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<div id="post-1134" class="post-1134 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">GOD’S DAY</h1>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T12:58:17+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/gods-day.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T12:58:17+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/gods-day.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">January 1, 1977 – morning<br />
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World Mission Center<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>Today we are celebrating the tenth God’s Day. In order to have God’s Day come about, history has gone through many different periods of restoration. It has gone through the servant of servant period, the servant period, the adopted son period, the direct son period and then the parent period. Only after that could God’s Day be installed. Today we must fully realize that between the Unification Church and the rest of the world there are marked differences. We know the meaning of God’s Day whereas the rest of the world does not.</p>
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<p>As you know, Christianity is the religion that brings man up to the adopted son level. Judaism restores man up to the servant level, and those who do not have religion are at the servant of servant level. It is a revolutionary accomplishment that the Unification Church is celebrating God’s Day today. It shows that we have not only fulfilled the servant of servant period, which is the non-religious era, but also the servant period, which is the Jewish era, the adopted son era, or New Testament era, and we have come up to the Completed Testament era where we are centered upon the True Parents, upon God’s Day.</p>
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<p>According to the Divine Principle, the fall of man came at the second level, or growth stage. Adam did not fall by himself, nor did Eve fall by herself. Together they brought about the fall of man. The fallen action took place while they were seeking the positions of husband and wife. As a couple they fell. Therefore the restoration process, which is a reversal leading to achievement, also involves the husband and wife relationship.</p>
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<p>The history of the Unification Church reflects the entire history of restoration. If Christianity had accepted the Divine Principle and me at the outset of our movement, then we would have stood upon the foundation of the adopted son religion, and we could have gone one step further into the religion of direct sons and parents. However, because of our rejection and persecution by Christians, this foundation was broken down. I had to initiate the Unification movement from the very bottom, starting from a non-religious status, from the servant of servant position. I have been a pioneer, coming from that very bottom level all the way up to the top level of God’s Day. I started this pioneering task from the very bottom and misery of human life, the servant of servant position. But I am not just walking by myself. I am leaving behind a bridge, which the rest of mankind can cross to achieve the same accomplishment.</p>
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<p>Until 1960 my pioneering task was incredible. But after 1960 the first victorious foundation was laid: The holy wedding ceremony between Mother and myself took place. Through this, the complete foundation for the declaration of true sons and daughters could emerge. Upon that victorious foundation where God could recognize true sons and daughters, the holy wedding of True Parents could take place.</p>
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<p>Before Adam and Eve became husband and wife, they were supposed to grow as individuals. They had to be perfected and recognized as children of God before they could move into the husband and wife relationship. Now the True Parents have the mission of restoring and purifying the position of fallen Adam and Eve.</p>
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<p>You all know very well through the Principle that Jesus came as a restored and perfected Adam, born without any sin. At that time, there was also a restored Adam who was to support the pure, sacred Adam. That position was to be fulfilled by John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the representative of all fallen men who were to be restored into the Adam position. In other words, he was reaching toward the perfection of Adam from fallen mankind’s position, while Jesus Christ was in the position of original Adam, not knowing the fall or sin. Jesus was anointed and given that position of perfected Adam. These two Adams were supposed to become perfectly united into one.</p>
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<p>Why was this unity between perfected Adam, Jesus, and restored Adam, John the Baptist, necessary? By having John the Baptist as a representative unite totally with Jesus, all fallen mankind could have been saved by the grace of Jesus. John could have established a bridge for all mankind to cross to be perfected. Jesus Christ came from the lineage of God, as the direct heir of God. John the Baptist and the rest of mankind came from the lineage of the fallen archangel. Because their lineage was different, no matter what John the Baptist and fallen mankind did at that time, they could not have reached the position of direct heirs to God. They could be restored only up to the adopted son position.</p>
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<p>Jesus belonged to God while the rest of the people belonged to satanic parents, and therefore had to be restored to God’s side as adopted children. Since their lineage was different, they could only be adopted, but Jesus came as the Tree of Life, the true olive tree, to graft fallen mankind onto him, and to give them true life. Through him, all mankind had a way to become direct heirs of God.</p>
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<p>If there had been no fall, there would have been no fallen men. There would not have been different lineages. All men and women would have belonged to God as direct sons and daughters. However, because of the fall of man, a different lineage was born. You must know that the Messiah, Jesus, who came 2,000 years ago, was in the position of perfected Adam, or perfected father. The rest of fallen mankind was to channel through John the Baptist and become completely one with him, to be restored as sons and daughters of God. If John the Baptist had united with Jesus, and all the Jews had completely united with Jesus as the Messiah, they would have been restored up to the growth stage and gone beyond, reaching the perfection stage, the third and final stage of growth.</p>
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<p>Once again, because of the fall of man from the growth stage, everything was lost. There was never a celebration for God. There were no parents, no children. Even the things of creation were lost to Satan. However, once we restore ourselves up to the growth stage, within a 7 year period everything that was lost must be restored. After the installation of True Parenthood comes the restoration of the children. In the Bible we can see that there were 12 apostles, 72 disciples and 120 disciples following Jesus Christ. They were supposed to cross over the growth stage into perfection, but this was not done 2,000 years ago. After the installation of True Parenthood, however, I accomplished this in 7 years time.</p>
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<p>You see, Jesus Christ could not become the True Parent alone. When you say parents, you are automatically talking about two persons. After Jesus Christ had reached perfection and completed his individual ministry, he had to work for the installation of True Parenthood. Therefore Jesus declared himself a bridegroom, and it clearly mentions in the Bible that he was searching for a bride. However, the crucifixion took away his chance to be installed as a parent. Then since there were no parents, no real children could come, nor could the things of creation be restored.</p>
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<p>Therefore, in the time of Jesus, God’s Day was not installed, nor was Parent’s Day, Children’s Day or World Day. Jesus ascended into heaven as a bachelor, remaining, in a way, in the archangel position. Therefore, since the possibility of physical salvation was lost, Christianity has been a religion of spiritual salvation. The crucifixion came about primarily because of the failure of John the Baptist. Since then Christian history has been the history of the adopted son religion, but only spiritually. Therefore, the Christian position is in a way inferior even to the position of Judaism. Judaism at least had the servant position spiritually and physically, while, even after attaining the adopted son level, Christianity does not have its own nation or integrity of territory.</p>
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<p>At least in the time of Jesus, there was a chosen nation with integrity of territory. God could claim, “These are my people, and this is my land and my government.” After the crucifixion of Jesus, however, there was no such land which God could claim. Why is that sovereignty, that nation, needed? A sovereign nation is absolutely necessary to fulfill God’s work because with it He can deal with the satanic world on an equal basis. When you have a nation, you cannot easily be attacked; you have your own ways of protecting your people. After all, power is derived from sovereignty. Each nation has its own law, defense power, political power, and economic power. Yet without having these, Christianity still had to go to the worldwide level. Therefore, everywhere Christianity landed, what happened? It suffered; the believers were martyred and put through tribulation. All kinds of suffering continued throughout the 2,000 years of Christianity.</p>
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<p>Christians today do not know the position they have. They just blindly believe in Jesus Christ and accept the words of the Bible. They feel that some day Jesus will come on the clouds of heaven, and all Christians will be lifted up in the air. Somehow they will have a rendezvous with Jesus and have some kind of millennium up there. That is horrendous, empty, hollow. Religion is not out there, but that’s where Christianity is.</p>
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<p>Through the Divine Principle we know that the Lord of the Second Advent cannot appear in that kind of supernatural fashion. Jesus Christ could not return that way because the work of God which was left undone 2,000 years ago was to be done here on earth. Therefore, the mission of the Messiah is a physical, realistic one. As a man he must come up from the bottom of human misery. He must come to the most miserable nation and lift the human status from the servant of servant position, to the servant position, to the adopted son position and to the direct son position by physically putting together the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. That is the mission of the Messiah.</p>
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<p>Christianity today is really viewed by God as the foundation upon which the Messiah can come. When Christians accept the coming Messiah, the physical living Messiah, their spiritual accomplishments shall become physical accomplishments as well. They shall become physical, adopted sons instantly and move on to become direct sons and daughters of God.</p>
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<p>For this one world, how many Messiahs does God need to send? This one world needs only one Messiah. However, the religious foundation is not only Christianity. All the other major world religions are also preparing for one day, for one person, for the coming of the Messiah. That is the goal of their preparation. Christianity itself is not the goal. Christianity is only the preparation. The goal is to meet and accept the Messiah.</p>
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<p>Since the Messiah who must come to restore the world in our time will come as a physical man, can he be the same Messiah who came 2,000 years ago? Can he be the same person? It is clear in our Principle that Jesus, the Messiah 2,000 years ago, and the Messiah who is to come in the 20th century, cannot be the same person, just as Adam of the garden of Eden and Jesus Christ were not the same. Because of the failure of Adam, another person, Jesus, came in the position of Adam to restore his failure. By the same token, the Lord of the Second Advent is coming as the third Adam, to restore Adam’s failure. The most important truth the Unification Church is proclaiming is this: the Messiah is the third Adam.</p>
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<p>What is the qualification of the third Adam? The third Adam must be able to restore the failure of the Adam in the garden of Eden. Also, the third Adam must be in a position to complete or perfect the mission of the second Adam. Where should this third Adam come? Should he stay up on a big throne in spirit world and say, “Everybody listen to me”? Is this what he should do? He must come down to the place where Adam committed the sin, where Jesus left the mission undone. Compared to this realistic truth, when you think that the Christians outside believe that Jesus is returning in glory and power on the clouds of heaven and that he will supernaturally lift up a few Christians here and there to meet him in the air, it is horrendous.</p>
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<p>God is a God of principle, a God of logic, not a God of magic. Once Christians accept the Messiah, then where should they go? They should clean the house, like Ajax, going down where all the sins are committed. Adam’s sin must be washed out; Jesus’ unaccomplished mission has to be accomplished. Together with the physical Messiah here on earth Christians should build the Kingdom of God on earth. That’s the Christian mission.</p>
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<p>When the Messiah comes, everybody has to go back to the position of Adam and Eve before their marriage. We have to start life all over again; a reorganization will take place. Actually, before the Messiah comes and parenthood is established, we are like orphans. All the marriages of the world are illegal in the sight of God. Who should marry first? The parents, of course. Their holy wedding must come first. After that, the children will get a chance to be blessed by the parents. That is the most natural sequence. When people recognize the coming of the Messiah, should they still continue a husband and wife relationship? That means that they are opposing the Messiah in a way which cannot be accepted in the sight of God. That position is not yet completely reorganized. They must return to the position of Adam and Eve before the fall.</p>
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<p>When the Messiah comes, he is bringing an entire revolution. Therefore, the Bible teaches that he who seeks to lose his life will gain it, and he who seeks to gain his life will lose it. Those who are trying to save their own lives will be destroyed. If the Messiah were coming in a glorious manner, that kind of principle would not apply. This particular teaching of Jesus in Matthew is so wise. We have come from satanic lineage; therefore, we must kill our old selves in order to be born anew. This is the great revolution of man. When you feel your old self, the archangel still living in your heart, you have to completely empty yourself, lose yourself.</p>
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<p>This is really the simple, ultimate truth of Christianity. Unification Church is teaching the same truth. He who is willing to lose his life for the sake of the Messiah will find it. Every day our way of life must be a process of losing our lives in order to find them. This is the secret of everything. Isn’t that logical?</p>
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<p>That does not mean you have to take a kitchen knife and chop off your head. What I am saying is that once you determine to give up even your life, there is nothing you cannot do, nothing you can complain about, nothing you cannot obey. Killing yourself, or losing yourself does not necessarily mean chopping off you head. Your head has no sin. Your inner self does. Then how should you lose your inner self? What should you eliminate? Your greediness, your false ambition, your ego. Do you have any of that?</p>
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<p>Everybody has ego, false ambition and greediness, the “I want to make that mine” mentality. Greediness is a link to the satanic chain. If Satan pulls, you have to go. False ambition and greediness in the garden of Eden brought about the fall of Adam and Eve. Therefore, in order to separate ourselves from that realm we have to completely liberate ourselves from greediness. Our way of life should be such that everything which sounds good, looks good and is beautiful belongs to God, not me.</p>
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<p>First, there is the greediness of wealth or material. Second, there is greediness of love. What is that? Between the archangel and Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, what was the fall? It was illicit love, the ambition of love. According to the Divine Principle, everything really belongs to God. If we let everything belong to God and let God give things to others as blessings, then the things can become ours, too. By the same token, love belongs to God. Then, the fall in the garden of Eden was that they just wanted to get rid of God, to have nothing to do with God, and to have all the love for themselves. That’s what the fall was.</p>
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<p>Third, we must give our lives to God. In other words, your life must be born of God. Are you, and all mankind, originally born of God? The human souls coming to life every day in the hospitals everywhere, are they born of God? No, they are born of Satan. It’s the honest truth; they are born of Satan.</p>
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<p>Three major principles have to be restored to God’s world and God’s direct sons and daughters. We have to unwind the sins committed by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. First, we must be able to return all the things we possess to God. Second, since all the love that we want to possess does not belong to us, but to God, we must return all love itself to God. Third, our lives are born of Satan, so we have to return our lives to God. God could say, “Well, I don’t need it. It’s really smelly, and I don’t want it,” but He will not. God embraces even such children because in principle all men were created by God as His children. Even though we deviated, we originally belong to God. God knows that the human fall did not come after perfection; it came during mankind’s immaturity. Therefore, God knows it can be restored, and man can grow into perfection. That’s why mankind has the hope of restoration, the hope of becoming whole and perfect in the sight of God.</p>
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<p>When you give up all your things, your love, your life itself, it is really a dying process. He who seeks to lose himself for the sake of God will find himself. Your lost things will be replaced by God. He will share His love with you, and God will give you new life. Instead of losing life you will find it. Actually, in a commercial sense, this is a very good deal. Would anybody refuse to exchange an old, smelly, ragged jacket for a new silky tuxedo? Would anybody object to that’? That’s the very thing we are doing with our lives.</p>
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<p>Who is the wise man, then? The person with smelly clothing who says, “No, no I cannot give them up. Don’t touch me. I need them”? Is he the wise man, or the person who says, “God, all right, I’ll get rid of everything. Here is the jacket; here are the pants; here’s my T-shirt; now I’m streaking to God”? Actually it’s so beautiful. You go back to God naked. You don’t claim anything. Then God will abundantly bless you with everything that you need.</p>
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<p>This fallen world is trying to parallel the heavenly program in a reverse way. Satan always imitates heavenly things first. In the outside world, no matter how wealthy you are, you can’t maintain that wealth generation after generation. The system doesn’t allow that. There are inheritance taxes. If a person works hard and accumulates millions of dollars in this bank and that bank, when he dies, most of the money doesn’t go to his children or to his family; it goes to the government. It is taken away from him. Therefore many people wonder why they should work so hard trying to accumulate wealth. After all, what good is that wealth to them? Consequently their appetite for becoming rich decreases.</p>
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<p>Secondly, in the secular world, there is a great deal of division in love. Love is in trouble in the outside world. Human love relationships are becoming more like those of animals. A beautiful, noble relationship of love is rare to come by outside. People just marry by contract, or for convenience. Then when they get tired of it, they separate and meet someone else and separate again and so on. Who’s doing that, God or Satan? In a way Satan is doing it, but God is permitting it. Because that will become an advantage. God sees that human ownership and love have to be reorganized, so He is letting them be broken down.</p>
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<p>In the outside world, many people are losing ambition and losing their vision for their own lives. Many people are killing themselves; even young people kill themselves. They think, “Why should I live? This is a terrible world. I have no reason to live.” I am sure some of you in this room at some point almost felt that you would rather kill yourselves, that you didn’t have a purpose for living. Even though you may not have said it to anybody, whoever has had that kind of thought cross his mind, raise your hand. You barely escaped, didn’t you! Now that you know Divine Principle and see the purpose of life, does anyone still want to kill himself? Raise your hand. No one. Then I have saved many lives!</p>
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<p>The secular world is going in that direction, but it is not necessarily bad, or a cruel act of God. God is thinking of the total renovation of mankind. He is shaking men up so that they can transform their lives more easily into new lives, new eternal lives. Even the satanic world is doing heavenly things first. One example was the young peoples’ streaking fad, but they did not know which direction to run! They were still running around in the satanic world, We should become naked spiritually and run to God.</p>
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<p>Many years ago I predicted that people in the Western world would expose themselves, would run around naked, and that would be one sign of the end of the world. You don’t even have to receive a special revelation to know that. Do you know why this phenomenon is happening? When such extreme actions happen in the secular world, that means something wonderful, positive and dramatic is happening on the heavenly side. All we have to do is ready ourselves and wait because the time will come when this wave of people searching after the truth and value will eventually knock on the door of the Unification Church. They will have to because there is no other alternative.</p>
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<p>When you join the Unification Church, I emphasize giving everything that you have to God for three years. All the love that you enjoy, bring it to God until you have only your one life left. Then even that life itself, give it to God. However, we not only return all these things to God, we make it even more dramatic. We go down to the bottom of the misery of mankind. Why? If we penetrate down to the bottom of the satanic world, Satan has no way to approach us with any accusation.</p>
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<p>So we give and give. In a way, we kill our own ego by going down to the bottom of the misery of man. Fund raising is one exciting way of doing this, and witnessing is another. Sometimes you even go to a beggar and ask, “Could you buy these products’? Could you buy this candy?” You couldn’t bring yourselves down any further. You bow down to beggars. That’s hard work, from early morning to late night. That’s the way you earn fifty cents, a dollar, two dollars and so forth.</p>
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<p>Does this go into your pockets? Not at all, this is God’s money. There should be no greediness, not even a tiny bit. Everything you do, even your sweat and blood, should be offered to God. If a person would say, “Well, I work so hard. This money should belong to me. It should fill my stomach; it should buy me some warm clothes,” that’s a satanic string. Suppose one person earns $100 per day. Then, if $90 goes to the Church, and $10 stays in his pocket, that $10 will become a chain that Satan can hook onto. You will be pulled to Satan by $10. Do you understand? This is not my gimmick to make you work hard and give everything to the Church. You will find out how important this is. You must totally isolate yourself from Satan’s accusation.</p>
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<p>While you are doing this, you are given up by the world. Your own parents say, “Are you crazy? I can feed you; I can clothe you. Why do you act so crazy?” And your old boyfriends and girlfriends say, “I thought you were very intellectual, but I see you’re really dumb. Get lost.” In other words, the world completely abandons you.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, you are not only abandoned by the world; you go a step further. You say, “God, don’t worry about the rest of the world. Don’t worry about my parents, or my girlfriend. If you need my life, I am ready any time. Just give me a little cable that says, “I need you.’ ” The person who does this is going way over the line of the fall, way beyond the satanic realm of accusation. Then Satan has no power over that person. You are eager to go that way because you are just sick and tired of the satanic influence of the world, and you want to completely cut yourself off from it. So shall we do fund raising?</p>
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<p>Who are fund raisers? They are not too far from being beggars, maybe beggars’ cousins. Master and doctoral degrees from high-ranking colleges and universities are nothing to be proud of when you become a fund raiser. You can’t say, “I am a Ph.D from Harvard. Here’s a peanut. Pay me!” It doesn’t work. You have to just completely humble yourself. But that’s the beauty of it. Even a Ph.D. from Harvard doesn’t say one word about Harvard, or about his Ph.D. He bows down, “Could you help? Could you give one dollar?” It’s absolutely beautiful in the sight of God. When God sees it, He has tears in His eyes.</p>
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<p>Our young people must know why I have pushed them into such a miserable way of life. Now from this morning on you should know clearly. This is why, even without my chasing them, all the MFT members are voluntarily working from morning to night. They have that realization. They are not working for me or anybody else. They are trying desperately to rid themselves of the shackles of the satanic world. Those who think they will do anything that can get rid of Satan’s shackles are crazy in a way. But that is not their ambition, that is God’s ambition. They are greedy to more dramatically give their lives to God.</p>
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<p>Actually greediness is not necessarily bad. When it belongs to Satan it is bad. But once you are on God’s side, God’s things, God’s love, God’s life are most precious. Then you should become greedy and more ambitious to get more from God. Christians should not say, “Oh God, I am proud of my religious denomination. I am a Presbyterian elder, and I have accomplished great Christian works. I am an honorable Christian.” There is no such thing as “my church,” “my land” and so forth. All Christians in the world outside have the same destiny as you of getting rid of the bondage of Satan. They have to liberate themselves, totally emptying themselves. All fallen people here on earth would say, “Oh, sure, I want to go to the Kingdom of God in Heaven. When I die I want to go to heaven.” But there is no way for them to do it until they pay the last penny, the last debt. They must go through the same procedure of giving up themselves as you do.</p>
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<p>Now some people in the Unification Church say, “Why do we have to be so extreme? We will just set the condition and do things in a more gentlemanly way.” That will not work because when you live in a mediocre way, there is a great area left uncovered. In that kind of area Satan can remain hidden, and he will hook you in so many different ways. The meticulous way is the only way we can go, not the mediocre way. Divine Principle teaches that you should start out at the bottom of the Principle, and even leave extra room for security. If the Principle says you must go to that pole, then go around that pole and come back. If you say, “No, I don’t think I have to go all the way to the pole. Let’s just circle around ten times,” no matter how many million times you circle around here without going to that pole, the principle will not be accomplished. Do you know that?</p>
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<p>If there were some shortcut in the heavenly way, I would not have waited for you to tell me. I am smart enough; I would have found it out already. But there is no shortcut available. None. When God says, “Empty yourself,” that does not mean you can leave a little something in the corner. When God says, “Empty yourself, and I’ll fill you up,” that means you have to empty yourself completely.</p>
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<p>The important thing is how you think. Suppose you’re to meet a very important person and have only very dirty working clothes. You are in jeopardy, and you think, “What should I do’? I have to meet that person, win that man for God.” Then, when you go into the center, there is a nice jacket hanging on the wall, and without even asking whose jacket it is you just take it and wear it, and go out to meet the person. In that case, if you are not doing that because you just want to look handsome, not even subconsciously, and if you were only thinking of the mission of God, then that’s not a sin. In the sight of God, your state of mind is beautiful.</p>
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<p>Later the person who owns the jacket will discover that someone else wore it. If he is truly God’s son, he will say, “Great! Any time you need my jacket, take it again. After all, it’s God’s jacket. God asked to me keep it for a good purpose, and if you have good purpose, go ahead, use it.” That’s a great brother. How you think is the most important factor. When the Messiah comes, no official titles will be important, pastor, deacon, elder, whatever. Everybody has to line up behind the Messiah. People can’t say, “Well, Messiah, would you wait a little bit? I have my family to take care of. I have a little baby to feed.” It doesn’t work.</p>
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<p>There’s one thing that I dislike very much. Sometimes elder members have come and said, “Father, this is my son; this is my daughter. Please give them the blessing.” I dislike that so much because that’s not God’s way of thinking. Before your own sons and daughters, you should think of others, of those who really give their blood and sweat for the cause. That’s the person you should bring. “Father, this man really gave his life and blood to our movement. Would you consider him for the blessing?” Then I welcome it.</p>
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<p>When the Messiah comes, he will not come in glorious fashion, imparting light from the clouds of heaven. He will come as a man. If Christianity has the wisdom to recognize and accept the Messiah wholeheartedly, then with that foundation the Messiah could accomplish the Kingdom in seven years. Since the Messiah is coming as a man, a physical man, you can’t know whether he will come as a white man, a black man or a yellow man. God will choose.</p>
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<p>The Messiah might come as a Ph.D., or as a laborer, as a dock worker, or even a hunchback, a cripple; you have no idea. God might think that if the Messiah comes in a very miserable fashion, human sin can be eliminated or indemnified faster. Why not? God might do that. If the Messiah is so miserable and all mankind bows down to him, then perhaps the misery of mankind would be wiped out more quickly. Instead of being a superior personage, the Messiah may appear very miserable. That might be a faster way to pay off the debts of the world, the debt of sin. What if the Messiah didn’t even have the ability to walk, if he had to crawl on his belly? The Christians and people of the world religions might say, “How could that man be the Messiah? Impossible.” But God always does the impossible. That’s why He is God. In that case, suppose Bo Hi Pak were the Messiah? He would be too good to be the Messiah!</p>
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<p>We are men of logic; therefore all these things have to be analyzed and clearly arranged within our own minds and hearts. Now, do you know the truth or are you just going in darkness, which one? The power of the Unification Church is that you are not in darkness. You can direct yourself to the goal. Amazing, isn’t it? There are so many hundreds of MFT members working this morning all over the country. They have every freedom; they could run away at any moment. Furthermore, their parents are in a position to kidnap them. But instead of our members trying to run away, and telling their parents, “Please kidnap me,” they are working from morning to night, fearful that their parents might try to kidnap them. Why are they working so hard? I didn’t tell them anything. However, they saw the truth. They know the direction and goal, and that gives them power to go on. Are you in truth and light? Will you go?</p>
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<p>What would you do if I said, “Don’t go any further. Let’s stop right here.” If you told me, “All right, but I know your truth and your secret, and I want to go ahead,” and you went first and waited for me to come behind you, would you feel good? You would have beaten me in a way.</p>
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<p>The three years after you join is the period for emptying yourself so you will be entitled for the blessing. Christians outside just do not know the true Will of God or the way the dispensation is unfolding, yet they are trying to call us heretics and devils. Once you know the truth, this is really an honorable accusation. They point fingers at you and say, “You are of the devil; we are of God.” But we are the ones going forward and becoming prosperous. They are becoming smaller and smaller all the time. God has already left them.</p>
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<p>Don’t be disturbed by these people. Pity them. Do you know why? They will have to pay the full penalty of their actions. Blessing will finally come to us equal to the persecution they gave us. Actually they are losing by cursing us. Think of it. We’ve been accused, but we are buying up their seminaries, their colleges, their convents and monasteries. In history the true religion has always been accused by the established religion, but in the meantime it prospered. That is the way religious history has been, and we are no exception. The fact that we are being accused by all the established religions around is one sign that we really are the true religion.</p>
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<p>Three and a half years ago when I initiated my U.S. crusade here in America, the media was scornful, writing negative things about me. They are still doing it, but in three and a half years 1, the very same person, am publishing the most dynamic, the most freedom-oriented newspaper in New York, the major city of America. Did you hear about News World?</p>
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<p>In 1965 when I first came to America and went around establishing the Holy Grounds, many centers didn’t even have a decent room to accommodate me. Many times instead of staying at the center, I just drove on. Now several years later, in 1977, we are sitting in the New Yorker Hotel, in the Grand Ballroom. You all have rooms, don’t you? In the past in the Unification Church, wherever we went, there were only poor homes. We just slept close with no elbow room, no bath, nothing. Now after several years, we have too many rooms. We have to catch up with the rooms, rather than the rooms catching up with us.</p>
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<p>Yesterday at the Director’s Conference, I instructed the state leaders to look for a Unification Church headquarters building for their states. It should be superior to any Democratic Party or Republican Party headquarters of that state. After all, it’s going to be God’s house. It should be the most prominent building in a superior, central location of an urban area. Do you want to have that? You may have to fund raise for that until you get very old!</p>
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<p>In a way I am a very greedy man. I came to New York and wanted to occupy the Empire State Building, the status symbol of New York and the United States. But God wants to make it His house. Furthermore, another ambition came into my heart recently. We must buy the Trade Centers down on Wall Street because we need twin towers, one for Adam, one for Eve. With Adam and Eve standing side by side on Wall Street and the Empire State Building standing in the center as the archangel, that’s very good symbolism, don’t you think? Are you interested in getting them? When you say yes, are you promising me or God? Since you didn’t promise me, I’ll sit and watch you fulfill your promise to God.</p>
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<p>Our concept of the Messiah is really extraordinary to the Christian world. They will be completely shocked by it. Our teaching is revolutionary. The Messiah comes as the third Adam, but he does not initiate his own task immediately. He has to go down to Adam’s position and restore Adam’s failure. Then he must go down to Jesus’ position and restore his work. Only when God acknowledges that he has restored their positions, can he begin the work of the third Adam, his own mission.</p>
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<p>The Messiah is coming for both spiritual and physical salvation. His victory will be a physical one, the establishment of the physical Kingdom of Heaven on earth. For that purpose the third Adam is coming. Since Judaism did not accept the Unification Church, we had to go down to that level, and taking the role of Judaism, re-establish the foundation of the Old Testament era. Since Christianity rejected us, too, we also took on its role. Upon this foundation of our own then, we are now erecting the Completed Testament era. I spent 30 years laying this foundation from the very bottom. Then I came to America for worldwide salvation. Finally in 1976 the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument victories brought us to the worldwide level and were conditions for the physical victory of erecting the Kingdom of God on earth.</p>
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<p>Today on this first day of 1977 we have a new beginning based on the invincible foundation I have laid. Now all we have to do is expand our victory on the horizontal level. If we had the money, nothing could stop us. How can we earn money? With our own hands, our five fingers. If you listen to me, within several years time all our dreams will become real. Each state will have a beautiful center and a newspaper company.</p>
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<p>This morning I saw a little sign saying, “Happy God’s Day, 1977.” But God’s Day is not yet quite happy. This world is still in the hands of Satan, and spirit world is still struggling and suffering. We have declared God’s Day for sure, but our goal is to make a Happy God’s Day in the future.</p>
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<p>Our task is not going to be easy. Those who do not have an appetite for arduous, difficult tasks had better pack up now. Only a person like me, someone really persistent, committed to a foolish degree can achieve the goal. Those mere passengers who want to sightsee along the way are not needed. They will never make it to the end. Will you still go? Actually, today the United States of America is in the same position as the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago and Korea is in the same position as Israel. In Jesus’ time the Roman empire and Israel crucified Jesus together. But this time, the U.S. government and the Korean government must not eliminate me.</p>
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<p>My advice to the Korean government has been to take a strong stand. Korea must be independent, not influenced by other nations. Korea is a special nation. With a communist takeover so imminent, the government and the president have to be strong. Yet historically America does not want allies with strong governments, full of conviction and faith, but the time has come. The Korean government said they must be strong for religious freedom. They must not repeat Israel’s failure of 2,000 years ago when it favored killing Jesus. There are two kinds of Americans in this country: noble, thinking, patriotic Americans, and also unpatriotic rascals. Would you want President Park to be strong in his commitment, or just a follower of the U.S. State Department, trying to do whatever they want? A strong champion may be very lonely, but he will never be truly alone because God is always on the side of the courageous person. If America is taking the wrong route, someone must tell America how to change its direction.</p>
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<p>I want American policy makers to know that if they lose Korea, like Vietnam was lost, then America is not going to be safe. Within 3 years time, another Pacific war will be fought, but in this land, not anywhere else. The U.S. is very important to Korea, and at the same time Korea is very important to the security of the Free World. If Korea is lost, then the next target will be Japan. If Japan goes, then the Pacific Ocean will be lost. Then what? You will have to dig trenches in San Francisco and Los Angeles. This is not just my opinion. I have a God-given vision as to how the future of the world will be molded. That is the only reason I survived this far. Without having that vision, I would have been destroyed a long time ago. Now a prophet must speak out. America must change her policy and go out for the sake of the world. The confrontation between Korea and the U.S. is almost like David and Goliath. With faith, a little boy like David can win.</p>
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<p>Spiritually speaking, however, we are all on one team. I am not America’s adversary. We are on the same team. The well-being of the U.S., the well-being of Korea and of the free world are all one. I have already made a footprint in the history of America. My philosophy and ideology will remain in the history of religion in America.</p>
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<p>In a little while, I won’t have to speak out. Many eminent scholars and theologians will come out defending me, and the philosophy of the Unification Church. It has started already. Brilliant scholars all over the world have come to know us. They have discovered that my philosophy and theology are the most refreshing and revolutionary they have ever found. All the agonizing problems of theology and the world have been solved in the Divine Principle, and they are now speaking out. Do you like that? If they do too good a job, they will remove all the persecution from you! But we are not swayed by anyone else’s feeling. We are moved only by the truth of God and His will. Wherever we see a need, we will go and help, regardless of whether it is appreciated or not.</p>
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<p>This God’s Day is significant because we are now adding the physical element to the foundation of spiritual Christianity, which is the adopted son’s religion. Through this, the entire world is now ready to join in the adopted son’s level of restoration. Because, of this physical element of victory, no one under the sun can ever be in a position to destroy our movement. No one can touch us. Furthermore, the destiny of the free world will rest upon our shoulders. People will say, “That’s ridiculous. You are absolutely crazy. This handful of people doesn’t have anything. You are talking about the destiny of America, the destiny of the free world.” I say, “Just wait and see.”</p>
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<p>In appearance we have nothing, but we have everything. We have God, and we have the spirit world. Unification Church members consider all those in spirit world our supporters, and that makes about 1,000 times more friends than the population of the U.S. They are all my followers. They don’t listen to the President of the United States. I am not in a position to be bluffing. This is a public meeting, and every word I say will be registered right here on earth and in heaven, so I must tell the truth. And this declaration is not directed only to you. It will be listened to by all the members of the Unification Church. I also want the rest of the world to hear it. From today on we must have no fear. We must march forward.</p>
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<p>On this tenth God’s Day, 1977, our determination is to unite together, to shatter all the negative forces, and to lock up the victory for the year. We are going to be spiritual bullets of God. Once a bullet is fired, does it take a spring walk and go sight-seeing? No. A bullet travels straight to the goal and hits the target and achieves its purpose. In my heart, there’s a great deal of grief and wrath over sin. I have endured that heavenly wrath for 30 years. God has endured His wrath for 6,000 years. Even if my hand is crippled from overwork, even if personally I don’t have anything at the end of this work, at least we must build a new foundation upon which mankind will have hope. Then the world will never look down on us. We must accomplish this goal while I am living here on earth. That should be our pledge today.</p>
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<p>Early this morning my New Year’s message was on the topic of “The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and the Ideal Family.” We are the people who are going to create ideal families, ideal societies, ideal nations, the ideal world and eventually the ideal Kingdom of God. That is, God’s unchanging wish. His grieving heart must be liberated. For that very purpose God Himself has always been giving His entire heart and soul. For that very purpose Jesus Christ came. However, he tasted the bitterness of the crucifixion without fulfilling it in the fullest degree. As God looks down on earth on this New Year’s Day, there’s no hope for Him other than the Unification Church. You are God’s only hope and we are such a meager group of people. Because God is the living God, however, He will give us power; He will give us energy, and He will give us the wisdom that we need. He will make us invincible. From today there are 730 days until Dec. 31, 1978. The countdown has started. Unless we lay a sufficient foundation in these two years, the free world will decline; America will decline, and there will be no hope for mankind.</p>
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<p>Today we must pledge and rededicate ourselves in the most solemn way that we shall become God’s champion pioneers for the next two years. We aren’t in darkness. We know the truth. We know the goal. We know the strategy, so all we have to do is give every single ounce of our energy, and go the heroic way. Everyone shall become a victor for the sake of God and humanity. In 1976, 1977, and 1978 we will pay the indemnity for the cosmic dispensation. We will pay the accumulated 1,000 year old debts of mankind in these three short years. Once this is done, heaven and earth will be ours and God will dwell with us. Truly the Kingdom of Heaven shall be a living reality here on earth.</p>
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<p>Today, let us pledge solemnly to God that no matter what the difficulty, no matter what tribulation we meet, we shall not be stopped. We shall push through until the final victory is won. Let us pledge together by raising both hands to Almighty God. Thank you.</p>
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<div id="post-1167" class="post-1167 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">HOW TO WITNESS: TO STATE LEADERS</h1>
|
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T14:24:52+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/how-to-witness-to-state-leaders.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T14:24:52+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/how-to-witness-to-state-leaders.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
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<h3 align="center">April 1, 1977<br />
|
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Gracemere (East Garden), New York<br />
|
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Translator – Sang Kil Han</h3>
|
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<p>I have been answering your questions about witnessing little by little in many speeches. To summarize, however, you must mobilize spirit world. I witness without speaking any words. While I was in prison I could witness to many people without speaking because spirit world testified to them about me and people came on their own.</p>
|
||||
<p>You may have noticed by now that some people witness very easily while others cannot witness effectively and have great difficulty. It is a spiritual law that an individual must have a personal foundation of indemnity in order to effectively witness to others. Two people may be faced with the same difficult situation yet one of them does not accomplish much, while the other easily brings results. The difference is mainly that the ancestors of the successful person are qualified to help him. Anyone who is witnessing has to be able to arouse a person’s interest toward God, toward the Church, and toward himself. How can this be done?</p>
|
||||
<p>In approaching individuals on the highest levels and in meeting the public in general our approaches are parallel. If you just witness to someone without having some personal foundation of your own they will not respond. You must consider how each of you is going to create your own foundation.</p>
|
||||
<p>You may notice soon, if you have not already, that people seek to advance their lives by getting the attention of or taking advantage of other people. Our members’ motives for joining the Unification Church are quite varied, often being selfish and intertwined with personal objectives. For example, many people are searching for spiritual insight and when they discover that the Unification Church can give them spiritual enlightenment then they join. However, some people are pursuing materialistic goals and they speculate that since the Unification Church will expand in the future they have a better future here than in any other place. Of course it is very true that if we were to lose by being in the Unification Church, either spiritually or in any other way, then we would not remain here very long. Not only spiritually-oriented people but many other types will join the Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<p>Our purchase of the New Yorker Hotel and Tiffany Building are changing people’s attitudes. Creating a university and building a newspaper company are extremely difficult, requiring much money, but once these are established they will be vehicles to reach people in a substantial way. This is the logical course for us to follow. People have many varied opinions about me, not just those with superficial concepts they picked up from the media, but people who are deeply concerned about the Unification Church and who have taken a real interest in me. Do you think they will ultimately respect me or despise me? I see clearly that in my lifetime many people in every field of learning will study and write articles about me; there is abundant material for them to study.</p>
|
||||
<p>People have a tendency to respect millionaires because they know how difficult it is to make money in this society. Establishing and operating one university is so difficult that even state governments cannot afford to do that. Because they are continuously under pressure to keep up with expenses, if one individual creates a top university from nothing then knowledgeable people will be amazed. The same is true in creating a newspaper.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are so many events that testify to our Church. I never encouraged the Korean members to fund raise. Only 15 years ago we did not own any property other than a small cottage with a total area of half this room. Yet all I talked about was saving the world, and I emphasized that only God would be able to raise the funds we needed. Many people said that I was an idealist and really out of my mind. Now when I talk of those same things almost everyone believes me.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let me discuss the situation in Korea. All Koreans, from the top officials and the President down to the grass roots are very sensitive about me. This is very strange when you think about it, yet not only Koreans but also the Japanese know that I am not just a passing phenomenon. They are all ears when they hear of something I have done in America.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">You alone can accomplish your dreams</h3>
|
||||
<p>Most people are determined to remain unchanged throughout their lives. With this most formidable characteristic what will they be like ten years from now? Do you even visualize how you will be ten years from now? If you took a random sample of 23-year-olds in this country, what qualifications would they have to change this society? But look at this brother-he has vision and determination that are unusual to see in a young person. Ten years from now when he is only 33, what kind of formidable person will he be? During those years he will continue to improve and he will experience many new things that the average man does not experience in a lifetime. In just five years we give our members a whole life-time of experience. What a triumph!</p>
|
||||
<p>Americans are a high level people, having heart as well as intelligence, yet one Oriental man has been able to transform these young Americans, giving them a real conversion experience. This is one of the world’s greatest happenings. From now on your progress will accelerate. Because opposition to us is so unfounded, the time will soon come when people will change their negative opinions about us and we will really begin to gather momentum. Each one of you will share in this experience. Do you have some dream inside you? You must do everything in seeking to achieve that dream. You must not think that perhaps I will accomplish this dream for you. A vague wish and hope are good temporarily, but do not ever have the attitude that the Unification Church will become big enough to help you. No, instead you must realize your own dreams by helping the Unification Church, and then God will certainly assist you.</p>
|
||||
<p>You should feel, “It is not so good if someone must help me accomplish my dream because then I must pay the price for all I receive.” Always imagine that with your own hands you will nurture 100 people, even 1,000 people, in your own state. Unless we totally dedicate ourselves, making the necessary effort with tears and suffering while we are young we cannot experience joy when we get old. The worldly way and the heavenly way are very much the same in this respect. Once you yourself fulfill your responsibility then other people will come to help, but if you first search for help then you will not accomplish what you need to do.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you are the leader of a state then the minimum attention you must give it is to go around and see what is there for you to pay attention to and love. You must make a complete tour around your state at least one time. When I initially came to America in 1965 the first thing I did was go around the United States at the fastest possible speed. I just kept moving, not sleeping in a motel and not eating in restaurants.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today one of you brought up a good point. This brother had come to his saturation point, his limit, but then when he pushed forward God started working. We have to keep pushing past that point. Never worry when some difficulty comes to you; just pay attention to the next step. The difficulty could defeat you or it could resurrect you to the highest possible level under the circumstances. You must remain confident that as long as you are one with God He will never abandon you. Your situation may seem bad, and it may be bad, but the moment that you can go over the difficulty then it will benefit the side of goodness to an equivalent degree.</p>
|
||||
<p>When the opposition is fiercest then I am the most intensely interested in what will happen next, and what reward or what lesson will follow. Your lives are like walking a tightrope and balancing with a pole. As you are crossing that rope you could fall either to the left or right, into heaven or hell, but in any case you keep balancing yourself and continue the length of the rope. We are all really living at the edge of a tense situation. If you make a serious error-perhaps a deprogrammer grabs you and persuades you to leave-there might even be eternal consequences. In the usual day to day living it does not matter so much if you slip one way or another. But in our course you must be prepared to even give up your life in order to hold fast. If you do not go this way what is there for you?</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus was asked by many average Jews, as well as by the high priests and Pilate whether he was the King of the Jews. In ordinary times he had instructed all of his disciples to not speak of this to other people, but when the moment came he did not contradict them. If he had, there would have been serious consequences.</p>
|
||||
<p>You can imagine that the fortune of America does not go in a straight line but up and down. This is a natural phenomenon in everything. Water, for instance, does not flow on level ground. There are always ups and downs because nothing can stay in one place. Spiritually America is now on the decline, and should the present pattern become deeply established then it will be very difficult to reverse. Unless some force can reverse this direction soon, America will just plunge downward.</p>
|
||||
<p>As you know, if an object is falling very quickly but some force can change its direction, then its original momentum will send it back up very fast. This has been true throughout history. The time when everything is corrupted and declining is exactly the moment that God will reveal a new way to elevate the situation. There is no exception in this pattern of history. The world is situated at such a point now and the work of restoration is exactly what we are doing. In doing this are we going to be confined to America? No, in that case we would only fall again after a while. The only way to survive is to continuously expand until we are working on the world level. This is what God desires. If we go this way then God will lift us up even higher.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">My strong advice: never be comfortable</h3>
|
||||
<p>The strong advice that I want to give you is to never be comfortable. Go out and witness to someone who is negative or give a lecture to a new type of person. But keep fighting the battle and allow yourself to get hit. If you are complacent then even try to have a deep feeling of resentment. With that unrest you will then be able to overcome.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you really do not know what to do with yourself then stir up some controversy; go pick a fight with a multitude, and let them really knock you out. Be grateful when you are beaten and take advantage of that moment. If you really understand this then you will see why I actually do not mind opposition so much. In fact, I welcome it. When you are beaten without cause then naturally you become indignant, and then you have inspiration to fight again. Whenever we determine our goal we have to aim at total victory because with that heart we will always be victorious. A champion is ready to fight at any time. If he wants to be a champion for ten years then he has to keep fighting and winning for ten years; that is the only way to guarantee that he will remain the champion. Muhammed Ali once said, “I will become greater than Reverend Moon.”</p>
|
||||
<p>When I compare my opponents of ten years ago to my opponents of today I can predict what our opponents will be like ten years from now. We will be grappling with communism. Ten years ago our opposition was coming from the small country of Korea, while today we are opposed by America. Actually, in comparison, the difference is not really that great. However, suppose the whole communist world united against us. We must prepare for that day, and not just be concerned about our present opposition in America.</p>
|
||||
<p>We have to take our pattern from God. God is a champion of many thousands of years. He has never been beaten but has always been challenged. This has been the pattern of His dispensation and God just keeps on fighting. I know that opposition to us will just continue on and on until finally one day there is no more left. Are you going to be the champion in your own state? If even greater opposition comes will you pack up and leave? If no one opposes you then you should go argue with the state governor. If you fight at all, do not confront a weak opponent, a servant of servants. Challenge the greatest opponent, and even if you do not win on the first try the record of your attempt will remain.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Prayer</h3>
|
||||
<p>If we cannot achieve 1-1-1, can we still say that we will bear the historical responsibility? Think deeply about this. If you had as intense a sense of responsibility and emergency as I do then you would witness even 1-1-10. Have you ever really burst into tears outside in the street while witnessing to the people? Have you ever had a sleepless night in prayer? I have prayed to God in such a demanding and intense way that my heavy clothing became soaking wet. This has happened on many occasions. Except for that, what is the difference between us? We all eat the same amount of food and we live in 24 hour days.</p>
|
||||
<p>As witnessers, you must have such a deep heart of concern that you burst into tears when you pray for the people. You must strive to make yourselves that way, but without my experience for comparison you will not progress too far. Suppose one of your hardwon members goes somewhere and does not return by the middle of the night. Would you really stay awake and cry for him, praying for his return? If you do that and he does come back the next day, he will tell you that he also had a sleepless night.</p>
|
||||
<p>What you are doing is simply living a religious life; it must be accompanied by tears, and must be connected securely with the spirit world. If you have not experienced this then your religious life must be improved. When you pray, do you often feel cold, with no deep emotion welling up from within you? When you are in that state you are like a flower which cannot attract a bee to drink its nectar. People will come, desiring to have their lives connected to your life when they feel that God is present with you. You have to feel God’s presence in your centers.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you maintain this spiritually then people will come and rest in you. Each day, without thinking, you will know who will come to visit and what kind of events will occur. When you can develop such a heart, then imagine how interesting witnessing will become. For this reason I am telling you that you must have deep and intense prayer.</p>
|
||||
<p>The period in my life when I prayed most intensely was when I witnessed for the lives of others. I prayed in an area that was 9 square feet and that area was always soaking wet with my tears. Man’s departure from God took place in the midst of tears, and now as man is being restored back to God, we must meet God in a tearful position. Even though I do not pray in that way now, you must go through this experience. The one who knows me best is Mother because she is the only one who watches over me 24 hours a day. Mother respects me because she has seen that I act first and then speak. Whenever I speak Mother always knows that it matches my actions. Mother is in a position to be with me on this level. She already leads a difficult life. I have to really give her credit because she simply does not have time to pray much and keep up with the children as well.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you pray you must have the sense that God’s spirit is really close. After such a prayer you will feel relief at having been spiritually victorious. I can tell you to do this, but most important is for you to feel the necessity of prayer on your own. When you are hungry you want to eat; in the same way you must feel the need to pray, feeling unsettled if you do not. With that urge and need to pray often you can experience meaningful prayer.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sometimes you may sense that something important will happen and you are unable to keep your mind on anything for more than a few minutes. In that case you must first pray to get some sense of direction, and determine what you should do. Generally when you have that kind of feeling something important is about to happen. We are going a course of restoration by indemnity and we should expect to pay an equivalent condition of indemnity for anything important that happens. We must be prepared to go over any initial difficulty in prayer, and never be defeated by it.</p>
|
||||
<p>You can identify the person who prays by his appearance. He may be thin and not so handsome but his eyes are shining, and his lean body is emitting light. You need to have strength always ready within yourself. It is better to have a small spring which constantly bubbles up to fill the space within you than to have a large pool of stored water without a source or spring. Such a pool will soon be gone but a small bubbling spring within will continue to flow, no matter how much you use. Through prayer you can continually be filled.</p>
|
||||
<p>Please do not be a person who must come to hear me talk in order to be revitalized, because you will only need to return again and again. Rather try to find that supply within yourself. If you can do that then I will begin to appear spiritually and teach you directly. Many people say that Onni Durst is good at witnessing, but the only difference between you and her is that she sees me often in dreams. She can tell how many people are going to join by how frequently I appear in her dreams. When I appear many times then she knows that many people are coming in. If I appear only occasionally then only a few people are coming in. This can happen while you are sleeping but best of all is a vision that you receive during prayer.</p>
|
||||
<p>Have many of you had experiences of my appearing and teaching you? After many such experiences you will be able to receive guidance and insight even without closing your eyes. You can have an intense prayer and deep spiritual connection even with your eyes open. With this ability you can tell immediately who is a good person and who is not. Your spiritual eyes are miraculous, and with them you can see anything. Wouldn’t each one of you like to be like that?</p>
|
||||
<p>To achieve that you have to pay indemnity, especially in prayer. The best place to pray is in nature, for instance on a mountain. I have prayed outdoors in the middle of winter, sitting in the snow with only a blanket on my shoulders. I prayed intensely, knowing that I would freeze to death if I fell asleep. This has been my course but there are many Unification Church members nowadays who just tag along instead of trying very hard to also have such precious experiences. Probably you vaguely realize that this is valuable but still do not understand it deeply. When you return to your center after the conference the first thing you must do is pray.</p>
|
||||
<p>Not only you must pray but there must always be prayer in your center. Again I want to tell you to have constant 24 hour prayer in your centers, and if there are not enough people to do this, then record somebody’s prayer and play it back. Prayer is that essential. Prayer is like rain, washing everything, giving moisture to the land so that life might come forth.</p>
|
||||
<p>When I am confronted with difficult situations then the spiritual surroundings are pitch black, without even one small opening, and I wonder how we are going to solve all the problems. At those times I pray most intensely, even forgetting my own life, and as I pray a way gradually opens through which I can reach out. At times such as these you must always distinguish between which solution belongs to heaven, which belongs to you, and which belongs to earth. Always distinguish between these three ways.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">This enthusiasm marks<br />
|
||||
the difference between you and me</h3>
|
||||
<p>When you open your eyes in the morning, the first thing you should think about is offering greetings to heaven. Report to God about what you are going to do that day. When you can accomplish during the day all the things that you promised in the morning then you will feel a great sense of victory. Only through experience can you deeply understand that.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you experience the pleasure that comes from this victory, you really do not want anything else in life. This is what will keep you going even when you are tired and overworked. If you are so tired from your efforts that you just do not bother to take your clothes off but fall into bed for a few hours of sleep, then when you wake up you will feel more refreshed than if you had slept all night. That kind of life should not tire you in any way, and the longer you continue it the more you want of it. God will also find joy in continuing to help you.</p>
|
||||
<p>I have had many sleepless nights, particularly in the 1950s. How could I humanly continue to do that? My sense of joy and happiness was so great that in talking to new members around me I wanted to continue hour after hour, even until 3 O’clock in the morning. If one of them had to leave because he had something to do in the morning I felt really sorry to see him go, wishing that he could stay longer. You must experience these feelings also. When I missed him that much I knew that he would return in the shortest possible time because he could not bear the separation either.</p>
|
||||
<p>This enthusiasm marks the difference between you and me. You must understand this clearly because once you become like this then you will have nothing to envy. No other wish or desire or ambition will push you and happiness will be yours as long as you continue. If you always intensely desire to work closely with the spirit world, then you will not have to think about it all the time, but it will automatically happen. I am raising Hyo Jin in this way. He hears beautiful music spiritually and I told him that this is a natural experience.</p>
|
||||
<p>We offer our prayers in order to bring spiritual benefits. Prayer is like a spiritual meal which you have to eat every day. I am now so expert in prayer that I can direct myself in a certain way and after a few seconds receive the results of intense prayer. After a few moments of intense thought I can sense the atmosphere of a meeting that I am going to, whether the people have made some internal foundation, and also whether the men or women are more prepared. The person who has a dedicated heart stands out, even in the midst of thousands of people.</p>
|
||||
<p>When the spiritual energy among the people is strong, then a fire is kindled that burns throughout the auditorium. Once you discover how to do this then sleepless nights are not a problem and the spirit world is always close to you. I can continue with this talk, but if you become too intensely involved in it you will start to feel some deep emptiness. Such an emphasis on prayer may seem to contradict your busy working schedule, but nevertheless you should practice these things. Since we are all going to spirit world at some point it is important to have some understanding of it.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Where shall you begin in order to have such love?</h3>
|
||||
<p>If a person has deeply loved someone other than God, then after joining the Unification Church he has to overturn that standard and build a deeper sense of love for God and the True Parents. This deep feeling of love is the shortest route to receiving assistance from the spirit world. You can communicate with spiritual world instantly when you are consumed by a love for me which is so intense that you cannot help but have tears running down your face. Sisters especially may have this experience. If you have that experience three or four times, then the spirit world will immediately open to you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Since your goal is to come as close as possible to God, then you need to deeply long to be with me. You must be able to overcome any number of sleepless nights and hungry days in your desire to see me. When you have conquered your physical body then the spirit world will be right there to assist you. Sometimes in meditation or prayer a person may suddenly realize the significance of my life, how I came after many thousands of years with such an arduous distance to conquer. That person may have an intense desire to buy me the best clothing in the world, although he has no means to do that. Then later while he is dozing off I will appear in the finest clothing and tell him, “Don’t worry. You have just given these to me. I am wearing your gift.” This is an important experience. This correlation between your deep desires and your experiences always exists. Have you ever experienced such a thing?</p>
|
||||
<p>Where shall you begin in order to reach that level? It is actually not too difficult. When you encounter any man on earth, you must value him in the realization that I have come just to save that man. You must feel that love and closeness for the most insignificant man, let alone for the great man whom you can easily appreciate. You must love the least important man because I have come to save him. Train yourself to feel that closeness for another person. When a member joins, no matter how shabby he may look you must remember that I came for him, and value him just as much as you value me. You need to feel the intense closeness and vitality of such love.</p>
|
||||
<p>You need to experience how glad I must be to meet that person for the first time in 6,000 years and learn to develop that heart for all the people you come into contact with. Gradually you have to deepen the intensity of your feeling for them so that when you see them for the tenth time you are as happy as you were when you first met them. If you can associate me with them in your mind then such deep love for them will eventually come naturally to you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Your own yearning to be with me wherever I go can be immediately transmitted to others. I am limited to having only one-way relations with members. You, however, stand in a more advantageous position since you can relate in so many different ways with people, envisioning them as my brother or sister or parent, and treating them accordingly. In this way you are in a better position than I.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you feel that deeply about some person, if he does not come for a few days you will not be able to control yourself in your urgency to see him. When you pray from your deepest heart, “I must see him; I cannot live without him,” then he will be drawn to come by a warm feeling. Once such a bond is established then even if you kick him out, he will not leave you. Do you understand this? Many people are presently coming into the Church but many members are also leaving. We can easily diagnose why: instead of giving respect and love to them their leaders have been treating them in an opposite way. If you only want them to love and respect you then your relationship with them will not last too long.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is stated in the Bible that if you treat a man as a righteous man then you will receive the reward of a righteous man. However much you can give yourself to your members equals what God will be able to give you. Onni is different from others in that she wants so much to feed her children that she will look everywhere in search of spiritual food to give them. Any person can feel such persistent love. This is the most basic and important knowledge in witnessing.</p>
|
||||
<p>Your feelings are reflected in the spirit world, and then felt by other people. If you really love the person you witness to, then he has no place on this wide earth he wants to go except to where that love is. Once you can feel these things then your spiritual door is open to communication. You have to train yourselves to relate to others in this way. It is not possible to cheat in spiritual things as it is in worldly matters. Anger, for example, brings much disturbance to the spirit world.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you develop this intense prayer then those who are the objects of your prayers will come to where you are in spite of themselves, even going to the train station to get to their spiritual home. Have you ever experienced this yourselves? Have you been able to love another in such a way that you can save him, and he will follow you wherever you go? That is the perfect savior, isn’t it? When you share this beautiful love with another it will probably be the first such experience in that person’s life. Since it is the first, he will cherish the memory of it as long as he lives. You have to have that intense feeling of love toward the people you witness to. When you love a person like that, he will be drawn to you.</p>
|
||||
<p>If that love becomes your spiritual environment then you will have the qualification to govern in the world, and when you go to spirit world you will find yourself in the highest realm. The first step in witnessing is to think, “I myself must become perfect.” Then you will be able to give goodness to other people. In preparing to give a sermon you have to really feel fearful of erring just the one inch that might damage the souls that you are responsible for. When you feel that you cannot afford to make the slightest mistake then your sense of responsibility becomes acute. You have to pray with great intensity, “Just help me get through these few hours. I must speak to them according to Your will.” When you speak with this sense of responsibility then you can deeply move those who listen.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you want to give life to other people and save them then you yourself must be alive. If you would have others shed tears, then you must have experienced tears first. If you feel tears as you give a sermon, then those who hear you will also weep. You must first have these qualifications if you would lead a church. That is why your responsibility is difficult.</p>
|
||||
<p>Please remain humble. If you are not arrogant then you can easily begin this way of life. Even though you are in a leadership position you should feel that you are the most miserable, unworthy being in the whole history of man. This can be compared to the different kinds of wire which can conduct electricity. Copper is a good conductor but pure gold is even better, while iron and other metals are inferior conductors. Presently you are like the poorest conductors, but as you are refined, you will become like pure gold.</p>
|
||||
<p>Your situation is such that even though you are unworthy you have been given the privilege of loving God, the highest being on earth. You will be the happiest people if you are able to drown in His love for you, and feel Him embracing you. The moments when God loves you are the moments of complete happiness, the happiest times you will ever experience. Like pure gold you will have no resistance and all of God’s love will be drawn to you.</p>
|
||||
<p>All of these experiences are actual sensations and not just your imagination. Because of the experiences I have shared with God it is easy for me to be a natural person once I step down from my official position. After addressing the public I step down from the platform into the position of an everyday person. I never want to take an arrogant position over anybody, in any way. At first you may have felt that you could do anything with me and you felt confident of yourselves, but soon enough you discovered that this was not so. I am not so easily accessible. This authority comes naturally from my having shed tears for God.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you return to your states then witness and pray as I have taught you. Because God lives that way then He has control over everything through religion. God loves man so much. What is heaven? Heaven starts by loving another human being the way God does. Once you exercise this and condition yourself step by step then I expect that many people will come to you in a month. When you truly have the experiences I speak of then you can experience the heart of Jesus as he washed his own disciples’ feet. Why would he have done that? He did that to tangibly establish the standard of love, the law of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you as a leader do not experience these spiritual things then something is not complete. Once your mind reaches that level but you do not have people who are close to you that you can share deeply with, then you can talk to a tree and the tree will talk back to you. You will witness that a tree actually talks, as expressively as if it were dancing. This is not imaginary. The tree can actually be company for you. It is so natural that heaven is in you and in us; heaven depends on man.</p>
|
||||
<p>A summary of my life would say that I really tried more than anyone to understand people. All my life I have been trying to understand my position and relationship to other people. This is how I can lead the Unification Church. Since God has watched all this and helped me do everything, step by step, God cannot help but assist whatever I do. This is one reason why I am assured of God’s help.</p>
|
||||
<p>At home when I hear the sound of someone dropping apiece of china, I immediately feel, “Oh, I broke that, not her.” If that person breaks a piece once, then twice and even three times, still I do not say anything. That person feels very ashamed, and in passing me our eyes do not meet, and she wants to go somewhere else. That sensitivity is a beautiful aspect of human beings; both that person and I know what she is feeling. That kind of awareness is absolutely necessary in becoming a leader.</p>
|
||||
<p>Heavenly law dictates that if you are persecuted and attacked by others, even though you are not at fault, then much blessing will come to you. Since God knows your true situation, when the time of persecution is over He will be free to give all the blessings of your opponents to you. If your conscience is clear then persecution will never bother you. No matter what is said about me my conscience is clear and I am not bothered by it. In my work here in America nothing has been done out of selfishness, but out of a determination to save America for God. The fault does not lie on my side but on the side of those who oppose me.</p>
|
||||
<p>What can we do about that? Under the circumstances the best God can do is to support our side. He will not punish our persecutors but will stay perfectly on my side. I know that the Unification Church will never fail or perish because God cannot perish. Even though you may be treated as a sinner and persecuted when there is no fault within you, it is necessary to stimulate yourself to go out and witness. Taking a beating from other people is better than staying quiet.</p>
|
||||
<p>You must believe that persecution is a beautiful way of going through many things. We each are filled with our own individual sin, but when you are persecuted unjustly by other people and can persevere instead of fighting back, then you have discovered the quickest way to have your sinfulness forgiven by God. In the midst of the worst persecution, not only your own sins are forgiven, but also the sins of the person who persecutes you may be forgiven in a certain way, and you can further receive blessing for that. This principle is universal; being persecuted brings all manner of results everywhere.</p>
|
||||
<p>Throughout the ages of the primitive religions people were ignorant of all this. Modem religion has consistently taught man to do good deeds, but without explaining why they should endure persecution with forgiveness. I am explaining the law of indemnity for the first time in history. This understanding is the perfection of religion; all throughout history man has known that he should try to be good, but without understanding why. If you develop your life as I have described then you can go to exactly the same spirit world as I do.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The key to leadership is your concern for others</h3>
|
||||
<p>This has been a detailed explanation of how to witness. Whenever I went to some village, I was always prepared to go out at any time with a hoe in my hands, or to become the friend of the most miserable person in the village. I was ready to talk all through the night at anytime that I felt it would do some good. The easiest way to love another is to care for him. That person may have never had a friend in all the world, but you can become his best friend. It is a rather simple rule, but this embraces everything.</p>
|
||||
<p>I always felt especially close to children and got along so well with them, although now my circumstances do not allow me to love my own children as much as I love you. I used to love to tell stories to other children. Once I would start telling a tale I would create it as I went along, and spirit world would help me. I could make a group of children laugh and cry. There were many times in Sunday school when I opened my heart to the children and they cried, but I could never stay as long as I wanted because I had to run home after my mother. How can you bring others to tears? Only by shedding tears first; nothing else can bring that experience to them. I always felt the necessity of this and want you to feel this also.</p>
|
||||
<p>With this attitude I always found myself looked to as a leader. When I was a dock laborer I quickly united with the men and they soon treated me as their leader, and responded to my direction. Hyo Jin is like this; children willingly follow him even after knowing him for only a few days. He has inherited my foundation and this happens to him even without his trying. The key to being respected as a leader is your concern for others. If you hate others then you can achieve nothing.</p>
|
||||
<p>You must take a humble position; one way of doing this is to regard everybody as your teacher. Then you can learn many things from other people which will in turn improve you. If you have witnessed to many people and have been raising many members in your church you will have experienced the fact that each person is different. When you meet a person you may sense that he has a certain type of personality that resembles someone you know. Then you can use your past experience in relating to him. A pine tree in Korea and a pine tree in America are very different but at the same time they are similar. In the same way, almost 90% of you resemble one of the thousands of people whom I have already nurtured and poured love into. Maybe you have differently set eyes, or a larger nose, but the pattern of your character is the same and you are not strangers to me.</p>
|
||||
<p>People often possess similar natures, even expressing themselves in the same way. In order to recognize the similar qualities in people you have to pay loving attention to them. Then you will come to love their characteristics and see how God also resembles them. God loves a man not just for himself, but for his godly character.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now you know to witness with tears. What is the gateway that makes this possible? Love opens the door to the spirit world. How much love? You must become able to love more than anyone else has loved You, even your father or mother, and more than you have ever previously loved anyone. The beginning of love in the spirit world is the feeling of deepest love for the True Parents and then for other men. If you love below God’s standard then you are in the realm of love that Satan enjoys. God will never accept your love if it has not been separated from Satan.</p>
|
||||
<p>What has been the religious way? Many men of religion teach that you should love God and heavenly things more than the greatest love you have ever experienced, without exception or compromise. If you do not love to that degree, then you will simply remain in the satanic world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Have you ever experienced watching over the members as they slept and found yourself shedding tears just to see them? In their lives your members realized that there is no place of goodness in this wide world that can be relied upon, and they continued wandering like children until they finally found rest in your home. Have you felt such a realization about them? In your heart you can be really grateful to them because they came and settled in you, and out of gratitude you would bow to them for their trust in you. Can you understand this? That kind of heart is necessary because you are responsible for their lives.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because I am consumed with these feelings someone can come and speak certain words to me and my tears will just flow down my face. In that world of heart God can come down and make immediate connection with the fallen world. Have you ever missed a person who went away, and become so frantic to find him that you did not even put your shirt on correctly but just started running? Have you ever experienced that kind of insane desperation? If you have not experienced that yet, then is your attitude of mind anywhere close? Have you ever intensely desired to improve? Sometimes when I go out and see a sunset and a quiet scene, I want to start crying because I feel such heaviness that young men and women must suffer so much for me and my work. I feel so sorry for you young people, and I cannot even sit because I am so uncomfortable and agonized for you. I just cannot help but cry out.</p>
|
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<p>Because I am this way others cannot curse me, and you who are doing God’s work with me cannot have a feeling of anger toward me. My basic philosophy is to never be indebted to any living soul. I will always at least be even, or if possible return more than is given to me, but I will never be indebted. I do not like to receive something from a person without also returning something. In that way my own children are not in such a fortunate position; I automatically treat them as though I do not have to sympathize with them since they are already part of me.</p>
|
||||
<p>I always think that you have been looking for a leader such as myself. In this respect all of your members would like to have you be for them what I am for you. From this moment on you should realize your situation and repent, thinking, “I haven’t been that way; I haven’t been a true messiah but a false one.” Start over again from this point. Even after your members are asleep at night, pray over them and then they will grow and mature. I began this tradition even before you were born. This is the relationship between father and child. You must always be aware of your members, soaking your clothing and your rugs with your tears.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you live that way but your situation never improves then you can hold me responsible. Likewise know that I do all this for you. If for some unhappy reason you do not respond, then I still do not lose what I have invested. It is collected, like heavenly earnings, and saved to build a heavenly foundation. It is never lost. In the same manner, when an individual tries very hard, pouring out his heart toward other people, then what he has invested will never be lost, but remains with him as a record. Heaven sees to it that you never lose this. Seeing this accumulation, you can understand why heaven is so grateful to us, and in turn we must be so absolutely thankful to God.</p>
|
||||
<p>This time, when you go back to your assignment, start living this kind of life and follow this way in witnessing. Once you are successful in this America will be quickly covered. By practicing and improving in this way you will deepen your hearts and even evoke God’s tears. That standard of heart which makes God cry remains eternally in spirit world. Respect and like others as much as you love God, in the same way I have done.</p>
|
||||
<p>It does not matter how many times another deceives you or betrays your expectations. Do not give up because you will not lose. I was actually betrayed many times and know that I will continue to be betrayed, but I am secure in my way and I go on. I have never found that my position gets worse; instead it is always improving. That is the heavenly standard.</p>
|
||||
<p>We have had a crude foundation so far in the Unification Church in America, and I realize that it is urgent that we reform ourselves. Our personal reformation is due now. Do you understand? You are going to do a lot of work from now on, which means that you are going to do a lot of loving from now on.</p>
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<div id="post-1161" class="post-1161 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">LEADERSHIP: TO MFT CAPTAINS</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T14:16:49+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/leadership-to-mft-captains.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T14:16:49+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/leadership-to-mft-captains.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">March 16, 1977<br />
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World Mission Center<br />
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||||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>As a leader you are not only responsible for yourself but for your members. Anytime you are not leading you should always be thinking about what you will do when you are. You know very clearly that as a fund raising team leader your members will all resemble you. You have to clearly show them the way because unless you show them they will never learn.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you know which is the best team in the United States? Do you know who the best team leader is? I want each one of you to think all the time about who is the best leader and then pay close attention to him so that you can learn from him. You should ask him what he does to be the best team leader in all America.</p>
|
||||
<p>If 74 people fund raise they will use 74 different methods; however, there is only one best way out of the 74. When someone is the best then everyone should learn his way. Those who have no idea who is the best can never be the best themselves. The way to improve yourself is to follow the example of the most successful man.</p>
|
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<p>The first criterion of leadership is organization; you have to organize efficiently. Second, you must always have a sense of responsibility for your own team, and in addition you have to teach each of your team members to have a sense of responsibility. After you have done these three things then check how intensely you work. At that point your enthusiasm and long hours of work will mean everything. You will succeed when you have all of these.</p>
|
||||
<p>You have to standardize your method of doing things. You must have a clear idea of what you are going to do, and all your members must know what they are going to do. If any of them has a better way of doing things, of course let him suggest it. Organization, a strong sense of responsibility, enthusiasm and long hours of work are all very essential, but there is still one more crucial element: clear direction.</p>
|
||||
<p>The fastest, easiest way to find the best method is to adopt the best man’s technique for yourself. After I came to America I first thought about how to create the most efficient organization. Once that organization was built then I felt that I had to take all the responsibility on myself. As long as I feel that way I can make you men of responsibility also.</p>
|
||||
<p>I put these things into practice with more intensity than anyone else. I put in longer hours than anybody else. I am always thinking about which direction to go and which method to use. When you move into an unfamiliar area, you must first analyze the situation. When you think you know the best way, then put it into practice.</p>
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||||
<p>How are you going to learn about that precious new area? Going there to feel it out yourself will take too long. The fastest way is to send a few people ahead of the team and let them talk to real estate men and taxi drivers. Such people usually know an area and can describe it better than anybody else.</p>
|
||||
<p>I had to really grasp the heart of the matter in planning for the Washington Rally. Because I could see the situation very clearly and other people could not, I just pushed ahead. In the same way you have to make a good estimate of your area. If you send some people out as your sensors, like nerve endings, and have them bring you back information, then you can immediately come to a conclusion and succeed.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am telling you this because we should have the best organization in the world. We are not just writing names down on cards. Our planning and organization must be workable, not just idealistic. It is good if you have a sense of responsibility yourself, but it will not accomplish anything until all your members also have that same sense of responsibility. Your problem is how to transfer your standard to them. You have to study this process all the time.</p>
|
||||
<p>Does anyone here think that he has the best organization? Can you say that you have been thinking about this all the time and training your members in such a direction? When Mr. Kamiyama reports to me, he tells me about the teams-who he thinks has an aptitude for fund raising or who might be better witnessing-but I never believe a word. A slow starter can prove to be the fastest runner. I only consider a person after he has had a chance to improve himself.</p>
|
||||
<p>Just because a baby cannot run the moment he is born we certainly cannot say that he will never run. We have to give a person a chance to improve himself, and explain many things to him so that he will feet a sense of responsibility. In the beginning you may have to carry him along, not on your back, but by working with him side by side for two days, teaching him how to do everything. Do you ever think in that way?</p>
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||||
<p>Unless you feel that, you will just be using the people on your team, and after they finish working with you they will go downhill spiritually. You cannot borrow a person from another area or from other people and just expect him to work. You have to love and feed him, care for him in every way; then he will work wholeheartedly with you.</p>
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||||
<p>Who is a man of responsibility? He is the one who is determined to make his followers also men of responsibility. A false leader is always saying, “Do this and do that,” but never does those things himself. He never works. The man of responsibility, the front-line leader, should always work harder and better than other people, then they will follow him. If you live that way yourself then you will not have to tell your members to follow you; they will want to follow you on their own. Perhaps you have lots of enthusiasm and your members are inspired to work very hard, but if they get very little result they will stop working. You have to be smart as well as enthusiastic. One good quality in a leader is not enough; you have to be good at everything.</p>
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||||
<p>If you know how to shoot a rifle or artillery but in the heat of battle you don’t aim correctly, the shells may land on your own troops and kill your own men. This happens in real life. To know where to shoot, a gunner has to know generally what the terrain is like and where his men are, and then he can adopt the best method.</p>
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||||
<p>The first necessity is organization, the second is a sense of responsibility and the third is knowing how to put these into practice. In carrying these out you must first have enthusiasm. For instance, I automatically felt that I was going to come up here very early in the morning. Why? I never plan that I will work at one hour, and then rest at another hour. I never know when I am going to work and when I am going to rest; I may work for 24 hours. When other people are sleeping and eating then I always think about getting ahead by working more hours. In that way I will surely be the winner.</p>
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||||
<p>When the time comes I will put you to work in the middle of the night rather than in the day time, and then I will start your training program early in the morning. Do not ever think that because you never heard or thought about such a method of working that this is the Oriental way. In the Unification Church we have a unique way that is unparalleled by other people.</p>
|
||||
<p>Are you going to be a loser? No one will sympathize with the loser. But you will never be losers. Never be discouraged by everything that people say to you; just go forward and win. So far in America, have I lost or won? I had to win because no one else is living up to my way of doing things. Are you going to be losers or winners?</p>
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||||
<p>Being winners will be relatively easy. The way do to it is to put in more hours and have more enthusiasm than others, plus excellent organization and a sense of responsibility. I know that all 74 of you have these qualities, but still you have 74 different methods to win, which are not all equally good. They rank from the best to the worst. To be successful you must adopt the method of the best man out of the 74 of you.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you have put in longer hours and been more enthusiastic than other people, but were still unsuccessful, then there’s only one explanation: your method is wrong. This is the one thing that you must always be wanting to learn; I am always thinking about that also. If you seek out the best method all the time, then in two or three years you will have much experience and you can become the top man.</p>
|
||||
<p>At the same time, let your members give suggestions about the best method to use and give comments about themselves. If you are confident of having the best way, do not just insist that your members follow your way. If one of them comes up to suggest his own idea, even if you think he is wrong, do not say, “No, just hush up and listen to me.” Rather, try to find the good points in his suggestion and agree with him on those. If you come to realize that someone is actually better than you in some ways, then you can always accept suggestions from him. You need to have vast information.</p>
|
||||
<p>We do our best when we are competing with each other in a good sense. Do you have that sense of competition? Whether you succeed or not in the long run all depends on how I lead you. The criterion that I go by is not your face or your attitude; I give you a chance to come up with the best result. Naturally that has to be my criterion, no matter what faults you have. Is that a wrong way of evaluating people?</p>
|
||||
<p>The man who is closest to the Principle should always bring in the better result, but even a genius may go up and down. If you notice in yourself a tendency to go up and down, then you must find a way to correct that. You have to make yourself dependable. A person may win some victories, but if he is also often at the bottom, then I cannot afford to depend on him.</p>
|
||||
<p>If I see a high team average, I think that is good, but if I see that each member has a similar high average then I value that team even more because I know that it is a stable team. Once you are stable as a leader your team will grow. For your first few months or even the first year it is too early to tell about you. But after a long time, if your teams are still up and down, with some members having very high results and others very low results, even though your team average is very good, the situation reflects your poor organization. By looking at all the results together I can tell very much about what has happened on a team. Can you see things the way I do now? A good leader has to be leader of heart, but at the same time he has to be smart. He must be able to evaluate the whole environment.</p>
|
||||
<p>When I came to America I broadened the way for fund raising all by myself. Did you know that? When I first came to America one leader was really elated because of the fund raising he had started. I understood the situation, but I thought to myself, “I can do ten times better than that.”</p>
|
||||
<p>I had an idea and told them the new standard. Nobody believed it in the beginning, and people said that I just didn’t understand America. To that leader it was like a dream because we had no factory or capital. But very soon I accomplished that goal.</p>
|
||||
<p>But now you know all these things and you are actually doing it yourselves. Now that we have bought the New Yorker Hotel and the Tiffany Building, when I say that I am going to buy the Empire State Building even business men are not surprised. They know that eventually we will have much more property. Now that people know that I can do anything I set my mind to, even Congress is uneasy for fear that I will want to control it.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must have a more efficient organization and greater sense of responsibility about America than the Senators and Congressmen. Often they only think about how to stay in office, worrying that after the next election someone else may take their seat. A Congressman’s wife may nag him to not work such long hours.</p>
|
||||
<p>But we will think about America’s whole situation and will work longer hours than anyone else to put these objectives and sense of responsibility into practice. I know how to do this, and once we all have this standard it will be very easy to outdo any existing organization. Does it stand to reason?</p>
|
||||
