Passage

Matthew 26:36
"Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'"


Introduction

Today is Chuseok, a traditional Korean holiday.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have an abundant and happy holiday in the Lord.
Today is August 15 by lunar calendar.
It is the day when we have the biggest full moon of all other times of the year.
The moon becomes bigger and bigger day by day, and when it is the 15th day of the month, it becomes full.
This full moon shines such bright light.
It is the same with the providence that God the Father has for this church.
When the measure of justice that God has set is filled up, His providence will be revealed clearly.
The last couple of years, in particular, were the times to fill up the measure of justice to accomplish the providence in construction of the Grand Sanctuary and world evangelism, and to lead many souls to New Jerusalem.
It is also the reason why I have to be in mountain prayer more often in this year.
In this message, I'd like to talk about the flow of spirit that God has allowed for this church.
If you listen to the message with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to understand that the providence of the Father God is so mysterious, and He has given us great blessings.
By understanding it, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have a merrier and more joyous holiday.


Main

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today's reading passage is a record about the night before Jesus took the cross.
Matthew 26:36 says, "Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'"
If we read the following parts, we can see that Jesus advised them to be on the alert and pray.
That night, Jesus prayed more earnestly than any other time.
He prayed and cried out with all His strength so that His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
It's because it was the last moment before He fulfilled the measure of justice right before accomplishing the providence of salvation through the cross.
Here, Jesus advised His disciples who were with Him to be awake and pray.
It was because the disciples also had to watch what Jesus was fulfilling and be with Him.
And today, you and I are also filling up the measure of justice with this kind of earnest heart, just before we touch the 100-fold blessing.
What kind of providence is laid before us?
It is the providence to save so many souls at the end time when the world is full of darkness. Specifically, it is to build the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary, and to make the whole world our parish.
The Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary will perform like the ark of salvation at the end time.
In the vision of the 'world parish' is contained the earnest desire of God the Father who wants to save even just one more soul.
God said He would certainly fulfill all these things through this church.
But such important works cannot just be achieved overnight.
The providence will be realized in actuality only when the measure of justice is precisely filled up.
For this, there is a measure of justice that I have to fill up as the shepherd in the current flow of things.
I am receiving the training to utilize the original space of God by communicating with God in mountain prayer.
The foundation and the origin of God is love.
And this original space has no limits.
It can hold and harbor all people of this Earth and more.
Therefore, this training is directly related to the providence of saving souls.
Abraham harbored his nephew Lot in a dire situation, just before Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed.
Abraham asked God many times because he understood the original heart of God the Father who does not take delight in destruction.
Through his request, the measure of justice was filled up to save Lot.
The same principle in justice can be applied today.
If somebody understands the heart of God and harbors the souls that are going towards destruction, and prays for them just like Abraham did, the souls can be given a chance of salvation.
God the Father had this kind of providence in this church at the end time.
And because I know this will of God, I have been praying without ceasing.
I tried my best to understand the original heart of God the Father and to bring down His great power.
In return, God opened the way for more souls to receive salvation.
Today, the world is filled with sins much more than Sodom and Gomorrah, but through this kind of providence, many souls came to receive a chance of salvation.
You experienced such a work through the repentance around December 25, 2010.
When I prayed with an understanding of the heart of God who is fundamentally love, God gave a chance to those who had committed sins leading to death.
And now, God is making me fill up the measure of justice to give this amazing chance even to the typically fleshly people who do not believe in God and for whom it is very difficult to be saved.
For this, I have been praying even though I do not have any energy left in me, so that the Father God can open the original space more widely for mankind.
Also through the mountain prayer, I have been receiving the training to read the flow of world situations and even lead it.
This is in preparation for the kings of the nations who will be connected with our church later.
There will be crises the world will face including natural disasters and economic difficulty, and these are the things that cannot be resolved with human strength.
Thus, the kings of the nations will consult with me for solutions to these problems.
They are the ones who have great wealth, power, or knowledge in the world.
Even those people will come to acknowledge the living God when they see me solve their problems and lead the flow of world situations with God's power.
Of course, it is by no means something easy to utilize the original space of God.
To penetrate into a higher level of spiritual realm, one has to show the 'sowing' according to justice.
This is the reason why I have accumulated so much fasting and prayer and have been sacrificing myself without ceasing.
God let me know that most ministers tried to penetrate into spiritual realm, but they gave up at a certain point.
It tells us that it is something very difficult to do.
But I could not stop.
I was willing to keep on praying, even if it would end my life, only if I could save more souls and fulfill the will and providence of God the Father.
Every time I kept on sowing before God with all my life and energy with this kind of heart, God let me go into higher level of spiritual realm.
That is why even today I go up to the mountain again and again to sow before God with all my energy.
The blessing that God has given through such sowing was not just salvation of souls.
The church members and workers who have faith received the blessing of their faith increasing greatly.
Many of you have come forth as spiritual warriors who are worthy to be workers in the era of Canaan Sanctuary.
The sons of Israel at the time of Exodus also received chances of salvation from time to time according to the measure of justice Moses filled up.
Furthermore, they also prepared themselves as the proper people of God and holy army.
In doing so they could take the land of Canaan.
God allowed such processes for them and led them very delicately.
The promise of God of giving Canaan Land to them was not just fulfilled automatically.
Right after the Exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel were just nomads who used to be slaves in another country.
And God began to refine them from the moment they reached Mt. Sinai two months after they escaped from Egypt.
First, God urged Moses to come to the Mt. Sinai to fast and communicate with God many times.
Through that, Moses received God's commandments and statutes including the Ten Commandments.
He also received the plan and design for the Tabernacle.
Furthermore, he distributed the duty for each tribe and arranged the marching array.
Through this work, Israel was no longer just nomads, but they were a nation of people born again as people of God who had a spiritual system and a governing system.
Through this, Israel came to understand, more than anything, how to live to be worthy of being God's children.
Of course, there were times of refining trials after that, too, but they eventually conquered the land of Canaan as God had planned.
Through the measure of justice that one person, Moses, filled up with all his life, a whole nation received blessings.
Furthermore, it also provided for the blessings that would come upon the whole mankind beginning from the time when Israel was organized.
The situation of this church today is similar to that.
God the Father has let me keep on filling up the measure of justice so that our church will not be short of an organization that will accomplish His providence greatly at the end time.
This is a blessing given to all of you.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, next, let us look into the aspect of the measure of justice that you workers and members are filling up.
Just a couple of years ago, it was very difficult for me to be absent for many weeks.
If I was not here, there were many people who stopped praying or who did not even keep the Lord's Day holy for they had weak faith.
But I think you can feel that you are changed very much by now.
Even while I'm not here, most of you still try to worship and gather together.
Also, you earnestly pray or even fast to stand on the rock of faith and to go into spirit.
Not because your shepherd is watching or somebody is forcing you, but out of your volition you are doing that.
How did you come to have such faith?
God the Father said that it is because you saw and felt firsthand how I love you with the affection of the Christ.
You've seen what kind of time I have spent for the last 30 years, and especially around December 25, 2010.
I interceded for you day and night with tearful prayers.
Through this, many of you removed the burden of sin and gained life again.
Also, within this short period of time, you came to possess the faith on the rock or in the spirit, which you could not have for the last 30, 20, or 10 years.
Namely, you came to have sincere heart and perfect faith which will not be shaken in any situation.
Many of you have come close to this level of faith, too.
So, you don't say, "Since senior pastor is not here, let's get some rest and relax."
But rather you renew your determination again thinking, "If I commit sins, the shepherd will lose his strength. I will keep my heart. I have received such great grace, and I will go into spirit as quickly as possible. I will definitely go to New Jerusalem so I won't have to be separated from my shepherd."
You voluntarily learn the word of God, pray, and work for the kingdom of God.
God the Father has given you the environment for you to reaffirm your faith by making me leave the church for some time.
In this year, for the first time since the opening of the church, you had the New Year's service without my presence.
In that service, God said you passed the test.
It's because you offered the service with all your heart as you had learned the word of truth.
And God also said that each one now had to show the kind of deeds that are worthy of passing the test.
Since then, whenever I was away, you remembered the word of truth that you learned from your shepherd and tried to practice what you had learned.
God has allowed for you these times so that you can show the evidence of loving God out of your volition.
So far, if you had to sow ten units to bear a spiritual fruit, I have been sowing nine units for you.
And God the Father has given you this time so that you can sow the other one unit and bear the fruit.
This is the reason why God has allowed for us a situation where we might feel it is difficult for the church.
So, many of you are giving to God such precious things, which are like the two copper coins of the widow.
And are you doing it being forced by somebody? No.
You are voluntarily giving to keep the church and to become strength to the shepherd.
And how are the workers working?
They are busy praying and thinking of better ways to manage the finances of the church.
God said now is a time for them to feel the heart of the shepherd, as to with what kind of faith the shepherd has been leading this church for the last 30 years.
Also, through this kind of difficult times, they will become truthful workers who will not waste any money from the blessing that will be given, and ultimately, they will become workers who will understand the heart of the shepherd when doing all the church works.
Also, the pastors and workers who take care of the souls have been trying in a way that the members will not feel the absence of the senior pastor so much.
And as they try to manage the church and care for the souls, they must have felt their limitations.
At those times, they could have regretted thinking, "If I tried a little harder in the past, I could have come into spirit by now and become greater strength to the shepherd."
But because you have such regrets, you must have determined to certainly go into spirit.
The workers have been working with all the heart and strength together with other workers while I am gone.
They encourage and support each other from time to time.
Through such moments, the workers became one with the shepherd even more.
And this is the reason why God the Father has allowed for us this flow of situations: it is that the workers and members become one in focus of thought and action on the shepherd.
Through such times, God said, that you and I have been connected with a cord of love that cannot be severed by anything.
It is just as Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
This cord of love is a strong cord that will never break, whether we are close or far away in physical distance, or whether the physical situations are good or not.
And this cord is bound with trust that can never change, so nobody can sever it.
The Father God said this is the most precious blessing that cannot be bought even with billions of dollars.


Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The Father God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give the Canaan Land to their descendants.
Sometimes, in reality it seemed this promised was not being fulfilled quickly enough.
But when the measure of justice was fulfilled completely, this promise was fulfilled as spoken.
God does not lie.
And the day that He will fulfill His promise for Manmin is not so far ahead.
Right now, He is leading us to make all the preparations done completely.
It's because God's works are not done by through human emotions but according to precise justice.
Therefore, the measure of justice has to be filled for not just God to acknowledge it, but also for the power of darkness to also having to acknowledge it.
This is the law of the spiritual realm.
I am fighting a good fight with all my strength even though I don't have any energy left.
This is like fighting against a mighty enemy with all one's strength having no way of retreat.
I believe that to the extent that the measure of justice filled up, the way of salvation will be opened for more souls, and your faith will grow up more quickly.
When I fill up the measure of justice with this kind of faith, we will shake the whole world with the power and strength, and blessings that God will give to us.
I hope you will quickly finish your struggle against sins by riding on this flow of spirit well.
Just imagine you will offer up praises of joy with the countless people who will come to the Canaan Sanctuary.
How overwhelming it will be!
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has allowed for us such precious time like this and who is leading us for that moment and for the day we will enter New Jerusalem.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will not bow down before idols during the Chuseok holidays, and that you will have happy holidays in the Lord.