---
title: "THE BENEFIT AND GRACE OF THIS TIME IN HISTORY"
type: "speech"
published: "2018-06-11T15:34:14+01:00"
updated: "2018-06-11T15:34:14+01:00"
source: "/blog/2018/06/11/the-benefit-and-grace-of-this-time-in-history.html"
speechYear: "1976"
categories:
  - "Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1976"
tags: []
---

<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
<h3 align="center">December 19, 1976<br />
Belvedere, New York<br />
Translator-Bo Hi Pak</h3>
<p>According to the Divine Principle no one in spirit world can be admitted into the Kingdom of God apart from the merit of people here on earth. Those in the spirit world are people of the past, while people dwelling here on earth are contemporary; therefore, through people here on earth the past and future can be linked. Where will the complete Kingdom of God be fulfilled first? Right here on earth, nowhere else.</p>
<p>The word &#8220;perfection&#8221; implies a need for more than one element. For instance, perfection can be obtained by a man and woman together, but even those two are not sufficient; God should be dwelling between the two of them. We can conclude that a party of three can reach perfection. The realization of man&#8217;s ideal, the ideal of the Kingdom of God, cannot be accomplished by God alone, by man alone or by woman alone. All three components are needed to create this eternal, perfected Kingdom of God.</p>
<p>The place where perfection is decisively obtained is right here on earth. Furthermore, we can specify what the focal point of perfection is: the family. When you think of the words &#8220;Kingdom of God,&#8221; the first thing that must come to your mind is God, and second, you yourself unified with your family. Three components are always included there. The Kingdom of God without God is nonsense, but even if you are also there it cannot be heaven unless you have your ideal spouse. We come to the conclusion that when we go to the spiritual heaven, those who will enjoy a position closer to God will be the people who lived the ideal family life here on earth.</p>
<p>If we grab a person and ask, &#8220;Where would you like to go? What is your destiny and purpose of life,&#8221; that person will say, &#8220;I would like to fulfill the ideal.&#8221; Then what is that ideal world? There are two qualifications: the ideal world must be unchanging, eternal, and at the same time must have an absolute standard. Furthermore, no matter how much that world is eternal and unchanging and absolute, unless God is dwelling there it cannot be heaven. I don&#8217;t think anybody would say that gold could be the central component of the ideal world, even if that world contained a mountain of gold. When you think of gold you always relate it to material greediness and if gold made up the Kingdom of God then as soon as people got to heaven they would stake out what was</p>
<p>theirs: &#8220;This pile is mine and this is also mine. This is my area; don&#8217;t even come in.&#8221;</p>
<p>Then let us suppose that the Kingdom of God is a world in which knowledge is most important. People would just be greedy for knowledge because that would determine how much of the Kingdom of God they could possess. That would not be a happy world either; just look at the academic world of distinguished scholars and you will see that they never unite. There is never harmony between them. Even power and authority will not bring the harmonious Kingdom of God. Only one element will make up the true Kingdom: love.</p>
<p>Are we talking about love that will change at least twelve times a day, morning, noon and evening? No, &#8220;unchanging&#8221; means there is no end. Should that love make a straight line or a circling movement? The harmony and love we are talking about is not just between men and women. It is a love between parents and children, between brothers, between neighbors. That kind of love moves in a circling motion. Each give and take action between two elements will have the same distance and quality of love, and when we continue that action it will make a sphere. Love&#8217;s character is absolute, unchanging and eternal, so whichever route you travel, whichever direction you send your love, there is never any repulsion or contradiction there.</p>
<p>Think of the characteristic of electricity, which travels wherever there is conductivity. If there is resistance then the electricity does not travel because it is blocked, but if there is no resistance then electricity can travel in every direction without limit. There is conductivity in the true love between husband and wife, between parents and children, between neighbors and between God and man.</p>
<h3 align="center">Because parental love most closely resembles<br />
God&#8217;s love, it is closest to universal truth</h3>