<p>Be sure of what you are fund raising for. The objective is not to make a few thousand dollars; your overall goal is much greater than that. While you are Teaming how to get the best result, without even realizing it you are also walking the road to perfect leadership, so that in three years you can go to a state and effectively lead a thousand people.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is not just wishful thinking. I am not just trying to stimulate you to do more in the short run. By doing this I am training you for the future. To amount to anything in the future you have to be able to raise your own money. Now you are pretty confident as far as that goes, right? You know now that you can at least make money, but you are still learning how to raise people. What you are hoping is that I will give you more people so that you can do even better.</p>
|
||||
<p>I think that you have already accomplished half of your qualification. But the other qualification for leadership concerns manpower. If you can fund raise well you shouldn’t have too much difficulty in securing manpower. This is what you will have to do in the future. I am thinking about using the top team leaders for witnessing.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why would I change your mission when you are so experienced in raising money? Actually money is of secondary importance; restoring people is our primary goal. To do that, there is only one rule-to love the people in the same way that a father loves his son. That is the greatest rule in raising people. After that you can apply the basic principle of leadership which I just explained. Once you have a knack for good organization then I think that people will easily come to you and you will have many members in a few months or years. After that your success will be guaranteed.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you know how to win people and educate them, and if you know how to earn money, then what else can you do? Actually even many Congressmen or Senators do not have these qualities to a great degree. You would be surprised how many Congressmen depend on other people to subsidize them in running for office. They depend on other people’s help, whereas we depend on our own abilities.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once you are trained I think that whether you will win or lose is just a formality. I will figure out how to give you a college degree, but that is no problem. We already have a newspaper, and the seminary that is underway is the prototype of our university. Always remember that you are well along the path with this clear objective. Some people accuse me of trying to use the American people, but that has never been true.</p>
|
||||
<p>You may be wondering how this connects to the dispensation of restoration. God created the world of all things first, and then Adam and Eve. Because of the fall we must recreate Adam and Eve. This is our responsibility in the restoration.</p>
|
||||
<p>When we have good organization, a deep sense of responsibility, and we carry out our plans meticulously then we can pull the spirit world down to cooperate with us. With the help of spirit world we are going to re-create all things. The next 3½ years will focus on restoring men, very much like the period of God creating Adam. If we have the confidence to restore all things through fund raising, then we will have the confidence to restore mankind through witnessing.</p>
|
||||
<p>Then what would you do to be with God? You must become parents, in which case your responsibility is to love all things and all mankind. That is the position of the True Parents. You are going to accomplish this with the True Parents, side by side, and become good ancestors for your own descendants. This course is very clear; we have to restore the lost creation, the lost people, and then become one with the True Parents and establish ourselves on God’s side. This is the basic course which you will go, not only on a small scale but on the worldwide scale, even including the spirit world. This is why it is important.</p>
|
||||
<p>We cannot help but win if we work hard enough to never be outdone by the past, present or future. Even the people who oppose us acknowledge our enthusiasm and say that they respect the Unification Church at least for that. If they have the least bit of respect for us they will eventually come to us.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you are competing with other people to bring the result, you must automatically remember the steps for winning as well as the path of restoration. Have you ever thought about that? When we start to do something we had better be confident; otherwise what we do is not substantial. Before I do anything I always make sure I am confident.</p>
|
||||
<p>The media tends to put labels on people; for instance, they call me an industrialist. Actually what they are getting at is that I know how to make money. I see great opportunities for raising money, even fortunes. They also call me an evangelist, meaning that I know how to win people or how to restore people. We know that their labels do not give the whole picture. Otherwise, how could we even continue here, with all the negativity and pressure from your families and society? However, we are still confident to go on, even stronger than before.</p>
|
||||
<p>God created the world in a certain sequence and we are going to restore the world in the same sequence. When we examine history its pattern follows that same sequence. In the Old Testament days people offered animal sacrifice which represented all things. Through doing that according to the Mosaic Law, people of that era could show their faith in God.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the New Testament era man was emphasized instead of the things of creation. Jesus Christ gave himself as the offering and many good men were martyred in the New Testament era. Now in the Completed Testament era God is restoring the True Parents and the true children.</p>
|
||||
<p>In what position are we? It is impossible to go on the growth stage without the foundation of the formation stage or to enter the perfection stage without both the formation and growth stages. To make restoration complete we have to have all three stages, not just one. Since the formation and growth stages have been accomplished already, we are Dow in the perfection stage. There has been a vertical development of history, but now we are expanding it horizontally. Now beyond the level of the Old Testament and the New Testament age offerings, we are coming to the very core of things. In God’s view the Old Testament stage is the outer layer, the New Testament stage is the middle layer, and the Completed Testament stage is closest to the center of the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is in perfect accordance with the Principle that the essence of each age is now being developed horizontally. The Old Testament era is represented in the things of creation; the New Testament era is represented by people, and the Completed Testament era or perfection stage is represented by the True Parents and true children. Now all mankind is being elevated to that stage.</p>
|
||||
<p>When all this materializes, you will find yourself in a much more elevated situation than Adam and Eve. All they could do was pick fruits to eat, and they did not even have decent clothing to wear. If you cannot raise yourself to the parents’ position, how can you say you are better than Adam and Eve? if you boost yourself to perfection then you are the fruit of the Old Testament and New Testament eras. When you are in that position, the world will move when you move, and it will stop when you stop. Is this more real to you than your breakfast which you can taste?</p>
|
||||
<p>I always teach you substantial things, not vague ideas. The point is that we should want to work even more than we desire to eat. If you are hungry and want to eat, but even more than that you want to do your work, then you understand how you ought to be. If you are concerned least about your appetite then you are OK. Do you think you can fail if you feel that way?</p>
|
||||
<p>When you go back to your teams are you going to put all these things into practice? Do not ever think that rain is a barrier, or that you should stay inside and not work because of cold weather. Can you kill your appetite because it is too cold or because it is raining too much? Likewise we cannot say that we should not work because it is raining.</p>
|
||||
<p>We have to work longer than the time that we spend in eating and sleeping. Then we will be successful. We must want to do our work more than we ever desired to love someone in the fallen world. nose who think they can do that, raise your hand.</p>
|
||||
<p>Then why are you going to work so hard? Is it because you want to make a lot of money or because you want to get married? First you have to occupy God and His love and then get married. All of these will come to pass in that order. We have to go to the highest level of giving before we can occupy God’s heart and receive God’s attention; otherwise, God will elude us. We will not catch God if we do not do our utmost.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now you know the real reason why you should do your utmost: to win God’s love and recognition. Then and only then will you know the living God. Then you can receive all of God’s love, and have His power welling up inside of you.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you get plenty of sleep, then repent and re-determine yourself to work harder than you slept. After you eat some good meal then, too, you should think about working harder than you enjoyed your food. No one is watching you all the time except the only one that matters: God. I am telling you again and again that this is the kind of person God loves and that the True Parents love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because of the fall we must offer our economic activity and witnessing to God; this is the price we have to pay for the fall. Since this is ultimately the purpose of all men, we are going the right way. What can I be proud of after I go to spirit world? God will say to me, “You have so many true children of your own.” This is my only source of pride before God. In turn you will go the same way; God will be proud of you when you have your own generation of restored children.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must always review our lives and check whether we are going the right way or whether we need to be corrected. If we need to correct something, we must repent and do it. Our criterion is this: we need to be shameless before all things and all people. We have to do everything in order to achieve that. After that we must also be qualified to have children who care more for us than anything.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do all things belong to you or to the universe? Before anything belongs to you it belongs to the whole universe. Before you can claim that things belong to you, you must have the perfect universal character. We have not known this because of the fall, but now we will elevate ourselves to become real children of God. Then God will say, “Yes, the universe is yours.” God’s children have the privilege of inheriting their Father’s belongings. We have to understand clearly why we should do these things. Do all the people belong to you or to the universe? We cannot think lightly of anyone because we do not yet have a universal character. With such a character we can have all of creation with us, and all people and we can even possess God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you feel confident that you have that universal character? We have money here that you can spend freely, but when you are hungry what do you think about first? Do you think first about eating, or about all the creation, all people and God?</p>
|
||||
<p>Even the pocket money you can spend at will must first belong to the universe. The universe would want you to spend it for the larger purpose first. If you do not do that then you are violating a strict heavenly law. In the future, when we ask, “Are you a man who is not shamed before man or creation?” then you ought to be able to say yes. When you are dealing with people, do not ever think of yourself as being in a higher position. Do not ever think of people as handsome or ugly. A person of universal character would never view someone else that way. We must become people unashamed of ourselves. If you can think about God and still not be ashamed, then you have passed the most difficult examination. If you are a man of universal character then all things will come after you and all men will try to belong to you. Even God will come to you. This is so basic that if it were not true, then there would be no reason for God to exist either, and even if God existed He could never realize His ideal without a universe of this character.</p>
|
||||
<p>This training session is very short, but after hearing the words that I have spoken to you during this time you will certainly change, won’t you? This is not only my philosophy, but this is in accordance with Principle.</p>
|
||||
<p>I can make friends with all of nature, even with insects. If I go out to a field and find some insect then I quickly become friends with it. Can you understand what that really means? I know you are amazed to realize how much closer you feel to nature after a few minutes of my talking like this. Without knowing these things you will never get close to God, man or nature, no matter how many thousands of years you try. This is why the Bible clearly promises that you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.</p>
|
||||
<p>If your team has earned a certain amount of money, can you then make a false report? Can you keep any of that money for yourself? That is just as dreadful as cutting your own head in half. Usually I do not have any money because money no sooner comes in than I spend it. But I always spend it for the larger purpose. I know the value of the universe, and I know that mankind and all things would want to see money spent that way. I ask the money in my pocket, “How would you like to be spent-on the New Yorker Hotel or on shoes for me?” A person should apologize to his money when he has to spend it on himself. I really think that when I buy things. As I give the money in payment I say, “I will see you again when I buy greater things.” Since this follows heavenly law, don’t you think the money would feel good?</p>
|
||||
<p>We all know that even small insects have a direction; when the sun rises it has one direction too, doesn’t it? Likewise, a godly mind has a clear direction. All things try to act like that.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you are working on your mission do you sometimes think of me? Actually you should be shedding tears and then thinking about me. Do you sometimes want to see me more than you want to eat? Once you become like that then the spirit world will open to you and teach you everything. Then you will know what will happen to you and your team, and you can be prepared. You will not know intellectually but spiritually.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you deeply want to learn more about God then that desire becomes like an invisible antenna and God and the spirit world will communicate thoughts and feelings to you. This will work for anyone, not just for some people. The most profound experiences will come when you really shed tears and want to see me in the midst of difficulties. Then spiritually I will appear in person and explain exactly what the difficulty is and how to solve it.</p>
|
||||
<p>Such experiences are 100% possible. If you are not like that already then you still have room to improve. I have cried more than anyone else on earth, past or present, wanting so badly to see God. Only in becoming like that can you know my heart and receive this heritage. The world of that heart is absolutely real, and you are not very far from it. You need only to break through a few layers to also become like that. You have already heard the simple rule for meeting God. Compare which is stronger-your sense of hunger, or your desire to meet God. When you love and miss someone then compare that to your intensity of feeling toward God. If your feeling toward God is stronger, then you will know that you have passed the test.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you go to sleep with this longing then the moment that you first open your eyes you will again find that longing for God. Even when you are hungry, try to think about other people. We may launch a week-long campaign of not sleeping and then you will be better prepared to understand this. Without exception every worthwhile religion advocates denying yourself by overcoming your desire to eat, to sleep and to have sex. That is your checklist. You must always evaluate yourself according to these criteria.</p>
|
||||
<p>Another way of putting it is that you should always have the feeling that you are in debt. Even if people do not quite develop a universal character after a lifetime of trying, if they have tried then they can at least stand on that, and they will go to paradise. But we have to think about the ideal and then actually carry it out. Our ideal is never static. Before you can carry it out you have to know all these things.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you have finished your day’s activity, then you ought to do still a little more if you really want to see God. In witnessing, if you feel that you have done a full day’s work, push yourself a little more in hopes of seeing God instead of resting. This is an incredible way, but this is the only real way. It is not contradictory to say that it is a glorious way, too.</p>
|
||||
<p>I can imagine all the things that have gone through your mind, feeling fear, wanting to be transferred to another position, wanting to go to seminary, or thinking how unfair it is that you are still on MFT after three years. But I want to remind you that in these three years you have been re-creating yourself, and that life in the world of the heart is actually the most profound. So no matter how long you are on MFT it can only improve you; that is why you stay there.</p>
|
||||
<p>Always remember one thing–God has never forgotten you. You may have forgotten Him, but He will never forget you. So as long as you are called to go this way, do it; that is the best way for you. No one is more qualified to complain than I am, but if I started complaining, it would make a mountain. Instead I dig deeper, like going down in a mine, and I find even more precious jewels. This has always been true. Actually the one who complains cannot go forward because he is putting limits on himself. Nobody is making him stop except himself.</p>
|
||||
<p>So far, have you worked as a qualified man of God, or are you still experimenting? Do you cross back and forth over your boundaries or do you stay on one side most of the time? From now on, where will you dwell? On God’s side? As long as you abide by your promise I can guarantee your success.</p>
|
||||
<p>I have given the standard and it should be carried out. After accomplishing it then you can realistically hope for something better. But without achieving it first, your hopes are not so realistic.</p>
|
||||
<p>As a team captain you should always figure out how much better you can do this month than last month. Then you can make a plan, taking into consideration all the personalities on your team. Make a workable plan and really stretch yourself to fulfill it. Are you going to do that?</p>
|
||||
<p>Before leaving here for your own area, pledge to God in deepest prayer to show Him your new standard. Once you go out, try your best to meet that standard.</p>
|
||||
<p>Your objective this month is to break your old record. Each one has to work in a very integrated way. You have to evaluate your situation correctly, so spend some time in prayer. Once you go back you will be different and will be a new example. Once you make your standard permanent then even if you make mistakes in the future, you will never fall below that standard.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is important that you achieve that standard, because even though you may lose everything else you will still have that standard. Once it becomes established it will become your record which will never change. Now you know clearly the path and direction to take. This has been our best meeting, and I will watch and see if you have truly understood what has been said.</p>
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<div id="post-1136" class="post-1136 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">LET US MEET OPPORTUNITY WELL</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T12:58:54+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/let-us-meet-opportunity-well.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T12:58:54+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/let-us-meet-opportunity-well.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">January 2, 1977<br />
|
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World Mission Center<br />
|
||||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>The topic of the message this morning is: “Let Us Meet Opportunity Well.” One particular opportunity can decide whether a life will be successful or not. One vital statement sometimes can play a decisive role in the destiny of a man. A person can ruin his entire life through an unwarranted or improper statement. Sometimes too, when a person hears things that are not good or righteous, his whole life can be ruined. And sometimes a mistaken action can ruin an entire life. If someone mistakenly makes a wrong friend, that one friend could ruin his life.</p>
|
||||
<p>Many saints and wise men of the past taught that it is very important to be cautious about what is listened to, what is spoken, and what is done. This philosophy is true everywhere, East or West.</p>
|
||||
<p>On the other hand, one righteous, good statement at the opportune time can bring total, dramatic success to a life. Hearing the right things at the tight moment can bring about a decision which will make an entire life a success. One right action at the right time can bring great success. For example, one of the sisters here could go out to the street, meet a good man and have one conversation. That could be enough for them to become friends and he could eventually become a member and later her husband. People are always eager to meet someone who can tell them the right thing, who can influence them to speak and act in the right way. Isn’t that true?</p>
|
||||
<p>There is one predictable tendency working strongly in human life: When someone gets into difficulty, that person has no time to think about others because he is too busy thinking about himself. Isn’t that true? When the chips are down, people are always engrossed in solving their own problems. In doing that, a person may sometimes say things that are not true or may even try to take advantage of a friend.</p>
|
||||
<p>In human life, it is not easy to find a person who can really be trusted. It is rare to find a man or woman whom you can always rely on, trusting in their judgment and advice. Frequently we are desperately disappointed to discover that our most trusted friend betrayed our trust. This life is very difficult. Nowadays it is difficult to trust even your own parents, your own brothers. Then how much more so is it true of your own friends?</p>
|
||||
<p>People are wondering whether there is anyone who can be trusted regardless of the situation, in any emergency or difficulty. We sometimes think that the saints of history, the holy men of the past were different. Are they what we need today?</p>
|
||||
<p>What kind of person should a saint be? Saints are those who live their lives with a noble purpose. They are the ones who have a cause greater than themselves. They devote themselves to that purpose and do not change. That is the definition of a saint.</p>
|
||||
<p>Should there be only one saint then, or two or three saints? What about two great saints pursuing world salvation? Let’s say both are claiming that they can save the world. Could it possibly be true? In that case, they might also be competing with each other. Could normal human weaknesses appear on that level too? One might say, “I’m going to achieve it first,” and then the other would say, “No, you stay behind. Let me do it!”</p>
|
||||
<p>When we see eminent world scholars gathered together, it is frequently very difficult to come up with a unified opinion. Each one of them has his own claim, and they just won’t bend at all. Those who have experienced college life have probably seen that prominent people can be very narrow-minded. It could be true that even the highest saints would compete, trying to reach the goal faster than anybody else. It may be a logical conclusion that even saints would try to push their own claims first.</p>
|
||||
<p>Among saints there are different levels of accomplishment, different levels of nobility. Some are superior to others. In the final analysis, who is the absolute saint? He is the one who truly is not contaminated by human weaknesses, who would not try to take advantage of others to push himself ahead. He is the person that you or anyone could absolutely trust. He would never betray you under any circumstances. In our history we have had many saints, many holy people, many wise people and philosophers. From among those great men we should be able to pick one who fits this category, one who could give his life for his enemies, who even at the moment of his own death could still have room in his heart to bless his enemies, one who could be concerned with the well-being of his enemies rather than his own.</p>
|
||||
<p>In history there are many teachings. One is that if someone mistreats you, repay him in the same way: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a death for a death. However, the most revolutionary teaching was given by the saint who said, “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” Needless to say, that was Jesus Christ.</p>
|
||||
<p>That one man was the only saint to absolutely fit the qualifications. Did Jesus make his own proclamations, or was he teaching according to someone else’s will, denying his own ego? What do you think? Jesus was not proclaiming his own message. Above him was someone else: God. Jesus’ teaching was God’s teaching; his emotional reaction to things was not his own. This means that the proclamations which Jesus made were God’s, and God can be trusted 100%.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ultimately speaking, we can conclude that in this universe there is only one being you can fully trust: God; and His characteristics were manifested through Jesus Christ. God’s words are always truth. He cannot tell any lies, and His actions or His instructions are always for your benefit, not His. He will never take advantage of you for His own benefit. He is the one who can always be trusted. I found God to be the one subject who can be absolutely trusted. That’s why I believe in God.</p>
|
||||
<p>I found out through experience that no matter how difficult a situation may be, I can rest assured that God will not exploit me. In the worst kind of situation, when I was in prison for example, going through incredible suffering day to day, even in that prison cell God was with me. God did not say, “I don’t know you any more. You are miserable. I don’t care about you.” God was there to comfort me. When God speaks, there’s no hint of a lie. Even though what He says sounds unreasonable sometimes, God speaks only the truth. Sometimes what He says is very bitter to me, and I feel I cannot accept it or adjust myself to it. But I must accept the truth because God is not speaking for His benefit but for your benefit, for my words of God. giving. Is it for my own benefit, or am I speaking for you well. From that knowledge, God will ask certain things of you and teach you certain things of far greater value than anyone could come up with for you. Sometimes God will order you to do certain things that are absolutely contrary to your own thinking. So then, what will you do? You might say, “Well, God, you are you, and I am 1. So you go your direction, and I’ll go mine.” But that is the road of destruction. Sometimes you may feel that it’s virtually impossible to follow His instructions, yet once you accept it 100%, there is always a way to fulfill that instruction. You can always find a way if you take it seriously.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let’s say God promised you something. Is it an empty promise or will it be delivered? Once God makes a promise, once God makes a decision, He always keeps that promise even if it takes thousands of years for it to be fulfilled. Time after time He has fulfilled His promises. We all need this God.</p>
|
||||
<p>How about human promises? We promise each other quite a bit. Sometimes we even make promises knowing that we will never fulfill them. In other words, we lie. We have all lied; none of you has been perfect. In human affairs everybody lives like that. This is the honest situation.</p>
|
||||
<p>Human lies are everywhere because lies are very convenient. Without lies, commercial people practically couldn’t continue in business. What about God? He does not lie, and does not hear lies because He knows they are lies. He sees through them. Often we listen to lies without knowing it, but not God. We are exposed as we really are before God because our lies cannot hide anything from Him. This means you cannot even trust me 100%. I have human weaknesses. That’s an honest and frank statement. However, I am introducing you to a person you can trust 100%: God. My mortal body will live only one generation here on earth, but God will remain here forever.</p>
|
||||
<p>There is no one in the universe who knows you someone else, someone perfect? You may not trust more than God, your past, present, and future. You me 100%, but you must trust my teaching, my words never know too much about your past. You never 100% because they are not my own. They are God’s know too much about your future. But God knows words. If you take the word of God more seriously than I do, and you fulfill it more perfectly than I do, then God will be in a position to bless you more than me. That’s very honest.</p>
|
||||
<p>After I came to America I undertook an extraordinary task. I went through all fifty states on the Day of Hope tour, and initiated many gigantic campaigns, Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument. Was it all done for my glory? God remained the same as before, but I emerged as a giant figure in a way. It almost sounds like I became famous instead of God! Isn’t that peculiar? The important thing, however, is that God’s goal in asking me to do certain things was not for His own sake. God already has the highest possible position of glory and power. In every way He is already at the top. So now He is pushing me.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sometimes parents give their children a hard time and nag them to sit down and study, to read or practice something, to go to school and become straight-A students. But do they do that for their own sake? Some parents are so ambitious for their children that the children think, “Boy, I can’t stand this. I wish my mother and father would die quickly.” They may not think that badly, but at least they sometimes think in passing, “I wish I could be away from Mommy, so she couldn’t speak to me, so that I can do my own things instead of listening to her.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The same thing is true for all mankind. You may often think the same thing, “I wish there was no God. He bothers me too much. Oh, God go away somewhere. I want to do my own thing.” I’m sure some of you are thinking right now, “Oh, I wish Rev. Moon were not here. He bothers me too much. He pushes me too much!”</p>
|
||||
<p>From this time on you all have to run in different directions. Some will go fundraising, some to the IOWC, some to witnessing. Are you willing? The time will probably have come that you will think, “Boy, I shouldn’t have come to the Unification Church. I thought the Divine Principle was very good, but now that I know it and am trying to live it, it bothers me too much. I wish I’d never known Rev. Moon; I wish I’d never heard of the Divine Principle.” Only a handful of people are saying, “No,” but they are probably a very crazy group. Those who are just sitting and listening and don’t know what to say are probably in that first category.</p>
|
||||
<p>This morning I am speaking very frankly, because I know what kinds of things you will have to go through. Today you will bid farewell to me, go out and get down to work. My job is to fulfill this mandate from God. “Push them, send them out.” So you have to go out. Even if my heart is crying, I still have no choice. I have to push you, send you out. I keep saying, “Go,” and without reservation you go the road of suffering.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why am I asking you to go the road of suffering? First, it is for you; second, for your own generations to come and third, for your own nation, and for the sake of the world; maybe after that for God’s and my sake. Actually, whether you do these things or not will not affect my position at all. I have my own Position in heaven and earth. Nobody can change it or alter it. So why do I keep pushing you? For your own sake, for your own children, your own country. Whoever defies my teaching is actually defying his own self, his own posterity, his own country, and the benefit of the world and God. He is not defying me at all. He is defying himself.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am not sure whether you like me or not. Do You? Our physical make-up is entirely different. You have blue eyes, and long noses, and I have dark eyes and look strange and foreign to you. Maybe the color Of our eyes is different, but the color of our minds is the same. Because of our minds we can become one and unite. How do you know I’m not the world’s worst con man or swindler? Have you seen my heart? No one can see it. How can you trust me? You can only trust me by experiencing life together with me. Maybe your future experience will be entirely different. Regardless, are you ready to go?</p>
|
||||
<p>I tell you one thing: You will never lose yourself; you will never be harmed by going this way. Suppose I were telling you lies, but you took my lies as the truth, as God’s words and lived them 100%. God knows very well what is true or false. In that case, God may condemn me, but God would never condemn you. God may not give me the blessing but He definitely would not withdraw His blessing from you. Actually this is a challenge. Even if I am telling you lies, if you take them seriously as the word of God, and you fulfill them, actually there is a chance that you could become the real Rev. Moon. You can’t lose. When you take things seriously and live the teaching, not for your own sake but for God’s sake, God will never abolish your deeds.</p>
|
||||
<p>This morning, the time has come for the most critical showdown of the Unification Church. Right now our opportunity is knocking at the door. We were already launched yesterday. There are many different consequences waiting for us depending on whether we shoot straight upward, downward, or maintain a horizontal path. There will be three types of response from this point on: Some people will take off and go upward to prosperity. Some people will decline, and some people will try to just barely maintain a horizontal level. Which one is your choice?</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to shoot yourself high you need jet thrust. You need guts and energy. To shoot yourself high you need an Apollo 11, a million pounds of engine thrust to push yourself up. Do you have that kind of engine behind you? The person who is dozing, is his engine ignited? Dozing people do not know the right direction. If they are ignited, they could take off downward instead of upward! It is possible. All of you sitting here are Apollos. Are we all heading in the same direction? Do you want me to push the ignition switch? In the Unification Church, the most critical opportunity is at hand.</p>
|
||||
<p>How can you take my word 100% seriously? You got up this morning for pledge service, didn’t you? Tell me very honesty, were you willing to do that this morning? Don’t tell me big lies! You did it because you had to! Even I didn’t want to get up at 4:30. Are you different? Why do I do it if I don’t want to? Because there’s someone upstairs watching me.</p>
|
||||
<p>Nobody really wants to go out there selling peanuts and flowers. Nobody wants to go out there on the street, acting like a crazy man trying to grab people and witness. You act almost like servants to the people, trying to win their hearts, trying to talk to them. When you think of it, the amount of work you have to do to win one person’s heart is incredible. And you have to do it day in and day out. You go out fundraising every day, from early morning to late night. Are we really fond of doing it? We do it because we have to.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually, I don’t like to speak harshly to you or be too strong. I came back from my tour, and without any rest I had a fifteen hour conference talking to state directors. Then I came here and spoke twice yesterday and now for a third time. It would be very convenient to say, “Well, I’m tired, and you’re tired. I need some sleep and you need some sleep. Let’s forget about the mission. Let’s go sleep for a full twenty-four hours.” It would be very nice. I wish I could do that. But someone is watching me, thinking, “That’s not the proper thing to do.” That’s the problem. What should I do?</p>
|
||||
<p>As I told you, God is telling you to do certain things for your own sake, no matter how harsh it sounds. Once I receive a certain direction, I must transmit it to you 100%, and I myself have to live it. My teaching is coming from God. Those among you who value my word and take it seriously will, in a way, be blessed more than me. You will never be ruined, and you will ever be destroyed; you can only prosper.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is my duty to push you out all the way even if you hesitate, regardless of whether you like it or not. That’s love. When you live this teaching, then God will guarantee your own life, the life of your posterity, the life of your nation, of the world and of mankind. The showdown of such important success or failure is at hand.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today, I mentioned that one word can be critical. Sometimes one word of a good and true teaching will change your life and bring you into great success. That word is coming this morning. Everyone who listens to my word, takes it 100% seriously, lives it and accomplishes it, will not be disappointed. We must not become people who just do nothing, who mull over the question of whether we should go or not. Instead, all we have to do is take the initiative and go. Then we can find out for ourselves that we will not be disappointed.</p>
|
||||
<p>Respected people outside will say, “How crazy you are. Why did you become a slave of Rev. Moon? I have never seen such a fool.” Do you have the courage to overcome that kind of reaction?</p>
|
||||
<p>Let me tell you one episode from my past. Many times in North Korea and one time in South Korea I was in jail. There was one ardent member following me around that time, but he became tired and left. Then he read in the newspaper that l was going to jail. At that time many members were trying to encourage me, saying, “Don’t worry, Father. You just wait; we shall do 1000 times more than you.” But this particular person came to the prison, curious to see how I looked. He happened to be in such a position that I met him face to face, and I will never, never forget that man’s statement. He said to my face, “You fool, are you still doing this?” What he meant was, “I am smart. I know what is the best way to live. But you are foolish. Are you going to continue your crazy life for eternity? You’re going to ruin yourself that way!”</p>
|
||||
<p>But what happened? Today after 20 years, that man is gone. He thought he had the most successful, prosperous life. He thought he was very smart, but that man was ruined. In the meantime God has been continuously raising me up as a worldwide figure. I remember back to those difficult days when so many people came and heard the Divine Principle and were so excited. But as soon as they realized that the road of the Divine Principle was not easy, those who were clever and ambitious in a secular way quietly dropped away. Particularly in the early days of the Unification Church, they would not stay. They thought that they were smart and those remaining inside were foolish. Now, 20 years later, what’s happening in Korea? If they have even survived, those smart people are coming to our members trying to get a minor job. Now they want to be benefited by the church, saying, “I used to be a member. Can you help me?” Now they realize that we are in a position to help them, and they are coming to beg for positions.</p>
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<p>The same thing will happen right here. In America we will see a repetition of our movement’s history in Korea. After I came to this country, I was mistreated. All the mass media attacked me, yet I have disregarded it and gone on with my own plan. Under those circumstances a normal person would have collapsed or been destroyed a long time ago. But instead of being destroyed, my work through the Unification Church is getting stronger and prospering more every day. Right here in New York we are now publishing our own newspaper. Right here we are having a festival in our own center. This is only one beginning here in America. Do you think I am creating my own empire with a throne, signing papers every morning? Not at all. I don’t even have a little desk of my own. The secret of my success is simple. All I am doing is listening to God and absolutely trying to enforce His will. That’s all I do. As the Bible says, “He who seeks to lose his life for my sake will find it.” That’s the creed I have been living.</p>
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<p>So this morning, let us seriously think about our future. We have two years to go, 1977 and 1978. How far will you go? There are many ways to go all the way. You can go all the way relaxed and in slow motion. Which way are you going? Like the Apollo? Everybody’s lining up now for a long marathon race. I will say “Go!” But if there are 1500 people, at the goal line we will have 1500 different arrival times. Where do you want to place? First or last? Only one arrival can be first.</p>
|
||||
<p>The marathon runners in the Olympics run for two and a half hours. When they cross the starting line, are they really committed or not? When Olympic winners are running, are they thinking, “Who is my date tonight? Where should I enjoy my vacation? What should I eat tonight? Which restaurant should I go to?” Will that kind of man end up in first place? Never! That’s against God’s rule.</p>
|
||||
<p>The person who wins has absolute concentration. His ‘whole body is focused on the goal. He thinks, “Nothing but victory, nothing but victory. I may die, but I don’t care 1 will go to the end.” That person will win. This morning, you are on the starting line; you can all be marathon champions.</p>
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<p>Many people comment that the Unification Church members are smart, bright young people. Are you really? That means that the elite of American society has gathered together in the Unification Church. Since you are the brilliant young people of America, I’m sure that your judgment would not be wrong. I’m proud of having the elite of America in our church. America is a first class nation in the world, and you are citizens of that country, so compared to you I may be considered second or third class, right?</p>
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<p>When you say Korea, people think, “That’s a backward country, a trashcan.” I came from that country, so I feel that if I do not fulfill my promise to God, He may have room to forgive me because I came from such a country. But if you do not fulfill your promise to God, God will not forgive you. You have come from a great country, and you are the elite of America. With the pride of being the elite of America, citizens of this most advanced nation, leaders of the free world, you have made a covenant with God. Then you are going to fall behind the Japanese? Are you behind the Koreans?</p>
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<p>When you go horseback riding, do you want to ride a little pony, or a beautiful championship horse? When you compare nations to horses, America is like a championship horse, really beautiful and tall, brilliant. Compared to that horse, the Japanese people are like little ponies. You feel good to hear that, but the Japanese certainly don’t! Yet it is the truth.</p>
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<p>Yesterday I announced that I have already laid the firm foundation for building the Kingdom of God here on earth. No one can destroy this foundation. Upon this foundation anybody can go out and be prosperous. Since I am here in America, I want to give my trust first to the American people.</p>
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<p>So far, many people have trusted America, many Asian nations, many African nations. But then America backed down and they were disillusioned. is that true or not? Now I have come from Asia and I am going to trust the American people completely. if you retreat, what will happen? Will you disappoint me? Are you going to be different Americans? You should not continue America’s backward, retreating tradition. You must be the ones to take this initiative, to accomplish the mission. Can you do it?</p>
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<p>I will wait and see. I will watch everyone perform. I want to really see what Americans can do. To show your own strength, you should not need members from other countries. The Japanese really shouldn’t be needed. None of the foreign members should be needed. nose here who think, “In every cell, in my spirit and soul and appearance, in every way I am 100% American,” raise your hand. You are really Americans, and you have made a covenant with God. Then when you run, are you going to be in first place or last place? Are you going to be conscientious in witnessing, and talk from morning to night, with your lips all overworked and blistered? I have blisters as a matter of fact. Would you work that hard? Or will you just talk a couple of hours and then rest and eat ample food, and then maybe do a little more? When you go to your mission, will you need an automobile? Most Americans would say, “We must sit and wait for an automobile.” Would you walk? Run? You know the answer. You have already read my mind. You are really elite!</p>
|
||||
<p>Tell me the truth. Have you Americans really, really demonstrated the dignity of America to the members from abroad? Have you really shown America’s pride and capability? What I am saying is very simple. I will give Americans the first chance. If you want it, take it; if you don’t, refuse, and it will go to somebody else. Will you take it?</p>
|
||||
<p>Let’s sweep the fifty states. I came, one man from Korea, sweeping across these United States in three and one half years. Now here are 1500 here and all together many thousands of our young people. Do we have the capability to sweep through all fifty states? Can you pledge before heaven and earth as Your covenant to God that you will do it?</p>
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<p>The Unification Church vans will say, “Boy, I wish I could go somewhere else because the Unification Church members are driving me twenty-four hours a day. They never let me rest even a couple of hours. I wish I could have another master.” Do you mind hearing such a complaint from your own van? Maybe your van will complain, but at the same time heaven and earth will echo with every step of yours. Heaven and earth will resonate together with your every action.</p>
|
||||
<p>Heaven and earth will answer the vans of our church, and they will say, “Stop complaining. If you -n that much, you will end up in the museum of heaven and earth. You will be honored. Don’t complain; stop nagging.” Even the vans will get excited, “Me? Me? I will end up in a museum? Let me run 24 hours. Never mind, I won’t complain.” That automobile will fulfill a historical mission.</p>
|
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<p>So who is going to produce this museum piece? Who is going to be the historical person who will drive that particular van so that it ends up in the museum? I’m sure one thing is absolutely clear. It will be a woman. These men, to be honest, are useless people. A couple of days ago there were assignments being made to the MFT, and IOWC. At that time the Japanese MFT leaders came to me and said, “Father, could you give us more sisters? The men don’t produce so much. The women are the ones who really do the work.” Why don’t you men give them a big applause?</p>
|
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<p>Are you going to be defeated by these heroic women? So far your record shows you have been inferior to them. However, would you say then, “Father, maybe in the past something was wrong, but from today on, I promise you it is going to be different’?” These women are very clever. They applaud you, knowing that I will make you very strong and courageous; after all, you will become their husbands some day!</p>
|
||||
<p>The Unification Church has gone over one important hill of victory. We have come to the pinnacle of the mountain, but that’s not the end of it. At this junction of history, Jan. 2, 1977, we have a most momentous opportunity to shoot for an even higher mountain, a higher goal, or we could decline. Lets say you are an MFT member. You’ve been working very hard, day in and day out, and one day you’re so discouraged, you cannot go on anymore. You feel you must pack up and leave. At that very moment, you may miss the most important person, a billionaire, with a big heart, ready to be ignited by the Divine Principle. If that one per-son came in, he could solve all the economic problems of our church by himself. Then as an MFT member you would have so narrowly missed that one great opportunity.</p>
|
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<p>You never know when you might encounter such a person, at midnight, 4:30 in the morning, noon. Therefore you have to be alert twenty-four hours a day. So even when you go to the bathroom, say, “Heavenly Father, I have to spend the next few minutes in the bathroom. Could you watch for me?” That kind of feeling. Every minute of the day you are going to be alert. There is no time to be relaxed or offguard.</p>
|
||||
<p>Witnessing is just the same. You are meeting people, young and old, and you have no idea what kinds of people you are meeting. Maybe you are witnessing to a person who will become President of this nation twenty or thirty years later. Maybe you are witnessing to a relative of the future President, to the very person who will guide the destiny of the free world. One man can change the world. Maybe that person is in the street, in the hamburger shop, maybe in the hospital. He may look very ugly and crippled at the moment. You never know. You can most ardently look for such a man. Pray, “Heavenly Father, give me one man who can change the destiny of this nation, who can change the shape of the world. Give me the chance to witness to such a man, to win such a Person’s heart.” Those who are always striving toward such a goal will always come up with the result.</p>
|
||||
<p>You Americans and your nation of America are in the position to carry the destiny of the future world. God has placed upon your shoulders the greatest mission of all. We have been looking forward to the opportunity to change the destiny of the world. It is now at hand. We are the ones who can grab it. We can finally fulfill the expectation of God here on earth. I am Korean and have many handicaps. You are American. You should be able to do three times as much as I can do. Can you do it? Raise your hands and pledge that goal to me. Thank you.</p>
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<div id="post-1155" class="post-1155 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">OUR FAMILY AND THE DISPENSATION – PART I</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:18:07+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/our-family-and-the-dispensation-part-i.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:18:07+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/our-family-and-the-dispensation-part-i.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">March 1, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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||||
Translator – Sang Il Han</h3>
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||||
<p>Everyone in the world has a fervent desire to have a family. We must first realize what kind of families we have in the fallen world because without seeing this clearly we cannot understand the urgency with which God has been searching for the original family. When we look throughout the world around us to find families which are centered upon God, we discover that there are none. Such a family is yet to come. No matter how many members a family may have, it still is a family within the realm of Satan.</p>
|
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<p>Centering on the family a clan is created which is burdened by the same fallen nature, and it is further surrounded by the nation and the world. In that situation, no matter how much that family may want to live the ideal, it will still be influenced by the surrounding evil circumstances. Because this family must communicate with all levels of its corrupted surroundings we know that it will be unable to remain pure.</p>
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<p>When the family deteriorates, the individuals who constitute that family also deteriorate. We can witness this deterioration throughout the world, even though there is not a single individual who wants his family to decay and deteriorate. Furthermore, no one wants to see other families deteriorate, especially God, but without a doubt that is happening. What is the cause of this?</p>
|
||||
<p>Since no one desires this deterioration we must conclude that there is some invisible force which is opposing God’s will for the family. Clearly Satan is doing this. Families are dominated by distrust and self-centered individualism. Many husbands no longer trust their wives, and most wives do not trust their husbands. Even children and parents do not trust each other because each individual is centered on himself.</p>
|
||||
<p>In such families each person is seeking to center the family’s love upon himself. Love is meant to be given to others, yet increasingly people are demanding love, and eventually their relationships center on animalistic love. To get this love they even dare to sacrifice other people, rather than sacrificing themselves. In this seeking to satisfy themselves with love they are taking everything from others. Where does this originate? We are destined to reap whatever we sow. If we had not sown this self-centeredness anywhere, then we would not reap it.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The world trend toward corruption</h3>
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<p>In the midst of these circumstances everyone senses that mankind and human history are coming to an end. If there is Satan then why can he cause such destruction at this time in mankind’s history? Satan’s purpose is 100% different from God’s will, and he would like to fulfill his desire for mankind. This world trend toward corruption is centered on the family, which is fast deteriorating. The morals that societies have taught have played a very important role in history, but societies are now yielding to corrupting influences.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is becoming clear that Satan’s goal has been the destruction of individuals, as well as families. The elements of family disruption have been present throughout human history, but previously they have been held in check by moral teachings and social laws. But now, in the final days of human history, men are seeking freedom outside these restraints. Thus the existing elements of evil which were previously suppressed are now being exposed.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the past, husbands and wives may not have always felt deep respect or love in their relationships. But now family situations are getting worse in that parents do not even know their children any more, and respect is barely maintained between them. Now even that relationship is on the verge of being broken down. Instead of building deep relationships, the kind of love found in families today is acting to break down the family ties. At this time in history people cannot recognize what love is, and it seems that everything we previously held as valuable has crumbled. What remains to be broken up in the future?</p>
|
||||
<p>Love has always been valued by people. However, as love is breaking down those people who value love as much as their lives are also about to be broken down. We have been thinking of love as an eternal thing, the last thing we would like to destroy. Yet in the fallen world today love can be corrupted and broken down within a few hours or days.</p>
|
||||
<p>In other words, what Satan has been striving for seems about to be accomplished. Satan has been trying to disrupt all of man’s most precious relationships, and he seems to be succeeding. After that, where can we go? The world itself is hell on earth. There is no order of love, no order within life, no order within societies and no order within nations. The world we see now is in chaos. No individual wanted things to turn out this way; God did not want this to happen either. Only Satan has been wanting this and continuously working to achieve it, doing his best to destroy man. All his desires are now coming to fruition.</p>
|
||||
<p>Satan had his purpose, and the people have been defeated and contained by his plan and strategy. In the process, mankind has completely lost all sense of value. It may be our desire to have good families, but what is being realized at this time is completely contrary to our ideal and now we find ourselves in hell. If there was ever any kind of hell, this is the worst in history. Let us imagine that there is a very good, courageous, confident man who does not want to be influenced by this world trend. Despite his efforts he would be absolutely unable to reverse this world trend and assert himself in goodness. Do you feel that this is where we stand now?</p>
|
||||
<p>However, we cannot afford to be either completely discouraged or destroyed. Hippies and yippies have been searching in their own way for something different, something better. Are they living in an ideal way? Are they really content and secure? Did they find the truth? They have looked around completely but could find no way out either. After going in many different directions they have also come to the conclusion that there is no way out.</p>
|
||||
<p>All mankind is now feeling that the only way left to find the ideal is to be constantly doing something more exciting. When this happens, they no longer are concerned about the world or nation or anything bigger than themselves. The lucky ones manage to take care of themselves, but many are destroyed in their search for happiness. For instance, drugs are used throughout this nation, and some have been pushing drugs, providing them to anyone who would try them. Once a person is addicted he inevitably faces an early death. Who would have done that? It clearly must be Satan who is pushing these drugs. After Satan succeeded in breaking down the love in families and in individual relationships, then he introduced drugs on a large scale. Once people are addicted to drugs they want to replace ideal love with physical stimuli. No one else but Satan could do these things or would want to.</p>
|
||||
<p>Love is invisible; therefore even if it is crushed the physical body still remains intact. Now Satan wants to attack even the physical body and destroy it as well. He is not concerned with the bodies of old people, as they are about to die anyway, but Satan will never be satisfied until he can destroy the young people who are full of vigor and life. We know that Satan, the ultimate being of evil, is striving to annihilate young people through drugs. Then Satan will claim generation after generation and no matter how much people long to experience love and obtain their highest ideals, they will be incapable of achieving them. Satan will proclaim to the world that mankind will be under his dominion for eternity.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is all happening on the family and individual levels, but what kind of nation would attack another nation in this way? The communist nations have exactly followed this process in order to undermine and demoralize the free nations. Their strategy is to immobilize the young people by destroying their lives with drugs. One communist country actually appropriates part of its national budget for raising opium and making it available in the free nations. This is actually happening.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is very obvious that if individuals and families are being compelled toward destruction that the nation also is doomed to destruction. This is clearly Satan’s undertaking, because no one else but Satan wants something like this to happen. This is now going on all around the world. I am not just describing some concept but everyday events which can be witnessed. We are heartbroken by this. From the standpoint of God’s dispensation, how can it be possible to establish the ideal family among these overwhelmingly destructive circumstances?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Life rights and love rights</h3>
|
||||
<p>Anyone whose love has been bankrupted cannot think about his nation, and no longer cares about Satan succeeded in breaking down the love in anything. If someone’s love has been destroyed then families and in individual relationships, then he in- no matter how true an ideal you may teach him, he just cannot listen. The Carter Administration has been speaking of human rights, but even more valuable than civil rights is the right to live and the right to love. These two are more important than so-called human rights.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you were told to choose between human rights, life rights, and love rights, which would you choose? You would certainly choose something other than human rights. If you had to choose between the right to live and the right to love, which would you choose? If you had to choose between becoming a slave or being killed, which would you choose? Why do you choose death? Wouldn’t you rather become a slave and keep on living in hopes of finding a better life somehow? There would be no blacks alive in America today if slavery were worse than death. The recent television series “Roots” deals with the history of Africans who were captured and brought to America as slaves. Why didn’t they kill themselves if their human rights were more precious than living? Under this standard, are human rights more important, or life rights more important? We must have a clear idea about this.</p>
|
||||
<p>In choosing between life and love, would you rather just live life, or would you rather go after love? For you it is easy to choose love, but are you really that way? Take hippies, for example. If we ask them the same question do you think they would say, “I will follow after love”? Actually they do not want to care about anything. They just want to exist.</p>
|
||||
<p>We usually do not think about it much but every day we witness how many people would rather simply exist than be troubled by the demands of loving. Hippies, for instance, may love another person very much in the morning, but somehow by the afternoon their love changes. Nevertheless, deep in their hearts everyone is thinking, “I shouldn’t be this way. I should pursue love to its utmost. I should even sacrifice my life for the cause of love.”</p>
|
||||
<p>I just heard that in some parts of American society couples even exchange spouses for a week or so. That love has far less value than life. You said earlier that you would choose love rather than life, but is this the general attitude in America? When it comes to love, no one knows anything about anything! With all this confusion it is obvious why we are really, really on the spot in trying to pursue the ideal.</p>
|
||||
<p>The best human thinking has recognized that love is the most valuable and worthwhile thing. If you look around it is difficult to find someone righteous enough to protect our human rights, and even more important, we find that there is no one who is capable of raising the world out of this animalistic love. No matter how good our ideal may be, it seems impossible to fulfill it. After looking everywhere, we completely lose hope. What if you had never heard about the Unification Church and someone were to ask you, “Is there some hope for finding a true love or is there absolutely no hope?” What would you have answered? Can you see hope in this situation? Wherever you look, there is no hope. Where could you go to find hope?</p>
|
||||
<p>As you look everywhere can you find a man who can say, “I can offer hope”? You can even look at the great political leaders and the presidents of nations. Can you find hope in President Carter, for instance? He is like any other human being. Can you find hope in a political party, or in a nation such as America? Is there any family within this society which could become a source of hope? How about your own parents? How about the feelings of a wife toward her husband, or the feelings of a husband toward his wife? How about husbands and wives–can they regard themselves as the source of hope in the future?</p>
|
||||
<p>Hopelessness is spelled out everywhere. The earth is filled with it; even the universe seems filled with hopelessness. Do you see that? Our conclusion is that now is the time that Satan, the master of hopelessness, has achieved his great success. Then who is the master of hope? Invisible God. Only because of God is there a possibility for those who have lost hope to find hope once again.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Once a person feels hope, Satan cannot defeat him</h3>
|
||||
<p>We can be grateful that even though man is being pulled to his death inch by inch, man still has some life remaining. Man can see his path of destruction, yet he still continues looking desperately for life, knowing that somehow he should not be the way he is, If there were any way out he would take it. Something deep within his soul is crying out for hope.</p>
|
||||
<p>Men everywhere get sick, lose their eyesight, and then their hearing. Perhaps they can no longer eat, and then they lose the use of their limbs. Yet even on the verge of death, would a person not be very grave about his life, contemplating the death that awaits him? If the news came that there was a new medicine, wouldn’t he still want to try it out? Mankind at this moment is in a desperate position and needs the news of someone who can offer hope in the face of this sure death. Wouldn’t people jump at that hope? With people feeling that their deaths are not far off they will become very serious, and react to news of the slightest hope. This is where we are situated.</p>
|
||||
<p>When a person who is desperately sick hears the hopeful news, he would go immediately and try that remedy. As the cure begins to work, his body would begin to heal gradually. When he is completely recovered where would he turn? He would go straight forward in search of love. Having been so close to death, he would be almost crazy to perfect his love. Such a person would certainly be most precious to God. After he is cured and love revives within him, this person would begin urgently seeking out other brothers and sisters who are on the same deathbed that he was. His greatest desire would be to find and revive them, just as he himself was revived. God would certainly be touched by his concern and want to see many such people here on this earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>That person will meet many people who are not aware of what has happened and who, out of their ignorance, are indifferent. Some people will even directly oppose the cure he wants to spread, but then he will be really serious to overcome their opposition and bring the truth to light. At first this kind of thing will happen sporadically, but inevitably the persecution will gather momentum. In the midst of this world of despair, we have to realize clearly that Satan is working powerfully at the edge of hopelessness. But a cure is now appearing along with a hope which cannot be removed from the earth. It is about to be brought out into the open and when it becomes visible to all, people will jump at it. Rather than trickle toward it one by one they will dash to it like a flooding river. Can you imagine that day?</p>
|
||||
<p>Even though that first person was on the verge of death, he still had the power to move quickly when the right avenue opened before him. Eventually a whole river of hopeful people will penetrate the walls surrounding the satanic world and come to God’s side. At this time in history the world is sinking in despair, misery, and hopelessness. When one person can manage to break out of this situation, he will soon be followed by floods of people also wanting to get out. Once they break out and are revived in every way, they will never want to even think of the hell which mankind has been held in generation after generation.</p>
|
||||
<p>What if a person was somehow successful in making his way out to health and love, but then was kidnapped back again by his own parents urging him, “Stay with us; continue living like us.” Would he be able to live there or would he try to escape at any cost? His decision would depend on how much he craved freedom and true love. If he deeply treasured their value then once he escaped a whole army from the satanic world could not keep him imprisoned.</p>
|
||||
<p>If a whole army tried to kidnap me I would fight with my life. Anyone who has led a miserable life in the past has sufficient power to resist. Those members who were kidnapped and persuaded to leave the Unification Church did not have the internal power to free themselves, and were probably never deeply serious in their commitment. Some members, who perhaps came from the despair of a hippie background, are deeply serious and treasure the hope that they have found. Those who have never seen death cannot really experience the seriousness and value of life and love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Those who have really suffered in bondage have deeply wept to find a way out of their misery. Once they free themselves, penetrating the barrier of despair, not even an army could successfully kidnap them. Once such a man has penetrated this wall he will work harder than anybody else. Once a person who sees absolutely no hope around him feels that there is hope, then even the formidable power of Satan can no longer defeat the desires of his original nature. It may look as if there is not even a tiny hole where hope might penetrate, but one day this avenue will be opened and on that day the people will flood out. God has been thinking about this all along.</p>
|
||||
<p>We can say that Satan has been quite successful in this world because mankind sees no hope whatsoever. But in God’s sight Satan is not successful. Once men clearly understand this then they will realize their own value even more, as they compare the present with their past under Satan. Therefore, no matter how successful Satan seems to be at the very end, Satan will eventually be obligated to help God complete His work.</p>
|
||||
<p>God has been waiting to see how much Satan would take, and indeed Satan has taken absolutely everything. He not only invaded man’s human rights, but he invaded the life rights and then even the love rights of billions of people. There is no right that Satan has not invaded. What remains for Satan to do?</p>
|
||||
<p>At this point the historical conclusion is that the only thing remaining for Satan to do is surrender. God has been pondering the best way to bring people out of the misery of their unprincipled lives. In considering the most ideal nation to initially penetrate this wall of hopelessness, He has settled on America. The hippies of America have explored the depths of corruption and despair and would therefore value new hope the most. If someone can work with them to successfully penetrate this wall of despair and break through to the other side, they will be very eager to go out and do the same for others. The organization which can offer tangible hope to these hippies must be the group which is historically capable of doing God’s work.</p>
|
||||
<p>In looking at a situation such as this we can say that Satan has been helping to achieve God’s plan. So many existing churches talk about God and about saving the world, but their members are generally older people. The young people have already gotten out of the Christian churches and become hippies or non-conformists. Thus those that we gather into the Unification Church are often young people who have been living a hippie life; ours is the only group that can really offer hope and salvation to them.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Love is a person’s most precious possession</h3>
|
||||
<p>Presently we do not have any more status in the world than the hippies, but we are very different. The hippies live lives that are without order and they do not want to come under anybody’s direction or dominion. In contrast our lives are very orderly: we go out fundraising and witnessing, and we are very effective. Furthermore, hippies are eating and sleeping for themselves, but we are living for this country and for our Heavenly Father. They are in despair and do not know where to turn, but we are full of power and vigor and have found love. In every way our lives are completely different from theirs.</p>
|
||||
<p>Through developing a relationship with God we come to honor human rights to the utmost. There are no racial differences in our church; each race is equally great and valuable. We have come to realize that one human life is greater than the entire universe. Suppose someone like Rabbi Davis were working in an unjust and hateful way in a communist country; the leaders would give an order for him to be eliminated, and he would have been killed a long time ago. But regardless of all he has done to us we do not even have the desire to hurt him.</p>
|
||||
<p>Some of our young members came to me, saying, “What Rabbi Davis is doing is absolutely unforgivable. We cannot let him continue working like that because he is hurting too many lives. Isn’t it better to work directly against him and save all of those who are being hurt by him?” But I said, “No, can you quote an example of God killing a man because he was wicked? Instead He just waits.” A man still has an opportunity to recover himself even until the last minute.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do we invade others’ life rights? Does anyone teach what we teach, that love is of such utmost importance and value that the greatest crime is the invasion of love? We would not want an individual apart from his love. In the end, love is between an individual and God, and no one can stand between a person and his love; that love is his most precious possession. From the earth to the heavens we want to cherish and protect his right to love. The one thing of greatest value is love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Is anyone of us encouraged to take love lightly like the hippies do? Brothers and sisters are not even allowed to hold hands in our church. We are taught that when a brother and sister meet they must just talk, and then not even in privacy. Why? In order to prevent a cheap love from invading their hearts like it has invaded the hippies’ lives we are living a completely different standard than the world is living.</p>
|
||||
<p>For someone who cannot understand deeply, our standard might look like a violation of human rights, and he would accuse us, saying, “Everyone should have the right to do as he wants.” But actually our way is the only workable way to protect human rights. Life is the same way. If someone wants to go and kill himself, why should anyone try to stop him? It’s his own life. But such an attitude is not right. People who tried to prevent a suicide have actually been accused of treating the person unjustly and taking away his personal freedom. But from the heavenly point of view, being concerned about another person leads to complete freedom, and this is what all people have been dreaming about throughout history.</p>
|
||||
<p>Likewise, nobody tells you to get involved in the events that are happening around the world; you are completely free to do nothing. Yet when others’ human rights or life rights are violated, yours are violated also. You have no guarantee and no security in a world of evil. When we look back through history and review the present we know clearly that we are on the front line between God and Satan, and that a sharp division of good and evil is taking place. Very seriously, we are fighting for our lives.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The fiercest war the world has seen</h3>
|
||||
<p>What is the borderline between life and death, between God’s country and Satan’s country? Do the existing Christian and Buddhist congregations stand guard there, or are we on the front line? What is the nature of the front line? It is where Satan is always attacking God’s side. I am doing nothing wrong but since I am on the front line I am constantly being attacked. Because you follow me you are also attacked.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because I am taking responsibility for you, I get all the blame if even one very young member makes one mistake. Any errors you make are directly connected to me, and then I receive much accusation from people. Sometimes communists have posed as members and done evil things, and then claimed that I made them do it. However, even though he may be opposed, the person who speaks for God’s side can be recognized by his teaching about human rights, life rights, and love rights. We are fighting to preserve these in the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>The communist countries have annihilated millions of people who opposed their governments. An estimated 70 million people were killed in Russia during the process of socialization, and 150 million were killed in Red China. North Korea killed 3 million Koreans, and we read in the New York Times that 600,000 people were killed in Vietnam. With life rights being violated on such a scale, what is the use of talking about human rights?</p>
|
||||
<p>We have to see this clearly in the free world, and fight to stop it. This determination makes me the strongest, most staunch anti-Communist, and the communists are really afraid of me. Can we allow their activities to continue? We have to realize what the communists are doing and expose it. The only reason we are doing this is because God’s clear intention is to achieve a world of unity. We are not trying to do this out of our own personal desires.</p>
|
||||
<p>Black people are especially susceptible to the communists’ influence and can be persuaded to bitterness and violence. Realizing this, the communists are working to unite blacks in opposition to the whites, with the ultimate goal of inciting racial war. Of course both races will lose if such conflict occurs. In that case only the communists would benefit and advance further toward their goal of world domination.</p>
|
||||
<p>A strange phenomenon has come into existence. On one hand, we are surrounded by hell on earth, yet steadily emerging alongside that hell is the beginning of heaven on earth. Do you feel fortunate to have joined this movement, or are you unfortunate? We have to take time to realize how valuable are the three rights that I have been speaking of because they involve our very lives. We cannot just speak of their importance with our mouths; we must have a deep feeling about the meaning of human rights, life rights and love rights, and be willing to fight for them. This is a more intense war than any the world has yet seen, even more fierce than the World Wars. It is of utmost importance that we secure these rights for humanity. There will be no such war in the future, nor have we ever witnessed such a war in the past. Ibis is the only such moment in history when this serious war will be fought. Can you even superficially understand that you are called to stand at such a time and place?</p>
|
||||
<p>Satan is invisible, but we have located Satan and know what he is doing. Satan’s central work is being accomplished through the communists. We can see the communists advancing their plans year by year. This is not just our interpretation; anyone who has watched their actions knows this. This is a war of utmost importance, the most significant war man has ever fought in the long process of freeing himself from Satan’s fetters. We have to be an effective organization, so strong that we can win this war over the forces of evil. Are we that way?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Why do I stay in this church?</h3>
|
||||
<p>Sometimes when you are directed to go fund raising you do not really understand its importance. We have to fund raise in order to restore all the things of creation that have been lost. Why do we witness? We witness to revive love in another person. It is our duty to reclaim from the force of evil all the things that were lost, and we have to recover the life and love of others.</p>
|
||||
<p>If the Unification Church is truly the center of God’s will then when those people who do not join go to spirit world, they will be accused for not joining. But if people join the Church and then drop out without fulfilling the task given to them, then not only spirit world but all mankind will accuse them, and even God will accuse them. They will have absolutely no place to stand. Even if they go to hell, where people are usually left alone, people there will always accuse them, yelling, “You were supposed to be up there pursuing God’s ideal and carrying out your mission. Why are you down here?” This will be the way they will be treated even after they go to hell. This situation is even worse than existing in the satanic world. In the satanic world there were at least some people who did not accuse them, but in hell they simply will have no place to go to escape accusation.</p>
|
||||
<p>When those who oppose the Unification Church go to spirit world they will become very envious of those who are newly joining. Once we go to spirit world we can instantly perceive the truth. We have to clearly understand what kind of precious position we are in now and what kind of equally tormenting situation we could find ourselves in later. If I were to drop out of the Unification Church, Satan would accuse and mock me, “Why are you here? Why didn’t you just carry on?” All hell would go against me, and even God would oppose me, as well as the rest of spirit world, crying, “Because of you we are not free! ”</p>
|
||||
<p>The ancestors of a Unification Church member who left will really resent that person because by working through him they could have elevated themselves in spirit world. The only way that spirit men can work on earth is through you, and they will be the first to accuse you for leaving. I will blame you and the brothers and sisters in the Unification Church will accuse you. Anyone who drops out really has no place to go, even within our Unification Church. Even Satan will mock you, saying, “I fell, not when I was perfect, but when I was in the perfection stage of the growth stage. But you went beyond me-you fell from the perfection realm. You are even worse than I.” All of this is the reason why drop-outs from the Unification Church feel so miserable. This is the very reason why I myself stay in Unification Church. This is the truth.</p>
|
||||
<p>My feelings are just like those of any other individual; I would like to lead my own life, having some enjoyment and free time, like anyone else in the world, but I have not had one single moment of time to myself. My mind is always occupied with this immense task; it is just like sitting on the point of a needle 24 hours a day.</p>
|
||||
<p>Not long ago some members of my own staff were getting married and I had not yet given anything to them. When I went to Macy’s and bought six 14 karat gold necklaces, people started commenting that I indulge in luxurious living. While I was buying the necklaces I could hear the people behind me saying something against me. Every place I go people know me. Even beyond that, there is no personal freedom in my life. If you led this kind of public life and were constantly receiving public criticism, would you really feel the joy of life?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">I understand how difficult this is</h3>
|
||||
<p>If you are reasonably wise then even if someone were to really hurt you and try to pull you out of the Unification Church you would never leave. Is that true? This life can become so difficult, yet still we have to stay and keep on doing this work. Do you stay because you have no other choice, or do you stay because you are happy? How can you be happy when you do not have a dime in your pocket? How can you be happy when the clothing that you are wearing is the only clothing you have? How can you be happy when you have only one set of underwear and you have to wash it when you go to bed and put it on again when you get up? And sometimes when you wake up on a cold morning it isn’t even dry.</p>
|
||||
<p>As you meet the people during the day your heart aches when they do not listen to you, and you carry a great burden as you witness to them. If somebody opposes you, you have only yourself and God to console your aching heart. How can you be happy under these circumstances? There are people around you who may not be very bright but who still bring good results in witnessing and fund raising. In comparing yourself to them you may think ill of yourself, and that too is painful.</p>
|
||||
<p>I think the successful witnessers and fund raisers must have some iron shield around their faces and their hearts. Sometimes I admire myself in that way; when I face those who are opposing me I do not feel anything, but I just continue. I am more sensitive than anyone here, yet sometimes I cannot afford to be sensitive. It must be the same for you. You cannot continually respond to all the people who oppose us.</p>
|
||||
<p>You are fortunate in one thing, however. No matter what hardships you go through, I am one friend who will understand you completely. Not only in the past, but in the present I am going through the same life that you are leading. When your situation becomes difficult then remind yourself that you are not alone because I am sharing that very moment with you. When you live that way then I will give you the best blessing that God can bring. Do not falter because in going the difficult way you will receive God’s deepest love. For this reason I keep pushing you to go on. I know that it is worthwhile because God is exactly like that. We must stand at the same place that God is standing and even now God is going through all these things.</p>
|
||||
<p>When a sigh escapes your mouth, then instantly follow it by saying, “Nevertheless, thank You, God. Through this You can give me blessing. Now I can understand Your present situation. Thank You, for allowing me to go through the same things that You are facing.” If you have a complaint because of some discomfort then you must replace it with gratitude. When we take this attitude, Satan cannot accuse us, nor can he oppose us any longer.</p>
|
||||
<p>I have a story to tell you about Mother. Right after 5 o’clock pledge service on Sunday morning Mother drinks a cup of coffee. I told her that coffee is not good for her and grandmother told about seeing a man in the hospital whose stomach had ruptured after drinking coffee for three months. But Mother said, “If I don’t drink this my eyes droop and I’m so drowsy.” The children can go back to sleep, but since she cannot she has to drink coffee to stay awake. I felt pity for her and said., “Your life is as draining as mine.”</p>
|
||||
<p>I know that you wake up even earlier, maybe 3 or 4 o’clock, and come all the way up here, and your eyes just won’t stay open. Looking down from the platform I see some really funny faces. I have a real sense of our common destiny, and I understand how difficult it is. I have trained myself very purposefully and now I manage to not sleep as many hours a day. I already know how difficult it is for you. Why are we working this hard? We cannot eat more than three times a day, so if you have $3.50 a day then you can live. Then why do you try so hard to do well in fund raising? Are you working to buy your own houses? To misunderstanding eyes we are really crazy people.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Do you know the consequences of this life?</h3>
|
||||
<p>Who really understands that we are doing this for the sake of America? Why don’t we just lead peaceful religious lives like the Christians do? Why do we have to push ourselves like this? The reason is that we do everything to save even one more life more quickly. Conservatively speaking, if one percent of the population dies per year that is 40 million people going to the spirit world. Most of them go to hell, don’t they?</p>
|
||||
<p>Later they will come to us and say, “Why did you not save me while I was still on earth? Why did you not tell me about this one day earlier so I could have heard and accomplished something while I was on earth, and then come to heaven? This is so real to me that being called names and going through difficulties on earth is still better than facing those people who would demand to know why we did not do anything while they were still alive on the earth. I would Re to reach even one more life in order to catch that person before he goes to spirit world. This is why all of us must push ourselves even harder.</p>
|
||||
<p>I have let everybody know what I am here for, and with all of you I am working day in and day out, not wasting even a second. Then even though thousands go to spirit world without knowing God’s will, they cannot blame me. On the contrary, when those people who oppose us here on earth go to spirit world all the spirit men will come and accuse them, “Because you opposed the Unification Church on earth I did not have the opportunity to join! ” I know that this is happening.</p>
|
||||
<p>When I wake up to find that I overslept I feel like a sinner because I should have been working during that time. Sleeping in the daytime is virtually unknown to me. This is the kind of life I have been leading. If I sit down in a chair, within ten minutes I can be snoring. I am always tired because I do not sleep. Imagine, in ten years 400 million people will have gone to spirit world. That is twice the population of America. In ten years that is how many more people will be doomed to bell. Can you grasp the significance of this?</p>
|
||||
<p>You are in the same position. When you go to spirit world the spirit men will blame you for not helping them come to the Divine Principle while on earth. That is why we cannot help but work the way we do. Even though the people call us names here, it is still better than being blamed in spirit world. If you do not witness now, then even your own ancestors will become your enemies and your own offspring may turn against you for not being more dedicated.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once we grasp this clearly, how can we help but push ourselves? No matter how difficult something may be, can we complain? Knowing this, all of us are trying to change the evil course of the world, trying to change this darkness into light. God also is trying to reach each one of His children in every comer of the world. How truly serious do you feel, knowing that God is looking down at us?</p>
|
||||
<p>Without that seriousness we are not in a position to even put on our pajamas to go to sleep. Imagine all the spirits in the spirit world looking down at us, knowing that the only way for them to be saved is through working with those of us on earth. If we are not thinking about saving people then how critical and frustrated they will feel. We are very fortunate since we can be liberated while here on earth, needing only one millionth of the effort that it takes to be elevated in the spirit world. This is why we have to make impossible efforts here on earth. Even though we go through intense difficulties here it is still insignificant because we have a body.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you really do your best and invest every bit of yourself, even if you cannot do any more then the spirit world understands and respects you and cannot accuse you. God knows that too. I will never tell you to take a day off, even when you have been working hard. You don’t like that fact, do you? A school child has the same problem. Every time his parents see him, they tell him to study. He does not like it, but his parents keep on telling him anyway. Later, when the child grows up and wishes that he has studied harder, he cannot complain to his parents because they had warned him time and time again.</p>
|
||||
<p>It will be the same for you when you go to spirit world, and you will ask me, “Father, why did you not tell me to work harder so I could be in a higher place?” But you will not be able to say that because every day I am telling you over and over again to work harder. This is the reason why I am always pushing you to work harder every time I see you. I know too well about the consequences of this life, and that is why I am telling you these things.</p>
|
||||
<p>If everyone here except one man fails to respond, then in the spirit world everyone else’s blessing will go to that one man for his efforts. When that one man happens to be me then I can take all of those blessings to the spirit world and distribute them to the spirit men who had no opportunity to serve directly on earth. This is the reason I do not want to be outdone by you. When you work hard then I will work even harder.</p>
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<h3 align="center">When you are idle you forfeit blessings</h3>
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<p>When I tell you to do something and you do not do it, then I will do it myself and receive all the blessing for it. In a way you are losing blessing every time you do not respond. When a new member comes who tries more and works harder he will receive greater blessings than older members who are a long time in the church. God’s blessings automatically flow to those who work harder. This is true wherever you look in the world; those who work harder get more results. When a vegetable grows bigger and bigger some of the leaves on the plant are bound to wither. The same is true in the Unification Church; as our movement has grown some withering has also been seen. You must work more than anybody else ahead of you and then we will develop as a whole.</p>
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<p>A marathon runner does not stop training just because he has accumulated previous experience. If you are experienced then you will practice even more in order to stay ahead of all your competition. For the same reason you have to work harder to keep in the forefront of the enthusiastic new members.</p>
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<p>When an electrical wire is hooked up it will easily conduct an electric current, but if the wire is cut it can’t function as a conductor. You are here in the Unification Church because of your ancestors’ merit. In the same way that electricity goes through a wire that is hooked up, energy from the spirit world will flow through you when you are connected to your mission. Electricity does not need a lot of space; only one wire is necessary to start the electricity flowing. It does not matter how many strands of wire there are as long as they are hooked up. If the wires are cut in just one place then the entire system is of no use.</p>
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<p>When you are idle you are forfeiting all your blessings. It is the same as going to school. Perhaps everyone in class is concentrating very intensely on the lectures, but one student is not studying at all. When examination time comes, what happens to him? The professors do not like that kind of person, nor does the school superintendent. I am the superintendent and your leader is the teacher, and if you are a diligent student, then everybody likes you. But people do not care for a student who is not so diligent. What do you choose to do? Are you just going to take it easy and rest, or are you going to work? Or maybe you are waiting for me to finish speaking and then you will dash out and carry on.</p>
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<p>In wartime, when bullets are flying and artillery shells are exploding, the soldier who does not want to die is usually the one who gets hit first. The brave man who just goes out and fights as he should without caring about the bullets, surprisingly enough is the one who lives longer. Even the bullets seem to be discriminating, and choose who to hit and who not to hit. The bullets will chase after someone who is trying to escape.</p>
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<p>All my life I have been working on the very edge of the realm of possibility. If I had ever retreated at the many moments when everything appeared to be impossible I know that long ago I would have been dead. When I realize that those under me will not be able to make something work then I think, “I’d better do it myself.” When I jump into a task then somehow a way to accomplish it always opens before me.</p>
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<p>There are some members who are 29 years of age and were almost included in the blessing. Those people may be depressed about that, which is understandable. But think about it-there are so many important things waiting for you in your lives. Consider these things and forget your depression. You can get blessed anytime in the future. As you are idle imagine how many people ate passing in front of you on their way to hell. Have you even stopped to think about that? Every time you are sitting at the table eating, many people are passing on their way to hell.</p>
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<p>Have you seen the movie “Silver Streak”? It deals with a train going from California to Chicago and the action develops between the travelers aboard. At one point the conducted is killed and the train’s accelerator is somehow weighted down as the train moves faster and faster toward a collision with the Chicago station. Those passengers who know what a tragedy they are speeding toward have to take a great risk to prevent it. They cannot just sit there doing nothing. If God were watching that train carrying His sons and daughters toward death would He say, “Oh, they deserve it since they didn’t pay any attention to me.” Would He just ignore their situation? Suppose there was one person who knew what was happening and tried very hard to save the train; even if the train crashed and he went to spirit world, God would tenderly lift him up to heaven,</p>
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<p>This nation is at stake. Like the runaway train America is heading towards a fatal crash. If somebody becomes aware of the situation and tries his best to save the nation, then even if he fails, when he goes to spirit world would God just leave him in hell? God would certainly lift him up to heaven because of the adventure he dared try. I am thinking in these terms, and trying to inspire you to become such people. Can you promise that you will never complain? These circumstances I have described are not exaggerated. They are very real, yet even under these circumstances God is constantly thinking of establishing the ideal family.</p>
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<p>What kind of great leap must we make in order to reach the ideal family? Is it further from Cape Kennedy to the moon, or from the bottom of hell to the highest heaven? This world is a Cape Kennedy where we ignite our own rocket of heart with love, and ride straight up to the world of heaven. This world is our launching pad. Our destination is the heart of God; pursuing that goal seems really dream-like, but it is real. Would you like to get on the rocket? Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to land on the moon; he was the father of astronauts with his strong arm. But you are not only arm-strong, you are strong in every sense, and you must land directly in the heart of God.</p>
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<p>To successfully launch a rocket and land it on the distant target of the moon your previous training must be very complex. As you listen to my sermons you are learning how to manipulate the buttons in a very complicated machine. When you ride on a rocket can you push any buttons you want and expect to land on the moon? You must be strong in every sense. You have to learn to live without food for many days, how to stay alert without much sleep, and train yourself in every conceivable way-physically, mentally and spiritually. You have to overcome many personal weaknesses.</p>
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<p>Just hearing this inspires you, doesn’t it? What if I am telling you a lie? Then you must determine, “I will teach the truth instead of him.” You have to try harder than I do myself. When you have hope then everyone else can have hope. Would you be like that? If so, then as I see you again and again I will see you become increasingly beautiful. Please go ahead and do that. If all of you become like that, then God would really be happy to see you. In this world, this kind of training can only be done with God’s help; it is like flying from one end of the universe to the other.</p>
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<p>Are you interested in the spirit world? Don’t you think sometimes that if you could go there once and see it that an immense new universe would open up to you and completely change your perspective? Do you sometimes desire to know about the spirit world so intensely that you wish you could die briefly to see it, and then come back? Do you have this kind of curiosity? If you have this curiosity then when I say something about this, seek out what is behind it. Try to see what is behind my power. Don’t you really want to penetrate through the wall of this physical plane and see the world beyond with your own eyes? Once you see for yourself you would be in a position to know if what I say is true or not. Do you think you already know about spirit world? Actually you do not yet know for sure. You do not completely understand what you have been hearing.</p>
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<h3 align="center">With love you can go anywhere and experience anything</h3>
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<p>You have only heard about die love of God. Have you ever truly experienced the love of God personally? None of you really have. When you slaughter a chicken and pull the tendon in its leg, then the chicken’s foot will draw together. If you pull the coat of God’s love and just keep pulling it, the entire universe will eventually come into the bosom of God. Once you are intoxicated in the love of God then your eyes, your nose, your ears, mouth and hands will become focused on one point. When you are focused on one dot your entire being becomes completely one.</p>
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||||
<p>When you are feeling good, then your entire self will say, “Good!” in unison. In the same way, when you are completely one with God, you will tag along wherever He goes. You just cannot stand to be separated when you are in the midst of that love. Then all the universe rejoices with you in your happiness. When you really feel good then the entire universe will answer your feelings, like an echo in the mountains. When you say, “Ah,” then all the universe will echo, “Ah.” We have a saying in Korea that when one is really happy, “His eyes are just tumbling over.” It means that his eyes are not just tumbling over, but almost popping out of his head. This is actually something that is beyond explanation.</p>
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<p>Men are created to receive that kind of love from God. The couple that is united in that kind of love will be inseparable, and even as they are taking a breath, the entire universe will join them in that breath. Wouldn’t you want to be near them and experience that? The fastest speed is spirit world is the speed of love, which is even faster than that of electricity and light. When you are deeply anxious to see God and you say, “Father,” God is already beside you. The spirit world is governed with love. Although you do not know what love is you still like that idea, don’t you?</p>
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<p>There is nowhere that love cannot go and nothing that it cannot go through. With a special lookingglass of love you can see through anything into the real basis of existence. You can even see God’s image, for He is not without image, and so you can experience love with God who has a form. In Paul’s words, “You are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” That is only a small expression. Your experience can be a million times greater.</p>
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||||
<p>Each one of us originally possesses the value that makes us eligible to experience this. That is the way we were originally created. It is almost too good to be true, isn’t it? Even if it is not true, it is the best untruth there is. If this is true, what then? Would you willingly bet your life on it? We must go on with this to nothing less than the whole world. Actually Mother would not be happy to hear this, but strictly speaking, I do not have any real affection for this physical world. However, because I have things to accomplish here, I am doing everything I can while on earth. Sometimes I think about life in the spirit world, even in the night. Even though you may have a sleepless night, somehow you never feel tired when you are absorbed in that spiritual environment.</p>
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<h3 align="center">True love is more than lightning and thunder</h3>
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<p>I know very clearly that there is nothing which can control love. If there were a man and a woman who could both extend themselves fully in love, wouldn’t their marriage be really fantastic? As soon as you see a bright flash of lightning you know you will hear a great roll of thunder. Have you ever stopped to think about why God created such bright lightning, to be followed by a great roll of thunder? Now imagine God’s two extremes, plus and minus. What if they were to short circuit; do you think it would make a bigger explosion than the lightning and thunder? You cannot conceive how much bigger. Similarly, in God’s love a man has plus voltage and a woman has minus voltage. When a true man and woman unite in love then the entire universe will see the lightning and be shaken by the thunder. That catches God’s attention, and He is surprised Himself, just to experience that. Then God is drawn right into the midst of the relationship.</p>
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<p>That is the greatest rhythm in all the universe. Man and woman were originally created for this. However, since the fall they do not have this voltage of love, and when a man and woman love each other nothing happens; no powerful current of love flows between them. If a man and woman were to have the voltage of true love then their marriage would be ideal, almost like a fairy tale. The entire universe is eagerly waiting for this kind of love to brighten every comer of the cosmos. That day is finally here.</p>
