The name of the message is not
of us. Not of us. Now last week we looked at verse 18 of chapter 2. And tonight, Lord willing, we'll
look at verses 19 and 20. But let's read verses 15 to 20
for the context of tonight's study. Love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the
world passes away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever. Next we see a warning in verse
18 concerning Antichrist. Little children, it is the last
time, and as ye have heard, that Antichrist shall come. Even now
are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. But ye, and remember who John's
writing to, he's writing to born-again believers. But ye have an unction
from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Last week we saw
John give a warning to the saints of God that he's writing to,
whom he calls little children. And children often have to be
warned to keep away from danger. I remember when I was a kid,
my parents were always warning me about things. Warning me,
try to keep me out of danger. And little children often have
to be warned to keep from dangers. They're headlong into danger.
They won't even think about it. They're just headlong right into
it. with no regard for their safety. And we see John here
pen in verse 18, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, that
antichrists were among the church during the times of his life.
And we looked at the underlying Greek word for antichrist and
antichrist, plural, and we saw that it was the same Greek word
last week. It's the same Greek word, which
means in Strong's and Thayer's, it means an opponent. In Strong's,
it means an opponent of the Messiah. an adversary, one who's against
Christ. And thyre says the adversary
of the Messiah. So it literally means an opposer
of Christ, an opposer of Christ, one who usurps the place of Christ. And this Greek word is only found
in John's epistles. It's only found in John's epistles.
And collectively they mean all who oppose the Messiah. And we
know that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Messiah, so
they deny that he came in the flesh. Let's turn over to 2 John. We looked at this last week,
and let's look again at what John writes in 2 John, what he
writes in verse 7 about Antichrist. Same Greek word. They are those
who deny that Christ was come in the flesh. Look at verse seven
of 2 John. For many deceivers are entered
into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Same Greek
word is what's used over there in 1 John. So we see in verse seven, John
brings forth again by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God that
many deceivers have gone out into the world. John is referring,
of course, to false teachers and preachers. Those described
by their character and work, they're seducers who cause others
to go astray. They cause others to go astray.
They pretend to be the ministers of the world, and we know that
the scripture says that Satan's ministers are transformed into
angels of light. They preach Christ, but it's
not the Christ of the Bible. They say you have to do something
in order to be saved. They add to the work of Christ.
See, nothing has changed since the day of John penning this
letter, because there's nothing new under the sun. There's nothing
new under the sun. So those false teachers and preachers
pretend to be ministers of the word, they pretend to have a
love for the truth, they pretend to be concerned for man's souls,
they pretend to have a view of the glory of God sometimes, but
they handle the word of God deceitfully. Deceitfully. They add in things
that you must do or knowledge that you must attain to be saved. Anyone who does that. is Antichrist. Free will religion is Antichrist.
Catholicism is Antichrist. It's an opposer of Christ. Some people might get offended
at that, but I can't help that. It's against Christ. Church of Christ, they say you
have to be baptized to be saved, that's Antichrist. And what it
is, is Antichrist is a spirit. It's a spirit, as we looked at
last week. John Gill and John Calvin both believed that, Spurgeon
believed that, a lot of the preachers of old believed that, that it's
a spirit. It's anything, what does the
Greek say, that opposes Christ, that is an adversary to Christ. works-based religion opposes
our Savior, beloved. It opposes our Savior. So the
chief error of these imposters is their denial of the ones we're
looking at tonight is the denial of the person and work of Christ.
They profess to believe in Christ as a prophet, they say he's a
good teacher or a or he's a healer or even a messenger from God,
but they deny that he's God incarnate in the flesh. And we looked at
that last week. The Gnostics denied that in what they believe. They denied sin, which John deals
with in chapter one, and they denied that Christ was come in
the flesh. They thought he was just an angel.
Well, they deny who the Son of God is. Who the Son of God is. They deny that the divine Word
of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. And all who deny that
Jesus is God, no matter what they stamp on what they believe,
all who deny that Jesus is God are deceivers and antichrists.
