Student Study Guide
Lesson 34
The Anointing vs. the Spirit of Anti-Christ - Pt. 2
Foundation - The Mark of the True Anointing
Not a Crowd. Not an Emotional Response. Transformation.
We laid a foundation that everything Jesus did, He did under the power of the anointing - and that the anointing is the supernatural divine empowerment of God to fulfill a specific task or purpose. We also began to examine the spirit of anti-Christ through 1 John 2, uncovering the sobering reality that "anti" in the original Greek means "instead of." We are going deeper now.
The Mark of the True Anointing
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty - there is transformation from the image we are into the image of Christ. Not a crowd. Not an emotional response. Transformation. Where the anointing genuinely flows, people walk out permanently changed.
1. The mark of the true anointing is not a . Not an emotional . It is . Where the anointing genuinely flows, people walk out changed.
Section 1 - The Love of the World Wearing the Disguise of Ministry
Holiness Does Not Transfer. Contamination Does.
2. There is no room for negotiation in that passage. Whoever loves the world, the love of the is not in him. Much of what we are doing today under the guise of cultural relevance and evangelistic creativity is at its root nothing more than a manifestation of the leader's deep for the world.
The Haggai Principle (Haggai 2:11-14): God asked the priests: Does a piece of holy meat in a garment make ordinary food holy by contact? No. Does a dead body touching ordinary food make it unclean? Yes.
Holiness is not transferable. Contamination is. "Every work of their hands is unclean. What they offer there is unclean."
3. You cannot take something that is of the world, wrap the name of Jesus around it, and produce something . The holiness does not transfer to the method. The of the worldly spirit it originates from is what transfers.
4. This is exactly what happens when a worship leader, whose stated musical inspiration is secular artists, takes that spirit into their songwriting, puts the name of Jesus on it, and calls it anointed. The holiness does not flow into the "offering of praise" by calling it Christian. By the Word of the Lord through Haggai, it is .
Your Reflection
Section 2 - Denying Christ While Calling Him Lord
"Denies" Means to Contradict - by Life, Methods, and Dependence
Notice the contrast John draws: "They went out from us" - the spirit of anti-Christ rises from within the church. And then: "But you have an anointing." That is the distinction. Stop measuring meetings and songs by whether they produced an emotional response, and start measuring them by whether the anointing was present - because only the anointing destroys the yokes of bondage.
5. I have been to secular concerts that moved me . I have heard powerful secular speeches that stirred my heart. is not anointing. The anointing leaves people permanently .
The Word "Denies" Does Not Mean to Outwardly Reject. In order to secretly bring in destructive heresies, they must appear to be godly. The word "denies" here means to contradict - to live in such a way that their life, their methods, their ministry contradict the Lordship of Jesus.
6. Jesus said: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name… done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never you; depart from Me, you who practice !'" (Matt. 7:22-23). You said the right words, but your life and your methods Me.
Your Reflection
Section 3 - Strange Fire: An Ancient Warning
The Work of God Must Be Done by the Fire of God
7. In the Old Testament, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering - that was the fire of God, the of God. God was absolutely clear: "The work done in My temple must be done only by the fire that comes from Me. Do not bring fire." Nadab and Abihu presumed their own fire was . And God struck them dead on the spot.
The New Testament Parallel: In the New Testament we are not struck physically dead when we offer strange fire. But we are struck spiritually dead. The church loses its power. The spirit of the world invades and produces the carnality we now see prevalent within the church. The anointing lifts. The yokes that should be broken remain unbroken. What is presented to the world looks like Christianity but carries no transforming power.
8. To say: "We do not need Your supernatural divine empowerment, we have come up with a more way" is not humility. It is . It is pride. And God says it is fire, and He will have none of it.
Your Reflection
Section 4 - False Prophets, Covetousness, and Wells Without Water
Great Swelling Words of Emptiness - No Anointing Within
9. They bring in heresies . If they openly rejected Jesus, no one would follow them. They must appear to be spiritual - use scriptural expressions, give out well-known worship songs, speak in the right language. But underneath all of it, they are His Lordship through their teachings, their lifestyles, and their dependence on methods instead of the anointing.
"The devil is never more satanic than when he carries a Bible."
- John Darby10. Not everyone who has embraced the spirit of anti-Christ is after money. Some of them simply need to feel like a . They need the crowd to them. They have put the power of God on the sidelines, put miracles out the back door, and call the spirit of holiness, "."
11. Wells without water. Clouds that promise but carry none. They speak great swelling words, impressive language, compelling presentations, emotional momentum - but there is no in it. They promise while they themselves are slaves of corruption.