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<p>Have you prepared yourself to become that kind of woman? A strong current will be connected to the man and woman, and when even a small current starts to flow then the earth and the universe will tremble in resonance. Have you ever imagined such a moment? Human beings the world over have never experienced these things. How false their world is! This power of love is the ideal that God had in mind from the beginning when He created man. Would you all like to fulfill the ideal of this morning’s talk, the ideal family from the viewpoint of God’s dispensation?</p>
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<p>I want every inch of every one of you to become refined like pure gold. Is pure gold different on the inside and the outside? A person reflecting this purity does not have any fallen thought. To become one with God one needs to be pure; can you be false gold and achieve that? Jesus told his disciples that everyone must become perfect as their father in heaven is perfect.</p>
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<p>If you are pure gold then it is so easy for you and God to melt and become one. Combining two different metals may be difficult, but pure gold can easily blend with pure gold. When you compare yourself to me, are we made of the same substance? Think about that; you have to cleanse and cleanse and cleanse your hearts and minds every day for a long time to become pure gold so that you can become one with God.</p>
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<p>We must also become one with the world. The physical world and spirit world are divided up into many classes. All the walls that separate people must be done away with so that they can become one. After each of you do away with all these walls you can become completely one with the world, but for this to be possible you must become pure gold.</p>
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||||
<p>Fallen man is gold that is contaminated by foreign metals. We have to go to the refinery to separate those out and replace them with gold. In this refining process we should not be washed away but withstand the test of all the worldly currents passing through us.</p>
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<p>Each one of you have to become a ray of hope for both heaven and hell, so that even God can say that you have brought hope. Have you become convinced that after you train and perfect yourselves, that you will become people of pure gold, and one with God? When you and your spouses are blessed then your love will be just as strong and dynamic as I have been describing.</p>
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||||
<p>When you really enter into the depth of love, then even without looking with your eyes you begin to see everything. In the same way, even without listening with your ears you hear everything, and you even begin to taste everything just as you sit. In that depth of love nothing will attract your attention except love. The universe will be full of nothing but love and you will be the perfection of everything, and the owner of everything. Beyond that there is nothing else you can desire.</p>
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||||
<p>Love has that quality because God has that quality; this is why mankind has not given up hope of having love, even though they have been struggling up to this point. When I begin to speak about the depths of love, I completely lose track of time; and many times I continue on for four or five hours. That is enough time to fly from New York clear to the West Coast. Is that five hour flight boring or not? Do you have an aching back, or are you all excited? Imagine how exciting it would be if I could express all of this in English! Even if someone were to encourage you to doze off, you could never go to sleep, and your eyes would open wider and wider.</p>
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<p>If you were really intense and grave, then you could hear things directly from the spirit world, and spiritually see things right from where you are sitting. We could all become like that. One example of spiritual awareness is coming into Belvedere. Even though there may be people around when you walk into Belvedere and look around, it feels like nobody is here. When I am here then people want to come, but when I am not here Belvedere feels empty, even though there are people here. The Washington family told me that when I am there the center seems filled with people, but once I leave then all of a sudden the house feels empty, even though all the people still remain. Do you feel that sometimes? What if I did not exist? It would be as if all the world were here but were empty. Why do you feel like that?</p>
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<h3 align="center">Only love can fill the universe</h3>
|
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<p>When love is present then love fills every comer of the universe. If God did not exist, then the world would be empty because God’s love would be absent. But if God were here and His love filled the earth then you would feel that the world was full. If He dwells within us then we are filled with everything. Even in a family, when the husband comes home and his children run to greet him the first thing he says to the children is, “Where is your mother?” The wife is the same way. If she goes out shopping somewhere, when she comes back home many children are there, but the first thing she asks is, “Where is Daddy?” Why? It is because of a longing for love, a feeling of “Where is my love?” What can fill this vast universe? Not even air can fill it. We can only fill it with love.</p>
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<p>The man with love can go anywhere and still be happy and contented. Without love a man can go anywhere and still feel empty. In spirit world this is even more real. The man who is filled with God’s love feels satisfied and whole everywhere he goes. It is understandable. If we experience God’s love and remain stable in that, then we become the source of the spark of love and can be called sons of thunder and lightning.</p>
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<p>Would you want to give birth to sons and daughters once you were blessed in marriage? When a man and wife love each other like that, then their sons and daughters dwell in that harmony, rejoicing in each other, and caring for each other. That love would interact within the family, among the father and mother and all the children. An arc light is extremely bright, like a spotlight. The current does not pass through a filament but creates an arc of silver light. The energy or current of abundant love creates that kind of brilliant silvery light. God wants to live within that kind of bright home, within the warmth of such love. Wouldn’t you like to create that kind of family in the future?</p>
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||||
<p>God is alive and like us, isn’t He? He must also want to live like all men; He never had the desire to live all by Himself but to live among His sons and daughters in the midst of abundant love. What kind of love would He like to live in? In electrical terms, would He like to live in the light of electric bulbs like these, or would He like to live in the brilliance of an arc light? God would like to live in the arc light of love. If you would like to experience that kind of love in the future, the first thing you have to do is prepare yourselves for marriage. Unless you are pure like gold then when you come under an intense arc light you just could not stand the heat. If you are made up of any other inferior material you would just bum away.</p>
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||||
<p>Raise your hands if you have taken drugs and lived a hippie life. Almost all. Some scholar took a poll and found that 75% of our members are exhippies. We have to show people a brand-new hippie, a “King Hippie,” who will originate new fashions and concepts of life. That is the kind of hippie that God likes, while Satan likes the ordinary hippies. Here for the first time we have heard about such essential things as life rights and love rights. Here we have also created a new person, called a “kingpie,” who also has the habit of eating kimchee. Americans will just shake their heads in amazement.</p>
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||||
<p>You can become men and women of pure gold with the love of God in your hearts and form ideal families. This is the ideal family I have described this morning. Just imagine that perfect man and wife, the original ideal of creation. We have just imagined that this morning; we have not become that ideal as yet. Has God connected His own source of power to you yet? Have you prepared yourselves for blessing in such a way that when the two wires touch then a huge spark will jump between them? How may karats of gold are you, 24, 14, or 8 karats? Would you like to stay where you are, or would you like to purify yourselves to become 24 karat gold?</p>
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<h3 align="center">You need a passport from Satan and a visa from heaven</h3>
|
||||
<p>What kind of furnace can purify you? You guessed very quickly! All the iron, copper and other foreign metals will be processed out of you in hell, and in their place God will fill you with gold. Therefore, you are actually going into hell in God’s name, not in Satan’s name. There is no other way to refine yourselves. All the corruption which we inherited from the satanic world will be drawn away and only our gold will remain. After that God can fill with gold the holes left by the other metals.</p>
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||||
<p>After that, even if you want to stay in hell, Satan will say, “This is not the place for you. You have to leave.” When you really become like that Satan will write you a passport, “This man is completely free from me; he is qualified to stay in heaven.” No one but Satan can write you a passport to leave hell. Has Satan issued you a passport saying that you can go? Your visa to heaven is written by an angel from God and you can go to the original place that God intended for man, being a true man for the first time. You are qualified to proceed to heaven after you win over Satan and take dominion over the angels. This is the way of restoration: we must do something that even Satan and the angels cannot do. After we do that we are given passports and visas and then we can proceed into heaven.</p>
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||||
<p>This is similar to the old world, where even though you have a passport and are free to leave, if the place to which you are going does not release a visa then you cannot enter. When you have both then you have the qualification for blessing. Those who have both your passport and visa, raise your hand. Nobody? But on the other hand, those who want to be blessed, raise your hand. All of you. The angel also wanted to be blessed even before he was qualified, and then he and Eve both fell. You also want to be blessed but it is not the time yet. Do you understand that you are situated at that very same point?</p>
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<p>Many of you were stimulated by the 74 Couple Blessing of a few days ago. You watched that and thought, “I want to be blessed too.” Those of you who were not affected by that and didn’t even think of yourselves getting blessed do not even qualify to receive the blessing next time. Raise your hand if you compared your position to that of the marrying couples, thinking, “I want to become blessed also, but I’m not prepared so I’d better become prepared! You are like good businessmen!</p>
|
||||
<p>Businessmen you may be, but you must become pure gold. If you are pure, then no matter how strongly the satanic world opposes you, can your gold be altered into copper? What if you are twisted around-suppose a heavy roller rolled you out-are you still gold? If somebody did everything to provoke you, spitting at you and calling you names, would you still not change? Do you sometimes wonder why you have to put up with this, and feel like jumping in a car and killing yourself?</p>
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<p>Instead maybe you wish your opponent would be killed by an automobile! To love your enemy is a most wonderful thing. In that case, you are still pure gold even while you are going through hell. We have to realize our objective as Unification Church members; no matter what hardships we go through, we must continue to purify ourselves and become pure gold. Going through hell is the only way for us to become pure gold. Through test after test we must drain ourselves of all fallen nature and be filled with God’s gold. We cannot achieve this by going into a palace or by being comfortable. Before Americans finally understand us the whole nation will go against you, melting you down as they call you names and mock you. But once they realize that you are actually made of pure gold they will gradually change their attitudes and start respecting you.</p>
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||||
<p>Whenever pure gold goes through the furnace, its weight stays the same because no foreign metals are drawn off. You will reach heaven when you have become victors over all the satanic world, going through all of hell and winning over it. I have been going through the individual and family course, and now am striving to accomplish on the world level. I have been persecuted and have suffered, but my liberation is near. The day will come when all the people who oppose me will sign a statement testifying that I am a royal worker for the heavenly world. They have started making drafts already. Even though such a man may have opposed me, once he carefully examines what we are doing and realizes he was wrong, he will have no further reason to oppose me. Once he recognizes the goodness of what we are doing he will become a member, and try to become many times better than the rest of you.</p>
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||||
<p>Once you prepare yourself, what kind of spouse are you going to get? Is he or she going to hold a college degree or be very handsome or beautiful, or be refined and high-standard in every way? Would you like to marry that kind of spouse, or would you like to marry someone who is deformed and misfigured and of a different race than you had expected? Would you be willing to many that kind of spouse? After you become pure gold, you will not care so much about external appearances or college degrees, but more about how pure your spouse is. Would you rather marry a very good-looking spouse who is not pure gold, or would you rather be with an ugly person who is 24 karat gold?</p>
|
||||
<p>What is so different in the Unification Church? Our philosophy of marriage and value of love are what is completely different. We are not contented with some small love, but are always reaching for what we were originally designed to be; we want to occupy this great big love of God with our own pure gold love. In this country the custom is a little different, but in the Orient women nurse their children. When God looks down on a woman of pure gold nursing her child he is filled with heart-felt laughter and happiness at seeing such a beautiful sight.</p>
|
||||
<p>Can you say with confidence, “My husband is the best in the whole world because of his inner nature, and therefore my child is the one whom God can love the most. I too, am completely one with God and His love.” How can you become like that? God will look at you with His eyes filled with love if you can be like that. When you are filled inside with love then nothing looks ugly or hateful. If you are truly in love, then you can handle the soiled sheets or clothes of your spouse and still not feel that they are dirty. When you have absolute love for another then even the dirtiest thing about them actually appears clean. Some married people have experienced this to a certain extent.</p>
|
||||
<p>If God’s love is dwelling within a person, then no matter how ugly he may be by worldly standards you will love him; external appearance is just not noticed among those who love God. There is a saying that beauty is only skin-deep. Those who occupy God’s love have unlimited beauty. I want every one of you to become part of an ideal family which resides in the heart of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>This morning we have spent much time already but actually I have not been able to complete my talk. Next time I will continue on this topic. Maybe next Sunday we will assemble here at 3 o’clock in the morning. Is that all right? I expect that none will be absent.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now we know we have to become good and perfect husbands and wives. If I forget this topic next time and start talking to you on a different subject, then remind me to continue. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1157" class="post-1157 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">OUR FAMILY IN LIGHT OF THE DISPENSATION – PART II</h1>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:18:44+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/our-family-in-light-of-the-dispensation-part-ii.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:18:44+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/our-family-in-light-of-the-dispensation-part-ii.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">March 6, 1977<br />
|
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Belvedere, New York<br />
|
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
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<p>My message this morning is on <i>“Our Family in Light of the Dispensation,”</i> the continuation of my March 1 message. I am sure you remember from that talk that in order to build ideal families we must become men and women of genuine gold. Adam and Eve were supposed to be the first ancestors, and mankind was to have extended out from them like many, many branches. A diagram of this looks like an upside down tree, with the single trunk on top, spreading out into many branches. What would be the root of this human tree? God would be, and just as healthy roots are hidden deep in the ground God is also hidden from view.</p>
|
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<p>It is awesome to see what the earth can do. The earth is the source of thousands of different miracles-trees, flowers, fruits and all manner of infinite beauty. A seed may have the hidden potential for making red flowers, but a seed alone means nothing; it must be supported by the earth. Even people like our giant Gerhardt was born small and the ingredients of the earth helped him grow. Of course his parents gave him genes, but something in the earth made his blue eyes possible. The earth is the source of wonder and beauty, but the spectacular things which spring from this earth must have some source of infinite energy where all the wonders and beauty of life originate. That source is certainly God.</p>
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<p>Is it true that the ideas of men control this world? The men who have deep vision and insight are the ones who actually control the world, not those who just have power or money or knowledge. An idea has the ability to organize and effectively put power and money and knowledge to use. However, even the men with ideas have deviated from their original state.</p>
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<h3 align="center">In striving to become prosperous<br />
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men have actually been losing</h3>
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<p>Where did the separation occur-between the trunk and a branch, or between the root and the tree? A broken branch is no problem because the trunk can always reproduce branches and leaves without difficulty. Man’s problem is the more fundamental one of separation between the root and the tree. There is absolutely no way that such a tree can survive.</p>
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<p>We fallen men now stem from a different root: the root of evil. Then who are our ancestors? All Of our human ancestors have come from that evil root. Do you really know, not just in your mind, but all the way down to your bones, that your ancestor is Satan? Since Satan became the ancestor of mankind, men have been like his branches, and he has maintained control over men’s actions. Like him, people pull things to themselves, trying to be prosperous, and for this reason people have been fighting among themselves ever since the fall of man.</p>
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<p>Right now that same fallen human history is still continuing. Even though people are desperately trying to accumulate external things for their own benefit, internally they are all losing. For example, though America has been a powerful nation, it has often been trying to control the rest of the world for its own purposes. Even though America has become the central nation in the world, and is desperately trying to survive, make friends and gain influence, America keeps backsliding internally.</p>
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<p>America’s way of life has become extremely individualistic. How could a nation become selfish if it is truly centered upon the ideals of Christianity? When individualism becomes people’s major interest then ultimately the people will lose everything. If God is lost, then the nation will be lost. In America today, how many youth are seriously thinking about the well-being of the nation? Not too many. By centering upon “self” a person can only lose parents, family and friends. The “self” may be trying to survive, but it can never endure alone.</p>
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<p>Ultimately human value is being lost through individualism and love itself is becoming stained. Human life in America often resembles the life of animals. It has become very trivial, with little mutual respect. Are you the product of a society that has degenerated to that degree?</p>
|
||||
<p>All through human history man has been foolishly striving to enrich himself, but in that process people are actually losing everything. That is a cold, historical reality. How is it possible that all mankind has been making such tremendous efforts to survive, yet losing everything in the process? No man in history who made the effort to acquire things for himself ever seriously thought, “Of course I will lose all these things some day.” Yet in striving to become prosperous, men have actually been losing instead. If this were just a local phenomenon, in Tarrytown or New York, then we could dismiss it as a very trivial matter. But this is not just a local matter; it is a historical phenomenon, a universal situation, and we must take it very seriously.</p>
|
||||
<p>Does any person or any nation actually desire to be in such an impossible situation? No, all people would prefer to be happy, prosperous, honored, and respected. Yet at the same time they are going in exactly the opposite direction. Why is that?</p>
|
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<p>Is this a random process, or is there some reason that world history has always been persisting in this direction? It is a scientific principle that in our world no result can occur without some cause. There must be a decisive cause behind every world situation. We can see that contrary to the will of men, the world is heading further and further into despair and decline. There must be some invisible, opposing force exercising control beyond us that causes this. Do you think the American people wanted to create this present world situation? Do you think that American philosophers and men of thought got together and decided to take the world in this direction? Do you think that a majority vote would have ever placed the world on its present course?</p>
|
||||
<p>There must be some cause beyond human reach or control, one that no philosopher on earth could influence or even slightly change. There must be a first cause; you could call it God or anything you like. The name does not matter, but there must be a first cause that is separate from human thought.</p>
|
||||
<p>We all feel very anxious to perceive the future of the world. Let us use our wisdom and think about it. So far in human history many thousands of people have been trying to improve their own situation, but still losing in the meantime. What would happen if we were to live in exactly the opposite way? Instead of taking, what would happen if we exerted ourselves to give things away and to respect others? What do you think would happen? The change would be a fundamental one. So far a history of grasping has brought mankind to decline and despair. Then what about a philosophy of giving? That must produce completely different consequences.</p>
|
||||
<p>The God that we know has a giant personality; He has feelings of joy and sorrow, just like human beings. Consequently, His ideal must include eternal happiness. This idea about God is contrary to human assumptions so far. We must consider how God would describe happiness. It must be entirely different from man’s present thinking. The fallen world, which separated itself from God, has a history of greediness and exploitation; those characteristics brought the fall and the destruction of the world and mankind and we are still living on the edge of a cliff. We could fall anytime. What would have happened if we had been living under God from the very beginning? The world would have been 180 degrees different from the one we live in now.</p>
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||||
<p>Generally speaking, everybody assumes that if there is a God, then He must be a good God. Satan is the king of evil, the center of evil. Then what is the definition of good and evil? Why is God good and Satan evil, and who will decide? Everyone, but particularly individualistic American youth, must know this very clearly.</p>
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||||
<p>What is evil? The answer is simple. Evil is self-centeredness. The person who makes himself the center of everything is an evil person. What is good then? A good person exists solely for the sake of others. A good man is always trying to give of himself to make others happy, trying to benefit them.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">The environment for true life</h3>
|
||||
<p>You have only one absolute life. In that one life can you possess more than one absolute love? You cannot even use the word love in describing the present situation in America. Do you know what diarrhea is? Love in America is suffering from diarrhea in a hundred different directions. What American young people call love is just trash. Would you like to have one life and ten loves and a hundred ideals, or one life, one love and one ideal? The fundamental problem then, is finding where that one absolute true life can be born, and finding the environment where it can survive and prosper. This true life can emerge when there is an environment of absolute giving, absolute service, and absolute love for others. When parents have an absolute sacrificial, giving love, the beauty of an ideal child can be conceived.</p>
|
||||
<p>I want you to know that there is a universal law and principle created by God which declares that anyone who builds his life on absolute love and the absolute ideal of service to others will have the rest of creation respond to him as his object. This is a universal law which no one can bend. It is true simply because God is such a person. God exists in that ideology and it is God’s own way of life. God controls this world through that philosophy of giving Himself up for the sake of others.</p>
|
||||
<p>Anyone who lives that philosophy must certainly receive the same power, beauty, and honor as God does. Isn’t that wonderful! Is becoming a billionaire the most precious thing in this world? Many people are convinced that I am trying to become a billionaire, but I just laugh at them. Becoming wealthy is such a trivial matter and so far from being the central value of human life.</p>
|
||||
<p>Anyone who really knows me knows that my ideal goes far, far beyond that. I know that anyone who becomes an embodiment of absolute life, absolute love and the absolute ideal will have the entire universe respond to him. That is the way God has been dominating and controlling this universe, and I can do the same things God can do by becoming the embodiment of His truth. You do not respond to me because I am successful or have a Ph.D. from Harvard, but because I am the embodiment of God’s truth.</p>
|
||||
<p>For example, you do not have to come here on Sunday morning. You could go to a comfortable place and listen to a sermon in beautiful English instead of Korean. Then why did you come here? You do not hear kind things here; I am always pushing you and giving you a hard time. But in all honesty I am glad you came since you are drawn to this one internal, fundamental truth of the universe, to that one call of the true love and true ideal. That is why you came.</p>
|
||||
<p>If anything other than the truth is moving you, then my teaching is not true. There is no power in this universe which can overthrow a true love, life and ideal. The power to create the beauty of true life, true love and the true ideal is the greatest power of the universe and it can only come from God. Even God could not obstruct someone who lives that kind of life because God Himself has to live that principle. Is God very, very strong in love, or weak in love? Would God ever say that because He is Lord of the universe He does not need love or care about love?</p>
|
||||
<p>Once there is even a little bit of love, God will forget about being God and stand helpless before that love. Can you imagine this? When even a small whisper of love reaches His ears, God completely melts. True love is God’s vulnerable point. Am I also a vulnerable man in this sense? Could I say, “I have an iron will and I do not care about your love”? I too, am like a helpless child before pure love.</p>
|
||||
<p>I know the secret of God’s vulnerability, so if I carry a big bag of love when I go to God’s mansion I can do anything. I can ride anywhere piggyback on God and God would let me. God is far greater than I am in ideology, in knowledge and in life, so I cannot approach Him except through love. The kind of love that I am speaking of is not a greedy love but a sacrificial love for others.</p>
|
||||
<p>That love is the essence of God. Therefore, once we know that truth about God and understand His personality, we come to a clear vision of how we can live with God and make Him and ourselves happy. Even God could not stop a man who followed this way of life, and certainly Satan would have no power. Such a man would not even have to give a thought to Satan. If God, you and I are the group pursuing that philosophy and that way of life, can anything block us? For example, right now the world is trying to stop the progress of the Unification Church. Do they have power to stop us? Personally I choose to live this difficult way of life only because I know the love of God, and I know His vulnerability. Because we are talking about that love everyone here is wide awake this morning.</p>
|
||||
<p>A life-style of greediness will only bring this world into despair and destruction. If right at this moment all the four billion people of the world would do an about-face and turn from selfishness to unselfishness, what do you think the world would be like? If four billion people could have that realization then would God just doze and sit idle, or would His eyes pop open with excitement? If such a thing ever happened, God would shout, dance, sing, and act crazy for sure. Do you think there would be hope for an ideal world here on earth? Is the ideal world going to be eternal or just temporary? Is it far from reality or within reach?</p>
|
||||
<p>All that is necessary is for the four billion people of the earth to do an about-face, then all the work would be done. Could that possibly take only a moment, or would it have to take several decades, or even several centuries? It could happen instantly; you do not have to travel 9,000 miles to find true love. How can we change the minds of four billion people? Actually we do not even have to instruct them to do so; all we have to do is show them clearly what they would gain by doing it, and they would change on their own. For us the Kingdom of God is so close and so obtainable. Jesus Christ began his mission by saying that the Kingdom of God is at hand, that it is in the midst of us. He did not say that we had to die and go up to heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>How do you know that the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you? Simply speaking, the answer is that you are becoming a heavenly person, a person of God. That is the kind of person who goes out to give his life by truly serving and loving the world in order to unite it centered upon God. That is a godly personality. This is a religious ideology because it is concerned with human souls. It is the ideology of Jesus and of God and the root of it comes from God. This is why Jesus said that he had come to serve and not to be served, even though he was the King of Kings and the son of God. God will surrender to you when you stand on this fundamental, basic truth.</p>
|
||||
<p>Did Jesus want God to curse the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him? No. Instead Jesus asked God’s forgiveness for his enemies. He knew that God’s way of life would eventually blossom and bring down the blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. That ideology of unselfish love can fulfill God’s ideal and Jesus had the power to live it,</p>
|
||||
<p>Christians today are still a minority in the world. Are they respected by the rest of the population? Christians have become arrogant, feeling that they are especially privileged people of God and the rest of the world is doomed to die. Many Christians believe that when Jesus comes again they will be lifted up to meet the Lord in the air while the rest of the world is consumed in the fire of judgment. How can the rest of the world admire people like that?</p>
|
||||
<p>There is a subtle infiltration of individualism in contemporary Christian thinking. Right now a peculiar situation exists; many Christians have power and great social prominence, but when people meet them they find that they are not very impressive personally. Moonies, on the other hand, are ridiculed by the media and many people are strongly opposed to our Church. But once people meet our members, they experience a sense of new hope. They are surprised to find that we are wonderful people after all. Why is there such an amazing contrast?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Why do you want to go this way?</h3>
|
||||
<p>The answer is that our way of life is entirely different from conventional living. We are living a revolutionary way of life and trying, however imperfectly, to practice a life of service and love. Now that the heavenly secret of service has been unlocked, will you say that you simply cannot live that way, even though it sounds very sweet to your ears, or do you want to live it and experience it, going all the way to perfection? The first way is the selfish way of life and the second is unselfish.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you want to go the heavenly way only because I told you to, and because you want me to say good things about you? Have you decided to work hard for three years just so you can get married in the Unification Church, even though you do not care about the philosophy too much? Is that the right attitude to take? While the couples walk in to be blessed perhaps some of them are thinking, “I’ll graduate from peanut selling any moment now!” However, others might be thinking that after receiving the blessing they will sell ten times more. What kind of spouse will you be?</p>
|
||||
<p>How do you envision an ideal man? Does he have a great mustache and a custom-made suit? How about a pate, humble-looking man who is desperately trying to serve others and help people to re-build the world? That ideal man might not even have time to sleep at night, and during the day he might look like a sleep walker going down the streets. If you want an ideal man or woman as a wife or husband, then you are going to get such a person.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sometimes l press Mother to keep an impossible schedule and she wonders, “Why do you have to go so hard all the time? Why can’t you slow down a little bit?” Should Mother be like that? Your mouth is laughing, but your eyes are serious. You are responding with two different faces.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">God’s search for one true man and one true family</h3>
|
||||
<p>What has God been doing these years? Why did He not just tell people plainly what I am telling you this morning? I want you to know that God is not free to do that Himself. Instead He needs a representative who can embody His spirit. Until He could discipline, nurture, and train such a man, God could not say these things. God is now bringing human history to its conclusion. Before His philosophy could prevail throughout the world, God needed to find one man of perfection to live His ideal and then expand it to the family level. God wanted to remake history from the very beginning, so He has been searching for one man and one woman to make that new beginning. God has had to take a slow and gradual route, rather than instantly turning the entire world upside down.</p>
|
||||
<p>What kind of men and women does God need? God has been searching for men and women who are trying to give their lives to the fullest degree, to truly become the embodiment of His own way of life by giving totally for the sake of the spirit world and the earthly world. Until you give to the absolute degree you will not receive in the absolute degree. Absolute giving brings absolute receiving.</p>
|
||||
<p>The history of the chosen nation of Israel can be seen as one dispensation: the search for one true man and one true family. God will push that one chosen man out into a head-on collision with the world. In Adam’s family Abel gave his life in order to return his family to God. If Abel could have given the blessing to his elder brother instead of just being killed, then the will of God would have been fulfilled far sooner. When God asked Noah to build an ark, Noah made his shipyard on the top of a mountain instead of on the shore. Do you think even one person thought Noah was sane? Not even one. That is why Noah is unique. God was using Noah in a face-to-face confrontation with the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>When Abraham was called by God he was living decently and doing well in his own home town. But one night a vision came from God and he was told to drop everything and take off for some unknown land. Furthermore, God said to this man with a barren wife, “Your descendants shall be numbered as the stars in the sky and the sand in the sea.” Who could believe such a promise?</p>
|
||||
<p>All of a sudden Abraham was a gypsy with no direction or destination. Since he was not welcome anywhere he even went to Egypt. Do you think he went there willingly or helplessly, without any choice? And once in Egypt bad fortune was waiting for him; his nephew was taken away and the Pharaoh even stole his wife! Under those circumstances Abraham could either curse God, or deep in his heart he could maintain his faith in the blessing of God. Abraham was a man of iron will, the one obedient man that God was seeking. God was not seeking a group of people, but one man of faith, and Abraham met the criteria to become that man.</p>
|
||||
<p>When God looks at this world He sees basically two personalities: one like Abraham and the other like Pharaoh. Pharaoh would change even 100 times during the course of the day to gain his own advantage, but Abraham would never change, regardless of his situation. Ultimately God fulfilled His blessing through Abraham, and Satan could not accuse him because there was not even one other man like Abraham.</p>
|
||||
<p>Moses was similar in that he was a man of strong will. His love for his own people and his faith in God never wavered. John the Baptist, on the other hand, was also chosen to be God’s champion but he became a traitor to his own people. He brought tremendous misery, not only to himself, but to the world. John the Baptist is greatly responsible for the form of today’s Christianity. In contrast, Jesus Christ never changed at all. At the end he prayed to God, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It is not recorded but he must have also said, “Even though you may abandon me, I will never abandon you. I am your son.”</p>
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<p>What about you? Are you changing or unchanging? Your answer comes very easily but your actions do not come as easily. Because Jesus was unchanging, God was able to raise him up and give him the power to conquer the world even after he had died on the cross.</p>
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<p>What about me? How do you know I am not the world’s number one swindler? The rest of the world thinks so. If God gives me responsibility here on earth then Satan will accuse, “How do you know he is your son? How do you know he is not a person who changes?” God will answer, “I know who he is but you go ahead and test him, and then report back to me.” God should be able to say that with confidence.</p>
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<p>Indeed, Satan is testing me by mobilizing the American nation and the entire world to oppose me. Some people think that I will continue on in the name of God only as long as I have money. They are sure that once I become poverty-stricken, that my life is endangered, or that all of you leave, I will curse God and die. I know that this is Satan’s test and that God is waiting for Satan’s report so how could I become weak? I am striving to become the one unique man under the sun who can qualify as God’s one man of faith. I know that the criteria are not easy, and for that reason I welcome whatever difficulties come. In my own lifetime I have become the center of worldwide controversy and have received persecution everywhere.</p>
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<p>Even though some people are trying to destroy us, we are surviving and prospering. In this one room there are representatives of every human race and in becoming one with me, you are all treated alike. This one phenomenon says a lot about us. If the entire world is opposing me, then do I represent God’s way of life or the fallen world’s way of life? The mere fact that the entire world is set against me is good proof that I represent God. If I lived Satan’s way of life then the world would have no reason to oppose me. Further proof lies in the fact that I am not teaching you to take everything for yourselves. Instead I am asking you to give for the sake of the world by sacrificing your families, society, nation, and even the Unification Church for the sake of the world. This is my fundamental teaching and because of this doctrine I am being opposed.</p>
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<p>Do I represent good or evil? I am absolutely good, and therefore God-like on this point. Then am I a heretic? From God’s point of view I am completely orthodox. Those who do not agree are mistaken. In the Last Days the false will appear to be true and the good will appear to be evil.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Why be like genuine gold?</h3>
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<p>Are you like imitation or genuine gold? Genuine gold is the best conductor of electricity because it offers no resistance to a current. It has 100% conductivity. Gold is ready to conduct any amount of electricity. You should be like that, ready for any eventuality, willing to accept any mission. Then when God gives you energy you will have no resistance but instead will absorb it 100% like a sponge. Then it will not lie dormant in you but be amplified and used for the prosperity and salvation of the world.</p>
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<p>Both iron wire and gold wire can conduct electricity, but where will the electricity travel first? Electricity will travel first along the gold wire, switching to the iron wire only when the gold wire is carrying its full capacity. You do not have to wonder whether God or the True Parents recognize that you are working hard, because if you become a wire of genuine gold then the power of God will automatically flow through you to your fullest capacity. Without being genuine gold, even if you beg God to show you many secrets and visions, He cannot accommodate you. How God responds to you is up to you. Are you becoming that kind of man and woman? In that case you are genuine gold.</p>
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<p>Imagine that a powerful king orders you to be brought before him and he orders you to melt yourself on the spot. Would genuine gold obey such an order? The king might become enraged and order you to be beaten. The amazing thing is that when you hammer genuine gold, it only becomes more brilliant. Suppose God said to you, “I am the creator of the universe and you are only a chunk of gold so you must listen to me. I command you to turn into black dust.” Would you turn into black dust?</p>
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<p>My point is that when you become a true person you need not worry about hell, heaven, the world, or God. As long as you are genuine gold you will continue being genuine in whatever circumstances you may find yourself. Once you become genuine gold then God Himself cannot change you, and all hell cannot threaten you. Do not worry about who recognizes you. Even if you remain completely hidden, do not be concerned. Suppose the entire world acclaimed you as a hero but you turn out to be a fraud. What good would that be to you? But as long as you remain genuine gold, you will have no anxiety because you shall remain genuine wherever you may be, whether before the throne of God or at the bottom of hell.</p>
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<p>Why are we teaching that you must serve others? The serving person becomes the central person and the master of life. Those who live for others become the subjects because they are like God, and God is indeed the subject of the universe. Those who do not serve others are lonely people because there is nothing connected to them. It is the same in the Unification Church. Does anyone like someone who exploits others, speaking harshly and parading himself around as though he were the boss? Such a person would soon lose whatever position he had because he is not following God’s way of life.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Searching after your horizontal line</h3>
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<p>No matter how straight and true you may be as a gold wire, if you are suspended all by yourself from heaven to hell them you are unstable. You must be supported by others. A single lonely wire will never be ideal. The vertical line must be supported by a horizontal line. A vertical line and a horizontal line have the power to support each other, thus becoming solid and stable. Then power can move in one circular flow of energy. Why does that make the ideal? If you touch a person on top of his head, not only his head but his whole body senses your touch. If you pull just one hair, his entire body knows. Your whole body is completely alive; it has no dead parts. Because there is give and take between the parts of your body then whatever is happening in one area is communicated throughout.</p>
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<p>This is also true in God’s ideal. When something wonderful happens in one place then it becomes the source of happiness throughout the entire universe. When we achieve that goal what will happen? The universe will be in constant motion from give and take for eternity. Have you ever thought about the automobile wheel? What if it were square instead of round? When round wheels turn they can go anywhere without limitation. If you are a person with a vertical line then searching after your horizontal line means searching after your perfection and your mate. It is our responsibility and our destiny to become united with others. First your own mind and body must be united. Then you can expand your capacity for love and broaden your sphere of influence.</p>
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<p>We must be able to expand the scope of our unity. First mind and body must be united; then as we individually expand onto a larger scale men and women must become one by forming families, then a society, and nation, ultimately encompassing the entire universe. We are developing our horizontal lines of perfection, starting as individuals and then expanding to the family, society, nation and world, Individualism is very narrow and leaves no room to maneuver. As you develop an unselfish way of life your sphere of maneuverability and influence becomes larger and larger, and eventually the entire universe becomes your sphere of influence. Then the entire universe belongs to you. You must always be ready to become absorbed in a higher goal. By doing so, you are horizontally expanding yourself and expanding your sphere of influence.</p>
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<p>Everyone has the innate desire to expand his territory and position. To do this you need a reciprocal relationship between subject and object. Your goal is to eventually possess the most precious thing in the universe. This goal is reached through the process of giving; do not be satisfied with second best or relax until you reach that goal. This is a very wise way of life, because if you delay establishing your position until you possess God then the rest of creation will automatically become yours. When you reach perfection you will possess the highest position and there is nothing that will not come under you. Striving to reach that goal of perfection must become our daily way of life.</p>
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<p>God is brilliant, shining like the sun. You can stand directly in His celestial light, or you can stand to the left of that light, in a shadier area. Both areas are within the sphere of God’s influence, but the sunny area has a subjective role while the shady area has an objective role.</p>
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<p>When a subject in the sunny area is connected to heaven then the object is drawn from the shady to the sunny area. You have relationships both horizontally between men and women, and vertically between heaven and earth. Therefore, you must become a central, harmonizing person within these two kinds of relationships. You need both experiences. When you are together in the expression of love between man and woman and are united in love with God, then you are already united with the universe.</p>
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<p>Customarily we stand with the man on the right and the woman on the left because in this way the man protects the woman. The right side receives direct sunlight. In this relationship the man more directly receives the rays from heaven and his nature is to embrace, support and lead. Being in a more objective role, the woman has an innate tendency to rely or depend on the man.</p>
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<p>How about American women? When riding with her husband an American woman does not move after the car stops. She just sits until her husband gets out and opens her door like a servant. What if the man refuses, thinking, “I am the subject after all, and I will just sit.” Who will outlast the other if the man is determined to sit there and not open the door? The woman would have to give up.</p>
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<p>However, there is a dispensational reason why women occupy a more subjective position here in America. America is an archangel nation and for 70 years women should move forward and take the initiative. When restoration history is over, however, then American women must resume their original, feminine position. Today the woman’s voice is too loud in the American home. I will bring about a revolution in the American home by softening the women’s voices.</p>
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<p>Men and women have distinctly different body features. Men have broad chests and women have broad hips. Are you built thus for your own benefit, or are you made to fulfill a higher purpose? What if a woman had all the feminine as well as all the masculine features? Then she would be useless as a woman. She would be a monster instead, and men would not need her.</p>
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<p>Do you want to stay as you are or do you want to be a monster? That means you are existing for whom? You women exist for the purpose of serving men, but this formula does not only apply to you women. A man has strong, masculine features to serve a woman. God tailor-made women and men to serve each other. From the beginning of existence man was made for woman and woman was created for man. This is a fundamental principle of God’s creation. God did not create you for your own sake. He created you to serve each other and to become men and women united in perfection. We must live up to that ideal.</p>
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<h3 align="center">A selfish person has no way to elevate himself</h3>
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<p>Why are your eyes the way they are? Are these eyes existing solely for themselves? How about your ears? God made the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and hands to function perfectly for the needs of the others. When the subject takes the initiative and the object responds, then the subject can turn the object. This is the principle of action and reaction. When you push another person he will lose his balance, but if you quickly redirect your energy that person can right himself again. Once it is controlled, subjective energy stimulates the object to respond. This action and reaction creates universal beauty.</p>
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<p>The person who is trying to live for himself with the attitude that he is all-important is a destructive person who understands nothing about the universal law. Eventually he will become a victim of his own selfishness. What is the fall of man revealed in the Divine Principle? It is really the destruction of heavenly law and the redirecting of energy into a self-centered way of life. Because the archangel’s motivation was self-centered, he could initiate the fallen act. Then how could Eve have been tempted by Satan? Eve was vulnerable to temptation only because she was also motivated by selfishness.</p>
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<p>A selfish person has no way to elevate himself out of the unprincipled level. He needs to progress to the level of a servant, then the adopted son, true son and finally to the level of parents, but his selfishness will always prevent him from laying the necessary foundations. Only a sacrificial spirit of service can lay those foundations.</p>
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<p>The person of sacrificial service becomes a foundation. He brings himself down so that somebody can step on him and then he lifts that person higher and higher. On that foundation a new structure can be built. The restoration of the heavenly family becomes the building block of the Kingdom of God. That is the ideal of God and the point where God’s providence will be consummated.</p>
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<p>In the circle I have drawn the top half represents the Orient, and the bottom half the Occident. The Orient and the Occident are in a subject-object relationship. The materialistic culture of the West is now crumbling and Westerners are fuming toward the East in their search for spiritual inspiration. Only God’s ideology will govern the world in the future. If our way of life is the fruit of God’s own ideology then it will prosper, regardless of opposition. It is God’s mandate that the center of the dispensation is the ideal family.</p>
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<h3 align="center">You have a messianic role</h3>
|
||||
<p>A heavenly revolution is turning the satanic family into the God-centered family. The ideal family must be born as the building block of the Kingdom of God. The Unification Church has the terminology of “True Parents.” You are now true children and you will become true parents when you marry. What is the difference between the True Parents and you? You are only a step lower because you did not pioneer this mission, but your role as the true parents of your ancestors and descendants is the same messianic role.</p>
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<p>Why do you believe in Jesus? Why do you believe in the True Parents? The mission of the Unification Church is to become one with the Messiah who brings liberation to the satanic world. Then you are in the Abel position to the rest of the satanic world in Cain’s position. That means your role is a messianic one.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church is like a tree; God in heaven is the root, the True Parents are the trunk and you are the branches. What is the difference between the trunk and the branches of a tree? They are essentially the same. We are all inter-connected as in one tree. What if something terrible were to happen and Mother and I passed away as well as the rest of the Unification Church? If only one couple among you remained then your duty would be to fulfill the role of the True Parents! An entirely new world would spring from you. You must realize that even at this time you are in that central role.</p>
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<p>You must learn to think that the Unification Church is not my church, nor even God’s church; it is your church. Our success and foundation is your success and your foundation. You can say, “Actually Reverend Moon is employed by me and God is also working for me. All my brothers and sisters throughout the whole world are working for me, for my church, my movement and my perfection.” Whether there are hundreds or tens of thousands or even a million members in the Unification Church does not make any difference; each one of you possesses everything.</p>
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<p>I want you to go out to that wide world waiting for you with the conviction that you are the messiah. I want you to proudly present yourselves with that conviction and that commitment. Will God say, “No, no, no, you are not the messiah!” Will God be angry at you?</p>
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<p>You can think, “No one is trying to save the satanic world. I am the only one who is working to reverse the tide so I am truly doing the work of God. God needs more people like me.” Regardless of whether you are a man or woman you are a messiah. Such men and women will create true families in the ideal of God. Do you really feel, “Heaven and earth belong to me and I am responsible for everything. I am definitely committed to bringing this world to the throne of God, and even if I die I will return in spirit to fulfill that responsibility. I will not give up.”</p>
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||||
<p>Eventually we are all going to spirit world, but when we go we cannot freely return to work and help this world unless we are deeply motivated. Would you rather be dead and work from spirit world or would you rather work to consummate your duty on earth while you yet have this life in the flesh? In this flesh you can bring a total revolution with one great leap, but once you die you will no longer have that freedom. This is the age of miracles and here on earth you can perform such a miracle.</p>
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<p>When God lifts up His one ideal family then the whole universe will be lifted up, the same way that potatoes are unearthed when the plant is uprooted. Where that family moves the entire universe will move. That one family is the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God on earth. In searching for that family, God has felt such tremendous sorrow at the suffering of the Jews, the martyrdom of Christians and now the sacrifices in this age of the Unification Church.</p>
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<h3 align="center">We are creating a dramatic unity</h3>
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||||
<p>Let us imagine that somehow every man on earth was killed, leaving two billion women alive. What would you do in that case? You would be willing to swap even two-thirds of the women for just one crippled, hunchback man. Even such a man would be priceless in that situation. Would it be worth giving up nine-tenths of the women in order to have that one man? What if all but one woman had to be given in exchange for that one, ugly man? Why should you do it? The women alone could survive no more than 100 years and then the whole earth would be left destitute, but with that one man, posterity would be ensured. The same thing would apply if only men had survived. You would even sacrifice all but one man in order to get only one woman. There would be no other way. Imagine being blessed under the dramatic circumstance of your spouse being the sole survivor of two billion men or women. You must feel that your spouse is that precious. Then how can you complain?</p>
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||||
<p>Suppose God asked you to separate, promising that He would be your mate instead. You would probably answer, “Then You are no God! I don’t care about You.” Do you think that God would prefer to see Adam and Eve sharing in perfected love, or would He rather separate them that they might always love only Him? Would our God of true love want to see separation or unity? Would the genuine love of men and women be sacred or dirty before God?</p>
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<p>What about love in a world without God? Love can be as sacred and high as heaven or as dirty and low as hell. My responsibility is to discipline men and women in order to re-make them into the genuine gold of the original Adam and Eve, and bring them together in heavenly matrimony. That is my responsibility. Are you going that course now?</p>
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<p>Is it good for blacks and whites to marry each other? There are two types of unity. One spans a short distance, in which there is not too much difference between spouses in culture and language. The second, more dramatic unity embraces two extremes. We are creating the dramatic kind of unity. Who would make the perfect mate for a white person with blue eyes and blond hair? Shouldn’t we look for the darkest possible spouse? With that spirit will America prosper or decline? Then who can bring that spirit to America? Only I can do it. Even if the government spent two-thirds of its budget to do that it would never be able to create this spirit. To bring this nation into God’s ideal and prosperity the whites should marry blacks. As God watches the whites and blacks running towards each other, willing to unite and build one family, would God say, “Stop, your lineage will be stained,” or would He say, “At last, here are genuine men and women of heaven!”</p>
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||||
<p>When we look at families from God’s point of view, what pleases Him the most? Black sisters and brothers, you might have developed very narrow attitudes in the past but God cannot allow that to continue. You must not even be conscious that you are black. Merely walk with pride as sons and daughters of God. You are the most beautiful people in the sight of God as long as your spirits are beautiful. This black brother here moves my heart very much. Every Sunday he comes early to sit right in front of me, always with a burning spirit. When I come to the platform, I always look for him thinking, “Where is my little black son?”</p>
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||||
<p>All of you women, would you look at men with scorn? You rascal brothers, would you scornfully look at your wife and drive her like a slave? If you both answer no, then there is a possibility that you can create ideal families. The family is the building block of the society, the nation and the world. We must concentrate our efforts on the perfection of the family. Once perfect families begin to flower, we will see the beginning of the perfected society, nation and world. The joy and laughter of God will burst forth as God’s hope blossoms.</p>
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||||
<p>One ideal family is like one small stone dropped in a calm lake. That one stone makes a small ripple that spreads out, expanding into ever-widening waves. Eventually the whole lake will feet the effect of that one small stone. Would you like to pioneer that kind of family? When you look at Mother and 1, do we appear to be a happy couple? Actually I do not care whether you say yes or no; I only care about whether Mother says yes or no. I should also be in a position to say yes to Mother. Can you say, “Father, we will be like that; we want to pioneer that ideal family.” If you volunteer to become the number one family under the sun, then God bless you!</p>
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<div id="post-1149" class="post-1149 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE BLESSING</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:11:22+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-blessing.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:11:22+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-blessing.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">February 20, 1977<br />
|
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Belvedere, New York<br />
|
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
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<p>The blessing in our church has a very special meaning. You know through the Divine Principle that Adam and Eve, the forefathers of mankind fell. The fall was their deviation from their original position, and they fell down into an unprincipled realm, far from their original state. Because of the fall of man human history started from a position of sorrow and tears and could not reach a position of happiness and blessing. Then where can the blessing start?</p>
|
||||
<p>The history of the blessing must begin with Adam and Eve, and two positions are needed to consummate the blessing: the giver of the blessing and the receiver of the blessing. Since a blessing without God has no meaning, it can only be received centered on Him. By giving His blessing to all mankind God will receive it back again in glory. In that way the blessing belongs to God as well as to men.</p>
|
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<p>What is the content of this blessing? The blessing is a reward, the most supreme form of giving between God and man. In our secular world, the word blessing is used in many ways. If a person becomes rich, he might call it a blessing. If parents have good sons and daughters then someone might comment that they have a real blessing.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The blessing is life, love and the ideal</h3>
|
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<p>The blessing is given to both men and women. What is the most supreme blessing that they could receive? The supreme blessing is life itself, springing from the same origin as love. When we talk about life and love we are not talking about them separately; there must be one life and one love that originates from God. In other words, life and love are united in oneness in God. On the foundation of such life and such love the ideal can come about.</p>
|
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<p>You men here are wonderful, proud people, yet your lives come from one person, God. You know that you have life, but do you know that inside that life you have love as well? In reality your love cannot be seen or proven until you meet a woman. A woman is the one who will awaken your love. You can insist that you have love and try to prove it, but no one will see that love until the day it is sparked by a woman.</p>
|
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<p>Love will not be ignited unless a circuit can be formed. Electricity is similar in that it cannot be activated until a circuit is completed. A positive charge is manifested only in conjunction with a negative charge. You have that potential inside of you, yet it will not blossom until such time as it is activated.</p>
|
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<p>We also have an ideal, but that ideal will not be seen until it is stimulated by something. If one person is dancing alone with no one watching, he must be a little crazy. But if he has even a little puppy to dance with, then his actions make sense because he has something with which to have the give and take of joy. Unless that circuit is formed between subject and object, however, then that individual is really crazy. Even Almighty God, who has all power and dominion over creation needs to find an object in order to form a circuit of reciprocal give and take; otherwise no energy or activity can be really meaningful.</p>
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<p>I am just the same. If I were talking here alone, without you listening, I would be crazy. You are there stimulating me, and I am here stimulating you. Let us think of God. God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent; since He has everything and He can do everything, do you think He needs love? Can He generate love all by Himself? God does indeed possess the potential for love, the seed of love; the origin and base for love are within God Himself, yet until an object responds to His love, until a circuit is formed for that love, it will not be activated.</p>
|
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<p>Imagine God being all by Himself in this universe. If God is shouting out, “Boy, it’s a joyful day and I’m really excited,” then in that case God is crazy too. Now we are being taught the greatest part of the Principle: Even God needs an object. Even God needs someone to love and someone to be loved by. Without love, without the ideal the world of existence would not make any sense; it would be an absolutely pitch-dark, dead world.</p>
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<p>Why do we sing? Is singing the expression of joy and hope or hatred? Then how can joy be expressed? Songs can be divided into three categories: those that express a longing for joy, those that actually express joy and those that express sorrow over the lack of joy. In all three categories there must be a subject and object; a song about yourself alone would not be meaningful. When we talk about joy, we are automatically talking about someone else besides ourselves. The subject-object relationship is a prerequisite for joy. Before joy can exist there must be two poles that can form a circuit.</p>
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<p>Throughout history much art and literature have been created and all of these express a yearning for joy, joy itself, or sorrow. Do we all need someone besides ourselves? The birds sing; even insects sing, yet no matter how trivial they may be, their singing and beautiful sounds are not for themselves. They are for someone else, for a partner, for their neighbors.</p>
|
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<p>In sports a circuit is always formed between partners or teammates. Sports are primarily games which have two sides and one central purpose for either competition or unity. It is a most logical and important principle that this universe is made up of subjects and objects in reciprocal relationships, and they automatically have give and take which produces energy, the energy of life, the energy of joy, and the energy of love.</p>
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<p>What kind of subject or object do you need: something temporal and changing or something lasting and eternal? Why do you pursue an unchanging quality? It is because things that are unchanging are connected to the truth. Then what is truth?</p>
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<h3 align="center">Truth is eternal, unchanging and unique</h3>
|
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<p>Truth has three qualifications: it is eternal, unchanging and unique. Truth will never tarnish. Even in this secular world, the things people nominally consider treasures are materials or precious stones that will not change in color, tone or quality, and will not decay. Treasures then have a certain unique and eternal quality. For instance people consider diamonds to be precious; do diamonds change from morning to night?</p>
|
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<p>A diamond is harder than rock, and it has a unique shine which only a diamond can radiate. We can conclude that a diamond has unique, unchanging, and eternal qualities. Gold is also considered precious because it will not rust or tarnish; its quality remains on and on. A pearl also has a special kind of shine and uniqueness.</p>
|
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<p>Are we true men and women, or are we fake and artificial? This is a very serious question. You may think that you are true men and women, but when you really know the Divine Principle you must ask yourself again, “Am I really a true person, unchanging, unique and eternal?” Do your minds change? When you have a changing mind, are you real; are you a true man? Think about it-when a person’s mind is changing from morning to night, from one day to another, do you think his actions will also change or not?</p>
|
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<p>How about a person’s speech? When his mind is changing will his way of speaking change or not? That changing quality belongs in only one place: the trashcan. A prison could be called the trashcan of human society. There is also a big trashcan in spirit world which we call hell.</p>
|
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<p>What is hell all bout? Hell is where all the fake and untruthful things are gathered together into one place. The people in hell are fighting and struggling all the time; consequently there is no unity, no beauty or harmony there. Then what is heaven? The unchanging world where words and actions will not change is heaven. God’s Principle will not change, even after millions and billions of years.</p>
|
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<p>Should we welcome a changing quality or an unchanging quality? Let me ask a more serious question. You are men and women, but there are two kinds of men and women: true and fake ones. In which category do you belong? Men and women have their own individual pride and dignity and think that they have everything necessary to be the royalty of this universe. However, their quality will be decided upon looking deep down into their hearts.</p>
|
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<p>Your value as men and women will be decided by whether you are eternal, unchanging and unique. There are a million different kinds of people and levels of accomplishment. Neither men nor women are all the same. Is it true that the ideal is always changing? Is the ideal situation a temporary thing, remaining only a little while and then vanishing? Is the ideal a common thing, to be found anywhere, with nothing unique about it?</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">Communism is based on change, not truth</h3>
|
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<p>Today there are two worlds confronting each other: the democratic world and the communist world, both of which are pursuing certain ideals. Is the free world based on an unchanging truth or on one which is still changing? How about the communist world? Relatively speaking, which is closer to the ideal of God? Since you are living in the free world you might say that the free world is closer to the ideal, but perhaps the people behind the Iron Curtain will consider the communist world closer to God. Then how can we decide between them?</p>
|
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<p>There is a standard of judgment to determine which one is truer than the other. The truer one is the same on the inside and outside, the top and bottom, whereas the untruthful one always has different qualities on the inside and outside, the right and left, and top and bottom.</p>
|
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<p>The truth is always the same, whether on the right or left, top or bottom, inside or outside. In communism, though, the theory itself is based on change, on a theory which they call dialectical materialism. Therefore, communism cannot be true. Already their theory, their dogma, or ” ism,” is based upon the quality of change. In contrast, the truth is unchanging.</p>
|
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<p>In theory, communism strives to improve society by centering on division and confrontation. There is no unchanging purpose in that theory. It is not the eternal truth at all; it is based on a lie. Communists say that society will always divide into two factions, which must then clash in confrontation and create a new society through the ensuing struggle. Can you believe that men and women become united by fighting one another? In communist theory though, to reach the ideal, to be a good husband or wife, you must fight!</p>
|
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<p>The communist theory is destructive because it is based on a lie. Instead of bringing harmony, it brings division. Look at the communist system; because their own dogma, their own principle, is full of lies, they must use some method to cover it up. They can only sustain their power through using threats and clandestine operations, through creating fear in the hearts of the people.</p>
|
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<p>I recognize that the free world is imperfect and even corrupt, yet the free world acknowledges the eternal, unchanging, and unique nature of God. The free world is based on a God-accepting ideology and consequently is still closer to God. Particularly in the democratic system all men are recognized as equal, from the president down to the common man.</p>
|
||||
<p>The free world is at least making an effort to make its internal and external standards the same. There is no boundary between the internal and the external; the free world exposes to the outside everything which is on the inside, even when it is dirty and ugly.</p>
|
||||
<p>The communist leaders, however, regiment human society and separate people so that they are afraid to communicate. Between the government and the people there is no real communication. Even within families there is no real honesty between husband and wife because the husband is under the surveillance of his own wife, and the wife is under the surveillance of her own husband. In the communist system there are always secret agents everywhere; consequently, when people are given a certain mission they know that there are always eyes watching them on behalf of the government. The government is almost like a big eye watching everywhere.</p>
|
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<p>In order to get things done the government will threaten peoples’ lives. In order to hide the fundamental lie within their principle the communists are trying to conquer love. They try to control the peoples’ love, ideals and ideology by regimenting their thoughts. Under communist regimes you have no freedom to think.</p>
|
||||
<p>All the propaganda about the glorious reality of communism today is far from the truth. The communist system is a cruel system where there are unending purges and friends can become enemies or disappear overnight. The aim of communism is world domination; consequently the government policies are aimed toward conquest of the free world. But even if there were no free world to fight with, the communists would not be at peace; they would fight among themselves about how to apply their own principle.</p>
|
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<p>Right now the communist goal is to destroy the free world. If they achieved that goal they would inevitably destroy themselves because their ideology inherently fosters destruction. In other words, communism is now merging as a satanic ideology which aims to destroy the world and annihilate mankind.</p>
|
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<p>Russia and China are both communist, but they are mutually hostile and even internally divided into factions. They profess that the world will become one through fighting and struggle, but that is their biggest lie. Currently America lacks conviction and the communist ideology is not only influencing many Americans but is even accepted by many of them. By an order of God I came to America to declare that communism is the enemy of God and of humanity, and I came to liberate mankind from that false ideology. Should I be the only person to have that conviction?</p>
|
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<p>Everyone who is sincerely pursuing the unchanging, eternal, unique quality of truth must become a staunch adversary of the satanic ideology of communism. It is a very dangerous sign that here in America and elsewhere people cannot perceive why communism is so bad. They ask, “Why are you so bitter about communism? It may bring some good to the free world.” Such people are not true men, but men of changing conviction.</p>
|
||||
<p>Many people even advise me, saying, “After all, communism is a formidable power. Why are you making such a fierce crusade against it? You should be a little more diplomatic, a little more quiet about it.” Those people want me to just speak quietly about the other churches and leave them alone too because the Unification Church is still considered an insignificant movement. I cannot do that; the truth must be spoken.</p>
|
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<p>When God comes to the earth He will proclaim His truth. Therefore, a messenger from God must take His position and speak out strongly about the evils and corruption of society. If the government is doing something wrong, then he must speak out. If churches are in error, then he must speak out, and if the media is wrong, then he must speak out, and not only speak out, but live up to his words and make an earnest effort to correct the wrong. The situation is really a confrontation between unchanging and changing qualities. Which one do you think will inevitably fall?</p>
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<p>In history there have been so many battles. The army which has the most determined front-line soldiers will be the strongest one. Can a soldier decide to take a vacation from a war and tell the enemy to wait until he gets back? If you were commander-in-chief, which kind of army would you want-an army which is changing day and night, or one with unchanging conviction, which is always ready?</p>
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<h3 align="center">You must be unchanging</h3>
|
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<p>The same principle applies in our lives. Think of whether your own actions from day to day are unchanging. If you stand upon the Principle then your actions have quality and value. The teacher who has unchanging conviction is respected, regardless of whether he is criticized or not. Parental love toward children must be unchanging. Could a parent say, “I loved you yesterday, but I don’t love you today; I don’t want you.” Is that the love of a parent?</p>
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<p>Men have many kinds of occupations, including thieving and murder. What kind of man or woman are you? In the evil world more crimes are committed by men than by women. Do you admit that men are a little more dangerous? If a man with a rifle has one direction, one goal, then he is controlled and disciplined, but usually a man changes direction twelve times a day and his gun is being pointed in many directions. You must realize that your thoughts are like bullets and you are actually firing them every day. Most people fire them in many different directions, but the true person fires them in only one direction.</p>
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<p>The thoughts of an unprincipled, undisciplined person are erratic, going one direction in the morning and another in the evening. If that unprincipled man is smiling and beckoning you to come, you should hesitate because he is not truthful inside; he would try to exploit you or take advantage of you.</p>
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<p>When you realize how wild your thoughts are, going in twelve different directions, you can imagine what a dangerous person you can be! But are such people true or false, valuable or valueless? Should such people be encouraged or stopped? The important thing to consider is whether you belong to the kind of people who need to be encouraged or stopped.</p>
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<h3 align="center">An unprincipled culture is coming out of America</h3>
|
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<p>Do you want to be treated as a true man? Do you deserve such treatment? When God sees untruthful, unprincipled people whose lives are based on lies, without truth, with no central point how do you think God feels? Such men are not really men. In many cases men are worse than animals; isn’t that true? That kind of unprincipled culture is coming out of what is called the hippie culture here in America. In order to nurture our bodies we need food every day, not just once every several weeks. Do we need a balanced diet when we eat? Or should we go to extremes, eating only salt, or eating only sugar?</p>
|
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<p>We also need a daily diet of love, but love, too, give aid to poor nations. Do they receive that respect must be balanced, and not take some extreme form. now? In many cases American young people do not When you cat the wrong kind of food, a pound of salt know the value of freedom, saying, “I don’t need my or a pound of sugar, you have stomach trouble. In the parents; I don’t need my nation. I have my freedom same way, the wrong kind of love will give you and I can do anything, I want.” Where does that trouble. You will get “love diarrhea.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Many people enjoy what they call “free sex.” That kind of unprincipled, carnal, dirty love is deadly. It is like eating a pound of dirty salt or sugar in the form of love. The spirit of a person who engages in free sex is so distorted that it even seems non-human. That kind of spirit body is the most hideous, dirty human form in the world. There is medicine to cure stomach problems, but there is no cure for the damage that free sex does to your spirit. It will only destroy you.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you look at American society today, particularly at the lives of the young people, many deadly trends are seen: drugs, free sex, streaking. It is a form of judgment from God to expose human sins and the corruption of human nature. An operation requires cutting the body open; that is what is going on now in America. The dirtiness is being exposed. The American culture today is extremely materialistic, carnal, unprincipled, and immoral, and will bring the rest of the world down to hell. It need not be respected or followed. The God of morality and principle cannot forgive this or leave it alone. If America as it is now were acceptable in the sight of God, we would have to conclude that there is no God in this universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Unification Church we want to re-create ourselves as true men, acceptable in the sight of God. Will a true man accept only white people and not care about black people or yellow people? What is the concept of the true man? Are white people the only ones who appreciate precious things? What about blacks and Orientals? By the same token, the truth shines out-in the past, present, and future-to women, men, senior citizens, and young people everywhere. Even a criminal about to be executed would want to hold on to some precious thing he may have. The truth also has that value.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today the young people of America are needed everywhere; in the past the rest of the world has really respected the idealistic American youth who tried to give aid to poor nations. Do the receive that respect now? In many cases American young people do not know the value of freedom, saying, “I don’t need my parents; I don’t need my nation. I have my freedom and I can do anything I want.” Where does that person’s value lie? Such a man is useless to the world and to God.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">A new movement of truth must come</h3>
|
||||
<p>A new movement of the truth must come about which can bring man back to his true, original quality, which can shine up his rusty spots, and restore his original shine. That movement is none other than the Unification Church. Once the truth touches a man, then no one can stifle or remove it. When the truth comes into you it will clean you by judging all the foreign elements in you, by moving them out, and by preserving you in purity.</p>
|
||||
<p>All men, even in the fallen world, have a dormant desire for unchanging truth embedded deep in their innermost hearts. Even though they lead very extreme and carnal lives, once the truth touches them that sleeping desire will be awakened and immediately ignited. The cleansing process will begin, and that person will start a new life of internal discipline and good habits, and you will witness their new life well up from inside and grow. This revolution of man is completely possible with absolute truth and will happen quite instantly. Even though you may not recognize it right away, once the truth touches a man, this kind of revolution will automatically begin in his heart.</p>
|
||||
<p>Some of those people who are teaching Divine Principle in classes all over the world have never even seen me, however, the outside world still believes that I am a super hypnotist. In a way I am glad for that title; if that were the truth, I could hypnotize the entire communist world and the editors of the New York Times and the Washington Post. But that is not the reality. The reality is that the march of truth is going on, revolutionizing every human heart it touches. It is a slow process, but no power under the sun can stop my work because it is the march of truth.</p>
|
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<p>Young people of the Unification Church, why are you here? Is this a group for free sex? Drugs? Actually many people who were in despair came here and saw the light of truth and had a revolution of truth ignited in their hearts; now they are becoming genuinely decent, God-centered young people in the Unification Church. For that do you think I deserve a citation from the United States government or deportation papers?</p>
|
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<p>Are there more fake and dishonest things on the market, or items of genuine quality? In many cases the things of real value are hidden away somewhere, unadvertised. If a person has a million dollar diamond will he go all over the world and announce it, or will he just calmly cherish owning such a precious diamond?</p>
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<p>Will that person wrap it up in rags or in a beautiful cloth, hidden in a beautiful box in the safest place in his home? Actually, diamond owners who worry about thieves often wrap their treasures in very humble cloths, and keep them in some humble place in order to not attract attention.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God hid a diamond here</h3>
|
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<p>God operates on the same principle. God is giving us a true diamond-in this case, truth. God is not exhibiting that truth in some glittering palace but wrapping it in humble cloth and leaving it in a humble place like Belvedere. Are you sitting in a very gorgeous palace or a humble garage? I do not think you will ever find another church like this. You are sitting in a garage on a hard cement floor, shivering and aching because the wind is blowing in; downstairs they are listening without even seeing my face. This is really a unique church!</p>
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<p>Did you come with a willing heart this morning? Are you full of complaints now? Why not? It is because you found a diamond here in this humble setting, wrapped in humble cloth, and you can be the owner of that diamond. Do you have that joy? Your legs are becoming numb and aching, but your faces are shining and happy. People outside our Church cannot even imagine such a joyful experience in this kind of setting when they read about Reverend Moon and the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>The negative publicity has made our wrapping appear even more ragged and rough, and no one imagines that they might find some super-diamond inside. This is the situation right now. The people outside who enjoy luxury and power and fame do not even bother to look inside the Unification Church. Only those who are really eager to find the truth can end up in the Unification Church. This is God’s whole strategy. What we need in the Unification Church today are true men and women, not wishy-washy people who make half-hearted commitments. In order to find these people, God wrapped the Unification Church in humble rags.</p>
|
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<p>Is this a good or evil group? Shouldn’t I be unhappy, being misrepresented to people by the media and accused of crimes by all sides? In reality though, I am the happiest person in the universe. I am aloof of what the world is saying about me because I am addressing history. I know that history is my friend; the past, present and future will be on my side. I am transcending national barriers, cultural barriers, religious credal barriers, and language barriers, bringing one solid concept of the unity of love.</p>
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<p>Recently there has been a trend towards imitation, for instance, imitation pearls and diamonds. I am sitting like a true diamond among the imitations at the auction. My own diamond looks the same as the others, even more unassuming, while the imitation diamonds are huge and glittery. Now people are deciding what to buy at the auction; many white people are saying, “I don’t want that particular humble diamond.” Maybe yellow people will feel that way too, but who knows, maybe the black people will say, “I will settle for that humble diamond.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">Blacks have an important mission</h3>
|
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<p>I see that in sports more and more blacks are the prominent world champions. Every year more blacks are emerging at the top, replacing whites. Is that true? I hope that blacks in America and all over the world will have the wisdom to recognize the true diamond of truth. If blacks are equipped with God’s ideology, then, coupled with their sense of physical power, I think they have a glorious future that white people could never compete with.</p>
|
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<p>Who is opposing me the most here in America? Our adversaries are primarily white; however, the more that the whites oppose us, the greater is the chance for blacks to receive God’s blessing. Heaven will never lose. Our black brothers and sisters are going to be important. A black man played an important role at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. When Jesus stumbled while carrying his cross to Calvary, a black person, Simon of Cyrene, took up Jesus’ burden. That act was very significant; when the Last Days come, black people will be burdened with an important mission from God and will contribute greatly to God’s overall dispensation.</p>
|
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<p>It is important, however, that blacks be equipped with the true ideology. Corruption has come primarily from white society. Because of this I feel that some dynamic black spiritual leaders will be the hope of America in the future. Where would you go then? You must launch a heavenly assault on the white people in order to liberate them.</p>
|
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<p>The satanic way of doing things is to just attack. But in the Unification Church we want to embrace and liberate the people. I never tell you to attack the communists and kill them. I tell you to liberate them, to save them. This is one major difference between God and Satan.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">What is true love?</h3>
|
||||
<p>Actually I have not talked much about blessing this morning. Let us go back to that topic. We have reached one interesting conclusion: truth is eternal, unchanging, and unique. What is the core, the central point of truth? Everybody likes true love. What is true love then? Let us look into that unchanging quality of love in this world.</p>
|
||||
<p>The love between parents and children is closer to the qualification of the truth-that is, unchanging and everlasting-than the love between husband and wife. And in that love between the parents and children, the love going from the parent to the child is much closer to that quality of truth than the love going from the child to the parent. The love going from the parent to child is the trunk line of love, the central point which does not change from age to age. In order to become a recipient of this unchanging love of the parent, the child should also become a person who can give unchanging love. His love will be manifested in the form of obedience to his parents. If the child has a willing heart of voluntary obedience to his parents, then the parents and child can be united.</p>
|
||||
<p>Can true love be found through money or organization? No, but we can find true love through obedience to and harmony with our parents. Distrust and division are the opposite of harmony and unity, and make it impossible to create a base of love. The most important truth in this universe is that God is the parent of mankind, and that Adam and Eve were the children of God. This most important relationship did not come alive for humanity. What should happen in order to have that true love come into being? God’s children must become obedient and unite with Him.</p>
|
||||
<p>There is only one way that children can become one with their parents: in willing obedience to them. Did Adam and Eve obey God? By their disobedience their relationship with God was destroyed. Before anything else, we must restore mankind’s obedience to our parent, God. To restore all the destruction and the fallen actions of mankind a movement of unprecedented obedience to God, one that can bring unity between God and men, must come about. That is a prerequisite to fulfilling the love of God and the love of man. Once you become one with God by obedience, He becomes yours and you become His. God becomes you and you become God through the explosive power of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>This same principle applies between husband and wife; they should always be saying yes to each other. If a suggestion comes from her husband then the wife should answer yes. If a suggestion comes from his wife, the husband should answer yes. Will that bring them into unity or not? Through that harmony will their love disappear or be intensified? Should men, women, or love be the central point? Love must be the center. Nobody can deny this logic.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Communists will not succeed<br />
|
||||
in breaking down love</h3>
|
||||
<p>Communists are trying to break down love, even the eternal love of parents for their children. The nature of parents is to love their children, but communists have denied that and are trying to eliminate that love. Do you think they will succeed? They will never, never succeed.</p>
|
||||
<p>If the son or daughter of the top official in the Soviet government committed some crime against the communist party and was sentenced to death, would that communist boss look at his own child at the execution site and say, “You are my child, but you deserve your death. You committed crimes against the communist party and you should die; I curse you”? Or at that moment would he forget about being the boss of the communist party and plead, “Is there any way I can save my son? Is there any way that there can be mercy for him?” As a parent, would he have compassion on his child, or would he curse him?</p>
|
||||
<p>How about the theoreticians or the philosophers who teach Marxism at the universities? They teach that Marxism is the universal truth which will liberate all mankind, but when their own children make a mistake or deny that philosophy and are sentenced to some cruel punishment, how will they feel? Can they completely liberate themselves from their human nature?</p>
|
||||
<p>Laborers and factory workers and farmers all feel the same emotions for their children. Are there varying degrees of human nature? Parental love is a natural law. Even animals instinctively know their offspring and try to protect their precious babies. When you see a hen trying to protect her little chicks you know clearly that protection of the young is an innate instinct. Is there power which can revolutionize this animal instinct? With dialectical materialism can they reorganize the animal world, saying to the chickens, “Chicken, you must believe in Marxism!” Nothing can revolutionize this basic nature because God created it that way. No one can overpower God’s Principle of Creation. Can you accept that logic?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">God wants to be the Parent of mankind</h3>
|
||||
<p>Where does parental love originate? Are we born with it? Do we learn it somehow, or is it automatic? It must have some universal origin. Your parents came from their parents, and their parents came from your grandparents. There must be a starting point somewhere. We know that this beautiful human nature was created and given because we are resultant beings; we ourselves are not the cause of the universe. Since we have certain innate natures as resultant beings, we must have some origin or cause; we are the mirror image of that cause.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is scientific that there can be no result without a cause. There is a universal first cause for every being, every instinct, and every human nature, and we call that first cause God. God wants to be the Parent of mankind. This is the reality that no one can deny or revolutionize or destroy. That principle persists in this universe, even in the fallen world. Parental love toward children is built-in, and because of that particular instinct there is hope of restoration, even after the fall</p>
|
||||
<p>Therefore, any true religion always touches this basic principle. Any religion which clearly teaches this principle will become a superior religion. Such a religion recognizes God as the one common Parent of mankind, and recognizes that we, as the children of God, are trying to restore our innate, original relationship with our parent. Religion is merely God’s effort to restore man back to that relationship. Philosophy can never unite the world; it is impossible. Neither can we unite the world through money or power. Knowledge, money and power will never bring oneness or create the ideal world.</p>
|
||||
<p>In human history, saints who came to save mankind did not rely on money, power, or knowledge; they always came to bring unity to the world by centering upon the love of God. They attempted to crystallize man’s recognition of this one Supreme Being as his universal Parent, and tried to unite mankind with the love of that Supreme Being. That has been the effort of all the saints of history.</p>
|
||||
<p>What kind of God is He? Without a doubt He would like to establish Himself as the loving Parent of all men. Then what would He cherish most? What kind of man would God call His son? Clearly the man who could be just like God in trying to love the world and to love mankind as his brothers and sisters would qualify as God’s son. This is the wish of parents the world over. Even more than having their children bring many gifts and much love to them, parents want to see their children loving their brothers and sisters in beautiful harmony. Parents are grieved to see their children quarreling among each other even though they may bring many gifts to their parents.</p>
|
||||
<p>If a parent had several children who loved each other, gave gifts to each other, embraced each other, and really helped each other, no parent would look at that and complain, “Why do you children love each other more than you love me?” God is the same: He wants us to really love each other as brothers and sisters.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to restore the fallen world we must live up to God’s expectation; we must position ourselves as His sons and daughters and try to live up to His expectation by loving our brothers and sisters horizontally. Through this action we can be recognized by God as His children.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">With parental heart, you have a messianic role</h3>
|
||||
<p>If you become men and women who feel precisely as God feels, then you are not only loving your own brothers and sisters, you are elevating yourself to the parental position of mankind; you want to take care of them, and really give them the blessings of God. If you feel that way, regardless of your nationality or race, you are in a messianic role. That kind of man must emerge to show mankind how to be that kind of parent.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are many saints in history who came to this earth proclaiming the truth of the love of God for humanity and loving humanity as their brothers and sisters, but there is not yet one saint who has proclaimed to the world, “I love you not only as your brother; I love you as your parent, your living father.” The only one in history who came with this concept, this conviction, is Jesus Christ; Jesus came as the father of mankind.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of Jesus at his crucifixion on the cross. The people were rebellious children. The Israelites and Roman soldiers were laughing and scornful of him, even piercing him with a spear; yet instead of cursing them, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Only the father of mankind could have embraced such sinners with such a parental prayer. Parental love is capable of forgiving the worst criminal, even when that criminal is on his way to be executed. Parental love is capable of forgiving the enemy who intends to kill the parent. Even as an enemy is aiming his weapon, a person of parental love can still extend his hand in blessing and forgiveness. Only parental love is capable of doing that, and that is precisely how God feels and how God acts.</p>
|
||||
<p>The person who can start a movement which can live up to the noble standard of God’s love will be the moving force to unite all the races, religions and nations because that is the cause that God is pursuing. That man will not be working alone; the power of God will be acting through him.</p>
|
||||
<p>Such a world would not be possible under communism. Neither can any philosophy in the democratic world make it possible. Only a religious crusade focusing upon the central parental love of God could bring about the unity of mankind. Is it logical or not? in human history all the cultural spheres centered upon religious movements. It was always a new religious movement that brought a new culture; that is the pattern of human history. Among the many religions, which one is the true one?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Characteristics of the true religion</h3>
|
||||