And this is what John is bringing forth. Again, this is what we
looked at last week. Let's look at that 2 John 1,
we'll read 7 to 11. Look at this. For many deceivers
are entered into the world. And this is John's pen in this,
just years after the Lord's gone home to glory. For many deceivers
are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ
has come into the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have
wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresses
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, that Christ is God
incarnate in the flesh, that Christ is God incarnate in the
flesh, that he redeemed his people, that he paid everything that
God demanded, that abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath
not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any
unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into
your house, neither bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him Godspeed
is a partaker of his evil deeds. We also, again, looked at last
week how John Calvin and John Gill believed that antichrist
was a spirit which comprises false teachers of works-based
religion, the Gnostics being one of them, the Judaizers being
another, and nothing's changed. We have people, even nowadays,
who deny the finished work of Christ by adding something to
what you must do. That's a false gospel, beloved.
That's a false gospel, plain and simple. And Paul battled
that stuff. He battled that stuff. If you
add a pinprick of works to the finished work of Christ, it's
a false gospel. That's what it is. Now people
don't like hearing that, and it defends people's pride because
people want something to do, but it's the truth, beloved.
It's the truth. And now remember too that all
through this epistle, what we've studied so far in chapter one
and up to this point, John has been bringing a clear contrast,
beloved, between the difference between a false professor and
a true believer. We saw that all through chapter
one. He was doing that. He was bringing forth the difference
between a false professor, those who say they have no sin, and
the false professor does not love the brethren. We saw that
in this chapter. Contrary to the profession, they have no
love for the brethren. They say they're in the light, but they
walk in darkness, John wrote. So he's been contrasting the
truth of a true professor with a false professor. False professors
say they have no sin. And what do they do? They make
God a liar. They make God a liar. Contrast this with the believer
in Christ who confesses our sinfulness. Daily, it is before us. Daily, it's before us. We confess
our desperate need for Christ always. We confess a love for
the brethren. We love the people of God. We're
gonna spend eternity with them. We love them. And they walk in
the light, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer in
Christ walks in Christ. We walk in him. Our life is not
our own. We love our great king and we
seek to honor him in our lives, don't we? We seek to honor him
in our lives. So we see then that those who
John calls Antichrist, those who are false teachers and false
professors, have found their way into the church. Have found
their way into the church. And for a time, they keep up
their masquerade. They keep up their masquerade
for a time, living and acting under false pretenses. And this
still happens today. The scriptures declare that there's
wheat and tare mixed in together. And sooner or later, though,
they'll fall away. They'll depart from the fellowship
of believers. They'll depart from the fellowship
of the gospel. They'll depart from the church
where the gospel's preached. And what does their departure
reveal? What does it reveal? Well, it reveals that they were
never members of the body of Christ. Never truly born again,
never truly in love with Christ. Or they no doubt would have continued
in the faith and fellowship, beloved. If their hearts had been right
with God, they would have remained steadfast to him. They'd have
remained steadfast to his gospel and to his church. Listen to what the scriptures
declare. Turn, if you would, the book of Job. Job, we'll turn
to chapter 17, verse nine. Look at, this is a verse worth
looking at. This is wonderful. And the scriptures
declare this. God keeps his people. And he
keeps them under the sound of the gospel, beloved. And they
love it. Look at this in Job. Job 17,
verse 9. The righteous also shall hold
on his way. Job 17, 9. The righteous also
shall hold on his way. And he that hath clean hands
shall be stronger and stronger. Now, this is not those who appear
to be righteous in man's eyes. This is not speaking of those
false teachers and people who walk around with collars and
want attention from everybody. It's not speaking of those. The
righteous here, this is speaking of those who are made righteous.
