Now notice one other thing, they refused strangers. "And a stranger will they not follow." That is when we hear the voice of Paul Tillich we don't respond. I read the story of a man from Scotland. He must have been a shepherd. He was visiting Jerusalem and he was by the wall of the city of Jerusalem and he saw a shepherd coming with his sheep. He thought he would ask the shepherd if he would engage in a little bit of an experiment. He approached the shepherd, he said, "Would you do this as an experiment?" Would you change clothes with me and then let me call the sheep?" And so the shepherd agreed to do it. They changed cloths, and then he came out, and he called the sheep. The sheep didn't come. And then the true shepherd in the clothes of the Scottish traveler called the sheep and they came to him.
Now, we read here, a stranger will they not follow. So when Paul Tillich calls out we don't respond. When Moltmann calls out we don't respond. When Bultmann calls out we don't respond. When William Barclay calls out we don't respond. When Wolfhart Pannenberg calls out we don't respond. When Gerhart von Rott, we don't respond. When Eichrot, Jako, Kumal, all the great scholars of the present day who are not members of the body so far as we can tell, when they call out as shepherds of the sheep, the true sheep do not respond. They do not follow the voice of a stranger.
Now that is a problem for me, because there are some people who do not seem to be able to distinguish the voice of our Lord from the voice of strangers. Isn't it a remarkable thing? You probably know some Christians, professing Christians like that. They hear something and they immediately run after it as if it were something great until they discover that's not quite as great as it was, and they come back. And then a new voice is heard and they rush after them. That makes me wonder, because the true sheep do not follow the voice of a stranger. They don't run after Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy. They don't run after Ellen G. White. They don't run after Rutherford. They don't run after the false voices, they follow our Lord Jesus Christ. They hear his voice. They know him. They follow him. That should be a word of admonitions to us.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
John Macarthur -- John 10:5
Verse 5, could go further, we won't, "A stranger will they not follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers." I love that. True believers don't depart from the faith. Matthew 24:24, "There will come false shepherds, false Christs, false apostles who if it were possible would deceive the very elect." You know what that verse means? You can't deceive the very elect. They would do it if it were possible...not possible. True sheep hear the shepherd's voice, they don't listen to the voice of strangers.
It's interesting that a shepherd's sheep will not, even though the false shepherd speaking physically, would imitate the voice of the shepherd, the true shepherd, they won't follow him, they become so aware of their own shepherd's voice. Just like your dog if you've had him for a long time knows your voice. And they follow only their shepherd
It's interesting that a shepherd's sheep will not, even though the false shepherd speaking physically, would imitate the voice of the shepherd, the true shepherd, they won't follow him, they become so aware of their own shepherd's voice. Just like your dog if you've had him for a long time knows your voice. And they follow only their shepherd
John Gill -- John 10:5
John 10:5
And a stranger will they not follow
One that knows not Christ, is not sent by him, and who does not preach him:
but will flee from him;
shun him and his ministry, as not only disagreeable, but dangerous:
for they know not the voice of strangers:
they do not approve of their doctrine, nor take any delight in it, or receive any profit from it. The Persic version, as before, reads, "neither will the lambs ever go after strange sheep, and if they see [them], they will flee [from them]".
And a stranger will they not follow
One that knows not Christ, is not sent by him, and who does not preach him:
but will flee from him;
shun him and his ministry, as not only disagreeable, but dangerous:
for they know not the voice of strangers:
they do not approve of their doctrine, nor take any delight in it, or receive any profit from it. The Persic version, as before, reads, "neither will the lambs ever go after strange sheep, and if they see [them], they will flee [from them]".
A.W. Pink -- John 10:5
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers" (John 10:5). This is very important, for it describes a mark found on all of Christ’s sheep. A strange shepherd they will not heed. This can hardly mean that they will never respond to the call of the false shepherds, but that the redeemed of Christ will not absolutely, unreservedly, completely give themselves over to a false teacher. Instead, speaking characteristically, they will flee from such. It is not possible to deceive the elect (Matthew 24:24). Let a man of the world hear two preachers, one giving out the truth and the other error, and he can discern no difference between them. But it is far otherwise with a child of God. He may be but a babe in Christ, unskilled in theological controversies, but instinctively he will detect vital heresy as soon as he hears it. And why is this? Because he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and has received an "unction" from the Holy One (1 John 2:20). How thankful we should be for this. How gracious of the Lord to have given us this capacity to separate the precious from the vile!
