"He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday" (Psalm 37:6).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
On the first day of January, as they watch the sun rising, many people have hopes and expectations for the New Year. In this heartless end time, there is still a light that can give a more beautiful hope than the best hope a person can have. This light is the light that will shine in the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary.
This light will shine throughout the thick darkness of the world and lead numerous souls to the Lord. Also, it will engrave the hope of New Jerusalem on the hearts of those souls. Then, how will the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary shine this light and lead countless souls to the way of salvation?
1. Sanctuary Construction, God's Glorious Fruit
From the church's opening, God has given Manmin vision to construct sanctuaries and He has led us Himself. He wanted to reveal His glory over the world through the sanctuary that God's sanctified children build. So, He has given the power to the shepherd and let the members grow up in faith. Through the beautiful and magnificent sanctuary built under the name of Manmin, God's glory will be revealed and countless souls will reach salvation at the end time.
The Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary will give out glorious lights as if it were the buildings themselves. Namely, many people will give glory to God seeing the grand size, the beauty that reminds people of the glory of Heaven, and all the sophisticated technology incorporated.
But what actually makes the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary shine is the spiritual light. This light-shining sanctuary is in reference to the light that will show the true meaning of a sanctuary: the place where God's justice brightens up the dark world and gathers and changes countless souls (Psalm 37:6). It is grand and beautiful, but what we should remember is that it can play a role as a holy temple only when the members in it give out light.
God will shine the light of 'righteousness' and 'justice' by constructing these beautiful sanctuaries in this world which is full of sins and evil and where such light is difficult to find. 'Righteousness' refers to practicing the Word of God. 'Justice' refers to the character or nature of God who gives rewards and punishments fairly between good and evil. Here, the standard to discern between good and evil is the 66 books of the Bible. He judges all people justly between good and evil and gives them rewards or punishments respectively.
Today, many people are confused as to what justice is and what truth is. But the most regretful thing is that many people are distorting the way of salvation. Many people say, "There are many ways of salvation and many kinds of truth." So, God planned the construction of the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary to once again proclaim His law and order to the world. He will show to the world a church that receives salvation, blessings, and rewards by living by the Word of God.
In this sense, the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary can be considered the most glorious fruits that a true church has borne according to the justice of God. Through these sanctuaries, many people including people from other nations of the world will come to dwell within the boundary of salvation, and have the true faith.
2. How the Sanctuaries Will Shine
1) The justice of God will shine the light by the fact that our church will have built a glorious sanctuary
Since its opening, our church has been living by the Word and will of God. For this reason, the power of darkness has repeatedly tried to destroy our church. The enemy devil and Satan instigated not just the government and the general public, but also other churches to condemn our church and destroy us. But every time we overcame evil with goodness. We kept on marching in the walk of faith even in extreme hardships. We helped the churches that were in greater need than we were, and we never became lazy in our missionary works. We never set aside the vision given by God of constructing the Grand Sanctuary even for a moment.
Though we started only with 7,000 won, which was only about 7 US dollars then, we will build a sanctuary that will cost an astronomical figure. It is in fact a miracle that can be made possible only by the power of God. The almighty God will make this miracle happen based on the deeds of goodness and faith that our church has been storing up until now. In doing so, God will reveal that we are a good church that truly loves God. He will also reveal His justice that He pays back according to what we do and sow, and He returns the glory to us when we give glory to Him (John 13:32). The truth will be revealed that we reap what we sow and goodness overcomes evil.
2) The righteousness and justice of God will shine the light through the fruit of the Light that is borne by each of you
As Ephesians 5:30 says, the believers are the members of the Lord, who is the head of the church. Therefore, if the believers give out the light, the church, namely, the sanctuary will also shine the light. As the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary are built, at first so many people will come when they hear about the fame of our church. What's important, then, is that we need to allow for them to settle down into and be rooted firmly in the soil of the truth. When we fulfill each of our duties well, our church will be worthy of the title "Light-shining Sanctuary," namely a sanctuary that shines in the dark world.
For us to be able to do that, each of us must bear the fruit of the Light (Ephesians 5:9). Then, those who will come to this church can feel goodness, righteousness, and truth from each of us. Also, seeing the church members living in peace and blessings given by God, they will realize that we are loved by God since we love Him.
If each of the church members shines the light this way, those who will come will trust the Word of God and try to live by it. Namely, they will be assured that they can be saved when they walk in the Light, and they can also receive blessings and rewards to the extent that they circumcise their hearts and are faithful to the kingdom of God according to the rules of justice. As they gain such faith in their hearts, they will cast away darkness and bear the fruit of the Light, too. It is in this sense that the righteousness and justice of God will shine through the fruit of the Light that each of you will bear.
As you bear the fruit of the Light in your inner being, you should also have the outer appearances that are worthy of the children of Light. In doing so, you and this church will be able to shine a brighter light. Namely, you can save and change more souls if you rid yourselves of deficiencies of the body and have dignity and also good skills and professionalism in various aspects.
During the great flood at the Noah's time, those animals that breathed with their lungs on this earth went into the ark built by Noah and their lives were saved. And such an amazing work will be accomplished through the Canaan Sanctuary and the Grand Sanctuary. Namely, many souls will come and receive salvation transcending all races, ages, gender, education, and social status. At the time of the flood, Noah and his family fed and took care of so many animals in the ark. We are the ones who should take care of the souls and feed them with the Word of God. So, if we have the skills and expertise in various aspects along with our spiritual abilities, we will be able to perform such duties even better.
For example, when we have well-organized knowledge of the Word of God, proper manners and social etiquette, developed leadership skills, and acquired foreign language skills, the church will be able to bear much greater fruit. Especially the leaders of the church must certainly bear the fruit of the Light both inside and outside. It's because, to the same extent that you bear the fruit of the Light, all the processes in the construction of the sanctuary will be prosperous. The workers can receive clearer guidance of God to the extent that they have borne the fruit of the Light in their hearts, as to when they should do what kinds of things.
Dear brothers and sisters, a sanctuary is a holy place where God dwells and where God's Word is preached. And it is a house where all people pray and where believers give praise and worship to the Lord while waiting for Him who will come again. Today, the meaning of the temple has been degraded, as the worldly culture has been brought in and the believers compromise with the world. When such a sanctuary is completed, the true meaning of the Temple, which has been degraded for thousands of years, will be recovered. I pray in the name of the Lord that all of you will abundantly bear the fruit of the Light and let the sanctuary shine more brightly.
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