They're made righteous by God and God alone. This speaks to
those who've been made righteous by God. They're clothed in the
perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ. And they're washed in the precious
blood of Christ. And they're kept, we know from
the New Testament, that God's people are kept what? By the
power of God. It says the righteous also shall
hold on his way, not because of our doing, beloved, but because
of what the Lord does. He keeps us. And He, that clean
hand, shall be stronger and stronger. God's people will not depart
from His ways. Turn if you would to Jeremiah
32, in light of what we're looking at here. Now remember, the Antichrist,
those false teachers and professors, eventually leave. They eventually
leave. But God's people, God keeps His
people. He keeps his people, and again,
he keeps his people under the sound of the gospel. And look
at this wonderful verse in Jeremiah 32, verse 40. What a wonderful
verse. To me, this is one of the mountaintops
in the Old Testament. This is such a verse that proclaims
the eternal security of the saint of God. It's incredible. Look
at this. What a wonderful verse. And I
will make an everlasting covenant with them. So God makes an everlasting
covenant, verse 40. Jeremiah 32, 40. And I'll make
an everlasting covenant with them. Now that's God saying that.
He's saying I'll make an everlasting covenant. When did he do that,
beloved? He did that in eternity, didn't he? In Christ. In Christ. That I will not turn away from
them. That should make our hearts sin. God says I'm gonna make
a covenant with you, and he did in eternity. And he'll not turn
away from us, beloved. To do them good and all how good
has our God been to us in Christ? How good has he been to us in
Christ? We do not get what we deserve. We receive mercy and
grace. But I will put my fear in their
hearts, right? God's people, we have, what's
the scripture say? The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And look
at this, that they shall not depart from me. That is a promise
from God. God's people will not depart
from him. He won't let them. He's a keeper of his people.
He's a keeper of his sheep. I love that. I showed this verse
to someone who told me they could lose their salvation. I said,
you can lose your salvation because it's not from God. But if God
saved me, and he says here that I will not depart from him, and
every believer can look at this and marvel at this, that God
says to his people, they shall not depart from me. My, it's
wonderful. Now God permits trials to come
our ways. He permits trials, and he permits
trials to come to his church. Why? That it might be more evident
to us that salvation's of the Lord. That's what he teaches
us during those times, and nothing will reveal more clearly to us
that salvation Sanctification and righteousness are the work
of God in us than for us to observe those who try to do this work
themselves. And that's what false religion
does. This is what false professors
believe. And this is what they try to
do, and they cannot tolerate being under the sound of the
gospel. They cannot tolerate it. Because the gospel proclaims
again and again And again, that salvation's of the Lord. That
it's not of our doing. That he might receive all the
glory, and all the honor, and all the praise. And they cannot tolerate, false
professors cannot tolerate that our only acceptance before God
is based upon the work of Christ and Christ alone. But that's
the truth. That's the truth of the scriptures.
God's people, we rejoice when we hear these truths, don't we?
We rejoice to hear these truths. We rejoice to hear the truths
proclaimed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Why do
we rejoice? Because we've been taught of
the Holy Spirit of God that this is truth. We've been taught through the
preaching of this word right here, that it is the Lord who chose
us. That it is the Lord who calls
us. That it is the Lord who revealed Christ to us. And that it is
He who keeps us. Keeps us by His power through
faith. And He works His will in us. He's conforming us to the image
of Christ, beloved. We don't see it. We see our sinfulness
more and more, but he's conforming us to the image of Christ, beloved.
Again, we're being stones being made ready, remember that? We're
stones that are being made ready, being hewn on this earth while
we're here to be fitly, firmly placed right where we belong,
beloved, within the temple of the Holy Ghost, the temple of
the Lord. And he's the foundation, the
Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation. It's God who's made us to differ.
And we say with the Apostle Paul, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. Have you ever noticed how clearly,
or noticed how the truth is more clearly revealed when you observe
firsthand the person who's trying to establish their own righteousness
before God? Have you ever noticed how clearly
the truth of salvation in Christ alone,
when you start to talk to someone who believes that they're saved
by their own merit or their own righteousness. How many decisions have people
made, and they always like to boast They always like to boast
of what they've done for God, as we looked at on Saturday,
or Sunday, I mean. They always like to boast. How
many decisions they had people make. They boast in their prayer life,
or their personal readings of scripture, and they boast of
what they know all the time. And all the time, they're false
professors. Trusting in themselves, rather than the God of the Bible.
And they fall apart when a circumstance comes up or a trial comes up.
And they depart from the faith which they profess to believe.
