Let us turn to our confessional reading this evening, Lord's Day 12. Lord's Day 12. Page 213, question answers 31 and 32. We're gonna be reading from 1 John 2, verses 18 to 29. We might say that verses 28 and 29 align very well with the end of question answer 32. And so we could have tried to take all of it and make it three points, That was just gonna be too much. So we'll read through 29 and we'll read all of question answer 31 and 32, but we're gonna be thinking about especially question answer 31, the very beginning of question answer 32. And John, who follows that so closely, well, John is first in the catechism, follows it closely in 1 John 2, 18. to 27 but first let's read the catechism beginning with question answer 31. And I think it's just short enough we can say it together already the question let's see the answer together why is he called Christ meaning anointed. Because he has been ordained by God the father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance, our only high priest who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body and who continually intercedes for us before the Father, and our eternal king who governs us by his word and spirit and who guards us and keeps us in the deliverance He has won for us. And turning over to number 32, I'll read the question again and let's see the answer. But why are you called a Christian? Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in His anointing. I am anointed to confess His name to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for eternity." This is the confession we hold in common. Let's turn to the Word of God, 1 John, and we'll read 18 to 29. even as we'll focus on 18 to 27. It's probably easiest to find Revelation chapter one and then work backwards just a little bit. Jude, second John, third John, they are all one page each or two pages each. And that gets you quickly back to 1 John. 1 John 2. We'll begin our reading at verse 18. 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. 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. 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. And now, little children, abide in Him so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born. of him. So far the reading of the Word of God. A dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Can one lie be worse than another? We know the commandments, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. We know the positive commands that we are to speak the truth. These are broad sweeping commands. We are to be people of the truth, but there is one lie, which is worse than any other. A vile thing is something which is totally bad, morally abhorrent. The vilest thing, the vilest lie is to lie about Jesus Christ. And that's why the Apostle John speaks so strongly in judgment in verse 22, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is the liar, anti-Christ. If you deny Christ, if you lie about Christ and who He is, that is the worst lie. Now, the opposite of a lie is the truth. And so even our children know the opposite of a lie is the truth. So what follows then if the lie is to lie about Jesus Christ, what is the truth, the most important truth? Surely the words of the Apostle John which follow point us to the truth of Jesus Christ and who Jesus is. And so following the words of the Apostle John, we focus on the truth. of Jesus the Christ and we do it with this theme that we would abide in the truth of Jesus Christ first knowing his anointing and second sharing his anointing so first to be knowing his anointing to be a believing Christian is to be one who knows this truth. It is more than that, we might say, and we'll see that especially in our second point, but it is at least that, that we know who Jesus Christ is, that he is the Messiah. When we say Christ, that's the Greek word for anointed one. When we say Messiah, that's the Hebrew word for anointed one. Messiah, Christ, anointed one, it's all the same thing. And so verse 22, when Jesus says that the liar is anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, we could read it this way. The liar is anyone who denies that Jesus is the anointed one. The most important truth is here. This is what determines the difference between a true believer and one who is against God. This is what separates antichrists from Christians. to lie on this point is to not only be one who struggles with speaking the truth, it is to be one who is an antichrist, a son of the devil. I think people of God, we know that the truth is even more important sometimes than others. The Old Testament law reflects this. In most cases, a lie was always bad, a lie was always punished, but there was only a very few cases where a lie received the death penalty. It was only false witness in the court of law in a capital murder case where a lie would lead to the death penalty. And so other lies were still punished, were still wrong, but they didn't receive the same kind of punishment. And so we work from that and we think of the most serious lies, that kind of false testimony which would put another person to death. Well, if the most serious lies in the Old Testament are speaking falsely about what another person has done, it follows that the vilest lie is speaking falsely about the perfect one, Jesus Christ. It follows that a false testimony about Jesus would be the lie. And so this is how John speaks. He is the liar who denies the truth of Jesus. the Christ and so this is the matter of not only life and death in the earthly court of the Old Testament Israelites but this is the matter of eternal life and death and that is why John speaks of eternal life for those who know the truth in verse 25. And notice that while John starts by emphasizing that Jesus is the Christ, he does not just leave it there. He emphasizes at least a couple more critical truths about who Jesus is. He clearly says in the following verses that Jesus is the Son, and he clearly separates the Son from the Father in their personhood even though they're completely united in that we must worship them both. To have one is to have both. To be against one is to be against both. The father and the son are linked even as they are separate persons. And so many lies are corrected by these words. Consider the lie of Judaism and really any non-Christian. They deny that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Now, consider this one's a little bit more technical, but it gets to the immediate context. Consider the lie of the Gnostics. It's either the Gnostics or some early form of the Gnostics that John is especially addressing here. And they taught, among other things, that there was two different Jesuses. There was divine Jesus, but then there was human Jesus, and they were different. They were two different persons. And so even by speaking in the singular, that Jesus is the Christ in the singular, John is correcting that error. And lest we think this is an old error, a form of this speaking of