<p>Sometimes we witness a quarrel between a husband and wife and normally the essence of their fight is rather simple. They complain to each other, &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you love me more? Why don&#8217;t you care for me enough?&#8221; They will not fight on the subject of loving their children because they are united on that. There can be quarrels when there is a lack of love, but no one will complain that they are receiving too much love. Did you ever see your father and mother fight with each other simply because they loved their children too much? However, one of them may complain, &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you pay a little more attention to your child?&#8221; A mother and father understand that they are supposed to love their children beyond themselves. That is their standard and if one of them does not meet that standard there can be a quarrel. In this respect, can you see which bond of love is stronger-that between husband and wife, or between parents and children? In the many different channels and circuits of love the greatest of all is the love between parents and children. It is like a trunk line, and no love is more sacrificial or more beautiful. Why is that? The simple fact is that a husband and wife normally quarrel over apathy or lack of attention, but concerning their children they will quarrel this way: &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you love your children more than yourself?&#8221; However, I don&#8217;t think that is the case here in America. In America no other love is greater than the &#8220;between-you-and-me&#8221; type. Isn&#8217;t that true? Here in America it is a common belief that love between men and women is most important, but you people are not so dumb as to believe that.</p>
<p>We must come to the one important principle of the universe: Parental love is closest to the universal truth because that is the love between God and God&#8217;s own children. We come to the important conclusion that the ultimate, true love is an unselfish one. Selfless love is closest to the love of God. Anyone in this world will surrender before unselfish love. However adamant or stubborn a person may be, he or she will be subjugated by unselfish love. It is truly an historic conclusion that unselfish love is the supreme love.</p>
<p>Unselfish love won the heart of the past, wins the heart of the present, and will win the heart of the future because no one will disagree with it. I proclaim today that no power can destroy unselfish love. Someone may take a weapon and try to destroy it, but when they confront unselfish love they will completely melt. God has almighty power so He has the right to ask man for the kind of love He likes.</p>
<p>Definitely the supreme form of unselfish love is the love God would prefer. Then what is the love of God? God&#8217;s love is eternally selfless and sacrificial. Perfect unity is possible under that love alone, and it is simple once we practice it.</p>
<p>If we make our individual effort to achieve that unselfish love then the world is already on its way to being united. The person who has this greatest love of God will certainly become the central person, the master of unity. The person who possesses more of that love will become the central person of the God-centered world. Even though I was not born in America, I have practiced the love of God more than anyone, including the President of the United States. Then could I be in the position to have the most warmth and rapport with the American people?</p>
<h3 align="center">God has one weakness</h3>
<p>People can be pulled by love, as though by a magnet. They are irresistibly drawn to love. There are all kinds of love in America right now, but which one is truly closest to the love of God? If someone rejects the love that only thinks about America&#8217;s benefit and centers instead upon the true love of God, then his conscience is at ease. You are seeking to attain the perfection of love, but is your search within the limits of the United States, or does it go all the way up to God and the universe? That is a foolish question. No one wants love that is limited by national boundaries. You want to be free to go all the way to God, right? True love can transcend the barrier of nationality and go beyond the world. If you are a white person, should you seek your mate only within the white race? People say to me, &#8220;Why do you bring white people and match them with Asians? Why are black people matched to white people?&#8221; Such people do not understand the true meaning of love.</p>
<p>Who is right, me or my critics? I am right because my interest is not limited by the boundary of the United States and not bounded by one race. Whose side will God take? When I go to visit another country I will not go to visit the family that lives only among its own people; I will go to the home where there is an international marriage, Oriental with Occidental, black, white and yellow. God is colorblind.</p>
<p>Furthermore, He would rather see the broad beau of a mixture of colors. God will give first prize to a beautiful combination instead of to the flat, simple color.</p>
<p>Is the Kingdom of God the world where power and muscle are most important? After all, who is God? If He really wanted to, just one punch from Him would shatter the entire universe! Even acquiring knowledge is not that important to God. To the person who is proud of his knowledge God would say, &#8220;You know quite a bit. I admit you have the title of &#8216;walking encyclopedia,&#8217; but who made that encyclopedia? I made it!&#8221; The power of knowledge doesn&#8217;t impress God at all. Money talks in this world, yet it doesn&#8217;t talk to God because He created all the wealth and material.</p>
<p>God does have one weakness, however. There is one thing that He cannot accomplish alone: the fulfillment of love. No matter how big God is, when someone brings a little chunk of love, God&#8217;s eyes will pop out. He doesn&#8217;t haughtily say, &#8220;All right, bring that love to me and I&#8217;ll receive it.&#8221; He will throw away His throne and crown and run after it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s very humorous, but there is a great deal of truth in this scene. No matter what power a president or a king has, if there is no love in his life then in the sight of God he is a very poor person. Let&#8217;s analyze deeply the meaning of life. When Jimmy Carter becomes President of the United States what does he need most-the Presidency and power, or true, eternal, lasting love for his own life? Which one is most critical?</p>