Why? Because they never really knew
God. They never really knew him. When a believer's faced with
a trial, what does it do? It makes us
flee to Christ. It makes us flee to the only
refuge of our soul. It makes us seek Christ even
more, even more. When we hear of a brother or
sister going through something, we pray for them, don't we? Those
circumstances drive us to Christ, too, because we lift up our dear
brother or sister in Christ, praying for them, praying for
them. We cry out to our God to hold
us and to keep us amidst the trials of life, don't we? And
we usually cry out to God more in those circumstances than we
do in other parts of life. And we profess that we're kept
by the power of God. We profess that our salvation
is all of the Lord. And we say with Paul again and
again and again, it just seems to keep happening. We constantly
are saying, I am what I am by the grace of God. We are taught
as we journey through this life, beloved, of our utter dependence
upon Christ, our constant dependence upon Christ. We are constantly
being taught that, constantly, in circumstances which come up
in our lives as believers. One writer of old said these
words, if one true sheep of Christ could fall away, my weak soul
would fall a thousand times a day. That's the reality of it, isn't
it? But he keeps us, beloved. He keeps us by his almighty power. Now note in the text in verse
19, the word of God proclaims And let's read verses 18 and
19 together, actually, first. Little children, it is the last
time, as ye have heard, that antichrist shall come. Even now
are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us.
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. The antichrists mentioned here,
the false teachers, were not part of the true body of Christ.
They were not part of the true body of Christ, which is composed
of true, born-again, blood-washed believers. They were merely members
of the visible, organized church on earth, but they were not born
again, as believers in Christ are. These
people were unsaved. They had mentally subscribed
to some doctrines of Christian faith. They may even be able
to tell you all kinds of doctrine. And yet they rejected certain
teachings from the scriptures, all the while still remaining
within the visible church and posing as a Christian until they
were exposed as not believing that which the scriptures proclaimed.
Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 20. Paul is writing to the Ephesian
elders His departure is soon at hand. He'll be departing from
them. And the church at Ephesus was very, very dear to Paul.
Look what he pens here in Acts 20 verses 27 to 31. Look what he says to them. For
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves.
Be aware. Take heed, be aware, be on guard. And to all the flock over which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church
of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. How are God's
people fed? With the preaching of Christ
and him crucified. The preaching of the gospel is
sheep food. We love it. But look at this,
for I know that after my department shall grievous wolves enter in
among you, not sparing the flock. He's talking about false teachers
creeping in amongst the church, not sparing the flocks. Also
of your own self shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to
draw away disciples after them. Well, there's a preeminence issue
there. Therefore watch and remember
that by the space of three years I cease not to warn every one
night and day with tears." Let me tell you something about false
professors. They seek places of leadership
in the church. They're not content just to sit
and listen to the gospel, but they love the preeminence. They
love the preeminence. This is said of Diotrephes, who
is spoken of in 3 John, the fact that he loved the preeminence
among the brethren. And there were even certain men
who he would not receive. That being John. That being John. Why? Because he loved the preeminence. He loved the preeminence. So
the Antichrist that John is speaking of here in our text, they were
teachers of false doctrine or false believers. We see this
again in verse 22. Look at verse 22 of 1 John, verse
22 and 23. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son
hath the Father also. Now think upon this. This epistle
is dated between 85 AD and 95 AD. And already, already the
Gnostic error has sprung up in the midst of the church. it's
already sprung up. The Judaizers had already sprung
up in the midst of the church. Already. And we've seen in our
studies that the Gnostics, they denied the incarnation of the
word of God. They denied that Christ was the
Messiah. And note what John brings forth
again by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in verse 23. He says,
whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. You know Jehovah Witnesses deny
that Christ is God? What does that tell us according
to the scriptures then? They're teaching a false gospel. How can you, ask yourself this,
how can you know the Father without the Son? It's impossible. You can't know the Father without
the Son. According to the scriptures,
you can't. A denial of the Son makes the knowledge of both the
Father and Son impossible. So we can conclude then that
they're false teachers, as John's bringing forth, that he's writing
of them, and that they were amongst the church already. As I said,
this letter is dated between 85 AD and 95 AD, not long after
our Lord's death. And already, they're amongst
the church. Already. Though they professed
to believe the gospel, they were nothing but false professors.
