Beautiful Sanctuary
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January 25, 2015 |
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"And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper" (Revelation 21:10-11).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
The third prayer title of 2015, 'Beautiful Sanctuary' refers to a sanctuary that has the glory of God just like the city of New Jerusalem.
John's spirit was being drawn by the Holy Spirit to the city of New Jerusalem, the most beautiful place in Heaven. Concerning his first impression of New Jerusalem, John said, "…having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper." The city of New Jerusalem reveals the glory of God in Heaven and it is the Grand Sanctuary that we are going to build that will reveal the glory of God on this earth.
1. Why is the Grand Sanctuary the beautiful sanctuary?
God gave me and our church the very important duty of leading many souls to New Jerusalem. He also began to reveal to us the size and details of the scope of the Grand Sanctuary. It means the construction of the Grand Sanctuary and the flow of men of whole spirit coming forth are related to each other.
It means building the Grand Sanctuary is a proof that many souls have come forth who can enter into New Jerusalem. For this reason, the design of the Grand Sanctuary has many similarities with those of New Jerusalem. Also, we can see that the general shape of the Grand Sanctuary is like that of a crown. It's because the Grand Sanctuary is a fruit that proves God will have achieved victory in human cultivation.
At the end time God will gain a great number of true children with whom He can share love. This is the reason why the Grand Sanctuary is such a beautiful sanctuary. Of course, the building itself will be so beautiful that it will be able to reveal the glory and dignity of God. But the actual reason why it is so beautiful is because the hearts of those who worship in the Grand Sanctuary will be truly beautiful.
Believers will worship God in the Grand Sanctuary with pure hearts like silver that has been refined seven times. It will be full of the believers who praise God with utmost love for God. It will be full of the believers who dedicate their lives for the glory of God. Before human cultivation is over God wants to build a sanctuary that will be filled with such believers on this earth.
Just imagine Elijah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, apostle Paul, Peter, John, David, Samuel, Stephen, Phillip, Joseph, Daniel and his three friends, Mary Magdalene, Virgin Mary, Esther, Ruth, and those who have cultivated hearts like jewels through human cultivation, all who will be gathered together there! They would just serve and love each other according to the spiritual order, being so full of peace, joy, and happiness.
And, believers who will have cultivated beautiful hearts like theirs will gather and shine the light in the Grand Sanctuary. Therefore, I hope you will build the sanctuary of the heart more beautifully in 2015.
2. Believers' prayer to build their beautiful sanctuary of heart
Ephesians 2:22 says, "...in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."
I hope you too will earnestly long to have the beautiful, gentle, and good hearts of the patriarchs. I ask you to constantly pray to have the good points of the patriarchs as follows: "Like Elijah, by having a humble heart, I don't want to have any conflicts with anybody. I want to have the firm faith like he did, that God can do everything even though I cannot, and I just want to obey the will of God. I want to be able to do anything for the Lord by having burning passion for the Lord."
"Like Enoch, let me enjoy storing up goodness in every matter. In the family or in society, rather than trying to have, let me yield, so I can have peace with everybody. Let me love God first and more than anything so I can communicate with God every moment. When I see the sky, the sea, trees, or flowers, let me feel the heart of God contained in them."
"Like Abraham, I want to trust God completely and obey completely. Let me have a kind and gentle heart so if others want to take the left hand side, I will just take the right hand side. Let me also do all my work without any selfish motives and only with integrity so there won't be any complaints or disputes."
"Give me the faith like that of Moses, who chose to endure ill-treatment with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin. Let me also have a meek heart to be able to harbor many people and become faithful in all God's household."
"Like the apostle Paul, let me never forget the grace I received from the Lord, and let my love for the Lord increase day by day. Let me also have the kind of love given to Paul with which he gave his life even for those who were persecuting him. As he gave glory only to the Lord even though he performed powerful works and received many revelations, let me also do the same."
"Mary Magdalene did not complain even though she was despised by her family and others. But rather, she first considered whether or not her actions would give a hard time to others. Let me also have such a good heart so that in no situation would I put the blame on others or blame the circumstances. Mary Magdalene did not have any grudges even though Jesus would not even look at her. But rather, she understood why He had to act that way and she just served Him. Let me also be able to understand the hearts of those whom I love, and let me love them the way they want me to. And, just like Mary Magdalene fulfilled her duty given by the Lord with all her life, let me also fulfill my duty given by the Lord with all my life."
"The Virgin Mary did not forget the message given by God or the words spoken by Jesus even as a child, but she kept them in her mind. Let me also cherish the words given to me, engrave them in my heart, and practice them."
"Like Esther, I want to love the kingdom of God and the people of God. Let me be able to sacrifice myself even to make up my mind to die if I have to for the kingdom of God and the souls, and not just choose to enjoy my own comfort."
"Like Ruth, I want to revere God from the depths of my heart. In doing so, let me cultivate goodness that follows the right way completely. I want to have a good heart to be able to follow the right way willingly and not out of compulsion, and also even if it is not beneficial for me and I might have to make sacrifices."
I also urge you to pray to keep your faithfulness before God even in life-threatening situations like Daniel and his three friends; pray to be able to seek the good will of God and believe it in any trials like Joseph; pray to love the sanctuary of God with your love for God and enjoy offering up praises to God like David; pray not to commit the sin of ceasing to pray for the souls like Samuel; pray to deliver love like the apostle John.
In this way, if you keep on praying to take after the hearts of the patriarchs with longing, you will also be able to have good, gentle, and beautiful hearts.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the greater the number of such believers who come forth with this beautiful sanctuary of the heart, the quicker we will build the Grand Sanctuary. I hope you will never cease your march of faith towards spirit and whole spirit in 2015. I pray in the name of the Lord that we will also help each other and march on in this race of faith together until we all cultivate whole spirit.
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