<h3 align="center">The shape of love</h3>
<p>What is love? Can you see it with your own eyes? What kind of shape does love have, square or round? The shape of love is like everything you see in this universe combined together. The roundest thing in the world is love. The squarest thing in this world is love. The sharpest thing in this world is love. The longest thing is love and the deepest thing is love. The capacity of love is so big that everything can be drowned in love. Nothing can go beyond it. It is never so small that my fingers will stick out of its boundary. Love is such that even Almighty God can be drowned in love. Which part of you spots love first? Which part of you radiates the power of love? Every part. Love permeates everything because love communicates with the whole universe. As soon as you touch love you will melt entirely.</p>
<p>Love is almighty and omnipotent; when love shows itself in the form of power, nothing is more powerful. When love shows itself in the form of knowledge, no knowledge is greater. Where there is love there is the greatest power, the greatest knowledge and the greatest value. Love possesses all these qualities. The taste of love is something like every emotion and all excitement combined together. People have the desire to be totally caught up or intoxicated by their experiences, and some find this in drugs, but it is possible for a man to be drowned and intoxicated by love.</p>
<p>Once a person discovers the way to be intoxicated in the love of God, even though you urge him to try drugs, alcohol or whatever, he would refuse. Those things are flat compared to the taste of the love of God. The love of God is precisely like electricity, which can be conducted by any part of the body. If the love of God touches your mind, your mind will jump. If it touches your emotions, they will jump. If it touches your ears or your eyes, they will jump.</p>
<p>Have you really experienced God&#8217;s love that vividly? Feeling the love of God is similar to receiving an electric shock; when it hits a person he may appear unconscious but inside he is actually trembling with ecstatic joy. Even if you haven&#8217;t had this experience you can reason that it must be true. Once you feel the living, active love of God you want to close your eyes, but your eyes cannot close. Your whole body is so activated that you cannot stop reacting to that love. God is almighty and can do anything, so certainly He wants everyone to be part of such an explosive, gigantic, dramatic love, not love which is flat and pale-tasting like 3-day-old beer.</p>
<p>Put yourself in the position of God. You are capable of doing anything. You want to create love of such magnitude that when it moves the entire universe will be excited, not listless. When God laughs He wants to have the entire universe laugh in the joy of love. Such a joyful love cannot be created by selfish people. When you totally release yourself in giving, you can taste such love; that&#8217;s God&#8217;s love. Some sisters are thinking, &#8221;Father, didn&#8217;t you promise us that after the Washington Monument victory we would have a blessing? I&#8217;m getting old you know.&#8221; I want to ask you sisters if you are people who are giving or only receiving love. Your answer is so weak that I cannot hear it!</p>
<p>I know that all of you are going out fund raising early in the morning and perhaps you imagine that when you get blessed you can take it easy. Is that your frame of mind? Perhaps you think instead that your getting blessed will give you added vitality and more reason to work harder than before. You must want your love to be a giving, sacrificial love and then when you get blessed you will have added reason to give more. If your husband is a very weak person and needs a great deal of help then you know that you have been chosen by God to assist him. You must feel that you are honored to be chosen for that. Suppose your husband is an old man in a senior citizens home; then you can think that your love is going to rejuvenate him, making him youthful again. Sometimes senior citizens cannot think clearly or even take care of themselves in the bathroom. If your husband is in that condition then you can experience seeing your love recreate him. Are you serious in thinking this way?</p>
<p>Maybe God will give you a husband who only has one eye. If you have the love of God then his handicap doesn&#8217;t matter. In God&#8217;s sight the woman who can hand down the tradition of true love is the wife who can love her husband to the degree that she could take one of her own eyes out and give it to him. That is the kind of love which will be inscribed in the heart of God. Will you expect your husband to be your servant, wanting only to sit and enjoy his love and adoration? Is that type of love recorded in God&#8217;s heart? I think you know that is not true love.</p>