<p>The true religion is the one that can bring God down as the Parent of mankind and raise mankind up as the children of God, stimulating brotherly love in human society. That religion will bring about one world, one family of man, one family of God. That is the central characteristic of the true religion. You can evaluate Buddhism, Islam and Christianity from this one principle. They each have their own light of truth, but you can see clearly that Christianity is the highest.</p>
|
||||
<p>The greatest declaration about Jesus was that he was the only begotten son of God. What is a begotten son? He is the trunkline, the only object or recipient of the full love of God. When we compare these words to the qualification of this true religion, they are the same. Jesus proclaimed, “I am in the Father and the Father in me.” He said that he could not do anything but the will of his Father in heaven. When you read the Bible, it is obvious that Jesus is the trunkline of God’s truth and love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus proclaimed that he came in the position of bridegroom to all humanity, but he also placed himself on the horizontal level, relating to everyone as a neighbor, teacher, brother and friend. The Bible has many points that are difficult to understand, but its message definitely contains the basic qualifications of a true religion of God. It is crystal clear that Jesus’ purpose for coming was religious, and that Christianity is indeed the religion to bring God’s new culture here on earth. Did Jesus come to preach the gospel in spirit world, or did he want to see that gospel consummated here on earth?</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus came as the father of humanity. Was it the children’s duty to kill him, or to be obedient to him and become one with him? It is most obvious that dying on the cross was not the purpose for which Jesus came and it is not the way that complete salvation can be fulfilled. This is clear, simple truth.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus had to leave this earth 2,000 years ago with his mission unfulfilled. His mission here on earth has not been completed, which is why the Second Coming is an absolute necessity and why it cannot be fulfilled on the clouds of heaven. As a man receiving the love of God, do you think Jesus could completely fulfill the will of God here on earth all by himself? Jesus is a man, isn’t he, not a woman or a neutral person?</p>
|
||||
<p>He is a man. Then do you think that Jesus would be capable of loving a most pure, God-centered woman? If Jesus looked upon a woman as his bride and felt love moving within him, would God have said, “I didn’t send you down to feel that! Stop that! Turn around!”</p>
|
||||
<p>How about earthly parents? Would they want their children to grow up to be 25, 30, or even 40 and still know nothing about love, but just earn money and give their parents gifts? Don’t parents really want their children to grow to maturity, to realize the depths of love, and to form a family to consummate their love? Is this disgraceful in their eyes, or welcome?</p>
|
||||
<p>Did God have any different desires when Jesus was here on earth? What was God’s desire for Jesus? When He sent His son down here on earth God wanted Jesus to reach perfection and to establish one heavenly family here on earth. Then did Jesus understand the heart of God or not?</p>
|
||||
<p>After fulfilling perfection himself, Jesus was just about ready to take a bride here on earth and go to the next stage of fulfillment when he was crucified. He was not given the opportunity to set up his heavenly family. In that case should he come again to earth or not? Was his crucifixion a time of joy for God, or did it deeply grieve Him?</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus knew the heart of God, and when he was crucified he said, “Oh my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Did he come to die, or not? The crucifixion brought tremendous grief to the heart of God; God had sent him down as His only begotten son, and God deeply wanted to see Jesus as the center of his only begotten family, only begotten society, nation and world. That was God’s hope. When that hope was crushed by the rebellion and faithlessness of the people, leaving the mission undone here on earth, it became God’s desire to send another Messiah, a second son here on earth to fulfill His will 100%. Once God conceives His will, can He give it up simply because of the situation on earth?</p>
|
||||
<p>At the heart of Christianity is the relationship between the bridegroom and bride: the Christian churches are to prepare themselves in the position of bride. When the Messiah does come in the end times, he will be a living bridegroom, with all humanity as his true bride.</p>
|
||||
<p>Even though Christians may have understood this concept, they are not living up to their responsibility; Jesus’ will and God’s will have been very much misrepresented for 2,000 years. The Christian churches have been separated from the will of God. Therefore, in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, a new Christianity must emerge, and the present churches which have deviated from the will of God, will inevitably decline. That true Christianity must come about. Then what form must that new Christianity have?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">As the new Christianity,<br />
|
||||
we must go beyond Adam and Eve</h3>
|
||||
<p>The new Christianity must be the highest form of religion, perfectly fitting the criteria of God’s true religion. Centering upon God in absolute obedience, let us bring unity between God and men in reality here on earth. As restored Adam and Eve, we must go beyond their level of fulfillment; in order to restore their failure, we must make ourselves superior in obedience, in trust, and in love. Therefore we must go beyond the limit of our life.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to have a superior position to Adam we must deeply understand Adam’s failure. Self-centeredness became a very important part of his life, and ultimately brought the fall. To reverse the fall we must disregard ourselves and live only for God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The world of self-centered families, societies and nations will crumble eventually. This is certain because everything starts from God and ends with God. In the Unification Church we proclaim that we are all brothers and sisters with no racial or national boundaries between us. Jesus wanted to bring all mankind into one brotherhood of man; now we are going to live it. Furthermore, we will bring ourselves one step higher, to the position of parents toward humanity.</p>
|
||||
<p>We will take care of the world, meaning that we will save the world. We are going to give the world spiritual as well as physical food, and bring the people to salvation. Since we are fighting with our lives, nothing can stop us. We have already conquered death. Death has no meaning, no power over us, which makes us an invincible heavenly army.</p>
|
||||
<p>In your mind the unchanging quality of God’s love is growing. The stronger the persecution you meet, the greater your conviction becomes because you see clearly the confrontation between your changing nature and your unchanging nature. Eventually that tendency to change will crumble. That is the power of the Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<p>The outside world is trying hard to uncover that power, but it is not some clandestine formula, or the power of some kind of brainwashing. The power of God’s love is real in your heart. Simply speaking, do you want to follow me or not? Do you really mean it? If I cursed you, pushed you out and kicked you, would you still follow? You know that this is the central trunkline where the love of God is working.</p>
|
||||
<p>With the love of God in your heart you have a universal passport to any country, to anywhere in Father’s heart; you do not have to show a visa. Not only that, in the Kingdom of God you can go right into God’s heart. In this country a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, has become President of the United States and his wife has become the First Lady. Because of her relation to the President she does not need a pass to go to the White House. Even if she had only one eye, she would still be loved by the President and respected as First Lady.</p>
|
||||
<p>External appearance and differences in education and background mean nothing in front of true love. The power of love unites, transcending everything. Even if I were the worst criminal on earth, if you become the recipients of God’s love, then nothing could keep you from being the princes and princesses of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>If I did not know this core truth then I would not have waited for kidnappers like Ted Patrick; I would have surrendered long ago. No one can subjugate the Unification Church. Am I just speaking out of some capricious whim, or am I a man of deep thought and love? Even though I am speaking entirely in spiritual terms, I am speaking to your level of logic.</p>
|
||||
<p>If my goal were to become a respected scholar I have a good enough brain that I could have won dozens of doctorates in different fields. With such a good mind, why didn’t I take some honored position and become a great philosopher or historian? For thirty years I have been a religious leader persecuted everywhere I go. Am I absolutely foolish to have taken this route? Actually I have been absolutely wise.</p>
|
||||
<p>I have a real treasure that I would not exchange for anything in the world. People are very scornful of me only because they do not understand the treasure that I have. Once they really understand, it will be impossible to turn them away from Belvedere and you will have no room here.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are some workshop people here with long hair. I want to know if you feel you have really found something here or if you have ended up in the wrong place. Is it worth hearing me say that we must die for the nation and the world, giving ourselves to humanity? In return for your sacrificial service I can promise and deliver the most incredible reward; not only here in this world, but hereafter in heaven you will be prisoners of God’s love for eternity.</p>
|
||||
<p>If I wanted to make a cave somewhere and disappear, probably I would take only Mother with me. Even then I am sure that hundreds of you would be digging tunnels to reach me. No one would order you to do it, but just the same you would try to reach me. You are really crazy.</p>
|
||||
<p>Some of you have been here since 3 o’clock in the morning, shivering and icy cold on the cement floor, and it is 9 o’clock now. I have already spoken for 3 hours. Normally a church sermon will not last more than 15 minutes. People outside have a saying that no soul is saved after 15 minutes, but we have been going on for three hours.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">You cannot forget what you learn in this church</h3>
|
||||
<p>You miss a good night’s sleep and breakfast to be here. Still, after three hours of listening you feel a spark of the love of God. You may be wondering how in the world you can live such a dedicated life, but try anyway to commit yourself. A brand new world is opening itself to you and a new vision is coming alive; as your old world vanishes you will see a new world emerging. In that sense the Unification Church is a mysterious place; even if a person stays only a few months and then runs away, in a few months or even a few years he will come back. You simply cannot forget what you have learned in this church.</p>
|
||||
<p>In Japan and Korea there are some people who really dedicated themselves to our church for several years, but as they found themselves getting older, their families started to pressure them to get married instead. They eventually did leave to get married, and some of them have limousines and live in elegant mansions. Yet they are terribly unhappy. Some of them have come back, saying that they would rather begin all over again in the Unification Church than continue their life outside. Some of those people even fled Japan and Korea and re-joined the Unification Church elsewhere. In Japan our fund raisers have met some of these people. One lady answered the door of a big mansion and gave a really generous donation to one of our fund raisers. All of a sudden she started to cry, and said, “I envy your position. Do well.” Later we found out that she was once a Unification Church member. Even though she had left, in her heart she could not forget, could not get away.</p>
|
||||
<p>Throughout your whole life you will never forget your first experience of love with a man or woman. By the same token, how can you forget your first love with God? In the Unification Church we have experienced the deepest love between God and man. No one can forget that.</p>
|
||||
<p>As we emerge as a formidable force on the worldwide level, it is inevitable that people become fearful and persecute us. But I want you to know that this is the strategy of God. We are being attacked and hit again and again, yet we will never lose. If we do not receive persecution then the Unification Church is not a real church at all. We will never become princes of the new age without having overcome persecution.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you trainees know the reason why we have short hair and do not grow beards in the Unification Church? We are running all the time, and when you run you get hot. Furthermore, your long hair is heavy and will interfere with your activity. It is far better to have short, well-groomed hair and no beard. After you have been a member for a few months then on your own you will cut off your beard and long hair. Also we do not have much time in the morning to take care of long hair, but short hair is always ready to go. Actually I never adopted a policy that our brothers should have short hair and beards, but it has automatically become our tradition. When our work is finished then you can grow hair as long as you want and even decorate it with flowers.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is not like other churches. I want you to think deeply before you join because once you come in I want you to become a true, unchanging person. Our way of life is not easy. You should anticipate hardship and suffering, and you should willingly discipline yourself. As you begin to run, do you want to gain momentum or lose power and relax? It is a law of nature that running becomes easier and requires less energy as you gain momentum. That is why I have been running quickly, gaining momentum and speed all the time. Since coming to America I have invested so much money and time that I cannot slow down.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Only love can create perfect unity</h3>
|
||||
<p>So far we have talked about vertical unity between God and man, but that alone is not sufficient. We must have horizontal unity, man to man and husband to wife, as well as the unity of life, love, and the ideal. Where will that unity begin? Life alone cannot create perfect unity, nor can an ideal alone create perfect unity; only love can create perfect horizontal unity. Then which comes first? Did you come from love or did you come from life?</p>
|
||||
<p>We can see that the universal origin is either life or love. God’s creation of the universe was for one purpose: the fulfillment of the love of God. Love is the key word. The meaning of the world that God created will not be fulfilled only by life, or by His ideal. It will be fulfilled by love.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you truly love, you are happy to be completely consumed and completely dominated by that love. The more that love dominates you, the happier you are. Out of that fulfillment of love comes the ideal, and when that ideal blossoms it will consume the rest of the world and more.</p>
|
||||
<p>Love energizes and creates an abundance of life; it is active and moving every moment of the day and night, penetrating everywhere. A child is first conceived in the love of his parents, and participates in their lives as a manifestation or blossom of their love. Love and the ideal together brought you into this world. No two lives can be united without love; husband and wife cannot become one without love. Love is the only power that can bring two lives into one, and the ideal emerges when this love is consummated. That is the place where each one of you was born.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because you are truly a manifestation of the love, life and ideal of your parents, you are part of them. Can you separate yourself from them? Anyone trying to separate children from their parents is an enemy of God; His purpose is to light a spark of love and the ideal between parents and children. A child is inseparable from his parents.</p>
|
||||
<p>What about your own parents? Are you one with them? When men and women who are inseparable from the love of their parents vertically unite into that same kind of love as husband and wife, their relationship as husband and wife should also be inseparable. This reality actually shows that God’s ideal is for the parents and children, and husband and wife to live together in one home. This is what we call a family. Everyone wants to be wherever the father or mother goes; they all want to be together as a basic family unit.</p>
|
||||
<p>Is unity and harmony the ideal or is the separation of the family the ideal? If God and Adam become one, and Adam and Eve become one, then automatically God, Adam, and Eve are all one in life, love and ideal. That was the original intended purpose of creation.</p>
|
||||
<p>American sisters, after you are blessed and have a family, would you like to invite your in-laws and your own parents to be part of your happiness? Only a few are saying yes. It is common in America that wives do not want to bother with in-laws when they get married. The Unification Church will bring a new tradition, regardless of what America has been practicing. Will that be an easy task?</p>
|
||||
<p>Americans are taking their own course and do not want to be bothered by a Korean man. Americans have not given me a sign of appreciation, only apprehension and mistreatment. However, I have no hard feelings toward them, or desire for revenge. I came to show the unconditional love of God. Do you love me more than your own parents? I am being criticized by parents who accuse me of stealing their children.</p>
|
||||
<p>That is an inevitable occurrence because they cannot deny this deep sense of love toward me here in our church. Your loving me is not a crime because here the true relationship between the eternal, living God and the True Parents and yourselves is being created. Eventually you will bring your own family to this relationship, after you become part of the central family of God. At that time I will tell you to go back and love your natural parents more than you love me, and to bring them into God’s family.</p>
|
||||
<p>We are all products of the fallen world. That world is still lying out there and we are destined to save it. You joined the Unification Church as champions of God; let us establish a place where we can bring our families. All I am asking of the parents is that they give you a chance; they do not have to worry about their sons and daughters because you will soon come back to them as strong, dedicated, obedient children.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Adam and Eve should have manifested<br />
|
||||
God’s own love, life and ideal</h3>
|
||||
<p>Because Adam and Eve did not demonstrate their obedience and unite with God, He could not bless them in heavenly matrimony. God’s love must be at the center of His blessing, but because there was no way for His love to be consummated in them, God had no way to bless Adam and Eve in heavenly matrimony.</p>
|
||||
<p>Adam and Eve had no one to teach them in the garden of Eden the way I am teaching you here. They were ignorant of God’s Principle, but when they were approaching maturity their sense of love came alive. As they entered their teens they came to know love. Men and women alone cannot realize the maturity of love, but together they can come to understand the sensation of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>As Adam and Eve were growing up their relationship with God was an individual one, but in order to complete it as one circle, there must also be a horizontal realization of love. That realization is what we call the love of husband and wife. When the love of God, the life of God and the ideal of God are individually perfected in Adam and Eve, then the individually perfected love, life, and ideal of Adam and Eve can be united horizontally in the love of husband and wife. Then one circle is completed and together they manifest God’s own love, life and ideal on the horizontal level.</p>
|
||||
<p>Should that love be changing from morning to night? As long as God dwells in such love it will be eternal. The person who embodies that love will feel responsible for his surroundings. The blessing of the Unification Church is the manifestation of the life, love and ideal of God on the physical, horizontal level. A husband and wife united together become the perfect object of God, and a circuit of give and take is created between God and that couple. That is where the true, ecstatic joy of God can be consummated.</p>
|
||||
<p>Love therefore is divine and sacred. Now however, love has become a weapon of Satan. The love that Satan uses is dirty, impure, and absolutely destructive. When you become a true man or woman, unchanging, unique, and eternal in the sight of God, you become an embodiment of the truth. Only then are you eligible to receive the blessing.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Unless you are unchanging,<br />
|
||||
you are not entitled to the blessing</h3>
|
||||
<p>People should not think of their forthcoming blessing in an earthly or secular way. It is a holy, sacred matrimony and sacred responsibility comes with it. Even if your head is chopped off, or your arm or leg, you must be able to say to God, “God, I am a true child in your sight. I will not change; I will be eternal; I will be unique.” Unless you can pledge this, then in the sight of God, you cannot come to the ceremony of the matrimony of heaven. Only when you have that conviction are you entitled to the blessing. You know the truth; then the truth must make you free. You are going to liberate your ignorance. You must stand firmly in the sight of God and say, “God, my Father in heaven, look upon me as your son, as your daughter. You can rest in me, and you can trust me; you can depend on me. I am unchanging, eternal and unique; I represent you.”</p>
|
||||
<p>You might even go one step further. God will not hate you even if you boast, “God, even though You may change, I will not. Even though You may be temporal, I will outlast you.” Instead, God will smile at you, “How wonderful that I have some hard competition here.” God would like that kind of competition.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the garden of Eden, God was anticipating the day that Adam and Eve would come forward saying, “God, we are your son and daughter; we will not change.” That is the day God would have given them His blessing. But God never saw that day. We want to show that scene to God now in the Unification Church. When men and women with that conviction are united into one, you will automatically see God coming down to dwell with you. You need not go up; God will come down.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The power of love will bring God down</h3>
|
||||
<p>The power of love will bring God down, making Him a prisoner in your own home. Love is stronger than life, uniting mind and body, uniting men and women; through love God’s dwelling will be with you. If God is dwelling with you and you truly become a temple of God, when God says, “I’m so happy!” then your mouth will automatically say, “I’m so happy!” Your mouth will become God’s mouth.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you know clearly why your mind and body are struggling all the time? It is because love was removed through the fall of man. Since your mind is subject, your body was supposed to be an object and unite completely with your mind. However, your body has been acting as another subject. Two pluses repel each other, and Satan has controlled your body through that disunity. Your body was chained by Satan to unhealthy, carnal and lustful desires. That is why religious teachings have always emphasized subjugating your body. In that way your body, instead of being plus, becomes a minus and completely harmonizes with the mind.</p>
|
||||
<p>Throughout history the good religions have always had one thing in common: They were never kind to the body. They sought to transform the arrogant subjective body into an objective, humble, meek body. That has been the basic teaching of all universal religions.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is the meaning of the blessing. You do not need God first; you need love. When you have this love then God will automatically become your prisoner. This is the secret for catching God. Even without any concept of God, if you become the owner of love and live up to that love, then God will automatically become your prisoner. The focal teaching of all good religions is love.</p>
|
||||
<p>In all history God has had no one capable and qualified to be blessed. The Unification Church has formed the foundation for the first time upon which the revolution of man’s love could take place, making each individual qualified for God’s blessing. When you become the embodiment of that blessing and when you spread it out, the entire world shall become the world of blessing. I am really laying an eternal, unchanging foundation in America.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am also laying a foundation in 120 nations. As we reach out more and more, we will multiply and come closer and closer together, and finally we will be able to join our hands around the world. Since the power of love is the strength of the Unification Church, no other power can shake our foundation. Governments will come against us, but let them do that; it will be to no avail. Do you have that conviction?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Through the blessing you gain God and the universe</h3>
|
||||
<p>The most significant aspect of the blessing is not that you are going to gain a husband or wife; you will gain God and the universe. The hope of the husband and wife in this blessing should be that they become the light of the universe, conquering the darkness. You should think that you have become the source of God’s joy as His sons and daughters. In the same way God will reciprocate and give you sons and daughters so that you can share His joy in having children.</p>
|
||||
<p>The scene of a mother nursing her child is the most beautiful scene in the universe. When you hold that child to your breast, you must feel that you are feeding the universe, that you are breathing with the universe. When you are smiling and feeding the baby you must feel that you are communicating with the universe about your love, your ideal, and your life. You can communicate with the rest of the universe through your child, who is the visible form of God’s love there in your arms.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the garden of Eden if God had blessed Adam and Eve, they may not have had beautiful clothes, or even a wedding gown to wear. They may have been blessed naked without shame. Later Adam and Eve, as father and mother, would have dwelled in a place of beauty, and holding their child together, God would have been moving with them wherever they went.</p>
|
||||
<p>Eve would have praised God and her husband, singing, “My husband is the living, visible form of God. I can live with God.” The baby in her arms would have been the manifestation of the love, life, and ideal of God, and would have linked their lives to eternity, from generation to generation. Eve would have been completely content. Adam, too, would have praised God and his wife, the manifestation of the love of God, and his child as the promise of the future.</p>
|
||||
<p>What about God? When a child is born, the grandfather’s attention is always focused on his grandchild. Likewise, when Adam and Eve held their child, God’s attention would not have been on them, but on their child. As Adam and Eve looked at the child God would have been looking over their shoulders, smiling from ear to car. Can you imagine that scene? Can you become that Adam? Can you become that Eve?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Can you become shameless?</h3>
|
||||
<p>Can you become a person who is shameless before heaven and earth, who can say to God, “Father, I have no shame in front of you; I can praise you, God; I can praise my husband, my wife, and my child.” This world is a shameful world, where no men have the power or the clear conscience to look up to heaven. No man can really look at his wife sincerely because he feels shame; no wife can really look at her husband because there is shame in her heart. No parents can look directly at their children because of shame.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of yourself. America has been a most shameful nation, very impure and dirty. In the hearts of Americans there are many stains. Coming from this American background can you be proud and say, “God and True Parents, you must bless me. I am ready.” Are you able to say that?</p>
|
||||
<p>No man can come before God with that kind of pride. We must realize our shame; it is the only way we can be justified. None is worthy or ready to be blessed. Do not ever think otherwise. What you need is repentance for being unworthy; actually you should be crying out and weeping before the entire world, in a flood of anguished tears. Through repentance you must win the mercy and sympathy of God and True Parents; that is the only way you can be eligible for the blessing.</p>
|
||||
<p>Then God will say, “My child, I understand your heart.” The True Parents will say, “I understand you. Now wipe your tears and come forward to receive the blessing.” We have come out of a shameful, satanic origin. With the shameful way of life of your past, how can you appear in the sight of God, in the sight of True Parents, in the sight of man?</p>
|
||||
<p>There is only one way that we can be justified: total obedience. “Father, I have no condition or word to say; please do as You will. I have no complaint, only willing obedience.” That act of obedience alone can justify us in the sight of God, and that is what the Unification Church is all about. The blessing is the most precious thing and in order to be qualified for this blessing you must understand the truth, and live the truth. You have no right to despise any man or woman; any man or woman is too good for you. When you hear the truth, do you think you are eligible for the blessing to come to you?</p>
|
||||
<p>Only repentance can cleanse you in front of the nation, in front of your parents, in front of yourself, and above all, in front of the True Parents and God. You must repent. So far we have been like bloodsuckers; we have not been adding to society but subtracting from it. This is the naked truth without symbols or flowery words.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am giving you naked truth because this is the final year to say these things. We all need liberation from the bondage of sin, from our shameful bodies, our shameful pasts, and our shameful consciences. Unless you are liberated from this by repentance, you cannot feel real freedom or the joy of liberation. That is the point where the blessing comes. Once you taste that liberation, that joy of giving up your sin and of cleansing yourself, then whether it is night or day you will feel total, incredible joy,</p>
|
||||
<p>The communists might conquer the free world by force, but as long as they cannot conquer the love of God, they will never conquer humanity. Those who want to say, “I certainly want to live that way; I want to become a shameless person in the sight of God,” raise your hand. It is very difficult. If you want to be responsible for all the suffering of the world, and all the sins of the world, raise your hand. Can you do that? Then truly the blessing of God will come to you. God bless you. Thank you.</p>
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<div id="post-1165" class="post-1165 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE DIGNITY OF GOD AND MAN</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T14:18:17+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-dignity-of-god-and-man.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T14:18:17+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-dignity-of-god-and-man.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">April 1, 1977<br />
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World Mission Center<br />
|
||||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>I want to explain God’s concept of creation focusing on the dignity of God and man, His supreme creation. Through the establishment of the dignity of God and men, certainly men would be fulfilled and perfected, and God’s ideal and purpose would be consummated. If the perfection of men had been fulfilled in the very beginning, then with God and men together in complete harmony the ideal world of God’s love would have prevailed.</p>
|
||||
<p>If that had happened there would have been no sorrow for God. Instead God would have experienced the birth of His joy, in which He would have been praising the dignity of men. If God could treat men with such dignity then of course men’s glory would be without end, and men would always have come to God in deepest admiration, respect and love.</p>
|
||||
<p>In that case God and men would have become one, pursuing one common destiny. Adam and Eve would have had the same dignity as God. The perfection of one man and one woman was to be the perfection of God and the perfection of the entire universe. The home of Adam and Eve was supposed to be God’s home and God’s own family, and then that family would have become the focal point of the universe, the heart of God’s world.</p>
|
||||
<p>If that focal point had been established then the spirit world and physical world together would have become one. But today, the spirit world and physical world are totally separated. You know that you have a mind, but you are not sure where that mind dwells. Nobody can explain the mysteries of the mind because none can see the mind or touch it. However, if I asked if you have a mind, even though you could not show it to me you would not deny that you have a mind.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the same way that our own minds are real to us, God would have been a living reality to us. Your mind dictates your actions and the relationship between God and men should have been the same. Now we must be careful of our words before we speak, but what about a perfected man? A perfected man is automatically a reflection of the universal mind, which is God. No man of perfection would be able to deny God. In addition, the dignity of true Adam and Eve would remain for thousands of years, so that all their descendants would maintain the same dignity that Adam and Eve enjoyed.</p>
|
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<p>The relationship between God and man would have been of perfect oneness; God and man would have walked together for eternity. You cannot separate yourself from your own mind, and in the same way all men would have been unable to separate themselves from God. That would have been man’s perfection. If there had been no fall and that perfection had prevailed, such men would have become the nucleus of the universe.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Invisible God made visible through man</h3>
|
||||
<p>The perfected home would have become a unit or model for the heavenly society, nation and world, such that no matter how far the world of men expanded, it would always resemble one man. Then who should be the center of the universe? Actually the central axis of the universe is formed by God and Adam and Eve. Why would God need Adam and Eve? Why do they need Him? For two purposes.</p>
|
||||
<p>First of all, God’s ideal of love would be fulfilled through Adam and Eve. Secondly, and this is very important, the invisible God would have been made visible through men. In other words, Adam was supposed to be the visible form of God, and through him the invisible God could have made a relationship with the visible, physical world. God’s ultimate purpose for the creation of Adam and Eve is this: After being perfected here on earth in oneness with God, Adam and Eve would have passed away into spirit world. There Adam’s own spirit body would be like the body of God, and inside that spirit body God would be dwelling as Adam’s mind; God Himself would be the mind of Adam.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today we have our mind and body, with an inseparable relationship between the two. Similarly, when Adam and Eve were perfected here on earth and then were elevated to the spirit world, God would have become the mind of Adam and Eve and they would have been the spirit body of God, so that God and men in spirit world would have been inseparable, one body. In this world people speak about dying, but actually there is no such thing as death. Instead of dying you just pass into a new realm after giving up your physical body. Your mind or spirit body becomes your body in the spirit world, and God will become the center of that body as the mind of your spirit man.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you go to spirit world without reaching perfection here on earth, you will never be able to accommodate God as your mind in spirit world. You will be like a person here on earth with a body but no mind. It may seem impossible, but that is the situation. If your mind were removed could you still be a man or woman? Here on earth our supreme mission is to prepare ourselves to welcome God as our mind in spirit world. The whole purpose of our physical lives here on earth is to make ourselves dwelling places of God so that when we pass into the spirit world our minds can become spirit bodies in which God can dwell. That is the preparation we are going through here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>What a supreme position we have been placed in! We are all supposed to be the bodies of God. As the Bible says, we are made as the temples or dwelling places of God. If Adam and Eve had initiated perfection here on earth, becoming one with God, their children would have been the children of God. Children always resemble their father and mother. When we are born as children of God then we would certainly resemble God and be in His image and likeness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now you can see realistically why we call God our Father: we are His children. We are now looking for God, but if Adam and Eve had been perfected, seeing them would have been seeing God. Adam and Eve’s position would have been God’s position because they would have been the bodies of God. In spirit world God should have been dwelling within Adam and Eve. God indeed is the Creator and center of the universe and if God had made His dwelling in Adam and Eve, then their position would have been the center of the universe as well, both physically and spiritually.</p>
|
||||
<p>In Genesis it is written that Adam named the things God had created. Actually Adam was the instrument God was speaking through. In other words, God was naming every creature through Adam. God dwelled within Adam and in that way exercised lordship over all creation.</p>
|
||||
<p>So far men have not known the true relationship between God and men. To repeat, there were two reasons that God created man: first as the fulfillment and manifestation of His love, and second, as the visible forms of God. This is a most amazing truth. Through perfected Adam and Eve as the nucleus of the universe, God wanted to expand His Kingdom here on earth. No matter how big man’s world might become, God would still be the center of it. Clearly the culture of mankind should have been in one sphere, which we call the Adamic cultural sphere, truly God’s own culture here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">We are living to restore the dignity of God</h3>
|
||||
<p>God’s intent was to have one culture, but since the fall of man, what has come about instead? The terrible separation between God and man resulted from the fall. An impossible situation has occurred. The separation took place and because we are the reflection of the spirit world, a separation between our minds and bodies also occurred. Do you realize that there are two persons living within you, two minds? The conflict within ourselves came because of the fall of man.</p>
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||||
<p>If in the very beginning God had created you with a split personality or two conflicting minds, we would have to conclude that God Himself existed with a split personality, having no unity or harmony from the very beginning. Or if that is not the case, then we would have had two origins instead of one. But that is not so; God is one harmonized being, and we have only one origin. This separation occurred only because of the fall of man.</p>
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<p>The topic of my message is “The Dignity of God and Man.” Where is that dignity God wanted to speak about? Can we restore our dignity by ourselves? Can God restore our dignity by Himself? No, it is a joint project; the restoration of the dignity of man can be done only by the joint effort of God and men. Then what should we do? First of all, we have to understand the original reason why the dignity of God and men was lost.</p>
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<p>The whole problem began when individual creatures-the angel, Adam, and Eve-became self-centered, thinking about themselves first. That was the beginning of the wrongdoing. Furthermore, they wanted to perfect or fulfill their love with themselves at the center. In order to restore the dignity of God and men we now know what has to be changed. To undo the wrongdoings we have to reverse that way of life. We must make God the center of our lives, not ourselves, and we must seek to fulfill our love, not with ourselves in the center but with God in the center.</p>
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<p>What is the purpose of our lives? I want you to know that we were born and we are living to glorify God, to put God before all. And we are living to restore the dignity of God. Then why do our minds exist’? They certainly exist for the sake of God, and our bodies exist solely for the purpose of God. Could they exist for some other purpose, or for someone else?</p>
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<p>Our mind and body are in the position of subject and object here on earth, and their common goal, their purpose of existence, is solely for the sake of God. Both are dwelling at the same point and both are focusing upon the same goal, with the mind dwelling in one dimension and the body in another. However, when we became self-centered this complete unity and harmony between the two was distorted; mind and body became out of focus with each other. In order to bring them back into focus they have to move opposite the directions in which they have been going. Once we form perfect unity of mind and body, then we will become the dwelling places of God, and God will come into our houses for relaxation.</p>
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<p>Because of the fall of man, the mind and body moved out of focus. Actually the mind has remained God-centered, but the body moved so that Satan has been controlling it; it has been turned around to the point of being completely out of joint with the mind. Who will turn this body back to its original position? Do you expect Satan to do that? Will God come down and turn it back? If God could intervene directly to bring man back to his original position, then God would have done it a long time ago. Men must achieve this.</p>
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<p>Were you born as direct heirs of Adam and Eve, or were you born among the multitudes of the world’s population? Since the beginning of human history, countless generations have been born. To look back in search of the starting point would be very complex and involves tremendous distance. The American people are descended from all the races of the world, making it simply impossible to research back to the very beginning. As a result, here in America you have no history of some central origin. Through many thousands of years of human history, God’s position and men’s positions have been completely separated. In addition, man’s mind and body have become adversaries, going in completely different directions.</p>
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<p>A recent philosophy has been proclaiming that the physical body, not the mind, is the center of man. According to the communist ideology matter is the ultimate origin, and the mind does not really exist except as an illusion. What they are saying is that the mind is an outgrowth of the body and dies with the body. Is there even the slightest hope in that ideology for man’s mind and body to become one under God?</p>
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<p>The God-centered mind is always self-giving and public-minded, but the body is always selfish and seeks to satisfy itself, avoiding sacrifice or difficult situations. The body is only searching after its own benefit. You have a conflict within you between a body with selfish desires and a God-centered mind. If you see something pleasing, your body says, “Get it! Grab it!” In contrast, the God-centered mind says, ” Wait a minute. You must use that for the sake of God and the world.” You feel that conflict, don’t you?</p>
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<p>You must have iron will power to say to the body, “Body! I will subjugate you; you must obey me. Come and join me.” Is there someone besides our God-centered mind who wants that situation to occur? Our good minds and God together want to declare war against our bodies. However, the body has one ally which is Satan, saying, “I’m going to hold onto this body. It is my victim, my prey.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">Our ropes and anchors to Satan</h3>
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<p>Satan is always trying to create obstacles so that the body is unable to re-join the mind. Satan has a rope around our bodies which is tied to an anchor deep in the sea. The body is trying to float and swim to the ship, but the anchor holds it down. Satan is saying, “You cannot go without my permission.”</p>
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<p>What is that anchor? Self-centered love is the anchor and selfishness is the rope. There must be some power, some sword, which can cut that rope and send the anchor to the bottom of the sea. Once that anchor and rope is cut off then the body is free and can automatically come back to the mind. You are like a ship floating on the water; do you have an anchor or not? I can see that you have many ropes and heavy iron anchors pulling on you.</p>
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<p>You can see then that we have to hope for God and our minds together to become like sharp swords which can cut those ropes. That is the role of the religions which God has been raising up throughout history. Their purpose is to create the atmosphere where God and the mind together can cut the rope and anchor of temptation and selfishness. This is why Jesus taught, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” This is a most logical statement.</p>
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<p>Unless you completely cut off self-centered love then you have no way to be free. The Bible does not use diplomatic language; we are taught the naked truth in the Bible. It says that your closest family members are your worst enemies because family ties in many cases become a burden, another rope trying to entangle you. Is that realistic?</p>
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<p>That is why the religious way of life is always cruel to your own body. Religion has no sympathy for the body and is continuously subjugating it. When we understand God’s purpose and ideal then we come to the conclusion that religious life is the arena where God has been trying to achieve His goal. So far some people have caught glimpses of it, but no one has completely crystallized the truth.</p>
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<p>After hearing this, has the spirit world become more realistic to you, as well as the true relation between the spirit world and physical world? Do you really know what is wrong with this world and with yourself so that you know how to restore your original godly position? This is why the Bible says, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” When you chop off the anchor of your fallen body which is stained by sin, then what kind of person do you become? You are transformed into the holy body of God, your original role. By doing so you are not only restoring yourself and men’s true position, but more importantly you are restoring God’s own position and dignity. Do you have the courage and determination to cut the rope of Satan away from you? Do you want to bring your body back to the original position of oneness with a God-centered mind or not?</p>
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<p>Why do you eat breakfast? Why do you sleep? When you go to bed and your head is snuggled into the pillow, have you ever thought, “God is lying down on this bed, because I am the temple of God.” Have you ever said to yourself, “God, won’t You rest with me now?” And then in the morning when you wake up and get out of bed do you think, “God, You are already awake. Good morning, Father.” That is the way you must live, feeling God’s presence with you in every action, feeling that God is going before you.</p>
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<p>Men and women, do you want to get married or not? Does that mean that you are going to marry, or that God is going to be married through you? Have you ever thought, “I am doing a favor for You, God. By my marrying, You will meet Your better half through me.” When you sisters become brides then God can become a bride through you; the same is true when you brothers become grooms. As you are walking down the aisle to the wedding music, not just you and your mate but the two essentialities of God are walking together, and in happiness they are joined by the blessing.</p>
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<h3 align="center">In love you can climb up on top of God</h3>
|
||||
<p>You can feel that God is just tickled to death inside and does not know how to contain Himself. You are happy by knowing that God is happy; always God comes first. Has your life been molded as a “God first” way of life? Would you prefer a life of putting yourself first or God first? Which one is more dramatic? God’s expectation for the love between Adam and Eve at the very outset of His creation in the garden of Eden, and His hope for the perfection of your love now is the same.</p>
|
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<p>How can your love become eternal and unchanging? It is possible because God does not change; the same God who was with Adam and Eve is with you. Even though historically speaking Adam and Eve lived many thousands of years before you, Adam was supposed to have had the father’s role to you in the spirit world since he was supposed to be the dwelling of God Himself. Had this occurred there would have been no generation gap between father and son. The love that you feel and the love that Adam and Eve feel would have been the same emotion of love with no gap or barrier. In that love you can go anywhere, even climb up on top of God. Love brings intimacy and complete oneness; there is no formality in love. Therefore, even though a man becomes President of the United States, he exercises no formality with his wife. They do not bow and give some long greeting every time they meet.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you want to dwell in that intimacy of love with God? We all agree that we want to share that intimate level with God. Then we have to chop off the rope; it is not going to be that easy but somehow we have to chop it off and let the anchor plunge down to the bottom of the sea.</p>
|
||||
<p>You have to dominate your satanic body, always thinking about putting God in the center of your love. Even if you have to chop off your arm or your leg, if that is the only way you can chop off the rope of Satan then you should do it. You will never be a loser. Speaking of it as a commercial investment, you cannot get any better deal than this one.</p>
|
||||
<p>Your mouth said yes, you would like this deal, but look at yourselves closely. Are you really in a yes position, or somewhere in between a no and a yes? Do you really know what needs to be done to become a man of God? You said yes, but even though now you think you understand, when you go to spirit world you will truly know how real this problem is. But do not wait until then; it will be too late.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you really want to be centered on God 24 hours a day? Aren’t your minds going in 120 different directions, thinking about past dates and girl friends and boy friends, or wanting more education and social standing and a little better way of life? Don’t you think, ” What am I doing here! I have to go out and witness and fund raise every day!” I am sure that many different kinds of doubts creep in. You can see from the criteria I laid down this morning that you have been living with doubts and suspicions, ups and downs. Is such a man really going the fastest way to the goal or not?</p>
|
||||
<p>You must be single-minded; just chop off temptation and do not look back. Do you think there is some big gap between you and me and that I am a miracle man? We have only one difference: I have completely subjugated my body, while you are taking longer. Wherever I go and whatever I do, during the 24 hours of a day there is not one moment, not one split second in which I separate myself from God. This is absolutely perfected in my way of life. That is the only difference between us.</p>
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<p>Let the people oppose and persecute me; I do not even have time to listen to them because I do not want to divert my mind from God. If I am thinking of God more intensely than they are opposing me then these things will automatically be taken care of. You know that often something looks impossible, but for the sake of God we must do it every moment of the day. I am just driving myself, that is my way of life.</p>
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<h3 align="center">I want to be extreme in my thinking</h3>
|
||||
<p>You must always love God and always feel, “God, there is nothing I cannot do.” How do you manifest your love? Love is reciprocal, needing a circuit. I always want to be extreme in my thinking, and love to the absolute extremity of love. Most people want to love a handsome man or a beautiful woman, but I think the opposite. I want to love the ugliest man and woman, the oldest man and woman, those whom society ignores. I want to pay attention and be able to love them more than anybody else.</p>
|
||||
<p>God is convinced that you are capable of doing this. God knows that you are capable of loving in an extremely different way from most people. In America there are many overweight people. One time I saw one huge woman pass by, weighing maybe 500 pounds. I thought, “Can I love her as much as God loves her? Can I compete with God and win, loving her more than God loves her?” It is an exciting challenge to me. Put yourselves in God’s position. Suppose that woman is God’s only daughter and God is looking for some good husband for her but nobody is interested. God is very irritated, and then a man comes up, “God, don’t worry about it. Let me love her.” That man has already won the heart of God; God is absolutely melted by that man’s deed.</p>
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<p>I have been living in that fashion, but when God gave me a bride, do you think He picked one who is very ugly or very beautiful? Because I was thinking in one extreme, God rewarded me in the opposite extreme. That is how this viewpoint works. Can I bear the cross of love? That is the worst test for any person! This is why we should always ask ourselves, “Can I love my worst enemy, and take his child to be my spouse?” Can I love the ugliest, most impossible person? If God is convinced that you can do it, then you are totally victorious in His sight. This is an even greater crucifixion than the crucifixion of Jesus.</p>
|
||||
<p>We have all put ourselves in the position of God’s adversary. We are in the position of His enemy. From His viewpoint we are extremely dirty, ugly and smelly; we have been rebellious traitors and are the children of traitors. However, God has not only been forgiving these traitors and bringing us back to be in His position, but God wants to bestow upon us His supreme blessing and grace.</p>
|
||||
<p>God is a pitiful God; He wants to dwell in love with His enemies, His impossible, rebellious children. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God they indeed broke His heart. Ever since, God has been a tragic, sad God, but he has never given up hope. He is always searching after treacherous and rebellious men, trying to find the slightest ray of hope to restore them to the supreme position of His sons and daughters. You can see how infinite and abundant the love of God has been.</p>
|
||||
<p>If that is the truth then even if my body turns to dust a thousand times over I will still be grateful. I could utter no word of complaint to God because His love is far greater than anything I can imagine. This is the position men should take, “God, I just want to do Your will. Anything You want I will go and do.” Even after saying that some men are most treacherous and rebellious, thinking, “God, what about my position, honor and dignity?” How ridiculous it is in the sight of God! He can’t even think of those things.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you really know your own position you know you have nothing to say about God, no complaint to make. That has been man’s position. All men have been living in the dungeon of hell in complete darkness, but a ray of light is coming down from heaven so that we can be restored into the highest part of heaven. It is indeed the most unbelievable grace that we can imagine. We must grab it at any price. Do you understand God’s heart?</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">Let us awaken to the truth of our position</h3>
|
||||
<p>Today is April 1. So far we have done our jobs in our own way. We have been living without even thinking of man’s supposed dignity, and never thinking about the dignity of God. We have been thinking on a very trivial level, “I’m a member of the Unification Church and I have my position and my rights and dignity.” We know now that we must shatter that type of thinking.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today we must revolutionize ourselves. Let us once again shatter ourselves and awaken to the truth of our position. We want to reach out to a new, heightened goal, and proceed there with the utmost determination and sacrifice. The God that we know is a suffering God, a heartbroken God. We are His sons and daughters and we must be in a position to comfort Him. In order to do that we must understand His heart so that we can take His burden upon our shoulders. That is the only way we can comfort God.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must stand in God’s position where He was persecuted for many thousands of years. No one has suffered more throughout history than God. We will not complain but be grateful to take the worst kind of suffering that God might have. God has been so misunderstood, wanting to save the world but instead being cursed by the people He loved. People have said there is no God, but they are blasphemers. Instead we will each say, “Let the people of the world come against me, I will pray for them and bring salvation to them as You have done throughout history. I can die for that mission, Heavenly Father.”</p>
|
||||
<p>If God wanted to take revenge against the traitorous and rebellious actions of men then He would have already destroyed mankind many thousands of times over. But at each betrayal God forgave. Can you say, “God, I know Your heart. Now let me forgive the world. Give me Your suffering and let me suffer for You, even more than You have suffered. Then when I return to Your throne, I will ask You to forgive the world. After suffering so much for You I will ask You to forgive them because of me.” Silently God will nod.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must feel that we are liberators of the sorrowful, broken heart of God, that because of us God will say, “I suffer no more. Because of you I do not feel anguish and sorrow in my heart.” We should be able to stand in that position.</p>
|
||||
<p>How can we liberate God’s historically suffering heart? Let me give you an analogy in human terms. Imagine that your youngest brother was killed in an accident, as well as your wife and son. Instead of expressing your own sorrow at your personal tragedy you go to your mother and say, “Mother, I know your heart is broken because of the death of your youngest son. I think of your heart more than my own tragedy. Can you be comforted by me?” Your mother will say, “Certainly I can. My son, you have suffered more than 1, yet after all that you still forget yourself and try to comfort me.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The highest possible way to comfort God is to not worry about your own claim or reward. Forget that. Just think of going from morning to night, think of how you can comfort God best. That is the supreme form of loyalty.</p>
|
||||
<p>You have a choice between two ways of life. One is the eternal secret way in which God wins; the other is the way of temporal glory and honor here on earth. Which one would you prefer? Would you put yourself completely in service to God, or do you want to work for your own sake and your own honor? As the leader of the Unification Church I must always think how best to lead the members. Since I know the suffering heart of God I want to bring the Unification Church through the worst possible suffering. Under those circumstances we will say, “God, I want You to be comforted. I have no word of complaint, nothing but gratitude.” Knowing God’s own world and own heart, and really loving you, I have to lead all of you on that route. I myself have taken that route. Do you want to follow me?</p>
|
||||
<p>Unless you go that route then you have nothing to do with God in the ultimate sense. You will have no intimacy with God, no closeness. Therefore you will not be able to lift up God to His true dignity. If you have failed to lift up God then you can never restore your own dignity. In this way of life alone there is hope to liberate God from His sorrow and by doing so you can liberate yourself from sorrow. All will be lifted up together into the ultimate dignity of God and man. Do you want to participate in this battle?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">We want to live the pattern of God’s life</h3>
|
||||
<p>You must think, “I want to bear the cross of every individual man and woman of the world.” God is not in Heaven sitting on His throne, enjoying the show. No, He wants to bear the burden of mankind. God is always thinking, “How can I bear the cross, the burden of My family?” God always thinks how He can bear the cross and the burden of the nation and the world, “How can I fulfill the responsibility of heaven and earth?”</p>
|
||||
<p>You can say to God, “My life here on earth is short, far less than 100 years. Compared to eternity it is a spark of light, but during this short time I will think of nothing but Your mission. Give me the cross that You have been willing to bear.” Think of it, God’s suffering is vast, persisting for so long throughout the whole span of history. Our suffering, no matter how big, is just a spark of light, yet with it we can set an enormous condition.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must put ourselves in a position to comfort God, always having that intention even though we may not always succeed. “God, I am sorry I did not quite live up to Your expectation yesterday, but today Father, I will do it.” In our short span of life here on earth we want to live the pattern of God’s life so that God will be able to say, “My son, you have lived precisely as I did. You suffered as I did and you worked just like I did, thinking and agonizing over the same things. You have fulfilled the work that I intended to fulfill. My son, I am proud of you.” We must be in that position.</p>
|
||||
<p>We should be willing to say, “I want to live to the utmost degree, and no matter what God’s desire may be, there is nothing I cannot do. Furthermore, I want to volunteer for the worst possible mission that God has.” Then God will say, “My child, you are very good. You were not supposed to suffer or live like that, but for my sake you suffered and worked so hard. For my sake you gave yourself and died in a tragic way. My heart is filled with mercy toward you. I almost want to say, ‘I am sorry,’ but don’t worry. I have the power to restore your honor and your life in the greatest glory of all on earth and in heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>“I expected Adam and Eve to be perfected, but they failed My expectation. You are their descendant but you deserve a far greater position and far greater honor than was originally reserved for them. Before heaven and earth I declare that you deserve the highest honor. Adam and Eve were supposed to be born of God, live of God and die of God. They did not, however, and because you did, you are greater than Adam and Eve.” That is what God will say to you.</p>
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<h3 align="center">My ambition for you</h3>
|
||||
<p>I want you to clearly know my own will. My ambition for you is not that you become important statesmen, Senators, Congressmen, or the President. I do not want you to be billionaires here on earth or to receive acclamation and honor from all mankind. My intention is that you become men and women who can live life in a God-centered way so that you are born of God, you live for God and you die for God. Then when you are elevated to spirit world you will absolutely receive the honor of God and of all heaven and earth. That is the kind of men and women I want you to become here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>In external appearance your way of life may be tragic, and other people may think that you are living miserably. But do not forget the reason behind it: the true pride of God. You have a choice and no one can force you. Which way will you take? It is not easy.</p>
|
||||
<p>When an adversary comes to attack and slander you or falsely accuse, the general human tendency is to fight back and seek revenge. But the moment that you feel anger and the urgent impulse to attack your opponent, think of God, “God, what do You think in such a moment? I know; You forgive, and if I cannot forgive this enemy, then I am eliminating all the hope of mankind. If I do just as ordinary people have done, then I am eliminating the hope of God. I cannot do that.” God thinks this way.</p>
|
||||
<p>If God became really angry, then would He say, “No more! I am finished with you and done with it!” If God quits then there is no more hope for mankind. For the same reason you must feel that if you explode in anger, then the hope of mankind will vanish. We cannot have that kind of heart. “If I curse someone, that curse shall become universal and shall remain. I am responsible for that.” Can you make yourself that important?</p>
|
||||
<p>I want you to understand that God is not a God of glory. God has been the God of suffering, the God of heartbreak and tragedy. You cannot comfort God in fine clothing; you cannot comfort God in a most relaxed, comfortable situation. You cannot praise God in a position of honor. God will not want to receive it. Instead you must come down to be even more miserable than He is. In that way you can comfort God.</p>
|
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<p>Before you search after the glory and dignity of God you must first conquer tragedy, heartbreak and misery. In that position you can raise God into glory and honor in His dignity. That is the route the Unification Church is taking. Right now America truly misunderstands me, spreading false accusations and allegations. But I am praying to ask God’s mercy and blessing upon this country. My prayer is, “God, let me receive all the misunderstanding You have received throughout history. Let me take all the ridicule You have taken throughout history. Let me undergo all the pain You have undergone in history. Otherwise I am not worthy to stand in front of You.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Now let us imagine that I died under these circumstances. Maybe because of the misunderstanding and false image the media has created of me in America, the American people would applaud my death, saying, “That troublemaker is gone. That controversial Reverend Moon has died.” They might celebrate. But I want you to know that at least one person in the universe–God–will cry. That is what counts.</p>
|
||||
<p>I have taken up that role. Do you see that Jesus took that route and died in precisely that way? But God bestowed upon Jesus the power to restore His highest dignity and honor. Also in heaven God gave him the power to lift man up from his misery, from the very bottom of hell. Jesus has absolute power to resurrect everything under the sun. I feel that if even one man or one woman comes forth from among you who can live up to that standard, then my life is a success, not a failure. One man is a universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>Maybe every single one of you will perish. If only one person is victorious and consummates God’s way of life, then that one man shall set the tradition of the Unification Church and on that rock God’s tradition and Kingdom shall indeed be built. Those who want to participate in erecting this tradition of God, the Kingdom of God here on earth, raise your hands. If you really feel that you want to participate in that, then I want to assure you that the glory and honor of God shall rest with you. Thank you. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1163" class="post-1163 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE GREATEST OF ALL IS LOVE</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T14:17:35+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-greatest-of-all-is-love.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T14:17:35+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-greatest-of-all-is-love.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">March 20, 1977<br />
|
||||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>Do you like love? What is love? Describe the shape of love; is it long or very thin or round? It is a very difficult task, but if we ever tried to describe love in one word, the nearest thing might be “fullness.” The ultimate question for man is this: Is life or love more precious? You say love is more precious, but can you explain why love is greater than life?</p>
|
||||
<p>In history, poetry and literature we commonly hear that love is greater than life, but no one has precisely described why. Which began first, love or life? Indeed the beginning point of life is love, and no matter how much life you have, it alone could not bring new life into this world. Only love can do that. The love of your father and mother together brought new life upon this earth. No matter how great a life a single person may live, alone he does not have the power to give life to another.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let us look into the origin of the universe. What is the fundamental cause which brought the universe into being, energy, life or love? Have you ever thought about what motivation was involved? Some scientists claim that the universe began with a huge explosion of energy. While existence certainly begins with energy, what is the origin of the energy? Is energy self-creating? Energy results from the interaction of plus and minus; it can only exist in a circuit of reciprocal give and take action between a subject and an object.</p>
|
||||
<p>Here in this room there is also give and take action between you as the audience and me as the speaker. If there were no one in this room to listen as I gave an energetic and powerful sermon then I would look very foolish. Without give and take there is no re-creation of energy, and if I were speaking to an empty room, would I gain more energy or lose power instead? But since you are here, very excited and energetic, our mutual give and take becomes increasingly intense and stimulating.</p>
|
||||
<p>The most fundamental energy for the existence of this universe was created by energetic give and take action. Universal truth can be described as the substantial interaction between two entities in this visible universe. The entire invisible world as well, functions according to this same principle. We can conclude that nothing can come into being or remain in existence unless it is in a subject-object relationship with the action of give and take maintained between them. This is true in the mineral and plant worlds. Do insects sing for their own enjoyment or to get the attention of another? Why do animals call each other? For their objects.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">Without your object you are very poor</h3>
|
||||
<p>How much do you like your object? It is interesting to discover that we have more intense feelings toward our objects than toward ourselves. Do you sing or dance for your own satisfaction? Even though you may sometimes dance alone, in your own mind you envision some object watching you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Would you like to live in laughter and joy, or in tears and sorrow? When you are alone do you normally feel like laughing out loud? If you went around smiling and laughing without an object, you would be considered a crazy man. Laughter, singing and dancing are all human expressions of joy and happiness, but when you do these without an object or audience they make no sense. Clearly our way of life requires a partner with whom we can interact. When two loving partners share laughter, song and dance, their joy will become ever deeper without limit. When love is inspiring you then your singing and laughing and dancing becomes so wonderful.</p>
|
||||
<p>In every field of art the greatest masterpieces are the works which describe the most beautiful, limitless love of men. When you experience those masterpieces you are stimulated in your feeling of love and the joy of that masterpiece comes alive. If we removed everything about love from the masterpieces then would any life remain?</p>
|
||||
<p>Which do you prefer, laughing or crying? In reality the muscles involved in both are quite similar. When you look at the faces of someone laughing and someone crying, both their mouths are open and their eyes are squinting and tears are rolling down their cheeks. What may cause you to cry? You may feel sorrowful after some great loss, or when your expectations have not been fulfilled, but the deepest sadness arises when you become separated from your object, your partner. At the bottom of all sorrow is losing your connection to your object so that you can neither give out nor receive.</p>
|
||||
<p>The definition of great unhappiness is the loss of anyone to whom you can give and from whom you can receive. You are most unhappy when you have no one to love and be loved by. Isn’t that true? If you lose a great deal of money or valuable property you may be unhappy, or having no one to teach or learn from you may feel sad, but is that the worst kind of unhappiness? The most unhappy person is the one who has lost the person he loved and who loved him, so that he has no one to share his love with.</p>
|
||||
<p>You would prefer to live your life in laughter and joy instead of sorrow and tears, wouldn’t you? In order to have that laughter and joy you would have to get power and earn money, right? No? Did you know that already? Maybe you vaguely knew, somehow, but after hearing this you truly know that love is the most important and fundamental aspect of life. Do you just think, “It sounds reasonable,” or do you deeply know that this is true?</p>
|
||||
<p>Which is superior, man or woman? Even if you are a giant superman, a tall man with big muscles and very handsome, without your object you are a very poor man. Suppose you had a choice between being a superman but remaining all by yourself, or being pint-sized but having an object, someone with whom you could have give and take. Which would YOU prefer? Are you sure you would want to be pint-sized? There are some people who are not answering; however, their eyes say yes! That is the simple truth.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">If your love is only a joke, your life will be only a joke</h3>
|
||||
<p>How much do you need your mates? You absolutely need each other so that you might discover and experience love. In saying that you absolutely need your object, you could never mean, “Well, love is nice to have but it’s not essential.” When you went on dates before you came to this church, was your motivation to find absolute love? If you answer no, that means you were not really serious about love and your actions were closer to an animal’s. Would an absolutely happy person go after such love? That kind of carnal, unprincipled love should be wiped out. Can you say, “Yes, I have experience of love, but with deepest seriousness I am now searching to discover love that is even greater than my own life.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Which world did you belong to in the past, heaven or hell? Without exaggeration fallen man has been destined to death and hell. If you do not know that your search for true love and life is not a joke, your life will not be anything more than a joke. Love is greater than your life, so love is not a joke. The most divine and holy world is the world of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>After acquiring that absolute love a person really knows the value of that most mysterious and holy world. When you know that divine and mysterious world your laughter will be divine and mysterious and the expression of joy in your singing and dancing shall also be very divine and mysterious. Anyone who dirties this most valuable love with cheap, carnal things is the worst kind of criminal in the universe. Regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, anyone who seeks to contaminate your love in an impure way is your worst enemy. Because love is greater than life, that person would be committing a crime worse than that of taking your life.</p>
|
||||
<p>The American way of life, including many of your lives before you joined the Church, is just a quest for very shallow, instant, animalistic love. If you were that way then you have never truly experienced that divine and holy love of God. Your shallow fun could only become progressively more shallow, soon becoming boring and tiring. When you stamp on that most precious pure love you become just a worthless person; you can kill such love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Is American society advancing toward heavenly prosperity, or declining into secular hell? Shall we leave America alone or shall we do something about it? Will the President of the United States or America’s economic power be able to change it? How about almighty science? Who will do it? If we truly know that Americans are going in the wrong direction then we have a responsibility to inform and educate them.</p>
|
||||
<p>In less than one hour I have explained the true meaning of love, and now you are convinced that the way of life you had been pursuing was the wrong one. You must search for the true way. If your father and mother or teachers were encouraging you to pursue cheap love, should you follow their instructions or not? Suppose the American government followed a policy of encouraging Americans to enjoy their fun and follow their animal instincts. If that were written into the Constitution would you blindly obey or not? “I would be different,” you say, but with everyone else going in the opposite direction how could you change? Would you have the energy and drive to go all by yourself? Whatever the circumstances, you are now determined to go because you have hope for the rest of the world, even though the entire world may come against you. That world is wrong because it does not know the truth, but you have truth so you have hope. That is why you should go on even all by yourself.</p>
|
||||
<p>If someone came forward to proclaim such love would you follow him regardless of whether he were black or yellow or white? Why do all you white members come and give me a hard time? Because of you, the American government, American families and churches are opposing me. What makes you so sure you should follow me if I am teaching about such a committed love for God? You trust the ideal and you have hope in the future. We cut ourselves out of this world because the world is in despair, and we choose to strive for the ideal, to gain true love, hope, and a constructive future.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today’s topic is “The Greatest of All is Love.” Do you want to know why love is the greatest? How much of a fee would you pay for me to give you a very important lecture today? The only reason I would ask you to pay is that when things come free nobody takes them seriously. But if you pay $10 million for this one hour lecture then your whole body would strain to reap $10 million worth from it! If you paid $10 million for this one lecture would you waste that time dozing? If I said, “Go ahead and sleep,” it would just wake you up more!</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">If love is taken away, will anything remain?</h3>
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||||
<p>I will explain why love is so precious. The answer is rather simple: you are the product of love. The most logical and important principle of the universe is also the product of love. God created this world because He needed to have His own object for the give and take of love. Love is God’s fundamental motivation for creating the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>Man was supposed to be born in love, grow up in love and live in love for eternity. That is man’s destiny, Is there anything further you could wish to receive? This is the ideal way of life. Where could that love originate? That could only originate between a subject and object who have become so completely one in harmony and unity that eternally nothing could break them apart. The greatest love emerges from such as this.</p>
|
||||
<p>Men and women marry to consummate love. At what point do Mother’s life and my life become one? When we eat a good meal together? When we exchange money? Only when we become one united in love, right? Life begins when love brings unity and harmony between the two of us, and when life emerges then our ideal blossoms. When you are completely satisfied in love then your ideal is already fulfilled because there is no greater ideal than the fulfillment of love. This is the sequence: love brings unification, life and ideal. When our love brings harmony between us and new life emerges, then the fulfillment of our ideal also comes.</p>
|
||||
<p>When two lives are welded into one, love will become more powerful and intense. When two lives become united into one, greater life, energy and power come and a greater ideal can blossom. If love is taken away will anything remain? Will there be any way to unite? Without love it is impossible for people to come together and give their lives to each other and say, “For you I could die.” That kind of deep sacrificial feeling cannot be demonstrated without love. Without love nothing can bring you into fullness.</p>
|
||||
<p>In contrast, the communist ideology centers on struggle; that is the key word in communism. If one class is struggling with another, is there any way to unite? Dialectical materialism analyzes progress as one entity dividing into two contradictory entities, which then clash with each other; out of that clash something greater will emerge. That ideology is striving for unification but because it eliminates love it can never bring true unification. Communists talk about a life that is not true life, and about an ideal that is not the true ideal. The ideal is impossible under communism.</p>
|
||||
<p>The ideal is what can bring the highest and the lowest together into harmonious joy. If we confront each other in struggle can we have the ideal? That ideology of struggle is now creeping across the face of the earth, affecting millions of lives every day. The evil ideology of communism lures people into becoming ruthless and cold-blooded; murder and extermination is the daily diet in communist countries. In his lifetime Chairman Mao exterminated over 150 million people, and in North Korea alone 3 million people were murdered. The New York Times recently published the fact that over 600,000 people were exterminated in South Vietnam immediately following the war there. Is this the ideology in which we can find unification? Communism is truly the enemy of humanity and enemy of the ideal; needless to say, it is the enemy of God.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The fundamental problem of humanity is how to restore love</h3>
|
||||
<p>The key word nowadays in the Carter administration is human tights, and that is good; however, there is something greater than human rights which is life rights, life itself. Communism is not just violating human rights, but violating the very life rights of millions of people. In such an extreme situation talking about human rights does not make any sense; if this administration were really serious about human rights then it would speak out about the millions of people who have been deprived of the right to live. America must stand up to declare that communism is mankind’s worst enemy.</p>
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||||
<p>We must preserve and safeguard the right to live. There are so many millions who have been deprived of such rights already. They are silent people, the prey of communism. When they stood in front of the firing squad did they praise the name of Stalin, Mao Tse Tung or Kim 11 Sung? Or in their inmost hearts did they desperately call upon the name of God, that somehow He could exercise His power so that the communists could no longer continue with such cruelty?</p>
|
||||
<p>Without including love, you cannot even speak about unification and the ideal. The fundamental problem of humanity today is how to restore love. If we cannot restore love, do you think we can establish true peace or one world of brotherhood? Can we actualize the ideal without love?</p>
|
||||
<p>You are actually the result of this wonderful principle, for you were a part of the uniting force of love of your father and mother, and your life came into being at that point. You participated in their lives and the blossoming of their ideal was the beginning point of your life. You participated in the love of your parents which had created unification and brought life; you participated in the love of parents which brought the ideal. If any one of these three are removed then the entire ideal will become crippled. You cannot remove the ideal; you cannot remove life and you cannot remove harmony and unification.</p>
|
||||
<p>Parents and children will become eternally one even if the mother is a hunchback and the father the most ugly cripple under the sun; no one can separate them from their destined relationship as parents and children. Could you exchange your parents for someone more attractive? You are a part of them and cannot separate yourself from them. You are the result of their harmony, their life and their ideal. Don’t you feel some built-in human instinct to defend them from criticism? Why do you feel so strongly about them? You are connected to them, and when something is harmful to them it is automatically harmful to you. Instinctively the loving relationship between parents and child creates the impulse to protect because in this universe there is an automatic protective force that preserves the entity of love. Now you can understand logically what you may have only felt in the past.</p>
|
||||
<p>Are you going to stay connected with your parents for eternity, or at a certain moment should you separate yourself from them? Speaking particularly to women, when you get married and have a home, would you welcome your father and mother as well as your in-laws into your home? Prior to joining our movement were you thinking the same way that you do now? You might have preferred having a husband but no id-laws. Be honest. They are a burden. Is that kind of thinking selfish or unselfish? If you happen to marry someone who does not have his own father or mother, then in order to accomplish this ideal you even have to bring his godfather and godmother to live with you so that you have someone to serve and be united with. If you can think this way now it is only because you have come to understand the truth about how men and women should live.</p>
|
||||
<p>Whose natural parents are divorced? You probably did not say anything at the time, but when your father and mother were separated, did you approve deep in your hearts? Was your disapproval just temporary, or will it stay with you forever?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Possessing love before you, your parents are greater than you</h3>
|
||||
<p>You have a built-in instinct that rejects being separated from this loving unity because it should remain for eternity. There is no such adjective as “temporal” when you talk about love; love is for eternity. All of you want to be in a loving relationship with your parents for eternity, and if this eternal circuit of love is broken for some reason, in the depths of your heart you can never accept it. That disapproval is not a crime or a sin, but the instinct of self-preservation. Until we have the logic and principle that will explain human behavior and human nature then we will never have a true vision of the future but remain in darkness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Who is greater, your parents or you? Parents are supreme because they possessed love prior to your existence, and they will always be ahead of you in the possession of love. You emerged out of their love, and for that reason you will always be in a position to follow after them. No matter how miserable your mother and father may be, as long as you have a loving relationship you will never want to be separated from them, even after the termination of your lives here on earth. Is that right?</p>
|
||||
<p>This morning I have presented the clear principle of love, so I do not need to say anything further, You can claim before your own father and mother, “Without me you have no true love because I was there and I participated. I was a very important element of your loving relationship.” As a child you can say to your own parents, “I cannot be a part of you or one with you until there is unity and true love between you two. Your unity, your true understanding, and your true ideal is what will enable me to become one with you.” A son or daughter can force his parents together in a way.</p>
|
||||
<p>With true love between your father and mother you will begin to see true harmony and the ideal emerging in your home and you will certainly want to stay there. So many American homes today are just the opposite, which is why there is such a gap between parents and children. As long as there is a warm and loving atmosphere in a home the children would never want to leave. But even if the children may go away to the hippie life, if there is a loving atmosphere in the home they will feel pulled back and repentant.</p>
|
||||
<p>I want to reorganize American homes under the principle of love. I want to see a revolutionary change come about in the American home so that the impersonal, functional unity there is transformed into true loving unity. That is the job I am undertaking. Thank you for your applause; do you mean it though? There are many people today who just do not want to look at reality, and when they hear about something like this they do not want to deal with it. They would rather point at me and snap, “You go home and do not bother me. Live your own life; why should you bother America?” When you read between the lines in the New York Times and Washington Post you will see, “Why do you bother America?”</p>
|
||||
<p>If the networks all gave me two hours of time and 220 million American people could hear about the true meaning of the family, the true meaning of love and true relationships between parents and children, then we could influence America. The great revival of America’s prosperity would hinge upon a couple of hours of listening. But there is so much negativity about me that such a broadcast will never happen.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you feel heavenly anger and wrath over this? Do you have determination in your heart to crusade and break down the negativity, that we might create the opportunity to change 220 million people? This negativity toward me is not just harming you and our way of life, but blocking the entire future of America and the world. It is a very serious thing.</p>
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||||
<p>Communism and Satan will always take a position in opposition to me; the free world, however, should seize its chance to hear the truth. Day and night we are striving toward the fulfillment of that goal. We must become substantial and respected in order to become influential for God. Do we need to succeed in such ventures as the newspaper company, the print shop and the university?</p>
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||||
<p>The emergency is upon us, and before the fuse runs out on this time bomb we must achieve our goal. I am anxious to get this done right away, and day in and day out we must push ourselves. This providence to restore the true love of God is now in motion and the efforts of all heaven and earth are focused on the restoration of this love in humanity. Love alone can bring fulfillment and perfection. Love alone can bring the true fullness of life.</p>
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<h3 align="center">True love will never be revolutionized</h3>
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<p>Can love speak to the past, the present and the future? We come to another principle. The value of love never changes. The value and principle of love for our ancestors a thousand years ago was just the same. Their love was supposed to bring unity, life and the ideal; a thousand years does not change that. A thousand years from now science may have improved our way of life, but the content of love will not have changed. Tens of thousands of years in the future this value of love will not have changed. God built the entire universe according to the reciprocal relationship between the two entities of subject and object, and as long as the existence of subject and object continues, the principle and the energy of love will not change.</p>
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<p>According to dialectical materialism, matter is the origin of the universe. Does that make sense to you or not? If love forms the formal, central truth of the universe, how could anything else create the same result? Unless people are talking about love they are not really talking about unification.</p>
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||||
<p>Can you really believe that love is only sweet today because science has advanced? Maybe a thousand years ago love was sweet while today it has many artificial elements in it and has become sour and impure. However, as far as true love is concerned there has been no revolution or advancement; love has one origin and that one origin has never changed. Therefore, the contents of love will always remain the same. As long as there is harmony of love, life, and the ideal related to the original source, they will not change.</p>
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<p>That world of true love is the world of unification we are talking about: the world of unity, true life and true ideal. If you have one life to live, where would you like to live? Would you prefer living in this artificial carnal world of love, or would you prefer to live in the world of true love and a God-centered life? Your answer is proof that there is hope for unity. If all of you think like that then there is a chance for true unification to come about, and then the ideal can be built upon His love.</p>
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<p>Is God’s original ambition and desire that the world and humanity taste unity and true life and true ideal, or could He care less about the way the world drifts? God’s desire is the same as man’s, and can only be fulfilled by the response of men. In the same way, man’s desires can only be fulfilled when we receive response from God. Our ideal lies in God and God’s ideal lies in man.</p>
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<p>If you want to possess God’s universal love you must become a personality of universal caliber. I want all of you to have universal personalities, but where shall we begin? With the Unification Church, or on the level of the country or the world? We cannot begin with just the individual because as I have already explained this morning a single person cannot impart love. There must be a circuit and the basic unit of that circuit is your home, your family. That is the building block.</p>
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<p>You may conquer the world yet still not have harmony in your own home. Then you are not the person who will accomplish the ideal. President Carter may be a truly great statesman and have power to influence the entire world, but if in his own family there is constant fighting, is he a happy person? The ideal world begins in your home. Heaven begins in your home.</p>
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<p>When Jesus came to proclaim the truth did he say that only a single people could be elevated into heaven? Jesus’ blueprint of heaven included bridegroom and bride. When you read the Scriptures you can see that Jesus with his bride was to have been the foundation of the Kingdom of God. Describing the return of Christ, the book of Revelation clearly speaks of the marriage supper of the Lamb, where he will appear in his victory as a groom with his bride. One model home is needed to become the center of the universe, and the purpose of Jesus’ coming was to build that model family.</p>
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<p>No matter how much you tear the whole universe apart looking for the short-cut to unification, you will not find any better solution than this one. If there is God then this has to be His royal way. Suppose that up to now God has been dozing, truly unconcerned about having His kingdom here on earth, and then all of a sudden He hears me preaching this message here on earth; I am convinced that He would exclaim, “Well, my son, you have something better than I have. Let me borrow that!”</p>
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<p>You have studied philosophy and science at universities and done library research, but did you ever hear about this? Have you been hearing a very expensive lecture or not? Are you newcomers here being forced by regimentation to believe certain things, or are you just joyfully responding to truth? You are experiencing the greatest of all extraordinary revolutions, a change of heart.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Our greatest inheritance will be the tradition of love</h3>
|
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<p>Are heaven and our homes two entirely different things or are they one and the same? Who is dwelling in our homes? Children. Who else? You should be there, husband and wife. Who else? You are indeed notorious Americans because you mention grandmother and grandfather last. Will all these components of your home be united by rules and regimentation? God’s true love will unite them. The love of grandparents, parents, husband and wife, and children will all melt together into one unchanging love.</p>
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<p>There is the action of life in that unchanging love, where they talk about the ideal and their hopes for the future. Anyone who has deep respect for the love between grandparents, husband and wife, and between parents and children is qualified to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God. The greatest inheritance grandparents give is the tradition of love to our parents, who then leave it to us. You are becoming husbands and wives, and your duty is to leave the inheritance of love for your own children. The sequence of inheritance is the same, and you cannot neglect any of those loves in a process of being selective. The same principle applies to each relationship.</p>
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<p>The application of the truth means that as much as you love each other as husband and wife, with that same intensity you must be able to love your parents and grandparents. That same love will bring one heart in your home, which is the building block of the Kingdom of God on earth. You and your family will become a nucleus or brick of the Kingdom of God on earth, and when many families come together they will make up a society, nation and kingdom on earth. Can you see that all those relationships are equally precious?</p>
|
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<p>In comparing American homes to this standard, do they live up to this particular principle? Are grandparents in America generally happy people? With whom do they want to live? It is a most logical conclusion that grandparents want to live with their children because that harmonizes with universal truth. God wants to live with His own children, and grandparents inherit that tradition.</p>
|
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<p>When you become old would you want to live in a senior citizen’s home and have only fellowship with nurses? Why not? Some day every one of you will be a grandparent; it is your common destiny. Senior citizen’s homes may be more convenient, having medical facilities to handle emergency situations, but even though they may suffer some inconveniences, old people really want to have fellowship with their own children, laughing with them and looking at their grandchildren. When you become old will you not think the same way? Should we change the American way of life in terms of family structure?</p>
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<h3 align="center">The entire universe will listen when you meet in love</h3>
|
||||
<p>When will the universe become one? You never thought about that before. The center of the world is humanity, which means men and women, Men and women are the center of the universe, to inhabit and represent the entire universe. The unity of the entire universe results when men and women become one in love. That is the point at which the universe can become one.</p>
|
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<p>If two men came together would the universe be joined together? Man represents heaven and woman represents earth, and because a man is in the subject or aggressive position he will take the initiative. Are you that kind of man or not? You are stubborn and instead of listening to anybody you want to be your own boss. You only listen when the truth convinces you and then reluctantly you have to yield. A man goes straight forward to where love is; nothing can conquer a man except truth and love. Men are that stubborn.</p>
|
||||
<p>How about women? Do women want to take the initiative or be the recipients of love? Do you women want to receive a proposal from a man or do you want to do the proposition? Women are built to receive and men are built to initiate action. God has also given men and women particular roles in loving, with men taking the initiative and women the more passive role.</p>
|
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<p>Heaven and earth become one when men and women become one, with man representing heaven and woman representing earth. But husband and wife are each greater than the universe: Your wife is not merely one woman or your husband merely one man. Each represents the entire universe. Because love is the moving force to conquer the universe, the entire universe will listen when you face each other with love. What kind of husband do you want? Do you want a husband who only drives you like a slave, or do you want a husband who looks at you as being even greater than the universe? Which kind of wife do you want? You each want to have that kind of preciousness.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is natural that young men and women in their teens become very romantic, talking about the universe, losing themselves in music and reading romantic poems. They come to realize they can communicate with the universe, that the universe is a representative of themselves. When older teenagers think Of becoming men or women they view their lives with the highest ideals and most beautiful dreams in their hearts, dreaming in terms of the universe, and equating their lover to the universe.</p>
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||||
<p>When you have the urge to unite with such love, will you want to live in slow motion? This is the age of passion, and you want to be like a fireball, blazing into oneness with your love, and concentrating your entire self into your love. The Japanese expression “kamikaze” conveys that spirit. You want to express your ideal in the most dramatic, beautiful, extraordinary fashion, and you also love to exaggerate. “Boy, the entire world is mine.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Men and women actually start out from different extremes, but when they bring themselves together they feel the entire universe resounding with each step they take, and all of nature responding. That is young passion. When young men and women become serious, God also becomes serious. When they are very dramatic and romantic, God becomes romantic. When a young man and woman just engulf each other in a heavenly collision of love, the explosion is greater than thunder. When young passions collide even God will be shook up! When God is a part of young passion, that love is an eternal one, not a cheap thrill but something serious and precious.</p>
|
||||
<p>Should the love between husband and wife be stabilized in one solid central point, or should it be blown around by the wind? The love of husband and wife should become a stabilizing force, like the bubble in a horizontal level. Diamonds also have a certain stable structure that will not change. When this universal force of passionate love brings husband and wife together to be completely melted into one, then are they poor, oppressed prisoners, or can they really feel freedom and joy in their love? That is the kind of adults you must become, not just foolhardy and superficial. You must concretely anchor yourselves as a stabilizing force of the universe.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">The breadth of your love determines your eternal value</h3>
|
||||
<p>When you get married you will eventually all get divorced, right? Why not? Once you know this truth you must live the truth, and if you even tried to separate you would be completely upset by the pain of it. You could not survive. If your love does not change then will your joyous singing and dancing change or not? As time goes by you may change your format, but your motivation for singing and dancing would have no reason to change because they are the expression of joy.</p>
