The Antichrist

1 John 2:18-19, 22-23
“Little children, it is the last time. As you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists. Thereby we know it is the last time. Certain people went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us. ... Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is an antichrist that denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father. He that acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

"So far the Apostle has been dealing with certain things within ourselves that tend to interrupt the fellowship. The dangers besetting us not only arise from within but there are certain dangers also outside us. We have no only things to watch as individual Christians, but also collectively, as Christian people, we have to be very wary of certain common, general dangers to which we are subject as members of the Church.

First is the importance of realizing the nature or character of the spiritual conflict in which we find ourselves. The second theme is the way whereby we realize this danger. And then the third theme is the way to avoid the dangers that arise from this mighty spiritual conflict in which we find ourselves. This, you will see at once, is a theme that one meets with quite frequently in the New Testament.

At this point, I want to consider only the first section - the importance of realizing the nature of this conflict. We have two things to do in order to understand what John means here. First, we have to understand these terms. Second, we must relate this danger with which we are confronted to our present experience.”