John looked forward to the return of Jesus.  Although Jesus would not say when He will come, His apostles knew that they must be ready for Him at any moment (Matthew 24:42).  And they were expecting Him soon.  The false rumour had spread that John would be alive when Jesus came back (John 21:20-23).  But in any case, the apostle believed that every hour should be treated as the 'last hour' - before the skies fill with the brilliance of Jesus and a multitude of angels announce that He reigns over all (Matthew 24:30-31).

However, some people are so opposed to the rule of Christ that they set themselves up to deny His authority and to teach others to do the same.  They are anti-Christ (1 John 2:22).  The ultimate antichrist is Satan himself who operates now through people who he convinces to refute the deity of Christ and make life difficult for His people.  Strangely, some of those people were, at one time, in the church; but they refused to accept the gospel … and left.  True gospel fellowship draws in people who love the Lord Jesus but repels those who love themselves, and their own agenda, when they realise that only Jesus is the Lord who is to be worshipped and obeyed.

Refusal to worship the Lord Jesus Christ as God who came in the flesh, in fellowship with other believers, is characteristically antichrist.  They may often be nice, kind and generous people who speak respectfully about God.  However, Satan himself pretends to be an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).  Some will demonstrate remarkable abilities, mixed with false teaching.  Others will be overtly hostile: but their ambitions are the same - to deceive true believers (Mark 13:22) and deter others from fully committing their lives to Jesus.

The Bible instructs us to love everybody, but not to welcome teachers who say that Jesus is not God, and is not the supreme authority over this world (2 John 1:9-11).  Without realising it they are on a demonically-inspired antichrist mission to dethrone Jesus.  Christians need to be vigilant; church leaders need to be discerning; parents need to guard their children. "No one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus be cursed,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3).  Be warned, and do not welcome anything that is antichrist.