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<p>Men and women as husband and wife become the stabilizing central pole of the universe, bringing together heaven and earth. In both the physical world and the spirit world, the value of a couple is the same, and the more territory they conquer and embrace with their love here on earth, the more territory they can deal with in spirit world. The scope of that area will determine their depth of understanding in spiritual life and their value in spirit world. Ultimately how much you practice this principle here one earth shall become a measure of how much territory you deserve in heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you move your position away from the vertical line then you can no longer even talk about territory or about the Principle. Only once you have become stabilized in the central point and move along the vertical line will you have territory. Without doing this, your existence will be like dust or like the morning dew, which comes and goes. Only that one vertical line of love will link you with the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>If a circle represents the universe, the area below the central horizontal line represents the physical world and above, the spirit world. You can draw thousands of vertical lines within the circle, but there is only one longest vertical line that passes directly through the center. That is the line of love that I have been speaking about. In this bisected circle, the right side represents man, and the left side represents woman, each being equally distant from the center. When this man and woman come together in perfect unity in the center, a vertical line automatically comes into being.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is a universal principle that where there is a perfect plus a perfect minus automatically comes into being. When a perfect minus exists then a perfect plus automatically comes into being; we can see that in the principle of electricity. Thus, when the completed, perfected husband and wife come together heaven and earth automatically come together, and the parents can appear. In our human relationships as individuals, when God and the individual become completely one in vertical unity, horizontal brotherly unity is automatically there. Before that could take place, however, the fall of man destroyed the entire universal foundation.</p>
|
||||
<p>The point where men and women join together is the very point where God wants to dwell. This central line is the line of love. God is dwelling in the center of love, this line of husband and wife. Once there is true love uniting husband and wife their home becomes the dwelling place of God Himself. The family is directly connected to the eternal love of God, and God-centered unity, a God-centered life and a God-centered ideal come into being. Once you grab hold of that love you have hold of everything.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The maturing process of love</h3>
|
||||
<p>My subject today is, <i>“The Greatest of All is Love.”</i> This has been Part I. In Part II, I want to speak about how we should live and apply the Principle here on earth. If I start on this it will take all morning, but shall we do it now?</p>
|
||||
<p>After you are born you grow intimately in the love of your parents, but as you grow toward adulthood you gradually become more independent. Toward what are you moving? You are looking for your own mate, aren’t you? Will your parents say, “You rascal! You loved us this far and now you are giving us up!” Or will they say, “My son, my daughter, this is your day; I understood you. Go ahead, look for your ideal mate.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Are parents despairing and despondent at such a time, or are they joyful? Where men and women become one the atmosphere is enriched. Children are born in the love of their parents, and grow in their love. At that time their love is in the formation stage. When children grow up they move gradually toward their own love, and in a marriage their love enters the growth stage. Are husband and wife content to just love each other or do they want to have something else? When they have a loving relationship with their own children their love is fulfilled on the perfection level.</p>
|
||||
<p>God created man’s life here on earth to encompass three full cycles of love. In the formation stage we experience receiving the love of parents. Love in the growth stage is the conjugal love of marriage. Love in its perfection is love of parents toward their children. Will your parents be jealous when they see how much you love their own grandchild, or will they be happy to see that you and your own children are so completely in love? The maturing of love is a natural process, and everyone will welcome it. Parents and children have an eternal relationship. That formation stage of love remains eternally; conjugal love is an eternal love, and the love of parents toward their children is also eternal. That is the common ground of love in which there is no change.</p>
|
||||
<p>The basic building block of the Kingdom of God is the home; however, God’s goal is not to have one home alone, but to expand into a society, nation, world, and universe. God’s goal also includes the spirit world. You have to reach all the way out to the world and then return all the way back to the beginning point, your home. Don’t you want to embrace the universe with your own arms? Do you want to grab it so you can extract some benefit, or do you want to embrace it in love? If the universe you embrace all of a sudden discovers you are the worst kind of criminal or dictator, it will revolt against you. However, if you love the universe it will want to remain in your embrace. How much do you want to love the world? Your standard is to love the world more than you love yourself and more than you love your own things.</p>
|
||||
<p>What criteria determines if someone is an American patriot? If someone loves America more than his own wife and family, then he is a true patriot. The universe hopes to be loved by someone who can give more love to the universe than to his own life. Anyone who can be truly sacrificial, loving the nation more than his own family and things, is indeed the supreme patriot.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Great men and holy men</h3>
|
||||
<p>Going deeper, we could classify great people into two categories; one category is great people and the other includes saints or holy men. What is the difference? Every country can name its great people or powerful figures like heroes and patriots. From that nation’s point of view a person may be great, but he may still not be a saint or holy man. A holy man or saint is the one who loves the entire world more than he loves himself, his own things, or even his own country. An American who loves the world enough to sacrifice himself, his family and his nation is indeed in the category of holy man or saint, for that is precisely what God has done.</p>
|
||||
<p>God is the cause, and the person who can perfectly reflect God in his deeds is a saint. Let us examine God’s pattern of work in restoration history. In order to save the world God gave His only begotten son and even allowed him to be killed. God has been sacrificing His own faithful people time after time, allowing those closest to Him to become martyrs in order to save the world. God does not punish His enemies or destroy evil people; instead He continually sacrifices His own people, His own sons and daughters, sustaining His hope for the salvation of the world. Therefore, throughout history the holy people are those who demonstrated the utmost quality of God’s sacrificial spirit. To which category do you want to belong, the great men, or the saints?</p>
|
||||
<p>When parents see their children mature and become adults beginning their own families, will they be heartbroken? Do parents grieve to see their sons and daughters becoming independent from the old family ties? Of course if that meant eternal separation they would be sad, but their children are actually just maturing into another stage of life, and when children become parents themselves they can appreciate their own parents much more.</p>
|
||||
<p>When husband and wife experience conjugal love they feel, “This is the very love our parents experienced before we came.” And when they become new parents and love their own child they deeply feel, “This is the very love we received from our own parents. This is the joy they felt.” When you become mature you will be in a position to more deeply appreciate your relationship with your parents. It may seem like the birth of your own children could create more distance between you and your parents, but in actuality, through your experience of loving your own children you will certainly experience a new depth of the love of your parents.</p>
|
||||
<p>God’s law is such that you mature in love and advance from one stage to another: from parental love to conjugal love to the love of parents for children. That same development occurs in a horizontal way. Your love for your family expands into your love for your society. That expansion will not diminish your love for your family but will expand it into deeper maturity Your love of society will grow into love of the nation and the world, and each time your love will progress into a deeper maturity. If President Carter were to demonstrate such sacrificial spirit in the service of this country, literally sacrificing everything including his family, then the people of America would praise him, and make efforts to help his family. When a sacrificial spirit is shown in that way then the bond between the government and the people becomes deeper, and more sympathy can be shown by both.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you demonstrate extraordinary sacrificial spirit in order to achieve some higher cause, then once you achieve that goal people will praise not only you but also those whom you had to sacrifice along the way. If a family was sacrificed for the purpose of the society then it would become a heroic example for others, receiving recognition and praise, and also serve in creating greater unity within the society. Why am I telling you this? Suppose that instead of pursuing only its own selfish benefit Americans were to demonstrate a sacrificial spirit for the sake of the world. After achieving that goal of world salvation, America would not be left destitute, but would be in a position to receive glory and gratitude.</p>
|
||||
<p>Were one saint to give up everything-his own life, his own family and surroundings-in order to relieve mankind from sin and liberate God from His sorrow, then everything that he used as an instrument of his effort, everything he sacrificed for that purpose, would be immortalized and praised in the end. Everything that he sacrificed would join with him as part of his ultimate fulfillment.</p>
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||||
<h3 align="center">Anyone living God’s way of life can never be accused by Satan</h3>
|
||||
<p>The Unification Church is pursuing that goal of liberation, gathering together such beautiful young people from all races and all the six continents. We want to become a sacrifice for the sake of world salvation and the fulfillment of God’s will, and once we achieve that goal we shall never be forgotten. Once the day of victory comes, not only will you participate in that achievement, but your life shall bring all mankind into glory.</p>
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||||
<p>Why will you never be forgotten? Those who participate in the fulfillment of God’s ideal will have lived God’s own way of life, which has been to sacrifice His own family for the salvation of His tribe, His tribe for the society, and His society for the nation and world. Because that is the way God lives, anyone who also follows this principle shall never be destroyed of diminished. God is taking that route because once the highest possible Kingdom of Heaven is built here on earth, Satan will no longer have any way to accuse.</p>
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||||
<p>The true religion must go the road of persecution, and the religion which can unite the world is going to receive unprecedented persecution. We do not offer any excuses or complaints since we know this as the truth and still choose this life. Instead we will just humbly obey God’s mandate and go through this way silently. The Unification Church is destined to walk that path. For the sake of God’s providence, can you sacrifice you own family and nation, and even sacrifice this world? How can you say yes? Deep in your heart you know that you are not going to lose anything; none of your sacrifice will ever be in vain, but shall reap the highest results. This is what you know in your heart.</p>
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||||
<p>Considered solely in commercial terms, this guaranteed return is really a fantastic deal. The Unification Church looks like a helpless lamb being clobbered by nation after nation, yet never attacking anyone in return. Don’t we know how to fight? No, we know how to fight, but we have a reason and God has a reason to be patient. God has not yet allowed His anger to explode because His purpose is to save even one more soul. God can judge mankind at any time, but He is delaying judgment in order to save as many people as possible. That is the way He works.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">God’s strategy of sacrifice will bring greatest harmony</h3>
|
||||
<p>If we achieve world unification through this process then no one in the past, present, or future can criticize or discredit our accomplishment. Those who are now trying to destroy us shall soon be in a position to realize what kind of crime they are committing and then be overwhelmed in their repentance. They are judging themselves; they are not judging us.</p>
|
||||
<p>If God is the king of wisdom then we must understand why God has taken this route. He adopted this strategy as the means to win the greatest of all victories. This strategy will readily expose those who have no faith in God. In Satan’s world such sacrifice ends a relationship, but in God’s way the sacrifice or separation will bring greater harmony; the greater the degree of separation the greater the resulting harmony. For a common purpose we all go in different directions, and though there is physical separation there is no such thing as spiritual loss because we are united in the same purpose. In God’s world physical separation will bring greater harmony and greater accomplishment.</p>
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||||
<p>The selfish way of life is the satanic way of life, and the unselfish way of life is the God-centered way of life. But the unselfish way of life is the short-cut to reach the ideal world of God and is a life that will grow and expand. We must adopt this as our way of life. Will you live that way of life only until you get blessed, or even afterward? Will you further pursue it to the ultimate fulfillment of the victory of God?</p>
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||||
<p>This is my way of life. Mother and my own children have become a sacrifice, but I cannot give up the mission. Even if I were to die before winning the final victory, the purpose and course of the providence would not be ended. Once the dispensation for which I sacrificed myself and my family was fulfilled then God would be responsible to restore me and my family. God will be able to give me anything I desire, and I will ask, “First I want the salvation of the world; mankind must live. Next I want to see my family restored. “Then God will fulfill it. Therefore, sacrifice does not mean losing. This physical world is not our ultimate existence and sacrifice is the divine right to participate in the fulfillment of God’s ultimate goal. Then beyond this world we have another, eternal home.</p>
|
||||
<p>If I live and die solely for the sake of mankind, then where will mankind go? Someday we will all meet in the eternal spirit world. The pinnacle of our lives is not reached in the few short decades of our time here on earth. The measure of how much heaven you deserve in the eternal world is determined by how much you demonstrate a sacrificial spirit for the sake of the world while you are here on earth. I want you to remember that.</p>
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||||
<p>Your parents may not understand you at this time and your own nation of America does not understand you, but I want you to understand that this is temporary. You can tell them to wait a while and be patient, and you also should be patient. This separation is not ultimate and eternal at all, but instead you are going to reap blessing for them and embrace them, and they shall be grateful to you. That is the way I have lived. In Korea I gave up everything and underwent the most intolerable persecution, always being chased and accused. I never lived my life for myself or my own family, but solely for the fulfillment of God’s will. In America I am walking that same path.</p>
|
||||
<p>Such a rich nation as America should be ashamed by its treatment of me and this church, but let their accusations come regardless. No one in the media wants to admit that I owe nothing to America, but that in reality America is indebted to me, both spiritually and physically. Other nations send their representatives to this nation to somehow convince America to give them more money and more help, but I did exactly the opposite. I came to give my own life and everything I have for the sake of this nation’s prosperity.</p>
|
||||
<p>America has scornfully mistreated not only me but you so far. However, once they know the truth and realize what kind of relationship we have with God then they will surrender to us. We have that goal and that hope, and even though we are being hit we still move forward. Nothing can deter us. All of our sacrifice shall bear fruit so our everyday way of life is the sacrificial way of life. Every bit of it shall be reaped, even if I myself become a sacrifice because of America’s misunderstanding. If that is not the case then what I am teaching is all lies.</p>
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||||
<p>How is this nation going to pay its debt? I must leave some opportunity for America to pay back its debt, even if it is done by the descendants of those who misunderstood me during my lifetime. One way I can do that is through continuous, unconditional forgiveness of this nation. That has been God’s way of life. God’s heart embraces even His own enemy, and will never denounce or cut him off. This law is the force governing and uniting you people.</p>
|
||||
<p>What kind of power can break us and separate us from that love? The power of love alone can conquer everything. Love will bring eternal victory and eternal heaven. When you possess that particular love of God then you can climb as high as you desire and do anything you want! That love alone can give you complete liberation. That is my destination, what about you? God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1147" class="post-1147 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE IDEAL WORLD OF SUBJECT AND OBJECT</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:09:37+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-ideal-world-of-subject-and-object.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:09:37+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-ideal-world-of-subject-and-object.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">February 13, 1977<br />
|
||||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||||
Translator, Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>The name of our church is the Unification Church. The process of “unification” requires two parts, subject and object. Within an individual, for instance, the mind and body must unite, and every individual needs horizontal as well as vertical unity. Man’s happiness is experienced by receiving vertical inspiration from the hope and ideal of God, the center of the universe, and by putting that particular ideal into practice on the horizontal level. That vertical and horizontal unity brings human happiness.</p>
|
||||
<p>We are learning through the Divine Principle that the subject and object together bring unification. In a man the mind as subject and the body as object should unite together. When this unification comes about then God can be present with that person. Where does God dwell? The juncture where the body and mind meet is the place where God dwells. The Bible teaches that “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Heaven exists in the deepest unity of the human mind and body.</p>
|
||||
<p>How can we unite our minds and bodies? Can unity be established if the mind is going in one direction and the body another? Do your mind and body unite automatically without any effort? There must be some central motivation, some catalyst to bring these two together. God is this catalyst, and around Him the two can be cemented into one.</p>
|
||||
<p>What is the characteristic of a mind and body when they become completely one? They create a perfect 90 degree angle between them. The mind is searching for the highest possible goal, the highest hope and ideal, while the body is trying to fulfill the highest ideal through action. This is what men are pursuing. Who determines which ideals and deeds are noble? Do men get together to decide the standard? Since men are temporal beings they could not determine what the everlasting standard should be. An eternal standard could be set only by someone higher than man, someone in the position of subject over all humanity. That someone is God.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Even fallen man desires<br />
|
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a high ideal and noble deeds</h3>
|
||||
<p>There is an eternal motivation in this universe but man could not have been the source of that motivation. God was, is and will be the everlasting motivation in the universe. He establishes the human ideal. Therefore, we are in the position to unite with that ideal and accomplish noble deeds through our own efforts. Then realistically, what kind of person should I be?</p>
|
||||
<p>I can think of myself in two ways: I can become a man who follows my own standard, deciding for myself what kind of man I should be, or I can become a man of eternal motivation, seeking to live up to God’s standard of perfection. Finding God’s divine standard is absolutely important. For fallen man, the problem is how much we know God. Because of the fall of man a haziness developed and we lost the ability to see God. However, even without crystal clear vision we know that there is some ultimate goal for each of us to strive toward. In the fallen world men are searching for an eternal motivation. In order to reach man’s highest possible goal of perfection there must be some corresponding clement, even within the heart of fallen man, that can resonate with God’s eternal motivation. Without this invisible element linking our desire and God’s desire, we would have no way to pursue that cosmic goal.</p>
|
||||
<p>You are each a child of the fallen world but, along with the rest of fallen mankind, there is a desire in your hearts to reach out for a high and noble ideal, and you desire to do noble deeds. Where does this desire come from? Who planted such a noble concept in your hearts? Some might say, “That’s a quality given to me by my father and mother.” But where do they get such a desire? Communism has provided one answer. In communist theory matter is the source of everything. Do you think that matter can create the spiritual qualities and desires of man’s heart? Dialectical materialism is coupled with a theory of evolution which explains how material things evolve to ever higher and more sophisticated levels. However, within the human heart basic feelings and desires will never evolve but remain from generation to generation. They will not change over time.</p>
|
||||
<p>If mankind belongs to the animal kingdom then will the monkey or any other animal some day evolve to the point where they feel as human beings feel? Will they have man’s sense of justice and morality, and a desire to elevate themselves through some noble concept? Will time create that in monkeys? A monkey will never be a man, even after thousands and millions of years have passed. There is no evolution of such heart-felt desires or spiritual motivation.</p>
|
||||
<p>We conclude that man was created from the very beginning as man, and that God gave him a spiritual capacity, plus a desire to be like God and reach His standard. These desires are given only to men, not to monkeys, and they remain unchanging through time. Why? The simple conclusion is that God is subject, not matter. From the very beginning He created man to be His object, infusing him with His own unchanging qualities. We eternally remain as a mirror of God, and because God’s qualities do not change, we also have no way to change.</p>
|
||||
<p>As human beings we always act in certain ways and our hearts always harbor certain desires. This is already important proof that there is a subject beyond us. God is invisible but we are created to mirror His subjective characteristics. In this world everything exists in a reciprocal relationship. There is nothing that exists independently. God permitted no such existence in this universe. Consequently, everything always exists in subject-object relationships.</p>
|
||||
<p>As the subject, what is God’s purpose for creating the objective world? Was His purpose just the creation of the object itself, or did He desire to reach out and experience greater glory and joy by having subject and object? As subject, God created the object and dreamed of having the subject and object united together; He looked to the future, desiring to achieve ever greater joy. As human beings we always desire something greater, thrusting ourselves out to seek some cause of glory. In reacting this way our minds precisely reflect God’s own mind.</p>
|
||||
<p>God looks forward to achieving some result greater than Himself. Only by being centered on some greater desire can a true subject and object be united into one. Our desires are always focused on uniting with something greater than ourselves; we want to progress to greater achievement and greater unity. A resultant being always resembles its cause or origin, like a reflection in a mirror. When the objective result completely mirrors its subject origin, the</p>
|
||||
<p>The purpose of the object and the purpose of the subject must be parallel, not contradictory, and in that parallel existence unification will emerge. Man’s basic desire is to be noble himself, and to always have a direction for fulfilling a higher goal. If our desire is to soar in that direction then our deeds will not be arbitrary, following one direction today and another tomorrow. In that case we will have a direction and principle that continually lead us toward one goal. Our purpose exists first, and when we are striving to reach that purpose we automatically have direction.</p>
|
||||
<p>God has a goal and purpose, and in order to achieve this goal He created subject and object. There must be a goal, and some direction or principle to follow in order to achieve it. This is the principle of the universe. Every individual has two directions to follow: the ideal pursued by his mind, and the deeds pursued by his body. Human life was not supposed to be lived at random, by arbitrary whim. No, there must be a principle direction or goal, and self-discipline.</p>
|
||||
<p>In our daily lives we are always making some effort. For instance, we want to acquire good teachers and good friends. We want to go to important colleges and universities and receive a Ph.D. We want to follow a good leader. These are our subconscious concerns. Why? When we analyze our desires we discover our subconscious effort to strive toward the highest ideal and the most noble action. Our mind seeks the highest goal, and desires to make constant effort in that direction.</p>
|
||||
<p>A person may think that his goal is to become a Ph.D.; however, even after reaching the pinnacle of success that person will still not be completely content. He will discover that becoming a Ph.D. was merely one method to further pursue his higher goal; in other words, he will realize that the Ph.D. itself was not actually his goal. As you elevate your ideal then the stage where you can live and manifest that ideal becomes broader. The higher your goal and ideal are, the broader your space will be for living that particular ideal, for backing it up with actions.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let us reach a conclusion. The true man is the person who lives without contradiction, the person there. noble deeds which match his noble ideal. That man will serve the world and be welcomed by the world. A man who thinks about good things but does not do good deeds is not a true man.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you acquire a fine ideal, you can have direction in your life and your mind can set good goals. But when you try to pursue that way of life on earth there will always be opposition, and you will have to make constant efforts to overcome the roadblocks. By every standard, such a person is a true, God-centered man.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the sight of God, man’s value will be elevated when his noble ideal is matched by noble deeds. To acquire eternal value you must live your ideal, and your value is further elevated to the extent that you must overcome obstacles to live your ideal. Your eternal spiritual value will be elevated in the sight of God with every step you take in living up to that particular goal.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">As we are striving upward God is striving downward</h3>
|
||||
<p>As you pursue your ideal through your deeds your value is elevated along a diagonal line. At each level there is always a 90 degree angle formed by the vertical line of your mind and the horizontal line of your body. Without losing that 90 degree relationship between your mind and body you must elevate yourself to the highest possible point. You stand at some point along the diagonal line marking the path of your achievement, but always before you is the goal, the final point where the complete unity between God and man is perfected. At that point the dwelling of God will be with men.</p>
|
||||
<p>This unity is the point of perfection, the highest point of human value for eternity. Man is striving upward toward that goal, and God is striving downward toward that goal. As we achieve each higher level our sphere of influence will be expanded to the family level, tribal level, and national level. When we bring ourselves to the highest point, our sphere of influence becomes infinite, encompassing the entire world. God is coming down to the same degree and will meet us on the worldwide level. God’s ideal and action will match ours perfectly. This is the most important conclusion: our perfection is God’s perfection. Therefore, our achievement of highest value here on earth automatically becomes spiritual perfection in the spirit world as well, meaning that we do not have to repeat everything after we get to the spirit world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Here on earth we must liberate ourselves from sin and elevate ourselves into perfection. When we understand the need to match ideals with deeds, we will understand why God emphasizes life here on earth so much. If only life in spirit world is meaningful, why did He create life here on earth in the first place? Jesus said, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This is a most important teaching when you understand what I have just explained. As we live this principle here on earth, what we accomplish affects not only our lives on earth, but decides our eternal life in the spirit world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Perfection cannot be attained by man alone nor even by God alone. Man’s perfection can only be attained in relation to God, and God can only achieve His highest perfection in relation to man. Even in the very concept of creation God and man are inseparable. The fulfillment of God’s goal and man’s goal is not accomplished up in the air. God wants to see that perfection attained here on earth. This is why we do not actually rise up to God’s position. Instead God comes down to us because He wants to make His dwelling with men. Some people might ask how we could know this. Let me ask you, do you like a man who just talks, talks, talks, without even accomplishing one single deed? Do you like people who say, “I have a great idea and a great philosophy and I can unite the world,” but they turn around and do nothing about it? Do you prefer a man of action or a man of empty words? You respect the man of action.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is precisely how God feels. Is there anyone who has a bigger ideal than God? God wants to have His ideal actualized but because he is spirit He cannot do it by Himself. He needs man to actualize it. You thought God was almighty and all-perfect, but actually He has a weakness: without us even God cannot be perfected. God is not floating around up in heaven; His entire attention is right here on earth, focused on every human soul. God is seeking true men and women here on earth to fulfill His desire in action and deed.</p>
|
||||
<p>I want you to come to an important realization: Your one life here on earth is your most precious and unique opportunity in all eternity. This is your chance to resurrect not only yourselves but also God. You can perfect not only your own goal but also God’s goal. What a great opportunity! In this respect our lives here on earth are so precious. The invisible God who put all the creation together cannot exchange anything for one man’s life on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why is man’s physical life so important? God and all the creation cannot be brought to perfection without man. Therefore the value of God plus all the creation still cannot surpass the value of one true man. One man is that precious. That man is the key to the realization of man’s perfection and God’s perfection. According to the Bible you cannot exchange even the entire universe for one man. “For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole universe and forfeits his life?” Even the entire universe is of no value to you if you lose your own life.</p>
|
||||
<p>God is longing to achieve a day of happiness, but He cannot be happy by Himself. He can only rejoice together in oneness with man. God has no way to have joy unless He comes to man, and man comes to Him and they become inseparable. That realm alone is where true ecstatic joy can be discovered. Then God and man will become completely united in mind and body and in thought and action.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of it as a great ballet. In order to create the beauty of ballet the partners must dance with equal intensity. If one dancer is dancing ecstatically but his partner is just watching, then their dance lacks the beauty of harmony. God is seeking the same intensity of joy in unity with man. In dance, great joy cannot be expressed through a stationary pose; instead you have to move around, leap and spin and so forth. Isn’t that true?</p>
|
||||
<p>Our realistic conclusion is that God not only needs man, but wants to dwell with man. God wants to live with man in mutual intensity. If one is hot and the other cold then they are not of the same intensity. When God is ecstatic with joy He looks for man to respond 100% with the same intensity. When man shows his joy then God wants to respond 100%. This is God’s dream of the creation of the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you hear this, do you feel gloomy or happy? It seems that you feel good, but how does God feel? He is also listening to this morning’s sermon. Do you think He feels good or is He saying, “Reverend Moon, this morning you’re embarrassing me!” God reacted just as you did. God is saying, “He sure is telling the truth!”</p>
|
||||
<p>Today the fashionable idea is “human rights,” or “civil rights.” That is a very superficial idea actually. We are talking about God’s rights and human rights equally. Human rights without God are worthless; God’s rights without man have nothing to do with the ideal. We have to initiate a movement which can demonstrate how we find our real dignity when we put ourselves on an equal level with God. God’s rights are our rights. What are you doing here in the Unification Church? The Unification Church came to ignite the world through a spiritual revolution. We are not just talking about human rights or civil rights but about the restoration of God’s rights in society. That is the kind of revolution we are after.</p>
|
||||
<p>This kind of noble ideology was never before seen in history. The Unification Church is really the first to proclaim this concept. For example, communists proclaim that their ideology will liberate the poor and the proletariat. But the poor are only one segment of human society. There is no concept of God in the ideology of communism. And yet without God, nothing is really valuable. The communists’ concepts and way of life are grossly different from our way of life. God already accepts our way of life, but people must accept it too.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Love, happiness and hope come from your object</h3>
|
||||
<p>The ideal world can come only through unity between subject and object. We are talking about the two worlds of God and man. Where is the starting point of the ideal world? Will it start from you or from me? Saying that you will start it is only 50% of the answer. Alone you will never make it. You need me, and together we will make it. God will answer the same way; God and mankind must begin restoration together. From mankind’s point of view, mankind and God must begin. There are always two parties. The ideal was never born single-handedly.</p>
|
||||
<p>Is this convincing to you? Do you feel it to your bones? When you talk about the ideal world or the ideal man you are automatically talking about subject and object. Without subject and object you c-not even dream of the ideal being born. To attain such a thing as “happiness,” “ideal,” or “hope,” you must have two parts, subject and object. If you just go out all by yourself and look into the blue sky you can never say, “I am happy! I have hope! I am filled with the ideal.” Love goes a step deeper.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you love love? You cannot truthfully say that you have everything and do not need anyone to love you. Love needs someone to love and someone to be loved by. Love, happiness, joy, hope, and the ideal-these things cannot be generated from ‘me.” These are blessings coming from the object, and originating in the object; consequently you are the recipient of them. Since you receive love, happiness, and hope from your object, you should be humble. Meekness is needed to accept these things.</p>
|
||||
<p>As a meek person you empty yourself and make yourself clean. Then you can contain more and more until total perfection and blessing flow into you. However, if you arrogantly shut the door and never make yourself empty there is no way that blessing can flow into you. Love is more precious than life itself. The ideal and hope are more important than life itself. To receive such blessings of love, hope, and the ideal you must be in the position to sacrifice yourself. Since love is greater than life this is logical, and you must invest your life for the sake of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>The very central truth of my revelation is this: Happiness and love come when we live for others, serve others and give of ourselves sacrificially to others. All the subjective power of God will flow into the person who gives unselfishly of himself, investing himself for the sake of others. His meekness makes that person totally ready to receive a limitless amount of blessing.</p>
|
||||
<p>The secret of life is to be a good object. In contrast, an arrogant person clings to his own ego and desires, claiming that subject position for himself. When a subject meets a subject they repel each other. Thus there is no way that two subjects can have a reciprocal relationship.</p>
|
||||
<p>Satan became Satan because of arrogance, and he advances on the basis of arrogance. If we attack Satan with the same attitude of arrogance then we cannot win over him. It is impossible to unify the world with arrogance. We must use a completely different tactic. Satan will crumble when he sees a person of humble meekness who really gives himself to serve the rest of the world. Satan has no way to conquer such a man. We conclude that Satan’s purpose is destruction and his weapon is arrogance. God’s purpose is construction and humbleness and meekness are God’s weapons. Therefore all religious teachings throughout history have emphasized common points: humbleness and meekness of character, and sacrificial service.</p>
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<p>Today we know that the Unification Church is going through a stormy period here in America. We are under a hurricane of persecution everywhere as Satan’s world attacks our church. If we turn around and attack them in the same say, using the same methods, no one will win. If we utilize Satan’s weapons it would only be self-destructive. In order to win over Satan we must utilize God’s weapon: humble meekness. We will let Satan hit us, but we will survive; we will demonstrate the way of virtue and the true power of God’s spirit. Even after he has done his utmost and his power of persecution subsides, we will still survive. In the sight of God then, he will have no excuse to accuse us, and after that we will be able to do anything.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God’s tactic to win</h3>
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<p>This does not mean that retreat is God’s tactic. Not at all. We are using God’s principle to win, but our attack is different. As our attackers advance to strike us we will not retreat but ready ourselves to take beating after beating. As we advance they will prepare a second and third wave. Ultimately we will reach the goal and they will have to yield the world to us. Then we can stand up and proclaim the truth.</p>
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<p>In the wilderness Moses struck the rock at Horeb twice, a grave mistake in the dispensation. He should have hit the rock once, but in his anger toward the people he struck it twice while remaining in the same position. This is not allowed in the Principle. If he had moved forward and then hit the rock again, God would not have been offended. However, he stood in the same place and hit the rock twice, and that mistake damaged the dispensation surrounding his mission. This law applies also to Satan. If we absorb Satan’s initial blow then he has to move backward or forward before hitting us again. Satan cannot attack us twice from the same position. Therefore we must survive that one blow and go on. That is our tactic.</p>
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<p>Throughout history the scope of the war between God and Satan has been expanding. Why? The satanic forces are attacking the heavenly side, but they cannot strike twice from the same position. Therefore they attack and then expand their position, then attack a second time in order to expand their position again, and so on. Through continual expansion they advance forward toward the final battle, which will be worldwide war. Satan always initiates the attack but Satan always is the loser. In World War I the satanic side attacked first, but God’s side won. Again in World War 11 the satanic side attacked the Allied side, but the Allies won the war.</p>
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<p>The third World War is taking place right now in the confrontation between the communist world and the free world. Without question Satan always takes the initiative to attack God’s side. Now many communist agents, spies and saboteurs are infiltrating the free world, many more than the free world is sending to the communist world. The agents are not sneaking in to strengthen America, but to sabotage and destroy it. This is characteristic of communist tactics, showing clearly that they represent the satanic side. Their actions fit the pattern of Satan’s actions; they always come to destroy, instead of build or save.</p>
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<p>The communist world disregards all human relationships. A son kills his own father, and a wife her own husband; there is a complete disregard for human relationships and family structure. These deeds are the final manifestation of satanic ideology. There is nothing worse than this. Communism is the ultimate form of satanic ideology. To destroy the family is to destroy the basic structure of human society, as well as the fundamental basis of human value. What is worse than this?</p>
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<p>Satan is god in the communist world. The Communist Party is in the supreme position of God, and all men are subject to the domination of the State. Communists do not say, “Each individual represents the Party, and the Party represents the individual.” Instead there is no regard for individual value. The individual becomes a slave of the State and the Party. This is the worst kind of satanic dictatorship, destroying all human value.</p>
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<p>Ironically, in criticizing me our adversaries say that I am a Hitler or a Stalin, maybe even worse than Stalin. However, the dictatorships under Hitler or communism have always disregarded individual rights to accomplish their objectives for the glory of the Party or the State. Such regimes will do anything and sacrifice anyone because they have no regard for the value of the individual. I operate on an entirely different principle than the communists.</p>
|
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<p>Here in the Unification Church do I drive you into slavery and then reap the results while I relax and live an easy life, or do I push you out of love, knowing that great blessings will come to you? Actually, I myself am determined to do more than you. Rather than pushing you from behind, I am ahead of you, pulling you, pioneering the way before you.</p>
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<p>Our course is entirely different from that of communism. As true men and women you must know God first. This is our most important and unchanging standard: You must know God, His ideal, His goal and His direction, and then you must try to live His ideal. Where can we find true unification and God’s ideal? Trying to achieve unification without love is impossible. We unite at the point where the vertical line and horizontal line meet. God dwells where there is total unity. Where would you want to meet God? At the top of a hill? In New York? The place to meet God is in your heart and mind. If you make yourself a dwelling place of God then you do not have to go to God; God will come to you.</p>
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<p>You must cherish God’s ideal as your ideal and God’s goal as your goal. When you want to make a total, conscientious effort to live that ideal then the dwelling of God will automatically be within your heart. Can you say without hesitation that your mind is totally focused upon the ideal and will of God, and that whatever you do is done with God? When you eat, are you eating with God? When you look at something, do you see its beauty together with God? When you can totally give yourself up in seeking the heart of God, then the dwelling of God can be realized in your heart and then you can become an individual who can embrace the world. Such a man is welcomed in every comer of the world.</p>
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<p>Is it possible that some of you have two opposing minds? One mind may be shooting straight up to God’s heart, but your other mind sometimes works to drive you away from God. Your mind is supposed to go straight to God but your ungodly mind is going in the opposite direction. Then automatically your ungodly deeds make a diagonal line in the unprincipled world. The area above this horizontal line is God’s principled world. A vertical line is intersecting that line with the right side representing the spirit world, and the left side representing the physical world. The area below the horizontal line belongs to the dark, unprincipled world of Satan. Any action that is fostered and consummated in this realm always turns out to be against the will of God.</p>
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<h3 align="center">You can either follow God’s plus or be your own plus</h3>
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<p>God is the true universal plus. Any person who lives his life below the horizontal line is actually setting himself up as another plus, another god. He does not want to change and acknowledge the true God. Rather he wants to be his own God. The bottom of this lower world is the deepest part of hell. The highest area above the horizontal line is the height of heaven. You cannot dwell in two places at the same time; either you are above the line or below the line. It is important for you to decide where you will be. As an individual you can either follow God’s plus or you can be your own plus and dwell in the world of darkness. As you expand to the family level, national, world, and cosmic levels you will remain in that dark world. Which realm you will dwell in is determined by your decision.</p>
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<p>There are people who claim that there is no such thing as God, that they can be a god and mold this world as they desire. Although they want to become God themselves, in reality they are colliding with the true universal plus. Such people become the worst kind of dictators.</p>
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<p>The person whose ambition is to subjugate the world for his own purpose will end up in the deepest part of hell. When you become a plus yourself you can have no connection with God because plus and plus automatically repel each other. The goat of our life in the Unification Church is to empty ourselves and become minuses. In this dark world we make ourselves into complete minuses, which will always attract the true plus of God. The magnetic power between the plus and minus can pull the minus up. Then we can create our world of light and no longer have to remain in darkness.</p>
|
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<p>There are little satans everywhere in the secular world. When you become a total, absolute minus then you attract Satan as well as God, but because you have the greater plus of God holding you, you can never become the prey of Satan. That is how we can liberate Satan-by drawing him to God. When you become a meek, humble and serving person you are making yourself a complete minus in God’s sight. When you make yourself completely one with God you can conquer Satan and then cleanse and restore him. You will even be given the power to conquer Satan. This is the only way the world can be saved. But it is not enough to just think this way all day long.</p>
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<h3 align="center">We claim the unique, unchanging love of God</h3>
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<p>Satan became Satan because of illicit love. I want you to understand that love is a very formidable weapon of Satan. You must be equipped with a greater, more principled love in order to conquer and liberate Satan. Satan is always trying to trick you with cheap love in order to destroy you. But heavenly love is beautiful and constructive in its sacrificial giving. Therefore heavenly love has greater power to overcome Satan and the world. Satan’s love is temporal and will last only a short time, but heavenly love is eternally unchanging.</p>
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<p>Ultimately these two kinds of love will clash, confronting each other in a showdown. This is what we call the “Last Days.” America is facing the Last Days right now and we can see two extremes of love in this country: the carnal, dirty love of free sex and the deep-rooted, heavenly love now being proclaimed by the Unification Church. Secular love and heavenly love are confronting each other here in America.</p>
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<p>As the scope of satanic love becomes greater there will be more destruction. Families will break up; people will become corrupted; life will become miserable, and more people will commit suicide. But as heavenly love expands, our lives become richer. We in the Unification Church proclaim the unique, unchanging love of God. There is a line of judgment separating these two worlds of love, and you must stand on either one side or the other. You can not be in both.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church has one goal, ideal and direction. We all know the goal we are striving toward; however, the satanic world is only confused about its goals, which are temporal and changing. Our goal is not limited to our own individual achievements, but is leading toward the greater levels of the family, nation, world, and all the way to God. With one living, unchanging principle and way of life we want to penetrate to the heart of God. Satan’s world does not have this principle.</p>
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<p>Since our principle is God’s principle, when we raise ourselves up higher to the family, national and worldwide levels and then to the heart of God, we will find perfect harmony and unity with God. What is the energy that drives us forward to bring us up to the goal? Love is the locomotive. As you press on, you leave behind a superhighway in the world of love which everyone else can take advantage of. You are pioneering the world of love and everyone can be a beneficiary of your accomplishments. This is the world of your love and God’s love together.</p>
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<p>In order to unite the love of God and the love of man, you must always remember the 90 degree angle of the vertical and horizontal lines. You must always make yourself the dwelling place of God, placing your mind parallel with God’s mind so that God may dwell with you in word and deed. This is the simple formula: think of God every day and live with God every day. There can be no moment that our thoughts are diverted from the thought of God.</p>
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<p>God’s love can only manifest when you have individual unity between mind and body. You must reach that level in order to be eligible for the blessing. As men and women come to the age of 18 their sensitivity to love begins to blossom. Adam and Eve were supposed to be living God’s principle when they reached that time of blossoming love. Then they would have been completely anchored in the love of God. Their love would have intertwined with the love of God and not been ruined by satanic temptation.</p>
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<p>Your foundation of life should be built on the Principle when you are young, before that true sensitivity of love begins to blossom. When you practice God’s principle as a youth and grow up in that atmosphere then when the sense of love, comes it will automatically become God’s love. If you have been brought up in that environment then you see and hear things from God’s point of view.</p>
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<p>When a man appears who was raised in God’s love, the entire world is automatically influenced by him. This man of God is a spiritual magnet of heavenly love, pulling the universe to him; even without thinking, everyone will move toward that man, the center of the power of love. Even if people want to do something else, their desires will be automatically drawn to that man. Soon that man will be surrounded by many people. This is the universal power of the Principle working.</p>
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<p>The love of God is different from the love of men and women, who only attract each other. The love of God attracts everything. It is the greatest magnet in all the universe, attracting men and women and all the things of creation. That is the nature and power of the love of God.</p>
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||||
<p>If we create a church that is truly a dwelling place of the love of God it will become a magnet and people will find themselves in the church without even thinking, pulled by some mysterious power. In the early days in Korea when I was actually pioneering the ministry myself, the church was the powerhouse of the love of God. Many housewives who would be going to the market for dinner would end up at the church. Their husbands would be waiting for a good dinner which would never come! The wives would return with a lot of spiritual food but that does not fill an empty stomach. There were many such episodes.</p>
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<p>Have you experienced this vibrant power of the love of God? Even in the secular world, when two people are in love there is a pulling power between them. They are always seeking excuses to visit even when there is no reason. That same power works in the universe; the power of God has a much greater pulling force and everything is drawn to it.</p>
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<p>Would only white people be drawn by that force, and not blacks or Orientals? No, there are no barriers because this law applies universally. That is why unification is possible with God’s love. This is the principle of return; all that is of the Father returns to Him. Your mind must be parallel to God’s mind and God’s ideal, and then you must try to express that mind in your actions. The meeting of the mind and body is the dwelling place of God.</p>
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<p>As a fund raiser, if your mind is parallel with God’s ideal and your action is selling, then your fund raising will be a manifestation of the ideal of God. You can be all frowns, approaching the people with a most unhappy face, or you can have a shining face, speaking for the ideal of God. Even though the external action of selling may be the same, there are two totally different kinds of heart in fund raising.</p>
|
||||
<p>The person of God thinks, “This peanut is really heavenly dynamite. I will push a button and anyone who buys this will feel it explode in his stomach, making him a man of God. What a great commodity I have! ” Your mental state determines the outcome of every situation. If you really think the peanuts are God’s heavenly love bombs, then they will be love bombs. It is up to you to decide, not the peanuts. When you sell, do not ever think that you are the one selling those peanuts. Rather God is the one selling them and they are God’s commodity.</p>
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||||
<p>Now do you understand why the vertical and horizontal must be united? A person may declare, “I have a noble ideal in my heart.” But if his actions are timid, unwilling, and hesitating, then Satan will say, “What kind of son of God are you?” Satan will laugh at you. It is most important that you live according to your own heart.</p>
|
||||
<p>Many people come and hear the Divine Principle and many of those people leave. After reading the Principle and hearing me speak many people say, “I really respect Reverend Moon and the Unification Church. I love the philosophy and it is absolutely the will of God, but I simply cannot follow that way of life.” So many people do not act; they accept the vertical line but they cannot accept the horizontal line. Only those who can accept both can remain in Unification Church. That is how you are different from the rest of the world.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Make yourself a magnet with<br />
|
||||
the pulling power of God’s love</h3>
|
||||
<p>The basic principle of your mind and body must be that you are willing to serve, in both heart and deed. Then this unity and harmony will expand from you as an individual to the family, tribe, nation and world. At the same time you will leave a great sphere of influence behind you. Through the love of God you have already conquered much territory. This is my way of life.</p>
|
||||
<p>When I came to America I did not think that America belonged to the white people. Instead I thought, “This is God’s dwelling place, God’s nation and God’s people. Here is where my people are dwelling.” I came to this nation in the name of God, and when I look at God’s country and God’s people here, I feel more responsible for them than the man in the White House. My job is larger than his: I must bring these American people closer to God and unite them. I must create a spiritual superhighway so that they can travel quickly to God, bringing greater achievement and glory for Him.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is what I think about every moment of the day. This is how I act and how I ask you to act. I am pushing you toward this goal, and while doing these things I have become famous and controversial. However, my heart is parallel with God’s heart and my mind is parallel with God’s mind. All my actions originate in that thinking and for that reason I have been initiating this most sacrificial standard in our movement.</p>
|
||||
<p>God is definitely dwelling with me. As a result of His pulling power I have become a magnet in this country, pulling together sensitive, searching people. Children are the most sensitive, genuine and unstained people, but children do not understand the theory and principle of the heart of God. That is why I come to you. You young people are closest to children in heart while still adult in understanding. Young people such as you are the most sensitive group of people in America. When I look at your youthful, shining faces I see true greatness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually if you American young people were even more genuine and pure I could pull you much faster. The environment of American society rusted you too early, even in your teens in many cases. You can still be pulled by God, but quite slowly. However, if American young people could preserve their purity and genuine heart, then it would take only an instant to pull them to God’s side. This is what witnessing is all about. There are people outside who can be pulled by you as soon as they are touched.</p>
|
||||
<p>An extraordinary revolution of love is taking place in the Unification Church, and many remarkable things are happening. Once men and women in love discover the Principle, they suddenly find that they have a much greater love to pursue, and all their former dates and love affairs become tasteless and cheap. Young people can see a greater intensity of love in living this teaching.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sitting right here in front of me are people who chose to disregard their secular love, and give their first love to God and the True Parents instead. Even though your parents love you, some greater love is pulling you here and you want to stay. Isn’t that true?</p>
|
||||
<p>If this kind of love is not present here, you cannot even talk about the unification of the world because it would never happen. But the most moving beauty of this love for God and the True Parents springs from the fact that it is not just temporary, lasting only one or two years. This love will continue, and become even more intense. Unfortunately there are many who have not even experienced an initial love. Why is that so? They have not committed themselves 100%, lingering instead on the fringe, all the while knowing in their hearts that this is the best way of living the true universal principle. Because they have not quite committed themselves to living and acting for God, their realization of God’s love is very shallow.</p>
|
||||
<p>Some of our members say, “When I first joined the Unification Church I felt ecstatic joy and excitement, but that was three years ago. Now I feel tired, despondent, and discouraged. Somehow I have lost my original power.” That kind of person may have accepted the ideal but never really lived it. Even though you have the ideal you must live it in order to make yourself the dwelling place of God. If you never make yourself a magnet with the pulling power of God’s love, of course you will become weakened.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am warning those blessed couples who only consider how long they have been in the Unification Church. Some of those people are destined for the trash can because they know the truth but never live it. Because they never make themselves a dwelling place of the love of God, there is no magnetic power or burning zeal radiating from them. If older members only eat good food and sleep long hours while the younger members are desperately trying to win people, they will never be admitted to God’s kingdom, regardless of how long they have been in the Unification Church. Who is more of an old timer than I am? Yet I do not relax even one second. Anyone who shuns my way of life can never win my sympathy, and I will not give any mercy to him. This has to be made very clear.</p>
|
||||
<p>I want you to know that the Kingdom of God will only come when the dwelling of God is with men. You must have the love of God in order to be the dwelling place of God. To achieve this your ideal must be matched by your actions. Unless these two are matched, the love of God has no dwelling place. If you practice that principle while you have a physical body, then you will fulfill the purpose of your life here on earth, and I guarantee that you will jump from this place to the highest part of heaven in just one leap.</p>
|
||||
<p>Adam and Eve fell while they were young and filled with enthusiasm and vitality. In the same way, you must give all your youthful energy, passion, and enthusiasm in restoration. That is why the Unification Church is primarily made up of young people-you are offering your youthful zeal and passion for the restoration of the ideal that was lost by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. You who commit your youth, your energy and passion for the sake of God, investing yourselves fully for the sake of His kingdom, shall be called sons and daughters of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>No one gets tired in the atmosphere of love. Look at me–am I a tired man? I have a young heart, even younger than yours, and I never avoid responsibility. If God says, “I am sending someone to help you,” I respond, “Never mind. I will be responsible; leave it to me.” The person who joins the Unification Church yet who still looks pale and tired out is really pitiful, but I have no sympathy for him because he has not truly become a Unification Church member.</p>
|
||||
<p>The height of your ideal must be matched by the quality of your action. You must live as a balanced person, and then your life will become your own asset, like a territory that you have conquered and which no one can take from you. Your spirit belongs to heaven while your body belongs to earth, but both are yours. The value of your life becomes interchangeable, belonging to God but also to you. Wherever you go you are at home, with no boundaries to isolate you. The action and power of love are means by which we can expand our territory and continually progress to higher and broader levels.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must conclude that the ideal can never come alive unless there is a subject and object united in harmonious give and take. Through love this ideal world shall become a reality. The dwelling place of God is not possible until your mind and body are united into one; then you can become a recipient of the love of God. The Unification Church must be totally balanced. We have the most noble, most powerful ideal, and we are not just a church of words-we are a church of action as well. Our ideal of unification must be substantiated with action.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Your conscience is God’s secret agent</h3>
|
||||
<p>This is why the force of conscience is so active in your hearts. You know that you are not quite living up to the ideal and every day your consciences are pushing you to do a little more, driving you because you know the truth. You feel distressed and almost guilty when you have overslept a little in the morning, but who is accusing you? Your conscience. If you have not done enough witnessing or fundraising during the day, then even though no one but your conscience is watching, you think, “I didn’t do enough today; I feel so bad. I must do more tomorrow.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Some members say that their conscience bothers them so much since learning the truth that they completely knock themselves out, and they mutter, “Why did I have to find this Unification Church principle! If I didn’t know the truth my conscience would never have bothered me. I wish I had never learned this truth.” But it is too late! Have you had this experience?</p>
|
||||
<p>You must realize that your conscience is a good thing, and a real asset for the Unification Church. Your conscience is God’s secret agent, and it knows which path has the greater blessing for you, and the greater life waiting for you. Thus your conscience is ruthlessly driving you in that direction. It is your savior in a way, because it is directing you to the place where you can receive more love from God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once you taste the love of God you will never be contented with any lesser level of life. Do you shy away from the love of God? Is that pushing action of your conscience good or bad? The Bible says, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Now you know the truth and it must liberate you from darkness.</p>
|
||||
<p>When your body tries to relax you must be ruthless to discipline it. The person who can discipline his own body is really a man of God. When you drive your body, it is for the sake of goodness. Do not get mad at your body, just smile and say, “Come on body, let’s go. It’s time to wake up now so we can go out to witness. Don’t stay down there or you will be the victim of Satan. You are far better off to stay with me.” That is a realistic experience in our daily life, isn’t it?</p>
|
||||
<p>The Kingdom of God can blossom when you overcome your body. How many of you have been listening to me but could never quite live up to what I have been saying? Today you know what I am teaching and why. You know what to do, and you know why your body is your worst enemy. Those who can say to me, “I will do it,” please raise your hands. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1132" class="post-1132 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH AND THE IDEAL FAMILY</h1>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T12:57:33+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-kingdom-of-god-on-earth-and-the-ideal-family.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T12:57:33+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-kingdom-of-god-on-earth-and-the-ideal-family.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">January 1, 1977 – Midnight<br />
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New Yorker Hotel<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>Today I spoke to the State Directors and leaders of our movement for the entire day at the conference in Belvedere. I told them that there are marked differences in the meaning of the dispensation of 1976 and 1977. The year of 1977 is the year for a leap of success and great glory.</p>
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<p>Once all of you here in the auditorium are united with the Unification Church members from all over the nation and all over the world, then certainly we will possess the key to unlock the most difficult problems of our free world as well as those behind the Iron Curtain.</p>
|
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<p>I want you to know very clearly this morning that the years of the dispensation up to 1976 have been for indemnity, for paying off the debts of the past. Therefore, if we had made a mistake, the accumulation of all our work and the foundations laid so far would have been lost. We would have bad to start again from the very bottom. But from 1977 on, the meaning of the dispensation will be different. It’s no longer vertical. Now that a firm foundation has been erected completely, all we have to do in 1977 is expand on the horizontal level.</p>
|
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<p>So far the history of restoration has been a path of repetition: laying the foundation, having it broken down to the bottom, laying it again, and then bringing it up to the family level, tribal level, and national level. When it failed it had to go down to the bottom and come back up again. Up and down, up and down, history has been the repetition of such failures. But now, with the completion of 1976, God and I have laid a firm foundation. That foundation is unbreakable, invincible. From now we can have a victorious, horizontal expansion throughout the world.</p>
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<p>Therefore, on this particular, meaningful morning I would like to proclaim to you the motto of the year: “The Kingdom of God on Earth and the Ideal Family of Heaven.” That is going to be the 1977 motto.</p>
|
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<p>I want you to know that throughout the history of restoration, God has been seeking one ideal, perfected family here on earth which could transcend all accusation from Satan, which could claim victory upon the worldwide level. Because of the fall of man in the garden of Eden, God has never seen a perfected family prospering here on earth.</p>
|
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<p>If there had been no fall, then the first family of heaven would have been established in the garden of Eden. It would have had nothing to do with Satan’s accusation. It could only have prospered under God’s dominion.</p>
|
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<p>It is my great pleasure to proclaim this morning that after 6,000 years of Biblical history the Unification Church has achieved that cornerstone of the ideal family here on earth. No matter what the satanic world does, no matter how frantic their accusation and persecution- may become, the ideal family is destined to expand onto the worldwide level. This is the foundation we are standing on in 1977.</p>
|
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<p>I want you to know that from this year on, the more the satanic world accuses and persecutes us, the faster they will crumble. In the meantime the prosperity of the God-centered family and kingdom will flourish.</p>
|
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<p>In the unification Church our ultimate goal is the erection of the Kingdom of God right here on earth: the family of God. Each person is like a brick needed to create the foundation of the family. Each member of the Unification Church should dedicate himself to become a part of the foundation of that family. Together we must all be able to create one family on earth which can come under the complete dominion of God. All men are in the position of Adam, and all women are in the position of Eve. United under the protection and grace and love of the True Parents, we can truly create a God-centered family. This is our homework. Each one of you must feel to the bone that you are born again as true sons and daughters of God, that you belong to True Parents, and that you live together with the true family of God. I am in the father’s role, and you are in the children’s role as sons and daughters. But you and I together will never create the true family here unless God intervenes and becomes its center. We must feel that to the bone. God is the binding force of my own family. So too God must become the binding force of the heavenly family made up of the True Parents and you.</p>
|
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<p>You must become true sons and daughters belonging to the True Parents. We should not come and dwell in your hearts as a concept, but as a natural part of your life. You don’t have to explain spring, do you? You know when spring is here; you feel it. In the same way, down in your flesh and bones, you must feel united with the True Parents as one family.</p>
|
||||
<p>The most important factor for you to become a member of this heavenly family is for you to realize fully that you are the sons and daughters of God. In other words, you should be able to say, “I am completely separated from the satanic world and perfected in the sight of God. I stand in your sight, Heavenly Father, as your son or daughter without shame, with pride.”</p>
|
||||
<p>What is the fall of man? What are fallen children? They do not feel to the bone that God is their Father. They have no concept of God in their minds. You must have the following realization and awakening: “I have been born again. I have a new life. I belong to True Parents. Through the power of the True Parents, I am now engaging in a new life. I am God’s son; I am God’s daughter.” You must feel that realization down to the bone.</p>
|
||||
<p>Second, you must come to this full realization: “I am a qualified citizen of the Kingdom of God.” Third, when you see the nation, when you see the world, you must feel the grace of God and think, “God has given this world to me as His inheritance. I am entitled to claim this world as the son or daughter of God.”</p>
|
||||
<p>These awakenings and realizations are the most important task of our members in the year of 1977. First, you must realize that you are the direct sons and daughters of God; second, that you are citizens of the Kingdom of God; and third, that the world is an inheritance from God. God has given all these things as blessings to the children of God. The individual with these realizations is headed for perfection. That person is entitled and qualified to become a member or a center of the heavenly family.</p>
|
||||
<p>In our way of life, we can see two distinct worlds existing. One is the heavenly world to which you belong. The other is the satanic world outside. Many people are still there suffering, and it is crumbling. As citizens of the Kingdom of God, we should not become victims of the other world. We must be in a position to influence the other world, to bring the other world back to God so that we can expand God’s territory.</p>
|
||||
<p>There can be no value comparison whatsoever between the good the satanic world has and the still poor, meager conditions we see inside our own world. You will see the things that look so good outside crumble, decay, and decline. In the heavenly family, however, the things that look so poor and meager will be blessed, will flourish, and prosper. Instead of being influenced by the satanic world, we shall be in a position to influence it.</p>
|
||||
<p>What is the secret to influence the entire satanic world and restore it to heaven? Everything the people outside do is completely opposite to what we do. We are moving toward reorganization of the true family on a worldwide level. But the satanic world is destined to destroy the family. There, if there’s a family of six or eight people, the parents and children look forward to being divided. The parents say, ” All right, when you become a certain age, you go out on your own. Be independent.” The parents are for them selves; the children are for themselves, and the grandchildren are for themselves. The members of the family find themselves completely divided.</p>
|
||||
<p>On the contrary, the heavenly world sees to it that all eight family members come together. The grandfather and grandmother give their inheritance in terms of tradition and way of life to their children who are the father and mother. The father and mother, in turn, hand down the tradition they received to their children who are the grandchildren of the grandparents. When each family has grandparents, parents, and children together, the heavenly tradition of the three stages of creation (formation, growth, and perfection) will truly be represented in those families.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let’s look at Adam’s family. God is in the grandparent’s position to Adam’s family, Adam and Eve are the parents, and the children of Adam and Eve are in the children’s position. We are born as children. We grow into adulthood, and then we give birth to children. Later we become older and become grandparents. That’s the way we become perfect or complete.</p>
|
||||
<p>At the time of Adam and Eve, the family was supposed to be organized in three vertical levels with God as the grandfather. From that time on all the families of the human race were supposed to be organized in a similar pattern on the horizontal level. If Adam and Eve had not fallen but had become perfect and had a family, their family would have been the center of the entire heavenly universe of heavenly families.</p>
|
||||
<p>As you know, God is spirit, and God is invisible. The invisible, spiritual God wanted to manifest Himself as a visible being in Adam and Eve. They were supposed to be the visible form of God, the walking God, the tangible God. Their mind or spirit was supposed to be the inner temple, or the dwelling place of God. Externally Adam and Eve were to be the physical parents to their children. And with God dwelling in them, spiritually they were to be in God’s position to their children.</p>
|
||||
<p>To achieve this position Adam was to be perfected as an individual by uniting together with God as one. Eve was also to receive God and be united in oneness with Him. Then the two individuals, man and woman, were to unite together. This mutual unity should have been external and internal, with the power of love as the binding force.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why did God create the universe? Why did God create man? God wanted to be in a position where He could exercise His own love. He wanted to have an object to whom He could give His love. If that had become the case, perfected Adam’s family and all mankind would never have seen the fall of man or any sin. Your direct father would have been God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Here on earth we’re supposed to live like Adam and Eve. The Kingdom of God here on earth is the place where we produce qualified, perfected Adam-type parents. When they are perfected here on earth, then automatically the Kingdom of God in heaven will be open, and they will be elevated in perfection there, living like God, parents for eternity.</p>
|
||||
<p>When we ask who really desires to dwell in the Kingdom of God on earth and the Kingdom of God in heaven, there is no one who does not desire it. It is our human destiny to create the perfect Kingdom of God here on earth. In order to do that, the first order of business is to have the first family of perfection, or Adam-type parents of perfection, here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the entire world only we in the Unification Church have the terminology “True Parents.” I want you to know how precious and valuable it is. This is the most significant aspect of our church. In order to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, we need True Parents in the center as Adam and Eve who were supposed to be the True Parents of mankind. Because they failed, mankind never saw True Parents until the Unification Church. This means only the Unification Church knows how to erect the Kingdom of God here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>I want you to know clearly the definition of the “Kingdom of God here on earth.” The Kingdom of God on earth is the place where you live with the True Parents’ family, where you become the True Parents’ children. The Kingdom of God in heaven is the place where you live in eternity with Heavenly Father and the eternal parents.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of it. If Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have lived their entire lives and would have had children. Then who would have terminated their earthly lives first, the parents or children? The Parents, naturally. If Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have become the first two persons elevated to the Kingdom of God in heaven. There they would have occupied the throne of God, since even in the spirit world God is invisible.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you go to spirit world, you not only have a heavenly father but also a heavenly mother. Without both a father and mother there is no regeneration, no multiplication of new life. Actually Adam and Eve are the manifestation of the duality of God, the two essentialities of God manifested as two persons. The father and mother become one and together represent the full image of God. Actually, the father and mother who are elevated into the Kingdom of God in heaven first would become the king and queen of the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Unification Church when you pray hard or when you have spiritual experiences such as visions or dreams, not only I appear but also Mother. That is our special characteristic. You can feel that Mother and I are truly living with you in person. We will appear together all throughout your life. I want you to know that the invisible God, Almighty God, can manifest through True Mother’s and my image. We are His visible image here on earth. God shows Himself through us to you, His children.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Unification Church has another marvelous aspect. Although I am just one individual with one physical body here in America, at the same time I am appearing in 120 nations all over the world, leading people in the same spiritual crusade. Is this just a dream or is it really happening? Who is doing it? Not I, but God Himself is doing it. God is the one who manifests Himself, but with my image. Even without my permission He is taking my image and going all over the place. Many, many mysterious things are happening, and reports come every day to me. In some cases when the missionaries got diarrhea and were so sick they could not go out and witness, all of a sudden I would appear to them and lead the way saying, “Come, follow me. Do just is I do.” Giving out pamphlets and lecturing, I would lead them and then suddenly disappear.</p>
|
||||
<p>MFT members often say, “Well, one day I was so tired that I couldn’t get up in the morning. Then, all of a sudden, in a vision Father was coming with a big basket of peanuts and selling them like hot dogs!”</p>
|
||||
<p>God can manifest Himself in such a way to assist you and lead you in the front line. In order to lay that kind of foundation, God has been working many, many thousands of years. Many sacrificial offerings have been made. Many martyrs have died, and much sacred blood has been shed. Upon that foundation alone God can now appear and work with the Unification Church in such a manner. Almighty God, who is the creator of heaven and earth, and of mankind, is appearing to you directly in the forms of Mother and me, borrowing our images to work with you. God is doing that only because Mother and I have laid a complete foundation for salvation. This crusade is going on, transcending national barriers, transcending language barriers, transcending racial barriers.</p>
|
||||
<p>What about the communist world? Do you think there is any barrier spirit world cannot penetrate? Do you think God recognizes any national barrier? Compared to the billions of people outside, we are a small minority, just a handful of people. But you must know that the entire spirit world is rushing down into this world like Niagara Falls. Like a flood, the spirit world is descending on this world.</p>
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<p>When rushing water comes pouring down a place like Niagara Falls, it finds the slightest opening, even a little creek. The water knows clearly where the gaps are and pours right down into them. By the same token, compared to the size of the world, the Unification Church is like a little creek, a tiny gap, but the water knows it very well. When you make a little creek, the water comes dashing into it, and splits it wide open.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of it. God paid such a price to see perfection here on earth. So many saints and martyrs died; so many Christian sacrifices have been given. Everybody is waiting for the day of fulfillment. Now when God is coming down trying to assist you, do you think He is coming all by Himself, or is He bringing millions and millions of escorts with Him? The spirit world could not function until the appearance of Unification Church. Why? Because there was no handle to grab; no rapport was established. There was no love between the races. There was no one who could prepare the base so that God could really bring down His hosts of angels. But now the Unification Church represents that base, so God can bring down any number of angels or spirit men He wishes.</p>
|
||||
<p>So far, there have been many, many evil spiritual phenomena. There are many evil, lost spirits haunting people. There are also many mediums trying to tell fortunes. Spirits can also actually cause diseases and accidents.</p>
|
||||
<p>What is the difference between evil spirits and good spirits? When an evil spirit approaches, you somehow feel fearful and uncertain and very unstable. But when some good spirit is trying to embrace you, you feel so good without reason! You’ll be walking on Cloud 9! A satanic spirit is like the winter wind, making you shiver. But a heavenly spirit is like spring. It melts you, relaxes you, and gives you the warmth of love and comfort. You should feel that in the Unification Church. If you don’t feel it to the bone, then you still have a way to go. When you come into the Unification Church, without reason you feel so free and so secure, happy, and energetic. But when you go outside, even though there are cars and lots of food, and your parents are waiting, and your brothers and sisters treat you to good things, still you some how feel uncomfortable, scared and shivery. You just want to stay by yourself. You must experience this kind of distinction between the two worlds. Those who do not have that feeling are not quite members of Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<p>People outside do not know the secret of Rev. Moon. They think I am carrying around a big bunch of pills, and new members coming in get a pill or an injection. They think that’s how we make Unification Church members. But when they look into it, they can find no pills or injections. My secret is deeply hidden. They can not know it until they become members of the Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<p>Divine Principle is like a big reservoir of the word of life. When you listen to Divine Principle, it’s like sticking a little rubber straw into a big reservoir. You have a limitless supply of the water of life coming to you. You just keep drinking and drinking. If somebody tries to make you go away, your mouth may stick to the straw even though your body is taken away.</p>
|
||||
<p>Imagine a little honeybee going from flower to flower to suck the sweet nectar. If you try to pull him away when he is sucking the nectar, even though his wings may break, he will not release the flower. You, too, can experience that kind of concentration. Something in Divine Principle is sweeter than nectar. You want to stick in a little pipe into the Divine Principle for the rest of your life.</p>
|
||||
<p>In your deep prayer and meditation and in your daily life you must be able to see Mother and me appearing, living with you in spirit. Some people could experience us not just in dreams and visions, but literally living with them, always beside them. If you could feel such parental warmth and presence 24 hours a day, would you like us to stay with you, no matter how old we are? (Yes.) Then, you will have the ecstatic realization that you belong to parents who have eternal life. Your life will be connected to eternal life, to the eternal source, the unlimited reservoir. If you have had that realization, you are already living in the Kingdom of God. In the past religious history of the world, the experience, the exhilaration you taste in your life could not occur. This is the first and last time in history.</p>
|
||||
<p>May I ask you one question? Is honey sweet only to white people and bitter to black people? Is honey sweet to everybody? Even to a hunchback or a lame duck? What about to God, is honey still sweet? Then what happens if there is something sweeter than honey? What is that? (Love) (Father laughing) What is love? Show me a sample on your palm. You say love is a mysterious thing. When someone says, “Show me love,” you cannot show a piece of love. There seems to be no such thing as love, but actually there is. When it is there, there doesn’t seem to be any. When there is none, then it seems to be there. It’s very mysterious. What does love look like? Love looks just like God. When you see God, there is no God to see. But there is definitely a God. God is both there and not there. He does not come within your grasp. The master of love, the host of love is God, God owns love.</p>
|
||||
<p>A person who is becoming like God and trying to take after the image of God would be pulled by the power of love. That person would truly recognize the power of love. I am in a position to receive love from God. Do you think I am entitled to it or not? How do you know? It is something intangible. You cannot see or explain it by words, but I have some mysterious, magnetic power. Is it true? Now I must beg Mother’s generous understanding. Suppose I were not yet married and were very handsome. Then, of all the Eves here whoever would want to marry this type of person, raise your hand. If I said, “Get away, get out,” and kicked you and chased you out, still all would come, “Oh, Father, please!” That’s why I am criticized by the outside world. They don’t understand such a magnetic force.</p>
|
||||
<p>There were many occasions in Korea and Japan where married couples shared a love so sweet and tight that they would have died for each other. They each thought that there was no one better under the sun. But once one of them teamed the Divine Principle, all of a sudden, that person would change and say to the mate, “I don’t know you any more. I just want to go and stay with the church.” That kind of situation brought a lot of criticism to me. There really is some power there! But the amazing thing is that it doesn’t work only with young people, but with 70 or 80 year old grandmothers too! Honey is sweet not only to young women but also to older women! And men want to know the Unification Church, too. All you men try hard to become my close friend. You want me to recognize you, to call you by your first name. Unless such power existed in this room, how could we be united like this? It is impossible. Anybody seeing this particular phenomenon would say it is impossible.</p>
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<p>There is some invisible yet very clear binding force of love. Several weeks ago, I sent all the Japanese married couples back home. With only three days notice I said, “You pack up and take off.” Those wives, many sisters, said, “I’d rather die here. I don’t want to go.” I said, “Why? Go to Japan. Everybody is there: your family, your own culture, the language you can speak. You have good food, a home and everything. Why don’t you want to go?” “Because, Father, you are here in America. I don’t care about the Empire State building. I don’t care about the New Yorker, but I care about you, I want to stay beside you.” Everybody said that. There is some mysterious binding force, a magnetic force of love in the Unification Church.</p>
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||||
<p>But the outside world cannot understand this noble mysterious power of love, binding the Unification Church. That’s why they say all kinds of things about me. “Well, Rev. Moon is a great orator. He is spellbinding. When he starts to speak, everybody melts.” And other people say, “No, he is not an orator; he is a hypnotist.” “No, no, he is magician, He does magic.”</p>
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||||
<p>People say all kinds of things about me, but none of them are true. The original nature of man and of all living things is to gravitate to the source of life. When God, the invisible source of life, is permeating me, all key to the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven on living beings are attracted to me by a natural force. That is the way we are united; that is the way we are bound together. Nowhere in the rest of the world can you find such a binding force.</p>
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||||
<p>When you come to the New Yorker, do you think, “I’m going to stay overnight here. This is Rev. Moon’s house.” Or do you think, “This is my home, our home.” The second view is true. That’s why you are crazy, living in the world’s biggest house, right? But that’s true, it is your home. Who made it so? I taught you, but did I make you fill out a form so you would feel this is your home? No, the source of power is not in me. It is in God. The power of God is making you feel at home. I only serve as a channel for that power to flow from Him to you. I as a person cannot manipulate such a magnetic force. I myself have nothing to do with it. It is the power of God, the nature of God’s force flowing through me. I merely set the condition, and the dynamic, universal force of love flows through me to be conveyed to all mankind. It is like spring coming in March and April when the entire world warms up all of a sudden. You don’t know where the power came from, but spring definitely is there, and flowers come up, and the breeze begins to play, and the birds to sing. That power goes beyond the global level of the earth. It goes all the way to the cosmic level. That power has no limit, no end. This force of love goes beyond time and space.</p>
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<p>However, I do not control time and space. Only God can control it. Do you think God has a watch and timetable to count time and limit space? The power that is manifested through me to the Unification Church is the power of God. No other person, no other universal force could do that. Even Satan could not do that. Actually, this most determined energy is God trying to fulfill His desire to see one perfected family here on earth. The Kingdom of God here on earth is not going to be manufactured by man’s hands. God is going to bring it about once we manifest ourselves as instruments of God.</p>
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<p>This morning’s message is dwelling on the topic of the Kingdom of God on Earth and the Ideal Family. Why the ideal family? Because the ideal family is the earth. Without the ideal family as a building block there can be no Kingdom of God.</p>
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<p>In this room many different nationalities and races are together. If someone says, “I don’t care about black people so much; I don’t care about yellow people,” that person is already opposing God Himself because God wants to bring all races together. If someone says, “I don’t care about the rest of the people,” that shows he is not parallel with God.</p>
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<p>Think of it. In Africa there are many missionaries working with black people even though they are receiving some persecution from the government of those African nations. Still many people are receiving revelations and dreams, and they are cooperating with our missionaries. They are hardworking black brothers and sisters. Over there in Africa if one black sister or one black brother comes, our missionaries treat them as God would. It is God who is embracing them and bringing them in, teaching them and feeding them. Then in America how can we say, “I don’t care about black people”? People who would say that are really traitors in the sight of God. How can we bring about the universal, cosmic warmth of love that transcends national and racial barriers? How can we make this universally known? How can we expand it to the world-wide level? This is our task.</p>
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<p>The answer is simple. God is our parent, both father and mother, and embracing them together God loves all races. How could I take a position opposite to that of my own parents? Impossible. Our key to unlock the Kingdom of God here on earth is this: you must make a relationship with me, feel a closeness and warmth of love for the True Parents and expand it to every comer of the earth. If you are able to do that, we will have the Kingdom of God quickly. If you can go to other continents like Africa and Asia with parental love and embrace those people, then you are a universal person. Your character is a cosmic character.</p>
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<p>What is the definition of the ideal family? The ideal family possesses the eternal love of God; the ideal family possesses the everlasting love of husband and wife, and the ideal family will have love between parents and children, These three eternal and lasting loves combined together will make an eternal family.</p>
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<p>Married people, if you love your own wife, if you love your own husband, then when you look at other men or women, you will respect and admire them just as you do your own family members. For men, the female world is an extension of the world of your wife. One woman was selected out of all the billions of women as a representative woman. A woman must think of her husband as the representative of the entire male race, the symbol or center of the male race.</p>
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<p>When you go to the spirit world, that world works like this: The person who has lots of love toward his own parents, toward his own brothers and sisters, husband or wife, and children, that is, the person who experiences a deep sense of love in family life will have much, much freedom to maneuver. He can go horizontally in all directions, everywhere without any limitation. In contrast, a person who has no experience of love is narrow-minded. He isolates himself in spirit world and has no freedom at all.</p>
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<p>The love between parents and children is a vertical relationship; the love between a husband and wife is a horizontal relationship, and the love between brothers and sisters is a circling, surrounding relationship. These three relationships are different. If you experience here on earth a deep sense of love in these three different ways, then you will be able to maneuver vertically without limitation, horizontally without limitation, and circle around without limitation. Those who did not taste parental love because of the early death of a parent, for example, are tragic people in a way, because they lack that very important aspect of experience. Likewise, those people who never experienced family life, the husband and wife relationship, are also in a way very poor in spirit world because they lack one important aspect of life. Also, those without brothers and sisters are in a poor position because they can not live a full life in spirit world with one whole area of experience lacking. A wholesome family life, therefore, has grandparents, parents and children. If one generation is lacking, the family somehow feels crippled. The ideal family alone can serve as the building block of the Kingdom of God on earth.</p>
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<p>We have the mission to create the ideal family here on earth. When those children who enjoy a deep warmth of love with their grandmother and grandfather go out into society, into the New York streets, for example, they will feel very close to the senior citizens. To them the senior citizens will look like their own grandmother and grandfather. Somehow they will want to talk to them; they will feel close to them. When a young person who is used to helping his grandparent at home sees a senior citizen needing assistance, that young person will dash to him and help. If sons and daughters enjoy their father and mother’s love, when they go out and see someone like Daddy, someone like Mommy, they will feel very close to them. They will want to talk to them and help them. That close feeling will manifest itself automatically. Also, when those who have a beautiful tie between brothers and sisters go out into society, they will have more intimate relationships with their surrounding neighbors and will get along well. When a sister and brother who have a deep relationship go out and deal with the opposite sex, they are very natural. They don’t feel any carnal or unhealthy feeling, but experience a brother-sister feeling. The Kingdom of God here on earth is the family that can truly experience such loving relationships with God at the center.</p>
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<p>This year I declared as the motto of the year 1977: The Kingdom of God on Earth and the Ideal Family. Now we have come to the era when we can physically construct the Kingdom of God here on earth by creating the family. You individually must become members of a heavenly family on the horizontal level. We must experience this love in our society and our world. For you, Heavenly Father, God, is in the grandparent position. The True Parents are in your parent’s position, and you are in the true son’s and daughter’s position. Even though there are many billions of people in this world, you are just like Adam and Eve who were born in the Kingdom of God, in the garden of Eden. You are like a person who was just created by God in the garden of Eden. By setting this condition you can experience your own Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, and you can qualify for the eternal Kingdom of God in Heaven.</p>
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<p>We are bringing back the garden of Eden. We are bringing the entire world population into the Adam-type family. That’s what your job is going to be. All men of the world are brothers. Once you live in the full realization of that, no matter how much Satan may try, he will have no condition to accuse you. If you recognize Heavenly Father, belong completely to True Parents, and completely make yourself the direct heir of Adam, how could Satan have any power to accuse?</p>
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<p>If we had the ability to telecast the entire heavenly new truth through the networks by satellite for seven years, within that time we could really turn this world upside down into the new heavenly family. The important thing is we won’t have to ask the people to come and join. Not at all. All we will have to do is let them know the truth, let them know its value. Once they recognize the value, we won’t have to ask them to come or to do anything. For their own sake, for their own good, they will just fight to come in. They will be able to see clearly that their eternal life depends upon it.</p>
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<p>By loving True Parents you are loving God because you have a visible symbol. How wonderful! God is invisible, but having True Parents you have a visible symbol. When you love the True Parents’ children and love the True Parents, you are actually loving Heavenly Father because they are the manifestation of His spirit. Why is this? Because they are the king and queen of love. They are the manifestation, the personification of the love of God.</p>
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<p>This year we are going to concentrate on the construction of the ideal family and on this love of parents. When you see poor people and beggars, look at them from the viewpoint of God, with parental love. Before anybody touches them, you should go and embrace them as a member of their family. Wherever we stretch out our arms to those in the world, we create a little creek flowing from the reservoir of God. God is pouring out the water of life and the water is flowing through your creek, all the way down to wherever you go. The deeper the creek you create, the more water will go through that creek. You are serving like the trunk of a tree or as a small reservoir. You are in a position to distribute the love of God.</p>
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<p>Sisters, I want to ask you a serious question. When you get married and have a home, will you welcome your own physical parents as well as your in-laws? America hates in-laws; can you love them? America today is truly hungry for parental love. You know the phenomena of hippies who run away from home. These phenomena occur because the young people don’t taste love at home. They are hungry for love, but they cannot taste parental love, grandparents’ love, or brothers’ love at home, so they run away somewhere to try to satisfy themselves. If you welcome your own parents, your own in-laws and you serve them and love them just as you love your own True Parents, then you could be a saint.</p>
