The Nemesis of Christ

This is just a brief study of the scriptures from which the huge library of historical speculative writings have emerged about the subject of Antichrist:

1John 2: 18 Dear children, this is the last hour;
What does John mean by "last hour"? Historically, we know it was not the last hour (end of time) in John's day. Last hour then becomes a term for "last days." That is, the countdown to the end of the age had begun with the birth of the church.
and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
We know this is the final act because of the fact of "antichrist". There could be no antichrist before there was a manifested Christ. But once Christ was revealed, then men could hate and oppose him.
Curiously, he says that they had heard of "THE antichrist" coming. This was something that was being taught in the early church. It sounds like this is a single person called the antichrist. But also there are MANY antichrists. For one thing, the Christian sect was hated by both Jews and Romans. There was intense persecution for centuries. They hate Christians if they hate Christ; so these antichrists naturally work against the believers.
19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[d]
We who believe have an "anointing": or we are anointed, chosen. We know the truth of who Christ is and thus pursue him. People are either for him or against him. Nobody who is for him is against him. And vice-versa, of course.
21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.
Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a "liar." A liar in this sense is someone who does not the truth. You can't do the truth without knowing who Jesus is. So anyone who denies the union of Christ with the Father is thus an antichrist. Simple.
23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. So anyone who acknowledges Jesus possesses the Father. Anyone. How do we know they are not against him? They acknowledge him. Nobody can acknowledge him that is not anointed, that does not have the revelation, that does not know who he is, and certainly anyone who actively opposes either him or his chosen. Why do we have to try to go beyond this in dealing with other Christians? Why do we try to exclude them for other reasons? There is no other reason.
1 John 4
Test the Spirits
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
The spirit, human or otherwise, that does not acknowledge or admit that Jesus in God in the flesh, is antichrist. We don't listen to those spirits, period. Note: false prophets is a description aligned with antichrist, so any prophet opposing the revelation of the absolute supremacy of Christ is antichrist: for instance, Mohammed.

2John 1: 7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
John repeates the lesson.

2 Thess. 2: 3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Okay, so this "temple" is either literal or figurative. For instance, Jesus referred to his body as the temple, which is at least in part a figurative idea. Of course, the body is also literally the temple of God. So we can say that "God's temple" here is a human body.
This could mean the "man of sin" comes in a single body. Or it could mean that this is us if we harbor the spirit of antichrist. Or it could be, literally and futuristically, a single person in the future. Then again, it could be all of the above, and would make sense as such.
5Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
6And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. Two clues here that sound futuristic: he is being held back (not revealed to the world at the time of this writing) and he will be revealed at a "proper time," or a future time.
7For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. Sin or iniquity is described here as a "power" that is working in the world that is restrained by an undisclosed individual. Some have said it is government, some have said it is Michael, some have said it is the Church, or the Holy Spirit. Take your pick and does it really matter? Someone is restraining the full disclosure of this secret until its time.
8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. This is good reason to believe this is a future person since the 2nd Coming hasn't occurred.
9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, This aligns neatly with Rev. 13.
10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
12and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. "The lie" is the same as John revealed above. The lie is that Jesus Christ is something other than God Himself manifest in the flesh.

Dan. 7: 8 "While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
9 "As I looked,
"thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.
10 A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened.
This coincides with the picture in Revelation of the return of Christ and ultimate judgment. So the Little Horn seems to immediately precede this and also seems to be one and the same as "the Antichrist" and "man of sin."
11 "Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. Again the connection to Revelation 19. By the way, he could be talking about Rome, the 4th beast, as well.
12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)
13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

The Interpretation of the Dream
15 "I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. "So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:
17 'The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.
18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.'
19 "Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left.
20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them,
22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.
23 "He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.
24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.
25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. [a]
26 " 'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.
27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'
28 "This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself."
There is no doubt the 4th Beast denotes Rome. This becomes clear with study. Futurists refer to a "revived Roman Empire" which conveniently places the 4th Beast in the future. The reason this works is that the Roman Empire influence lives on. The roots of modern democracies are found in the first four beasts, particularly Rome. So, while we do not see Rome achieving her former glory today, we do see what could be a globalistic, Romanistic beast rising from the sea of humanity and carrying Babylon the Great on its back. That is, in a sense, the dream of Rome, the universal Pax, is still thought to be achievable.

And that sums up most of what we have to work with in regard to the biblical information we have on this person sometimes called "the Antichrist." Revelation 20 speaks of his and his followers' demise. Daniel 11 fills in some details. Amazing that from these few references so much has been written and published over the centuries. And the speculation will continue.