And this was eventually exposed by their teachings, and they
left the church. They left the church. Look what
it says over in 1 John 5.5. 1 John 5.5. Actually, let's look at verse
one first, and then we'll look at verse five. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is what? Born of God. Well, Christ, Jesus,
that's meaning, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Messiah is
born of God. And everyone that loveth him, that begot him, loveth
him also that has begotten him. So it's proclaimed here that
not only does the believer in Christ love Christ, but they
love all who are born again. And then look at verse five.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth
on that Jesus is the Son of God? We believe that he's God incarnate
in the flesh, that he really was a man, beloved. It's very clear, isn't it? Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone
that loveth him loveth him that begot, loveth
him that is begotten to him. 1 John 5, one again. So here are some questions. Here
are some questions for us. What think ye of Christ? Our
master asked that question. What think ye of Christ? What
think you of his person? What do you think of his person?
Who he is? What do you think of his offices?
What do you think of the completeness, fullness, and suitabilityness
and all sufficiency of his salvation? What do you think of that? What
do you think of that? What do you think of Christ as
to his worth, his preciousness, his beauty? What do you think? What do you think? What do you
think is to his value? His value. His importance. What do you think of his absolute
necessity? That we need him. That we absolutely
need him. And what do you think about living
without him? And what do you think about dying
without him? Oh, my. Oh, may God give we who are his
people a proper understanding of who the Lord is, of who Jesus
is, God. God incarnate in the flesh, and
he's so precious to those who believe on him. He's so precious. We see his all sufficiency. We
see his all sufficiency in our our utter need of him. We see
him now seated at the right hand of the majesty. The work's finished.
Interceding for his people. And we know by faith as we look
to him that one day we're gonna see him. Face to face. And we're gonna do what our brethren
right now who've gone before us are doing. We're gonna be
singing worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Oh may God give us a proper understanding
of who our King is. Who our Lord is. And what He's
done for His people. What He's done for His people.
The fact that He has accomplished a complete eternal salvation
for us by His death on Calvary's cross. Oh may God give us an
understanding of that. More and more as believers. What a Redeemer we have, beloved.
What a Savior we have. And praise God if you have an
interest in Him. Give Him all the glory. Give
Him praise. If you have an interest in Him,
as Brother Chap prayed, that's our prayer is that the message
would go forth and that the Holy Spirit would regenerate those
who hear and give them an interest in the things of Christ. Because
without Him doing that, we have no hope. We have no hope without
Him. What a Redeemer. Praise God if
you can answer the Lord's question of what think you of Christ with,
He alone is my all in all. He alone is my salvation. He alone is my God and He alone
is my Savior. Praise God if you can answer
in that way. That all my salvation is wrapped
up in Him. Let's read verses 18 to 20 again.
Little children, it is the last time. As ye have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know
that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But
ye have an unction from the Holy One in all things. Now verse
20 here. In verse 20 here we have a wonderful
truth. We have a wonderful truth that's
being brought forth in this verse. Look at it again. But ye have
an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Well,
we know that the Lord Jesus Christ, over in John 3, what did He say
to Nicodemus? He said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. And then our Lord said in verses
5 to 7 of the same chapter, he said, verily, verily, I say unto
thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. Turn, if
you would, to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter
2. You must be born again. The scripture
is so clear, you must be born again. You must be. I was talking to a couple of
folks today. I went over to get a sandwich and spent about 10
minutes over with the guys. And it came up, of course, they
always ask questions, which is a real blessing. And it came
up about faith. And one thing you notice with
religious folks is they exalt faith way up here. They exalt
it so high. And now you've got to have faith,
right, to believe on Christ. But I asked that question that
I always ask, what comes first, faith or regeneration? Well,
they started to go down the faith road. No, you must be born again. And then we looked at Ephesians
2, 8, and 9, and I said, look, it says it's a gift of God. Faith
is a gift of God. And then I talked about prepared
ground. Think about that. The scripture says prepared ground,
that the seed, the good seed fell on prepared ground. The
other ones fell on ground that wasn't prepared. Who prepared
the ground? The Lord prepared the ground.