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<p>Today in America, what are the many senior citizens, grandmothers and grandfathers, doing? They are just wasting themselves in senior citizens’ homes. They have a couple of friends, the sun during the day, the moon at night. Watching the sun during the day and moon during the night, they wait for the day of death. That’s a pitiful situation.</p>
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<p>Here in America I heard a very uncomfortable report of family life. When one couple was visited by their own parents, they nagged them, “Why didn’t you call me? If you had, we could have prepared dinner for you.” This may sound very kind, but actually I said, “How ridiculous! Since when do parents have to call and make dinner reservations?” If God were coming to Adam’s house, would God call Adam and say, “I’m coming; prepare my dinner.” In the sight of God, that is absolutely unacceptable. The children’s home is the parents’ home. The parents’ home is the children’s home.</p>
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<p>Here in America, when a little baby comes out of the nursery in the hospital, he or she goes right into a separate room at home. The babies seldom sleep together with their own parents. Therefore they can not feel the warmth of love from their parents. They are very seldom fed by their mother’s milk. Not sleeping together with their parents, the children are just like pets. You should not treat your children like that.</p>
|
||||
<p>It is a beautiful scene when a couple of children come and want to sleep together with their father and mother. It’s all right. Accept them. If there’s not enough room, then sleep upside down, one head this way, one head that way. Organize a little better! The children may actually think it’s uncomfortable to sleep between their big parents, but they feel good. The next morning they say, “Mommy, I want to do that again!” Children must feel the temperature of their parents’ bodies.</p>
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<p>Look at God’s point of view. Do you think God would say, “Well this is my son’s room, my daughter’s room, my first son’s room, my second daughter’s room, my baby’s room.” Too many bedrooms would be needed in that case.</p>
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||||
<p>Let’s say a good thing happened in a heavenly home. Then what is the first thing that happens? They share it. If a good thing happens to Eve, she wants to share it with Adam. She calls, “Adam, where are you? Come here.” If something good happened to him, he would call Eve, and God is the same. It’s wonderful.</p>
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<p>If a good thing happened would a father say, “Don’t call your younger brother. He is a greedy man and we don’t want to celebrate together with him. Don’t call your elder sister. She is a very stingy person, and we don’t want to share with her.” Do you think that would happen? Once a joyful thing happens, they want to laugh together in all different ways, to make a harmony of laughters.</p>
|
||||
<p>Those who set up a boundary saying, “Oh, nobody can bother me; no one can disturb me,” create their own satanic prison, satanic fence. You have to knock out all barriers or fences from around you.</p>
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<p>From 1977 on we are going to initiate such a movement. All the women of Unification Church need to be trained to serve their grandparents, to satisfy them and give them some comfort and happiness. Think of yourself. In your mind you have been thinking, hiding someone. “I don’t like that brother. Even though he is my own brother, I don’t like him so much.” or “I am not that close with my own sister.” If you have animosity in your heart for some person, you must go to a similar person and serve her, serve him, and try to make up. We have to learn how to live together in human relationships. How can we serve each other? Unless you can be a harmonizing, unifying family person, you will not be admitted into the Kingdom of God as a good citizen. You will not be qualified.</p>
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<p>Those who really have a special distaste for senior citizens and older persons, grandparents and grandmothers, raise your hand, please. There are many, I’m sure, but you are afraid to raise your hands. Those who are fond of old people and don’t mind speaking to them, who want to give them some kind of comfort, raise your hands. There are many people who didn’t raise their hands.</p>
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<p>What if I would assign you to a grandmother and grandfather 500 years old? Would you volunteer to serve them? The kind of person who loves older people, the older the better, would be very good because, after all, who is the oldest person in the universe? God is really the oldest grandfather! Those who love God will be in a position to love everybody younger than God.</p>
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<p>In the garden of Eden, God’s ideology was “familyism,” grand big old familyism. God’s family includes all races. Japanese can go into that family, Americans, blacks, Puerto Ricans and everyone. Those who dislike living with other people are the ones who will be expelled from God’s family. “All right, if you don’t like everybody else, get out.”</p>
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||||
<p>Is the ideal as simple as one color? Just red, is that ideal? Or would a combination and harmony of many different colors be ideal? Which one? When you paint a masterpiece do you need only white paint? No, you need all kinds of paint. White people alone could not come up with a beautiful painting. You need everyone, red, yellow, light and dark, black and white, everyone.</p>
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||||
<p>Do horses say, “You black horse go away. We are the brown horse family. Don’t come near us.” Do they say that? Do dogs segregate themselves saying, “You black puppy, go away, we are the brown puppies”? Is that true? Do they dislike each other? Do they care about or even recognize different colors? Then why do men? Man was supposed to be greater than they.</p>
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<p>Something is wrong, fundamentally wrong. We have to fix it, mend it. I come as the champion to repair that which is out of order. We must repair the human race. Do you think God will say, “Rev. Moon, don’t do that, don’t touch it”? Do you think God will say that? Those people who say, “Rev. Moon, don’t touch us, leave us alone,” are the people to whom God will say, “OK, I’m sorry, but get out of my house.”</p>
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||||
<p>This year, 1977, we must inherit the tradition of our own parent, God in heaven. We must adopt His ideology as our ideology, His way of life as our way of life. Unmarried men and women, you are going to look forward to the ideal family and the creation of such a home. You must become individually ready for it, trained for it and disciplined for it. Married people should be in a position to really live the heart of God in your home.</p>
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||||
<p>Today we must pledge together to our Heavenly Father that this year’s motto is going to be centered upon the ideal family. We must exert ourselves and construct the Kingdom of God here on earth. The motto is: The Kingdom of God on Earth and the Ideal Family. We must live up to God’s expectation and the True Parents’ expectation and be ready to truly center on this heavenly family to come. Those who pledge to become such persons raise your hands and show your pledge. May God bless each one of you. Thank you very much. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1169" class="post-1169 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE REALM OF RESURRECTION</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T14:31:51+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-realm-of-resurrection.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T14:31:51+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-realm-of-resurrection.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">April 3, 1977<br />
|
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Belvedere, New York<br />
|
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
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<p>Due to the fall of man, we all need to be resurrected. The fall of man was our departure or our separation from the original realm of life, but we are destined to be restored into that original realm through the resurrection process. If there had been no fall there should have been God-centered parents, and you yourselves as God-centered children, surrounded by all the things of creation. Due to the fall of man, however, this sequence of existence has been reversed. When you fall from a tree your head usually hits the ground first. Similarly the fall brought man’s spirit down.</p>
|
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<p>When I say that the whole sequence is upside down I mean that from the standpoint of God the highest point is not occupied by men but by all the things of creation, or nature. Furthermore, through the fall a new master came into being who is not God; Satan has become the master instead. All the things of creation, all children, all parents, indeed all of the universe has been under the dominion of Satan. God created only one man and one woman, but He wanted them to hold the central position in the universe. Who is Adam? Adam is the visible form of God, the body of God.</p>
|
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<p>The minds of men are invisible, having no form, but you know that they exist. You cannot see air either, but you definitely know that air exists. The mind is the place where God comes to dwell. In contrast, the body is visible like the earth. We cannot live without the elements supplied by the earth and the air. In the spirit world also there are elements of life, and without them our spiritual lives cannot be sustained. You may think that we need only food to eat and air to breathe, but we need one more clement like air, only spiritual in content.</p>
|
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<p>The food we eat is the formation stage of sustenance, while the air we breathe is the growth stage. The perfection stage element can be called the eternal strength and vitality of life, which is supplied at a higher level than are food and air. Everything is made in three different levels. Look at your face. You have a mouth on one level, a nose on another level, and eyes and forehead on another level. Even in your little finger you can see three bones. Your eyeballs have a white element and a brown or blue element, then the pupil in the center.</p>
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<h3 align="center">What will bring you to God’s side?</h3>
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<p>The realm of the fallen world has been dominated not by God, but by Satan. In order to restore the fallen element, we must go through the reverse process of the fall. Who is going to undertake such a task? Satan? God? Who caused the fall? Man did. Therefore man has to take up the major responsibility of restoration. Man cooperated with Satan and fell; therefore, in the reverse process man should take up the major responsibility and cooperate with God.</p>
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<p>When you move one step to the left side then you stand in the satanic realm, but when you move one step to the right you are in God’s realm. In which direction would you like to move? If you want to move to God’s side then what should you do? If you mobilize your power and knock Satan out, will that bring you to the right-hand side? Can prayer alone bring you to the right-hand side, even pleading, “God, come to save me?” You can continue such a prayer for 1,000 years and still it would bring nothing.</p>
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<p>Only prayer plus action will bring about restoration. Prayer is actually a pledge or covenant between God and men, and when you make a promise then you must deliver it. God will say, “I heard your prayer. Now is the time to act.” Would God ever tell you to just sit still and wait for Him to do everything? That is not God’s way. When a man brings a prayer to God then God will watch to see whether His child is just a man of words or whether he is one who fulfills his promises. God is awaiting your action.</p>
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<p>Suppose you have offered a prayer and want to make a giant step toward God’s side. You know you will meet resistance because Satan is still holding on to you. God is not yet connected to you and is awaiting the completion of your first step. How can you disconnect yourself from Satan and not be pulled from behind? There are only two ways: either you reject Satan or he leaves on his own. Satan is clever. When he recognizes that you are completely one with God and that nothing will change your mind, then he will decide he does not want to waste any more energy on you and he will leave.</p>
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<p>There is one most principled way for God to test whether someone is truly a man of God. God will tell Satan, “Go test my son and see whether you can bring him down to your realm. If you fail, then he is my son.” You must know that this is the universal formula, and always throughout history satanic attacks and tribulations have pursued the men of God. There is no other way for a child of God to prove himself. It is important to know for whom a man exists because in restoration he must go opposite from the worldly way. Who did man think about in the process of the fall? Man’s selfish thinking about his own benefit brought the fall.</p>
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<p>Is the American way of life today individualistic or public-minded? Does it represent hell or heaven? What about you? Man brought the fall upon himself, and as long as he continues in self-centeredness he has no way to restore himself to the side of God. Restoration or resurrection has no meaning as long as man persists in living on a selfish level. On April 1, I declared that man had not only become centered upon himself, but had also consummated love centered upon himself, wanting to reap everything for his own benefit. Everyone is thinking about himself and about how he can become the recipient of love.</p>
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<p>We cannot go over the hill of resurrection until we ourselves excel Adam and Eve. Do you want to go to heaven or hell? Adam and Eve brought themselves into hell because they were self-centered. You must be different unless you want to go to the same place.</p>
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<p>Who should become your center? You must become God-centered instead of self-centered, and love God more than you love yourself. Before you ever existed God already existed and was your entire being; God is your center and consequently you exist solely for God. You must want to become one with that center again. That center is eternal and unchanging, and once it is established it will not move. Once its axis is true, then the environment can be moved.</p>
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<p>The center is unchanging God and you are the surroundings; in oneness with the center you can turn upon that unchanging axis. That God, that center, is your origin and your subject. As God’s object you must make God the center, not yourself, and you must love God more than you love anything else.</p>
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<p>What was the fall of man? Simply speaking, “I” became the center and “I” took everything, including all the different kinds of love. Since self-centered love brought the fall of man, you must move in the opposite direction. If you start by moving one step into the satanic realm then the entire weight of your body will be on your left foot. Satan has certainly become your master and center instead of God, and your body has become a satanic body, tied in satanic love. Therefore, you must separate yourself from the satanic world.</p>
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<p>If you keep that Satan-centered body and way of life then you become entangled by the satanic family, society, nation and world, caught by many different ropes and chains and unable to separate yourself. If you are determined to become the most important and influential leader of this world, would we say that you are a heavenly leader or satanic leader? With that way of life you are still within the boundary of Satan’s realm. You must really understand this. The most critical question concerns what position you are in. Have you already crossed the boundary completely and become situated 100% on God’s side? Are you still in the process of crossing the boundary, or is your weight still on the satanic side, with your right foot just barely touching the ground of heaven?</p>
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<p>Many of you are still in this process and not even touching the ground of heaven yet. You are still mulling over whether you should even go. I want you to know absolutely clearly what hell and heaven are, and what is the true way of good and evil. You should know clearly the definition of good and evil. If you can look at yourself and know that you are absolutely God-centered and that you absolutely love God more than anybody else then you are indeed in heaven, and are a good man in the sight of God. If you are the other way around, you are in the satanic world and destined to hell. Man is always fluid, constantly moving back and forth, back and forth.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Without the fall, self-centeredness<br />
|
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would be God-centeredness</h3>
|
||||
<p>You must make up your mind firmly and not continue mulling over the question. If you straddle the boundary line between the fallen realm and the restored realm, then no matter how much you pray your prayer will not be answered. But once you make up your mind to be on God’s side then nothing will be pulling behind you and you can go straight forward.</p>
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<p>We all need food, but for whom? Do you eat your meals for God, or for yourself? What is different about saying you are eating the food for God? You must make your body a complete temple of God. If God is dwelling inside then when you eat you are not feeding yourself, but God. You must feel that way. Then you are doing a favor for God, and your meal is holy because it is God’s meal. Y,/hen you go to the bathroom, are you still doing it for God? The same principle applies in whatever you do, even in going to the bathroom. The temple of God needs some give and take. Therefore you are obeying God’s order and going to the bathroom to relieve yourself.</p>
|
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<p>You are not breathing air for yourself, you are breathing for God. Do not ever think that you are listening for yourself. Instead you are listening to music together with someone. Do not ever think you are doing anything alone and that nobody sees you. That is impossible. When you meet people in the everyday world, who is actually talking to them? God is talking through you. Once you become completely one with God and make yourself God’s own body, then when you do something for yourself it is not really for yourself. In that case, when you are serving yourself you are automatically serving God.</p>
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<p>After you are totally separated from Satan and you absolutely become one with God, then thinking of yourself is not really thinking of yourself. Because you are a temple of God then your becoming a center means that God automatically becomes the center; if there had been no fall this would automatically be the case. Which life would be more meaningful? Would you want to be more God-centered or more self-centered? Actually it is more fun and exciting to be God-centered and it never becomes a burden.</p>
|
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<p>Would you be most happy to have your money in your own pocket or in my pocket? Don’t tell a lie! Do you really think, “No, God, even though you are important, my pocket is more important”? If Adam and Eve had not fallen then being self-centered and God-centered would be the same thing. God wanted to see Adam be greedy to become really perfect, really rich. If Adam were greedy like that he would say, “God, You are my Father, and I will never leave You, and don’t You try to leave me for one second!” That would be greediness for God. It is selfish in a way if Adam wants to satisfy himself by loving God, but that makes God happy.</p>
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<p>Without the fall or sin, Adam and Eve’s way of life would be self-centered, but since the self without sin is equivalent to God it is automatically God-centered. Because of the fall of man God was separated from Adam, allowing Satan to come in and become master. As a result, the self-centered way of life has become alienated from God. However, if there had been no fall and absolutely no sin such that God and man were perfectly united, self-centeredness would not be sinful. Then self-centeredness would automatically be God-centeredness. Therefore, self-centeredness in the fallen world should not be blamed 100%. Once you become absolutely God-centered then a self-centered way of life would automatically become God’s way of life. It is because we are departed from perfection that all the difficulty has come into being. If we were in perfection with God, then the center of self-centeredness would be God, and loving oneself would be loving God.</p>
|
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<p>When love becomes your center, then loving your own children, your own mate and your parents would be beautiful in the sight of God, having nothing to do with envy or jealousy. Since we have become the prisoners of Satan all of our loving relationships are still connected with Satan; therefore, we need some revolutionary experience to separate ourselves from Satan and move into perfection. No perfection can be found in this realm of Satan. The process of separation is our job.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">Re-creation of all things,<br />
|
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children, and parents</h3>
|
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<p>You can see how the sequence of creation has been turned upside down by the fall. The things of creation are now closest to God, then children and then parents. Where should we begin in restoration? The work of re-creation is restoration, so let us think about the process of God’s own first creation, which God accomplished together with the angels. Even though the archangel Lucifer became fallen, the other two important archangels are still there at God’s side, along with the angelic world. In cooperation with the angelic world God made all the things of creation first.</p>
|
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<p>Next God created His own children. If those children of God had grown into perfection, what would they have become? Parents. I want you to know clearly that the work of salvation we are talking about is the work of restoration; salvation, restoration, and re-creation are all one and the same thing. Through the re-creation process the realm of resurrection comes into being. When we advance with the work of salvation we are actually proceeding with the work of resurrection and re-creation.</p>
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<p>God will start from the re-creation of all things first, because that is the order of His initial creation. Who should do that? Man was the one who brought the fall and for that reason man has the first responsibility. Nature holds a higher position than man since the fall, and consequently we must make an effort to become one with all things first. Based on this principle the practice of offering sacrifices came into being, particularly in the Old Testament era. At that time offerings were made of money, animals, and cereal grains, representing the three major aspects of the physical world-the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms. When Abraham made his offerings he brought a dove and a pigeon, a ram and a she-goat, and a heifer, three different kinds of offerings.</p>
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<p>What is an offering? The making of an offering is significant because it is the process whereby men and the things of creation become one in the sight of God. The time must come when man can make offerings on the family, tribal, national and worldwide levels, in order to restore mankind as the center of all things. In other words, man’s original lordship is restored when the offering is accepted by God. This has been the work of the Old Testament era, when offerings were made on the individual, family, tribal and national levels. That is the way Old Testament history progressed.</p>
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<p>After that era was consummated by the recreation of all things, or the creation of the unity between all things and man, then man’s lordship over all creation was restored. Upon that foundation the new era of children dawned with the coming of Jesus Christ. As a man who was a child of God, Jesus came upon God’s foundation of all things to proclaim man’s lordship. Ultimately Jesus became an offering himself, so that fallen mankind could be elevated to the level of children of God by uniting with Jesus. This became the New Testament era.</p>
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<p>By shedding blood Jesus literally became a sacrifice on the altar of God. Jesus’ desire to see his role fulfilled became his desire to see the day of the Lord of the Second Advent, which begins the era of the parents. By restoring all things of creation during the Old Testament era and re-creating fallen man as the sons of God during the New Testament era, the new era of the parents could be brought forth.</p>
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<h3 align="center">America’s mission as the center of Christianity</h3>
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<p>Christianity is the foundation upon which this final altar of the parents can be created. America has become the center of Christianity and God poured upon this land a material blessing to adequately prepare it for the time of Kingdom-building. God blessed this Christian nation with material things and it was able to embrace people from all over the world, establishing America as the culminating point of the new dispensation. All of this reached a peak after World War II.</p>
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<p>God poured out both the material power and the power of influence that would enable America to embrace the rest of the world. America contains an assortment of the world’s races, truly being a melting pot. Why did God need to create America as a Christian nation? Solely to prepare for that one momentous time of His history, the Second Advent of the Lord. Through the Old Testament era God has restored all things and through the New Testament era God has restored the children, and upon that foundation God could give out the blessing for making a heavenly home. That marks the consummation of God’s dispensation.</p>
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<p>America is supposed to be a God-centered nation; American people should feel that the backbone of this nation is God, and all its wealth and material blessing is for God’s purpose. The age for the installation of the heavenly parents is dawning; that is the meaning of the new age. If Christianity accepts the new era and the new messiahship then there will be no problem. However, if Christianity, in the position of the children of God, opposes the parents, then the parents will receive untold persecution. If Christianity opposes the installation of the new age, then the entire rest of the world will join together with Christianity in opposition.</p>
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<p>In that case the parents installed by God shall go up to God’s altar as the sacrifice for mankind. In light of the Principle, the Unification Church was born to lay the necessary foundation to prevent the damaging of God’s providence by the satanic world. The Unification Church is the new breed of people who understand the truth about God and the original purpose of His creation. They know that God’s history was first centered upon all the things of nature, then upon God-centered children and that upon all of this the God-centered parents will finally come into being as the center of God’s ideal. Together their give and take of love will create a living Kingdom of God here on earth. The Unification Church knows that this is the ideal of God here on earth, and has brought a new terminology: True Parents. The True Parents are an important center of the Unification Church because they are the symbol of the New Age.</p>
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<p>Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are the center of Christianity. The Holy Spirit is a mother spirit, or the spirit of re-birth; therefore, Jesus and the Holy Spirit together have been in the role of the spiritual parents of mankind. Since Christianity has only spiritual parents, the salvation of Christianity is only spiritual, exercising no power over the physical world. But the Unification Church is different.</p>
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<p>We have power because we have a physical as well as spiritual center, the True Parents. Therefore, for the first time in history, the unification Church has the power to save mankind physically as well as spiritually. Because of the fall everything has been upside down, but we are now in the process of restoring the original sequence: parents, children, and all things. In the Unification Church the True Parents, you as the children, and all the property and material that God has given to this church, together represent the three ages: Completed Testament, New Testament, and Old Testament. This is also symbolic of the entire universe. Who forms the center? At the center are the True Parents.</p>
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<p>If there has been no fall then certainly the center of the universe would have been Adam and Eve as the parents of mankind. When Adam and Eve were perfected they were supposed to be the center not only of the family, but also of Adam’s race, Adam’s nation, Adam’s world and Adam’s universe. They were supposed to be the center of everything because they were to be the body of God.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God’s original intention for Christianity</h3>
|
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<p>I want you to understand that the entire work of God is the work of re-creation. First God re-created all things, then God re-created His children, and finally God is re-creating God-centered parents. However, in this time of re-creation man plays the central role. This work of re-creation is harder than the initial creation because Satan is a blocking force. When God originally created man there was no Satan, but under our present circumstances we must succeed in the doubly difficult task of re-creation.</p>
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<p>That is the road of salvation. When you are going uncompromisingly in the direction of God, you are inevitably placing yourself in a position to be attacked by Satan. Satan is not standing still either. This circle I am drawing represents the entire universe taken by Satan. Since we cannot restore the entire universe at one stroke we set up conditional restoration in a small point, gathering and restoring all the elements needed for the Kingdom. This is the beachhead or foothold of the Kingdom of God on earth. This is far greater in value than the entire satanic universe put together.</p>
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<p>Next that beachhead must be expanded. In the Old Testament era that expansion only included material things, but it expanded onto the tribal and national levels. When the restoration of all things was accomplished on the scale of the chosen nation then God promised to send someone. Why? Establishing a chosen nation was merely groundwork and upon that foundation God wanted to start the restoration of the children, for which a God-centered son should come. Satan knew that the Messiah was coming as God’s champion in order to declare God’s Kingdom, and that once the Messiah could claim his own territory then the satanic world would come to an end. Naturally Satan focused his entire attack on the central figure of Jesus Christ.</p>
|
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<p>Even though it was God’s chosen nation, Israel was still under the dominion of the Roman Empire at that time, both politically and economically. Satan is clever. Even though the chosen nation might become completely one with Jesus, Satan had yet another string to pull: the Roman Empire. In other words, Satan still had the power to crush that kingdom.</p>
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<p>If Jesus, the people of Israel, and all things of that nation had become totally one, then a sample Kingdom of God would have been formed. What kind of ideology should the chosen nation of Israel have had? They should have deeply felt that their nation was God’s nation, and that their people were God’s people, as well as all their material belongings being God’s. But on the contrary, they thought of Jesus as a stranger trying to disrupt their own nation and their own religion.</p>
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<p>Actually the people should have had even broader minds, thinking of the Roman Empire and the Roman citizens as belonging to God. They should have been praying for God to give them a central champion to rally around in order to unite the Arab nations so that they could even subjugate the Roman Empire for His purpose. Then upon recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, the son of God, they could have achieved such a goal. If that had been done at the time of Jesus then the different religious spheres like Christianity as the extension of Judaism, and Islam should not have been needed.</p>
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<p>If Jesus and the nation of Israel had created a unified kingdom and absorbed all the Arab nations, then India, China and other Eastern nations would have been in the most suitable position to unite with Jesus’ kingdom. They were afraid of the power of the Roman Empire, and in order to stand against Rome they would have needed such an alliance. At that time the Roman Empire was very weakened by internal corruption, just like America today, and could easily have been subjugated by God’s force. If China and India had taken a position to support a united kingdom in the Middle East centered upon Jesus, then God’s worldwide kingdom would have been seen.</p>
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<p>God had already prepared India and China through the religions of Buddhism and Confucianism so that the people were trained, religiously speaking. The noble concepts of Jesus’ philosophy and way of life could have been easily understood by the people of India and China at that time. God’s original intention was for Christianity to move first toward the East-India and China-and to blossom there. Then Jesus Christ would have been elevated into the position of king of kings, spiritually as well as physically. Today Christianity is looked upon as a Western religion, but it should have been an Eastern religion first.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God’s olive trees</h3>
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<p>Jesus was the second Adam, but he was perfected. Therefore he could have become the ancestor of sinless mankind. If that perfection had prevailed back then, do you think Jesus would have married or not? When we say that Jesus was supposed to have been the True Parent of mankind we mean that he should have married, and together with his bride become the true father and mother of mankind. Most Christians call us blasphemers for making such statements, but this is true. After Jesus was blessed by God and had begun the first family of God on the face of the earth, then Jesus’ own tribe and race would have been established, forming one sphere. A second sphere of religious people and third sphere of non-religious people would also exist.</p>
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<p>Those in the religious realm, the second sphere, are described as wild olive trees in the Bible, but God is at the center and accepts these wild olive trees. Those in the third circle are also wild olive trees yet with Satan at their center. Those in Jesus’ realm are the true olive trees. Why is God the center of some of the wild olive trees? Simply because God can chop them down; in the religious world God can freely undertake revolutionary work and chop down the wild olive trees in order to graft them onto the true olive tree.</p>
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<p>Through that grafting process the entire religious world would have become one with Jesus’ world, together becoming true olive trees. Even those wild olive trees with Satan at the center should envy the beauty and accomplishment of the realm of the true olive trees, and hope to enter too. When that becomes their desire then God’s kingdom can expand to embrace the entire satanic world.</p>
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<p>Thus this entire world will gradually become God-centered, instead of Satan-centered. Do you understand now what the religious world meant in God’s dispensation? The people of religion are wild olive trees, but they have God as their center. In order to graft onto the true olive tree the wild olive trees must be struck, but if they belonged to Satan he would say, “No, you can’t do that. These are my olive trees.”</p>
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<p>If the chosen nation of Israel had truly followed God’s will and become one with Jesus, do you think that the process of expanding the true olive tree throughout the entire religious sphere would have been possible at that time or not? India belonged in that realm because it was a religious nation, as well as China. The ultimate will of God is to form one world. However, after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the wild olive trees under God’s control which were to be absorbed into the chosen nation were instead subjugated by the wild olive trees under Satan’s dominion.</p>
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<p>The other day I went to a big clothing store owned by a Jewish man. He knew who I was and he asked me, “I am supposed to be a member of the chosen nation, but I work hard just to keep myself alive. Why should the chosen people suffer this way? I truly don’t understand.” It is most apparent that the chosen nation of Israel was given the most glorious opportunity by God to have the parents of mankind become fruitful and successful in their nation, and to help install the heavenly sovereignty. But because of the rejection of Jesus by the chosen people both those missions failed and the son of God was crucified.</p>
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<p>As a result, the satanic world came against them and at the same time God’s foothold in the satanic world was eliminated. Through a great deal of failure and sin a great chasm opened that had to be filled and made whole again. A great deal of sacrifice has been paid by the chosen people and a great deal of slaughter and bloodshed has occurred; for example, six million Jews were murdered in Germany during World War 11. The chosen nation is in a sacrificial position, just as Jesus himself was a sacrifice for all mankind. Of all the peoples of the world, this one people has been paying the debt of the sin of mankind, but once that debt has been met they will be liberated.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Today’s Moses</h3>
|
||||
<p>Because I say these things I have been condemned as being anti-Semitic, but that is far from the truth. Israel has been fulfilling a glorious mission and paying off the debt of the whole world, and even now they must accept Jesus. That is the culmination of their course because Judaism represents God’s work on the formation level. The Jews must come to the growth level and then further to perfection. Until the Jews can transcend Judaism there is no way that the differences between the Arab nations and Israel can be resolved. They must become one with Christianity, and by doing so they can embrace the Arab nations and Islam.</p>
|
||||
<p>Furthermore, there is no way that Christianity can survive without uniting with the Unification Church. The Old Testament era was merely the foundation for the New Testament era, which was the foundation for the Completed Testament era. This means that Judaism is the foundation of Christianity, and the Unification Church has been built upon the foundation of Christianity. Those who have a Christian background, directly or indirectly, raise your hands. Now you are moving out of the growth stage realm of Christianity and into the perfection realm of the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>During the Exodus from Egypt the chosen nation suffered for forty years in the wilderness before reaching Canaan. That has been the pattern of history. By the same token, the Unification Church is now moving toward the land of Canaan, while suffering in the wilderness of modern day civilization for forty years since World War 11. The land of Canaan on the universal scale is ahead of us; that is the Unification Church culture. World War 11 began after the period from 1932-1939; 1981 will be the culmination of the forty-year period in the wilderness.</p>
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<p>During the Exodus from Egypt the people separated themselves from Moses by criticizing and opposing him, and for this they needlessly suffered a great deal. All of the people who followed Moses out of Egypt faltered and died in the wilderness; God could not permit them to enter Canaan because they separated themselves from Moses, the leader whom God had chosen.</p>
|
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<p>My role and that of the Unification Church is that of Moses, while Christianity is in the position of the nation of Israel. Unless the Christians become one with the Unification Church and unite with the Moses of today, they will suffer the same fate as those Jews who came out of Egypt. Only the second generation was able to enter Canaan 4,000 years ago, and in the same way the Unification Church today is reaping the second generation. These young people are going to arrive in Canaan. The entire first generation set out to go to Canaan, but instead they became the prey of eagles in the wilderness after they died. Today history is repeating itself, but on a different scale. God’s providence for the chosen nation 2,000 years ago has now expanded to the worldwide scale.</p>
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<p>America is like a house on fire and certainly fire fighters should come from outside because this nation does not have fire fighters within itself. America is like a patient needing a doctor, who must come from the outside. I have declared to America, “t came as a doctor to tend this patient of America. I came to put out the fire.” No religious leader has ever made this declaration.</p>
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<p>When arrogant people hear that they feel insulted, grumbling, “What is this Oriental man talking about?” If they knew God’s purpose and God’s will then they would realize that it is perfectly legitimate to speak out in that fashion. We are witnessing an interesting phenomenon in New York. Every morning when you go out to sell newspapers, more than 80% of the people you meet belong to an ethnic group, yet most of the rejections you receive come from white people. This is one sign that the ethnic groups are in a position to inherit the blessings God has given to the white people, should their arrogance persist.</p>
|
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<p>White brothers and sisters of the Unification Church, your role and your mission is vitally important. You must bear the cross for the sake of the entire white race around the world. America must fulfill its position of embracing the rest of the world, which it had failed to do. What I have said makes people feel uncomfortable, but once they go to the spirit world they will see how true it is.</p>
|
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<p>Christians today just do not understand God’s truth, but even so they are convinced that the Kingdom of Heaven is waiting for them in spirit world. There is no question that the modem day churches are declining. However, even though America may decline and the rest of the world may crumble, as long as we adhere to God’s Principle, the Unification Church shall survive and prosper. Christianity, which was originally intended to expand first toward the East, instead turned toward Rome after the crucifixion of Jesus. Rome received the blessing instead of Israel because Christianity ultimately dominated the Roman Empire after 400 years. We have to restore that blessing, meaning that we must go to the Roman Empire. Today’s America is like that Roman Empire, and this new religious movement has been prospering and making a beachhead here.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">Christianity must come full circle to Asia</h3>
|
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<p>Christianity’s ultimate destination is Asia. It started in Israel, went to Rome, and then to Europe, England, and finally across the Atlantic Ocean to America. It is not going to stop here, but will reach its destination in Asia. In fighting World War 11 the Western powers overwhelmed the Asian nations. What is God going to do next? The culmination of Jesus’ mission centered upon Asia, but since that was not fulfilled, the mission of Christianity will be culminated by the blossoming of the Second Advent in Asia. Centering upon that part of the world God will undertake the task of liberating the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>The central nation of the new Christian movement is not going to be in Southeast Asia or Japan, but Korea. Korea today is the sacrifice of the modern day dispensation. Abraham’s sacrifice was cut in half, and for the same reason the nation of Korea, the universal sacrifice on the altar of God, has been divided into two nations. A very symbolic court is located in Panmunjom, in which the satanic side and God’s side are sitting together, bitterly accusing each other, saying, “Korea is our land.” A battle of words is being fought in Panmunjom.</p>
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<p>When God’s side is victorious and can bring North Korea under a God-accepting ideology, then Korea will be united from that point on, and the entire communist world will begin to crumble. As the Christian nation, America’s role is to successfully usher in this final dispensation of absolute support for Korea. That will enable Korea to become God’s champion in order to re-capture the entire peninsula, so that the communists can be liberated.</p>
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<p>If America abandons Korea then it is abandoning all Christianity, not only in Korea but throughout all of Asia, to destruction and death, and God’s foothold in Asia will be wiped out. This is exactly what American foreign policy is heading toward. Should that happen then America will quickly crumble, even before Korea fails, and no power will prevent God from bringing down His wrath upon this nation. God can see the crucial time approaching, and because God is desperate to prevent America from failing its mission God sent His own messenger to this country, asking him to create a foothold here to keep the link between America and Asia from being severed. This is the scope of our work in the Unification Church.</p>
|
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<p>America does not know that I am fulfilling a crucial mission to save this nation from the wrath of God. The interest and attention of Western young people is focused on Asia, isn’t it? Through our being successful we will set a condition to indemnity the failure of America and God will have room to forgive this nation. Our success will cover up the failure of America, and as long as the Unification Church is alive and strong there will be a chance to recover Asia if it falls to communism.</p>
|
||||
<p>Christian culture started in the Middle East, then moved to the Italian peninsula under the Roman Empire, to the island of England, and then to the continent of America. This has been the road of failure resulting from the crucifixion of Jesus, and from this point of restoration it has to go the reverse process. From the continent it must go to an island equivalent to England. That position is taken by Japan. To bring restoration through indemnity means to pay the debt and restore the original position. England lost its position in the providence of God, so in its place God is working through Japan as an island, and Korea as a peninsula equivalent to Italy. Ultimately the providence will return to the point of origin in the Middle East, completing the circle, and restoring the failure of Christianity.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The spiritual side will become<br />
|
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subject over the physical side</h3>
|
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<p>World history is repeating itself except on different territory; in addition, events have a significance on the worldwide level, instead of only the national level. In a way the mission of God is to make a round-the-world tour. In the long process of changing its central point from Israel all the way to the United States, Christianity acquired the flavor of a Western religion, and has received a great deal of material blessing as the central religion; as the central nation, America has also been receiving tremendous material wealth.</p>
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<p>During this time the Orient, representing the spiritual side, has always been subordinate to Western culture, representing the physical side. However, in the original concept of creation, the physical world should not have been subject over the world of spirit or mind. In the end God will give the new spiritual perfection to Asia. Western materialism has come to a deadlock and is longing for spiritual perfection; in order to find new hope the West must look for some solution from Asia, and ultimately the dominion of the physical over the spiritual will be reversed in the final dispensation. The new spiritual power will become the subject of Western culture. American interest is now focused upon Asia. California, for example, is physically closer to Asia, and more spiritually oriented young people are gravitating there. This is all heavenly strategy.</p>
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<p>Korea’s position is equivalent to Italy, which became a center of Christianity, having the papacy located in Rome. Because the papacy has spiritually governed Roman Catholicism all over the world Rome has been like a spiritual capital. Similarly, Korea is like New Age Rome and the world’s spiritual capital will be erected there. From there God’s entire spiritual kingdom on earth will be governed.</p>
|
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<p>The Lord of the Second Advent is the only one who has the power to liquidate the ideology of communism by bringing a better solution for world problems. By winning over the communist ideology he can really give new hope and unified ideology to the entire world. It could almost be said that God is using communism as a tool to hasten the day of the Lord’s victory; since he is the only one with the solution, the Lord can demonstrate his true authority by overcoming communism.</p>
|
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<p>The communists have been saying that their ideology, not God, has the power to save mankind. They have been very aggressive and conquered many people but after coming this far they have reached a deadlock. People are seeking new solutions since communism has not accomplished its ideals. In that sense it is helping to hasten the fulfillment of the role of the Lord of the Second Advent, because when he comes the people will already be in despair. Having been disappointed with communism, they will be able to see new hope in God’s ideology.</p>
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<p>When the communists realize they are wrong and repent then they may receive God’s blessing even before the Christian world. Christians are asleep to the world’s situation, and because many are stubborn and arrogant they do not repent. The communists, however, may be in a better position to be repentant, and then God will disregard their past and give them His blessing. The Roman Empire was absolutely the enemy of God during Jesus’ time, yet by surrendering to Christianity the Roman Empire received all God’s blessing first. God will give His blessing to whoever comes to repent first instead of America. Maybe the communists will come to that point first.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church has the power to melt even the hearts of the communists and bring them to repentance. American people do not want to be bothered with hearing the truth, but in spite of that I must speak out. Have you read anything like this in a library book, or heard it from a college professor? I began with explaining the most basic points about God’s own creation. In light of this logic and principle, world history could be moving in no other way. This is really the core truth about God.</p>
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<p>Do you feel fortunate to be in the Unification Church or not? Why don’t you go away? Because of you I am being given a hard time. Perhaps I should advertise for all your parents to come and kidnap you and take you away. I want to prove how good you are by having you undergo the kidnappers’ ordeal. God does not want the people who are afraid of deprogramming; God wants people who cannot be deprogrammed. They are the real sons and daughters of God.</p>
|
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<p>I want to reach a conclusion. The work of God is the work of re-creation; therefore, in His place we are re-creating all of God’s things of creation, God’s children, and God-centered parents, so that together we can bring down the Kingdom of God here on earth. That is the road of restoration. This is very simple truth. If a product which leaves the factory is out of order, then in order to be fixed it must go back to the factory to be disassembled, fixed, and then reassembled. Do you think that before the fall of man God had been thinking about building His Kingdom somewhere in the air and having big banquets there? Do you think He has been planning to abandon the earth all along? That is an absolutely impossible fantasy, yet today many Christians believe it.</p>
|
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<p>That kind of supernatural thing shall never come about. I have met God and Jesus in heaven and have seen and heard God’s plan. In that respect I am a universal expert; I know all this is truth, not because I figured these things out, but because I have seen and heard them. Can the American people ignore this truth because they look down on me as being Asian? Could they say that they are waiting for someone else? It is arrogant to reject someone from another race because you never know who God will raise up as His instrument. America has reached the high pinnacle of a mountain, but is America humble enough to descend all the way to the valley to meet God, and then come out again? That could be a most beautiful sight. Don’t just try to cling to the pinnacle of the mountain.</p>
|
||||
<p>I would like to bring the American young people who have been on the peak of the mountain to true greatness. Your destination is not to progress to another high mountain, but rather to go down to the valley, the ditch of human misery, and experience suffering yourselves; if you can still be humble and grateful then you are truly great Americans. All those who can descend to the valley will have the added momentum and power to rise all the way up to a new height. When you bend more you can jump higher. That is the way I would like to re-create you, having you go far down into the valley and then spring way up into heaven. Do you welcome this method or not?</p>
|
||||
<p>Why do people oppose us? They are fearful of us and feel threatened by our formidable power and energy. Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism used to be enemies, but some months ago three of their representatives got together and made a joint declaration against me. When that came out many people said, “That Reverend Moon must be something because all the religions are frightened to death of him! Well I like him.” I received many responses like that.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Your re-creation of parents,<br />
|
||||
children and all things</h3>
|
||||
<p>Now you know that with your own hands you will re-create all things, re-create the children of God, and bring forth the God-centered parents. Can you do it? The Unification Church is actually doing it. Fund raising is economic restoration, what we can call “restoration of all things.” With your own hands you earn money for God-white peoples’ money, black peoples’ money, yellow peoples’ money, even the money of laborers, communists and millionaires.</p>
|
||||
<p>Even though we cannot earn all that is necessary solely by fund raising, that money becomes a condition, an offering representing all the remaining materials of the world. The money that you earn with your hands is not your money, but God’s money. “Nothing belongs to me; I bring a small amount of conditional money from the wealth of the world and want to give it to God.” In fund raising you accept this money as a representative of God and spend it for God’s purpose. Are we doing this because we want to become rich millionaires, or because we want to speed up the work of re-creation, the work of restoration? The restoration of all things comes first, and for seven years we will do this to restore the whole 7,000 year history of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Regardless of how people criticize our fund raising we must just do it. The Unification Church members should be able to restore some conditional wealth from the world, representing the re-creation of all things. While we are doing this the representatives of Judaism in the Old Testament era and representatives of the 2,000 year history of Christianity have come against us. By having this universal opposition we can accomplish the restoration in a shorter time. I would rather face this opposition first.</p>
|
||||
<p>By facing opposition we are realistically accomplishing this re-creation under adverse conditions. Opposition is inevitable because Satan is holding the world. Opposition against our fund raising and our witnessing is worldwide, with people being very protective of their children and their money, saying, “How in the world can you call Reverend and Mrs. Moon your True Parents? Are you crazy?” Shall we go on fund raising and running factories? Factory work actually has little meaning compared to fund raising, which involves heavenly collision and struggle with the satanic world. As you are trying to restore money for God’s providence you are experiencing the deep meaning of God’s struggle; God can feel that He is vindicating His entire history through you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Even though people may give you money reluctantly, by their making an offering blessing can come to them eventually. Who will receive the benefit of their sacrifice? Ultimately the nation and the world itself shall benefit. The money we earn should not be dry money, but should be wet by tears and sweat. Only that kind of money can serve as a true offering. When that money is used 100% for God then it becomes holy. Usually when people see money it goes straight into their pockets, but we must be different.</p>
|
||||
<p>Witnessing involves the restoration of the home and family. Adam’s family had eight members, and representing Adam’s family Noah’s family also had eight members. Jesus had to bring three major disciples before he could marry; together with their wives they would have become six, plus Jesus with his bride would have fulfilled the number eight. You also must restore three spiritual sons. In that way you will elevate yourself higher than Adam, who did not have God-centered sons; later on you will be blessed and have your physical children, and then both spiritually and physically you will be higher than Adam.</p>
|
||||
<p>By your own hands you must restore heavenly wealth and heavenly children, and offer them to God. Then God will receive them and return His blessing to you, and as children of God you shall disseminate that blessing to the world. That is the history of restoration. You shall be blessed as husband and wife, and together with your three children offer to God all the things you have. That represents the fulfilled history of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Completed Testament. Both vertically and horizontally you are making yourself the symbol, or center of that offering and bringing the whole thing to the altar of God; then the blessing and love of God will come down. In that love you will live forever with your family and God-centered material things, both here on earth and thereafter in heaven. We shall be entitled to both kingdoms, on earth and in heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why should we get married? We must be in a position to experience the love of parent, love of spouse, and love of children. In the spirit world the atmosphere you will breathe is the love of God, which consists of the love of parents, love of husband and wife, and love of children all together. In order to breathe such air you need to experience such love here on earth. That is why you need to get blessed; your earthly life is merely a workshop, a training center in which you can experience all three kinds of love. Unless you experience and practice such love here on earth then when you are elevated to spirit world you will not be able to breathe. You know what happens here on earth when you cannot breathe. From that point of view, do you have a desire to get married?</p>
|
||||
<p>The message this morning is <i>“The Realm of Resurrection,”</i> meaning the resurrection of all things, not as “mine,” but as God’s. In this meaning my children are not mine but the children of God and the universe. As subject and object, my wife and I together are not living our own lives, but we are living as representatives of God, as dwelling places of God. I am supposed to make myself a visible form of God such that whenever I move, my children and all the things of the universe will also move; then God is certainly walking together with me. That is resurrection.</p>
|
||||
<p>You can declare to heaven and earth that you are a victorious person when you are victorious over yourself. God will recognize it by saying, “Indeed my son, you are victorious and I will give you the gift and reward of my love.” After you have completely restored yourself then you are completely liberated and everywhere you go you can be absolutely free here on earth, in heaven, in God’s home, and at God’s throne. The heart of God and the vision of God can freely come to you.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is the mission of the Unification Church. You are not only to make yourself completely free but you are to bring the rest of the world with you, letting everyone enjoy the same freedom. Ultimately, God needs to be resurrected and together with God we will make that happen. God has had no joyful moment because up to now God has been working only for His children’s restoration and salvation. By accomplishing total resurrection we come to the level where no more liberation and resurrection are needed and then God Himself will be absolutely free. Finally God will have nothing more to do but rejoice over creation and receive His glory. This is how we will liberate God.</p>
|
||||
<p>We are the hand-picked champions of God who are called to the mission of liberating not only ourselves and not only this world and mankind; our mission includes the liberation of God Himself. Don’t you feel good when you hear this? Actually doing this is not easy. Truly it is even harder than dying, because you have to go down to the bottom of human misery to live. I have been walking that path for thirty years and I have secured my own liberation, salvation and resurrection. I do not need any more, but as I said, until I bring the world together and liberate God I cannot stop. No matter what persecution may come to me I shall go on; nobody can stop me.</p>
|
||||
<p>Honestly speaking, this is not an easy path. The pain is so great sometimes that you want to curse everybody, curse God, curse yourself, and drop dead. Even when you sometimes suffer that kind of feeling you must persevere, being patient and thrusting yourself toward that goal. I want you to know that this life is not easy, but are you still willing to tackle it? You may die a miserable death, but do you mind? Suppose I dropped dead in the street. Would Americans mourn for me, or would they feel, “Finally that troublemaker’s gone.” What is realistic? I am sure you would weep, but everyone else would say, “That crazy guy finally died, and all you Moonies should drop dead too.” None but a handful of people is on our side.</p>
|
||||
<p>However, I want you to know that because your motivation in life is so unselfish and God-centered that even if you drop dead on the street, that is not the end of you; people may think it is the end of what we are doing, but instead that is the beginning of your glory. If you died giving your absolute best then you are entitled to a higher heaven than anybody else. Without exception every man of God in history has walked that path. It is our honor and privilege to participate in that way of life for the sake of God. That is my philosophy.</p>
|
||||
<p>America is a comfortable place where you can enjoy all kinds of carnal pleasures and every kind of freedom awaits you. Why should you choose to go this kind of difficult path? What do you gain by doing it? If a bare-handed young man joins our movement, then in ten years he is still bare-handed; nothing happens. The only experiences you get are hunger, suffering and cold.</p>
|
||||
<p>Some of you sisters are thinking, “I’ve already been here ten years and I’m no longer young. Even if I get married, I wonder if I could really have children. Father, please think about my age. We heard about ideal families in the Divine Principle, but I’m not even married! ” Maybe the best thing for you to do is pack up and leave! I would drive you to death yet you still accept that fate; that is why people say you are crazy. Why should you do it? Only because we need the realm of resurrection. When a mother is giving birth to her child she feels a great deal of pain, and spiritually also it is a desperate struggle to give new life to this world. We are going through that kind of pain together, and we are bringing new life to this world together. That pain of birth is a desperate one.</p>
|
||||
<p>God and all of mankind are suffering in this birth pain. Then all of a sudden when a child is born his mother forgets her pain, and God forgets His pain. Mankind can forget its pain and rejoice over the birth of the new child. That is our way of life. That is the day we are looking forward to. Shall we go on? Shall we go a mediocre and half-hearted way, or shall we go all the way? All right, do it then. Go the dramatic way. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1171" class="post-1171 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS AND OURSELVES</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T14:32:57+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-resurrection-of-jesus-and-ourselves.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T14:32:57+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-resurrection-of-jesus-and-ourselves.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">April 10, 1977<br />
|
||||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>Easter Sunday is being observed today by the entire world. In our tradition, however, we celebrate next Sunday, April 17, as the true Easter. The word resurrection came into being because of the fall of men, but going a step further, why did Jesus even have to come to this earth? Because of the fall, man’s original nature was lost and needs to be restored. This world, being the kingdom of hell on earth, is a place where a savior is necessary.</p>
|
||||
<p>When men consummate their life in hell on earth, upon being elevated into spirit world they can have no other destination than hell. Let me give an analogy. In the autumn beautiful apples are harvested, but if a particular apple is rotten then the farmer throws it away. There is no other place for it. Those people who end up in hell are human trash in God’s sight. One apple may have bad skin, yet be very good on the inside, while another apple may look good on the surface, yet be rotten inside and worthless. Human beings belong in the second category. There is no possibility for a fallen man who is corrupted on the inside to be easily salvaged.</p>
|
||||
<p>Even though there may be some damage on an apple’s surface, if its seeds are intact then it still has value. However, man is the opposite, being intact on the outside, but rotten on the inside. After the fall man became rotten all the way through. Would it be simple to restore that kind of man back to his original state? Would it be easier for God to eliminate everyone corrupted by the fall and start all over again, or easier for Him to keep trying to mend those rotten apples until they reach perfection? There is obvious evidence of how difficult it is to restore such rotten men into perfection; Biblically speaking it has taken Almighty God 6,000 years of trying to restore man into perfection and still His efforts are not yet fruitful.</p>
|
||||
<p>Among the many diseases afflicting man, the worst disease is the one brought by the fall, and to make things worse, men do not even realize that they are contaminated. Today people think of cancer as being the most horrible disease. The worst aspect Of cancer is that its early growth cannot be easily detected, and a victim may not even know that he has cancer until it has progressed to a lethal stage. Yet, compared to the disease caused by the fall, cancer is easier to deal with because the patient knows ahead of time that he is dying. The disease from the fall, however, does not give any warning and a person only knows what has happened after death. Most people are not aware that they are mortally stricken with such an impossible disease.</p>
|
||||
<p>Who introduced such a disease to mankind? Satan. He turned himself into the worst enemy of God, not by stealing money or property, but by stealing God’s most precious possession: love. What did Jesus mean when he taught that you must love your enemy? Do you think he meant for us to love Satan? Jesus taught that you must forgive your enemy not just 7 times, but 70 times 7; Jesus proclaimed unconditional forgiveness. If the son of God came to manifest the love of God to that depth, why didn’t he love Satan? Jesus’ love for Satan would have made it very simple for Satan and God to get together, wouldn’t it? But this is impossible.</p>
|
||||
<p>When Jesus said to love your enemy he was talking about people who have become the victims of Satan. Satanic men are merely victims of God’s enemy and you must love them and try to restore them, but He did not teach us to love Satan himself. Even though fallen men have become temples of Satan, all men were originally born to be God’s temples. God is destined to restore His body, which is mankind. God can restore man by perfecting the love of God in men.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Resurrection is completed in<br />
|
||||
the consummation of God’s and man’s love</h3>
|
||||
<p>This morning we must clearly understand what Satan did. Satan stole and destroyed the very element that God was seeking to perfect with man: His love. The loving relationship between God and men was ripped apart. If God were to love Satan and forgive the destruction of His love then God would nullify His entire ideal. No purpose would remain for the continued existence of creation. Even in our lives the most precious thing is not money, knowledge, power, or anything else except love. When God is longing for love and man is longing for love this is one common love; the same love has become the goal of God and the goal of man.</p>
|
||||
<p>The consummation of God’s love without man is impossible. The consummation of man’s love without God is impossible. In the consummation of love the purpose of man and the purpose of God both converge, and clearly the consummation of love is the realm where resurrection is completed. Only satanic love can be consummated apart from that realm.</p>
|
||||
<p>There is love in this world but not perfected love, and for this reason that love has always become victimized by Satan, who utilizes and exploits it. We have learned that perfected love comes under the direct dominion of God, and that Adam and Eve were created to grow into that relationship through three stages of growth. Because Adam and Eve fell at the growth level, we must not only reach their level of growth, but exceed their accomplishment by achieving the level of perfection.</p>
|
||||
<p>The entire purpose of Jesus’ coming can be summarized in one sentence: Jesus came to bring the resurrection needed to perfect man’s love to the point where men can come into the direct dominion of God’s love. Men fell not only to the bottom of the formation stage, but even below that to the realm of unprincipled reality, or hell. Had there been no fall, man would have grown straight upward through the formation, growth, and perfection levels of growth in his lifetime.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you think hell would have existed if there had been no fall? Adam and Eve started from the point of formation and were supposed to reach the level of perfection and the direct dominion of God’s love within 21 years. Even the garden of Eden could be a lonely place because only one boy and one girl were there, growing up together, eating and playing together. As they entered their teens they began to experience new feelings, looking at each other with different emotions. They wanted to analyze and understand those emotions more deeply. Don’t you think their relationship naturally would have grown into a deeper realm?</p>
|
||||
<p>Here in America, when men and women meet they embrace and kiss each other even in public. Would there have been kissing in the sinless garden of Eden? Who would have been the first one to witness a man and woman kissing? In looking at the first act of kissing, would God have shouted out, “What are you doing there?” How would God have viewed such a scene; would He have felt upset and angry? God would have felt good because God wanted men and women to experience love and to act in that fashion. That is the way God created man to be.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Drowning in love</h3>
|
||||
<p>Where did God put His emphasis, on Adam and Eve, or on the relationship between them which we call the explosion of love? Since God created love as the supreme power and energy of the universe, anyone who comes into a realization or experience of love will be absorbed into it. The English expression of this is very dramatic; you say, “failing in love.” I think that is a very wonderful expression because being in love is like being given a tremendous shove and failing into a hole. Love is like a trap you know.</p>
|
||||
<p>Another word that can be applied in this case is “drowning in love,” such that you do not have even one finger left above the water. Did God want men and women to have an arm sticking out above the water, half-way joined in love? Or did He want them to be completely intoxicated and drowned in their love? If God wants that then men want it, right? Do you want it too? This is the best medicine for waking all of you up early on Sunday morning. Nobody can doze during this subject!</p>
|
||||
<p>Women in particular are very greedy regarding love. They do not want to leave one thin hair above the water, but have every single bit of themselves submerged under the water of love. Am I telling the truth or not? Do only white women feel this way, or do all women feel this? What about people in the past and people who will come in the future, does this apply only to you or to all the past, present, and future? This feeling toward love is an unchanging and eternal one, and all of you are ready to be drowned in a sea of love. There is certainly no mistake about it.</p>
|
||||
<p>If there were a subject and object who were both drowned in a sea of love, would they want to be separated? They would really want to do everything together, reading together, walking together and laughing together when they were joyful. Isn’t that true? If man desires to reach that state of love then what is God’s highest possible goal? God is just the same. God does not need anything else. He can make as much gold as He wants and He already has power. He does not need any more knowledge. Then what does God need? There is only one thing God cannot do by Himself. experience love. For this God needs an object; when God is alone not even a word of love can be whispered.</p>
|
||||
<p>Is God’s object of love a monkey, or an ugly man like Gerhard? Are you completely intoxicated by your own beauty every time you look in a mirror, exclaiming, “I just can’t resist myself!” In most cases men and women looking into a mirror feel some uncertainty, “I wish my eyes were a little bigger and I wish I had a better chin and a prettier complexion.” Cosmetics were invented because people always desire to look better, particularly women. If all you women looked at your faces in the mirror and were absolutely satisfied, would you even bother with cosmetics? Since you know you are not perfect you are trying to improve yourself a little in an artificial way. That psychology can be observed in both men and women.</p>
|
||||
<p>God has the perfection of men’s qualities and women’s qualities within His own essentialities. The qualification of absolute beauty exists within God, and if we were able to see God then we would never be satisfied with each other. If we looked at God’s perfection and then looked back at the human level we would think of ourselves as being ugly. If men and women were to analyze each other’s features they could find a thousand deficiencies.</p>
|
||||
<p>Men and women would never get together if they only observed each other’s difficulties. Harmony between men and women would be impossible. However, there is a magic power which more than offsets the shortcomings of men and women, a kind of veil that can make men and women completely blind to each other’s shortcomings. Such a power is needed not only between men and women but between God and man. If God were just looking at man from an analytical point of view, He would soon be fed up. God has no more interest in looking at ugly men and women than you do, so there must be something between God and men that even blinds the eyes of God, making everything look sweet.</p>
|
||||
<p>Without such a mystic power in this universe nothing could be held together. What is this magic power? It is what we call love. When that veil covers men and women they become blind and everything becomes sweet and fragrant. Even God is completely melted and cannot see any of the shortcomings but only the sweetness in men. It can truly be called the disease of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>The beautiful thing about this disease is that once you catch it you do not want to cure it! Actually men and women are extremely difficult to unite because they are two such foreign elements. But when they catch this disease of love they find in each other something comfortable and sweet and close. Am I right or wrong when I say that marriage can only be successful between beautiful women and handsome men? No, once you have caught the disease of love it does not matter whether you are beautiful or ugly because you see only good things in your spouse.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you catch the disease of love some deficiency becomes beautiful; a black mark which would otherwise be a blemish on a woman’s face is called a beauty mark when she is looked at with eyes of love. I have seen more than one very handsome and distinguished man walking down the street with his wife. When you look closely at her she turns out to be a very ugly woman, yet her husband seems to be contented and happy! That man is completely drowned in that particular woman; some mysterious power is definitely working there.</p>
|
||||
<p>Such love is truly the greatest of all powerful things under the sun, and when God created all things and men, He clearly put the greatest emphasis on the disease of love. The entire world can be harmonized through loving relationships and thus come to embody God’s highest ideal. God created love to have the supreme position in His creation. In speaking of the perfection of love is ownership kept separate? If I truly love my wife and she loves me then would we keep our money separate, or would it matter whose pocket it was in? Which do you think would be more proper in speaking of the perfection of love?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Marriage means trading everything<br />
|
||||
of yours for the love of your mate</h3>
|
||||
<p>In America marriage is tending to become more of a contract with legal rights drawn up ahead of time and the husband and wife defining who owns what. Would you want to put money and power first in your marriage, or would you want to put those things behind you and put love way up in front? Do the couples who draw up contracts really have the capacity to enjoy unconditional love, or are they merely using love as a means of exploitation?</p>
|
||||
<p>How about you women here? When the time comes to get married would you hide some precious little things which you do not want your husband to know about? What is marriage actually? Marriage means gathering together all your power, knowledge, money, and yourself, and putting everything in one package to present to your husband, asking only for his love in return. You give everything up to him and in exchange you receive his love. That is what marriage is all about. If you want to withhold certain things from that package and keep them for yourself, can you claim to be completely drowned in that sea of love or not? Do you want to get partially married or completely married? How about your human rights? Show your hand if you say, “No, Father, I’m just going to give myself totally and not even have one hair showing above the water of the sea of love.” Now you have registered with me!</p>
|
||||
<p>If there were a big wheel trying to turn forward, but many cables were attached holding it back, it would have no freedom to move forward faster and faster. For the wheel to gain momentum it must be totally free, with nothing pulling it back. A man is like one wheel while a women is like another wheel, and without having any strings attached they are coming from opposite directions to meet and unite.</p>
|
||||
<p>The loudest thunder in the universe is not thunder itself, and the brightest light is not lightning; instead, the collision in love of a man and woman create the loudest thunder and the brightest lightning. When you enter that moment of love you have to close your eyes and ears because you can not stand the sound and light. However, when you are drowned in love you do not hear or see. When you are completely drowned in this original love of God then there is no moment that you are separated from that particular intoxication, no moment when you feel chilly or cold. God intended such intoxication of love to prevail throughout His creation, so that even without thinking about it you would be constantly surrounded by goodness and warmth.</p>
|
||||
<p>Even just thinking about this creates a magnetic power, but to actually experience that feeling and to hear that explosion of love is beyond description. Love can be experienced in every way, with all your senses. When you men and women want to get married then you really desire that kind of ideal love. When a perfect husband and wife are together they will look beautiful; there is much beauty to be seen when any male and female get together, but men and women were to radiate the most supreme beauty of all.</p>
|
||||
<p>When men and women are intoxicated in God-centered love they are so beautiful that God also wants to be intoxicated by their love and drown in it Himself. Not only is the relationship between Adam and Eve inseparable, but even God enters into it and all three become inseparable! Could you desire anything greater?</p>
|
||||
<p>Is there any greater goal to pursue than to become completely intoxicated and drowned in such perfected love? That is the fulfillment of life and when God also becomes fused into that love the entire universe is then included. Being near such an inseparable unit is like standing in front of a big furnace where metal is melted. Under those circumstances do you think Satan could try to creep in and grab a piece of love for himself.? There is no such thing as taking a part of it because it all has been blended into one.</p>
|
||||
<p>This situation is the beginning of God’s direct dominion and it has no end; in that state of love beginning and eternity merge. Can you understand? Beginning is already eternity in that relationship. Once you begin a relationship of true love then you have achieved eternity. In that case do you think you could separate out one part of it?</p>
|
||||
<p>God is a God of wisdom, and if God is really smart then He would have created precisely what I have described and more. If somehow this slipped God’s mind and He forgot about it until this time, then upon hearing me speak here He would exclaim, “Boy, he has a great idea! Let me borrow his idea!” But God does not slip up; He is almighty, omnipresent and omnipotent. Even though you may not feel to the bone what I speak of, you can still accept it for now by logic alone. if love is the supreme force of the universe then the culmination or consummation of love should bear the fruit of absolute beauty, absolute warmth, and absolute peace. God must have thought about that a long time ago.</p>
|
||||
<p>Over one hour has passed and I am also intoxicated by this topic of love! I started to talk about resurrection and I have not even begun! Are you interested in my analysis of love? Those of you who may not have felt this deeply before can at least be convinced that such love should be possible. Logically speaking there is no other conclusion about love that you could reach. Do you just want to accept this intellectually or do you want to live it?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">When you have forgotten yourself<br />
|
||||
you are entitled to talk about love</h3>
|
||||
<p>What would you say is the fastest thing in this universe? The speed of light? What is the most powerful thing, or the heaviest thing under the sun? The answer to all is the same: love. Love is faster than anything else. Love is tallest because in history no one could climb up on top of love although everyone can drown in love. Love is also the widest and the deepest and the flattest. The beauty of it is that even God is not above love. God just becomes totally intoxicated in love!</p>
|
||||
<p>Have you ever thought, “Why do I walk? Why are my legs transporting me in a certain direction?” Are you going somewhere just to get a meal? Actually you walk to find your love. When your two legs hear that, they will say, “Yes, yes, we are taking you to love.” Why do you eat three times a day? Not to cure your hunger, but to sustain your body so that you can experience love more and perfect love further. Why do you see? When the dust is blowing you blink to protect your eyes, and then quickly open them up to see again. Why are your eyes trying to see so much? To find love. That is the way men were created to function. When you receive a gift you want to receive a loving heart with it. Would you rather receive a more beautiful gift even though there was a greedy and cunning motive behind it? What kind of gift would you like to receive?</p>
|
||||
<p>Men are supposed to live their lives in an intoxication of love. When married men get together an on-going subject of conversation is their wives. When women get together a subject of endless fascination should be their pride in their husbands. God wants women’s greatest pride to be their husbands. A man’s greatest pride and joy is supposed to be his wife.</p>
|
||||
<p>Your pride in talking about your loved one will have no end. On the other hand, talking about yourself is not uplifting to anybody and you just do not want to dwell on yourself. Men and women are supposed to be crazy in their love for their spouse, even to the degree that they tell God, “You know, my husband is a little more handsome than You are. I’m sorry to say this, but God, my wife is a little prettier than You are.” Do you think God will get angry or will His grin stretch from ear to ear?</p>
|
||||
<p>Why should God smile at that? Because God is not existing to be proud of Himself or to show off. What God really wants to do is to show off His sons and daughters, “Look at my children, how wonderful they are!” God really wants to be proud of His children, and that is the substance of true love. When you speak of love it should be as though you are not there, as though you have forgotten about yourself. Then you have a right to talk about love. If you are just trying to elevate your social standing by talking about your love then you actually have nothing to say about it.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Kingdom of God a man is not proud of himself, but proud of God, proud of his wife and later, proud of his children. In God’s kingdom a wife totally forgets herself in her pride in God, her husband and her children. The children are proud of God and their parents. That is the way God wants to have society. Love is the center of His Kingdom. Anyone who is just trying to be proud himself will be isolated in that society and remain alone. That person will be most unattractive to everyone, and even God will not listen to him.</p>
|
||||
<p>Boastfulness and self-righteousness is the most foolish way of life in the world of God. If you have trouble with this then just completely humble yourself. Of course you did not ask to be in that state but since the fall selfishness became the destiny of all mankind. Man was born in that atmosphere, and thus in the sight of God all men are dead. In order to be resurrected or re-born you have to reverse the process and die in the opposite direction.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The goal of resurrection is perfect love</h3>
|
||||
<p>How can we turn this fallen world right side up? What is the key’? True love should be the guiding light. The most fundamental element in the Kingdom of God is love, and I have “explained what kind of love that means. Do you understand what kind of love God originally created to be the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God? When you live in this whole love of God, then you have no enemies. Because God thinks in this context He is always patient. He is so patient that it is almost as though He were not there. Many people are saying there is no God, but in reality He has always been there, silent and not even showing His reaction to that accusation.</p>
|
||||
<p>Perfect love is the goal of resurrection. God can come and have lordship over you directly when you achieve perfect love. You do not even have to ask God to come in; He will come automatically. People debate the meaning of perfection, but it is nothing other than the perfection of love. That is all. After you reach perfection, you and your spouse cannot be separated from God and all three of you are together in oneness. God’s direct dominion over men begins at that point.</p>
|
||||
<p>Since the fall of man occurred in the garden of Eden, absolutely no one could achieve that state of perfection. Fallen man has been dwelling in the world of darkness, while the world of God’s principle is the world of light. What is the wish and desire of the people who fell into the world of darkness? Man’s goal of perfection is extremely high, but the reality of man’s life is extremely low; knowing the ideal but recognizing that he lives in the very depths of misery man feels heartbreak, regret, and agony. He is truly in hell.</p>
|
||||
<p>Death is simply a transformation from living in this physical world to living in the spirit world. Whether you go to heaven or hell, the first thing you realize in arriving in spirit world is that man’s true goal in life is to achieve perfection. That becomes apparent to every spirit man upon entering the spirit world. The second thing you realize is how great a distance you have to cover to achieve that goal and how many barriers you must cross. The realization becomes crystal clear, “I was supposed to be the child of God, His most precious creation under the sun, but what have I done? How did I make myself so dirty and impure, so impossible that I only deserve the lowest, darkest realm of spirit world?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Man is like a bud which was killed by the frost before it had a chance to blossom. But no matter how deeply you sigh, you have no way to recover yourselves on your own. God sees that all mankind needs help, and this is why God began the work of salvation right after man fell. All of humanity has been suffering in the fallen world. Do you see that God wanted to recover all mankind right away? Don’t you think God ever had the explosive impulse to destroy Satan? However, the fall was not the result of any shortcoming on the part of God. Because man committed the crime man must be responsible for his own restoration. It is man, not God, who must take the initiative in restoration.</p>
|
||||
<p>Originally man was supposed to be born as a direct heir in the lineage of God, but instead God has had to devote Himself to assisting man indirectly, so that step by step, man might extricate himself from the dungeons of hell. That is the work of restoration. After all, in the sight of God all men are the children of His enemy, and have become the servants of Satan. You were supposed to be born as children of God, but the reality is that you were born as children of Satan.</p>
|
||||
<p>In Satan’s world there is no such thing as loving relationships, and thus fallen mankind has no access to the love of God. Fallen mankind is in a position to be repelled by the world of God’s love. However, once the principle of God’s love can be applied to the satanic world, men will understand how to love and exercise the power of love, and Satan knows that man will then be able to liberate himself and enter the world of God. In order to keep men imprisoned in his realm, Satan has cut man off from God. The world of God and the world of Satan are completely isolated from each other, and in the world of Satan there is no way for man to taste true love; instead, Satan is the master and man is his servant.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because the archangel was supposed to be the servant of God and man, fallen man is then in the position of being the servant of the servant. That is the rock-bottom of man’s fallen state. From the servant of servant position man has to elevate himself step by step to the servant position, and then to the adopted son position. When a man enters the level of adopted son, he enters the world of Principle or the principality of God, and has the potential to become a true child of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>To reach the position of adopted son, however, all the past debts of the fallen world must be paid off. Once he successfully comes out of this dark, unprincipled world, then he comes to a new beginning; the period of growth begins and he is now free to grow into perfection. However, Satan’s realm is not limited to the dark world. Because man and woman had passed through the growth stage before the fall, Satan’s power penetrates through that level. This principle applies to spirit world as well, which is why you still struggle against Satanic power.</p>
|
||||
<p>If a person leads the worst possible immoral life in this physical world, then that person will find himself in the depth of hell in the spirit world. That is simply cause and effect at work. The same principle applies to both the physical world and the spirit world because the two are completely interconnected. For this reason we can see two hells, the physical hell right here on earth and the hell in spirit world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Spirit world is the place where we reap the result of what we have done here on earth. Man’s perfection needs to be achieved here on earth because God never intended perfection to be consummated only in the spirit world. Therefore, in the restoration process man’s spiritual and physical courses must be parallel, with the initiative being taken here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>God picked His champion to pioneer restoration on the individual level, and then expand it to the family level, tribal level, national and world levels. Through this person God can expand His territory, laying a highway so that anyone who wants to can find and follow it without too much effort. There is darkness in both the spirit world and physical world, and God’s champion has to open the way like a bulldozer so that all men can follow.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually we have two areas to cover. One is vertical, extending from formation to perfection, but at the same time our territory should be expanded horizontally, from the individual to the world. Therefore, on a diagram the family territory will include the area inside a small triangle, while the national territory will cover the area of a larger triangle, and so forth, expanding to a triangle that represents the entire world and perfection. The vertical line is the highway laid by God’s pioneer, the central course along which all people can go up to perfection.</p>
|
||||
<p>The history of God has progressed through three major eras: the Old Testament era, during which man was restored from absolute death up to the servant level, the New Testament era, when man could be restored to the level of adopted son, and finally the Completed Testament era, in which man can receive the qualification to be perfected children and direct heirs of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The name Israel, meaning “victor”, was first given when the angel blessed Jacob, after his victorious struggle with the angel, which represented Satan. In that way man gained victory on the level of true servant in the sight of God. After becoming victorious in the struggle on the servant level, a person can elevate himself another step to become an adopted son.</p>
|
||||
<p>What is the prerequisite to becoming direct sons and daughters of God? Without having true parents how can you become true children? The tragedy of mankind is that everyone is descended from fallen parents. God intended to complete two major stages when Jesus came as His son, ultimately elevating mankind up to the level of true sons and daughters. To do that Jesus himself was to be elevated to the parent’s position. This process should have begun with the unity between Jesus and John the Baptist.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The necessity of God’s nation</h3>
|
||||
<p>At the time of Jesus there were three areas represented: The nation of Israel was the realm of the servant level, while John the Baptist represented the realm of the adopted son, and in the center Jesus stood as the true son of God. If John the Baptist had accepted Jesus, their unity could have prevented the satanic invasion of Jesus’ mission. The two of them united together would have brought the victory at the first stage of Jesus’ mission.</p>
|
||||
<p>The nation of Israel, as God’s servant, should have joined as a minus with John the Baptist as God’s adopted son, representing a plus, then together they would have become an even bigger minus to unite with Jesus as a bigger plus. All together they could have consummated man’s historical advancement to the level of servant and then at one stroke progressed directly to the level of the true sons of God. But What actually happened? This unity was not made between the Jews and John the Baptist, and furthermore, John the Baptist did not unite with Jesus. All the foundations God had erected were broken down, and Jesus, as the universal plus, had to start his mission from scratch by organizing his own foundation and gathering his disciples himself.</p>
|
||||
<p>After Jesus’ crucifixion, the nation that God had prepared for the day of the Messiah was torn apart and its people scattered, and God was forced to prepare a new Israel for the Second Advent. That mission was inherited by Christianity. Once Israel lost its mission, the Jews became like gypsies and wandered over the world, bereft of any homeland. Originally, God intended to have His own physical territory. If the Jews had accepted Jesus, then their nation would have become the physical capital of the sovereignty of God. Having the authority of God’s sovereignty, that small nation could have prevailed against the Roman Empire; however, because of the people’s disobedience, the nation of Israel forfeited its position and was dismantled; the Jews completely lost their physical territory.</p>
|
||||
<p>The sovereign nation to which a person belongs can protect him in the fallen world, and the same is true in God’s world. Christianity faced adverse conditions from its very beginning because it had no physical territory. Christians had to function within satanic territory, and in being exposed to the satanic world they easily became targets of persecution. For the past 2,000 years Christians have suffered and made great sacrifices because they had no physical sovereignty here on earth to protect them. You must understand this clearly.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Old Testament era God claimed the physical territory of Israel, and He could always raise up an extraordinary power to crush any foreign invader.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why did God not exercise such power during the course of Christian history? In one respect Christianity is a level lower than Judaism; Judaism had both spiritual and physical foundations while Christianity is a crippled religion in comparison, having no physical territory. For this reason God could not exercise His power to protect Christianity in the same way He did Judaism.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because the body of Jesus was infiltrated by Satan, the physical bodies of Christians are always vulnerable to Satan’s infiltration. We must fully understand that Christian salvation does not derive from Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross; the cross is the symbol of Satan’s victory. Christians derive their power from the resurrection, which is the realm Satan has no power to infiltrate. However, that realm of resurrection also required a foundation on earth which Jesus erected during the course of his forty days before he ascended into heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>Christianity has been a crippled, imperfect religion and because it could not make physical salvation possible, all of mankind is destined to see the day of the second Messiah. There is no other way perfection can come about. God’s goal is the salvation of the entire globe, not just of one nation or people, and for this there must be one religion capable of giving salvation physically as well as spiritually. All of this will be fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah a second time.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus came intending to accomplish physical as well as spiritual salvation. In the same manner when the Messiah comes a second time he will work on the worldwide level and will erect physical as well as spiritual salvation for all mankind. America today is like a second Israel, being the representative nation of the Christian world. In form this nation is symbolic of God’s kingdom, yet God cannot claim America as His own territory. God can claim the nation spiritually, but physically there is no territory God can claim as His own.</p>
|
||||
<p>God’s nation should be the supreme nation in the world, and should govern the entire world. In Jesus’ time the political structures of Israel and the Roman Empire were corrupted, and there was a great deal of confusion and chaos. In exactly the same way, as the time of the Lord of the Second Advent nears, the whole world is succumbing to similar corruption and weakness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today’s America is in the same position as the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago, while Korea is in the position of Israel. Rome and Israel together came against Jesus, but if the United States and Korea together accept the ideology of the coming Messiah then his mission will be a dramatic success. Once that foundation is laid the communist world must be liberated by God’s side, and then the entire world can become one.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The spiritual and physical highways</h3>
|
||||
<p>The second Messiah is coming to establish both physical salvation and a physical territory; his one nation or territory shall be expanded to include the entire free world, and then eventually the nations enslaved by the evil ideology of communism. The people who are now victims of communism must be liberated, and it can be said that the Messiah’s ultimate goal is to unite the free world and the communist world together into one world.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to fulfill such a substantial mission here on earth the Lord certainly cannot come on the clouds of heaven. All of mankind needs to find a highway reaching from the foundation all the way to perfection, but actually all that has been done so far is a survey of the route. The actual construction has not been done, and mankind can only follow a symbolic highway since the physical route has not yet been laid. The second Messiah must make the physical highway so obvious that no one can miss it, connecting all the fragments of restoration into one wholesome highway. All those little pieces can only be connected by the heart of God. Thus the Messiah is coming as God’s true representative, bringing the fruit of the love of God as his weapon.</p>
|
||||
<p>Spiritually laying that principle highway is the Messiah’s preparation to undertake the physical restoration of this earth. After pioneering the highway he can begin his physical foundation here on earth, and once he penetrates all the way to perfection then he can extend his ministry into the entire world. This is the mission of the Unification Church. You have come here for the fulfillment of physical as well as spiritual salvation. You did not come here for some crippled purpose but for a wholesome perfected purpose which shall be fulfilled on seven different levels: individual, family, tribe, nation, world, universe, and cosmos.</p>
|
||||