John Macarthur 1 John 2:20-21
Well let's go back then. John is confident that they are true Christians because they know the truth and because they are not deceived because they understand that something cannot be true and what contradicts it also true. This is very affirming and securing. How can you tell a true Christian? They are not deceived, first of all. They are not deceived. Secondly, they accept the true faith. And thirdly, they abide faithful...they abide faithful.
In verse 27 we'll make a transition there, he says, "The anointing which you've received from Him," that is the Holy Spirit from Christ, "abides in you. You have no need for anyone to teach you, His anointing teaches you about all things, is true and not a lie." There's that same law of non-contradiction. "And just as it is taught you, you abide in Him." So there we find that third element, you abide in Him. You stay faithful. You are not deceived. You accept the faith and you remain faithful.
Boy, this anointing is amazing, just a footnote about that. It proceeds from Christ, it is internal, it abides in you, it is permanent. Jesus said in John 14:16, "The Holy Spirit will abide with you forever." It is sufficient, "You need not that any man should teach you." It is edifying, it is the same anointing that teaches you all things. It is genuine. It is true and is no lie...that is, the Bible does not mix truth and error, the Holy Spirit does not mingle truth with error. So God has endowed us through Christ with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us permanently to teach us everything we need to know as we study the Word of God of which He is the author. He leads us into all truth, never a lie. What an amazing promise. And this Holy Spirit assures, as we see at the end of verse 27, that we will abide in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the seal of our redemption. Remember that in Ephesians 1? We are sealed with the Spirit of promise. This is permanent. This is the gift that God has given us, the truth and the anointing through the Holy Spirit.
So we're not dependent on human wisdom because we have a divine source of truth and a divine resident teacher. And because of that sealing, we abide. He abides forever. We abide in the truth. And we're back to that idea that we don't defect. And that's the final point, the true believers are not deceived, accept the faith and abide faithful. Verses 24 and 25, "As for you, let that abide in you which you've heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which He Himself made to us, eternal life."
John says you have the truth, you have the Spirit. He says let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. Stick with the truth. Stick with the truth. And if you do stick with the truth, then you're going to stay with the Son and with the Father and go into eternal life. Stick with the gospel. John wrote this about 40 years after the people first heard the gospel. And he said, "I know you've been exposed to a lot of things. You've been exposed to a lot of influences, stick with the truth. Stick with the truth. Remain, abide, continue, holding to that truth." There's a human responsibility here, you can't just say, "Oh well, God's going to make sure I stay in there and hang in there and I don't need to worry about it." No, you need to persevere. You are eternally secure but you persevere in faith. You have the truth and the truth teacher and the promise that you will abide and remain because your salvation is eternal. But that doesn't mean you can be irresponsible. And so, John says, "As for you, hold on, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. Stick with the truth." Boy, you want to say that so often to people who go off to educational institutions, go off to seminaries, get their faith ripped and shredded. Stick with the truth. Truth is still the truth, isn't it? Still the truth. "Stay with the truth. If you continue in My Word, you're My real disciple," John 8:31. "You have truly been redeemed," the apostle Paul told the Colossians, "if you remain faithful, if you stay." He puts it this way, "If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel." True Christians will do that, they'll hang on to the truth. But not without sanctified, Spirit-empowered effort. And that's how we demonstrate that we are the people of the promise of verse 25, "This is the promise which He Himself made to us, eternal life." Eternal life.
There you have it. John's contrast...antichrists, they depart, they deny, they deceive. True Christians, they aren't deceived, they affirm the faith, and they remain faithful. And that's the difference. And the question then is, "Which are you? Which are you?" Time may tell, but you know now and now is the time to be sure you're a Christian and not an antichrist masquerading because if you're not with Me, Jesus said, you're...what?...you're against Me.
In verse 27 we'll make a transition there, he says, "The anointing which you've received from Him," that is the Holy Spirit from Christ, "abides in you. You have no need for anyone to teach you, His anointing teaches you about all things, is true and not a lie." There's that same law of non-contradiction. "And just as it is taught you, you abide in Him." So there we find that third element, you abide in Him. You stay faithful. You are not deceived. You accept the faith and you remain faithful.