The ground didn't prepare itself. I said, you're born again by
the Holy Spirit of God. That's prepared ground, beloved, to
receive the Word of God. And then you're granted faith
to believe, and you run to Christ. Oh, you do. You do. But look at this, you have an
unction from the Holy One and you know all things. And then
Acts 2.38, it said, then Peter said unto them, repent and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remissions of sins and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. And then, let's go back to our text again. It says
there, but you have an unction from the Holy One and you know
all things. John is writing again to born-again
blood-washed believers, those who are trusting in Christ and
Christ alone, and he's telling them that they have an unction
which is an anointing of the Holy Spirit of God. God's people,
his sheep, are the Lord's anointed ones. That's wonderful. We're
the Lord's anointed ones, true believers. They're true believers,
and what? They know the truth. They've
been taught by God. And they believe what the Word
of God says. They believe it. So this verse
brings out that God's people have experienced a communication
and reception of the Spirit of God, just as our Lord said. Remember,
he said, I'll not leave you comfortless. I'll send the Holy Spirit to
you. Turn, if you would, to Exodus
28, and then put your finger in 1 Samuel 10. Exodus 28 and
1 Samuel 10. God's people are born again,
and this unction also has a picture in the Old Testament. Kings and
priests were anointed and consecrated by the Lord. Did you know that?
They were anointed and consecrated by the Lord. Look in Exodus 28,
verse 41. Exodus 28, 41. And thou shalt
put them upon Aaron, thy brother, and his sons with them, and shalt
anoint them and consecrate them and sanctify them, that they
may minister unto me in the priest's office." So there we see the
priests are anointed. Now turn to 1 Samuel 10. And
we see Samuel anointing David. 1 Samuel 10, verse 1. Then Samuel took a vial of oil
and poured it upon his head and kissed him and said, It is not
because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance.
So we see one who would be king anointed and we see the priest
anointed in the Old Testament. Strongs brings forth that the
Greek mean this Greek word For unction means a special endowment
of the Holy Spirit. It means anointing, unction,
as our text proclaims. Let's go back to our text. Actually,
let's go to Revelation chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 5. Now remember, this anointing
in the Old Testament was for kings and priests, right? Was
for kings and priests, just as we looked at there in the Old
Testament. Scripture say of God's people in the book of Revelation
in the New Testament and keep in mind but ye have an unction
from the Holy One and you know all things an anointing an anointing
now keep that in mind and keep in mind that it was that it was
priests and king that were anointed look at this in Revelation chapter
1 verses 4 to 6, John to the seven churches which are in Asia,
grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and
which is to come, that's the eternal one, that's God, that's
Jehovah, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne And
from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first
begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth,
unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That's the only way that we can
be forgiven of all our sins, is to be washed in the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what he's made us, beloved,
and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. To him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Now, look at
Revelation 5, verse 9. And here it's proclaimed of God's
born-again blood-washed people. Look what it says here. And they
sang a new song. Oh, here's the song in heaven.
Saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals
thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us by Thy blood
out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. That's all
the elect, beloved, of all the ages. They come from every kindred,
every tongue, every people, and every nation. And has made us
unto our gods kings and priests. Kings and priests. And we shall
reign on the earth. So God's people, the saints of
God, are made kings by Christ. And they are even so now. as
they receive the kingdom of grace which cannot be taken away in
and through Christ Jesus our Lord. We're children of the King,
beloved. We're children of the King. Children
of the King of the universe. And we are arrayed, do you know
that we are arrayed in kingly apparel? You ever think of that? Even now, the believer in Christ,
even here, is arrayed in kingly apparel. You know what that is? That's the righteousness of Christ,
beloved. That's the righteousness of Christ. That's kingly apparel.
That's a righteousness which our Lord wrought out for us.