<p>What is our destination? God Himself is our destination, and realistically bringing God down to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth is our desire. When we have completed our vertical accomplishment and the spiritual highway is laid then we will expand the physical ministry to the four comers of the earth. Then our movement will go beyond the worldwide scale onto the universal scale.</p>
|
||||
<p>The solid foundation has been laid on the individual level, family, tribal and national levels, and we have come to the worldwide level. Since we are already working on the global level, all five races have come together as one family within our movement, and together we are creating the third Israel.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The third Israel must offer physical salvation</h3>
|
||||
<p>What is the mission of the third Israel? As a people living on a global scale we will be able to bring the physical Kingdom of God which is capable of bringing salvation physically as well as spiritually. The second Israel has already been formed on the worldwide level, but the salvation it can bring is only spiritual. Without the Unification Church there can be no consummation or perfection of Christianity.</p>
|
||||
<p>The first Israel was formed on the national level, and is now trying to go toward the worldwide level, both spiritually and physically. It desires to serve as the base to successfully fulfill the additional level of salvation which it previously failed to fulfill. We must know clearly that Judaism needs to be consummated. Judaism will not remain as Judaism, nor will Christianity remain as Christianity. God is working to establish one religion, through which all religions can consummate their missions and achieve an even greater accomplishment.</p>
|
||||
<p>From the providential point of view Judaism has to be elevated into Christianity and accept Jesus as the Messiah, and then both of them must recognize the Unification Church as the third Israel. Judaism has two steps to take, while Christianity has one giant step to take. There is no way that the mission of Christianity can be consummated within itself. Instead Christianity must be elevated to perfection through the Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<p>The world embraces smaller levels such as nations, families, and individuals. Even though the second Israel encompasses the world it is still crippled because it can only give spiritual salvation. As soon as the Unification Church lays the necessary foundation by becoming victorious over negativity then it will automatically be possible to consummate the worldwide mission. From that point on the Unification Church will be recognized as the universal religion. That is the destiny of our church.</p>
|
||||
<p>Restoration progresses according to age, beginning with older people and finishing with young people. The Old Testament era represents the restoration of older people, since God first summoned older people as His instruments. Simeon and Anna were both old when they finally met the Christ. Noah lived to be 950 years old, while Abraham was given his first son at the age of 100, and so forth. The Old Testament era established what could be called a grandfather’s religion. I have to pay attention to older people because they were given the first missions in laying the foundation for restoration. God is paying attention to them first.</p>
|
||||
<p>The New Testament era is characterized by middle-aged people. For instance, Jesus’ disciples were working people, and later when Christianity spread all over Europe it was middle-aged people with families who became the backbone of the Christian church. However, they only view Christianity as the source of their salvation, awaiting the day when the Messiah will come and elevate their families into the air for the millennium. At most they think of their church being saved. Why is it that so many young people do not accept Christianity? Because they are idealistic and their universal minds range far beyond national boundaries to look at the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>When the Lord of the Second Advent comes his ministry will be fulfilled in the age of idealistic young people. Why should it happen that way? Simply because the fall of man came through young people. Going a reverse process in restoration, God touched older people first, middle-aged people second, and young people last. Why are single people primarily attracted to join the Unification Church? Here we are heading toward perfection, which comes after marriage. Before the blessing each person must prepare to become a wholesome man or woman. For this reason God is sending young men and women into the Unification Church. Adam and Eve were supposed to reach perfection at the age of 21, but they became fallen when they were of high school age. In the near future our new members will primarily be high school age.</p>
|
||||
<p>God actually wanted to have all of you remain as pure virgins, but we have a problem with American young people. Strictly speaking those who have tasted fallen love are not eligible to become members of the Unification Church. Adam and Eve became stained and were kicked out of the garden of Eden; how then could God now admit those who are also stained? What can be done? Regardless of how ardently you follow the Unification Church, if you are not pure then you are not qualified to be here. However, there is a way for God to forgive. God is thinking, “Since Jesus’ body was stricken by Satan, there are no bodies at all which are alive. As long as this person is trying to restore himself I will accept him.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Until the Messiah can finally fulfill perfection God can consider your bodies as dead, and whether or not a dead body may have impurities is just a trivial matter. God is trying to overlook those impurities and leave room for forgiveness. When the Messiah seals off perfection and God’s direct dominion begins then God’s standard will change, but until then there is room for forgiveness.</p>
|
||||
<p>God divides salvation into the three different levels of formation, growth, and perfection, and at each level God overlooks a great many things, reasoning, “I can forgive them that much.” He is a little stricter on the second level and absolutely strict on the third level, and will finally seal off the fallen standard altogether. From God’s point of view the Unification Church is in the perfection level, while Christianity, Judaism and all religions are in the growth level, with the entire non-religious world in the formation level.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once you join the Unification Church your standing as a Christian or Jew or as a follower of any other religion loses its significance. Even if you come from pre-formation level does not make any difference once you become a part of the perfection level. The time of the Messiah is a time of reaping, a time of extraordinary amnesty, and people of all different surroundings and backgrounds can come and reap the same benefit.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">How to wipe away past illicit love</h3>
|
||||
<p>How should you behave? There is room for forgiveness, but God has strict expectations for those who previously led an impure life, and He wants you to renew yourself to the degree that you completely forget about your past illicit love. How can you reach that level? No other power is strong enough to wipe away the experience of illicit love except true love. Since the imprint of false love is strong in your mind, the only way it can be eradicated is through true love.</p>
|
||||
<p>That false love can be eradicated only through the Messiah because he brings the most intensive love in the universe: the love of God. When you receive this intensive love of God through the Messiah then your past experience of illicit love will be eradicated. You can uphold this principle and live this truth under the most intolerable hardships when you realize that no matter what suffering you may experience, you have been given this chance to see the light. You can re-make yourself by following this true love. For that opportunity you can remain eternally grateful, even though 6,000 years of suffering may come upon you at one strike.</p>
|
||||
<p>Upon coming as the pioneer, the Messiah finds the world in pitch darkness. Going to the forefront of the pioneering task he receives all the persecution himself; acting as a shield he creates a space for everyone else behind him. In that way the Messiah is preparing the way for you. He alone has the power to bring men out of the dungeons of hell and into the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the extraordinary power and authority which the Messiah brings to earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>Fallen man must make a covenant, saying to the Messiah, “I myself, my family, and all my possessions belong to you. Nothing is mine. Please take everything because I love you more than anyone else under the sun.” It is the responsibility of fallen man to make that condition of complete love. Because the Messiah comes with heavenly love to those who are stained in satanic love, they can only be liberated when their heavenly love becomes more intense than all their satanic love put together. Through that covenant the Messiah can elevate fallen man from the dungeons of hell into the Kingdom of God with one stroke. Nobody can criticize his right to do this.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” This is completely true. No heavenly love can begin unless we liquidate the satanic love. Who would oppose this? During heavenly restoration the deeper the loving attachments were that you had in the satanic world, the more intensely will those very people try to dissuade you from going the heavenly way. That is why Jesus taught that your own family members are going to be your enemies. Their attachment to you is so great they will not want to release you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Where can we find religious freedom? One strength America has lies in the constitutional right to religious freedom. Religious freedom must be upheld even if your faith is opposed by your parents or children, or even by your wife or husband. Religious freedom is so supreme that your right to believe cannot be denied by anyone. That is the most important preparation God made in this nation for the Last Days.</p>
|
||||
<p>Who is opposing the Unification Church most? Have you ever heard of kidnappers being hired by parents to kidnap their own children? Those unprecedented situations came about when the Unification Church appeared. The Unification Church has opponents all around, not just within the family. Jews, Catholics, and Protestants are usually divided, but when they heard about the Unification Church and Reverend Moon they hastily got together as allies and issued a joint statement against us. The communists would also like to side with them in opposing me. Which side will God support? Looking at them will God say, “For 2,000 years I wanted you to unite and you never did, but as soon as you saw my son you got together to oppose him. I cannot stand for it!”</p>
|
||||
<p>Which religion is valid in the sight of God? Even after 4,000 years the original purpose of Judaism and its future destiny is not clear. After 2,000 years of Christian history there are still many unclear points and unresolved questions in the Bible, and Christians truly do not understand the origin, the present, or the future of their religion. But for the members of the Unification Church these things are crystal clear. We know our origin, we know God and His heart, we understand the process of restoration history, and we know the future. There is nothing part-time about our faith because we look at God not in a mirror, but face to face. Have you ever before had these questions resolved in any class or though any book? Which faith will God favor?</p>
|
||||
<p>If you think of me as your True Parent that means you put yourselves in the position of true sons and daughters. When I have truth then as children you have the right to inherit that, as well as anything else I have. Anything I have absolutely belongs to you. Threats or persecution cannot change that truth.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">When we can live true love on earth<br />
|
||||
we can proclaim the day of resurrection</h3>
|
||||
<p>We were talking about the resurrection of Christ and the perfection of the love of God. We can proclaim that the day of resurrection comes on the day when we can live that love here on earth and perfect our spiritual as well as physical salvation on a worldwide scale. In that realm of resurrection even Jesus himself will be resurrected. When that perfection is consummated then for the first time the mission of Jesus Christ, who is in spirit world, will be completed. On that same day the Kingdom of God here on earth shall become a reality.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the day when perfection can be declared before heaven and earth, Jesus will come down to the earth to intervene much more directly, “Why do you oppose Reverend Moon and call him a heretic? Your actions tell me that you are the heretic.” The necessary condition has been made now, and the entire spirit world is coming down to the earth, together with Jesus. All the saints and holy men must come down here to the earth to influence the entire religious world to unite together in the higher dimension of truth which God has revealed through me. By doing this, they will set the condition of having assisted in God’s work on earth in this age, even though they are in the spirit world. Then when men on earth achieve the highest perfection the spirit men can also claim that perfection and freely enter the Kingdom of God in heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>Would those in spirit world want to be married too? The desire for marriage is not lost when someone goes to spirit world, but you must know that even though people lived as husband and wife on earth, there are no husband and wife relationships so far in spirit world. There are no True Parents in spirit world, and without parents, how could true children exist and get married?</p>
|
||||
<p>When the Messiah comes the second time and consummates True Parenthood, with his wife he will form the first couple that God can recognize. With the authority of God they will give the blessing to the religious leaders who are saints in spirit world and open the way for them to take their own mates as well. In spirit world they in turn will give the blessing to their own followers.</p>
|
||||
<p>That time has come and we are proceeding with this schedule to open up the entire spirit world and initiate that great re-organization. It is even possible for a spirit man to marry a woman living here on earth, and dwell with her. It is not only possible but it has actually happened. The relationship between a spiritual being like the archangel and a physical being like Eve was possible in the garden of Eden, and that possibility has not changed.</p>
|
||||
<p>Would you like to be blessed with some saint from a thousand years ago? Those who say yes do not know the Principle at all! Marrying even a cripple in the Unification Church is far better than marrying the saint of saints in spirit world. Do you know why? The answer is very simple. If you marry a physical person you can have a child, and you absolutely need to have a child in order to fulfill the heavenly four positions here on earth. That is the building block of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is very beautiful truth, and as you really understand the truth, it will make you free.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Unification Church is the way to achieve the perfection of love, the perfection of men, and the perfection of the heavenly kingdom. Therefore, once you come into the Unification Church, regardless of your past religious beliefs, you just want to be close to me. The church itself comes second because the members have a much deeper desire to have some personal relationship with me. If a member wants to leave then the spirit world will come down and push him back, particularly if he formerly had been an adherant of another religion. Who here sees me frequently in dreams or visions? If you are spiritually awake and alive then you will see me in dreams and visions every day. Before the advent of the True Parents the Christian world spiritually had a most difficult time reaching Jesus because he has been in the highest realm of paradise while they lived in the sinful world. But now God is coming down and making His home here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>You are using spiritual nets to reach out to the people of the world, spreading heaven everywhere. The entire world is starved for love, and when people see true love they will just eat it up. We are harvesting a tremendous crop of love and the starving people of the world have to be drawn. Even if I chased them away with a baseball bat they would run around and come in the back door because they are so hungry for heavenly love. The people outside our Church have no way to experience what we feel here, which explains why so many misunderstandings arise. Until they come themselves they have no way to comprehend it.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">You are in a position to liberate many people</h3>
|
||||
<p>In order to advance in the spirit world one must progress through many complicated formalities. You may think the American government has red tape, but wait until you see the spirit world! There is one layer after another of red tape and you cannot easily leap to higher levels the way you can while you are here on earth. On earth the worst sinner can reach the True Parents in one moment and obtain heaven. These extraordinary things that can happen are part of the privilege of having a physical life.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you already have a close tie with the True Parents then behind you are millions of spirit men asking you favors. I want you to know that behind each one of you all of your good ancestors are lined up according to the merit of their deeds, with the better ancestors right next to you. There is strict formality and they cannot push ahead on their own. Their only pride is in you, “See how beautiful he is, what a wonderful face he has, what a strong member he is! ”</p>
|
||||
<p>All of your spiritual ancestors are pushing you and proud of you, trying to spread propaganda about you. How will they feel if all of a sudden, “My champion is gone! He was deprogrammed! What happened?” A great conflict between the spirit world and physical world is going on, with you sandwiched in between. Spirit world is trying to push you to work hard, while the physical world is insisting that you leave the Unification Church. We are just about to cross the final boundary now, and the tug of war between the spirit world and physical world will soon undergo an obvious change.</p>
|
||||
<p>Externally speaking, the court decision in San Francisco approving the conservatorships over five Unification Church members appeared to be a defeat, but internally we are actually gaining tremendous benefit. Even though we may have lost one little battle we are winning the war. I want you to know that you are not only perfecting yourselves to become the recipients of God’s love, but you in turn can liberate others, including Jesus Christ. You are given the right and authority to liberate Jesus Christ, and all together we are liberating God from His sorrow. For the first time in history this is happening spiritually and physically.</p>
|
||||
<p>As of 1977, we do not need any more Easter because every day will be Easter. Today is a momentous day. The key of resurrection is not in the hand of Jesus. The resurrection of mankind both physically and spiritually, both here on earth and hereafter in heaven, is ultimately in the hand of the Unification Church. We are the ones to perfect the resurrection of Jesus.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus wanted to bring that resurrection in his time, desiring to resurrect not only himself and his family, but to spiritually and physically resurrect his society, nation, world, the universe and God. He left that mission undone, and now in the Unification Church we have the key to consummate on every level the resurrection that Jesus had hoped to achieve 2,000 years ago.</p>
|
||||
<p>For 2,000 years the great dream of mankind has been to one day meet the Lord and receive the resurrection. Today we are sitting in the room of resurrection. We can live through this resurrection and spread it throughout the world by perfecting ourselves and being blessed by God.</p>
|
||||
<p>When the Messiah comes as a savior not only to those on earth, but to those of heaven and earth together. Since he is coming as the Messiah of heaven and earth, his perfection includes universal and cosmic perfection, embracing the God-centered individual, home, society, nation and world. After that there is nothing left to fulfill. The Bible indicates that in the day of resurrection, those who belong to Christ shall be the royal family of his kingdom. When the Messiah comes as the king of the entire universe and cosmos then those who belong to him will indeed be the princes and princesses of that world. Furthermore, in their own respective areas they will possess kingship and queenship, or messiahship.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you are victorious on the family level you are the messiah of that family, and when you fulfill your mission on the level of tribe, you are a tribal messiah. When you fulfill your mission on the national level, you are a national messiah. Each one of you must advance to a higher level, and in this room there are many, many different types of messiahships to be seen. Some are working on the family level, some on the tribal level, national level, and worldwide level. However, you must concentrate your attention on the worldwide level by dealing with the problems of the world and solving them. Then the entire spirit world which is encompassed on that level shall be benefited by you. My goal, therefore, is the world, and I will never be satisfied by restoration on any less than the worldwide level.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The four steps left to go</h3>
|
||||
<p>On my way toward that kingdom I have come to the United States, and next will go to Moscow. Shall we go or not? In our hands we have the key to liquidate communism, the worst enemy of humanity in the sight of God. After that we will liquidate hell and close down business there. Then we will go up to God, opening the way for the communists and the people in hell to come to Him. Then we will have finished the job and God will say, “Indeed my son, you have done your job.” After the highway has been created, all those who remain in hell and in the communist world will see the signs and drive on the highway. Even so, some crazy people might persist, “No, I don’t want to drive there quickly in a car; I’d rather walk.” They are free to do as they choose, but God will not be responsible.</p>
|
||||
<p>Finally God will be liberated from His sorrow, and the Messiah shall be liberated. All the saints and holy men in spirit world will be liberated from their missions, as well as the Unification Church, and eventually all mankind. I was given a contract by God to lay the superhighway here in America, yet the American people are saying that what I am doing is no good. Right now people only see us digging the ditches and clearing the fields, so they do not recognize the highway. However, when they see it after the concrete is poured and the line is drawn and the signs are up, everybody will say, “What a highway! ” They will compete to go first! They will probably keep shouting insults at me because their dignity got hurt, but in their hearts they will know they have to go that way.</p>
|
||||
<p>What are the four steps left to go? First the liberation of the free world, and then the liberation of the communist world. After that we will liberate the spiritual hell and then we will liberate God. Whether you want to join is up to you but meanwhile I am busy expanding the realm of resurrection.</p>
|
||||
<p>Who wants to be a participant? If you participate in this battle you might get hit by a bullet! Suppose you were. That is nothing to worry about; the important thing is whether you are able to say to God at the last minute, “God, I am dying for You and for Your liberation, the liberation of hell, the liberation of the communist world, and the liberation of the free world.” Before you die your final words should be, “Liberation, liberation, liberation.” Then even though you may not have completed the work, God will treat you as though you had already finished it. There is glory in a very special place in heaven reserved for such precious martyrs.</p>
|
||||
<p>We are all destined to die once, right? You never know when the moment of death may strike you unexpectedly. Therefore, the person who plans to enjoy his leisure, thinking, “When the emergency comes I will cry out, ‘Liberation, liberation, liberation,’ and then I will be entitled to heaven,” is most foolish. You never know when death may strike you, and if you really want to die for God then you must be ready at every moment of the day.</p>
|
||||
<p>Easter is being celebrated today by the entire world, but no other group and no other church is resolving themselves to bring the liberation of the free world, the communist world, hell in spirit world and ultimately the liberation of God. If we resolve to undertake such liberation in this particular place of Belvedere, then this is indeed the focal point of attention for God and the spirit world. Those who feel you can pledge your commitment to God, raise your hands. Your raised hands make this place holy and divine. God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1145" class="post-1145 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE SPIRIT WORLD AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:03:07+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-spirit-world-and-the-physical-world.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:03:07+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-spirit-world-and-the-physical-world.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">February 6, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>Do you know that there is a spirit world? Who of you are actually convinced of the existence of spirit world in your hearts or through personal experience? Everyone has a certain anxiety to know about the spirit world and the nature of life after death. Through history all religions have preached about the existence of a spirit world and their doctrine and goal has been to secure eternal life there. Religion has been losing its influence, however, and has lately been reduced to being simply the crutch and comfort of the weak.</p>
|
||||
<p>Many of you came from Christian homes, but the Christian doctrine and way of life in America has been weakened to such a degree that many of you were probably raised with only a vague concept of religious values. Religion is taking a more and more trivial role in daily life. You were wanderers in modern day America until you finally met the Unification Church. Are you still wandering in the Unification Church, only to go somewhere else some day?</p>
|
||||
<p>Why has Christianity been weakened? Christianity has a promise of eternal life, a profound covenant between God and man. Why then are young people like yourselves losing their vision and hope for Christianity?</p>
|
||||
<p>The first major reason is that people today do not clearly know that there is a spirit world. Human beings have the innate gift of comparison. When their wisdom dictates that certain things are better than others, they abandon the things of lesser value and seek to secure those which are of higher value. This is human nature. If you definitely know that something is better than your present way of life then you certainly want to change.</p>
|
||||
<p>People do not know clearly of the existence of the spirit world. Secondly, people do not realize the relationship between God, the spirit world and man. Third, they do not know God, nor do they feel deeply that God exists solely for the purpose of love. They do not realize the love of God and how the two worlds of God and man are interlocked by love. If they realized these things then their lives would certainly be changed.</p>
|
||||
<p>As long as there is love, it does not matter whether one is socially high, low, or in the middle. For instance, between a loving husband and wife it does not matter if the husband is of a cultured background and the wife is an uneducated person. As long as love unites the two these things do not matter. ‘Me power of love stimulates their unity. Love brings the two together into one, wherever they may be.</p>
|
||||
<p>People today are more and more aware of the necessity of bringing harmony and unification to our world. How can we bring that unity? Some claim that force will unite all people under one dominion. Others are convinced that in this computer age we can unite the world through meticulous organization. Still others insist that only a common ideology or a common language can bring the world together. But none of these have come close to the God-centered method of unification. None of these can bring complete harmony in man’s heart or unity between his body and mind. None of these really has the power to embrace every conceivable existence in the universe. Money will not do that nor will knowledge or force.</p>
|
||||
<p>There is one universal force which can bring every conceivable creation into oneness, allowing the entire universe to join in common goodness and common purpose. This is the power of true love. Do you agree? A person can become completely intoxicated in love. No other force has such attraction. For example, within true love our bodies and minds melt together in elation for eternity; money cannot do that, nor anything like knowledge or power. The power of true love activates all our senses so that our whole being is completely awakened and electrified. In other words, the human spirit and body truly respond to that certain element which is love.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">The divine mind</h3>
|
||||
<p>There are two distinct worlds created by God; one is the spirit world, the other is the physical world. Only the power of God’s love can evoke a reaction from both worlds. None of the things cherished by the physical world, such as money, power or knowledge, have influence in the spirit world. Existence in the spirit world is God-centered existence. Without the existence and the power of God’s mind spirit world could not exist.</p>
|
||||
<p>You each recognize that you have a mind. How does your mind differ from your spirit? Many people think the mind is the spirit but that is not true. A fallen man has a mind but that mind has nothing to do with spirit world. Suppose your body did not have bones. Can you imagine a human form without bones? It would be a most miserable entity, actually having no form. This illustrates the contrast between the fallen mind and the spirit. The fallen mind has no connection with the spirit world, being like a body without bones.</p>
|
||||
<p>In addition to the physical mind there is the distinct existence of soul or spirit mind. Furthermore, each person has a distinct spirit body. Even though we cannot see the spirit body with our physical eyes, it is the substantial reality of existence in which the spirit mind dwells. However, the mind of fallen man has nothing to do with God. God is dealing only with the spirit mind.</p>
|
||||
<p>How does your mind react to situations? Do you sometimes feel your mind change, as though you changed faces? Communists promote the theory that the human mind can be altered. They want to revolutionize the human mind, even to the point of denying God. They also insist that there is no existence beyond this physical existence. They believe they can successfully convince people of these things; however, the spirit mind does not change. Once the spirit mind is awakened and grasps the true value of life it will never change, but continue for eternity. Why? The flesh mind belongs to the physical body, but the spirit mind belongs to God and reflects the unchanging quality of God’s nature.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Divine Principle there is a section in the Principle of Creation about the original or divine mind. That mind is the essence of each person, being the living soul which is eternally connected to God. It is through the original mind that people can be regenerated, to live the true value and purpose of life here on earth. Without the divine mind we have no means by which to make any relationships between ourselves, God, the spirit world and the physical world. Your divine mind functions in conjunction with your conscience. As it does your whole body will certainly have a purpose and direction. By working in obedience to your divine mind you will become one with God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The greatest problem of humanity today is the separation between mind and body, with these two contradicting each other instead of harmonizing with each other. In restoration, it is when the divine mind or soul becomes the master of the human body that a person’s life can become God-centered. It is as if God’s mind were coming to dwell within that person. As a person responds to his divine mind that person will find his purpose and goal. Fallen man has no hope or direction unless that connection with the divine mind takes place. Until then, man’s existence cannot have value.</p>
|
||||
<p>The purpose of religion is to plant the divine mind in the human heart. There are many kinds of religion: some form small circles and others large circles, but some even form distorted circles. The important thing is to realize that even though there are many religions, very few actually deal directly with the divine mind.</p>
|
||||
<p>Fallen man’s ultimate goal is to reach his divine mind. Religions have evolved now to a point where they are close to finding the divine mind, yet still they have not touched it. They circle around and come out again yet they do not see it. When the true religion of God finally is fully revealed its focus will be the divine mind; it may come out and go in and circle around many times, but still it will not fail to pinpoint the target.</p>
|
||||
<p>The amazing thing about this search is this: In searching from the outer to the inner circle the individual is in front. However, after reaching your divine mind there will always be someone else in front of you; from that time on God is ahead of you. Once you reach the divine mind within you and come back out to the world, you will find that God is already before you; thus nothing will be able to disconnect you or overcome you. In this way the world is guaranteed of finding peace.</p>
|
||||
<p>Regardless of what age one may live in, every human being is a seeker. We are pioneers searching after the center of the universe. In our common search after the truth, however, we must be careful to not misjudge our ultimate goal. Some people think that the most fundamental goal in the universe is money, yet those who accumulate money realize that it is not the highest goal. Many people seek power while others pursue knowledge, but once they reach their objective they feel empty; what they sought was not the central point of the universe.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Communism misjudges the central point of the universe</h3>
|
||||
<p>Communists, for example, believe that they have found the ultimate purpose or center of the universe through their ideology. Believing that the end justifies the means, they have used exceptional cruelty in attempting to reach their goal. However, once communism exercises absolute power, its followers discover within their own hearts that their ideology has not really shown them the center of the universe. In order to accomplish their goal they have disregarded everything, including their families and the well-being of others. Under communism only the state is important and it must have absolute power even when it uses the most ruthless means to achieve its goals. The people following this ideology thought they were going to find paradise, but the ecstatic joy that they expected was not there.</p>
|
||||
<p>The communists misjudged the central point of the universe; they misjudged the ultimate purpose of life. Therefore, even though those working under communism are trying to get to the central point they are deeply disappointed. They thought that dialectical materialism was the truth, but once involved in communist activity they discovered that their values were always being changed. They found that communism is not based on an eternal and unchanging truth.</p>
|
||||
<p>What is it in this universe that is unchanging and unique, in which we can truly find a union of our body and soul and in which there can be joy for eternity? What is it? There must be an unchanging center which remains from eternity to eternity. But even that is not enough; there must be an unchanging quality which we can enjoy within our own lives for erternity. This center is love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Love is the central truth that we must reach. The direction in which you move and the shape your circle takes does not make such a difference as long as you reach that unchanging center of the universe: the truth and love of God. God, the eternal and central being, exists there. I am not speaking of a concept or some theory of my own. I am speaking of the reality of God. We can make an unchanging relationship with Him through love. Once you reach this experience, not just by logic but by your own feeling and emotion, then no one can change your heart. Even in the communist world people certainly taste love and long for love within their relationships. Although they may officially disregard these things they can never eliminate the innate desires of their human nature.</p>
|
||||
<p>Does anyone want only temporal love which will last only a year or two? Could that ever be true? Why is love so precious? Because love has an unchanging, eternal quality it will never decrease in value with time. Do your parents only give out love for a certain period of time, telling you, “All right, I can love you for one year. You take it now because then I will have no more.” Parental love is not that way.</p>
|
||||
<p>Parental love has no end. Even though the children become senior citizens, the parents still consider them their sons and daughters, feeling the same intensity of concern and love that they always bestowed upon them. If a grandmother is 150 years old and her son is 120, she will still say to him, “Watch out for traffic when you go outside.” Such beautiful warmth and concern for children will not be tarnished with age. Even when the mother is 1,000 years old and her child is 970 she will still think of him as the child that she has always cared for. Do you feel embarrassed when you are treated by your own parents like that or do you feel loveliness and beauty in their hearts?</p>
|
||||
<p>This particular pattern does not change from the East to the West. And throughout the ages no one has ever revolutionized love or changed it. The way of love stretches from eternity to eternity. The quality of love will never change. Neither will truth change. Does truth have dual aspects, with one aspect applicable only in the East and one in the West, or is it always the same? The truth or the true quality of a thing does not change. Gold may be heated hundreds of degrees, but it will continue to be gold. Even if one were to repeat this process a thousand times, the nature of the gold would not be changed. Gold is gold. Does value derive from the changeable or unchangeable qualities? Value is derived from unchangeable quality.</p>
|
||||
<p>Dialectical materialism, on the other hand, does not recognize any eternal or unchanging power; it asserts that progress toward higher value is made only through relationships of conflict. However, this process will never bring man the ultimate happiness for which he has been searching. Man can only achieve that goal and happiness through an ideology which leads him to what is unchanging and unique and absolute. That concept is centered upon love. There is no other way.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Someone must show the world the living love of God.</h3>
|
||||
<p>Why did you come all the way to Belvedere this early on a cold morning? Is it because you know that I am wealthy and you came to see if I will give you money? However, there is nothing here, not even chairs or warmth. People cannot grasp the purpose that draws you young people together. The important thing is this: value does not have to be tangible. We gather here to search after something intangible yet eternal and concrete. That intangible something is the center of the universe and the love of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually you are finding yourself in God’s position. Think for a moment about His situation-most of the world curses Him, arguing, “There is no such thing as God. God is dead.” People who haven’t found God are trying to be comfortable without Him; they do not even want to remember Him. But God is God. Looking down, He still has the same unchanging quality of love and is still trying to embrace the world. Even while people are denying Him God is looking down and calling to them.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you think God will be angry with a person who says, “There is no God; God is dead”? Or will God say, “Hmmm. Is that so?” He does not get mad, but will sadly smile. That is the way I also prefer to be. What am I doing? Simply speaking, I am trying to resemble God, to become closer to Him and take after Him. Consequently the entire U.S. and even the world is ridiculing me, saying all kinds of untrue and terrible things about me. I like to say, “Hmmm, is that so? All right, you will see.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The amazing thing is that the love of God is not only bestowed on those who respond, but is given also to those who do not respond; even greater love is given to those who do not respond. It would be normal for you to love only those who responded to you in love. But when you sacrificially give of your love to those who are hostile to you, you begin to reflect the real quality of God’s own love. True love moves in this way. Its quality does not change regardless of the response of the people.</p>
|
||||
<p>Parents deeply suffer if their child makes a grave mistake, perhaps becoming a criminal, but that does not break or lessen the love of the parents. They find themselves giving out more compassion, love and sympathy, and feeling even greater anxiety for their child in jail. That is the heart of the parent. If their child is sentenced to death, the parents would not say, “You deserve your death because you committed such a terrible crime.” They will never curse but desperately search even up until the last minute, willing to do anything to save their child’s life. The parent has the heart of forgiveness. That is unconditional love.</p>
|
||||
<p>If the heart of human parents reacts in such a way to their children, then do you think that God, the parent of mankind, would be any different? No, His heart reaches far beyond this. God is the parent of all parents. The love of God surpasses the feeling of all the parents of the world. It is only His forgiveness, the giving and unconditional love of God, our parent, that can pull all peoples of the world into unity. It is only through the power of the love of God that all of mankind will be brought together.</p>
|
||||
<p>This world has been looking for the manifestation of God’s love. Someone must be found who can show the world the living love of God through their own action of love; then this world will have a direction and hope of unity and harmony.</p>
|
||||
<p>God’s dispensation has been precisely that. Indeed, God sent Jesus to the world as a representative of His parental love. The life of the Messiah of 2,000 years ago was one of total parental love, embodying the love of giving and the life of sacrifice. He not only forgave mankind but blessed his own personal enemies even as they were taking his life.</p>
|
||||
<p>That love goes beyond any kind of love ever seen here on earth. It is more than brotherly love and more than that of husband and wife. All the love throughout the world put together cannot compete with the parental love of God. The central expression of the love of God was manifested here on earth in Jesus Christ, but he was crucified and could not proceed to the completion of his mission. God desires to continue His dispensation and ultimately fulfill His will on earth. For this He is preparing for the Messiah to come again. When the Messiah comes again, mankind will see and hear God. That is God’s dispensation and the fulfillment of His Biblical prophecy and promise.</p>
|
||||
<p>Mankind has only one hope in this world: the promise of God that such love exists, and that God will send His own son once again to show to the world by his love that it is possible to unite. No matter what mankind has been suffering, no matter how much confusion and chaos persists in the world, as long as there is that promise of God we have hope.</p>
|
||||
<p>The hope of mankind is not communism but it is not democracy either. Our hope lies in the manifestation of the love of God in living form here on earth. God will create His own headquarters here on earth. Through His own representative He will show this love to the world. This power and love will bring harmony and unification to the world and it is the only hope of the world; this is the plan of God and His promise. The Unification Church embraces a hope that is crystal clear while the world is yet in despair. We can grab God; we know that His love exists and furthermore, that the love of God will manifest itself in human form here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Unification Church member is a good diver or jumper. In order to jump we must crouch all the way down and then plunge down to the bottom of hell in this world, deep amidst the sin of mankind to bring everything back all the way to heaven. That is our way of life. Our purpose is not to stay in hell but to use hell as a springboard. If we plunge all the way down with tremendous energy and power, we will easily spring all the way up into the heights of heaven. Most importantly, we must always remember that it is God who will bring us up and that we will bring those who are in hell with us into heaven. That is our job.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now you can understand why every member of the Unification Church goes down into hell. By going all the way down into the suffering of mankind you are tasting the misery of the ages. I am pushing all of you down there that you might taste this. Is your attitude, “Oh, I don’t want to do it, but I have to because Father wants me to go”? Or do you courageously plunge down into the darkness with willingness and bubbling enthusiasm?</p>
|
||||
<p>Are you anxiously thinking, “If the Unification Church looks so miserable now, what will tomorrow bring?” Is that your concern, or do you know what tomorrow will bring and therefore you can go into the dungeon of hell as a liberator, with the determination to bring hell into heaven? That is precisely what Jesus Christ did.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus came to this earth, the dungeon of hell, to bring this hell to heaven. Furthermore, after his crucifixion he went down to the hell of spirit world. According to the Biblical description Jesus went down to hell for the first three days following his crucifixion. Why? He has the power to liberate the people who are bound there and to bring them with him up to heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>By his coming down to the hell of the physical world and the hell in spirit world, Jesus left millions of ropes or lines by which every soul suffering in those dungeons could climb to their liberation. Jesus left hope behind him, and all those multitudes of suffering people have the chance to be liberated.</p>
|
||||
<p>Few of those people had the desperate desire to reach the final destination, however. Many would start but then lose their energy and fall down into hell again. To be successful they had to realize that those lines were the only hope of life and that there was no other choice. They had to look up and just keep going, not stopping for any reason. The spirit world and physical world have been separated throughout history, having no meeting ground and no unity. This is why so few people have even glimpsed the spirit world, and why as a result most people do not even think that there is a spirit world. For most people it is natural to see only what is here and now and never what is beyond our physical realm. They think this is all that there is.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Everyone must sweat and labor<br />
|
||||
together to find the Kingdom</h3>
|
||||
<p>Even though few know anything about spirit world, there is an intrinsic desire for unification and harmony among men in the heart of each person. They desire the ideal unified world but they do not necessarily want to take the responsibility for creating it. “If someone creates such a world then I will be glad to enjoy it.” Many people think in this selfish way.</p>
|
||||
<p>When the ideal world comes, do you think it will automatically fit into the standard of your life as it is now, or would you have to change in order to fit into the ideal world? American young people must awaken to the wonderful realization that each person will have to change himself in order to be qualified for the ideal world. Most people who are yearning after love and goodness do not realize that as the first ones to participate in the ideal they would have to be the first ones to change. In many cases their attitude is, “The ideal world will come and accommodate me. I don’t want to move; put me into the ideal world.” Rather, we must search for the ideal world, learning and growing into its standard. We must bring the revolution to ourselves and in this way adapt ourselves to the ideal world. The youth of America and the world must realize that they are a most prestigious group of people because they are young and have the zeal and energy to change the world and to change themselves.</p>
|
||||
<p>Communists delude what they call the working class people into supporting them by promising that utopia will come to them. But that will never happen. Everyone must sweat and labor together to find the Kingdom. The Communists speak sweet words about their ideal paradise here on earth, but the reality of the communist system only chains nations and peoples in even greater turmoil, hardship and slavery. The ideal world will not come in that fashion.</p>
|
||||
<p>Each of us must participate in building the ideal world. You must learn the truth and put yourself in the pioneer’s role, getting fully involved in it at great cost. It is irresponsible to idly wait for the ideal day to dawn and expect to wake up on that day with the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. That will not happen.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you think I am wrong? America thinks so and is coming against me, trying to show me how wrong I am. However, I am bringing together many young people; while the world accuses me of trying to enslave you I am teaching you how to be the foremost pioneers of the Kingdom of God. If you get down to work and joyfully take up the most difficult responsibility then your reward in heaven will be just extraordinary.</p>
|
||||
<p>A better world will never come unless people such as yourselves determine to give of themselves in unparalleled sacrifice and devotion, not for their own sakes, but for the very purpose of the Kingdom of God. Will complaining, protesting, demonstrating, and acts of violence be effective in bringing the Kingdom of God and the ideal world? The ideal world can only come where those people are gathered together who are trying to plunge down to the very heart of sin and human misery, sacrificing everything in working to cleanse and liquidate the sin of men’s hearts and the vice of society. Only that kind of effort, dedication, and sacrifice can bring the Kingdom of God. I know to the depths of my being that the ideal world can be brought about only by people like that. I not only know this but I have been living this knowledge my entire life.</p>
|
||||
<p>I know that this cause will never fail. It is secured and guaranteed, not only by the power of God, but by the fact that I have worked harder than anyone else here on earth. How can I fail? People talk about me in a most unkind way, but let them talk. Let the New York Times and the Washington Post talk. The communists think they will control the whole world by violence, deceit and demonstration, but you will see. We are moving quietly; however, the quiet force will be the winner. In the end it is history that will tell.</p>
|
||||
<p>How fortunate you are to be here. When the world looks at you it will say, “You poor, miserable children! You look so pale and tired.” Do not be deluded by these words. During my entire ministry of thirty years I looked just as you do now; often I was pale and most miserable. When I was imprisoned and tortured in indescribable ways I looked a thousand times more miserable than you do. But I was a winner; I am a winner; I will be a winner continuously. That must be the pattern of your lives as well.</p>
|
||||
<p>Presently everyone views me either positively or negatively; that represents a certain personal influence and power on my part The American government and the FBI are looking at me and always wondering what my next plan is. Even the communists scrutinize my every action to determine if I am really going to Moscow.</p>
|
||||
<p>I did not begin my work in a gorgeous palace but in the most miserable situation. The center that I established was so small that I could reach out and touch all four walls while sitting in one place. That was the first Unification Church, the birthplace of this new world. God’s ideal and dream was planted on the earth in that little center, just like a tiny baby conceived in its mother’s womb and then coming out to grow and bear influence in the world. In the same way, the life of the new world was conceived and was born in that small cubbyhole.</p>
|
||||
<p>By every standard I am a successful person. I am victorious and still moving forward without limits. I am fresh and do not feel like a man of 60 years.</p>
|
||||
<p>Where would you like to live–the physical world or the spirit world or both? Where would you like to start your eternal life? Do you begin eternal life after your life in the physical world is over, or do you start it right now? Have you started it already? Because of the fall of man the two worlds were separated. When these two worlds do meet according to the plan of restoration, will man or Satan be aware of that meeting place first? Of course God is the master planner, but apart from God who else would detect that plan?</p>
|
||||
<p>There must be a central, chosen person who pioneers the world to bring about this unity. God will plan to send that central figure at a certain time and to a certain part of the world. Do you think Satan will not know? When there is a heavenly maneuver God Himself has to manifest a certain plan and then it remains no longer a plan but becomes an action. When an action begins to unfold, Satan will quickly detect it because he is constantly alert.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Messiah is coming to bring these two worlds together. However, that particular intelligence is picked up by Satan before man detects it. Satan knows how the Messiah will come, being fully aware that the Messiah is coming to destroy his power. Satan will do his utmost to kill that child at birth and to crush the birth of his movement. This world has been controlled and dominated by Satan, and from the time of the Messiah’s conception in his mother’s womb through his entire life and ministry he faces the threat of destruction by Satan. He is destined to fight through the most difficult possible conditions here in the world, with nothing to ease his path.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Messiah is destined to take the most extraordinary path of tribulation. God knows it and He will do everything possible to prepare for him. Through the ages religions have been revealed in order to establish a groundwork for the coming of the Messiah. They are merely God’s preparation for the Messiah. When the Messiah actually comes he will bring the new world and the existing religions will be consummated by following him.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Christians must realize that the Messiah<br />
|
||||
is not coming to do things their way</h3>
|
||||
<p>The chosen people are indispensable to God’s dispensation. At the time of Jesus Christ the chosen people were the people of Israel. It was to them that Jesus came. However, at that time the chosen people thought the Messiah was coming to fulfill their desires for a better life and for independence. They forgot that the Messiah was coming for the ideal of God and His new order and that they were to work to establish the Kingdom of God in God’s way, not their own way.</p>
|
||||
<p>If there had been understanding between the Messiah and the chosen people then Jesus Christ would never have been crucified. Instead there was a fatal difference of opinion. The Messiah’s goal was one thing and the people’s desire was another. The tragedy came about because of this difference of opinion.</p>
|
||||
<p>This lesson is vitally important to Christians today. What is modem Christianity throughout the world? It is the gathering of the people prepared for the ultimate day of the Lord of the Second Advent. However, Christians today feel that the Messiah is coming only to fulfill their own desires, to liberate them and give them happiness and a place in heaven. They do not think in terms of the Messiah coming to fulfill the original ideal and will of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>If the Messiah comes only to fulfill the wishes of the Christians today then there will be no kingdom. In fact, there would be no value in his coming. Christians accept the most horrendous idea that when the Messiah comes all the disbelievers will be burned in unquenchable fire and judged to eternal damnation while the Christians will ascend up to heaven to enjoy the heavenly kingdom with God and Christ.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Christian world itself is not only hopelessly fragmented but corrupted in its practices. Christians have erected barriers among themselves in order to continue believing in their own comfortable way. If the Messiah came and fulfilled all their conflicting wishes there would be nothing but war.</p>
|
||||
<p>When the Messiah comes with the will of God he will not condone and praise Christianity but will ignite a spiritual revolution and clean house first. The Messiah comes as the greatest of all revolutionaries, not using weapons and violence but bringing peace through truth. Great changes will come about and people must prepare to adapt themselves to the way of the Messiah, not thinking in terms of the Messiah adapting himself to the ways of Christians.</p>
|
||||
<p>Will the Messiah’s revolution begin in the spirit world or physical world? Among the rich or down in the gutter of human misery? Liberation from sin starts at the very bottom of hell, so the Messiah must begin his work at the bottom of human misery, The Messiah will begin his religious movement to build the Kingdom of God here on earth at the very bottom of human misery. He will gather young people like yourselves and ask them to go into hell and transform it into the Kingdom of God. The worst enemy is conquered when the worst sin is conquered.</p>
|
||||
<p>If Christianity accepts such an extraordinary revolutionary movement then there will be harmony and a new world will come easily. But if we study the lessons of history we know that the Messiah’s acceptance is most unlikely. The people working with him who launch the spiritual revolution will face a wave of persecution for each step of their accomplishment, until finally they can encompass the entire world. Satan is the worst kind of enemy and he will try to block the spread of this movement in every conceivable way.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Are you ready to receive the same treatment I have received?</h3>
|
||||
<p>Any religious movement will face the possibility of persecution if it is determined to deal with the reality of human sin and misery at the bottom of hell, while at the same time proclaiming to the world the highest possible goal of the building of the Kingdom of God here on earth. One way to confirm the emergence of God’s new Messianic movement is to find where worldwide persecution is concentrated on one group. Why? The reason for this is that God must begin His work in the satanic world, and this world is Satan’s territory.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Unification Church fits this qualification. This movement began in the most humble circumstances on a mountainside of Korea, becoming the center of a worldwide hurricane of controversy within the lifetime of its founder. The Unification Church is the very honorable bulls-eye of the world. Almost every conceivable type of group, even including government bodies, are disturbed and want to throw me out. Established religions have had their peace disrupted and are agitated enough to actually unite in making a statement against me! Why did the powerful religions of the world today unite together to try to destroy this one man and his small handful of followers? The only explanation could be that they feel threatened. Let us compare the two opposing factions by their present-day fruit. Are you members assembled here in the Unification Church just the cast-offs of mankind? Even our persecutors admit to the quality of our people and comment on their shining faces and their ideals, dedication and sacrificial spirit.</p>
|
||||
<p>I know and you know that we are trying harder to live lives of unselfish sacrifice than most people outside our Church who do not know the truth. In our dedication and in our understanding of the world situation we are more solid. It is my pride that I will never fall behind anyone in dedication or unselfish giving for the cause of God. The President of the United States does not have the insight and vision to really stop the corruption of the youth and engender a new generation of leaders. But I have a purpose and ideal and a plan of action, and I can show young people how to become champions of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The world is coming to know the power of the Unification Church and our opponents in the past have seen how we will not be crushed. When they push us down we merely spread out to the sides! Even under persecution we have expanded to the worldwide level. President Nixon was crushed by the criticism of America and the world, but even though harsher accusations have been made about me, I am still going and going strong.</p>
|
||||
<p>Are you intimidated by this headwind? Nothing can stop you; persecution should only make you stronger. Where does the Kingdom of Heaven begin here on earth: the most luxurious place or in the pit of misery? Who does this world belong to? In every possible way Satan is trying to stop us, but eventually he will give up and then you will be the winners.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you follow me then you will receive the same scornful treatment I receive. Even with your youthful vitality this road is not an easy one. Maybe the newcomers here are shocked by hearing these things, but we are honest and say that this is not an easy way. You should pack up if you don’t want to face this life. Perhaps then you would not feel any pressure, but if you think about it there is no hope outside of this Church. At least one thing is sure; if we stay here then at least we have hope. To stay in the Unification Church you need a lot of faith, both in me and in the Principle.</p>
|
||||
<p>My life for the past thirty years is my enduring testimony; by looking at my whole way of life you can be convinced that I will not fail. The established generation are the ones who are attacking me and trying to destroy my work, and yet you people here this morning are their children. The Unification Church is primarily blessed by the participation of the youth. God is truly working here. Many of your parents have taken a position opposing me, but God has changed the hearts of their children, that you might understand and pursue this way of life. Eventually you will also be the ones to persuade your parents to change their opinion. Some parents passionately feel that I am their worst enemy, but all of a sudden they find their own children defending me! Only God could inspire such a revolutionary happening.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Temptation always comes through those nearest you</h3>
|
||||
<p>Our enemies know that it would be hopeless to try to deprogram me, but they think they can deprogram you. The deprogrammers use many enticements such as money, your former love relationships or finally even extreme threats, like, “I will kill you unless you do what I tell you.” Are you confident to win over these? No matter how special their offers are, you will be tempted unless you have put away your desires for such things. I see many weak spots in you! Satan looks at your weak spots and he knows which ones to use.</p>
|
||||
<p>Many times members are resolved that they could never be deprogrammed but when they become too concerned about how soon they can get married and start having children they may get discouraged. That feeling becomes a hook which Satan can grab, and then those members decide to leave. You may be vulnerable in another way. You may be working hard fund raising and witnessing and then your parents phone you, tearfully pleading, “You don’t have to suffer this way. Why don’t you come home and we’ll get you new clothes and you can have a happy life for a change! ” At that time you may feel sorry for yourself and say, “I’ve been in the Unification Church for three years and nobody cried tears for me.” Your parents’ offer may be very tempting.</p>
|
||||
<p>I personally know all these enticements very well. I too have lived through the reality of these things; the most important thing to realize is that temptation always comes through those nearest you, to whom it is so difficult to say no, people like your friends, your spouse or children or parents.</p>
|
||||
<p>Unresolved doubt is always a hook for Satan to pull. You may even feel sometimes that there is no God or that our movement is inhumane and unjust. That is why you must be wise in understanding the Principle. God sometimes tests you by pretending that He is unconcerned or even that He is betraying you. You must understand the Principle more deeply than to be swayed by that experience. When you go over that experience you realize that God wants to give His entire love to you, but only on the condition that you have completely won over Satan on your own.</p>
|
||||
<p>God wants you to be free from any condition of accusation. Then He will fill you with unconditional love and blessing. He wants to give His blessing freely, without any condition of accusation from Satan, and the entire world will say, “God, that man certainly deserves that blessing. We have no complaint about him.” God wants us to meet that standard, becoming people who are victorious in heaven and on earth. He wants to say to the world, “I even denied this person, but their loyalty and trust and faith never swayed even one iota. This is indeed My victorious child.” When God can say that about you then you have received the highest praise possible. By meeting that highest possible standard you can secure the ideal center upon which God can rebuild the entire world. Once we meet that standard then God can pour His blessing upon the Unification Church. Satan will not be able to say, “God, they do not deserve the blessing you have given them so freely.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Can you now see why we can become truly victorious only under persecution? Persecution is the most ideal situation in which to demonstrate to God and to ourselves who we really are. The entire spirit world knows that America came against me and against the Unification Church. Once we meet the high standard of heaven and God can fill us with His blessing, then there is no way for any American on earth or in spirit world to complain or accuse us before God. There are many in the spirit world whose descendants are trapped in communist countries and we don’t want to be accused by them for not doing everything in our power to help save their descendants. Already some of our members are working in communist countries and are suffering at this moment in communist prisons.</p>
|
||||
<p>Last year I sent missionaries out to 120 nations, knowing that because I am well-known they would receive the same persecution that we are receiving here in America. No one on earth or in heaven will be free to accuse me of not paying attention to their nation by at least having our Church established there. As a movement we are bringing ourselves into the position where we can be free from the accusation of Satan, and even from those in spirit world. If that principle is true, the day will come when the worldwide level of God’s blessing will pour down upon the Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">I have spiritually liberated every kind of human misery</h3>
|
||||
<p>Where will the Kingdom of God begin? The Kingdom of God will germinate here on earth in the depths of human misery, the pits of hell. Have you received threats on your life here in America because you were acting on your beliefs? That has not seriously happened in this country. Then who has laid that foundation for this Church? I am the one who really tasted the misery at the bottom of hell, being threatened and imprisoned and tortured many times. That is how the foundation was laid upon which you now stand. I started out all by myself to erect the family, tribal and national foundations; then I worked to set the foundation in Asia and for the world, and now in America, the focal point of God’s dispensation, I am unfolding the universal level of the dispensation.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because I have liberated every kind of human misery by participating in every walk of life, I have a friend everywhere. I have talked with murderers and given them hope; I have suffered together with people in prison camps and labored with dock workers and miners and old mountain people. Do you know why we bought the New Yorker on 8th Avenue, where there is so much prostitution? It is our responsibility to solve that particular situation. Recently I even went to Las Vegas and prayed for that most carnal city The gamblers and strip-tease dancers need to be saved some day and I had to set some condition for them to eventually be liberated from that life.</p>
|
||||
<p>I do the most unique and extraordinary things, which have never been seen in human history. I am making connections with the entire human race in order to truly create a most spectacular international family. I am responsible to redeem every human misery and crime, to leave a spiritual rope by which these people may some day have hope to climb out of their hopeless situations. Absolutely no one knows more about human misery on all levels than 1. No one has ever visited more kinds of places around the world than I have. I specialize in the keen observation of human misery and human sin because that is the area I am going to liquidate. I have many friends, even those who have committed crimes, but who have become new people and committed their lives for God’s cause. There are many beautiful stories that you would be moved by because you also have felt something touch you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Have you ever spoken to God concerning some threat to my life, “Heavenly Father, let me be his shield; take my life instead of his and let him remain on earth to continue with this work for humanity!” Why do you think in that way? My entire life has been lived that way and something is inspiring you to live like that as well. My prayer has always been, “Father in Heaven, let me suffer in Your place. Whatever arrows come to You, let me be the target.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Right now I am like the shield before God, receiving all the criticism from the world. Ultimately I am responsible for every deed you do and every mistake you make. Our enemies have planted false members in the Church who act like model followers and then after six months or a year commit some crime or immoral act in order to give myself and the Church a bad name. All the blame comes to me.</p>
|
||||
<p>The world may think I am like a “godfather,” being totally evil and only exploiting young people for my personal gain. You, however, have come to respect and love me as a man of God. Your belief in and understanding of me will be strengthened in the days to come, and the world’s wrong conviction about me will slowly change because of a lack of foundation in fact. Slowly but surely the world will be won.</p>
|
||||
<p>The time has come to unite spirit world and physical world, finally ending their separation. That unity will not occur in a smooth, peaceful transition, but through earth-shaking events. Why should that be necessary? An extraordinary confrontation will take place, with God exerting all His power to accomplish His will and the satanic powers desperately trying to stop Him. One such dramatic battle took place in Washington, D.C. on September 18, 1976. February 17 is the final day in 1976 by the lunar calendar. In the heavenly dispensation the lunar calendar is often very important and influential, and God is continuing the dispensation for 1976 until that day.</p>
|
||||
<p>The age is now dawning in which Satan will no longer have the power to accuse man in the sight of God. The spirit world may blame others, but they cannot blame the Unification Church. Furthermore, the time has come when all the spirit world on the side of goodness will come down and assist our crusade. With that assistance our work will be greatly speeded up. The time has come for the great spiritual leaders of the past, such as Buddha, Confucius, Moses, past Christian saints and Mohammed, to appear before their own disciples, telling them that they must receive the benefit of the Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">We have laid a foundation for unity on every level</h3>
|
||||
<p>Until now all of spirit world has been divided by many barriers, but the victory of the Washington Monument Rally broke through all those barriers and allowed the spirit world to become one unified world. The spirits there communicate with each other and now know who the central figures are and where the central movement is. They are traveling in their respective channels to break down the barriers between people in the physical world and create a similar unity here as well.</p>
|
||||
<p>So far there has been no fellowship in the spirit world between East and West, but now that barrier has been broken. The power of absolute, heavenly love has united the two with God at the center. On earth, the Unification Church is bringing the two cultures of East and West into one, intermingling them by international marriage and international gatherings of members working together. In our Unification Church there is no boundary between East and West.</p>
|
||||
<p>We have laid the foundation for unity on the individual level, family level, tribal, national and world levels. Anything we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and anything we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. In the future we will take more and more initiatives in world affairs, and you will witness how even our most violent opponents will fade away. This phenomenon of persecution will persist until 1981. Therefore, we must act now to set the foundation and strongly establish ourselves; we must develop the will of a captain in steering his boat through a storm.</p>
|
||||
<p>These next five years will be an extraordinary period in which the entire world will be shaken, including the communist world. Already the communists are troubled; since their signing of the Helsinki Agreement the free world has a reason to attack them for their terrible abuses of human rights. Communist leaders always disguise their true motives, deceiving the free world into allowing the expansion of communist power. The communists have no intention of giving anything to the free world. However, deprogramming on a large scale is presently taking place in the communist world; Ted Patrick is not doing it, but the spirit world. Spirit men are descending to the children of communist leaders, saying, “Communism is wrong. This ideology is based on a lie. It is not the truth.” A great deal of turmoil will be seen soon between those parents and children as the two ideologies confront each other.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the garden of Eden Adam and Eve came against God, their Father. In the last days God would like to indemnity this situation within the communist world by having the parents and children in conflict with each other over the heavenly ideology. This same confrontation is already widespread in America and the free world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why does this situation persist? It is not a sign of decline but of preparation for God’s Kingdom. The American youth have tried every conceivable thing–hippie life with its sexual freedom, streaking, drugs-but they did not find anything there. Now they are coming back to religion but not back to the established churches. Young people have not found anything dynamic and fulfilling in the churches they knew before so they are searching after something new.</p>
|
||||
<p>I know very well that people outside our church have usually heard of me in a negative way and they think this is some kind of terrible cult. But you will see that in two years this movement will be completely changed by an avalanche of young people flowing into our Unification centers. Because the young people of America are wise people they will inevitably pass through the gates of the Unification Church to investigate it. We are like the catchers in a baseball game; the young people are the ball being thrown by all of America. We need a lot of catchers to receive them and I am preparing them right now. The time will come when many balls will be flying toward us. The most beautiful young people will come to us and we will train them with the truth, giving them a new direction and purpose to live.</p>
|
||||
<p>When young people without any preconceived notions about the Unification Church come to hear lectures for one week, they are ignited by the deep spiritual insight of the Divine Principle and say, “What a powerful gospel this is! Why didn’t we know about this before?” Then they hear that this is the message of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. At that point they cannot say anything in opposition. The testimony to the power of the truth will be seen in their inspiration to change others’ minds about Reverend Moon.</p>
|
||||
<p>We are the only ones who can overcome the negativity of those around us. We have the power to change the youth of America, and once that happens the communists will have absolutely no power. I know in detail what the strategies and techniques of the communists are; I am an expert on it. We are the only ones who have the power and truth not only to overcome but also to liberate the communists. Because they know that this positive truth will liquidate their own lies, the communists are afraid of our ideology.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must have the pride and joy of realizing our good fortune at living in this particular age of awakening; we can live and accomplish what no saints or religious leaders of the past could accomplish. In your mind new spring has dawned and you are becoming a new, ideal individual, and establishing a new ideal home, society, nation, and world, with one main truth interconnecting them all. With one common base you can build all these levels of perfection, centering upon the heart of God which will become your heart and your love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once you are united to God and His love your personality will become universal and you will not only be the central point of a family, society, nation and world, but the central point around which the entire universe can be harmonized. It is not necessary to go many different routes to fulfill each level; there is one route and by uniting with one central point you can realize them all.</p>
|
||||
<p>The communists say, “We are going to liberate the proletariat and the poor people.” We are going beyond that goal, aiming to liberate the conscience of all mankind. We are not limited to concern for material wealth but are concerned for the conscience of man and the love of God, in which there are no classes.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Even Almighty God forgets Himself</h3>
|
||||
<p>Before you met the Unification Church your goal was nothing abnormal; in the everyday world it is natural to be focused upon yourself. But since coming to the Unification Church your goal has completely changed, focusing not on yourself but upon God and humanity. Of the two possible ways of life we can live, the selfish way only leads you down. On the other hand, the more you are unselfish and public-minded the more you will rise in happiness and prosperity.</p>
|
||||
<p>Those who say, “I don’t care about God or the world, my country, or my family, only about me,” will end up in the dungeon of hell. The person who truly lives his utmost, investing every ounce of energy for the sake of God and the sake of humanity, will end up in the highest possible level of Heaven. Why should the Principle work like that? The world is created according to that principle and nobody can prosper apart from it. God Himself does not exist for Himself but solely for the sake of man; even God forgets Himself.</p>
|
||||
<p>True parents are those who live solely for the sake of their children. Truly pious sons and daughters are those who live for the sake of their parents, forgetting themselves. In any nation the government must exist solely for the sake of the people and the world, and the people must live for the prosperity of the nation and mankind. This same formula applies up to the highest possible level. God lives solely for the sake of the world and humanity. He does not claim that His people exist for Him, but instead He lives for them. God is the ultimate and eternal parent and His children must also live for the purpose of their Father.</p>
|
||||
<p>In comparing this to the communist ideology we see that communism is an evil, false ideology which is trying to destroy both God and humanity. Communist leaders sometimes test the loyalty of Party members by requiring that they kill their own father or mother. That ideology is the total abandonment of God’s principle and must be liquidated. No matter what the communists may boast, the time will come when their internal division and external problems will move them slowly but surely to extinction.</p>
|
||||
<p>America is trying to withdraw from world responsibility when instead this nation should be willing to sacrificially give itself for the sake of world salvation. If that became America’s national goal then this nation would not only lead the entire world, but eventually possess even God. There was a time when the American people were respected overseas and when American citizenship was a very glorious thing, but the time is rapidly approaching when people will spit at anyone calling themselves American.</p>
|
||||
<p>America should not have become involved in Vietnam without intending to take full responsibility for any consequences. Millions more people were killed by America’s becoming involved and then abandoning Vietnam. If America had left that nation alone the Vietnamese would not have suffered as many deaths after coming under the communist yoke. Instead, when America withdrew all the people who had trusted America were lost. All became victims of communist retaliation.</p>
|
||||
<p>When faced with the responsibility America has assumed in Korea, politicians are increasingly saying, “We must withdraw our armed forces from Korea.” If this nation fails Korea then not only that nation but God will react. Americans are thinking, “Oh, we have so many problems internally that we have to take care of ourselves first and forget about the outside world for now.”</p>
|
||||
<p>America will never take care of its problems by withdrawing from its worldwide responsibilities; instead the internal problems will become more desperate and America will catapult into a rapid decline. If American young people will stand up by the millions, willing to give their lives for the sake of the world, then America will have hope. However, Christianity has failed its mission in this respect.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">I am accused of brainwashing because my message is so strong</h3>
|
||||
<p>l came to treat the patient which is America, providing a worldwide vision for which it can stand up and to which it can give its energy. No American leader dares to make the statement, “I will act as a doctor to heal this country.” I am not even American but I uttered that at the Yankee Stadium Rally. At Washington Monument I proclaimed, “I came to restore the young people, the leaders of tomorrow, back to God.” Nobody else can utter such a clear statement because they have no conviction. The white people and particularly the religious leaders of America should be embarrassed that a yellow man from Asia could challenge the American people with such a dynamic commitment. I am not making empty statements at all, and the proof is seen by the fact that I am doing things that no religious leaders in the world have ever done.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why am I accused of brainwashing you? Simply because I brought the message with power so strong as to ignite a heavenly revolution in the hearts of young people. Such a thing has never been seen before and thus I am accused of brainwashing. How could I brainwash you if I never met any of you when you first came to the movement? There are many members in state centers and on MFTs all over the nation who have never seen me. How could they be brainwashed without even seeing me? Many people think I am a dangerous hypnotist, but this is contradicted by the fact that our members remain dedicated for many years. If I had the power to hypnotize people without them even seeing me then wouldn’t I have already hypnotized all the 4½ billion people of the world?</p>
|
||||
<p>My enemies want to stop me by spreading rumors and vicious accusations, painting a grotesque picture about the work I am doing. I do not have to go to 120 countries for this work to grow, for even without my presence our movement is expanding in those nations. Do you think a gun or even the atomic bomb could stop our activities in those 120 nations?</p>
|
||||
<p>The spirit world and physical world have been separate for a long, long time, ever since the human fall, and now for the first time in history the two worlds are being linked together again with the Unification Church acting as a catalyst. I am sure that most of you here have had some spiritual experiences. Because you can have a living relationship with God you can continue your dedicated work under any circumstances. This is the experience of the members of the Unification Church all over the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why did you come here early this morning? Did you come to gain something for yourself or did you come to lose something? You came because you know you can advance spiritually by being here. Here the power of God’s love is manifested in truth. I am not the world’s best orator, but you can recognize truth in my words and in my own being. It is not flowery words that give inspiration but the living truth coming into your heart that makes you want to act.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Unification Church’s mission is to build the Kingdom of God by going to the very bottom of human misery and building the highway up from there, both up through the whole physical world and the spirit world as well, all the way to the throne of God. We will not end at the throne of God but will march proudly toward the heart of God, for our ultimate destination is the heart of God’s love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you think that the joy and ecstatic excitement of being entirely absorbed into God’s love is far superior or far inferior to the experiences of drug users? Compared to the love of God, the love the world offers is very cheap and shallow. When you become the kind of person who completely forgets himself in giving for the sake of God and humanity, all of spirit world is yours. You will have complete freedom to go anywhere and will be honored as princes and princesses of God. Even the love of a married couple in this world is nothing in comparison to the experience of the love of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The love of God is electric and there is nothing it cannot melt and absorb. When the love of God unites two into one there is no way those two will ever be separated. If there had been no fall then your lives would have been charged with the electric love of God. Your mind and body would have been completely one and the entire universe would have been ignited by your ecstatic joy and intoxicated in your happiness. Since I know that world of love as a reality, neither persecution nor even death can sway me. Your opportunity to live on earth is at most 70 to 100 years, but it is important that in that time your body and mind are united into one and you experience the love of God.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">God’s idea is to swap lives with man</h3>
|
||||
<p>Man and God have a mutual goal: It is God’s goal to become completely one with perfected man and to manifest Himself in man here on earth, and at the same time man is working to elevate himself to be one with God. In a sense man and God are striving to swap positions with each other. We all have the ambition and desire to become the kind of person who can influence the entire world. God is already in the position to have dominion over the world, so He wants to come down and live side by side with man. Man is seeking God’s position and God is seeking man’s position.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why did God create Adam and Eve? God wanted to manifest Himself as a living person on earth. Why does man desire to unite with God? Man would like to become one with God and enjoy His position. After they become one, everywhere you go you will find God; when you are on earth God is there and when you go to spirit world God is there. Right now God is only in heaven and man is only on earth, but when they are one in love God will be everywhere.</p>
|
||||
<p>The power of God is descending, seeking to dwell with men, while we are striving to meet God and become His dwelling place. When you live completely in communion with God on every level then God will be able to completely embrace you. God’s idea was to swap lives with man, with His life being for each man, and each man’s life being for God. If you demand that your partner love you, trying only to receive instead of give, then there will be separation. The universal principle calls for you to exist for others. This is the only way for two to become one and there the ideal will blossom for eternity.</p>
|
||||
<p>The wise man is the one who understands the universal truth of living for others. Actually the existence of the entire creation is already centered on serving something else. The mineral world exists for the plant world and the plant world exists for the animal world, which in turn exists for the human world. V,/hen you eat meat you are actually being fed at the sacrifice of something else. Then do we exist for ourselves? No, we exist for God and God exists for us. When we swap positions joy is generated. That is the formula of the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>God created everything to exist for something else. Logically then we were never created to exist for just ourselves. The theory of evolution claims that inevitably the weaker become the prey of the stronger. The shark, for example, eats smaller fish for food. This fact was not invented by the scientists, but is God’s principle at work. Man’s physical life is also a reflection of this principle; man is nourished by all the things of creation. They were given for that purpose by God. However, the only way you are justified in eating those plants and animals is by living for the joy and service of God and the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>God Himself lives for His children and the universe. Even Almighty God puts Himself in the position of sacrifice, giving Himself for you, for humanity, and for the sake of the world. If you in turn do not want to live for God and humanity then you have no right to eat the things of God’s creation. How can you ever complain about being object to the same principle?</p>
|
||||
<p>The most beautiful thing about this rule is that it does not result in your decline. God will give you the best of all blessings under the sun when you live for Him and for humanity. If beef on the table had a mouth, it would say, “I wish to be eaten by a man of God. I want to become part of God’s flesh.” When a God-centered man eats that meat it becomes that man’s flesh, and since man’s body belongs to God that beef can be very happy in fulfilling its purpose of creation.</p>
|
||||
<p>Fruit and vegetables as well wish to fulfill their lives by becoming part of God’s flesh. Even clothes wish to be possessed by a truly holy man in order to serve God’s purpose. God created all these for the purpose of God-centered man and only saintly men have the right to use them. All things of creation want to share the love of God by becoming part of the flesh of God-centered people. They will actually ask you to eat them when you become men and women of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you understand this basic principle of creation, you understand how all things of creation feel. Those who feel it is vicious for the stronger to eat the weaker do not understand God’s point of view. Just as those plants and animals want to become a part of God, so we want to plunge into the heart of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you feel a sense of service to God then when you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner you will never have stomach trouble. However, when you eat food with an ungodly mind the food will demonstrate inside of you, “No, I don’t want to become that person’s flesh and blood.”</p>
|
||||
<p>If you really become sons and daughters of God and look at all the things of creation from God’s point of view then you can hear the music of your surroundings and share in the happiness of the food which you are about to eat. Unless you become the embodiment of the love of God then in spirit world you have no right to even look at nature or to enjoy food. In hell in the spirit world you will have no right to eat and even though you hear of certain places that are very beautiful and glorious, you will not be free to go there.</p>
|
||||
<p>Our human destiny is to harmonize with the love of God, plunging into His heart to become a part of Him and to enjoy the universe from His point of view as His representative. That is the ideal of creation that God originally intended to fulfill. The love you will receive in heaven will be as much as the love you have felt for this world, humanity and God while on earth. You will not be able to receive even one iota more or less. This is the law of cause and effect and God’s justice is absolutely carried out in that respect.</p>
|
||||
<p>The higher realms of spirit world are reserved for those who gave their lives in service to others. Those who live here on earth with a self-centered way of life, regardless of their positions as noted religious or world leaders, will end up in the lowest realms of hell. Our goal in the Unification Church is to serve, even to the point of liberating the communist world. We are not trying to destroy the communists, but to free them through our service.</p>
|
||||
<p>If the communists ever seize us they will first of all kill our members. In contrast, if we gain power over them we will make them our brothers and sisters. Which ideology is stronger and is destined to win eventually? Our positive ideology must be stronger even than communism. When your passion and zeal to serve the world is stronger than the communists’ conviction, you shall not only save this world and liberate the communists but you shall be entitled to live in the Kingdom of God.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Distance between us does not matter</h3>
|
||||
<p>Are you preparing to enter the Kingdom of God? Will you continue preparing just today or tomorrow, or for ten years or a hundred years? You are like a wild olive tree and must be grafted into the true olive tree. Has this process been completed in your lives?</p>
|
||||
<p>Have you seen me in your dreams or in visions? Unification Church members all over the world are experiencing the same thing, some seeing me all the time; sometimes they even walk with me on the mountains of Africa or in South America. Distance does not make any difference in this case. Some of you are probably experiencing such mysterious, unprecedented phenomena. This will not be just a passing thing but will become more frequent and widespread.</p>
|
||||
<p>Before the fail, God spoke to Adam and Eve directly and walked beside them. In a parallel way if you are spiritually sensitive then as you mature I will be involved more and more directly in your life through visions and dreams. The person who willingly accepts my directions with obedience and enthusiasm will experience great spiritual accomplishment sooner.</p>
|
||||
<p>If a person seriously pledges, “Father, give me the worst mission you have, the worst problem and I will solve it,” then spirit world will intervene to give him the power and wisdom to fulfill. If any person has the kind of commitment to volunteer for such a task then he will never be alone. Even if you plunge into the communist world and go to liberate the millions of suffering people there, with the willingness to give up even your life, then spirit world will intervene and help show you the way to save some of those lives.</p>
|
||||
<p>Whenever I was in prison God intervened to give me guidance. I have experienced communist prisons in North Korea, prisons under the Japanese and prisons in South Korea, but even when I faced the worst circumstances, God’s intervention came immediately.</p>
|
||||
<p>The supreme power of God does not manifest itself in a palace or from a gorgeous throne but always at the bottom of human misery, where blood and sweat are shed and where cries of anguish are heard. That is the place where the love of God is manifested in a supreme form. Though I did not preach even one word during my prison terms, the spirit world testified to me and most loyal disciples joined with me there, people who were willing to die for me. If I had been a desperate criminal I could have ganged up with those followers and escaped, but I never did.</p>
|
||||
<p>I experienced God’s intervention in the worst possible situations. Food is absolutely precious in a prison camp because there is never enough food given for the prisoners to survive, just some barley and salty water. Sometimes one of my disciples would receive spiritual instructions to hide the rice cakes which had been brought to him by a visitor. Of course he was hungry to the point of starvation and wanted to eat them himself, but instead he would bring it to me, whispering, “Won’t you share this little piece with me? Hide it here.” You cannot imagine how this was a precious, precious gesture and true expression of love. Truly they risked their lives in such acts as this, and I have never forgotten each of those moments.</p>
|
||||
<p>Although we were kept in separate cells, my followers had dreams of what I was doing and what my status was, and I also knew what they were doing and thinking. More than once they said, “Let me die in your place.” I too was willing to lay down my life for their safety and well-being.</p>
|
||||
<p>You have not gone that far yet; instead your thinking is, “I’ve been here in the Unification Church for three years and I’ve done nothing but suffer.” However long you have been here does not make any difference; what matters is where your heart lies and whether you are still fervent in elevating your maturity of heart centered upon God. No matter what happens to me, if everything I have done is stripped away, or if one morning I become a leper, I still have value and cannot give up this way of life. If you also feel that to the depths of your heart then for the first time you are really entitled to the highest heaven.</p>
|
||||
<p>We have more difficulties ahead. Blessed are those who continue steadfastly on this road with appreciation and a grateful heart. They will end up at the final goal. Because there is still so much distance to cover, the faith of many members will crumble in complaint and the desire for reward, even after only one or two years. Those people cannot be rewarded. If you are that way you will never be together with me in spirit world. Even though I would like you to be with me, without having the right heart we will be separated by a great distance. Whether you believe this or not is up to you; soon enough you will experience the truth in spirit world.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you believe me then you must want to put that faith into action. You will never regret it. Even though you may be alone you can always have communion and companionship with God and live in anticipation of communicating with me in visions or dreams. As you prepare to go out witnessing you can anticipate unforgettable experiences. You never know when the opportunity for great blessing will come, so you must go on until it arrives. At the moment you get discouraged I may be but the next step ahead of you. Always press on with that expectation.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do not ever think about whether you feel hungry or count how many hours you slept. Forget it! When you forget the earthly things then spirit world will feed you, and even if your forget to eat you will not be hungry. When spirit world intervenes, though you may run and run, you will feel as light as a bird. When you feel this joy of assistance from spirit world you will not even want to live in this clumsy earthly world. Nevertheless, God needs you here because His work is to be done on earth. Also He wants you to have a spouse and children. That is why God does not want you to enjoy spirit world too much but rather wants you to wait until your lime is finished on earth.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">You must keep your purity and give your heart to God first</h3>
|
||||
<p>One of the important qualifications to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is that of creating your family. The love of husband and wife and the love between parents and children is essential to this physical life. That is why Heavenly Father wants you to have your focus here on earth, although the cooperation of the spirit world is essential.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once you know the spirit world’s standard of justice, you will be serious about maintaining harmony within your family. A husband and wife must seriously repent for their quarrels, even over a period of several months if necessary. Disunity between parents and children is also serious.</p>
|
||||
<p>I would like to train you and leave you with the standard of spiritually perfected people. Can your own parents or your college professors train you that way? Your natural parents and professors cannot take responsibility for your eternal life, though I am doing it. No one else can take up the responsibility which I am fulfilling for you. I am coming into your life through dreams and visions to elevate your spirituality.</p>
|
||||
<p>After coming into the Unification Church your understanding of God’s heart and the intervention of spirit world may come quickly, but you do not realize the value of what you receive. Behind the grace given you is the sacrifice of the saints and holy men of history. You are reaping the fruits of their suffering, standing upon the priceless foundation they have laid.</p>
|
||||
<p>Spirit world has not yet seen perfection, but because life in the flesh is in the subject position, perfection of both the physical and spirit worlds must be accomplished by work in the physical world. The flesh is most important and precious. While you have your body you have to invest it properly, and it is your heart which will consummate the purpose of your body; through your heart you will fulfill individual, family, national and world perfection.</p>
|
||||
<p>You single people must keep your purity and give your heart to God first. Those who have committed earthly sins such as lustful acts need to repent and work out the entanglements of your life. You will be forgiven if you repent and forever leave behind those ideas; only as a purified person can you be admitted to the Kingdom of God. Without purification you are incapable of receiving God’s pure love. God’s intention was for you to first taste His pure love, but this world has been a place of illicit and unprincipled love. Even so, there is no excuse for losing individual purity. In God’s sight fallen men are dirty, impure creatures who have lost the qualification to come before Him.</p>
|
||||
<p>Upon entering the Unification Church you should have begun this cleansing process, completely dropping all connections to your past illicit relationships. Your concentration on God should become so intense that you even forget the names of those you were involved with. One serious condition for your blessing is that you restore yourself in purity before God.</p>
|
||||
<p>You must bring yourself into a new realm of life in which you love God more intensely than your feeling of any past earthly love. To be acknowledged as a child of God your first love must be given to Him and to the True Parents. The illicit, impure love of the fallen world will not be accepted. You have a lot to forget and to cleanse. As members of the Unification Church you must not think about who you might marry. You will never reach the level of sons and daughters of God with such thinking, but only leave a hook by which Satan can snag you at any time. Your love should be connected to God and to the True Parents, being innocent, genuine and pure like Adam and Eve’s before their fall.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once you have purified yourself to that degree then the entire spirit world will open to you and unification between the spirit and physical worlds can take place through your being. That is the Principle. The wisest way for you to go in the Unification Church is to become a person who is single-mindedly focused on one goal, not looking from side to side. Only then can you take up the worst possible sacrifice and accomplish the most difficult task. God will accept that person first.</p>
|
||||
<p>In San Francisco there was one blessed Korean woman whose husband passed away. When she came to America I gave her the most difficult task of working in a restaurant so that she would not have a moment to think about her grief. Recently she said to me, “Thank you for giving me this task; I have had to concentrate on this task so hard that there has not been a moment to think about anything else.”</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Idle time without purpose is your enemy</h3>
|
||||
<p>Idle time or time having no purpose is your enemy because that is when your thoughts usually become self-centered. If you look back in your life then you know how true this is. I do not allow myself an idle moment but schedule my time in such a way that my whole attention is needed at every moment right where I am.</p>
