Epiphany Camden - Abiding in His Anointing - 1 John 2.18-27

Abiding in His Anointing: 

Abiding in His Anointing Community Group Study of a sermon by Pastor Doug Logan on 1 John 2:18-27 Epiphany Fellowship of Camden Prepared by John Matthew Leone Leadership Development Coordinator 4 January 2012

1 John 2:18-27: 

1 John 2:18-27 1John 2:18-20 (ESV) Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

1 John 2:18-27: 

1 John 2:18-27 1John 2:21-25 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

1 John 2:18-27: 

1 John 2:18-27 1John 2:26-27 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) Generally speaking, an “antichrist” is anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. “Antichrist” literally means “one who opposes the Messiah.” “Anti-” means “ in the place of ” and also “ against .”

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) “Anti-” means “ in the place of .” 2 Thess 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day [i.e., the day of the Lord’s Second Coming] will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness [ the antichrist] is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 ... so that he takes his seat in the temple of God [thus pretending to replace Christ as the Head of the Church], proclaiming himself to be God.

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) “Anti-” means “ against .” 1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. Those who deny that Jesus is the Messiah show that they are “against” His work and His kingdom. Matt. 12:30 Whoever is not with me is against [ kata in Greek] me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Note the context here is the “binding” of Satan, who empowers antichrists.)

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) There will be “many antichrists” in the “last hour.” The “last hour” is the period between Christ’s first and second comings. In the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, Satan has been defeated, disarmed, overcome, plundered, judged, and cast out as the ruler of this world system . In this sense, he (and the extent/totality of his power) is “bound” until his release for final judgment (cf. Matt. 12:29; Luke 11:20-23; John 12:31; Col. 2:15; Rev. 20:2-3).

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world [Satan] be cast out . Matt. 12:29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house [i.e., the world, which is the devil's "house"] and plunder his goods, unless he first binds [ deo in the Greek text; the same word is used in the “binding” of Satan in Rev. 20:2] the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Col. 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities [the demonic powers] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in it [i.e., the cross].

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) Luke 11:20-23 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man [Satan], fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he [Christ] attacks him and overcomes him , he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil . Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) Knowing that his rulership and power over this world has been broken, that he has been “attacked,” “overcome,” “cast out,” and “bound” by the life/death/resurrection ministry of the “stronger one,” and knowing that his “time is short” (Rev. 12:12), Satan lashes out in frustrated anger by empowering antichrists and false prophets the world over in an attempt to “lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). Such antichrists are the forerunners of the one final antichrist to come at the very end of this present evil age (cf. Gal. 1:4).

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22): 

1. Concerning Antichrists (v. 18-22) How would you recognize and resist an antichrist if you met one? 1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

2. The Anointing from the Holy One (v. 20): 

2. The Anointing from the Holy One (v. 20) What is the “anointing from the Holy One”? 1 John 2:20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. This is the new birth; regeneration; the impartation of spiritual life by the Holy Spirit that occurs once and for all at the moment of salvation. In the OT, physical anointing with oil (cf. Ex. 28:41; 1 Sam. 16:13) was an outward sign of the inward transforming and empowering work of the Holy Spirit (ESV Study Bible notes).

2. The Anointing from the Holy One (v. 20): 

2. The Anointing from the Holy One (v. 20) 1 John 2:20 (NASB) But you have an anointing ( chrisma , noun) from the Holy One... 2 Cor. 1:21 (ESV) And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed ( chrio , verb) us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2. The Anointing from the Holy One (v. 20): 

2. The Anointing from the Holy One (v. 20) How is this “anointing” of the Holy Spirit related to what John’s audience “heard from the beginning?” What they “heard from the beginning” is a reference to the gospel message that came to them and began their life as children of the living God. John Calvin: “But when he says, from the beginning , he does not mean that antiquity alone was sufficient to prove any doctrine true; but as he has already shown that they had been rightly instructed in the pure gospel of Christ , he concludes that they ought of right to continue [or, abide] in it.”

3. The Teaching Ministry of the Holy Spirit (v. 27): 

3. The Teaching Ministry of the Holy Spirit (v. 27) 1 John 2:27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. What does this mean that “you have no need that anyone should teach you”?

3. The Teaching Ministry of the Holy Spirit (v. 27): 

3. The Teaching Ministry of the Holy Spirit (v. 27) Consider first (as always!) the context of this verse. John is writing “about those who are trying to deceive” his audience. That this anointing “abides” implies that Christians have the resources to discern doctrinal error : they have the Holy Spirit , who came to them in the power of the gospel when it was first preached to them “in the beginning” (cf. Rom. 1:16).

3. The Teaching Ministry of the Holy Spirit (v. 27): 

3. The Teaching Ministry of the Holy Spirit (v. 27) What does this mean that “you have no need that anyone should teach you”? In writing this letter, John is obviously “teaching” them. Therefore, it would make no sense to interpret this statement in a strictly literal and wooden fashion. He means, rather, that they have no need for any instruction that diverges from the gospel message (ESV Study Bible notes).

PowerPoint Presentation: 

The passage ends with: 1 John 2:27b (AMP)But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him] .

PowerPoint Presentation: 

John 15:1-8 (ESV) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.... Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”