two different Jesuses has been very popular in the last 150 years. And so that teaching is that there's the Jesus of the Bible, and Jesus of history and Christ of the Bible. And they're two different people. We have to work out who Jesus really was and see what the apostles got right. And you see teaching like that creeps into even what we might call conservative Christian colleges. I had a teacher who taught that relatively by usually a relatively conservative Baptist college. Thankfully, that teacher's no longer there because of that and other reasons, but how many hundreds of students did he teach before he was removed from his position? And so this kind of idea that there could be two different Jesuses, it still exists in different forms. Well, consider the lie of those who deny the Trinity, that Jesus is the son and that he is clearly a separate divine person from the father is taught in the language of John right here in these verses. They are equal. They must both be believed, but they are not the same. There's a distinction of persons between the father and the son here. And so that lie is confronted by these verses. Consider the lie of those who claim that the Jesus of the New Testament is against the God of the Old Testament. Certainly, there's a distinction in persons, but there's a unity in who we are to believe, and so the language of John would confront that lie. and tell us who Jesus really is. The one who has the son has the father. The one who denies the son denies also the father. And so the essential truths that John touches on here relate to both the work that Jesus does as the anointed one and his personhood. He is the son separate from the father. And now if we look back at the confession, the confession details the Christ and what it means that Jesus is anointed and summarizes so well how scripture speaks of that beyond just here in 1 John. I'm going to direct your attention to question and answer 31 and the footnotes are always helpful. but almost especially so in this one question and answer. The scripture references are especially helpful. Look at question answer 31. Jesus is our chief prophet, footnote two, as stated in Acts chapter three, which is quoting from the prophecy of Deuteronomy chapter 18. Jesus is our only high priest, footnote four, as stated in Hebrews seven, which is quoting from the prophecy in Psalm 110. And Jesus is our eternal king, footnote seven, as stated in Matthew 21, according to the prophecy in Zechariah nine. So in scripture, therefore, as we consider the whole counsel of God, to speak of Jesus the Christ is a beautiful way to think of the work that Jesus has done. And so here we're also reminded that Jesus being the Christ includes the fact that he's the prophet, our great teacher. Then we must move from, yes, there is the truth which must combat the most vile lie, but we are also to hear all of the truth that Jesus speaks, because Jesus is our chief prophet and teacher who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God. But he's also the one who is our only high priest, and so to truly call Jesus the Christ must include a trust in his saving priestly work, the atoning work of Jesus Christ who won our deliverance through the one sacrifice of his body on the cross. And to truly call Jesus the Christ will include a submission to his kingly authority. While we do have kings and various authorities over us on this earth, they are all under the King of Kings and only Jesus is our eternal authority. And so, even though we're not gonna get into verses 28 and 29, I'll just remind you that 28 and 29 follow this passage and get into practicing righteousness. And if we were to go into those details, there's a reason why that lines up with the second half of question answer 32, that we're to be those who are a living sacrifice of thanks. We are to be in those who have a willingness to listen to Jesus the prophet, a complete trust in Jesus our saving priest, and a full submission to Jesus our king. All of this is what scripture clearly speaks of concerning Jesus the Christ, the anointed one. But now we see not only that Christ is the anointed, but there's also clear language in the text about how we have an anointing as well. Verse 20, you have been anointed. Verse 27, but the anointing that you received. And so that takes us to our second point and it makes us think of the summary at the beginning of question answer 32. Now what is the place and the way in which we share the anointing of Jesus Christ. It is not that we are called to carry out the offices in exactly the same way. That could not be. We are not without sin. We cannot go to a cross and die for others. We cannot teach perfect truth without any stumbling. We cannot claim all authority. It does not mean that, but it does mean we share in the mechanism. That's what we mean by the mechanism. Well, usually when we think about the mechanism, the way that someone's anointed in scripture, we think of being anointed with either the laying on of hands or with oil. Those are two ordinary mechanisms, ways of being anointed. But there is one more way. There is one more way. When we speak about the anointing of Jesus, we're not talking about the times that Jesus was anointed with oil. Jesus was anointed with oil, especially just before his death, and those are beautiful accounts which teach us certain truths, but that is not the anointing of Jesus Christ. The anointing of Jesus is not done with the laying on of hands or with oil at all. It's at his baptism, and it's when he is anointed by the Holy Spirit. Turn with me to two passages in the Gospels. First to Mark chapter one. First to Mark chapter one, and we're gonna read verses nine to 11, and then we'll turn to Luke chapter four and read a couple verses there. Mark chapter one. the baptism of Jesus, verses 9 to 11. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water Immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. When did Jesus begin his earthly ministry? His special work as prophet and priest and king is after this moment. It's after this moment. Luke chapter four, turn with me to Luke chapter four. So now this is from the early days of the ministry of Jesus Christ, shortly after his temptation in the wilderness, which was just after his baptism. And Jesus in Luke four, he's teaching in Nazareth and he's reading the scroll. And he reads these words from the scroll of Isaiah in Luke 4 verse 18. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recover sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And then look at verse 21, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. I am the one whom the spirit of the Lord is upon. I have received that special anointing to be the prophet, priest and king, the Messiah who will save my people. Now we don't carry out the offices in exactly the same way, as I said, but people of God, what do we share? Maybe you've never been anointed with oil, probably not. Maybe you've never been anointed through the laying on of hands, probably not. But if you are a true believer, you have been anointed by the Holy One, by the Holy Spirit. You share the same kind of anointing as Jesus the Christ. The Holy Spirit, to use the language of the Apostle Paul, dwells in you. Now, John has many qualifiers, many if statements, So we'd actually say he's said that it's possible for someone to be of us, but not really of us. But if you are really of us, if you have really repented, to use the conditional of 1 John 1 verse 8, 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If you are one who has done that, then You do have the Holy Spirit, and you do have knowledge, saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, because if the third person of the Trinity is dwelling in you, how could you ever deny the second person of the Trinity, our eternal Son and Savior, Jesus Christ? You have been anointed in the same way as He was. People of God, are you comforted by this? Do you see what John means when he says you have no need of a teacher? We hear that in context. We know it doesn't mean that you're not to be taught at all. That's what John is doing here. But we might say the most direct application of it is, how could you ever receive a false teacher who's denying Christ, who's showing that he doesn't have the anointing of the Holy Spirit? You have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You know that is a false teaching. throw the false teacher out so that you may hear and dwell on and live in, abide is the language of our text and our theme, abide in the truth of Jesus Christ. And if you know Him, you will recognize that. You know, when churches fall away, we rightly mourn. the false teachers who are so often at the head of that leading away. And we think then of the words of James, that false teachers will be judged more strictly. But hearers don't get a free pass. If you are a true hearer, you have the Holy Spirit, you will recognize false teaching. And you will refuse to have a part in it. The third person of the Trinity is the way that you have been anointed, and so He dwells in you, and so you will know the truth, the truth of Jesus Christ. The challenge is that we must be able to recognize that false teaching. The comfort is that we will be able to, if we are truly in Him. how smart the false teaching might sound, no matter what package it comes wrapped in, no matter what temptations come along with it, you will be able to combat it and to cling to the truth as one who shares in the anointing of Jesus Christ. We are Christians because we believe in Christ. But we can also say that we are Christians because we have a share in the anointing of Christ. I don't think we use that language as often. Someone says, why are you a Christian? It's good and it's right to say, I believe in Christ. But it's also good and it's right to say, because I share in the anointing of Christ. Maybe we're Perhaps not as quick to say that because it sounds a little more big word and scary or it's just something we don't think about as much, but it's true. And it's something which is good to think on. And notice that that's right where question and answer 32 goes. Why are you called a Christian? Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. Now as we're seeing that the Holy Spirit being anointed by the Holy One, to use the language of verse 20 in our text, as that is the mechanism, the way of anointing that unites us to Christ, it's appropriate then to think of an illustration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is alike the oil which powers the lamp. It may not be an accident, this may be one of the reasons why anointing is sometimes done with oil, but either way the Holy Spirit is like the oil which powers the lamp and this is even a scriptural type of an illustration. This illustration works because the flame is what is visible, but it's the oil which is powering that, right? It's the Holy Spirit who is powering us in being able to abide in Christ and cling to the truth of Christ. Now, the illustration perhaps loses a little bit of its power only because we're less familiar with it. We don't have candles with oil anymore. But it works with a light bulb and electricity as well. What is the electricity? It's something we can't see. It's something that, like the oil, is behind the scenes. But we can see the light bulb. But the light bulb would never work without the power source. And so even as adults, not all those adults understand electricity, much less as children, we do understand this. If the light bulb is not put into the light socket, if it doesn't have a power source, it's not going to turn on. But if it is in the power source, It can be power. The Holy Spirit is the oil for the lamp, the electricity for the light bulb. And so we have then the light if we are into him, anointed into him. This is who we are as believers. This is the anointing we share. with Christ. Now, we've spoken about this a little bit already, but let's return to this. Verse 27, you have no need that anyone should teach you. This is a verse which is misapplied, read by itself. It is a verse where this happens. So we're going to mention again two false applications and then a couple of true applications. The passage does not mean that no professing Christian could ever fall from the faith. We spoke of this, we went back to 1 verse 9. The passage does not mean that no anointed Christian ever needs teaching for anything. The focus here is on we will know Jesus Christ. This passage does mean, yes, that the believer shares in the anointing by the Holy One and that we should not be taught ever by false teachers. Now that's a summary form of things that we've been talking about, but if we think about some of the false applications of verse 27, using it to claim that someone could go their own way, that they could be a free agent Christian because they know all they need to know, they don't need a teacher, they don't need the church, and all kinds of ways that a verse like this can and has been twisted. We might say that the actual applications that you'll be able to recognize a false teacher and you should have nothing to do with him. By the way, verse 26, if we just read one verse of context, makes that clear. Why is John saying this? I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. I'm telling you to get rid of the false teachers. Now, if we think about the actual application, that might sound less exciting, quote unquote, than being able to say, I know everything, but people of God, we can recognize our frailty and the fact that we don't know everything and be greatly comforted by the actual application. Why? Because it comes back to the truth. We will know the most important truth, the truth of eternal life. the truth of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, make us to abide in You. Make us to abide by trusting in the truth of who Jesus the Christ is.