We're arrayed in rich apparel. The saint of God is clothed in
the righteousness of Christ. And how? All by God's divine
power, beloved. We're sons of God by his power.
We've received a great inheritance in Christ. And we are united
to him. He's the head and we're the body. And it's God who's made His people
priests. It's God who's done this. It's
God who's made His people kings. And we're priests to offer up
spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise that's acceptable
to Him. And how? Only through Christ. Only through
Christ. And those who are made kings
and priests by God are those of a broken heart and of a contrite
spirit. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. We're given a new heart that hungers and thirsts
after righteousness. Hungers and thirst after Christ,
who is our righteousness? Do you ever think of that? It
says God's people hunger and thirst after righteousness. Who's
our righteousness? Christ. We hunger and thirst
after him, beloved. That's who we hunger and thirst
after is our Lord. Our Lord. And we are set apart. We're set apart by God. When, from when? From the foundation
of the world. In Christ. We are a chosen people. A chosen people. And we have
an unction. An anointing, we're born again.
by the Holy Spirit of God, it says again, but ye have an unction
from the Holy One and ye know all things. And we see very plainly,
very plainly put forth that this anointing by the Holy Spirit
of God is not only a quickening one, but a teaching one. A teaching
one. When the born again blood washed
saint is enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God, we receive this
word, We receive this word with gladness. And we receive this
word with understanding. He's the one who teaches us.
He's the one who guides us. He's the one who illuminates
the scriptures. And teaches us about the very
one who we hunger and thirst after. Christ our righteousness. Christ our righteousness. And
God's people are teachable people. They're taught by the Holy Spirit
of God. And they desire that the Holy Spirit would teach us
more and more about Christ. That's what we desire. And they now know the living
God. They now know him. More so, they're
known by him. He's always known us, but we
know him now. We know the nature of fallen
man. Now, we didn't know that before the Lord saved us. I had heard that Adam fell in
the garden, but I didn't have a clue what it was all about,
to be honest with you. Not really. I didn't really understand the
fall. Except somebody called me a sinner
and I didn't like it. But now we know. We know what
happened in the garden. We know that we all fell in Adam.
We now know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know how
wonderful it is. We know the miracle of the new
birth now. We know the Redeemer. And now
we know and we rejoice in the true gospel. We know and we rejoice
in it. And we can now discern false
teachers and their message for what they really are. And what
they will lead to. The doom of the eternal souls
of those who follow them. And we praise God that He saved
us. We praise God that He had mercy
on us. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter
2, 9 and 10. We're closed with these verses.
Look at this. This is wonderful. 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10. In
light of heaven, an unction from the Holy Spirit. And we lie to
be in priests and kings before our great God. And it's He who's
made us that way. We definitely, we're clothed
in the perfect righteousness of Christ. But look at this,
1st Peter chapter 2 verses 9 and 10. But ye are a chosen generation. God chose us. Chose us out of
our generation. A royal priesthood. A royal priesthood. To offer up sacrifices of praise
to our great God. And they're made acceptable in
Christ, beloved. In a holy nation. Isn't that
wonderful? God's people are called a holy
nation. A peculiar people. That ye should show forth the
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness. That was
our natural state. Into His marvelous light. And
that's the light of Christ. Which in times past were not
a people. Look at that. but are now the people of God.
And that's all by his mercy, and that's all by his grace,
beloved. And look it, I love this. I love how he ends this.
Which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Praise be to God. Praise be to
God. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for allowing us to gather together. Thank you for allowing us to
look in thy word. Oh, how wonderful it is. How wonderful it is for
your people. We who are born again by thy
spirit to look into thy word and to rejoice in these wonderful
truths that are set before us, the wonderful truth of salvation
in thee and thee alone, a complete, full salvation only found in
thee. And in the marvel and the fact
that you revealed Christ to us, you revealed this wonderful salvation,
this wonderful work that Christ did in our place for us, that
you revealed him to us. Oh, Father, we thank thee. Thank
you for your mercy and your continued mercies. We know that your mercies
are new every morning to us. Glory to your name, honor and
praise in Jesus name. Amen. Let's close with he hideth
my soul.