666. Mark of the Beast. End times. Antichrists. Deception. Apocalypse. Last hour. Time of trouble. Persecution.

Words that sometimes makes us squirm.

Who or what is the antichrist anyway? Satan? A human being? Someone like Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda? A spiritual leader? A leader of secret societies? A national leader? Just an ordinary person who passed you in the grocery store?

Apostle John gives us a straightforward definition:

“every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” (1 John 4:3)

Well, why should we even care about these antichrists? The title of the lesson gives it away – “Walking in the Light: Rejecting Antichrists.”  Part of growing in our walk with our Savior involves rejecting the lies about him, rejecting those things that are anti-Christ.

And if the spirit of the antichrist is already in the world, how might we know the difference? What are we supposed to do?

Apostle John offers more encouraging words of direction in 1 John 4:

1. First, he reminds us who we are:

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them”

2. Then he reminds us who our God is:

“for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

3. John goes on to describe what the antichrists are like:

“ They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.”

4. He tells us how to identify fellow believers:

“We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us.”

“By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

Indeed, it is only by walking with God, knowing who we are in light of what He has done for us, that we can decipher the spirit of error, the spirit of the antichrist.

So walk in the Light. Pursue that relationship with your awesome Creator, who so loved you that He gave Himself up for you!