Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1st John 2:18)

I wonder if the popular doctrine warning of a single antichrist coming in the future has actually caused most Christians to misunderstand and completely miss John's warning here!

John says that there is not just one antichrist to come in the future. There are many and they were present in John's day as well as ours.

As believers in grace, we have no need to fear the things being falsely prophesied. There is not an epic struggle going on for the salvation of God's people. Jesus was victorious at the cross and even the devil knows it! The battle is for our minds which controls our hopes and fears.

John tells us plainly what kind of people we should avoid and how to identify the spirit of ANTIChrist which is in the world today.

"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." (1st John 2:22-23)

We need to be watching out for antichrist influences in our lives right now, not just the future. There are many powerful individuals that influence us through various forms of media. We need to investigate their beliefs BEFORE we let them influence our minds. We might be shocked to find out some of our favorite celebrities or teachers actually deny that Jesus is come in the flesh as the Son of God!

Would it shock you if I mentioned the names Barak Obama and Oprah Winfrey? Neither of these two believe that Jesus is the Son of God come in the flesh. No matter how good their actions look, their motivation is antichrist.

These are just of the BIG names that come to mind, but the list is quite large. For the sake of your mind and that if your families, heed John’s active warning to avoid the influence of the spirit of antichrist that is all around us.