Boy, this anointing is amazing, just a footnote about that. It proceeds from Christ, it is internal, it abides in you, it is permanent. Jesus said in John 14:16, "The Holy Spirit will abide with you forever." It is sufficient, "You need not that any man should teach you." It is edifying, it is the same anointing that teaches you all things. It is genuine. It is true and is no lie...that is, the Bible does not mix truth and error, the Holy Spirit does not mingle truth with error. So God has endowed us through Christ with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us permanently to teach us everything we need to know as we study the Word of God of which He is the author. He leads us into all truth, never a lie. What an amazing promise. And this Holy Spirit assures, as we see at the end of verse 27, that we will abide in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the seal of our redemption. Remember that in Ephesians 1? We are sealed with the Spirit of promise. This is permanent. This is the gift that God has given us, the truth and the anointing through the Holy Spirit.
So we're not dependent on human wisdom because we have a divine source of truth and a divine resident teacher. And because of that sealing, we abide. He abides forever. We abide in the truth. And we're back to that idea that we don't defect. And that's the final point, the true believers are not deceived, accept the faith and abide faithful. Verses 24 and 25, "As for you, let that abide in you which you've heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which He Himself made to us, eternal life."
John says you have the truth, you have the Spirit. He says let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. Stick with the truth. Stick with the truth. And if you do stick with the truth, then you're going to stay with the Son and with the Father and go into eternal life. Stick with the gospel. John wrote this about 40 years after the people first heard the gospel. And he said, "I know you've been exposed to a lot of things. You've been exposed to a lot of influences, stick with the truth. Stick with the truth. Remain, abide, continue, holding to that truth." There's a human responsibility here, you can't just say, "Oh well, God's going to make sure I stay in there and hang in there and I don't need to worry about it." No, you need to persevere. You are eternally secure but you persevere in faith. You have the truth and the truth teacher and the promise that you will abide and remain because your salvation is eternal. But that doesn't mean you can be irresponsible. And so, John says, "As for you, hold on, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. Stick with the truth." Boy, you want to say that so often to people who go off to educational institutions, go off to seminaries, get their faith ripped and shredded. Stick with the truth. Truth is still the truth, isn't it? Still the truth. "Stay with the truth. If you continue in My Word, you're My real disciple," John 8:31. "You have truly been redeemed," the apostle Paul told the Colossians, "if you remain faithful, if you stay." He puts it this way, "If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel." True Christians will do that, they'll hang on to the truth. But not without sanctified, Spirit-empowered effort. And that's how we demonstrate that we are the people of the promise of verse 25, "This is the promise which He Himself made to us, eternal life." Eternal life.
There you have it. John's contrast...antichrists, they depart, they deny, they deceive. True Christians, they aren't deceived, they affirm the faith, and they remain faithful. And that's the difference. And the question then is, "Which are you? Which are you?" Time may tell, but you know now and now is the time to be sure you're a Christian and not an antichrist masquerading because if you're not with Me, Jesus said, you're...what?...you're against Me.
Matthew Henry 1 John 2:20-21
Here, I. The apostle encourages the disciples (to whom he writes) in these dangerous times, in this hour of seducers; he encourages them in the assurance of their stability in this day of apostasy: But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. We see, 1. The blessing wherewith they were enriched—an unguent from heaven: You have an unction. True Christians are anointed ones, their name intimates as much. They are anointed with the oil of grace, with gifts and spiritual endowments, by the Spirit of grace. They are anointed into a similitude of their Lord's offices, as subordinate prophets, priests, and kings, unto God. The Holy Spirit is compared to oil, as well as to fire and water; and the communication of his salvific grace is our anointing. 2. From whom this blessing comes—from the Holy One, either from the Holy Ghost or from the Lord Christ, as Rev. iii. 7, These things saith he that is holy—the Holy One. The Lord Christ is glorious in his holiness. The Lord Christ disposes of the graces of the divine Spirit, and he anoints the disciples to make them like himself, and to secure them in his interest. 3. The effect of this unction—it is a spiritual eye-salve; it enlightens and strengthens the eyes of the understanding: "And thereby you know all things (v. 20), all these things concerning Christ and his religion; it was promised and given you for that end," John xiv. 26. The Lord Christ does not deal alike by all his professed disciples; some are more anointed than others. There is great danger lest those that are not thus anointed should be so far from being true to Christ that they should, on the contrary, turn antichrists, and prove adversaries to Christ's person, and kingdom, and glory.
