the Pentecostal movement has distorted the gospel of Christ to make it more than it was originally intended. But if you really stop and think about it the real distortions of the gospel haven’t come in the form of applying God’s power to the lives of believers, but the worst distortion has come from removing God’s power and authority from believers. 2 Timothy 3:1-4, But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. Doesn’t that sound like what the church had become before the wave of revivals began to sweep across various parts of the world? The church wanted to take away the authority of believers so that authority could rest in an institution. But here is what Jesus had to say about His word. In John 15:7-8, If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. You see it is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that enables you to remain true to Jesus and to His word. You can’t do it on your own. 24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. If you can hold true to the Word of God concerning salvation, you can do the same for the other promises of God – not that you do so in your own power but it is under the anointing.
III. THE ANOINTING WILL CONTINUE TO TEACH (26-27) 26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. John is writing to the church to warn them about false teachers. If the Holy Spirit is in you (and especially if you have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit) when false teaching comes there will be a check in your spirit that tells you to take it slow. Don’t fall into the trap. That is what “religion” is. It is a trap to get you more focused on your denomination than on the power of God working in you. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. Let’s break it down to see what this verse is saying to us. 27As for you – that’s you, the church - the anointing – the Holy Spirit endowment from God - you received – you’ve already received it. It’s not something that you hope for, it is a promise that has already been given - from him – It’s from Jesus - remains in you – it isn’t something that comes and goes. It is in you. Now that spiritual connection is greatly enhanced with the Holy Ghost power that comes with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In reality that is the anointing that we are talking about here. It is the same anointing that Jesus told his disciples would come as they waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. He knew they couldn’t begin their ministry until they had the anointing of the Holy Spirit in their lives. That anointing remains in you but you need to have it replenished from time to time. and you do not need anyone to teach you. The anointing of the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth. Jesus said that would be one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit. Now if the anointing is upon you what does that mean? It means that you have the same anointing on your life as Jesus did. You have the anointing to work miracles. You have the anointing to walk in power. You have the anointing to operate in the gifts of the Spirit. You have the same anointing to say as Jesus said in Luke 4, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” It is the same anointing that Jesus said we would have in Mark 16, 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark finishes his gospel with a description of the anoint at work, 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
You are a holy priesthood – anointed and set apart for service to the Lord.
Now I want you to understand that there is an anointing available to you by which you can call the promises of God into being. Maybe that’s not what you have been taught. Remember, God’s promises are already done from His perspective. He is waiting on you to call them into reality.
It is time for miracles to once again transform the church. It is time for the gifts of the Spirit to flow from those who have been anointed. It is time for you to allow Jesus once again to be the baptizer in the Holy Spirit the way He said he would be. It is time for you to abide in God’s word and allow His word to abide in, and flow out of you. It is time for you to confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart – that God’s word for miracles is just as valid as His word for salvation. It is time to take “religion” out of the body of Christ and replace it with unwavering faith in God’s word and all His promises. It is time to take the Word of God out into the world to the lost and dying and allow God to confirm that word with signs and wonders.
It is time for you to be what God has called you to be. You aren’t going to be able to do that in your own power like I did with all my natural attributes in my natural man. But you must do it under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
The anointing is for now and it is for you.
Be the anointed Priesthood God has called you and set you apart to be.
