 The appearance of the Antichrist is already being prepared before his coming: "The mystery doth already work ..."First of all, the forces preparing for his coming fight against lawful monarchical rule. The holy Apostle Paul says that the Antichrist cannot appear until "the one who restraineth" is put aside. John Chrysostom explains that the "one who restraineth" refers to a lawful, pious regime. Such a power struggles with evil. "The mystery" working in the world does not want this, does not want the struggle against evil by the power of a pious ruler - quite the opposite. It wants the rule of lawlessness, and when it achieves this, nothing more will stop the appearance of the Antichrist. http://orthodoxword.wordpress.com/0000/00/00/st-john-maximovitch-the-wonderworker-of-shanghai-and-san-francisco/  