Passage

Revelation 21: 2

"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband."

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, members of over 5,000 branch churches in Korea and all over the world including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Honduras, Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, Argentina, Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, Netherlands, China, Japan, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, India, Mongolia, Egypt, Israel, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Swaziland, South Africa, Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, and local sanctuary members, those who are attending the service on the Internet all over the world, and television viewing audiences,

At this time, I will talk to you about the third prayer title of this year 2007, the 'Sanctuary'.

Today's passage Revelation 21:2 says, "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband."

This tells us how beautifully God has prepared New Jerusalem, which is a place where God's true children who have accomplished the whole spirit will dwell forever.

Then, what kind of people can enter into this city of New Jerusalem, which is made ready as a bride adorned for her husband? It's only those who have accomplished the whole spirit and have proper qualifications to be called the bride of the Lord.

They are the ones who have cast off all forms of evil, accomplished pure and blameless hearts, and adorned themselves with spiritual hearts of love, meekness, peace, etc, can go into the city.

Why, then, did God give us the passage from Revelation 21:2 along with the title "Sanctuary"?

Just as New Jerusalem is the most beautiful place in Heaven, the sanctuary we are going to build will be the most beautiful and perfect sanctuary on earth. The building and entering the sanctuary can not be accomplished by just anyone, but those who are qualified by having fully accomplished the sanctuary in their heart.

When I talk to you about this prayer title, I hope you will listen carefully and imprint it in your heart. By doing so, I hope you will pray for this 'sanctuary' with faith and love so that you will store rewards in heaven.

Also, I pray in the name of the Lord that you yourselves will be adorned just like perfect sanctuaries before God.

Body

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this year's third prayer title 'Sanctuary', is both about the Grand Sanctuary for which we have been praying since the opening of this church and the Canaan sanctuary.

What is the spiritual meaning hidden in Grand Sanctuary and how can we accomplish it? Because I have explained about these for many years, I will briefly mention it here.
The Grand Sanctuary for which we have been praying, is the best and grandest sanctuary that will be built to worship God who created heaven and earth and all things in it, and who is worthy to be honored and praised forever more.
From God's standpoint, the building is a symbol commemorating human cultivation and a building that will comfort His heart.

That is why the general structure of the Grand Sanctuary and its details and decorations will express God's creation of heaven and earth and the history of human cultivation. It also commemorates New Jerusalem where God's true children will enter later.

For example, the Grand Sanctuary is circular in shape. The diameter will be 600 meters, symbolizing the six thousand years' of human cultivation, and it will have twelve large gates just like the twelve pearl gates of New Jerusalem.

There will be twelve big marble pillars, and between these twelve pillars will be seven smaller pillars that will have inscriptions depicting each of the works of 7-days of the creation.

Other than these, there will be various facilities and equipment with the best technology in the world, so that people can actively participate in the worship service from any place in the sanctuary.

And I told you that the Grand Sanctuary, which is so big, will not be built by our own strength.

Since the beginning God has been telling us that He will lead kings of the nations to this church and He will bring treasures of nations to build the Grand Sanctuary.

Haggai 2:6-9 says, "For thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. [7] 'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord of hosts. [8] 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the Lord of hosts. [9] 'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the Lord of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the Lord of hosts."

Brothers and sisters, to receive the blessing of building this amazing Grand Sanctuary, we must prepare proper vessels to receive the blessing.

This is God's justice.

Gold and silver and everything are God's, and God is the one who controls the life, death, fortune, and misfortune. So, if God works through just a few very wealthy people in the world, we can easily build the Grand Sanctuary.

But if God works that way, the enemy devil and Satan will object to it.

Spiritual law says that we reap what we sow, and therefore, for us to reap a lot, we have to sow a lot. In order to receive this great blessing of constructing the Grand Sanctuary, we have to sow the appropriate amount. This is right according to justice.

