1 John 2:18-29

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. 23 No-one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us--even eternal life. 26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him. 28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. (1 John 2:18-29, NIV).

For those of you who want to outline, the outline I am using today is this: Problem, context, answer.

The question today comes from verse 27: The question is, “Do you need a pastor, do you need a teacher?”

More and more people are leaving the church. Home studies are springing up. You can find church on the internet. I saw one person who said, “Jesus is my pastor…” essentially saying that they didn’t need a human pastor or teacher.

They use this verse as their proof: 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.

Do you need a pastor or teacher? John seems to say, “No!”

However, and this is the problem, the apostle Paul says, “yes.” John says “no” and Paul says, “yes.”

28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:28, NIV).

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV).

So who is right? Both are right. Is there a contradiction? No. Let’s look at the context of John’s comments.

First, we find that John is warning the church about false teachers.

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

Second, we find that what was false about their teaching was their view of Jesus.

22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. 23 No-one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

They denied that Jesus was the Messiah. They denied that he was the Son of God.

26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.

The passage shares John’s concerns that the people would be led astray. He is warning them of this. Added to their denial of Jesus as Messiah was the idea that you needed someone to teach you. You could not know God, you couldn’t learn about God, unless you had a special teacher.

This is a false teaching. Why do I say that? Because this idea of our needing a human teacher was leading people astray. How could they learn and grow and be close to God? They could only do that by going to a special teacher who had a secret message from God to deliver to you.

What is John saying? But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.

What is that anointing? An anointing was something given to a special person. For example, in the Old Testament kings, prophets and priests were anointed. They were anointed for spiritual service. It was also done to cups and dishes. They were anointed or consecrated for God’s use. This made them special in that they were for God.

So who has the anointing today? Who has this special inroad to God? Who is the anointed one?

The answer surprised me when I read this. Not because the answer was a surprise, but I had never seen this before.

We do not see this in the English, but in the Greek language the word “Christ” means “anointed one.” When they spoke about “the Christ” they were speaking about someone who was different from the other anointed ones for this was “the anointed one.”

So who is the anointed one, the one who is chosen by God to tell us about himself? Jesus, the Christ.

So what did the opposition say? They said, “Jesus was not the anointed one. He was not the Christ.” They are called “antichrists” or “anti-the anointed one.”

So what does John tell us? What is his message for Christians?

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit -- just as it has taught you, remain in him.

You have this anointing in you. It teaches you. It is real. It has taught you in the past. So what is this anointing?

I am going to suggest that this anointing is Jesus in you. Paul says that “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” You know about God because Jesus in you tells you about God. You don’t need someone who has received special knowledge to tell you about God. You have Jesus. He is the anointed one, he is the Christ.

John wrote in the gospel of John:1: 18 No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Every Christian is anointed. Every Christian has Jesus. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit in them. Are you looking for someone with an anointing to help you? If you are a believer, look in the mirror!

So now we come to the answer to the problem. Do we need a teacher and what is the role of one if we do?

John answers this in part in the book of John. 26 But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26, NIV).

This promise is made specifically to the eleven disciples, but has application to us all. The “all things” is not all things like nuclear science or algebra, but it is all things about Jesus. The Holy Spirit was going to be a memory aid for the apostles.

What were the apostles going to teach? Some vision or secret message from God? No. They were going to teach what they had learned from Jesus. The Great Commission says, 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV). Unlike the false teachers that John is referring to, the apostles through the power of the Holy Spirit were going to teach people what Jesus taught.

So what happens now? Paul tells Timothy, 1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:1, 2, NIV).

So the answer to the question, do you need a pastor, is yes. You don’t need any pastor or teacher. You need one who doesn’t invent God. You need a pastor who doesn’t lead you with some sort of special messages from God that only he receives. You need a pastor or teachers who preach the word. You need a pastor or teacher who teach you what the apostles have said about Jesus. You need a pastor or teacher who believes in Jesus Christ and has Jesus in his heart. That is the anointed pastor or teacher, the one who has the anointed one, the Christ, in his life.

Some lessons from that.

First, listening to teachers is the way you grow. Paul said we have teachers to bring us into the unity of the faith. But this faith is not something you learn through a special teacher, rather, the faith is something you learn from the Bible. God wants teachers to teach the Bible. The methods may vary. Teachers may use resources from other teachers to help them teach. The bottom line is, are the teachers true to the word of God. I have bookshelves full of things written by teachers. I look at them and learn from them just as you listen to me and learn from me. They are my teachers. But I listen to them to see if they can help me understand more about what the Bible says about God, Jesus, people on this earth. When what they say goes against the Bible, we should reject the teacher and accept the Bible. However, the teachers that I read help me from going into error concerning the teaching of the Bible by challenging and expanding my understanding of any passage.

I have heard people say, “All I need is the Bible.” But if they read the Bible they will find that God has placed in the church pastors and teachers who are there to help the church grow. When a person says, “All I need is the Bible,” they are expressing part of a truth, the Bible is our foundation for faith. But they are then rejecting what the Bible says if they go on to say they need no other teacher.

Second, if listening to teachers is the way you grow, you distinguish between the false teacher and the true teacher by your understanding of the Bible. You may not be aware of this, but there are a large number of people in this church who know enough about the Bible to spot when I depart from its teaching. This is absolutely necessary that what is said from the pulpit and in our teaching classes be evaluated based on what the word of God says. No teacher, no pastor, no person is to be followed who is not following the Bible and the Jesus of the Bible.

Third, if there are false teachers and true teachers, it is possible for both to be found in one person. What you hear from the pulpit is my best attempt to be true to the word of God. But any pastor, any teacher, does not have the corner on truth. So be gracious when you think I am wrong and help me. But when what is said is true, then follow it, not because a teacher or pastor said it, but because the Holy Spirit confirms in your heart that this is the word of God.

Fourth, if it is possible for truth and falseness to be in any teacher, this might by why the Bible encouraged the church to have elders, not one elder. Within a group of people, weaknesses can be minimized. One person’s weak is another person’s strength. What is most important is that God be at the center and that God be glorified. I am personally thankful for the elder team that has encouraged me, challenged me, and used their strengths to benefit the church and minimize my weaknesses.

So what is at stake? Jesus said that if you know the truth, the truth shall set you free. All these checks and balances are here to build up the body of Christ to the glory of God. You don’t need to find a spiritual guru to be close to God. Go to Jesus. You are the anointed one if you trust in Jesus. But listen to teachers. God works through his word. If you study his word you will be set free. If you study his word and have teachers helping confirm and expand what you learn, that is even better. All for the glory of God.