II. The apostle indicates to them the mind and meaning with which he wrote to them. 1. By way of negation; not as suspecting their knowledge, or supposing their ignorance in the grand truths of the gospel: "I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, v. 21. I could not then be so well assured of your stability therein, nor congratulate you on your unction from above." It is good to surmise well concerning our Christian brethren; we ought to do so till evidence overthrows our surmise: a just confidence in religious persons may both encourage and contribute to their fidelity. 2. By way of assertion and acknowledgment, as relying upon their judgment in these things: But because you know it (you know the truth in Jesus), and that no lie is of the truth. Those who know the truth in any respect are thereby prepared to discern what is contrary thereto and inconsistent therewith. Rectum est index sui et obliqui—The line which shows itself to be straight shows also what line is crooked. Truth and falsehood do not well mix and suit together. Those that are well acquainted with Christian truth are thereby well fortified against antichristian error and delusion. No lie belongs to religion, either natural or revealed. The apostles most of all condemned lies, and showed the inconsistency of lies with their doctrine: they would have been the most self-condemned persons had they propagated the truth by lies. It is a commendation of the Christian religion that it so well accords with natural religion, which is the foundation of it, that it so well accords with the Jewish religion, which contained the elements or rudiments of it. No lie is of the truth; frauds and impostures then are very unfit means to support and propagate the truth. I suppose it had been better with the state of religion if they had never been used. The result of them appears in the infidelity of our age; the detection of ancient pious frauds and wiles has almost run our age into atheism and irreligion; but the greatest actors and sufferers for the Christian revelation would assure us that no lie is of the truth.
III. The apostle further impleads and arraigns these seducers who had newly arisen. 1. They are liars, egregious opposers of sacred truth: Who is a liar, or the liar, the notorious liar of the time and age in which we live, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? The great and pernicious lies that the father of lies, or of liars, spreads in the world, were of old, and usually are, falsehoods and errors relating to the person of Christ. There is no truth so sacred and fully attested but some or other will contradict or deny it. That Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God had been attested by heaven, and earth, and hell. It should seem that some, in the tremendous judgment of God, are given up to strong delusions.
II. The apostle indicates to them the mind and meaning with which he wrote to them. 1. By way of negation; not as suspecting their knowledge, or supposing their ignorance in the grand truths of the gospel: "I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, v. 21. I could not then be so well assured of your stability therein, nor congratulate you on your unction from above." It is good to surmise well concerning our Christian brethren; we ought to do so till evidence overthrows our surmise: a just confidence in religious persons may both encourage and contribute to their fidelity. 2. By way of assertion and acknowledgment, as relying upon their judgment in these things: But because you know it (you know the truth in Jesus), and that no lie is of the truth. Those who know the truth in any respect are thereby prepared to discern what is contrary thereto and inconsistent therewith. Rectum est index sui et obliqui—The line which shows itself to be straight shows also what line is crooked. Truth and falsehood do not well mix and suit together. Those that are well acquainted with Christian truth are thereby well fortified against antichristian error and delusion. No lie belongs to religion, either natural or revealed. The apostles most of all condemned lies, and showed the inconsistency of lies with their doctrine: they would have been the most self-condemned persons had they propagated the truth by lies. It is a commendation of the Christian religion that it so well accords with natural religion, which is the foundation of it, that it so well accords with the Jewish religion, which contained the elements or rudiments of it. No lie is of the truth; frauds and impostures then are very unfit means to support and propagate the truth. I suppose it had been better with the state of religion if they had never been used. The result of them appears in the infidelity of our age; the detection of ancient pious frauds and wiles has almost run our age into atheism and irreligion; but the greatest actors and sufferers for the Christian revelation would assure us that no lie is of the truth.