Then, does it mean we have to give more construction offerings now? Of course, the Grand Sanctuary is very meaningful and important and many of the members voluntarily give offerings for the construction.

But sowing the appropriate amount does not only mean construction offerings. Actually, there is a way for us to receive the blessing to build the Grand Sanctuary with just the amount our church and we have been sowing so far.

It is to have the qualifications to receive 30, 60, or 100 times more than what we have sown.

Matthew 13:23 says, "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Here, 'good soil' refers to clean and spiritual heart by casting off all forms of evil.

If we have more traits of the spirit in us, we can become more like that of good soil.

So, it is spiritual law for a man of spirit to receive 30 or 60 times more than what he sowed, and for a man of whole spirit, he will receive 60 or 100 times more.

Therefore, if you want to receive great blessings, it is more effective to go into spirit and whole spirit than just sowing a greater amount.

Of course, if you go into spirit and sow much, you will receive even greater blessings.

God has been refining our church to give us the blessing of constructing the Grand Sanctuary in this way.

He has given us the gospel of holiness and shown us countless works of His power to guide us to become His spiritual children who have true hearts and perfect faith.

When the number of true and spiritual children reaches a certain level which is appropriate in God's sight, He will give us the blessing of Grand Sanctuary at that moment.

Even in this world, suppose a person is very intelligent and he has very good skills. But for him to be recognized by others, he must prove himself by passing some form of test or assessment.

He can enter a school after passing the entrance exam, and to find employment with a company, he has to be able to pass the employment exam or skill evaluation.

In the same way, when there is a certain number of true and spiritual children who have true hearts and perfect faith, we will have to pass a certain kinds of tests to prove it. When we pass the test, we prove that we have the qualifications to receive the blessing of Grand Sanctuary. So, the door to constructing the Grand Sanctuary will be opened at that time.

And the test that we have to pass to open the door to constructing the Grand Sanctuary, is Canaan sanctuary.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, now, how can we build this Canaan sanctuary? The answer is already in the name 'Canaan Sanctuary'.

The Canaan land in the Bible was the land that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. It was a land flowing with milk and honey.

The Canaan Sanctuary that we are going to build, unlike the sanctuaries we had until now, is like a resting place.
 
We are not just going to rest, but we will rest with more emotions and fullness of Spirit everyday seeing the construction of Grand Sanctuary in reality as we have been praying for it so much, as said that faith is the substance of things hoped for.

And we can think about how the people of Israel conquered the land of Canaan in order for us to build this Canaan Sanctuary.

First, the Israelites trusted their leader, Joshua completely and obeyed his word completely.

Before they went into the land of Canaan, Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, in Joshua 1:11, "Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it."

The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh were going to take the land in the east of the Jordan River, yet Joshua commanded them to cross the Jordan River ahead of other tribes and help conquering the land of Canaan in the west of the Jordan River.

Joshua 1:16-18 says, "They answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. [17] "Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses. [18] "Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous."

Likewise, the officers of the people trusted Joshua completely and were ready to obey him completely.

Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had already received their land, so they didn't really have to participate in the conquering of Canaan land. But they also obeyed Joshua's command to conquer the land together with other tribes.

When all the tribes became one heart and obeyed Joshua's commandment, God showed amazing works and they crossed the Jordan River which was in the flood stage, and they also destroyed the strong city of Jericho.

In order to accomplish the Canaan Sanctuary, we need faith and obedience like them. The officers of the people of Israel first trusted and obeyed Joshua, and it's the same for our church. If the leaders trust and obey the shepherd completely with one heart, we can accomplish it very easily. God had already told us that we were going to build not only the Grand Sanctuary but also Canaan Sanctuary with the power of the shepherd.

If the leaders truly believe this word, what kind of act of obedience do they have to show?

Should they think, "It will be accomplished by God just through the power of the shepherd even though we just sit back and relax?"

This is not confession of true faith.

If the leaders have true faith, they should be able to ready and confess, "Whatever you say, we are ready to obey."

