Sunday 2nd Service / Temple Construction Dedication Service
Title / Scripture: The Temple Where the Rivers of Living Water Flow (John 7:37-44)
Speaker: Pastor Ryu Kwang-su
Date / Place: October 2, 2022 / Immanuel Church (Busan)
Summary
When Israel rejected Christ, Jerusalem collapsed 37 years later. There was no nation until 1948. For 2,000 years Israel fell into darkness. The 120 held on to Christ as the covenant. The nations that had the gospel came to save the world. It is a tremendous moment of choice between death and life. Satan knows that we think of Christ as ordinary. The person of the Holy Spirit wins even if he believes just a little. If you pray just a little, the Holy Spirit and evil spirits are no match. But they make the wrong start. During public worship, you get to see the tremendous line of the covenant, but because this is not seen, they think it is fine not to worship.
▣ Introduction_ Rejecting Christ (verse 44)
Idol temples (evil spirits, the Holy Spirit) – It is nothing much, but you must not take the work of evil spirits lightly. Because we are people of the Holy Spirit, it is no contest. Pray and wait. Because they do not receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it looks like they are losing.
1. What religious people do not know (Satan’s 12 strategies)
1) Temples 2) Idols
3) Ancestral rites – It is the play of demons, but they get deceived.
2. What the Jews do not know
1) The meaning of the three feasts
2) The meaning of the law – They think they must keep it all (hard)
3) They do not know who Christ is, original sin, or Satan. – The reason Israel was ruined
The temple where the rivers of living water flow – What should we pray for? We need a temple where the rivers of living water flow. The work of God that takes place in the temple is more important (verse 38).
▣ Main_ The 120 who held on to Christ as life
1. The living water of life that restores the original – The river that saves the whole world
1) Pishon – The river that saves the region of Havilah
2) Gihon – The river that winds through the entire land of Cush
3) Hiddekel – The river that winds through the entire land of Assyria
4) Euphrates
2. Drink the living water that revives together.
1) John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
2) Ezekiel 47:1-12 The water flowing out of the temple will save the whole land.
Exodus 17:6 The water coming out of the rock will save everyone.
Psalms 105:41 This water will flow and the dry land will become like a river.
3) The words spoken about the Holy Spirit (verse 39) – The way to drink the living water
(Genesis 2:7 Just as He breathed in the breath of life, receive the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer. Ezekiel 37:1-10 Prophesy the Word and the breath of life to the dry bones. They became an army.)
▷ Truly believe and pray. Pour out on me the living water, the breath of life, the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit of the Lord worked on Joseph, his eyes to see the world were opened.
3. Drink the living water that revives alone.
1) John 14:16-17 Counselor – Believe in God and me, and since you have the background of the throne, do not let your hearts be troubled. He will give you the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, to be with you for eternity!
2) John 14:26, 16:13 He will remind you of everything I have taught.
3) John 14:27 Peace I give to you – The greatest answer
▷ Drink the life of Christ, the Holy Spirit.
▣ Conclusion_ Temple
1. Indirect experience (materials) – The Remnants must see this, and the reason for studying and how to save the world must be imprinted on them.
2. Direct experience (practice) – So that they can meditate deeply alone, pray, and have spiritual experiences
3. Complete experience (a place to concentrate is needed) – The Remnants must completely experience it before going out
Transcript
Do not try to listen to my sermon; you must confirm today’s Word well. After this passage, a big event happens to Israel. To put it simply, they rejected Christ. And about 40 years passed, right? To be exact, about 37 years passed. Jerusalem collapsed. And then there was no nation until 1948. In 1948 it became independent through the UN. Actually, our country also became independent from Japan around that time. For about 2,000 years Israel fell into darkness. Among them, 120 people held on to Christ, to the covenant. The answer is clearly shown, isn’t it? And around 1948, the nations that had the gospel saved the world. Now the gospel is disappearing a bit, but the nations that had the gospel came to save the world. It is a tremendous moment of choice.