III. The apostle further impleads and arraigns these seducers who had newly arisen. 1. They are liars, egregious opposers of sacred truth: Who is a liar, or the liar, the notorious liar of the time and age in which we live, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? The great and pernicious lies that the father of lies, or of liars, spreads in the world, were of old, and usually are, falsehoods and errors relating to the person of Christ. There is no truth so sacred and fully attested but some or other will contradict or deny it. That Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God had been attested by heaven, and earth, and hell. It should seem that some, in the tremendous judgment of God, are given up to strong delusions.
S. Lewis Johnson 1 John 2:20-21
Now finally, he talks about the anointing and the truth in verses 20 and 21, "But ye have an anointing." That word is a word related to the word Christ. Christ means the anointed one, of course, Christos, Jesus the anointed one. Well this is an anointing, a christening in one sense. So, "You have an unction from the Holy One, and ye all know," the Seceders who went out claimed advanced knowledge. They claimed a grade of knowledge that was above the grade of knowledge that the vast majority had. Many of them were associated, it does seem, with at least gnostic types of individuals. They disparaged the elementary grades of spiritual life, claimed to have the higher grades, and also be able to dispense with them.
C. S. Lewis, in one of his writings, comments on the danger of inner ring; that is individuals who claim to be elitish and have special knowledge of things, and evidently there was just such a group of individuals in the early church. He says, this anointing, this unction is from the Holy One, that's Christ. But what's the anointing? What's the unction? Well putting together all that the Lord said in the upper room, and other parts of the New Testament, it's plain that they had the anointing of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, that which the Lord Jesus had promised. He said, "I will pray the Father he will give you another Comforter, the spirit of truth and he will abide with you forever." That's the unction that comes from the Holy One, the anointing.
Now remember, he was anointed for his ministry as Messiah by the coming of the Holy Spirit upon him at his baptism. So John says, "You have an anointing," "You have an unction coming from Christ," just as he had an anointing of the Holy Spirit that came to him for his Messianic ministry. So John is saying look, these individuals claim to have new light, different light, deeper light, but you have an anointing from the Lord himself, the Holy Spirit of God, and you all know, not some of you, some special group, you all know. Universal knowledge, they have a built in spiritual instinct, a built in spiritual power though the person of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The lies and the truths company together, but through the Holy Spirit, one is able to make the distinguishing perceptions. So we all know, guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth, we do have all of the capacity for knowing divine truth.
Incidentally, if he did say, "You know all things," he would, of course, not be saying we are omniscient. We're not omniscient, but we know all things with reference to his sonship and his messiahship would be the point. But I'd like to say something else here, when he says we have an unction from the Holy One, we have the Holy Spirit, and by virtue of him, we all know, think of what he's saying, he's saying, as he, the Son of God, carried on his ministry though the unction of the Holy Spirit who, from the Father, guided him in all of his Messianic ministry, we to have an unction from the Holy One. That lets us know how we know spiritual truth.
If you want to know astrological truth, who would want to know that anyway, but it seems to be the in thing today [laughter], with some people who belong to the inner ring [laughter], but at any rate, what you would do if you are going to learn any topic is to go to those who best understand that topic. Isn't that true? If you want to know scientific truth of a particular character, you go to the scientist who best understands that. If it's medical truth, if it's economics, if there is any truth in economics at all, [laughter], you would go to the individual who is an economist and so on. But look, in spiritual things, my Christian friend, you go to God through the Holy Spirit. We have an unction from the Holy One.
In fact, the Lord Jesus, remember, says that we are joint heirs with him. We are sons of God also. In effect, he's saying we are joint christs. That is, we have an unction. Our unction is the Holy Spirit. We are joint christs. Now mind you, there is a big difference, we'll put it in a little "c" because we don't know everything, we will never know everything, but we do know. We know him. It's like a little child who knows his parents but doesn't know everything about the parents, thank goodness. [Laughter] But you know them. Look, my father's voice, he's been gone for seventeen years, if I were to hear my father's voice behind this wall, I would know it was my father because I knew him, not everything about him, but I knew him.
