1 John 2:18-25
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. (ESV)
1. The Moment of the Antichrists (v. 18)
1.1 The Information as to the Last Hour
1.2 The Identity of the Antichrists
1.3 The Indications of the Last Hour
2. The Marks of the Antichrists (v. 19)
2.1 Their Apostasy
2.2 Their Exposure
3. The Motivation of the Anointed (vv. 20-25)
3.1 The Indwelling of the Spirit
3.2 The Insight by the Holy Spirit
Conclusion
The message focuses on how “antichrists” are not future figures but present realities, namely those who deny Christ’s incarnation, particularly the Gnostic-like teachers who separated spirit from matter. John confronted and corrected this by reminding the church that we’re living in the “last hour” inaugurated by Christ’s first coming, marked by the emergence of those who reject Christ’s full humanity and divinity.
The message highlights three key aspects: the moment of the antichrists (the inaugurated last age), the marks of the antichrists (their departure from orthodox teaching and denial of the incarnation), and the motivation of the anointed (the Holy Spirit’s preservation of believers in apostolic truth). Rather than speculating about end-times figures, John calls us to discernment through the Spirit’s anointing and abiding in the apostolic teaching that affirms both Christ’s deity and humanity.