1 John 2.18

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming even now many Antichrists have already come.

John speaks of a single mysterious figure. One who will come and wreak havoc in the church and out. One who will be against Jesus and against his people.

But all too easy to get hung up on the when and the where and the who of this one and miss the very nowness of John's concern: the things that will mark out this strange figure are already here. In John's context, they are manifest in the false teaching of the church, in the subtle undermining of truth, in the whispers of those stirring up fear in the fellowship and then leaving. But what about us? Where are we harboring the Spirit of the Antichrist?

A difficult sentence to swallow but I know that I am guilty. Anti - Christ. Against Christ. In opposition to him. Any thought and fear that would make him less, that would seek to diminish and shrink, squash and squeeze the Lord of the Cosmos into a tiny little plastic figurine found in a trinket shop. He is not small. He is Big King Jesus. He is the strongest of all strong men. (Matt 12.29)

I need to remember that.