Passage

Matthew 21:12-13
"And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. [13] And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer' but you are making it a robbers' den."

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

In this service, I will talk about the third prayer title of the New Year, 'The God-pleasing Sanctuary'.
The 'God-pleasing sanctuary' is ultimately the Grand Sanctuary for which we have been praying since the opening of this church.
But in a broader sense, it includes the Canaan Sanctuary that we have to build before the Grand Sanctuary.
Construction of the Grand Sanctuary is such a huge project that it's difficult to comprehend. It is something very difficult to even begin to imagine.
But thinking about the ministry of this church, nothing was easy right from the opening.
We have been 'creating things out of nothing' and 'making impossible possible' from moment to moment.
We have always made professions of faith and prayed for the things that were unseen and unimaginable in reality, but we finally achieved them.
As said in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," God has shown in reality the things that we prayed for.
When we think about the crusade in Israel last year do you know just how amazing it really was!
In Israel, at the 'end of the earth' where they reject Christianity, we conducted a crusade and proclaimed the Savior Jesus Christ.
This is the substance of faith for which we have been praying, for last 27 years since the opening of the church.
It's the same with the construction of the sanctuary.
We have enough the power of God to do it. It's not that God cannot do it because it is too difficult.
Every time we moved the sanctuary in the past, it was too difficult to achieve with men's strength, but we did it every time only with faith.
And the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary will also be achieved by the power of God.
But is there anybody who is thinking that the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary is going on more slowly than you first expected?
In fact, it is not true. It has never stopped nor is it delayed.
Ephesians 3:20-21 says, "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
As written, God is guiding us step by step to reveal the glory that is greater than we ever could have imagined or asked.
The meaning contained in the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary is much greater than what you might have thought.
The size, method of construction, the appropriate timing, and the spiritual meaning – all these are being fulfilled in the perfect will of God.
Then, at this moment, what does God want us to know about this prayer title, "God-pleasing sanctuary"?
I pray in the name of the Lord that, through this message, you will become key players in accomplishing this God-pleasing sanctuary and share together in the glory of it.

[Main]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God gave us the vision of Grand Sanctuary and made us pray for it since the opening of this church.
So, unless you are newcomers, most of you know the meaning of the construction of Grand Sanctuary.
Simply put, the Grand Sanctuary has many special meanings connected with it that other buildings do not have.
A sanctuary is where God the Creator puts His name, and the word of God is preached there.
A sanctuary is set apart from other worldly buildings as a holy place.
In today's reading passage, Jesus drives out those people who defamed the holiness of the temple.
Seeing the meek and humble Jesus do that, we can understand how seriously we have to consider the sanctuary as being holy.
But the Grand Sanctuary has even more special meanings in its construction.
It is not just one of the many church buildings in the world, but it's a sanctuary for special providence of God.
First, the Grand Sanctuary is a symbol that shows the glory of God, who exists in the spiritual realm, in this physical world.
It is the greatest and best sanctuary ever built in human history, and it reveals the power and dignity of God the almighty.
Just by seeing the outward appearance of it, people will feel the dignity and the glory of God.
Of course, there have been many beautiful sanctuaries that have been built in this world.
But God does not want sanctuaries that are only splendid on the outside.
The true works of God must take place within them.
The Grand Sanctuary will be a life-filled and active sanctuary having the blazing fire of the Holy Spirit, spiritual word, and the amazing power of God.
It will be built as an ark of salvation where the kings of the nations come.
Next, the Grand Sanctuary is a monument to God that commemorates the victory in human cultivation.
The reason why God created men and cultivates them is to gain true children.
True children are those who love God with true hearts and perfect faith and who can share their heart with the heart of God.
To gain such children, God has been enduring for a long time during the process of human cultivation.
As the end of the human cultivation draws near, so many souls will come forth as true children by the works of the Holy Spirit, and through their hands the Grand Sanctuary will be built.
The Grand Sanctuary cannot just be built by just anybody, only because they have money, authority, or technology.
Only those who are sanctified and resemble God have the qualifications to build the Grand Sanctuary.
When so many men of spirit come forth, the Grand Sanctuary will be constructed through their hands.
Thus, the fact that the Grand Sanctuary is built is an evidence that God has gained true children.
When God sees this Grand Sanctuary, He will receive consolation and great joy for His endurance and the mourning that He had throughout human cultivation.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when the human cultivation will come to an end, the Grand Sanctuary will be a special monument, and the outward appearance is not the important thing.
The more important thing is the kind of heart of those who build it, and what kind of people will lead Christian lives in it.
If you think about the glory of New Jerusalem, I think you will understand this.
New Jerusalem is so beautiful and splendid, and is surrounded with inexpressible glory.
It will be built with so many precious stones that cannot be seen on earth, creating some breath-taking scenes.
But if men of flesh who have not cast away sins and evil were to live in New Jerusalem, it would not really be great joy to God.
The glory of New Jerusalem is so precious because souls like jewels who resemble God so much will dwell in it.
Also, the materials used to build the houses in New Jerusalem are the rewards stored up by the house-owners for what they have done with faith and love on this earth.
In other words, in each of the corners in these houses there will be the aroma of the owners' hearts that they offered up to God the Father with holy and sanctified hearts.
The Grand Sanctuary on this earth is similar to this.
God doesn't want to fill this sanctuary with anything fleshly.
He doesn't want to build it with men's strength and wisdom. He wants it to be built only through complete trust and faith in God.
This is a sanctuary that is built by those believers who have cultivated holy and truthful hearts.
The sanctuary will be filled with the deep aroma of love for God, aroma of prayer longing for the glory of God, and aroma of peace containing no complaints or resentment.
When such a sanctuary is built on this earth and God's children who are proper in His sight worship Him and praise Him, how delighted our God will be!
Just like beautifully crafted precious stones give out enthralling and brilliantly flashing reflections of light, the worship and praise will become great joy to God.
We can understand the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary in the same way.
As we are and have been in the process of building the Canaan Sanctuary up until this day, God has been refining this church and you for a long time.
Through refinement after refinement God is guiding us to have faith like pure gold.