<p>Since I have already used the women as an example I don&#8217;t need to explain this to the men, do I? Why is marriage needed? Not for you to be selfish and comforted but to give. God&#8217;s nature is to give more and more love, similar to traveling down a one way street. If the wife is thinking of how to give more love to her husband and he is thinking the same about his wife, these two are creating power which will propel each other and make the marriage revolve. That relationship is not passive, coming from only one partner, but coming from both sides. At the same time God and the universe will be helping to make the marriage move; your love is not your love. It is the of God</p>
<h3 align="center">Each person must first live for everyone else</h3>
<p>In the Kingdom of God everyone eagerly gives his full amount. Parents are giving to children and children are giving back to parents. Each husband is giving, each wife is giving, God is giving, and all of mankind is giving. In this torrent of give and take of truly sacrificial love, therefore, the whole universe will be turning.</p>
<p>There are all different ways to turn but only circular movement creates perpetual movement. The gigantic universe is circling, the nation is circling, the family is circling-millions of circling motions comprise that Kingdom of God. You yourself are turning within the bigger circle, just like a heavenly body. You can go right into the center to the heart of God, and when you reach His heart you will grab His love and come out again to transmit it. You can see heavenly harmony when two people love each other, which is why the Bible said that the people who can harmonize are the citizens of the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.</p>
<p>The stubborn person who pursues his own selfish goals is actually a foolish person because he would be cast out of this circle and ultimately fall into the dungeons of hell. The person who is only trying to be recognized by others will be rejected by society. Heavenly citizens must have training in the unselfish way of life, realizing that even food and rest is not for themselves. If you have disciplined yourself so that your entire way of life is not for yourself then you are perfected.</p>
<p>We come to the fundamental question: For whom were you born? For yourself or for the sake of others, for the world, for God? The make-up you women wear is not to serve your own purpose but to serve men&#8217;s purpose, right? A giant man is not strong for himself but for the sake of a woman. God actually made us not to serve our own purpose, but to serve others&#8217; purposes.</p>
<p>Why should an eye be made the way it is? An eye is made to perceive for the sake of the body. Your senses are all made to perceive others and to relate to others. The definition of &#8220;saint&#8221; is very simple from this point of view. A saint is the one who sees not for himself but for the sake of the world, for the sake of God. His point of reference is not himself and he finds no joy in selfish living. Since that kind of person is perfectly harmonized with the universe, the entire world will protect him and nurture him. Wherever that person goes, the entire universe will encircle him and he will be followed by prosperity. Once your motivation centers on yourself then you are in effect cutting off everything surrounding you and becoming an isolated, lonely person. Then you are not only a lonely person, but you become an enemy of the world.</p>
<p>What I am teaching is the absolute truth, the central principle of the universe from the beginning to the end of time. When you hear this do you feel good or bad? You are giving me all kinds of answers here. Some people are willing to say yes, but inside they are not sure whether they can live up to it or not.</p>
<p>History has seen many great religions and great teachings, but all those doctrines put together point out one simple truth: when you practice the unselfish love of God, you achieve everything. That one truth resolves every question that man has ever sought an answer for. People may disagree about whether I am good or bad, but at least one thing is sure: I am pouring my entire heart and soul into changing young people and making them unselfish for the sake of the world. You can decide whether our ultimate destination is heaven or hell, but without a doubt we are trying to become people who practice the eternal law of God. I don&#8217;t even care if our destination is hell or heaven. Wherever we go we will create heaven! There can be no other way.</p>
<p>Women&#8217;s beautiful hands are usually neatly manicured but I want them to be rough and ugly from working for the sake of God and humanity. Do you want that? How can I believe that you want that? (If you don&#8217;t believe us, look at our hands now!) All right, I see your hands and they truly look like hands</p>
<p>that have worked for the sake of God and humanity. Those hands will become museum pieces in the Kingdom of God. That&#8217;s the way of life we have chosen.</p>
<h3 align="center">Do you receive persecution for<br />
the sake of God and humanity?</h3>
<p>Why did I come all the way from Korea to America if I had to suffer so much? Why am I being criticized and why have I been so persecuted by the press? Why should I do these crazy things? I am merely practicing the one law that I&#8217;m preaching today. I want to give myself for the sake of the world. Because America is a microcosm of tee world, by unselfishly giving here in the face of persecution I can work for the good of the entire world.</p>
<p>Do you love me even though your parents oppose me? That&#8217;s why you are crazy! This morning you were taught the concept of the Kingdom of God, making this the hour of decision. What kind of world are you heading toward? Have you unshakably decided that this is your goal and your way of life? Do you think our movement will be destroyed if you try to practice an unselfish way of life? No power under the sun could destroy such a movement. If ever a power emerged to destroy us then the whole earth and God and the spirit world together would block it. We are protected by the power of God.</p>
