Worship - Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Matthew 24:15
24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),

In Daniel, antichrist is the abomination that causes desolation with a wing of abomination.
In II Thessalonians, antichrist is the lawless human who wants to be worshipped.
In Revelation, antichrist is the wild beast that comes out from the sea.

Revelation 13:1-2
13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
13:2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

Antichrist is a defect human; he does not have mind and feeling.
Antichrist is a combination of 4 wild beasts:

1. dragon
   Revelation 12:3-4
   12:3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
   12:4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
   The power of dragon is on his tail that will sweep a third of the stars out of the sky.
   Stars specifically denote the pastors, but generally denote the people used by God.
   The dragon’s tail means:
   1. destructive heresies/ false teachings
      Isaiah 9:15
      9:15 The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
   2. sins
      The sins start from hatred/ bitterness, lie (Satan is the father of murderers and liars), up to the top of sins, which are sexuality (dragon’s reproduction system is on its tail) and eating drinking.
2. leopard
   It denotes an extraordinary quickness to block all spiritual activities of God’s children. Therefore, we also have to have extraordinary quickness in all of our activities, especially in spiritual activities (ceremonies and services).
   If we weren’t fast, we would be blocked by the leopard.
3. bear
   Bear’s feet have a very strong grip power such that his prey could not flee. Spiritually, grip means the desire of money that really tightens God’s children. The practices of being tightened by the desire of money are stinginess and greediness. A stingy person is one who is blessed but cannot do give away to the others. A greedy person is one who robs the others’ ownership.
   The starting of being gripped is being unfaithful in ceremonies and services to the Lord.
   Therefore, we have to drill ourselves to live from the word of God, i.e. to put God in the highest priority more than any other matters in the earth.
4. lion
   It has two powers:
   1. roaring voice to fail the faith through false teachings
   2. tearing and devouring the prey
   I Peter 5:8
   5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
   The targets of lion are people who do not want to be shepherded. This also denotes to the one who has already being inside the church, but he could not eat or hear the shepherding word.
   I Peter 5:5-7
   5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
   5: 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
   5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
   To face the combination of these 4 wild beasts, we have to surrender our lives in God’s hands through the shepherding and worshipping, similar to the Magi who came to the pen (where Jesus was born) and then worship Him.

I Peter 5:5
5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

The attitudes of shepherding and worshipping life are:

1. submitting and being obedient to the Lord, whatever the risks
2. believing and fully surrendering our lives to the Lord, starting from surrendering our anxieties.

The results are:

1. God’s hands exalt us on His time
   The term ‘exalt us on His time’ means that it is God who will work, and we just wait until His time coming. God will help us right on His time.
   I Peter 5:6
   5: 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
2. God’s hands will made everything beautiful in its time
   Ecclesiastes 3:11
   3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.