And according to how well you achieve the kind of heart that God desires of you through those processes, the construction of the sanctuary will also vary.
You have been praying for it earnestly, and I am also praying for this sanctuary to be revealed so earnestly.
And God is watching not only me but also the eagerness of the workers who are actually doing the job and the earnestness of all the church members.
When that longing is filled up, when the number of those who have to become sanctified is enough, and when all the things are appropriate according to God's justice, the actual reality of the Canaan Sanctuary will quickly be revealed before us.
Dear brothers and sisters, construction of the Canaan Sanctuary is the beginning of the construction of the Grand Sanctuary.
This is not just symbolic in meaning.
As you actually see the Canaan Sanctuary, and when you see the process and result of the construction, you will feel that the construction of the Grand Sanctuary is very near.
In the process of preparing for the construction of the sanctuary, God has guided our workers to have greater and greater faith.
For example, the workers showed their greatest possible faith and tried to purchase land at a certain point in the past.
Then, after watching the process for some time, God guided them to show greater faith.
So, the workers showed greater faith and began the work at another level. Then, after some time, God again made them show even greater faith.
Through this kind of training, the workers were enabled to look at the things with the eyes of faith, even the things that they had never been able to even consider.
They also learned how they can maintain peace and be united, how they should deal with the unbelievers in doing those works, and what kinds of words and attitudes they must have as leading workers.
The Canaan Sanctuary we are building will not be some temporary building that we build in a hurry.
It has to be able to accommodate the many souls who will come from all over the world until we complete the building of the Grand Sanctuary.
Also, the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary will be the fruit of faith that you and I have been cultivating until now.
The things that we sowed physically and spiritually to build the sanctuary are by no means something small.
And we will not reap the fruits of what we have sown only after we build the Grand Sanctuary, but we will begin to see the fruit through the Canaan Sanctuary.
Our church has moved the church building many times to accommodate the members as our number increased so rapidly.
But I was never satisfied with any of the sanctuaries we had.
When we came to this sanctuary, the members were happy because it was much bigger than previous ones, but I felt it was too small.
And after we had just one revival meeting the main sanctuary was packed already.
But the Canaan Sanctuary will be different. It will be big enough that we will be able to have enough space available until we build the Grand Sanctuary, and I will be satisfied with it, too.
Also, as this Canaan Sanctuary is being revealed, you will more vividly feel that the construction of the Grand Sanctuary is really near.
It means the Canaan Sanctuary will be like a symbol for the Grand Sanctuary that will be built.
As a matter of fact, there is no other church in the world that can build the Grand Sanctuary for which we are longing and praying.
Nobody can get such a large piece of land that is necessary, nor the money to buy it. The legal considerations are very difficult to meet, too.
If you just think about the size of it, you will have a doubt whether erecting such a big building is really possible.
Even if construction itself is possible, it will be very difficult to see a church that will have so much revival to fill up such a great sanctuary. But you are quite different.
You have always seen that the impossible becomes possible by the power of God. We have always created reality out of nothing since the opening of the church.
Furthermore, we have been praying for this sanctuary for more than 27 years, and we have absolute faith that it will be built.
On top of that, when we actually see the Canaan Sanctuary, which seems very difficult to build, then we will have even firmer faith.
We will then long for the Grand Sanctuary even more earnestly believing that it is really possible.
Also, the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary will be a talk of the town among the unbelievers, too, and naturally the construction of the Grand Sanctuary will be made known.
This way, beginning with the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary, many things that are needed for the Grand Sanctuary will come from all around the world, and finally it will be revealed before us.
As you hear these words, you may wonder how longer it would take to finally build the Canaan Sanctuary.
But it won't take so much time.
Of course, it takes a couple of years to erect the building, and only because we are doing it with faith, we cannot just build it overnight.
However, by the work of the almighty God, a year can be shortened to half a year, and three-month's work can be done in one month.
For example, if the related laws are changed or some regulations are lifted, complicated paper work will become very simple.
Also, soon they will probably have new kind of technology that overcomes present limitations.
Until recently, it took about three hours to go to Gang-won Do, even without a traffic jam.
But recently, as new highway opened, it takes just about an hour.
The construction of Canaan Sanctuary is similar to this.
When God works at the most appropriate time, things that took a long time can be shortened.
Also, people's opinions and attitudes toward this construction will become favorable.
I explained that the flow of world situations will only become more and more difficult.
They will have economic hardships. And if the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary or the Grand Sanctuary is going on, it will become a contributing factor to the economy. It will benefit many people who are connected with the construction work.
Thus, nobody will really oppose the construction, and they will think it's something good.
Because it is a sanctuary that will be built according to the justice of God, and because it will be God-pleasing sanctuary, there won't be a sound of opposition to it.
And since there is no opposition, there won't be any delays in the construction.
This construction process of our church will challenge not only the worldly people but also other believers.
The more economic hardship they have, they tend to hold on to what they already have but not start something new.
In this situation, we will build such a great sanctuary and proclaim the glory of God.
Seeing this, other believers will understand about the blessings that follow faith, and they will be moved, too.

