You Can Have The Anointing Series

October 26, 2008

Morning Worship

Text: 1 John 2:20-27

Subject: Receiving the Promises of God Part 4

Title: You Can Have The Anointing

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 carpentry trade at a rapid pace. 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 last in a four sermon series about receiving God’s promises. I told you at the beginning of the month that we were designating October as miracle month. I believe that the Lord has opened eyes and hearts to receive specific promises this month. I want you to open your heart and your mind to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life today for a miracle.

You have the anointing you need to receive what you need today.

Lord open our eyes to see and our ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

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, 49I 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. 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. 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.