How well one preaches does not matter. When I watch places like Christian broadcasting, pastors keep saying things that are not in the text to make people laugh, but do not do that kind of thing. The Word of God is a matter of life or death, right now. We think of it as ordinary. We just think of, well, Christ as ordinary, don’t we? Satan knows that and likes it. But because we are people of the Holy Spirit, it is actually no fight at all. You only need to believe a little, but it is because you do not actually believe; if you believe even a little, you win. Right now, let someone hurt your pride. All your faith drops away. Isn’t that so? Let someone make you feel hurt. All the faith you had drains out. Isn’t that so? Look at churches that fight. They are worse than unbelievers. There is no Christ.
If you pray just a little, the Holy Spirit and evil spirits are no contest. Even with people who are so good, when I look, they keep making the wrong start. ‘Ha, what a pity.’ It is good fabric, but they cut it wrong. There are so many believers like that. Why? Because the line of firmly holding on to the covenant and praying has not been grasped. Actually, the line has not been grasped. If that is so, when you worship alone or in public worship like this on Sunday, you get to see a tremendous line, right? But you just cannot see it at all. So, well, you do not need to worship. You cannot see it anyway. Isn’t that so? You would rather go home and watch television and receive grace, right? There are many singers, and singers sing well these days, so you watch and, wow, get moved, and how nice is that. Just do that. Why come to church and suffer? A tremendous result comes out.
▣ Introduction_ Rejecting Christ
So if you look at verse 44 today, they dare to try to seize Christ and kill Him. They come to reject Christ. The Bible is explaining this in detail now. As you know, these 120 held on to Christ as life. It is about who He is. The answer is out, right? So how we hold on and pray is important.
[ Idol temples (evil spirits, the Holy Spirit) ]
You do not need to fear this Satan. But you must not take it lightly. We are trying to build a temple now, and these many idol temples now are actually nothing much, right? But you must not take it lightly. Because evil spirits definitely work, it is enormous. But because we are people of the Holy Spirit, it is no contest. You only need to pray a little. Wait. Do not keep trying to do other things; I tell you, wait. They do not wait. “Oh, we are going to starve to death.” That will not happen. All of it here (evil spirits, the Holy Spirit) is no contest. And because we do not fight at all, because we do not receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit at all, naturally it looks like we are losing. Do not be afraid. The scale of idol temples is enormous, isn’t it? And those facilities are tremendous. They do not build like we do. Those people build over decades, hundreds of years. Amazing, right? To build those enormous idol temples, they build them passing it down as a will from generation to generation. Humans do not listen to God’s Word, but they listen well to the devil’s words, I tell you. Hearing that, I do not know how hard they work. They do everything.
1. What they do not know (religious people) (12 strategies)
There is no need to be afraid. Because these religious people now have something they do not know, right? What is it that they do not know? People of the world now, religious people, do not know. They do not know what Satan’s 12 strategies are, I tell you.
1) Temples
2) Idols
Because they do not know, they build temples, and they do not know how bad it is to worship idols.
3) Ancestral rites
And then when they hold events, they perform ancestral rites, right? They do these things without knowing what they are, I tell you. So people who practice spiritual cultivation say they do ki (氣) exercises, say they saw something, but it is all demons’ play, so do not be deceived. Someone came while performing ancestral rites? It is all demons’ play. If there is anyone who performs ancestral rites, do not worry and do away with all of it. That is demons coming. It is not your parents; it is all demons’ play, that is. This (temples, idols, ancestral rites) is all that play, but people get deceived. Because they cannot know.
2. What the Jews do not know
And what the Jews have not known until now.
1) The three feasts
There are so many things the Jews do not know, but most fundamentally, there are the three feasts, right? The last day of the feast, when they keep the feast today, refers to the Feast of Tabernacles. They keep the three feasts, but they do not know what the three feasts mean. Passover. For Passover, they just do their Passover event, make bread and eat it, sleep there, and they only think of this. When they say Pentecost, they only think, “We harvested grain after 50 days.” Among them, a fairly big one is the Feast of Tabernacles, Thanksgiving in our language. At that time, they actually make booths. On that day Jesus visited the temple.