Because the officers of the people trusted Joshua, they could step on the flood-waters of the Jordan River. In the same way, even though the leaders are commanded to do something that they cannot understand, they should show the complete act of obedience.

Even when God commanded them to march around the city of Jericho 13 times in 7 days, nobody said any word of doubt or complaint. A man with perfect faith will not doubt God's word but only obey without any change of attitude even in a situation which seems to be impossible like the city of Jericho.

God will give us the blessing of Canaan Sanctuary when our leaders are united with the shepherd by faith and completely obey.

When the people of Israel obeyed with faith, they gained the city of Jericho very easily, without even a battle. Likewise, if our leaders show perfect faith and obedience, we will easily accomplish Canaan Sanctuary.

Even about the financing needed for the construction, our members do not really have to tighten their belts to save for contributions to give to God to build the sanctuary, but God will prepare everything for us.

You will be able to experience how great the blessings will be and how prosperous everything will be when you obey with perfect faith. We can see this kind of example many times in the Bible. When Jesus was going into the city of Jerusalem, he had to ride on a colt.

In Mark 11:2-3 Jesus said, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. [3] "If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' you say, 'The Lord has need of it' and immediately he will send it back here."

So, when the disciples went, there was a colt tied, and when they were untying it, some people asked them what they were going to do with it.

When they answered them as Jesus had told them, they just gave the colt to them.

Likewise, when disciples believed the word of Jesus fully and obeyed, things went very smoothly. Therefore, when you members pray for the Canaan Sanctuary, please pray that all the leaders and workers who are involved will fully trust the word of God and obey with one heart.

The second condition for the people of Israel to enter the Canaan land was that they pleased God by sanctifying themselves.

In Joshua 3:5, while the people of Israel were marching toward the Canaan land, before they crossed the Jordan River, Joshua told the people to consecrate themselves.

In Joshua 5:3, before they conquered the city of Jericho, Joshua commanded the people to get circumcised according to the command of God.

As they moved on step by step towards Canaan land, God told the people of Israel to sanctify them more and more, and they obeyed the word of God.

This applies to us in the same way today. In the Old Testament days, they had the circumcision of body on the outside, but now in the time of the Holy Spirit, we have to sanctify our heart by circumcising it.

We have to cast off all forms of evil and cut out all the fleshly attributes that has a foul smell and is unclean. That is why you also have to accomplish the sanctuary in your heart that is proper to enter into Canaan Sanctuary.

Ephesians 2:22 says, "in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

As said, you have to circumcise your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, in order for yourself to become a proper dwelling place for God. I hope you will accomplish the spirit and the sanctuary of the heart as the building of the Canaan Sanctuary is being constructed.

We should also remember that Israelites, who very easily conquered the city of Jericho, were defeated in the battle against the small city of Ai. It was because the lust was conceived in one person called Achan and it gave birth to a sin.

Having this as an example, none of our members should think, "What difference will it make when just one person commits sin?"

Even laymen members should not sin, and so pastors and Levite workers of the church should sanctify themselves even more and depart from evil completely.

I also hope that you will act in the truth, keep the order, and be faithful in all God's house so that you can please God.

Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Deuteronomy 14:8 says, "If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us a land which flows with milk and honey." Do you church members really want to go into Canaan Sanctuary where we will enjoy rest and blessings?

Then, we first have to please God. First, we have to please God with perfect faith and obedience, and we also have to accomplish the sanctuary of our heart by circumcising our heart, to make it proper for Canaan Sanctuary.

If we please God this way, God will give that land to us and He will also give the finances necessary to build the sanctuary.

When we receive the answer of the Canaan Sanctuary with our faith and obedience, the gate of the Grand Sanctuary will soon open.

I pray in the name of the Lord that each of you will receive this message as yours and earnestly pray with faith and love so that the blessings of Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary will be your own blessings.

[Amen]