13: 1 John 2:20-21 What Do You Know?

The Reading of 1 John 2 and the Prayer for Illumination

Standing and turn in your Bibles once again to the book of 1st John. 1st John chapter 2. We'll be focusing this morning on verses 20, 21, and 27. But we'll start our reading in verse 18 for context. 1st John chapter 2, starting in verse 18.

Hear now the inspired word of God. Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us.

For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it would be shown that they are all not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have written to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

And then verse 27. As for you, the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you, but as his anointing teaches you about all things, and this is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Let's pray. Father, once again, as we look into your word, our prayer is simple, and that is that you would bless the preaching, and that as your word goes forth, that just as you have promised it would not return void, but that it would accomplish every purpose for which it is sent.

Quaker Inner Light and the Appeal of Secret Knowledge

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. One of the facts that really gets under the skin of the secularists in our society is the religious or Christian influence that dominated the founding of our nation.

You're hard-pressed to look at the history of any of the original colonies without seeing the influence of one Christian denomination or another. For example, take Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is named after William Penn, probably the most famous of the Quakers.

Pennsylvania was chartered to Penn by King Charles II in 1681. It was nicknamed at that time Penn's Holy Experiment. Penn wanted to see how far a state could be governed consistently with the principles of the Society of Friends, which is what the Quakers called themselves.

The Encyclopedia Britannica says of the Quakers, a Christian group that arose in mid -17th century England dedicated to living in accordance with the, quotations, inner light or direct inward apprehension of God without creeds, clergy, or other ecclesiastical forms.

Two of the major tenets of the society were pacifism and religious toleration. Now you could see where that could lead to some problems. Being strict pacifists, they would not support an army. So a Quaker state would have no means to defend itself from aggressors.

And their toleration was also extreme, which meant that Quakers in their own state could easily become a minority and could only watch as the principles of governing that they held to would be radically changed.

But of more interest to us is their denial of submitting to any religious authority, including creeds, confessions, an eldership, and even the Bible. They believe that as they were the true Christians, again I put that in quotations, that they received inner light.

That is, they received direct revelation from God that was binding on them. And they based their belief in part on our text for this morning, in particular verse 27. Now let's remember before we get into the text the context of this epistle.

The secret knowledge that the Gnostics offered was appealing to many people in the church that John is writing to. Think about it. Who doesn't want to be considered one of an elite class of people? Special, secret knowledge.

It appeals to our baser instincts, does it not? There have been many secret societies throughout the ages and many of them have secret handshakes, rituals for signs and symbols. And secrecy is tantamount in these societies.

This is the opposite of what we saw last week in Christianity. Remember, you are not called to the kingdom of God because you are special. You are called because of the sheer grace of God. In fact, the Apostle Paul says, not many noble, not many wise, not many special people are called into the kingdom because God uses ordinary people to confound the wise.

So the only boasting in Christianity is boasting in Christ Jesus. Remember also that John is writing to those who have remained in the church and have seen those leaving having fallen into grave error.

So John anticipates that they will have questions concerning those who are leaving but also those who stayed. And I love the way John doesn't mince words about those who left. He just tells it like it is.

What does he say about them? They believed a lie. He says they are not true believers. If they were, he said, they wouldn't have left us but they would still be part of the fellowship. So the question then is this.

Why did they believe the lie and we did not? And John answers that question in the text. Look at verses 20 and 21 again. John says, but you, this is an alternative to those who left, but you have an anointing from the Holy One and you all know.

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie is of the truth. John says they could discern the lie because they knew the truth. And then he expands on how they knew the truth in verse 27.

That's why these three verses really need to be taken together. He says, as for you, the anointing which you received from him abides in you and you have no need for anyone to teach you but as his anointing teaches you about all things.

And it is true. It is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you abide in him. So what he's saying is the reason they went out from us and you remained is you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit which abides in you and you in him.

There's the bottom line. That's the difference. Now, of course, in that simple truth, there is a ton of theology. But there is no single point of theology that is more hotly contested and debated even today than the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

So before we get into the specifics of the text, I want to review some points of pneumatology. That's a fancy word for the study of the Holy Spirit. But first, the first thing is this. The Holy Spirit is a person.

He is the third person of the Trinity. Remember, God is a triune God which is a crucial point. You cannot be a Christian and deny the Trinity. I want to just quote from our Confession of Faith on this important point.

This is from the London Baptist Confession, Chapter 2. I'm just going to read one short. It's Section 3 of that chapter. Speaking about the Trinity, our confession says, In this divine and infinite being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word, or Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father.

The Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning, therefore, but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations, which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable dependence upon Him.