2) The law
These Jews do not know the meaning of the three feasts, and what they actually do not know is the meaning of the law. They cannot even keep it all, yet they think they must keep it all. And they think they have kept it all. So life is extremely hard and complicated. These people cannot even wear women’s accessories, you know, on a special Sabbath day. Why? Because those also have weight.
3) Christ
And what these Jews do not know now is that they have completely misunderstood Christ. They do not know who Christ is now. Now, the Jews do not know, and almost all do not know. They do not know what original sin is, and things like Satan they cannot know at all. How is it? The church is the same now. You are very interested in small mistakes, but you have no interest at all in what is contrary to God’s Word, to the gospel. That is original sin. Israel was ruined because of that. Does God give such a harsh punishment? Because only that way can the gospel that saves the world be delivered. There is no choice. Because it must be delivered. Suppose that person has medicine that saves the world, I gave it to him, and he just keeps it to himself? I must take it even if I have to beat him and give it out. Isn’t that right?
▣ Main_ 120
What did these 120 hold on to at this time? It is what you must pray for this week. What should you pray for? It is what Jesus spoke. You must enjoy the blessing of the rivers of living water flowing. This temple (where the rivers of living water flow) is needed. Temple construction is important too, but the work of God that takes place in the temple is more important. Today in chapter 7 verse 38, “Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow.” These people (the 120) held on to this, and these people (the Jews) missed it. Then pray with this for one week. Truly, rivers of living water will flow from me. Especially, sick people, pray. People with spiritual difficulties are certainly people who have received a special gift, so steadily hold on to the covenant and pray. What does it mean that rivers of living water flow?
1. The living water of life that restores the original
Restore the original. It means this living water of life that restores the original. Pray for this. I must restore this. Jesus is saying that now.
2. The living water that revives together
Secondly, it refers to this living water by which we now revive together. Drink this.
3. The living water that revives alone
Now, finally, receive and drink this living water by which you revive alone.
Conclusion_ [ Temple ]
It is building a temple where this can happen. Then that is enough. Now, pray for one week.
1. The living water of life that restores the original
At the beginning, what living water did He give?
1) Pishon
Completely within Eden, there is a river called Pishon.
2) Gihon
When it was first created, within Eden there was a river called Gihon. There were four rivers, I tell you.
3) Hiddekel
A river called Hiddekel. There is a river like this.
4) Euphrates
Next is the Euphrates.
These four rivers flowed in Eden. If you look at this in detail, what it says is that this Pishon wound around the region of Havilah, which means it was saving that whole region. It says Gihon flowed around the entire land of Cush. Try imagining it. It says Hiddekel wound around all of Assyria. At the beginning, this water of life that God gave us was meant to save the whole world and for us to live. This was lost. So today He speaks important words.
2. The living water that revives together
1) John 7:38
Today in chapter 7 verse 38, “Whoever believes in me will make rivers of living water overflow.” This is today’s chapter 7 verse 38. This is what we must enjoy while praying together.
2) Ezekiel 47:1-12
Not only that, but now, long ago, looking at Ezekiel 47:1 to 12, “The water flowing out of the temple will save the whole land.” Just experience it. Do not do other things; just believe. Well, there is nothing to lose, right? Well, speaking calculatingly, if you have no faith, let us talk by calculation. When you give money to a swindler, if it goes wrong, you can be cheated out of it, right? Isn’t that so? Well, when I start a business, if it goes wrong, I can take a loss, right? Calculate, I tell you, if you have no faith. Holding on to God’s covenant and praying, there is nothing to be cheated of. You just need to believe and go. Satan blocks this. So do not worry; the prayer by which you truly gain strength must begin. “Whoever believes in me, from within him, from his belly, rivers of living water will overflow.” Looking at Ezekiel 47, “The water that came out of the temple will save the whole land and flow even to the south.” It is prophesied, right? I have told you a lot about it before, right?
Exodus 17:6
In Exodus 17:6, “The water that came out of the rock, the water of life, will save everything.”