⚠ The Most Sobering Warning
2 Peter 2:20-22: He is talking about people who were in the church. People who were genuinely born again, who had tasted of the goodness of God. And then they turned away, began relying on things instead of the anointing. And their last end is worse than their beginning. When we offer strange fire to God and lead His people away from the anointing, we are not operating in a neutral zone. We are in the territory of judgment.
12. The way of (2 Pet. 2:15): selling out the anointing for gain - whether financial gain, the gain of fame and popularity, or the emotional gain of feeling . Trading the genuine for the profitable.
Your Reflection
Section 5 - We Must Get Back to the Anointing
Seek the Face of God. Pay the Price. Wait for the Anointing.
The reason we could not keep young people in the church in the first place is that in so many churches we lost the anointing. We became so consumed with programs, services, forms, and fashions - and we were not willing to pray or pay the price.
13. When the anointing is present, the young people will come. And they will , because they will get genuinely to the presence of God. Not addicted to a cool atmosphere or a stylish production but addicted to the living God who them from the inside out.
The Pattern Christ Gave Us: Demonstrate and manifest His love, His power, His presence, His grace, and His mercy. Bring deliverance to the oppressed. Bring healing to the brokenhearted. Bring recovery of sight to the blind. That is the pattern. We have not followed it. We have ranked ourselves not by the transformation of people's lives but by the numbers we can produce - and that is an entirely wrong measurement.
14. Do not be one who embraces the spirit of anti-Christ. When the true revival comes, those who have been living in the instead-of will not even it. They will be so conditioned to operating without the real thing that when the genuine anointing shows up, they will not it.
Seek the face of God. Pay the price in prayer. Wait for the anointing. And then go - the same way the Father sent Jesus.
Final Reflection
Lesson 34 - Practice Test
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Part A: Multiple Choice (5 questions · 2 pts each)
1. What does the Haggai 2:11-14 principle establish about the relationship between holiness and contamination?
2. What does the lesson say the word "denies" in 1 John 2:22 actually means - and why does that matter?
3. What does the Nadab and Abihu account teach about the work of God and the fire of God?
4. According to the lesson, what does "wells without water" describe in the context of 2 Peter 2:17?
5. What does the lesson say will happen to those who have been living in the "instead-of" when the true revival comes?
Part B: True or False (6 statements · 1 pt each)
1. The lesson teaches that the mark of the true anointing is a large crowd and a strong emotional response in the congregation.
2. The lesson teaches that what many call "cultural relevance" in ministry is often, at its root, a manifestation of the leader's deep love for the world - carried into the church and labeled evangelism.
3. According to this lesson, choosing the anointing over methods and programs requires "paying a price" - specifically in prayer and seeking the face of God.
4. The lesson teaches that the false teachers described in 2 Peter 2 always begin as deliberately deceptive people who knowingly oppose God from the outset.
5. The lesson teaches that the correct measurement of a ministry's success is the transformation of people's lives, not the numbers it can produce.
6. The lesson says that young people will stay in a church if the anointing is present, because they will become genuinely addicted to the presence of God - not to a cool atmosphere or stylish production.
Part C: Fill in the Blank (5 items · 1 pt each)
1. The mark of the true anointing is not a crowd, not an emotional response - it is .
2. Haggai 2: holiness is not transferable, but is.
3. The word "denies" in 1 John 2:22 means to - to live in such a way that life and methods contradict the Lordship of Jesus.
4. The way of Balaam: selling out the anointing for - whether financial, the gain of fame, or the emotional gain of feeling significant.
5. Seek the face of God. Pay the price in prayer. Wait for the anointing. And then go, the same way the sent Jesus.
Part D: Short Answer (completion credit)
1. Explain the Haggai principle (Haggai 2:11-14) and apply it specifically to the lesson's example of worship leaders whose inspiration comes from ungodly secular artists.
2. What is the New Testament equivalent of Nadab and Abihu's strange fire? What happens to the church when it offers strange fire, and why does the lesson say relying on human methods instead of the anointing is not humility but presumption?
3. Why does the lesson say those living in the "instead-of" will not recognize genuine revival when it comes? What is the solution the lesson gives for the church's youth retention problem?
Part E - Before You Leave
The lesson closes with a charge: "Seek the face of God. Pay the price in prayer. Wait for the anointing. And then go - the same way the Father sent Jesus." What is your specific commitment? Name a concrete prayer discipline you will begin this week.
Look back over both Lessons 33 and 34. Where, honestly, have you been offering strange fire - trying to do the work of God through substitutes instead of the anointing? What does returning to the anointing require of you specifically?