So he says, we know God by virtue of the presence of the unction. Look if you want to know spiritual truth, you go to the teacher, the divine pedagog, the Holy Spirit. Here is the text, and he's well able to guide us into the truth. That's what Jesus, himself, said in the upper room. He will guide you in the spirit of the truth. We don't go to a scientist. We don't go to the professor of Old Testament theology. We don't go to the professor of New Testament theology. We don't go to the professor of New Testament exegeses, or the Old Testament professor of exegeses, they may say some things that are interesting tests of what we discover by the study of Holy Scripture. We don't abandon them, but we don't pay primary attention to them, we listen to our divine pedagog, because we have an unction from the Holy One.
If you look at it from the negative side, you of course would see the costliness of unbelief, of letting belief go. Think of what those individuals let go, ostensibly. The very consideration of what you might lose should be, as someone has put it, "a steadying reflection." They went out, and in going out, they abandoned what they had professed of the reality of spiritual truth.
What would we lose if we lost the Scriptures, lost the apostolic truth? What a security we have in possessing the Holy One, God's great gift to his own. Some men leave us to become antichrists, or the prey of antichrists. For some leave the company of Christ to become the prey of false teachers. But I cannot, you cannot. The Lord Jesus at a particular point in his ministry John says many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. He turned and said to them, "Will ye also go away?" And Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We believe that Thou art the Son of God, the Holy One of God." And I want to say to you, as Peter cried out, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" Christ's joint christs, Christ's joint sons, Christ's joint heirs want no husks from the swine troughs of the seducers of the saints. We'll never be happy except with the Son of God, as set forth in Holy Scripture, and the triune God so beautifully unfolded in the word of truth.
If you're here today and you've never believed in Christ, you're not "of us." But you may become one of us by personally before the Lord acknowledging your lost condition, you're need of divine grace and the forgiveness of your sins and if within your heart you confess that you're a sinner, and you see that Christ has given himself according to the Scriptures for sinners, dying for the sins of sinners, God offers eternal life, forgiveness of sins, adoption within the family and all of the other blessings of life, and that unction to guide you, then you may today pass from death into life from darkness into his marvelous light. Come to Christ. Trust him right now. Let this be the moment of your conversion.
C. S. Lewis, in one of his writings, comments on the danger of inner ring; that is individuals who claim to be elitish and have special knowledge of things, and evidently there was just such a group of individuals in the early church. He says, this anointing, this unction is from the Holy One, that's Christ. But what's the anointing? What's the unction? Well putting together all that the Lord said in the upper room, and other parts of the New Testament, it's plain that they had the anointing of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, that which the Lord Jesus had promised. He said, "I will pray the Father he will give you another Comforter, the spirit of truth and he will abide with you forever." That's the unction that comes from the Holy One, the anointing.
Now remember, he was anointed for his ministry as Messiah by the coming of the Holy Spirit upon him at his baptism. So John says, "You have an anointing," "You have an unction coming from Christ," just as he had an anointing of the Holy Spirit that came to him for his Messianic ministry. So John is saying look, these individuals claim to have new light, different light, deeper light, but you have an anointing from the Lord himself, the Holy Spirit of God, and you all know, not some of you, some special group, you all know. Universal knowledge, they have a built in spiritual instinct, a built in spiritual power though the person of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The lies and the truths company together, but through the Holy Spirit, one is able to make the distinguishing perceptions. So we all know, guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth, we do have all of the capacity for knowing divine truth.
Incidentally, if he did say, "You know all things," he would, of course, not be saying we are omniscient. We're not omniscient, but we know all things with reference to his sonship and his messiahship would be the point. But I'd like to say something else here, when he says we have an unction from the Holy One, we have the Holy Spirit, and by virtue of him, we all know, think of what he's saying, he's saying, as he, the Son of God, carried on his ministry though the unction of the Holy Spirit who, from the Father, guided him in all of his Messianic ministry, we to have an unction from the Holy One. That lets us know how we know spiritual truth.
If you want to know astrological truth, who would want to know that anyway, but it seems to be the in thing today [laughter], with some people who belong to the inner ring [laughter], but at any rate, what you would do if you are going to learn any topic is to go to those who best understand that topic. Isn't that true? If you want to know scientific truth of a particular character, you go to the scientist who best understands that. If it's medical truth, if it's economics, if there is any truth in economics at all, [laughter], you would go to the individual who is an economist and so on. But look, in spiritual things, my Christian friend, you go to God through the Holy Spirit. We have an unction from the Holy One.