[Conclusion] Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, until now, every time we moved the sanctuary, God let us store up enough aroma of our longing, and achieved it very quickly when the time came.
He achieved them in impossible situations so dramatically that we had to acknowledge that it was the work of God.
In the case of the Canaan Sanctuary also, God is waiting for the most appropriate time and for our aroma of longing to be filled.
But another very important thing is, as I have always emphasized, the holiness of the pastors, Levites, and the church members.
God said He is waiting for the number of children who are sanctified, and when all the conditions are met according to justice, the Canaan Sanctuary will be revealed before our eyes.
It goes without saying that we will be filled with so much emotion, and God will also receive glory and exult over us with joy.
By the way, having to fill the number of children who are sanctified does not mean all the pastors, Levites, and church members have to be sanctified.
Even among the twelve disciples, there was somebody like Judas Iscariot who never changed.
Just as the flow of the world is so, even in the church, there will be two extremes of flows, one going to spirit and the other going to flesh.
Those who do not circumcise their heart and do not change will only be stained with more and more flesh.
That is why God does not say each and everyone has to be sanctified, but that the number has to be filled.
Even though some people still dwell in darkness, and when the time finally comes in the flow of spirit, the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary will be achieved.
But what does God the Father really want of us? And what do you think I feel as a shepherd?
What I so earnestly want as much as the construction of sanctuary is that we all go together.
Nobody should fall out from this flow of spirit. We all should be able to enjoy the glory and honor of the sanctuary for we have been together in faith until now.
You have been hearing secret things of the spiritual realm and seen the greatest power so you could long for the best dwelling place in Heaven.
So, why would you care for the perishing and fleshly things of this world and stay in darkness?
I earnestly urge all you pastors, Levites, and the members to quickly shake off the fleshly things.
I urge you to long for New Jerusalem, and also to yearn and try to go into the central part of it.
Through you believers who do that, not only the Canaan Sanctuary but the world evangelism, construction of the Grand Sanctuary, and all the works that will show the glory of the Father will be unfolded.
And when you meet the Lord who is coming again, I pray in the name of the Lord that you and I will all go into the 7-year Wedding Banquet as beautiful brides together.

[Amen]

2010-01-04 Posted
2010-01-14 Updated