Now, while you can separate the persons of the Trinity, for God is one, you can distinguish between them based upon their properties and relations. For example, it was the second person of the Trinity who took upon himself human flesh and sacrificed himself on the cross.

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son with certain other functions in the plan of redemption. And a misunderstanding of the ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit, that can have serious consequences.

So let's review some of the appropriate aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit. And I will say this. This is a very brief overview and it's been very selective because you can have a seminary course filled.

I could teach from now until for a month of Sundays and never touch all there is. So this is very selective. First, and this is basic, but He is God. He is co-equal with the Father and Son. All the attributes of deity belong to Him.

He is sovereign. He is truth. He is love, etc. Therefore, He is to be worshipped as God and not treated as some modern pastors do. He is not to be treated like some genie in a bottle who is to be ordered around with the wishes of men.

While claiming to be Christian pastors and evangelists, some tell you that the Holy Spirit cannot work without you. You are the key that unlocks the power of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to be as gracious as I can.

That is sheer and utter blasphemy. But besides those general attributes of deity, there are certain works that are ascribed specifically to the work of the Holy Spirit. First, He is active in the salvation of sinners.

He regenerates the hearts of sinners whereby they receive grace to believe the promises of God. We read this morning from Romans chapter 8 where the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God. It doesn't seek God.

It cannot please God. It doesn't have the ability to do so. Salvation is not possible without the work of the Holy Spirit. And far from being bound by mankind, the Scripture tells us the work of the Holy Spirit, where He comes and where He goes is a mystery.

Remember Jesus speaking to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was questioning what it meant to be born again. And Jesus said in John 3, 6,. That which is born of the flesh is the flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. And then He describes the Holy Spirit in this way. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from or where it is going.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Second, work that is specifically ascribed to the Holy Spirit is indwells the believer. If you are saved, then you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Romans 8, 11,.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. I don't know about you, but to me that's an amazing truth.

The Holy Spirit of God dwells in the believer. And there are many attributes and advantages for His indwelling. We become children of God. We read it again in Romans 8, verse 14,. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

And again in 16, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. And this is what gives us hope. As we see all the benefits of the Spirit of God dwelling in us, this indwelling Spirit even aids us in prayer.

Romans 8, 26,. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. That's an amazing fact as well.

Have you ever gone to prayer and just been so despondent that you don't even know the words to pray? Don't worry about it. The Holy Spirit is ministering to your spirit and takes your prayers to the Father for you.

Is that an amazing thought? But that's not all. He gives gifts. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to believers to aid them in the work of the kingdom that each one is called to. Paul says again in Ephesians 4, 7,.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Now not everyone has the same gift. And the Spirit of God gives the perfect gift to each one according to His calling. You and I have different gifts for different callings.

Let me put it this way. If God has called you to a certain task or ministry, He will equip you perfectly for that task. To the early church, some were given special gifts to prove that they were apostles and prophets.

That's what the writer of Hebrews says. God testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. That's how the testing of the apostles so that they knew that their words were from God.

But even besides that, He inspired the biblical writers. John 16, 13,. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will disclose to you what is to come.

That was a promise specifically to the apostles so that when they were writing the Holy Scriptures, they knew that this was from God. And Peter confirms that in 2 Peter 1, 21. He says,. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Then we find out that He comforts the church. You ever need comfort? As I listen to Pastor Chris praying on our needs, we're like the walking wounded, aren't we? I joked one time, I said, Sometimes I think we should put a sign up over the church door, enter at your own risk.

Because when you enter the kingdom of God, you're entering warfare, spiritual battles. But God is the God of comfort. John 14, verse 16. This is Jesus speaking to His apostles. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper or comforter that He may be with you forever.

That is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. Then He says, I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you. Again, that word translated helper can also be translated comforter. But the literal translation is one who comes alongside. And through the anointing with the Holy Spirit, Christ fulfills His promise to never leave us nor forsake us.

God is called the God of all comfort. Another attribute or work of the Holy Spirit, He's given us as a pledge. This one amazes me. If you know what a pledge is, that's an assurance. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 21.

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge. And again in 2 Corinthians 5. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the spirit as a pledge.

The spirit of God in us, dwelling in us, is a guarantee that not one of His children will be lost. And just as Christ promised, we will be raised up on the last day, and we can be assured of that because the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

Another ministry of the Spirit is He testifies and glorifies of Jesus Christ. Do you want to know if the Holy Spirit is present? It is the name of Christ being exalted. So much takes place in meetings today that is described in the Holy Spirit, but it fails the test.

Jesus said in John 15, When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about me. And you will testify also because you have been with me from the beginning.