In fact, the Lord Jesus, remember, says that we are joint heirs with him. We are sons of God also. In effect, he's saying we are joint christs. That is, we have an unction. Our unction is the Holy Spirit. We are joint christs. Now mind you, there is a big difference, we'll put it in a little "c" because we don't know everything, we will never know everything, but we do know. We know him. It's like a little child who knows his parents but doesn't know everything about the parents, thank goodness. [Laughter] But you know them. Look, my father's voice, he's been gone for seventeen years, if I were to hear my father's voice behind this wall, I would know it was my father because I knew him, not everything about him, but I knew him.
So he says, we know God by virtue of the presence of the unction. Look if you want to know spiritual truth, you go to the teacher, the divine pedagog, the Holy Spirit. Here is the text, and he's well able to guide us into the truth. That's what Jesus, himself, said in the upper room. He will guide you in the spirit of the truth. We don't go to a scientist. We don't go to the professor of Old Testament theology. We don't go to the professor of New Testament theology. We don't go to the professor of New Testament exegeses, or the Old Testament professor of exegeses, they may say some things that are interesting tests of what we discover by the study of Holy Scripture. We don't abandon them, but we don't pay primary attention to them, we listen to our divine pedagog, because we have an unction from the Holy One.
If you look at it from the negative side, you of course would see the costliness of unbelief, of letting belief go. Think of what those individuals let go, ostensibly. The very consideration of what you might lose should be, as someone has put it, "a steadying reflection." They went out, and in going out, they abandoned what they had professed of the reality of spiritual truth.
What would we lose if we lost the Scriptures, lost the apostolic truth? What a security we have in possessing the Holy One, God's great gift to his own. Some men leave us to become antichrists, or the prey of antichrists. For some leave the company of Christ to become the prey of false teachers. But I cannot, you cannot. The Lord Jesus at a particular point in his ministry John says many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. He turned and said to them, "Will ye also go away?" And Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We believe that Thou art the Son of God, the Holy One of God." And I want to say to you, as Peter cried out, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" Christ's joint christs, Christ's joint sons, Christ's joint heirs want no husks from the swine troughs of the seducers of the saints. We'll never be happy except with the Son of God, as set forth in Holy Scripture, and the triune God so beautifully unfolded in the word of truth.
If you're here today and you've never believed in Christ, you're not "of us." But you may become one of us by personally before the Lord acknowledging your lost condition, you're need of divine grace and the forgiveness of your sins and if within your heart you confess that you're a sinner, and you see that Christ has given himself according to the Scriptures for sinners, dying for the sins of sinners, God offers eternal life, forgiveness of sins, adoption within the family and all of the other blessings of life, and that unction to guide you, then you may today pass from death into life from darkness into his marvelous light. Come to Christ. Trust him right now. Let this be the moment of your conversion.
John Calvin 1 John 2:20-21
20 But ye have an unction. The Apostle modestly excuses himself for having so earnestly warned them, lest they should think that they were indirectly reproved, as though they were rude and ignorant of those things which they ought to have well known. So Paul conceded wisdom to the Romans, that they were able and fit to admonish others. He at the same time shewed that they stood in need of being reminded, in order that they might rightly perform their duty. (Romans 15:14, 15.) The Apostles did not, however, speak thus in order to flatter them; but they thus wisely took heed lest their doctrine should be rejected by any, for they declared what was suitable and useful, not only to the ignorant, but also to those well instructed in the Lord’s school.
Experience teaches us how fastidious the ears of men are. Such fastidiousness ought indeed to be far away from the godly; it yet behooves a faithful and wise teacher to omit nothing by which he may secure a hearing from all. And it is certain that we receive what is said with less attention and respect, when we think that he who speaks disparages the knowledge which has been given us by the Lord. The Apostle by this praise did at the same time stimulate his readers, because they who were endued with the gift of knowledge, had less excuse if they did not surpass others in their proficiency.
The state of the case is, that the Apostle did not teach them as though they were ignorant, and acquainted only with the first elements of knowledge, but reminded them of things already known, and also exhorted them to rouse up the sparks of the Spirit, that a full brightness might shine forth in them. And in the next words he explained himself, having denied that he wrote to them because they knew not the truth, but because they had been well taught in it; for had they been wholly ignorant and novices, they could not have comprehended his doctrine.