Psalms 105:41
In Psalms 105:41, “This water will flow and the dry land will become like a river.” Today Jesus gave that Word. These people (the 120) held on to the covenant that the Jews, who could not understand at all, lost, and they came to save the whole world.
3) The Holy Spirit
And He said this, right? How do you drink living water? He even gave the answer. You would say, “How do I drink living water? The refrigerator is full of water, so do I drink living water?” It is not that, right? Jesus even answered. In verse 39. He said this concerning the Holy Spirit. That is the living water. The answer is in the Bible, right? How simple and easy it is, you all, it is the Word spoken concerning the Holy Spirit.
(Genesis 2:7)
So it means, receive the power of the Holy Spirit, like God breathing in the breath of life in Genesis 2:7. With what do you receive it? With prayer. Receive it with prayer. So God breathed this life into us.
(Ezekiel 47:1-10)
This is like, if you look at Ezekiel 47:1 to 10, two things appear, right? He asked, “Can these dry bones live?” He said, “O Lord, You know.” Isn’t that right? Then it means these dry bones have all died. “Prophesy the Word to these dry bones.” And the latter words are more important. “Prophesy the breath of life to those dry bones.” So because the work of the Holy Spirit blowing took place, they became an army, that is what it is. Do this. Just keep praying this prayer.
I am fine on other days, but on Sunday, you see, I am fine during conferences. My Sunday message preparation usually ends at two o’clock, at dawn. Yesterday, for the first time, it ended at about ten o’clock. Saying, “God, please come quickly.” The Holy Spirit must work in me so that I prophesy God’s Word. I must not tell my own stories, right? (Main) So pray this week. “God, pour out living water, the breath of life on me.” Sick people, do not be discouraged, do not look at other things, and pray, “Pour out God’s breath of life, the Holy Spirit, on me.” When will I be healed? Leave that to God; one day it will disappear. Like that, your spiritual problems that were difficult will disappear one day. Even problems that never worked out, one day the answer will come to you, and you will be firmly in the position of victory, helping other people like this. Isn’t that Joseph? Joseph did not say, “Please make me prime minister, and so on…….” It is not like that. Simply, because he was within this power, one day he became prime minister. It is not a dreamlike story. It is not a hard story. You become prime minister by competing? Truly, it will not happen even if you die a hundred times. Isn’t that right? Which is correct? Joseph went to the powerful nation of Egypt and became prime minister by competing? That will not happen even if you die a hundred times. Isn’t that right? In other words, this worked. Because the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord was with him, the answer of seeing the world came all at once, right? It will come in the future. This “Pray,” means, said the other way around, that we do other things more. That is what it means. Right away, when we come to church, we do not receive blessing first but hear a lot of people’s stories first, right? Right away it goes like that. Right away, you do not experience the work of God’s power first but keep trying to do worldly things first, like this, right? You just need to change it a little.
3. The living water that revives alone
This is what Jesus finally said with great effort.
1) John 14:16-17
John 14:16, 17. Before that, He showed every kind of miracle, and it was no use. Isn’t that right? He fed five thousand and sent them off, and one day when something blew up, they all ran away. Right? They followed Him risking their lives, and one day something is a bit strange? They all run away. Still, a few remained who did not run away. With the disciples. These are the words He spoke at this time. What did He say before this at this time? “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He said that. Right? “You believe in God, so do not be troubled. You believe in me, so do not be troubled. And there is the background of the throne of heaven, so do not be troubled.” Having said that, He told the real story. Isn’t that this (John 14:16-17)? “When I go, I will send the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, to you, and He will be with all of you who believe.” This is what we enjoy. Try praying alone. Whether an answer comes, you do not even need to think about that. Just do it, I tell you. You do not need your own ability. Try it. It is okay even if you have nothing. Just try it. I have seen it. Am I not a witness? The prayer of one of you can change everything. My mother, who held on to the covenant and prayed, I saw it, right? I saw many great people, but they were of no help to me. Isn’t that so? I have read many books too, I tell you. Not much help. It is knowledge and common sense, since you should not be too ignorant of what others know. With that, I do not change, and it is hard for me to live. I saw it, right? I saw the work of God, the power of prayer answers working. That is why I tell you with confidence. Do not worry. What do you do with people who have gone wrong? Look after them so they can fix it. Right? Well, if there are bad people when you go to church, what do you do? Help them so that they realize and fix it. That is the gospel. Well, then what about church members who have no ability at all? Help them. If those people receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, they cannot be stopped.
