2025.10.26 Sunday 2nd Service
Church Construction Devotional Worship
Scripture Reading: Acts 13:5-12
[ 100 Years ]
There is something you must know today. There is a church that did nothing “special,” yet received answers that lasted over 1,000 years—eternal answers. You must remember this. When you are persecuted, that single incident receives a 100-year answer.
[ 1000 Years ]
And beyond persecution—those who were scattered, the remnants—such people received nearly a 1,000-year answer. In fact, they remained like that.
[ Eternity ]
The important thing is that God gave an eternal answer, and He is still working even now. What on earth is this?
[ One Church ]
One church realized it—the church at Antioch. You may see it as ordinary today, but this was the first field where missionaries were commissioned. What did they do?
[ One Team ]
One team is enough.
[ One Person ]
And just one person is enough. You must remember this. We think we must do many things to receive answers. Certainly, there are cases like that. But there are those who did not do many things and truly received answers—eternal answers at that. At times they did one thing and received a 1,000-year answer. Don’t listen to me or my sermon—let your mind enter into the Word of God. Go into the field of the Word. Those who truly received answers received a 1,000-year answer. Why? Only then is missions possible. In fact, they received eternal answers. So, what did they do to receive that? This is extremely important.
▣ Introduction
In today’s introduction—what did they do that God answered them so?
1. The false prophet (verse 6)
When Paul first went into a missions region, a false prophet appeared there. Verse 6 says he was a Jew. Such false prophets were plunging entire towns into darkness.
Darkness ×
Let’s give the answer first. What did they do? They broke the darkness. For this work of breaking the darkness, God gave nearly an eternal answer. In my walk of faith, for much of the early years I didn’t even know what this “darkness” meant. I knew nothing about “Satan.” If someone talked about demons, I would say, “Don’t talk nonsense.” I never even thought about it. But this is the very first thing Jesus said: “He called you that you might be with Him, and that you might proclaim this fact in evangelism.” And then He said something “strange”: “He called you to give you authority to cast out demons.” Up to age thirty I could not understand it; I didn’t know what He meant. But when I actually went to the evangelism field—“Ah, this is extremely important!” Everyone is immersed in this culture of darkness.
2. Those who block the gospel
So in verse 8 today, when the proconsul wanted to hear the gospel, there was someone who completely blocked the gospel.
3. Fullness of the Holy Spirit – Authority
At that time Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit—filled with the Holy Spirit—used authority. What does it say today? “You are a child of the devil, full of all deceit and all villainy” (verse 10). It calls him an “enemy of righteousness.” And in verse 11 Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and with authority, struck him with blindness. He completely darkened the eyes of the one who blocked the gospel and broke the darkness. It may look like a small thing, but God gave an eternal answer to this work. What you must set in your heart today is not what you will “do,” but that your eyes must first be opened. Why did God bless this so? Today the sick are in fear; even infants develop mental illnesses—there are now infant psychiatric hospitals. Diseases are arising that modern medicine cannot cure. This strange false prophet practiced magic and wickedness—medicine cannot cure this. Such people later commit suicide or cause incidents—there is a rapid increase. There is no church that can address this. There is no sanctuary that can do this. Taking advantage of this gap, the three organizations have completely penetrated. Therefore you must see what God regards as important. You must see what God urgently looks upon. Certainly we must work hard, but that is not the main point. What God considers important must be what we consider important. If we cannot see this as important, this darkness will completely seize your posterity.
[ The Three Organizations ]
These three organizations have completely taken hold.
▣ Main
Here, Paul went and completely broke this darkness. Wherever you go, the very first thing that must happen is to break the darkness. Even if you had no interest before, once you realize this, works arise. How simple is this! After I realized this, from then on in my life there were times with answers and times without—but truly, once this became clear to me, answers began to come. Before that, I could not understand why Christ came: “The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” As Peter confessed—“There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” From the time he went toward Macedonia and set out on his missionary journeys, wherever Paul went, all the darkness collapsed. You must hold this as your covenant today. When I read our remnants’ counseling notes, there is a common pattern: though I have given the messages, they lost hold of everything and asked their questions. Even today I met with two very fine remnants, yet I sensed they had not obtained a sure answer. So, because you still have much time in your timetable, you must now prepare rather than look for answers right away. Among the most important is this: in the missions region, they broke the darkness in three places. Right? This is extremely important. Why is this so?
1. A sanctuary that heals the disease of darkness
The reason God used Paul’s team is that the darkness had produced sickness, and the disease of darkness had to be healed. Those engaged in healing ministry must remember this.
1) Healing the root
“Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, used authority”—this means he healed the root completely.
2) Healing the life
And not only the root—before healing the illness engulfed in darkness, he healed the person’s life.
3) Healing the body
After that came physical healing. All who are engaged in healing ministry—the physical illnesses must be addressed accurately by physicians, but the healing of the root is only by the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When you know what the fullness of the Holy Spirit is, healing arises. There are many who still remain sick with the disease of darkness. So first, break the darkness. Think of it simply. What is the first hidden secret you must do? In the field, break the darkness first. Only then can you heal that region diseased by darkness. And why did this happen? Because God now needs a sanctuary that heals the disease of darkness.
2. A sanctuary that heals continually
And it does not end once. He needs a sanctuary that heals continually. Make this a definite prayer topic.