Now, when he says that they knew all things, it is not to be taken in the widest sense, but ought to be confined to the subject treated of here. But when he says that they had an unction from the Holy One, he alludes, no doubt, to the ancient types. The oil by which the priests were anointed was obtained from the sanctuary; and Daniel mentions the coming of Christ as the proper time for anointing the Most Holy. (Daniel 9:24.) For he was anointed by the Father, that he might pour forth on us a manifold abundance from his own fullness. It hence follows that men are not rightly made wise by the acumen of their own minds, but by the illumination of the Spirit; and further, that we are not otherwise made partakers of the Spirit than through Christ, who is the true sanctuary and our only high priest. 7070 “From the Holy One,” from the Father, say some; from the Son, say others; from the Holy Spirit, according to a third party. By comparing this verse with the 27th and the 28th verse, we see reason to conclude that the “Holy One” is Christ, who had promised the Spirit to teach his people. The unction, or the anointing, is the act of the Spirit by which the truth is taught. — Ed.
21 And that no lie is of the truth. He concedes to them a judgment, by which they could distinguish truth from falsehood; for it is not the dialectic proposition, that falsehood differs from truth, (such as are taught as general rules in the schools;) but what is said is applied to that which is practical and useful; as though he had said, that they did not only hold what was true, but were also so fortified against the impostures and fallacies of the ungodly, that they wisely took heed to themselves. Besides, he speaks not of this or of that kind of falsehood; but he says, that whatever deception Satan might contrive, or in whatever way he might attack them, they would be able readily to distinguish between light and darkness, because they had the Spirit as their guide.
Experience teaches us how fastidious the ears of men are. Such fastidiousness ought indeed to be far away from the godly; it yet behooves a faithful and wise teacher to omit nothing by which he may secure a hearing from all. And it is certain that we receive what is said with less attention and respect, when we think that he who speaks disparages the knowledge which has been given us by the Lord. The Apostle by this praise did at the same time stimulate his readers, because they who were endued with the gift of knowledge, had less excuse if they did not surpass others in their proficiency.
The state of the case is, that the Apostle did not teach them as though they were ignorant, and acquainted only with the first elements of knowledge, but reminded them of things already known, and also exhorted them to rouse up the sparks of the Spirit, that a full brightness might shine forth in them. And in the next words he explained himself, having denied that he wrote to them because they knew not the truth, but because they had been well taught in it; for had they been wholly ignorant and novices, they could not have comprehended his doctrine.
Now, when he says that they knew all things, it is not to be taken in the widest sense, but ought to be confined to the subject treated of here. But when he says that they had an unction from the Holy One, he alludes, no doubt, to the ancient types. The oil by which the priests were anointed was obtained from the sanctuary; and Daniel mentions the coming of Christ as the proper time for anointing the Most Holy. (Daniel 9:24.) For he was anointed by the Father, that he might pour forth on us a manifold abundance from his own fullness. It hence follows that men are not rightly made wise by the acumen of their own minds, but by the illumination of the Spirit; and further, that we are not otherwise made partakers of the Spirit than through Christ, who is the true sanctuary and our only high priest. 7070 “From the Holy One,” from the Father, say some; from the Son, say others; from the Holy Spirit, according to a third party. By comparing this verse with the 27th and the 28th verse, we see reason to conclude that the “Holy One” is Christ, who had promised the Spirit to teach his people. The unction, or the anointing, is the act of the Spirit by which the truth is taught. — Ed.
21 And that no lie is of the truth. He concedes to them a judgment, by which they could distinguish truth from falsehood; for it is not the dialectic proposition, that falsehood differs from truth, (such as are taught as general rules in the schools;) but what is said is applied to that which is practical and useful; as though he had said, that they did not only hold what was true, but were also so fortified against the impostures and fallacies of the ungodly, that they wisely took heed to themselves. Besides, he speaks not of this or of that kind of falsehood; but he says, that whatever deception Satan might contrive, or in whatever way he might attack them, they would be able readily to distinguish between light and darkness, because they had the Spirit as their guide.
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