If the Spirit of God is active, Jesus Christ will be exalted. Now with that background, we come to our text once again. And we see that John is encouraging those in the church that didn't leave. And he explains why they were not deceived, because they had been anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, they know the truth. Now that brings us to verse 27, which is one of the most controversial verses in the scriptures. I'll read it one more time. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you.

But as His anointing teaches you all things, and this is true, it is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. Now what does John mean when he says, you don't need a teacher, and that you know all things?

Wow. That's something. The title of the message is, What Do You Know? I titled this section, What You Don't Know. Sometimes I think that one's bigger than the other one. Well, what I mean by that, what does John mean?

First, we're going to look at what he doesn't mean, and look at some of the misinterpretations. There are those who claim, based upon verse 27, to have direct revelation from God, such as we saw earlier with the Quakers.

This was one of the verses the Quakers used. But this error is not limited to them. The reasoning of those who translate it that way, the reasoning goes something like this. Since I've been anointed with the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that anointed the Apostles, I have the same access to direct revelation that they had.

And one of the tendencies of this view, then, is to judge all things subjectively. What I mean by that is, I'm going to judge what I see, or what I hear, based on how it affects me. Those who claim this view wait for a particular feeling within themselves.

You might even hear someone say, I don't feel that is true. That's kind of a clue. Truth is being judged by feelings or emotions. One such group would phrase it this way. They judge the truth by what they call the rising of Christ within you.

Which is more akin to Eastern mysticism than to Christian thought. You hear the Mormons talk about they have a burning in their bosom. And the Quakers receive inner light. This view is also marked by a poor view of the Holy Scriptures.

Since the truth of any matter can be defined by feelings or inner light, the Scriptures become unimportant if they are used at all. And what the Scriptures say regarding any particular matter has a lower impact than how a person feels about it.

So you can have the Bible speaking absolute truth, but I feel this way. And that supersedes the Scriptures. Which leads to another tendency. It leads to the claim of infallibility. You can see how that would follow.

If I have direct revelation from God, and that is judged by my inner light, then why do I need the Scriptures? After all, studying the Scriptures is hard work. It takes discipline, time, and effort. In fact, even Peter admitted that Paul wrote some tough stuff.

Paul wrote stuff that's hard to understand. Why do that if I can just sit and meditate and get truth revealed directly to me in the comfort of my own easy chair? And it doesn't matter if you agree with me or not.

How I feel about it is all that matters. So it's very difficult to hold a debate with someone like that. Of course, they neglect the fact that Jesus warned about the misuse of Scriptures. Remember when the Sadducees tried to trip up Jesus?

He put them in their place with these words. He says, is this not the reason you are mistaken? That you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. And Peter is right on point with his commentary on Paul's letters.

When he says in 2 Peter 3 .15,. Just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking of in them things, these things, which are some things hard to understand.

But listen to what he says. Which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. The mishandling of the word of God can have dire consequences. So no, John is not saying that all Christians receive direct revelation from God.

The second important point is that John is not addressing the subject of guidance or the leading of the Holy Spirit here. He addresses that, and so does Paul, but not here. Here he is addressing the subject of truth.

He is addressing the subject of knowledge. So any use of these verses to speak about direct guidance from God is in an error at the outset. Now we have addressed the subject of being guided by the Holy Spirit in the past numerous times from this pulpit.

But I must make one point before getting back to the main point of our text. Walking in the Spirit or being led by the Spirit is first and foremost walking in obedience to the word of God, never apart from it.

And feelings or emotions or a sense of peace are subjective at best and can lead to one astray. Just as relying on inner feelings can lead to doctrinal error, as John points out in his first epistle, so relying on inner feelings can lead you into poor decision-making.

So moving back to our text again, holding to direct revelation from God also negatively affects the doctrine of the Church. For it would presume infallibility, which would mean in some way or form apostolic continuation or succession.

The Church in Rome teaches a form of this. The Pope is a successor to Peter, they claim, because he was the first Pope. And they claim that the Pope speaks infallibly on Church matters when he speaks at the Cathedral.

This can easily be proven to be false. You don't have to be a scholar. Why do I say that? Because Popes have ruled in opposition to other Popes. So they can't all be infallible if they're disagreeing with one another.

They have spoken contrary to the Holy Scripture and to Church councils. But it even goes further than that. There can be no more apostles since no one can meet the criteria of being apostle any longer.

The apostolic age ended in the first century. And that can be seen in the writings of Paul in many ways. I'll point out one. Paul talks in Ephesians 2 about the Church. And he says, If so, then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and are of God's household.

Then he talks about having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. The apostles and prophets spoke infallibly, but they were the foundation. You don't keep building the foundation. Once the foundation is built, then you build the Church upon that.

