1 John 2:18

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. LITTLE CHILDREN - in age. Same Greek as 1 John 2:13. After the fathers and young men were gone, "the last time" with its "many Antichrists" was about to come suddenly on the children. 'In this last hour we all still live.' Each successive age has had some signs of "the last time" which precedes Christ's coming, in order to keep the Church in continual waiting for the Lord. 1 Corinthians 10:11, "the ends of the world" - i:e., the last dispensation. The connection with 1 John 2:15 is, There are com...

18_It is the last time_, or _hour_. He confirms the faithful against offenses by which they might have been disturbed. Already many sects had risen up, which rent the unity of faith and caused disorder in the churches. But the Apostle not only fortifies the faithful, lest they should falter, but turns the whole to a contrary purpose; for he reminds them that the last time had already come, and therefore he exhorts them to a greater vigilance, as though he had said, “Whilst various errors arise, it behooves you to be awakened rather than to be overwhelmed; for we ought hence to conclude that Christ is not far distant; let us then attentively look for him, lest he should come upon us suddenly.” In the same way it behooves us to comfort ourselves at this day, and to see by faith the near advent of Christ, while Satan is causing confusion for the sake of disturbing the Church, for these are...

18-23 Every man is an antichrist, who denies the Person, or any of the offices of Christ; and in denying the Son, he denies the Father also, and has no part in his favour while he rejects his great salvation. Let this prophecy that seducers would rise in the Christian world, keep us from being seduced. The church knows not well who are its true members, and who are not, but thus true Christians were proved, and rendered more watchful and humble. True Christians are anointed ones; their names expresses this: they are anointed with grace, with gifts and spiritual privileges, by the Holy Spirit of grace. The great and most hurtful lies that the father of lies spreads in the world, usually are falsehoods and errors relating to the person of Christ. The unction from the Holy One, alone can keep us from delusions. While we judge favourably of all who trust in Christ as the Divine Saviour, and...

Verse 18. _LITTLE CHILDREN, IT IS THE LAST TIME_] This place is variously understood. This is the _last dispensation_ of grace and mercy to mankind; the _present age_ is the _conclusion_ of the Jewish state, as the temple and holy city are shortly to be destroyed. But as there are many who suppose that this epistle was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, consequently the words cannot, on that supposition, refer to this. Others think that εσχατηωρα should be translated, a most _difficult, perilous_, and _wretched_ _time_; a time in which all kinds of vices, heresies, and pollutions shall have their full reign; that time which out Lord predicted, Matthew 7:15, when he said, _Beware of false prophets_. And Matthew 24:11,...

LITTLE CHILDREN - See 1 John 2:1. IT IS THE LAST TIME - The closing period or dispensation; that dispensation in which the affairs of the world are ultimately to be wound up. The apostle does not, however, say that the end of the world would soon occur, nor does he intimate how long this dispensation would be. That period might continue through many ages or centuries, and still be the last dispensation, or that in which the affairs of the world would be finally closed. See the Isaiah 2:2 note; Acts 2:17 note; Hebrews 1:2 note. Some have supposed that the “last time” here refers to the des

EXPOSITION 1 JOHN 2:1, 1 JOHN 2:2 Moreover, walking in the light involves accepting the propitiation wrought through Jesus Christ the Righteous. The connexion with the preceding is close. We have just had (1) the confession that we do sin; we now have (2) the principle that we must not sin; and (3) the consolation that sin is not irremediable. 1 JOHN 2:1 MY LITTLE CHILDREN; or, perhaps, _my dear children; _or, simply, _my children. _The diminutive τεκνία, if it retains any force, expresses endearment rather than smallness or youth. Th

LITTLE CHILDREN, IT IS THE LAST TIME,.... Or hour; not of the Jewish civil and church state, for that had been at an end for some time; this epistle was written some years after the destruction of Jerusalem; nor the last hour of the Gospel dispensation, or world to come, for this was but the first age of that; and much less the last hour of time, or of the present world itself, for that has been many hundreds of years since; but the last hour of the apostolic age. All the apostles were now dead, John was the last of them; perilous times were now coming on, impostors and heretics were rising apace, against which the apostle cautions his little children; and so still he writes to them, agreeably to their age and character, who, being such, were most likely to be imposed upon by those who lie in wait to deceive. AND AS YE HAVE HEARD THAT ANTICHRIST SHALL COME; or "is coming"; and begins to...

1 John 2:1. _My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him._ Holy living is the sure fruit and proof of anyone being in Christ. Where it is not manifest, the profession of being in Christ is a lie. 1 John 2:5. _But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him._ Note the gradation: we know him, we are in him we know that we are in him....

1 JOHN 2:18 o[ti (1) {B} The reading that best explains the origin of the other readings appears to be o[ti, which is strongly supported by a* B C Y 1739 _al_. The conjunction is lacking in a few witnesses (A L 1881 _al_), thus making a more direct statement. The definite article, which is not present in a* B C Y 1739 _al_ (showing that the word was understood as a proper name), was supplied by scribes in a number of witnesses, including a2 A L 1881 _al,_ in order to identify Antichrist more forcefully....

III. TRUTH AND ERROR CHAPTER 2:18-27 This section contains a warning which is addressed to the babes, the little children, young believers. Truth and error, are contrasted. Seducers were trying to lead them astray, for we read in 1 John 2:26: “These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.” He reminds them that it is “the last time,” a striking expression, for since it was written centuries have come and gone, and what was true then is true now, that it is the last time; only the Lord is still patiently waiting, not willing that any should perish. Christ was manifested, the truth revealed in Him and the world rejected Him and His truth. Satan became the god of this age, with the mystery of iniquity working in it from the very beginning. Antichristianity is not a new thing of our times; it was here from the very beginning. John writes, “Even now there are many