3. A sanctuary that heals the world
God now needs a sanctuary that heals the world. It seems God has given many prayers to our church. We have been here long and have prayed long. So what answer did He give? Since no one can heal the sickness of those trapped in darkness—build a sanctuary that heals them.
2. A sanctuary that heals continually [Fundamental Power]
Since it is not done in a moment but requires obtaining fundamental power—build a sanctuary that heals continually.
3. A sanctuary that heals the world [Fundamental Mission]
And not only fundamental power but also a fundamental mission—build a sanctuary that heals the world. You must remember this. Not merely a 1,000-year answer, but an eternal answer is coming. Watch carefully here.
2. A sanctuary that heals continually [Fundamental Power]
1) The tabernacle
In the Old Testament wilderness era, they received every answer centered on the tabernacle.
2) The temple
Since greater world evangelization had to be done, God gave all messages centered on the temple.
3) The church
What globalized this was the church. Centered on the church, all blessings and strength are restored. In the church, avoid idle talk as much as possible. On the Lord’s Day, be exclusively devoted to the Word and prayer. You must have this experience once. Remnants—do everything else on other days; on the Lord’s Day, enter deeply into the Word and prayer all day. Long ago, at a retreat, I said to the young adults: “Do nothing at this retreat. Remove the programs altogether. Don’t even have breakfast. Take it easy. Don’t fix sleeping and waking times. Forum through the night, pray as you wish, sleep as much as you want, and attend the daytime service. We will only hold the evening service. Do nothing else—only the Word and prayer.” For three days. We so seldom truly hold to the Word that after those three days, when the retreat ended, I was surprised—no one went home; everyone went to the church. What did they do there? They truly prayed. It may sound like nothing, but something indescribable moved in my heart—that is the power of the gospel. From then on, through those young adults, the work of saving people began to break out. As you enjoy the blessing of the sanctuary—build the sanctuary that heals the disease of darkness which no one else can heal. This is what God is now having us pray for. Those who minister healing—do not worry; in only the name of Christ and by the fullness of the Holy Spirit, heal the root. The second point is very important—enable them to obtain fundamental power.
3. A sanctuary that heals the world [Fundamental Mission]
Still more important—let them, with a fundamental mission, heal the world.
1) The age of the three courtyards
Do you know what this is? Build a sanctuary that opens the age of the three courtyards.
2) The three-day weekend age
We must concentrate to bring healing. Build a sanctuary that opens the three-day weekend age.
3) The age of holy meditation
The era of mental illness is coming. We must bring healing. Build a world sanctuary that opens the age of holy meditation. This is a very important mission. Thus, the one church at Antioch sent Paul’s team, and they healed three kinds of diseases that the world cannot cure. Among those, today we saw the first. So, in the first service today, we spoke of the first life camp—you must surely do it. Then this healing work arose. Next Lord’s Day we should look at the second.
▣ Conclusion
In conclusion—what kind of people must gather to form the church according to the Bible? What kind of people did He use? These are the terms:
1. The Remnant
First—“the remnant.” Wherever you are, you are the remnant who possess the gospel that gives life.
2. The Pilgrim
“The sojourner”—the pilgrim. A very important biblical term—“sojourner.” This is the pilgrim.
3. The Conqueror
The conqueror.
4. The Scattered Ones
Not the “discarded,” but the scattered. The church at Antioch arose from those who were scattered.
5. The Watchman
The watchman—an important biblical term.
6. The Scout
The scout.
7. The Standard-Bearer
Lastly—“Raise a banner for all peoples”—the standard-bearer. A sanctuary where such people gather, and a sanctuary from which such people are commissioned, receives eternal answers. Resolve this today and set it firmly in your heart—truly. Our elders and church leaders—you are important, so make a firm decision: “In my lifetime I will truly receive the answers recorded in the Bible.” You are exceedingly important. Because of you, many peoples are being revived, but even they do not know what will happen later. Right? They themselves do not know. You devote yourself and proclaim the gospel, but no one knows how the one who received the gospel will later be used. I have seen this in the field: “How can this be?” A foreigner with no power came and built a church building in our powerless neighborhood—and I grew up in that church. I have witnessed it. Therefore, when even one person from the nations comes here, since God has called them, He has a plan far greater than you think. Why? Because those very people are these people (the entire conclusion). I only listed the key biblical terms. To state this (the entire conclusion) exactly in one word: remnant. It is not only young students who are remnants. These entire terms (the entire conclusion) define the remnant. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ to enjoy the accurate covenant during these six days this week. I promise again: may there be eternal answers in your work for world evangelization, in the name of the Lord. Hold that covenant firmly. Since there is no place that can heal these people, God used the church at Antioch. He used Paul. He used the church leaders who helped Paul. He used the workers in work who devoted themselves to Paul. And He used the remnants who understood that Word to accomplish world evangelization. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ to enjoy many answers over these six days. Let us pray.
Prayer. We thank You, God. May the covenant we have taken hold of today be fulfilled throughout these six days. May eternal answers begin for all of the Lord’s people entrusted with this work. Let the work arise that breaks the darkness which is overthrowing the next generation and the world. Let every darkness that blocks the gospel in our nation’s church world be broken. Let every organization of darkness that blocks our work, our posterity, and the missions movement collapse before the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.