Like many of you believers who have been in this faith walk for many years, I sometimes read a text as if it is the first time I've seen it, knowing full well that I've read it a half dozen to a dozen times, if not more.  Often times when we hear the discussion surrounding the antichrist our imagery is of a seducing character who will one day rise up and lead many astray.  I think at times we get carried away with t.v. imagery as well.  They always depict the antichrist as a singular character.  But after a careful reading of the word, I have found that Jesus often spoke of (the) antichrist(s) (false Christs) as many (Matt. 24:5,24). Maybe this singular image is a mass distraction so that when we hear a false message we are not able to call the preacher what he is, the antichrist.

Clearly the writer is attempting to exhort the believers to remain in the faith.  There was no lack of competition for the preached gospel in the early church.  The early church preacher competed with the Gnostics, the Essenes, the "Super Apostles", and the Judaisers.  Much of what the others preached had enough of a similarity to what the orthodox messengers delivered that believers could easily be drawn away, as I am sure many were.  The big question is whether anything has changed but the times we are in.  As the world is becoming smaller by the day due to the wonders of modern technology, there is now more distractions and competition for the believer than there ever has been. 

The main thing I think we content with today is compromise.  Mostly, we compromise to get ahead in life rather than trusting in the one who made and sustains us.  I had to remind some acquaintances the other day that the god of this world is Satan and many are they who are blinded and seduced by his offerings not realizing that the offerings are only temporary until he comes for their mortal souls.  They were stressed that so many of the entertainers that we have come to love have sold their souls in order to gain popularity and fame.  They even went so far as to recite lyrics of popular artists to prove that they indeed had sold their souls based on their lyrics.  They were surprised!  Not me.  I lead them to Paul's second letter to the Corinthians where he said that the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (4:4).

We can deny Christ, thereby denying the Father, directly.  We can also deny him indirectly by never acknowledging him in the way we walk out life from day to day and by the way we talk.  So, let us not take on that spirit of the antichrist by denying Christ in us.  Be that light that Jesus has called us to be.  We live in a dying world that needs the hope and salvation that can only be found in Christ Jesus.