1 John 2:18

“Little children, it is the last time, &c.] 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,…”

“Little children--same Greek as Jo1 2:13; children in age. 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 even still live" [BENGEL]. Each successive age has had in it some of the signs of "the last time" which precedes Christ's coming, in order to keep the Church in continual waiting for the Lord. The connection with Jo1 2:15-17 is: There are coming those seducers who are of the world (Jo1 4:5), and would tempt you to go out from us (Jo1 2:19) and deny Christ (Jo1 2:22). as ye have heard--from the apostles, preachers of the Gospel (for example, Th2 2:3-10; and in the region of…”

“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 destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the Jewish economy; but the more natural interpretation is to refer…”

“My little children, it is the last time - The last dispensation of grace, that which is to continue to the end of time, is begun. Ye have heard that antichrist cometh - Under the term antichrist, or the spirit of antichrist, he includes all false teachers and enemies to the truth; yea, whatever doctrines or men are contrary to Christ. It seems to have been long after this that the name of antichrist was appropriated to that grand adversary of Christ, "the man of sin," Th2 2:3 Antichrist, in St. John's sense, that is, antichristianism, has been spreading from his time till now; and will do so, till that great adversary arises, and is destroyed by Christ's coming. 1 John 2:19”

“2:18 Antichrist literally means “instead of Christ”; he claims for himself what belongs to Christ and poses as a substitute for Christ (cp. 2 Thes 2:3 and Rev 13:1-10). • many such antichrists have appeared: They are the false teachers who deny that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son (1 Jn 2:22-23), God in the flesh (4:2; 2 Jn 1:7).”

“Little: Jo1 2:1; Joh 21:5 it is: Ti2 3:1; Heb 1:2; Pe1 1:5, Pe1 1:20; Pe2 3:3; Jde 1:18 ye have: Jo1 4:3; Mat 24:5, Mat 24:11, Mat 24:24; Mar 13:6, Mar 13:21, Mar 13:22; Act 20:29, Act 20:30; Th2 2:3-12; Ti1 4:1-3; Ti2 3:1-6, Ti2 4:3, Ti2 4:4; Pe2 2:1 antichrist: Jo1 2:22, Jo1 4:3; Jo2 1:7 whereby: Ti1 4:1; Ti2 3:1 1 John 2:19”