<p>I know that in Japan, Korea and America there are people who seriously want to kill me, but I have never sought revenge against them or thought to kill them first. Even though I have prayed for God&#8217;s mercy on them, those people who adamantly hate me have always diminished. I do not think of anyone as my enemy; those who live a negative way of life always-have their futures blocked. Even though we seem to have hardship and persecution, our future is always open. That is the way our Church has grown and become prosperous. The important thing is not whether we are persecuted, but whether we are receiving this persecution for the sake of God and humanity. If we are, then we are protected and nothing can destroy this movement or stops us. However, if we are receiving this persecution and criticism for our own purpose then that is a different story. This is a simple criterion, isn&#8217;t it? Even in selling peanuts on the street, if your thoughts dwell on God and humanity then you are doing something holy and sacred in the sight of God. Every blessing will be shifted in due course from those who intend to serve themselves to those who serve others. That&#8217;s God&#8217;s rule.</p>
<p>I know that some members feel a certain emptiness inside, thinking indignantly, &#8220;I joined the Unification Church several years ago and I&#8217;ve been working very hard, but Father hasn&#8217;t recognized me and even the President of the Church hasn&#8217;t recognized me. None of my leaders know me.&#8221; Anyone who seeks honor and recognition for himself is not truly a Unification Church member. The indicative point is that this member is complaining in his heart, &#8220;I feel left alone.&#8221; That is self-centered motivation. If you are truly unselfish then you don&#8217;t care about being recognized by the Church because you know that ultimately God in heaven will recognize you.</p>
<p>Some day after long years of hard work for the sake of America and for the sake of the world, I will pack up and go back to Korea. I will not resent America for not appreciating me. I don&#8217;t necessarily want to be recognized by the American people; I just want to do the right thing and then I&#8217;ll take off. Perhaps there is one more thing I may do. If I wish that after all the time I have spent here that I could have done more for the sake of America, then generations later Americans will have to bow down to that spirit. You don&#8217;t have to seek your own recognition; God will bring you recognition.</p>
<p>Whatever destiny holds in store, whatever consequences I face, including suffering in prison, I have no anxiety; I have already suffered many times in prison. The important thing is whether my actions are for the sake of God and humanity. That is sacred and is the most noble deed of all. History will record me simply because of my suffering and unreasonable persecution. When you have a record of memorable deeds and things to respect and love, it gives added incentive for future generations to plunge into the work of God.</p>
<p>If you consider my deeds in America ever since I came to this country then you know that undoubtedly the work I have done will be passed on. The spirit I left, the reasons I did everything, the places I touched in this country, all will become history.</p>
<p>The New Yorker and the Manhattan Center are definitely historic places because I poured out my sweat and blood to resurrect them. The Tiffany Building which we are purchasing for our newspaper company will also become an historic place.</p>
<p>Mother and I are going to visit all the major states to secure an appropriate center. A couple of days ago we went to Boston and yesterday we went to Philadelphia to look for a building. I gave my whole heart and effort in those places because history will truly record them as museum pieces in the Kingdom of God. I am not doing all this to secure my own wealth or to increase my luxury or for my own satisfaction. I am doing this for the sake of posterity and for the sake of this nation.</p>
<p>from now on God will only respond to prayers offered for the sake of the world</p>
<p>Your work and my work are different in degree but the purpose and the principle behind it all is precisely the same. I have a covenant between God and myself and no matter how hard it may be to fulfill, I have no complaint. The year of 1977 is dawning now and it will be an extraordinary year. The pledge we must make as members of the Unification Church, is, &#8220;This is going to be the year that I will never, never complain.&#8221;</p>
<p>I have received opposition and persecution from the very beginning of my ministry in Korea, then in Japan and now here in America and all around the world, but my work and this movement will not decline. We will continue to prosper and move forward to great glory because we are living the Principle. I&#8217;ll give you one important declaration: Even if we work with this kind of spirit but still you and I decline and are destroyed, we need have no regret because in that case there is no God. As long as there is God, we are bound to be successful and win the final victory. There is no other possible eventuality. There are people trying to set roadblocks before us but the more roadblocks that are set, the more God will send champions to push them aside. Under persecution we will grow and prosper.</p>
