“The Anointing of Truth”

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-27

At Jesus’ trial before Pilate, he witnessed to the fact that he had come into this world to testify to the Truth, and that you can only understand and accept Truth by listening to him. He was saying that there is no truth outside of God, and Pilate responded, possibly as either a test or in confusion, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38)
John’s gospel doesn’t indicate that Jesus said anything in reply. We can almost hear the unspoken reply, though – “If you haven’t heard the Truth that I’ve already spoken, you will never listen to what Truth is now.”

Presbyterian pastor William Coffin wrote:
Fear distorts truth, not by exaggerating the ills of the world . . . but by underestimating our ability to deal with them . . . while love seeks truth, fear seeks safety.
--William Sloane Coffin, The Courage to Love (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), 60.

Jesus was always about the Truth of God, and the problem that people have had throughout the centuries is that God’s Truth is seldom compatible with the human version. Is Jesus’ unspoken reply to Pilate the same one that we struggle with day in and day out? It certainly is for most of the people of earth! But John’s epistle is offered to the Church as one more attempt to bring Jesus’ words to light, and to offer some insight into the Lord’s intentions that are the basis for all of them.

Read 1 John 2:18-19

As we begin to read this passage, we start to get a feel for why John wrote this letter to the Church in general. Evil ways had infiltrated into the lives of the faithful, and the letter is intended to not only remind the people of God’s love, but also to warn them of the underlying hatred that is also spreading in their lives. The mention of antichrist – the “counterChrist” – the one who opposes Christ – is the first apocalyptic teaching that we find in scripture. Jesus spoke of evil in the world, he named the Satan as one who’s way runs counter to his, and he even had an encounter with the great Deceiver in the wilderness.
But the “antichrist” – the evil equivalent to Jesus - had never been introduced before. Things must have been pretty bad in the church for John to bring this subject up at this particular time. And even at that, his words are a little confusing for us. He says that there are many “antichrists”, while in current Christian theological understand, there will only be one.

So what was our author referring to? With the pluralistic reference, we can assume that these were the minions of Satan – those who had bought into the lies of earthly teaching. While it may not exactly be our understanding of antichrist, we can still get the point – that these people had, at first, been part of the church, but they had deviated from God’s truth to the point that they were no longer one of His. They were, most likely, denying that Jesus is Messiah, and if he isn’t, then who is? Satan, through his followers, will continue to try to do this very thing – to create dissention and discord and divisiveness within the Church. And at times, they have been very successful, and the church must take this threat, and this warning, very seriously.

The other point that the writer seems to be making is that the prevalence and acceptance of these perverted teachings is an indication that the day of Christ’s return is very near. This has been a recurring theme since the 1st century Church first recognized the presence of satanic influence, not only in their lives, but in the life of the Church. But the hour and day of Jesus’ return has still not arrived! Is the teaching false?
God the Father is the only one who knows for certain when that day will be, so it is in his “time” that the day will arrive. And the interesting issue in this is that God has no time – 2 Peter 3:8 “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” We don’t take these words in a literal sense – they are more figurative in nature. It simply means that time has no meaning for the Lord – his time, his timing, simply is. Jesus will return when Jesus returns.

Read 1 John 2:20-25

And now we are back to “truth” again. In John 8:39-47, the Lord tells the Pharisees that they are from their “father, the devil”, and are bent on doing his will. And their allegiance is all based on lies and deceitfulness, because “there is no truth in him.” And in John 14:6, Jesus tells us “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Whoever we follow, wherever our allegiance is, whatever our hearts love, that is who and where we will be. Parentage can never be denied, regardless of whether we like them or not, and denial of Jesus – every aspect of him and his word – is tantamount to denying all aspects and promises of God.

And to make the situation even worse, we read that this letter isn’t for those who don’t know the truth, but for those who do! Are those who have left the Church being written off? Is John telling us that their situation is now hopeless? He says that those who deny Christ are liars and have bought into Satan’s lie. He says that those who “lie” about Jesus are “opposers” of Jesus.
Friends, it appears that there is no possibility of “fence sitting” when it comes to the Truth – there are no broad lines and no gray areas when it comes to salvation. Either we are in the truth of Christ, or we are on the outside. Period.

Read 1 John 2:26-27

The Church is being told of these issues, not as a correction, and not to teach them something new. It is to alert them to the danger that others are bringing to their lives – that they are being targeted, with the intention of leading them away from eternal life.
Those who are in the Lord receive an anointing, but what is that all about? There are several issues being clarified here regarding the anointing that they are receiving:
1. The anointing is for those who are remaining faithful, and it is not for those who have left the Lord for other pastures.
2. The anointing is from God and no one else. It isn’t from John, it isn’t from any other church leader – it comes directly from the Lord to his Church.
3. The anointing remains in those who have received it – and presumably, nothing can take it away.
4. The Spirit who anoints is the one who reveals all Godly truth, and John says that that is sufficient – that no additional teaching by human means is ever necessary.
5. It is real, it is true, it brings truth to the anointed one, and let no one claim that it is false or wrong.
6. The author encourages the recipients of this holy anointing to not be fooled by the lies that others are telling, and to remain close to the Lord Jesus.

And just to add one more dimension to the issue, author Susan Andrews writes this about truth:
Truth without grace is cold and empty. But grace without truth is shapeless — [It is] warmth simply dribbling away.
—Susan Andrews, “Full of grace and truth: Demonstrating the divine,” Sermon preached January 24, 1999, at National Capital Presbytery, Covenantnetwork.org.

Even God’s truth must be shared with a healthy portion of grace. It does little good for us to bluntly proclaim the Lord’s message if it is so painful that no one will listen to it. Even Satan’s messengers know how to massage God’s truth to the point that it sounds and feels right. After all, that’s why this letter had to be written!

We had be better be ready to share Truth with all who come into our lives, and in a way that attracts people to Jesus, and not made it seem so abrupt and difficult that they turn away.
Let’s lead them into the “anointing in truth” that Christ offers, and not to a beating by us.