And, of course, Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. And Paul continues, he says, In whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. Apostles are no longer needed since the foundation has already been laid.

The Church, and that includes us, is being built upon that foundation. And, of course, in Jude we read this. Jude, verse 3. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith.

I love the honesty of the biblical writers. Jude is basically saying, I had something else in mind, but the necessity forces me to write this. And he says, contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Revelation has finished. So that text cannot mean that Christians receive direct revelation from God. Next, there are several misinterpretations concerning the all things that the Spirit teaches. Certainly, it cannot mean that once you're saved, you receive all the knowledge in the universe.

We can disclaim that right here and now, can't we? Now, how many of us here can do calculus or advanced chemistry? Not all of us, that's for sure. And I took calculus and advanced chemistry, and I still can't do it.

There are many things that Christians don't know. So perhaps to say that the spiritual teaches you all spiritual things would be the way to go. But that would fly in the face of the rest of scripture.

Since we're admonished to grow in grace and knowledge, if we receive all knowledge and salvation, why would the scriptures tell us to grow in grace and knowledge? And again, as a matter of practice, it proves to be false.

If all Christians receive direct knowledge, and that knowledge was infallible, then there would be no spiritual disagreements in the world. All Christians would be Reformed Baptists. Oh, wait a minute, that's...

But the fact that there are differences, differences in baptism, differences in the view of the Lord's Supper, just shows that we don't receive all spiritual knowledge. But the fact that there are differences shows that that interpretation is an error.

The last erroneous interpretation I want to address is that some say that the text says Christians need not be taught by any other person, for the spirit himself teaches him. This is a dangerous one. And I've met many people who have held to this.

That too can be incorrect. Has to be incorrect for several reasons. First reason why it's incorrect, because in the Great Commission, where Jesus commissions the church to make disciples, one of the first things he says is to teach them.

If the Holy Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, then why does Jesus commission the church to teach? And Paul, speaking about building up the body of Christ in Ephesians 4, says that he gave teachers as a gift to the church.

And in this epistle John is writing, he is teaching them. That would be kind of silly for John to say, you don't need to be taught. Well, what are you doing, John? You're teaching us. So no, that can't be what it means.

So, enough of the negatives, enough of the misinterpretations. What do you know? What does John mean in verse 27? He is saying that the Christian, listen carefully, He is saying that the Christian, by virtue of his being anointed with the Holy Spirit and abiding in him, has understanding of spiritual things that the natural man does not have.

This is exactly what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2. Paul says in chapter 2, verse 12,. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. He cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, that he himself is appraised by no one.

So verse 21 of our text is also important on this point. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it. Here John makes it perfectly clear that the people he is writing to know the truth.

And in context we know what that truth is. It is the specific knowledge of the person and work of Jesus Christ. John is not only encouraging these people who remained in the church, but he is commending them.

They didn't leave, they didn't believe the Gnostic lies and leave the church. They didn't leave the fellowship of the saints. They recognized the truth. And what is the truth that they recognized? Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity.

He is God incarnate, the perfect God-man who came to earth, sacrificed himself to save his people. And to repeat myself, the reason that they were able to recognize the error and avoid it and hold on to the truth, the Holy Spirit abides in them and teaches them who Jesus Christ is.

Again, as Paul put it at the end of that section I just read from 1 Corinthians 2, therefore we have a mind of Christ. This truth goes right to the heart of the new covenant. I want you to look at the similarity here.

I'm going to read Jeremiah 31, verse 33 and 34. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and in their heart I will write it.

And I will be their God and they shall be my people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will remember no more. One last thought. Verse 20 says you have an anointing from the Holy One. The Holy One is Jesus Christ, who sent the Spirit to anoint his people.

If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit. And he ministers to you in all the ways that we spoke of earlier. As a Christian, you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who gives you the understanding of who Jesus Christ is.

So I'll ask the question again. What do you know? If you are a Christian, you know the Lord. You know Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God. You know that he came into this world as a baby. You know that he lived a sinless life.

You know that he died on the cross for your sins. That he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. You know that he's ruling heaven and earth from heaven, from the right hand of the Father. You know that one day he will return in power and glory and gather his church together.

And you know that from that day on we will be with him forever. And you know that, not because of some inner light or feeling, but because the Holy Spirit has led you to see the truth in the Holy Scriptures.

That's what you know. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, some of the things that I've talked about may seem like mumbo-jumbo to you. Because you need the Holy Spirit. Repent of your sin.

If God gives you the grace, he'll give you a new heart. Where you can repent and believe. And then you'll know. You'll know the truth. Jesus is Lord. Let's pray.