<p>Even President Nixon could not endure 1½ years of criticism. In comparison, the press has been attacking me for 4 years, yet I am now emerging as someone of importance here in America. Have your heart and mind become weak and tired, or strengthened with an iron will to go on? Don&#8217;t you feel, &#8220;I am a solider and champion of God; I will move forward and bring the great victory to His throne&#8221;? Is that your determination?</p>
<p>Now you have a realistic picture of the Kingdom of God. Many elders, deacons and ministers in the Christian churches are praying for God to bless their church, but that is not our prayer. God will not respond to such prayers any longer. God will respond only to the prayers of His children with this spirit, &#8220;Accept me as a living sacrifice. Thy will be done, for the sake of the world and humanity.&#8221; God told me personally that He loves to receive such prayers. Therefore, my prayer has been and will be, &#8220;Father, please accept these beautiful young members of the Unification Church as a living sacrifice on Your altar, to save the world, humanity and all nations.&#8221;</p>
<p>Since I love you, I want you to be blessed with the greatest heaven of all, but there is only one way to get it: Persevere in this way of life. Be a willing sacrificial soldier for God&#8217;s kingdom. I do not teach you to work only eight hours a day. For the sake of God and humanity I want you to accomplish extraordinary things, even working 24 hours a day. If any nation comes to tell me, &#8220;You are violating our labor law by working your people too hard,&#8221; that nation will be violating the heavenly principle. I have no concept of time, no concept of night and day. You will never be destroyed by not having that concept either. You now know how to recognize the true man, the true saint.</p>
<h3 align="center">Spiritual advancement is affected<br />
by the providence in each era</h3>
<p>What is meant by the title of this morning&#8217;s message, &#8220;The Benefit and Grace of This Time in History?&#8221; No greater benefit can be given by a philosophy than to make a way of life for God and humanity. The work of restoration is expanding in three stages-formation, growth, and perfection. First is the Old Testament era, then the New Testament era and finally the Completed Testament era.</p>
<p>The first stage is the era of the servant while the New Testament stage is the era of the adopted son. The Completed Testament era is for true sons and daughters and continues beyond that into the family level. From that point on the Kingdom of God will become a reality.</p>
<p>Why must Jesus return a second time? Simply because he was crucified while he was still single. When God created Adam and Eve He created them to be husband and wife so as the second Adam, Jesus Christ cannot accomplish the Kingdom of God on earth all by himself. Jesus certainly pursued individual perfection, which he accomplished, but he could not establish the perfected family because of the crucifixion.</p>
<p>After the time of Adam and Eve 4,000 years of history lapsed until the time of Jesus Christ. Could God bless families in that period? The servant stage is equivalent to the angelic world since no families are blessed in that world. How could a servant deserve a family before God has blessed His true children? The Messiah comes to bring mankind from the servant era through the era of adopted sons to the era of true sons and daughters, all at one stroke. During the Old Testament era, no matter what anyone did, he could not be elevated to the level of son or daughter of God.</p>
<p>In the providence of God, John the Baptist was the first to be in the adopted son&#8217;s position, while those before, like Noah and Abraham, were in the servant position. Jesus Christ came as the son of God and in God&#8217;s original plan the transition from the era of adopted sons to the era of perfected sons and daughters was to come during the time of Jesus. John&#8217;s unity with Jesus could have brought mankind into that era. Because of the crucifixion, however, Jesus could not actually fulfill the son&#8217;s role on earth, but only an extension of John the Baptist&#8217;s role as adopted son. That is why for 2,000 years Christianity has been the religion through which mankind could become God&#8217;s adopted sons. In the Christian churches even ministers refer to themselves as God&#8217;s servants. In a way it is true, because from the servant position it is their goal to be elevated to the position of adopted sons.</p>
<p>The second coming of the Messiah is inevitable but until then, no matter how hard you work or how great you are, you cannot have a heaven!! family. Until the Second Coming, paradise in the spirit world is the highest level anyone can attain. Paradise is like the lobby or place for people to wait until the doors of the heavenly kingdom are opened.</p>
<p>The ministry of the Lord of the Second Advent will indemnify all of history, setting up the conditions step by step for the establishment of the first heavenly family. The Messiah has the right to set up the family of God, having as his central purpose the reorganization of all mankind from fallen families into heavenly families. The true family is the essential element, and on that foundation the Kingdom will expand from the level of society to nation and then the world.</p>