2) John 14:26, 16:13
Jesus said it, right? After that. “I will make you realize and remember everything I taught.” He said the same as in chapter 16 verse 13.
3) John 14:27
And He said in John 14:27, “I give you peace.” That is the greatest answer, right? “The peace I give is not like what the world gives.” These are the words Jesus spoke. He is talking about this living water. When we say living water, it is not that we drink water somewhere, right? “Drink the Holy Spirit. Drink the life of Christ.”
▣ Conclusion_ [ Temple ]
This is the conclusion. Then what should we do?
1. Indirect experience (materials)
Shouldn’t we make it so that this blessing is experienced indirectly? Isn’t that right? Let us make materials at the church so that this blessing is experienced indirectly. So there must be a temple. That is why it must exist. Otherwise, we could just worship anywhere.
Those who have been there will know. In Washington in America there is a building called the Holocaust. You need to go once. What it is, is that during 2,000 years the Jews were scattered and were massacred. I thought it was natural, but for them it is a grievance, right? I say it had to be that way, but they do not know the reason. So what their descendants suffered during 2,000 years, as much as possible, they filmed, captured in photographs, and brought the actual items. Though the Jews are not my people, when I came out after seeing it, ah! I thought, I had many thoughts. There was something that made my heart ache a bit. At some corner, whether it was the entrance or the final way out, they had collected shoes that they had been wearing and dropped. So, ah! The era back then, they were mostly black rubber shoes. They collected them. The Jews come and see the whole thing and leave, right? Do you know what happens? It is completely imprinted. Jewish students go and see it, I tell you. When they see that and leave, it is completely imprinted: “No matter what happens, I will not be shaken and will save the nation and do this and that.” It is amazing, isn’t it? That is why they made it. Our future generations must come to church, see this, and it must be imprinted on them why I must truly study, how I must study, and how I will save the world. Seeing that is called indirect experience.
2. Direct experience (practice)
And why must we build a temple? Now we must experience it directly. Then after seeing this material, shouldn’t we practice it, alone? When you try to practice, there is not even a place to sit when you go to church, so how can you practice? Most churches are like that now. You come and talk just this much, as if meeting on the street; you cannot even have a deep forum. “I want to meditate deeply alone and truly pray with the materials now.” Impossible. So, well, people who can always come to the sanctuary are fine, but when will a person who comes to church only once a week now and then have a spiritual experience? We are saying, let us do this.
3. Complete experience
And what is it? Especially, our Remnants must be made to experience it completely before they go out. To do this, what is needed? Without needing to think of anything special, a place to concentrate is needed, I tell you. You must be able to concentrate, but it is distracting.
Honestly, before I realized the gospel, when going out for fun, where do you mostly go? You go somewhere, right? Don’t you go to the mountains, the fields, the sea? Wow! When I went to a Buddhist temple, it was a different dimension. From the path going up, a stream already flows all along, and inside, apart from looking up at the Buddha, everything is just. Coming down, they sell green onion pancakes. Completely…….
When you come to church, there is nothing at all where we can concentrate a bit and truly pray to God. We must make it. Our church must become, for the first time in history, the church where the 237 healing summit becomes 24. Do you understand? Whatever the answer, it does not matter. It will come. Many people say you cannot break a rock with an egg, but faith breaks a rock with an egg. Just keep throwing. I have seen water drip and make a hole in a rock, I tell you, on my way. And that was on my way to a Buddhist temple. A hole forms in the rock. From water dripping. “Wow, water breaks the rock.” It breaks it. Then what can our spiritual faith not change? There is no need to worry. I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus that this prayer will surely be with you this week.
Prayer
Thank You, God. Let us enjoy the blessing of receiving the water of life. Let this be a week of power, drinking the Holy Spirit as living water. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.