<p>This year, 1976, the Unification Church is passing from the level of family construction to the worldwide level. Christianity: has concentrated on the perfection of individual men. yet even that was never fulfilled. But in the Unification Church we are talking about the perfection of the family. Which is ultimately the final layer on the foundation for world restoration. That&#8217;s where we are today For 6,000 years God has been seeking to establish one family of heaven and now the Unification Church has not only established the- cornerstone of the family of heaven, but has laid the world-level foundation.</p>
<p>The base we have erected has the kind of value that not even many thousands of years of work has been able to accomplish. You are actually no greater than any of those great saints in Christian history; you are far from it. Then why are you receiving such benefit? Simply because it is the grace of history that you are living in the particular moment when hen you can join the central force of heaven. By doing so, your grace and benefit are assured.</p>
<p>It is an astonishing thing, but in the spirit world the man!- billions of people who lived here on earth remain single, no matter v hat family life they had on earth. I want you to know an even more astonishing fact. Through the work of the Unification Church we have not only organized the heavenly family here on earth, but we are opening the door to the family kingdom up in the spirit world. We are undertaking the astonishing revolution which has been God&#8217;s goal</p>
<p>since the fall of Adam and Eve, but which was never achieved in history.</p>
<p>By joining with the True Parents you can live in that new era of the family in heaven. The blessing you all seek and cherish is not a cheap thing. Only because of the hard work of Jesus&#8217; spiritual ministry for 2,000 years and the sacrifice of many saints can we erect this new foundation. The people who lived in the era of Judaism have been waiting for 6,000 years for this day of fulfillment. Think of the sacrifice the Jewish people made even under Hitler alone, when six million Jews were exterminated.</p>
<p>It is the very Jews and Christians who oppose us now who should benefit by our fulfillment, yet they are totally ignorant of that. If they continue to oppose us then you are the ones who will ill inherit their blessing. You are the ultimate result of God&#8217;s hard work for 6,000 years. Each one of you represents the resurrection of your ancestors and through each of you your family and all your ancestors will be blessed. If you fail your expected responsibility, it is not just your failure. The most significant consequence is that your entire ancestry will fail with you. Not only that, your children will also fail because of you. You are historic beings and you occupy most critical, pivotal positions. If you face this awesome responsibility and do everything you can in trying to fulfill it then you will be entitled to receive enormous heavenly blessing.</p>
<p>It is a continuation of the trend of history that while the rest of the world is crumbling, the Unification Church is the only strong, growing force. The historic mission is upon your shoulders and God is asking you to be responsible for the past, present and future. My goal is to link you with the Kingdom of God. The short cut to get there is to have the personality I described this morning, the heavenly personality that truly practices God&#8217;s love.</p>
<p>You don&#8217;t have to have a sophisticated knowledge of the Principle. However, you must know this one simple thing and practice it: I am not existing for myself but for the sake of my family, for the sake of my society, my nation, the world, humanity and God. You must know that you are born for the sake of God. You must set up a covenant between yourself and God and then live up to God&#8217;s expectation.</p>
<p>My life is really not mine. If I live my life on earth in that manner, there is no death any more. I will be elevated to the Kingdom of God on the family level, social level, national and worldwide levels, to the highest part of the universal level, because I practiced living for them here on earth. In that way, you too are free to go everywhere in the Kingdom of God and you will not be alone; you will be surrounded by your family, society, nation, and the world. You will be honorably elevated to the throne of God, accompanied by this great escort. No other saint has a family yet, but my family will be there and the Unification Church families will be there. We are making these two worlds into one. We are given a short life here on earth, but by completely giving ourselves to that duty at this particular moment of time we become entitled to the historic blessing.</p>
<p>I will give you an analogy from tuna fishing. A giant shiny tuna will not necessarily bite only tasty bait. Sometimes a tuna will bite very humble, smelly bait. By the same token,we may be like smelly, humble bait in the sight of God, yet God is putting us down into the fallen world as bait. The world is the tuna. If the world will bite us, it can be pulled into the Kingdom of God. There is only one such opportunity for this in history.</p>
<p>It is God&#8217;s amazing grace that you happened to be here in this forty years&#8217; time out of all the eons of history. You hit the bullseye. All you have to do is realize the mission in order to get the historic blessing. The benefit of this time is absolutely great. I want you to be entitled to win that blessing. Do you want to do it? God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