|
||||
<p>Take up the greatest possible responsibility and work yourself the hardest; then God will be free to accept you. In the morning get up early and stay out all day long; then come back and have supper and pray and sleep like a log. The person living such a life is the happiest person because he can cover the longest distance in the shortest possible time. Always push yourself and also ask God to push you. Once you deeply realize your situation in world restoration and feel the urgency of God, no power can bring you down. Recently many brothers and sisters have been vacillating back and forth, wasting too much time in idle moments and purposely wandering about. You must be straight and single-minded, directing yourself in such a way that all your time is given to God, True Parents and your mission.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is why my message is concentrated on the spirit world and physical world. Unless you are earnestly pursuing that level of perfection and accomplishment, you don’t deserve to be blessed. When you truly experience the world of God’s love you will feel, using an American expression, like you are on Cloud 9. Then the next morning you will come back to the world of reality and the physical world will seem absolutely strange to you. You might have an even more extreme experience of being embraced in the heart of God and then coming back to yourself. Seeing your family’s faces you will think “Is she my wife? Where did these children come from?” It is possible to forget everything when you are living so single-mindedly in God’s world.</p>
|
||||
<p>No matter how much a couple loves each other, when one of them precedes the other into a higher realm of spirit world, do you think he misses his spouse still in the physical world? Being intoxicated every moment of his life in spirit world, he will be constantly looking up to still higher progression and spiritual accomplishment. To those in spirit world the physical world is very clumsy and awkward and they have no desire to linger here.</p>
|
||||
<p>You older sisters who are still single, do not speculate and wonder about your own blessing; if you are truly able to forget it amidst your work then the blessing will come sooner to you. Concentrate on your spiritual maturity. You clumsy brothers who are over 25 raise your hands. You must purify yourselves; you have a much more urgent mission for which you must intensify your way of life. From the point of view of the spirit world many of you are not yet human beings. When you came into the Unification Church you came into a new world and you must forget the world that you came from.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am always concerned about how I can guide you young people so that you aren’t always losing your single-minded sense of purpose. In order to attain the highest possible heaven you need to strive for purity and perfection. Do you want to go over that hill quickly? That is why I push you out to do the hardest possible missions, in which you must fight and battle uphill against great odds. Satan loves to see you in an agony of confusion, but when you are joyful even in the midst of suffering the worst kind of tribulation Satan has no power over you.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the communist prison I was tortured and beaten and was at the point of dying from losing so much blood. When the prison guards threw my body out of the prison my disciples started to make preparations for my funeral because they thought I had died. Even under those circumstances my spirit was never defeated. My prayer to God was, “Father, don’t worry. I will never be a weak person. I shall never be defeated by my suffering. I am concerned only for Your heart and I want to comfort You. Don’t worry about Your son.”</p>
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||||
<p>I never prayed from weakness to beg God’s help; I never said, “I’ll die unless You come to help me.” I want to go over every difficulty with confidence and show Heavenly Father that He has no further cause for concern or misery or sorrow. My philosophy is to reduce the sorrow and pain in the heart of God, not to add to it or burden Him further.</p>
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||||
<p>In your life also there will be a crossing point between good and evil which you must go over. You must become the embodiment of God’s love; otherwise you will never be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Your eyes must be focused upon the one single-minded goal of becoming the embodiment of God’s love. Because we have been living in the age of indemnity the course has gone up and down, but from this time on you must single-mindedly focus your attention and go up. We have come to the end of fluctuation.</p>
|
||||
<p>You can do the same and even greater works than 1. Since we know things that other people do not know we can do extraordinary things, performing miracles. I have the same kind of body you do, with two hands and ten fingers. I am putting my life on the front line all the time. The mission I am fulfilling has never been comfortable or even safe. There have been many threats on my life, and without God’s protection I would have been killed a long time ago.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because I know that God’s protection is everywhere, I go anywhere with faith that God’s power will defeat an assassin’s purpose. I have already seen occasions when this happened. One time a person was ready to kill me when suddenly he dropped dead. With danger always around I always live my life on the brink.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you can love someone at the risk of your life, your love is then true love. The American people are deeply indebted to me because I have been giving my whole-hearted attention and love to the American people at the constant risk of my life. In the same way the entire spirit world is indebted to me.</p>
|
||||
<p>God will bring the victory, no one else. The blessing is wonderful but you can ask for your blessing only after God’s heart has been comforted. Until then your point of view should be, “God, please push me out all the way until we attain Your goal.”</p>
|
||||
<p>There are many things about God and the dispensation which I did not tell you before, but now I can tell you the truth very plainly. However, you must act accordingly. What I am telling you this morning is not theory but the eternal truth. You must forget the ways of the old world from which you came and become a single-minded person centered on God’s purpose. Since you had previously forgotten God and devoted yourself to the world, you must now forget the world and devote yourself to God. It is the road of restoration. As a person who has not yet reached the goal you must humbly accept the fact that you are far from perfection.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">To indemnity the past, give your deepest love to God</h3>
|
||||
<p>Those who have experienced the love of someone in the fallen world must indemnity this by giving a more intense love than you gave before in your witnessing and fund raising. Without changing yourself you will not be admitted into the Kingdom of God and His world of love. Your love will be tested and then you can demonstrate that you love God and the True Parents with all your heart and soul. That love should exceed all your past experiences.</p>
|
||||
<p>Have you ever experienced a longing for True Parents so great that you could not sleep, but went outside and watched the moon rising and the stars shining? In the everyday world people sometimes can’t sleep for longing to be with their fiancé or their family, but they go outside and shed tears in the dark of night. Your change in heart must be brought to the point that you long for God and the True Parents even more. That is the Principle and the fastest means by which you can obtain the Kingdom of God eternally. The person will be blessed who can give his first love to God and to the True Parents. God wants to give tremendous glory to those who offer their most precious love for His sake.</p>
|
||||
<p>Unless the intensity of your love for God is stronger than all your past love experiences, Satan will always be able to hook you and always you will have that one condition for Satan to claim. God is not free to give you unconditional love and blessing until you liquidate all conditions for the accusation of Satan. Do you think that is right? You know this truth now. Once you die and give up your body it will be too late to change easily; to make progress in spirit world requires millenniums. You young people have something worthwhile to live for now.</p>
|
||||
<p>The standard of truth I am giving you this morning is a very, very difficult standard for the average stained young people of America to be challenged with. In this sense the background of Oriental young people is much better. In the East genuine purity has been strictly upheld so those people have a much greater chance to give their first love to God. In the Western world your first love is often given cheaply among yourselves, and what you call “experience” is what kills true love. Pure love is like unstained linen, but stained love is like linen with big ugly marks that are most difficult to wash out. You have to wash away all the memories of the past from your mind.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today’s American society has lost the value of true marriage and many babies are born out of wedlock. Society is in confusion. However, God can even utilize this situation because in trying to change and go the heavenly way people may more easily forget such relationships and go the way God has called.</p>
|
||||
<p>Degradation and decline can be seen everywhere; the world is crumbling, but through it all God has a certain purpose. It is very logical that the spirit world and physical world shall be united centering upon the genuine pure love of God. That is the one thing that can speak loudly in both worlds; nothing will work in either world except through the pure love of God. Unity with God’s love is the most basic and fundamental means by which everything will be restored. Without this one basic element, no matter how much effort is made nothing will be accomplished.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you are lonely then you can feel closer to God’s lonely position and you can more easily forget this lonely world and come toward a single-minded devotion to God. God’s goal is to make a personal relationship with you. When you are in the direct dominion of God He directly intervenes in your life.</p>
|
||||
<p>You are entitled to know what kind of heaven awaits you; I am not talking about a fantasy world but a more real world than man has ever yet experienced. Let us experience and live that Kingdom of God on earth. After that, the Kingdom of God in heaven shall be open to you automatically as an extraordinary reward. Shall we build it or not? God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1153" class="post-1153 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">THE WILL OF GOD AND INDIVIDUAL PERFECTION</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:15:29+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-will-of-god-and-individual-perfection.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:15:29+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/the-will-of-god-and-individual-perfection.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">February 27, 1977<br />
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||||
Belvedere, New York<br />
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||||
Translator-Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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||||
<p>The topic of the message this morning is “The Will of God and Individual Perfection.” Men fundamentally desire to know what the will of God is, and actually the answer is quite simple. The will of God is to consummate the purpose of creation.</p>
|
||||
<p>Then where is the will of God consummated and who will do it? God Himself? No. When we talk about the consummation of the will of God some object is required. God’s will cannot be consummated just within Himself, but rather in relation to others. If this is true, who will play the major role? At the time of creation Adam and Eve were supposed to be in the object position to God to consummate the purpose of creation.</p>
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||||
<p>Actually their perfection would have accomplished this. The purpose of creation is fulfilled by the establishment of the heavenly four position foundation. Therefore the will of God requires not just God Himself, but more particularly requires man for its consummation. The problem remaining today is to perfect Adam and Eve, which will finally consummate the purpose of creation. Consequently, individual perfection and the will of God are one and the same and cannot be separated.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let us focus on “I,” the individual. Have you ever thought about your position relative to perfection? How far are you from perfection? The center of a circle, which is equally distant from the edge in any direction, represents the original perfected position. Then where are you in relation to it? How far are you off from this ideal central position?</p>
|
||||
<p>How far was man brought away from that central point by the fall of man? Billions of people have been born since the fall, and human history has developed in a circular pattern away from the central point. Consequently a wandering life with men trying to come back to the center from all different directions has been the characteristic of man’s history. One person may think that one point is his destination, while other people may circle around another particular point. They all misunderstand where the true center is.</p>
|
||||
<p>Our ancestors all have different characteristics; one branch of our family may have developed in one direction, while another ancestral line may have gone in another direction, but we are the fruit of that entire ancestry. Since our ancestral origins are so different, our positions as their fruit cannot be identical. Not only does everyone have different individual characteristics, but we all have varied spiritual heritages. God is a God of justice, equality and fairness. From God’s point of view, since each individual has different ancestry, can God really say, “All men are equal. In my sight everyone is absolutely equal”? Is that a correct concept?</p>
|
||||
<p>If there had been no fall of man, then certainly the value of every person would have been equal. The precious value of man would not have changed from one person to another, but because of the fall every man has gone through an entirely different course in his life of wandering. As a result of man’s widely varied behavior, two drastic consequences came into being: one is called heaven, and the other hell. Between heaven and hell there are thousands and thousands of different levels of accomplishment, like different ranks.</p>
|
||||
<p>The accumulated goodness of a particular ancestral line places a person here on earth somewhere between heaven and hell. The consequences of your own life as well as your ancestors’ lives accumulate good or evil. We have thousands of different levels of accomplishment here on earth which will be reflected in the spirit world. There are as many levels or different ranks existing in spirit world as there are here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>You do not know much about spirit world now, but when you understand its makeup you will recognize the thousands of different levels of accomplishment, from the worst kind of evil existence to the highest, most divine existence of spiritual perfection. If a person is standing at the bottom, knowing that he has a millennium ahead of him to reach just a mediocre level, do you think he will have much incentive to strive toward the goal? No, human desire is created when a person can see both his own position and the most glorious goal clearly. Then that person will have a desire to progress toward that goal.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once a person sees the goal he wants to reach it, but first he must realize why he is at his present point instead of at the goal. A person standing apart from God’s ideal central point has fallen to a position far, far distant from God; then where will his solution originate, from his present position or from God’s central point?</p>
|
||||
<p>This state of being far from God came as a result of man’s behavior during his physical life and reflects what his character was on earth. Therefore, the solution must come through men here on earth. In the spirit world it is too late; once a person goes over to the spirit world his most fundamental problem is that he can no longer work freely here on earth, and yet he cannot expect to make spiritual progress without working through this earthly world.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to progress, the entire spirit world must make a certain relationship with the physical world; however, it is not easy for the two worlds to intermingle and for spirits to come down. The thousands of different levels in spirit world came into being as a result of fallen history. The fall of Adam and Eve here on earth brought this reality to the spirit world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Who then, is ultimately responsible for this tragic situation? This situation came into being because of the fall of Adam and Eve. All mankind came into suffering because of the misbehavior of Adam, so one man is responsible for the suffering of mankind, both on earth and in the spirit world. Who is the next person responsible for this situation? There is no question about it: Satan.</p>
|
||||
<p>Furthermore, since a parent is responsible for the behavior of his child, God as the father, the creator of Adam also has to take responsibility for Adam’s actions. Mortal, fallen Adam is incapable of bringing himself or mankind back to perfection; only God has that power. Therefore, God must lead the way and guide Adam and the people into perfection. God has to take that responsibility.</p>
|
||||
<p>God’s throne is in the highest possible heaven. However, God gave up His throne and came all the way down to the bottom of hell. There God Himself pioneered each step toward the accomplishment of perfection; and He has been pulling and pushing mankind through each step. By whom is God’s will fulfilled? By man.</p>
|
||||
<p>When God comes down to the lowest part of this world, can He say, “I don’t care about you; I don’t need you. I can fulfill My will alone”? No, that is impossible because man is the most important component in fulfilling the will of God. Therefore God has to embrace man. God will instruct man, but only in accordance with the possibility of his acceptance or his level of understanding. In other words, God cannot teach the highest possible truth to men with inadequate awareness.</p>
|
||||
<p>God’s methods of teaching and guidance differ according to each man’s perception. When God first came down to this earth, he saw nothing but primitive tribes who did not know anything about the world or the universe. Their understanding of the universe was so small and trivial that they were only aware of themselves, but God still had a method for teaching them. In Shamanism, for example, God only asked the people to worship the creation-the trees, the sun, the moon-things they could relate to. Would God tell simple people to come to a classroom to hear a lecture at a blackboard?</p>
|
||||
<p>God also has all the knowledge and wisdom necessary to teach a person who could perceive the universe; however there are certain limitations which prevent God from teaching man all the time. This universe and this earth are turning every moment of the day. Similarly, the human mind is also turning so that there are both days and nights in our consciousness. God can reveal His teachings only when a person’s mind is in the daylight-in other words when a person’s mind is uplifted. Only in those moments can God capture and teach him.</p>
|
||||
<p>Your mind is the same. No individual’s mind travels in a straight line. Instead, your mind progresses in waves, up and down. Do you feel it? Some days you wake up and feel like a million dollars and you are almost flying, but some days you are so gloomy that you can hardly make yourself wake up completely.</p>
|
||||
<p>When your spirit is uplifted and shining, you are ready to contact the spirit world and God, and a spark can jump between God’s spirit and your spirit. That is why we have to strive very hard to be bright and happy all the time. When you keep your spirit uplifted all the time you can meet God, for which you can be truly thankful. This is the most basic and important mode of life of men who reach God. If you have something troubling you then somehow take care of it right away.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why should you make efforts concerning your own behavior or way of life? By doing so, you are opening yourself more to God, prolonging the length of time in which you can meet God. In that way there is more chance that God can approach you. For this reason religious life is very important in our spiritual progress. Following a religious life is your effort to make yourself more readily available to receive God’s revelations. In religious life we always pursue hope for the future in God, always seeing a grandiose future ahead even though the present has only suffering. In this way you can create an environment, an atmosphere where you can meet God.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you are deeply troubled in your heart, don’t you want to go to a good friend and talk about it to get it off your chest? Religion stresses communication with God; it stresses trusting Him with our problems and forgetting about them. You can say, “God, I have a problem here. Let me get it out, and let You see it so I can get rid of it.” That is best, really. Your best friend may not be capable of helping you and may eventually forget your situation, but God is capable and will never forget.</p>
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||||
<p>Spirit world and God will always approach you when your awareness is high. Then the spirit and God can touch you and teach you, not with a blackboard in a lecture room, but in dreams, visions and revelations. Also a spirit guide may take you on a guided tour and open the reality of the spirit world to you. Since dreams are one medium that God uses to reveal Himself, some dreams may give important revelations.</p>
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<p>There is only one way that a higher spirit can contact you. Why is that? Because of the fall of man we belong to the satanic lineage or bloodline. When we move, that satanic blood circulates through our bodies. This stained or fallen blood is not pure. However, when you sleep at night your body is not in motion so your blood does not circulate as rapidly. It can be compared to muddy water which is sitting still, allowing the dirt to settle to the bottom and pure water to come to the top. This same kind of phenomenon happens when we sleep; our bodies quiet down and in that way our spirit is in a position to be touched, which is why revelations usually come at night. This is common sense; it may be new to you, but in religious life these experiences are very important.</p>
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<p>If you have many different dreams, do you know how to distinguish whether they are from god or from Satan? A satanic dream does not have a clear picture, direction, or central theme. In Korean slang we call these “dog dreams.” They are jumbled and when you get up you easily forget them. In contrast, a heavenly dream has a system and a clear theme or message. Heavenly dreams may continue a message from one dream to the next. When you have an uplifting dream three times or more, with the same theme or atmosphere, then you must receive it as a revelation. A heavenly dream will be so clear in your mind that when you get up you will recall it vividly. Do you know why?</p>
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<p>To begin with, God and men were supposed to be completely united for eternity. In that true atmosphere, if God gave you something you would not soon forget it. Because satanic relationships are illicit and unprincipled, however, they are quickly forgotten. Those who are in constant contact with the spirit of God and the good spirit world cannot be swayed by the temptation of Satan. Such people have an unforgettable relationship with God. Even though they may go down to the dungeons of hell, Satan could not claim them because they would still be deeply meditating on God’s revelation. Over 70% of the revelations recorded in the Bible came through the medium of dreams. Did you know that?</p>
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<p>A most important revelation came in the New Testament. After Mary conceived the baby Jesus, an angel appeared one night to Joseph, saying, “Joseph, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” In the Old Testament Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph, once told his parents about a dream, in which the sun, the moon and eleven stars came and bowed down to him. This little boy vividly recalled his dream. Later on Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt and his father and mother, who were represented by the sun and moon in the dream, and his eleven brothers, the stars, came and bowed down to him.</p>
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<p>There is no one completely without dreams, but usually people forget them. If there is some vivid, unusual dream that you remembered for more than three years, however, I want you to know that such a dream is a revelation, the work of God. Many people have had revelations about coming to the Unification Church far before they ever heard about me. Maybe some Oriental man in white robes appeared and sprinkled water on them, and three years later they found out that he was Reverend Moon.</p>
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<p>Why do these phenomena have to occur? The spirit world is descending and trying to teach you, and as a result there are many distinct types of messages; sometimes God Himself comes, or the spirit of Jesus, or a noble spirit. Sometimes your ancestors will appear, or even some evil spirit. Therefore, it is not always easy for you to determine how true their messages are.</p>
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<p>We need the help of the spirit world, but unless we know the principles governing it we can be misled and confused by it. Today many people are suffering from psychological disturbances. These phenomena are very prevalent in today’s world because the lower realms of spirit world are also assaulting the physical world, trying to affect people on earth in one way or another, and lower realm spirits always have an adverse effect on people. These spirits from unprincipled realms are trying to assist you with good intentions, but in reality they can destroy you, or at least disturb you. Conversely, good spirits from higher realms can guide and assist you since they bring divine truth and power.</p>
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<p>That is going on right now in our world. Today many psychologists and professors are extensively studying dreams, but they cannot determine their cause. Some people insist that all dreams are a manifestation of our subconscious, but those kinds of dreams are not from God and therefore are quickly forgotten. The significant, vivid dreams from God are never expected, and often are not even related to familiar things. All of a sudden some dramatic event will occur in a dream, something that cannot be forgotten. That is the intervention of the spirit world.</p>
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<p>Sometimes we pray all night or we make an effort to quietly meditate. In that effort to make ourselves calm, to concentrate on the spirit world and God, our pure spiritual nature can surface, and our foreign, dirty elements will settle to the bottom. This is similar to a state of sleep, yet we are wide awake. For instance, when we are really tired, almost on the verge of sleep but still awake, we can still hear sounds and see things, but not clearly. That is similar to meditation. In that moment when we are half asleep and half awake, a vision can come. It is a wonderful opportunity for God to reveal a clear vision to us.</p>
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<p>We emphasize the discipline of prayer, particularly night vigils for long hours, to quiet our bodies down and to increase our spiritual alertness, allowing God to speak to us very clearly and to manifest Himself in visions. Later on, when you are disciplined in that practice you will be able to see visions with your eyes open. When you sit down to pray, suddenly you will see visions and hear voices. With your ears you will hear two kinds of sounds from two different worlds.</p>
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<p>We call this practice religious discipline. When the fund raisers get tired from working so hard, heaven can open up and show them astonishing things as they are momentarily dozing in the van. Even in one second God can reveal to them ten years of history or give some forewarning. In the Unification Church this is almost an everyday diet.</p>
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<p>We have dual systems within our bodies; one deals with the physical world, another with the spirit world. I could go on talking like this about the spirit world for days and nights but it is so fascinating that you would not come back down to earth, and this service would never end. We still have to talk about the main topic of individual perfection, but it is important to have a basic understanding of the spirit world, too.</p>
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<p>In the lower realms there are many multitudes of spirit men that God has been working to bring up to a higher level. In order to do that God will raise up one prophet or one central figure to open the path. That is the pattern God follows. The person selected by God is a pathfinder who can lay a superhighway for all the people dwelling in those lower realms and thereby free them to go to a higher level. We call that person a prophet.</p>
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<p>God’s prophet, however, is not a spirit man; God always picks a pioneer here on earth. That person works first in the lowest, most primitive realms here so that when he opens the path, everybody will be benefited and become recipients of his accomplishment. When people elevate themselves to a higher level on earth they can live in a higher realm of spirit world.</p>
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<p>Spirit men from all the realms of the spirit world will come down to earth to assist and inspire individuals here to follow God’s central person and thus be able to benefit from his spiritual accomplishment. By assisting in that way spirit men can reap the same benefit. The key to man’s situation is here on earth; whatever we loose here on earth shall be loosed in heaven. In spirit world there is no solution; spirit men have to work through this physical world to receive salvation.</p>
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<p>At the time of the Second Advent all spirit men must manifest themselves once again here on earth and assist people with the same level of life as they have. By helping people on earth to progress to a higher level they too can reap the same result. Some religions, such as Buddhism, have a theory of reincarnation. However, in Divine Principle we know that a person has no way to reincarnate. Buddha cannot become another Buddha here on earth, but that Buddha can appear in spirit and assist people of the same spiritual level. Some people mistake this phenomenon for reincarnation, but reincarnation itself is not possible.</p>
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<p>Sometimes a spirit man influences an individual so much that he even behaves like that spirit manlike Buddha or Confucius, for example. People may think that the individual is the reincarnation of Buddha, but actually it is only the spirit of Buddha assisting him. In order to further develop man’s spiritual progress, God hand-picked numerous prophets to extend the highway. That is how God has made spiritual progress possible for all mankind.</p>
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<p>When God looks down He sees only one world. In God’s eyes then, His prophets come for the entire world. Whether the prophet happens to be an Oriental, an Indian or a black does not make any difference. When God picks one champion to pioneer one stage of progress, that person is sent to assist the whole world. God considers it unnecessary to choose dozens of champions for different places because God sees only one world.</p>
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<p>Eventually, therefore, one central figure will come who can organize one world religion having the power to unite all the religions with lesser degrees of accomplishment. Their dimmer lights will blend in with the one higher, brighter light. Ultimately, God will choose one great pioneer who can finish the superhighway all the way from the bottom to the top, and through that all the world religions can be united.</p>
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<p>God calls that pioneer the Messiah. The Messiah is the central prophet who is needed by everyone; he is what you call in English a “panacea,” a cure-all. The Messiah comes as a religious leader, but as a universal religious leader, not representing just one particular religion. He has the capacity to embrace all the religions of the universe. The Messiah has a clear purpose in coming to this earth; He is to fulfill the will of God which was broken by the failure of Adam. He knows that once Adam’s mission is completed here on earth, then the will of God will also be consummated.</p>
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<p>Who is Adam then? Adam is the ancestor of mankind. Because of the fall of man we have had only evil, Satan-centered ancestors. The Messiah is coming to indemnity all the failures of the world and to eliminate man’s satanic origin. Without compromising he will just wipe it away and start the first central family of God. The Messiah has a very clear-cut mission: He is to liquidate the world of the fall and bring back the world without sin. He is coming as the true ancestor of God-centered mankind. When the Messiah is installed here on earth, then mankind will reach its greatest fulfillment. All the levels of the spirit world will come down, wanting to reap the benefit of that time. This is why the entire spirit world will descend at the time of the Messiah.</p>
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<p>The vertical differences between men will manifest on the horizontal level as the most devoted people gather closest to the Messiah, and level after level of people will surround him. No matter how low you are in spirit world, if you happen to recognize the Messiah and assist in his crusade, when the Messiah consummates his mission you will have the privilege of being elevated all the way to the top of heaven. The coming of the Messiah provides a gigantic gold mine of opportunity.</p>
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<p>Even though spirit men may be in the dungeons of hell, there is room for them to be rescued and to receive the Messiah’s light in that world of darkness. The power of the Messiah can penetrate everywhere. Once they perceive it and cooperate, then even the very lowest spirit in hell will have his chance to reach perfection.</p>
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<p>The ideology of the Messiah is an ideology of equality. It is fair to everyone. The Messiah does not say, “You are not qualified; do not come to me.” Since God does not discriminate, the Messiah, too, will embrace everyone, but everything depends on how people receive him. That makes the difference. The Messiah himself does not discriminate but the Principle clearly indicates that only the person who unites with the Messiah can be restored.</p>
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<p>The Messiah lays a highway from the very bottom of hell all the way to the top of heaven, in order that any person who takes advantage of that highway can go from the lowest hell all the way to the top of heaven. The Messiah, therefore, comes first to the lowest realm of human misery. He gives his entire life to the accomplishment of his mission, and if we are united with him there is nothing that is impossible. Many Christians teach that the Messiah is returning in glory in the air, to uplift only a handful of Christians and start the millennium somewhere. That is a fantasy and only those who do not know the spirit world would believe something like that. That will not happen. You will understand clearly what I am teaching when we are all in spirit world some day.</p>
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<p>If you ask spirit men why they want to come down and bother you, they will not have a reason. Do you know why they come down or not? They are descending to earth because they want to progress to perfection, and it is impossible unless they come down to assist physical people. Whether they were well-known persons or just good men, whatever their level may have been, they still have to act within this law. There are no exceptions.</p>
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<p>The Messiah is the greatest pioneer of all. He has the power to unite the spirit world, yet he must work here on earth and create a parallel situation because the earth has priority, The Messiah’s role must first be accomplished here on earth in order to have effect in the spirit world. The Messiah’s pioneering task starts with his individual perfection here on earth and then continues on the level of the family, the tribe, the nation, the world and the universe. While the Messiah is fulfilling each level, parallel events happen in the spirit world. His same pioneering task clears up the past confusion and brings unity and harmony there too.</p>
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<p>The ultimate fulfillment comes right in the center of the cosmos; however, mankind cannot go there instantly. History has been a course of struggle, always circling the central point but coming closer and closer. Finally the Messiah will establish the cosmic center on the individual, family, tribal, national and worldwide levels. God’s ultimate world is one world, yet right now two ideological worlds are confronting each other: the communist world, and the democratic world. One accepts God while the other denies Him. In the future the world will not be either communist or democratic, but one world under God. Having these two worlds is only one step away from having one world, and these two will eventually become one.</p>
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<p>When you think of individual perfection, do not think of it in a selfish way. If a person is just standing here claiming individual perfection, it is irrelevant; perfection has to begin with the central point of the universe and be connected with the rest of the world as well as with God. When standing in that center you are perfected, but without relationships with the universe and God, do not even think about perfection.</p>
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<p>We are the center of the universe; therefore, by being perfected ourselves we will perfect the universe. Universal perfection and our own perfection come simultaneously. Everyone has an ambition to become a world-renowned person, the center of the world, isn’t that true? We have this desire because each one of us can fulfill it. When we become one with God then we indeed become the center of the universe.</p>
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<p>All human desire and ambition is fulfilled by reaching this ultimate target of unity with God; the search for Him has been the constant effort of humanity throughout history. God is absolute; therefore, universal unity is possible. As people unite with God, each one will stand in the position of God.</p>
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<p>When you see the entire spirit world and physical world together they look like one human being, one man. God also is like an invisible man. When these two men, God and the spirit world and physical world, really embrace each other, that is heaven. They embrace each other in harmony, breathing, dancing, and jumping around together. That is God’s world, God’s ideal.</p>
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<p>In the sight of God each individual is like a cell of that giant human. Each one of you is a cell, yet however small you are, every other cell is still connected to your life. When you look at a little cell on the tip of your finger you are a giant in comparison to it, yet you still deal with that one cell on a one-to-one basis. Each cell has a right to claim, “However small I may be, I have one vote, and you, big man, you have only one vote too.” You are like one tiny cell, only one portion of the entire universal body, yet when you deal with the universe you are on a one-to-one basis and you can claim your rightful vote.</p>
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<p>Blood is circulating throughout your whole body, going down to the very tip of your foot, which is normally in a dark, sweaty, smelly area. When that blood comes to the brain, will the brain say to those blood cells, “You went down to those smelly feet; don’t come near me”? In the same way we circulate through the entire universe. Race is disregarded; whether you are black, or yellow or white does not make any difference when you are circulating through the entire universe of God, from top to bottom.</p>
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<p>Can the parts of the body be prejudiced about color? Can red blood dislike black hair, or white nails dislike yellow skin? There is no way the body can be segregated. The entire spirit world and entire physical world together are like one giant human. Every one is an important component in making up that giant. The holy men or saints of history have been in the roles of the eyeball or the brain and so forth, but even though they have had important roles, they are still only components of that one giant human.</p>
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<p>Hell in the spirit world is like an infected wound which is corrupted and decaying in the physical body, Do you think God wants hell to exist for eternity? If you had a wound what would you do? You would mend it, clean it up, and bring it back to its original shape. In the same way God wants to clean up hell and get rid of it by purifying it. That is the will of God.</p>
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<p>When the Messiah comes those in the highest realm of spirit world come down to earth first, followed by successively lower realms. When the spirit and physical worlds work together to expand the ideal of God to all four corners of the earth, then the will of God will be consummated here on earth. That will be the Kingdom of God.</p>
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<p>Once this spiritual door is completely open and the highway to the top of the spirit world is finished, then Satan will have no power to accuse man before God ever again. This is why I made such a momentous declaration at the celebration of the True Parents’ birthday. I knew that all these things had been consummated in spirit world, and now all that remains is to copy my success there and bring it to the earth. When you come to the Unification Church ideology, you become a giant in your thinking and your goal becomes big. You say, “We must liberate heaven and earth.” We must have that kind of feeling to become part of God and to liberate heaven and earth.</p>
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<p>Who are all the people of humanity? You are one cell and every human being is another cell, another “you,” all parts of the same body. How then can you fight with another “you?” Your perfection is important, but what about your other “you?” It must be perfected, too. The most noble desire is to want to give up your own individual perfection, your own cell, in order to have the rest of the cells live. That attitude is the quickest way to bring the Kingdom of God on earth.</p>
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<p>For whom are you working? For whom are you trying so hard? Are you employed by the Unification Church and working for Reverend Moon? Are you working for God? Most important, are you working for your own perfection? It is for your own perfection that you are trying to reach down into hell and to reach out to the entire world. Because your own perfection is also the perfection of God’s will, you have no way to complain.</p>
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<p>In the Unification Church we work hard, no question about it, but we are not enslaved. Outside people think I am enslaving you young people, but in reality this is the only opportunity you have to work for your own perfection and the perfection of the universe. While there have been 6,000 Biblical years of fallen history, you can hope to live not more than 70 to 100 years. Compared to eternity, or even to those 6,000 years, your life is but a brief spark.</p>
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<p>Adam and Eve were like the seed of the universe which contained the ideal of one family, one tribe, one nation, and one world. But because of the fall of man, the entire world has been contaminated. Now it is a very difficult job to cleanse the world. Not only one man, but billions of men are infected,</p>
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<p>Our job is enormous because we are not dealing with that original seed; we are dealing with the contaminated world and isolating the contamination is not easy. One by one we must change everyone into the form of the original cell, the original seed of Adam. We must individually become a seed with that original, God-centered core, and then that core shall multiply in a chain reaction.</p>
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<p>In order for us to embody truth or perfection, we must reach out and draw vitality from all over the world, just like fruit on a tree. To be perfected that little fruit at the end of a branch draws energy not only from that little branch, but from the entire tree. Like that fruit we are the fruit of the end of the world and our energy must come from the entire world, We are not just dealing with one area of the universe; our view is that we must draw energy from the entire universe in order to become perfected. Then out of our own core, our own seed, we can regenerate or recreate our own family, society, nation and world, having nothing to do with sin.</p>
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<p>In the Unification Church we are dealing with the world. We will tackle the world’s problems and make them ours. We must have the pride to say, “The world will be perfected because of me since I am a branch of the Messiah; I am one important component of the Messiah’s work.” Do you have that kind of conviction and pride?</p>
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<p>You can be like God. You can look at God’s will as your will, God’s work as your work, God’s anxiety as your anxiety, and God’s ambition as your ambition. When God looks at this world, is it small or big in His eyes? For God this world is even smaller than a ping-pong ball. He can toss it, grab it, put it in His pocket; He can do anything He wants with it. That is the way you can feel. You can look at this world and say, ” I can put this world in my pocket. I can claim it; I can cleanse it; I can toss it around.”</p>
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<p>Since you are looking at the world from God’s point of view, you are perceiving God’s will and God’s ideal as your own. You can say, “This world will move because of me. I will move the universe. Our adversaries take certain sentences from my speeches out of context and they tell people, “Reverend Moon says he will conquer the universe.” What they have not realized is that not only I but every member of the Unification Church is saying that!</p>
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<p>Without this kind of gigantic conviction we cannot move this world. Suppose there were no God. Even if there were no God, we would still need the idea of God because this is the only way we can unite the world. If only in hypothesis, we would have to create some concept like God in order to unify the world. Since we are sure that there is God, however, we can be even more sure that unity is going to be fulfilled. Our real joy is that there is a God. If we are really feeling that way and perceiving His ideal on earth, then there is no way to fail.</p>
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<p>When you realize that there is a real God, then you do not have to wait for instructions to do certain things. If God is real then you just go ahead because what needs to be done is obvious. Our MFT works very hard, but nobody tells them to do so. They could leave any time, but they do not run away because this work is very real, because God is really there and they do not want to be separated from Him. They do not want to lose this wonderful opportunity.</p>
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<p>Think of it. You can productively employ your life here on earth for only 60 years. How can you waste even one second out of those 60 years? This is your only opportunity. The world is wide and billions of people are waiting. How can you waste even one split second? This is precisely how I feel and why I came to America to try to push this country. My time is so precious because I must do everything now.</p>
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<p>At least one thing is sure: whether for good or bad, I have shaken America. Everybody knows about me. You can go out to the streets of New York and grab one little boy and even he will know about me. However, most people know very little. They know my name, Reverend Moon, but they have absolutely no idea what I am all about. Those adversaries who spread rumors and allegations and press stories really know nothing abut me. If they really knew me they would be the first group to come at 3 o’clock in the morning, trying to take your seats.</p>
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<p>They oppose me because they are greedy, and in another way they are ambitious. Ambitious people are all right; we need ambitious people but they have to know the right thing to do. Actually it is God’s strategy to spread negative rumors and allegations. He wants only those people who are genuinely determined to give their lives for the sake of God to come to Belvedere. You are that group.</p>
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<p>When outside people say, “Don’t go to the Unification Church. Reverend Moon is evil and the Unification Church is a terrible place, you will ruin your life,” they are actually advertising for us. Good people have been so deeply disappointed by things in this world after hearing such good publicity about them, that when they hear bad things about me they may think, “There must be something there; otherwise these people would not oppose him so fanatically. I must investigate for myself.” When our adversaries try to discredit us God feels challenged too, “All right, since you’re making Reverend Moon look so bad, I’ll prove to the world that Reverend Moon is good.” Then God will make an extra effort to polish His own commodity and show it to the world.</p>
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<p>We can conclude that the person who is honestly searching for the truth of God should knock at the door of a group that is being persecuted. From that point of view, have you ended up in the right place or the wrong place?</p>
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<p>If I said that because of you people I am being persecuted and cursed, and I chased you out the front door, you would just come back in through the rear door. I feel the same way. My life here on earth is very limited, and in this short span of time I have tremendous work to do so I do not want to waste even a split second. I just run, run, run. I am responsible not only for America, but also for Europe, Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Asia. I am worrying about the whole communist world. I have the whole world to worry about in the short span of one lifetime, so I am always running.</p>
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<p>Because my physical body is limited I sent out missionaries to 120 nations. The people in the physical world and the spirit world have a right to protest or complain to me if I do not visit their countries for at least three months. They can say to me, “You have the mission to bring salvation to us and to the universe. Why did you stay in America for so long? Why didn’t you come to visit my country just once?”</p>
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<p>However, here on earth I have physical limitations. If I were to visit 120 nations of the world for three months each, it would take 360 months to come back to the United States. Just to make one visit around the world with three months in each country would take 30 years! Is it realistically possible?</p>
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||||
<p>I had to tell spirit world, “You know it would take 30 years to visit each country, and I have to finish an important ministry in certain places.” Then spirit world said, “You are right. You cannot make such a tour, but then at least send your representatives.” I accepted that offer from spirit world and sent the missionaries out to 127 nations. However, some of these nations instead of welcoming them, persecuted our missionaries and put them in jail. But the fact remains that my representatives have been sent. If those nations did not accept them that is their responsibility. Now no one can accuse me of being unconcerned about those nations.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, I am well-known, not only here in America, but all over the world. Even though I was not physically in every nation to proclaim the truth, my name and work has still been spread all over the world, fulfilling the necessary condition. Now I am in a position to accuse those nations. I sent my ambassadors, my representative,,, to those countries, and they have heard about me. If those people never even listened to us, how can they say that we have not done our part? They must not judge us without investigating the situation, listening only to allegations and rumors. They must draw their own conclusions. If people just accept rumors without investigating us, they are in the wrong.</p>
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||||
<p>Whether as good or bad, whether as controversial or not, I am known all over the world. Now I can say that I have done my job, and I am free from any accusation of the people. Now I am putting responsibility into their hands. They cannot complain to God that I did not declare the truth to them. There is no condition for accusation existing. Satan has no way to accuse and the people have no way to accuse. If they come to oppose me even more, the condition exits for God to let us reap more and more blessings. They must pay the penalty. I am in a position to bring a libel suit against Satan, “What you have done is character assassination, and now you must pay the penalty.”</p>
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<p>The amazing thing is that the people who oppose me, including the media, are actually helping the Unification Church to receive greater blessing. If 1 had not been opposed in the most horrendous way by the Washington Post and the New York Times, we would not have created our own newspaper, the news World. We would not have needed it. Therefore, they brought us the blessing of the News World.</p>
|
||||
<p>Accusation coming from the white community in America gives a chance to all the minority groups to come, which is a blessing. Any accusation or opposition is matched by equal blessing. Because most of the white community is opposing me, the black people are coming to take my side in indignation at my being mistreated. But actually, as far as I am concerned, white and black are the same in the sight of God.</p>
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<p>Now you understand the will of God and individual perfection. Then who is your enemy? Satan is not your enemy; you are your own enemy. Are your mind and body one in serving God? Which is more difficult, unification of the entire universe or of your own mind and body? First you must have unification between your mind and body and then with this principle you can certainly unify the rest of the world. The key to the unification of the entire universe is not the universe itself, but you. Then who is your enemy? Your own eyes and ears, your nose, mouth, your thoughts, those are your enemies.</p>
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<p>You must recreate your eyes, ears, nose and mouth, and your arms and legs so that you can live entirely for God and His will. That is your revolution. Within yourself is the borderline between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Hell; those two worlds meet in you. If you move to the left, you end up in hell; if you move to the right, you end up in the Kingdom of God. Many people start out on this borderline but shift to the left, all the way down to the dungeons of hell. However, some people keep pushing themselves to the right until they are entirely dwelling on the side of God. But a third type of people cannot make up their own minds and just wander along the line, always with one foot on either side. In the Unification Church there are these three types of members. Your conscience knows well which type you are.</p>
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||||
<p>Which would you like to be? It is not easy to become the right type. You have to change yourself 180 degrees. Your eyes have to be revolutionized. Your eyes have been seeing something beautiful and have been lustful, always wandering around. Your new eyes will see straight to the will of God. Your ears have to be revolutionized, and your mouth, nose, hands-your whole body must become entirely different. This is the reason why any true religious teaching will be ruthless in disciplining your body. In a way it is ruthless and cruel. Religion always teaches the value of an ascetic, self-sacrificial way of life because Satan can only be separated when you are cruel to your own self. The important question is: Can you do it?</p>
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<p>If you really want to go to the Kingdom of God you must start by going down to the dungeon of human misery, to hell, and there create you own spring, your own heaven. Then your heaven is guaranteed. Is this world in which we live a world of paradise or a world of misery? In order to change the miserable confusion of this chaotic world into the Kingdom of God, do you only have to sing and have a good time, to go on picnics with good drinks and laugh, to having an easy life? Will that make the world less miserable?</p>
|
||||
<p>To bring some hope and happiness to this unhappy, chaotic world, you have to conquer misery and unhappiness. That means you have to taste the bottom of human misery; you have to lead an even more miserable life for the sake of happiness, for the sake of God. That is the only way you can liberate the misery of the world. If that does not work, then you do not have to worry any more-in that case there is no God, no future, no hope, no spirit world, no nothing.</p>
|
||||
<p>I came to this conclusion a long time ago and I determined to liberate this unhappy world. In order to do that I determined to bring myself down to the most miserable life, and to bring about the liberation there. What can bring hope and light and some promise for the future down to that miserable world? The person who can live a real life down on the bottom himself is the person who can bring real happiness that people can rely on. People can trust that kind of life.</p>
|
||||
<p>The saints, holy men, and the pious people of history all struggled under miserable circumstances. They are not famous or historical for their relaxed, fun lives. The patriots remembered in American history are those who tasted the misery of the nation’s tragedy, who tried to solve the tragedy by putting themselves at the very bottom of the nation’s misery. God’s children are the ones who are trying to bring light to the very bottom of human misery.</p>
|
||||
<p>What would be gained by doing so? Such people become magnets who pull their surroundings into unity; they create harmony and unification around themselves. Jesus was crucified on the cross, but even on the cross he blessed his own enemies; he asked forgiveness for them and was concerned with their well-being even when he was in terrible pain. It was there that he left the greatest hope for humanity.</p>
|
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<p>I am in the same position. This world, particularly the United States, is not kind to me, but that has never mattered. I have my own course to go, mapped out by God, and I am busy fulfilling it. If I pay too much attention to happenings outside I will lose my chance and this precious time will be lost. Instead of trying to avoid suffering, I just confront it and stand face to face with God, even when more suffering is given. I think that there is nothing I cannot do in order to accomplish the will of God. I can go on, no matter what.</p>
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<p>This is how I have been able to accomplish so much in just a few years. If you can have courage even at the very bottom of human suffering, if you can lift up your chin and present yourself to God as His son or daughter, then you have made your foundation for individual perfection. The person who can conquer the misery of the world shall be raised up and receive the key to open the storehouse of God’s blessing and God’s love. That is my ideology and that is God’s ideology.</p>
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<p>God is sending His champion to the satanic world. There is human opposition everywhere but God wants His champion to fight the most bold and courageous battle and to win in a dramatic way. God’s champion should not be engaged in a trivial or pitiful battle, but should win a dramatic victory. I have already given up my life for this.</p>
|
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<p>To achieve your individual perfection you have to go over that hill and engage in this battle. I do not want older Unification members to think that younger members should be doing most of the hard work, like privates in the army, so that older members can rest. I never think of myself as a general. When I look at those older members I sometimes think that I would have a different attitude than theirs. Parental love is such that no matter how old the parent is, he wants to give his children everything, letting them rejoice over the things that they have. Parents want to rejoice over the happiness of their children. That is the heart and love of the True Parents.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now I am sure you know who your enemy is. Do not ever think that Rabbi Davis or the New York Times is your enemy. You yourself are your worst enemy. All these negative forces surrounding you are helping you to remove your fallen nature. In that way they are assisting in your ministry. If you are strong, bold, and faithful, then anyone who opposes you will be a loser. The greater the intensity of their opposition, the greater will be your victory.</p>
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<p>When you fund raisers put out your hand to receive money from the people, have you ever contemplated whose hand it is-God’s or Satan’s? When you ask someone to contribute, you must bring the heart of God to him and think, “Heavenly Father, this person deserves some assistance from You. Let him give a contribution to me as Your representative so that he can participate in Your work.” That is the way God feels.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you experience rejection after rejection, all of a sudden you start to weep. But those are not your tears; rather God is crying through you. When the people are sympathetic to you and truly understand your mission, you inwardly feel uplifting joy, but that joy deep inside your heart is not your joy; that is God’s joy. Even though you work until two o’clock in the morning, when you come back to the center you feel like flying because you feel the deep joy of God inside your heart. Unless I had tasted such depths of joy in the love of God, I would not have been able to continue my ministry.</p>
|
||||
<p>You yourself are your worst enemy; always check yourself, your own eyes, your ears, your mouth, your idle body. You need strong self-discipline for three years and then a godly way of life will become your habit.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Unification Church we always emphasize the first three years’ ministry as a very important regeneration period for remaking yourself. I know you fund raisers are very lonely people. You are out on the street with nobody to communicate with you. The people reject you, misunderstand you, curse you, and wound your hearts with harsh words. When You are lonely, all your memories of the past come alive and seem doubly precious; memories of your parents and home, friends, and wonderful experiences all come. You may recall such beautiful memories but the harsh reality of the world is standing in front of you and you feel caught in between. Particularly when your birthday or Christmas comes, I am sure that you question why you have to go through all that.</p>
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||||
<p>For most of my life I observed my birthday by fasting. For a long time I did not have a table to eat from and just ate whatever food was around; if there was no food to eat, then I just did not eat. A fork and spoon were a God-given luxury. When we think of emergencies that God is facing, then we realize that everything we have is a luxury. In my younger days I dressed in rags and literally lived at the bottom of hell.</p>
|
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<p>All through my life my motto has been to ask for the conquest of myself before requesting the conquest or perfection of the universe. Before you can request dominion over the universe you must have dominion over yourself. I have even trained myself to not laugh if someone tickles me. Even such a detail is part of my discipline.</p>
|
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<p>Unless you can conquer yourself there will be no perfection of the universe. If someone speaks harshly to you, do not try to fight back but fight yourself instead. Do not point a finger at anyone but yourself. Satan does not think about the wrongs he commits but he always accuses loudly when other people make mistakes. Satan always looks for the shortcomings of others, but when God sees shortcomings in His own people He cannot even open His eyes or His mouth.</p>
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<p>It is fallen nature to criticize or point a finger at someone else instead of taking personal responsibility. If you have the urge to blame someone else, then check it and turn your finger back to yourself instead. This year of 1977 is going to see a revolution of self-discipline in the Unification Church.</p>
|
||||
<p>At our birthday celebration four days ago I announced that now Satan has no way to accuse you; however, you must control and discipline yourselves. Then as much as you discipline yourself, that same amount of grace will come from God. When your mind and body are united as plus and minus then they automatically become one. Because of the fall of man, however, your mind is plus and your body is also a plus; thus there can be no harmony between them. Two pluses always repel each other.</p>
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||||
<p>You must change your body to a minus and let your mind become a wider and wider plus. Our process of restoration is the elimination of the plus of our body. When you change the body’s plus into minus then your mind and body become one. When you work with another person he is also a plus, but if he changes his personality and becomes a minus in order to unite with you, together you become an even bigger plus. Then you can find another, even bigger minus to unite with.</p>
|
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<p>I stand in the center as a plus and you want to become one with me because you want to receive some benefit. In order to unite with me you must become a minus, but in uniting with me you become part of a giant plus with me. We can expand that plus even further by winning another area, and having it unite with us.</p>
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<p>God is the king of wisdom and through this wise strategy of plus and minus uniting, God is going to eventually conquer and dominate the world. If the mind is plus and the body is also plus then the mind and body clash. That is truly the borderline between God and Satan. Satan’s strongest fortress is not even your own family. Your body is Satan’s most secure foothold.</p>
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<p>Every satanic weapon is there in your body, while every heavenly weapon is in your mind. The borderline between the mind and body is the line of the confrontation between God and Satan. Therefore the mind must become aggressive and take the initiative to conquer the body. That is the work of religion. If you are brought down to the dungeons of hell, it is your body-not Satan-that did that. Your body could drag your eternal life down to hell. You would have your body to blame because of the fall of man. Mind and body were supposed to be one, with no contradiction and no disharmony between them. This year let us pledge to God that we will make our bodies become complete minuses, and one with our minds and with God.</p>
|
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<p>Since a complete and perfected plus can always create a perfected minus, when you find one perfected plus you can also expect to find a perfected minus. If you become a perfected plus, then you will find that other people want to become minus to you. When you become a perfected plus, peoples’ hearts and minds will be drawn to you and you will be unforgettable for them. That is the way perfection comes. Let us pray.</p>
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<div id="post-1138" class="post-1138 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">TO WHOM DO I BELONG?</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:00:33+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/to-whom-do-i-belong.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:00:33+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/to-whom-do-i-belong.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">January 16, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator- Mrs. Won Pok Choi</h3>
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||||
<p>This is the third Sunday of the New Year. My topic this morning is, “To Whom Do I Belong?” We have members here from Japan, Korea, and the European countries, together with the Americans. In the Unification Church, everyone belongs to a certain group or has a certain position. In that sense, you have many boundary lines between you. The people beyond those lines belong to other posts or other nationalities. In the physical sense too, there are boundaries; in Tarrytown for instance, there are many districts and parcels of land belonging to different people. The owners of those lands have different backgrounds, ancestries and educations. They are also different in whether they are good people or not,.</p>
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<p>On the individual level, as you know, you have both your mind and body. Are your mind and body in complete oneness, so that you belong to a higher dimension like God, or are they the other way around? That is the question. In the Unification Church too, there could be two groups of people. Do we belong more to the godly side, or the worldly, more evil side?</p>
|
||||
<p>In case you belong to God, do you belong to the internal side of God or the external side of God? Where would you want to belong? God is the God of wisdom, the God of power, and the God of heart. Which part of God would you want to belong to? Why do you want to belong to the heart of God?</p>
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<p>We know that God’s heart is the center point of everything that exists. All decisions are made by the heart of God, not by His power or knowledge or wisdom. In yourselves too, your heart or mind is making decisions, not your body. Whether your decision will bring happiness or something good to your side is determined by whether or not the result is linked to your heart’s desire.</p>
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<p>You are often asked whether or not a certain thing pleases your heart. When men are asked what they want to belong to, their answer might be to the opposite sex. A man wants to belong to his wife and a woman wants to belong to her husband. That is because they want to win the heart of that person, not just have his or her power or wisdom or knowledge.</p>
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<p>I don’t think there is any woman in the whole world who would say she wanted to belong to the wisdom or power of a man. She would like to belong to his heart. Some women may say, “Oh, I want to marry a millionaire,” but would they want to belong to his money or power in that case? A woman may say, “I want to have the knowledge and wisdom of that man,” but deep in her heart she would really want to belong to his heart. If she prefers the other, she is crazy, or there is something wrong with her.</p>
|
||||
<p>Men and women want to belong to the hearts of the opposite sex because there is nothing else more important than that. Again, we know that when we find a central figure, for instance God, then we want to belong to His heart, instead of to His other essentialities.</p>
|
||||
<p>In our everyday life too, parents want to win the hearts of their children and the children want to win the hearts of their parents. Their every decision is made centered upon each other’s hearts. All humanity belongs to God. As a parent, would God say, “I want to have only you belong to me,” or would He want to have everyone else in the world belong to Him centering on you?</p>
|
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<p>If your parents are great people, they would not just want you to become the President and dominate the country. They would want you to have the respect of people around you, not only of your family members, but of the rest of the world. Then with that respect, they would like to see you advance toward the Presidency or other things. That’s why your parents train you to be respectful, not only within your family and neighborhood, but in your society and nation. They want you to become the central figure in that way. How can that be so?</p>
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||||
<p>It is because in your position as central figure you may have many people around, but it is only through your connection with them that your position can have meaning. Unless you have harmonious relationships with those people, your position will not be stable. If you are supported by people all around, you will stand straight up, instead of leaning to one side.</p>
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<p>Would your parents like to hear you say, “I love only my parents and nobody else”? Your parents’ desire would be for you to love your brothers and sisters, and then with that relationship to love them. They would tell you to look around and love your relatives, your neighborhood and your whole nation, and then come back to love them.</p>
|
||||
<p>They do this because if you love a broader scope of people, you gain more respect, and your situation becomes more stable. Your parents represent the center, so if you have relationships with a broad scope of people, they can reach out to all those people through you. Through a love relationship with one person, a whole group of people can reach the central point.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let’s look at the matter from the viewpoint of God. Would He want to have His people think that they need God alone and nothing else? Would God tell you, “You are wonderful to love me alone and never look at other people,” or would He tell you to look around and have relationships with others and then with that love come back and love Him?</p>
|
||||
<p>My topic this morning is “To Whom Do I Belong?” Ask yourself to whom you belong. Do you really belong to God? Can you just sit there with folded arms and say, “I belong to God”? Would God like that? The question is, whether you belong to God or God belongs to you. Which of the two? If there is complete oneness between you and God, you can say both that God belongs to you and you belong to Him.</p>
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<p>Being in oneness with God means that you must stand in the position of God, that you must think and speak and act from God’s point of view. For instance, if God said, “I want to go to Korea,” but you clung to Him and said, “Stay in America,” then your views would be contradictory. Then could you say you belong to God and are in oneness with Him? In that case, there would be a separation between you and God.</p>
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<p>God is anxious to go even to hell to save the people. If you don’t want that to happen and tell God, “Why don’t you just stay with me? Never mind the other people,” are you in oneness with Him? Then no matter how strong your confidence that you belong to Him, there is already a separation between God and yourself. Instead, why don’t you go a step further and say, “God, you cannot stay here. Why don’t you go to Africa to save the people,” or “God, you can rest here. I will go to the end of the world to bring back the people.” Would that please God or not?</p>
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<p>After saving the whole nation of America, there is no other place for God to go except to Africa and other countries. By that time would you still belong to God and go wherever He goes? In that case, do you belong to God or does God belong to you? If you take the initiative and go yourself to the tip of Africa, then God is compelled to follow and would say, “My, you have done a good job.” Then you could say that God belongs to you.</p>
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<p>From this viewpoint, let’s look at my situation. All the Unification Church members are always curious to know what I am doing. Just yesterday I visited Washington, D.C., and as I was leaving one of the sisters stepped out and said, “Oh, Father, you must stay with us longer. Why don’t you stay here in Washington?” I answered her, “So many people are waiting for me to speak to them tomorrow morning. Would you still want me to stay here?” But she insisted upon my having to be there.</p>
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<p>Is her way of thinking acceptable? No. Of course you want me around, but if you are wiser than she, you will go one step further and think that I am needed everywhere, and let me go according to my will. The same principle applies at your home, at your school, and in your society.</p>
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<p>When you are asked where you belong, you can say you belong to the Unification Church. To whom does the Unification Church belong? It belongs to God, but what side of God does it belong to? You want to have our movement belong to God’s heart or to be within the scope of God’s heart. Do you know what I mean by that? You as an individual don’t just want to belong to the heart of God so that you and God are together exclusively. God’s heart is broad enough to encompass the whole world; that is why you want to belong to that part of God.</p>
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<p>Don’t ever be anxious to just be alone within God’s heart. When you know how broad God is, you would rather cover the external area first and then come to the very central point. When you want to love God, would you just want to love God’s heart alone, or love every cell of Him, as well as everything that belongs to Him? Would you want to have your mate just love your countenance or your limbs, or would you want to have him embrace your whole self and everything that belongs to you?</p>
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<p>You would want to have your sweetheart love and embrace you, turning round and round with you, having the whole world spin with you. Before you can say that you love a person, you must look all around and see the scope of his heart; you must love everything and everyone he loves. When you encompass all those and then come back to that person, then you have the truest love,</p>
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<p>If God would cry out to the whole world, “Those who love me, step forward,” you would want to run to God full speed, making a straight line, not a zig zag, or detour. If you were the one to reach God first, would God look at you and say, “You seem to love me more than those other people do.” Would He say that simply because you reached Him first? Instead, He would tell you, “I am bigger than Africa, or America, or South America. Why don’t you turn around and love those people and bring them back to me; then I will know that you really love me.”</p>
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<p>God would ask you, “Have you loved America? Have you loved Africa? Have you loved Asia?” If you can answer yes, then God will be pleased. Instead of reaching Him earlier than the others, He would like you to win their hearts and then come back and report, “I am here with all the people.” What would God say to you then? If you were in that position, would you admire those who reached you earlier than the others, coming straight to you? If God were to give His love to the people who came straight forward without minding others, then His love would just be wasted. But if He loves the other kind of people who can embrace all His children, then His love will be multiplied.</p>
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<p>Would you want to be loved by God? Do you want to possess God’s heart for eternity, or have your heart possessed by God for eternity? If you really want to be possessed by God, don’t ever think of going straight to Him, to claim Him for yourself alone. That doesn’t make any sense.</p>
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<p>In the Christian churches we hear people praying fervently, but they pray for their denominations, for their families and for themselves; not too many people pray for the whole world. There are vast numbers of people praying for themselves, fewer people praying for the nation and still fewer people praying for the world.</p>
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<p>But what is God’s thinking? God is always thinking of the whole world, not just you as individuals. God is always with the whole world, so when you pray for yourself, that prayer cannot be accepted by God. You must pray, “God, I know that you are looking for all men and for the whole world, so I must look for a nation through which we can save the whole world. I must look for a church which can save the whole nation, I must locate a family which can save the church and an individual which can save the family.”</p>
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<p>We must realize that if God wants to encompass the whole world, then it is not God’s will for us to pray for things on a smaller scale. Your prayer will not be realized in that way. To what scope of God’s heart do we want to belong as a movement? Would we want to belong to God’s heart by ourselves, or as a family, or a nation, or as the whole world centered on God? It is a serious question.</p>
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<p>God would tell you to come to Him after loving your family, society, nation and the whole world, but there is an even greater way. You can forget about yourself and your family and reach to the end of the world; love the whole world first, and then your nation, your society, your church, your family and yourself. Which of the two ways would God prefer for you? Because God loves the whole world, He would gladly sacrifice His own son, or the church formed around His son to save the world. All through human history God’s loved ones were sacrificed or martyred for the sake of the whole world.</p>
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<p>You can say, “From the beginning of the New Year Father has been telling us to love the world at the sacrifice of ourselves. But I am the most important. Only after loving myself can I love my own family, and only after loving them can I love my church and only after that can I love the nation. I cannot afford to love all humanity unless I love the nation.” You may have been saying that in your mind, and if that is so, then you are the unhappiest person in the whole world.</p>
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<p>Looking around, you see many opposing parents kidnapping members and you are agonized. Are those parents right or are their children right, even though they are being kidnapped? If the children are thinking in a higher dimension, the parents should follow But what is God’s thinking? God is always them, instead of them following the way of their thinking of the whole world, not just you as individual- parents. In God’s sight the greatest patriot would be the one who loved other nations even more than his own, even though those nations might be his enemies. It is logical for God to say, “Love your enemy.” If there were a fight between the Unification Church and the established churches, which side would you take? If you were in God’s position, would you like only those who are standing on the side of the Unification Church, or would you like those who stand on the side of the established church members, doing things to win their hearts?</p>
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<p>In the latter case, those in the established churches will say, “That man can love his enemy. We have been opposed to his church, and have done vicious things against it, but he still loves us and is doing things for us.” Then they will admire you and bow their heads. Otherwise, even though you may win with your fists and take power over other people, if you are not able to love them, then in your heart you are already defeated. That is God’s way of thinking.</p>
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<p>Who are you in the Unification Church? Who am I? I am the person responsible for the group. As the leader of the Unification Church, should I teach you to love Unification Church members alone, or to turn around and love the whole world and then come back to me? Even though you may fight among yourselves in your zeal to win the hearts of other people, if you go out to bring those people back, I will be pleased. Even though you fight among yourselves, that can be forgiven if you go out and love other people and bring them back.</p>
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<p>Even though you are naughty in your family, if you can go out into society and be respected, and you can love other people and win their hearts, your parents will like you. In our church some members may look helpless, or tax and irresponsible, but once they step out of the center they are full of enthusiasm and zeal to win the hearts of the people. I like that kind of person.</p>
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<p>That kind of person will prosper in our movement. Maybe you are the kind who says big things and looks more capable than anyone else in the movement, but you are loathe to witness to the people and scared to approach them. I don’t like that kind of person, and neither will God. You must remember that God is always saying, “If you really love me, you must love people outside more than you do your own brothers and sisters in this movement.” Would you rather try and do that? If you love the people of the whole world more than you love Americans, the people of your own nation, then the scope of God’s embrace will be greater.</p>
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<p>If you can love the vast number of people living in the spirit world more than you do humanity, God’s love for you will be greater. If God loves only His immediate children, or those who are closest to Him, then He is not God. What is God doing at this moment? Whatever God is doing, He is not doing it for Himself, but for the whole world and humanity. You must know that. If God is high up on a throne, just wanting to do everything for Himself, then He is not God at all. God is the one who loves all humanity, the whole world. That is the kind of God mankind is searching for. Even without being conscious of it, all of humanity knows deep in their hearts that God is that kind of person, and when you become one with Him, you become the center of love too. You want to be loved by God in this sense don’t you?</p>
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<p>Then which way would you choose, to go straight to God faster than other people, or to go around the whole world to encompass all humanity and then come back to love Him? We are in need of such persons, such families, and such nations. An individual with that kind of thinking would not sit still just loving his family even though he is told to. He would just run out and try to love the whole world. Suppose there is a family of such people; even though they are told to stay to themselves and be happy, the whole family would run out to reach their society and nation and the world.</p>
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<p>That is the way of God, and the truest church will discipline and teach you in that way. Then what is the definition of the true nation? From this formula, a true nation must be one which sacrifices itself for the sake of the communities and families in the nation, and externally reaches out to the other nations of the world. That must be the true nation.</p>
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<p>What is the true Kingdom of Heaven on earth that we talk about? The Kingdom of Heaven on earth in its truest sense must have citizens who can love God, the spirit world, and all humanity. We must always have that picture in mind. Starting in the center is the individual, then the family, clan, society, nation and the whole world. If you as an individual want to sacrifice yourself for things that cover the whole world, then what kind of person are you? You will be loved and protected by your family, by your tribe, by your community, by your nation and the whole world. Even God will respect and protect you.</p>
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<p>Being protected like that, you are not exposed to danger. Wherever you are, even though you are separated, away somewhere at the end of the world, the whole world will come to encompass and protect you; the whole world will always be with you. I am not quite that kind of man yet, but wherever I go, for instance if I go to Korea, the whole nation is concerned about my actions and my whereabouts.</p>
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<p>It is more so with you people. If I go to Korea, your heart is with me there. If I go to London, your heart will be in England with me. That’s what happens if you have a broader scope of things in mind, trying to love them. If you are that kind of person, are you unhappy? Wherever you are, you are not alone; the people of the whole world will protect you. You are important enough to be protected by their warmth of heart. If you try all through your life to love yourself and do things only for yourself, your greediness will make you ugly and unhappy. Whatever you do, wherever you are placed, there will be no protection around you. Instead you will be accused by Satan and taken away.</p>
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<p>Would you rather be an individual who is protected by a wall of love, layer by layer, including the whole world, or a person exposed to satanic invasion all the time? It is not easy. When things are not easy it means they are important or valuable. Loving the world is something that even God would think very difficult, but we are more than sure that He wants that and that He is trying to have us do this kind of thing. In the Unification Church our whole effort is to live this philosophy.</p>
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<p>Do you really love the Unification Church? Honestly speaking, when I am centered on my physical side, I don’t like the Unification Church. This is my confession: You must know that if there were no God at all, I would have gone an easier way. But because I know that there is a God who wants me to love the world, I have tried to live this way all through my life. Wherever I have gone I have faced opposition and people have reviled and abused me, but I have withstood all of that. What am I doing here in the United States to make the people oppose me to the extent of hating me? Have I been wronging them in some way so that they have to persecute me?</p>
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<p>I am doing things the other way around. I am disciplining and training the drug-oriented, immoral young people of this nation who have been leading decadent lives. I am bringing them back to a normal way of life; even more than that, I am bringing them back to God’s way of life. Yet Americans have opposed me. Usually people coming to America are seeking to take money from this country of abundance, but on the contrary, I brought my own money to be used for the young people of this nation, and through this nation for the world. Am I doing something wrong?</p>
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<p>People know that Koreans are struggling in poverty and that the Japanese too have more difficulties than most people in America. When I bring money and manpower from those countries to this nation of abundance, why do people here oppose me? Do people here really love God? People in America and elsewhere too, usually say they love God only because they profit by doing that.</p>
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<p>I am surprised to know that in America they say “Jesus Christ” when they are disappointed or disgusted. Does that mean that they are pleased or grateful? That phrase is being used in the wrong way. If people are asked whether or not they really do love God, if they are honest their answer must be, “No.” If they have different ideas than God has, they are separated from God. Americans are enjoying free sex and drugs, and I know that God doesn’t like that. While doing that, can they still say they love God?</p>
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<p>Since we love God in the truest sense, it is natural for us to be disliked in a world where people do not really love God. If you were God, would you say that only whites should marry whites, or blacks marry blacks, or yellow people marry yellow people? Should the races be mixed together in beautiful harmony? In the outside world, do people like the idea of all those races being mixed together?</p>
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<p>God would like to say, “You Americans have had abundance and prosperity long enough. Why don’t you sell all your property and go to Africa and all the underdeveloped lands and care for those people?” God does not like the idea of just you being cozy in decent homes. If you sold all your things and went to the underprivileged people, He would like you better. Let’s say you love your home. You clean and decorate it and create a warmth of love and happiness there. Then if someone suddenly shows up and tells you to sell all those things and to go help underprivileged people, would you really like that? You may say yes because you are crazy people, but average people would say, “What do you mean, telling me to sell everything I own and go to Africa to love those people? What do you mean?”</p>
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<p>I am taking children away from decent homes and teaching them to do things contrary to what normal people do in the outside world. That’s why I always think it is natural for outside people to dislike me. I don’t mind that. As I said before, from the physical point of view I don’t like the Unification Church either. That is true. Honestly, aren’t you like that, too? If I were alone in the world I could go my own way, but because I know there is a God, I cannot do that. Never a moment in my life have I ever wished that God did not exist. By living this way, I know I can occupy the heart of God. I think I have found the most precious thing in the whole world.</p>
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<p>Looking at me you know that I am just a humble man, but I am sure that God is loving me. What do I have that He loves? I have gone through many experiences which no other person can imitate, and God knows that I have done all this for His sake and for the world. When I was hungry in prison, God would provide something for me to eat. When I was a stranger in a remote village, witnessing to the people, I always found that God had prepared all the necessities for me.</p>
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<p>Sometimes I was out in the country with no money for travel expenses, but a miracle would happen and money would be brought to me, or a ticket. I am just a small man, but I think about things that are important to God. Therefore my thoughts reach Him and make a triangular circuit with someone else. Then unexpectedly that person connects with me and provides the things I need. There’s no need for a telephone to connect us.</p>
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<p>Many people in the United States would like to see me dead and my movement scattered, but has that happened? As time goes by I become more and more famous; in three years I have stirred up the whole nation of America. When people really look closely at you, they know that our movement will prosper because your faces are shining and your eyes are glowing. People who are really discerning will say that this movement will prosper.</p>
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<p>How would God look at these things? I have been struggling so hard, never wasting a moment of my life, and without asking for help I have finished many tasks, always worrying for fear that I would pass away without realizing the Kingdom of God on earth. When I go to spirit world will God relax and say, “When you were on earth I always worried about you, but now I can relax”? Would God be glad that He can stop worrying because I have already passed away? No. Instead He would say, “You did your very best throughout your life. I will at all cost have your ideal realized on earth, even though you are in the spirit world.” Because of this the Unification Church can never perish.</p>
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<p>Look at yourselves as individual members of the Unification Church. Are you going to be a plus in this movement or a minus? We know how to reach God’s heart. We have to encompass the whole world and bring it back to God and reach His heart. I want you to put a world map on the wall of your room, and I want you to look at it from the viewpoint of God. If you were in God’s position, would you concentrate on America, a land of abundance, or would you concentrate on India where people are starving to death, and the other underprivileged countries where people are living in misery? God would rather have you concentrate on India than America.</p>
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<p>Would God focus His attention on college campuses in America where people do things like streaking, or would he think instead about Africa, where young people cannot even go to primary school? He is concerned with the underprivileged people in the land of Africa. If there were people who wanted to snatch away the wealth overflowing in America to help those people, God would love them most. What we are doing here is just that. We want to fund-raise here and use the money to establish universities, hospitals, and many other facilities for underprivileged people who have already gone through difficulties.</p>
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<p>Those who oppose our movement would hate that idea, but what do you think? Our way of thinking is not ordinary. I am teaching young people from the best universities here to go to Africa and India and help the people there, rather than only do things for this country. I want the young people from advanced nations to experience the lives of the people in underdeveloped nations. Is this kind of idea bad or good in God’s sight? If I put this kind of thing into practice and you follow me, what would the world look like in several years? This is the only way to erect the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. There is no other way to save the world.</p>
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<p>How are we going to do it? The wider the scope of things you embrace, the more you are going to be loved by God. In the Unification Church you must go to at least three countries in your lifetime and help the people there. Why is this so? The ideal number is three; there were three sons in Adam’s family, in Noah’s family and also Abraham, Isaac and Jacob indicate the number three. You have to go through at least three nations bringing God’s message.</p>
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<p>The same thing applies to me. Starting from Korea I had my mission in Japan, and now I am working in the United States. Excluding Korea, I have to restore Japan, America and finally the Soviet Union. Only by doing that can I cover the whole world. We must save the communist world too. Would God want to just demolish the communist world? If there is unity and harmony in the democratic world tinder the will of God, then God will use it to save the communist world. What nationality of members should I send to Soviet Russia? Would it be easier to send people from America or Africa to do the job? I would rather send Americans to do the job.</p>
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<p>You will be miniature Reverend Moons there and duplicate what I have been doing here. You must realize that without going through three nations, you cannot go to the heavenly kingdom. If you just live and work for your nation, you cannot go to heaven. If you really want to belong to the heart of God, you will always think of the world and all humanity first. You must think of working for the whole cosmos, including the spirit world, and then for God. You say you want to save the whole world. Then you must find yourself loving all three races as you would your own brothers and sisters or yourself.</p>
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<p>In our ideology there is no such thing as a national boundary because all the people of the world are the children of God. If there were no boundary between Canada and America, America and Mexico, what would happen? Have you ever stopped to think of that? National boundaries are man’s invention. Birds are free, flying from country to country. Do they need passports to cross the boundary between Canada and the United States? Even poisonous snakes can freely cross over the boundary between America and Canada. We too should be free to go anywhere. In the sight of God there are no such things as passports. Once there are people all over the world whom God loves, then we will not need passports to go from place to place.</p>
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<p>When that happens in the future, if I am in Africa, you would rather be there. What must there be in me that attracts you so? Isn’t it strange that your mind is drawn to me like that? You are drawn to the divine love in me, like sunflowers are drawn to the shining sun. Though I was born in Korea, I have never thought of myself as a Korean because I know that God loves every nation and every man. My job is to love and to save the whole world so I have tried to love at least three nations. You also are in the position of having to love and to save the people of at least three nations. In the future, I am going to marry black, yellow, and white people together, and I will even provide their homes.</p>
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<p>My desire is to see all three races mixed together, living happy lives in one world. It is possible only for those who love God and want to belong to God’s heart, which encompasses the whole world. I’ve got to do this in my lifetime. I want you to follow this way to reach God; only by loving humanity can you do that. If you really want to belong to God’s heart, you must leave where you are and go out into the streets of New York to witness. If you leave New York, your mind must be always with the people in every nation. After loving all the people in the whole nation and winning their hearts, then you can come back to love your church, your family and yourself. That is the only way you can belong to God’s heart.</p>
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<p>If you realize this and put it into practice, you will never perish, but prosper. I will protect you, and our movement, this society, this nation, and God will protect you, ever being with you. Then you are going to be the happiest person in the whole world.</p>
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<div id="post-1151" class="post-1151 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">TODAY IN THE LIGHT OF DISPENSATIONAL HISTORY</h1>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:13:27+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/today-in-the-light-of-dispensational-history.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:13:27+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/today-in-the-light-of-dispensational-history.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">February 23, 1977<br />
|
||||
World Mission Center<br />
|
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Translator-Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||||
<p>As you know, today is True Parents’ birthday. The topic of the message this morning is “Today in the Light of Dispensational History.” According to the Divine Principle, since the fall of Adam and Eve the responsibility of the fall has rested upon the fallen generations of humanity. If Adam and Eve had not fallen but had reached perfection, then not only they as the ancestors of mankind but also the entire universe would have been perfected.</p>
|
||||
<p>It was God’s original plan for Adam to reach perfection, followed by Eve. Then through them the first family of man would have been formed on earth, and the children of God would have multiplied, first forming one nation and then another. Finally the entire world would have been filled with Adam’s lineage. God intended to have only one people, Adam’s people; one race, Adam’s race; one heart, Adam’s heart. Then the center of this entire universe would have been God, and Adam and Eve. Since God is the center of all living creation, everyday life would have been centered upon one God, and that God would have had dominion over all the things of creation and all mankind.</p>
|
||||
<p>God would have been the source of all mankind’s tradition, history and entire way of life. All mankind was to live in one tradition centered upon and related to the love of God. In such a perfected world, man would have been incapable of separating from the love of God. It would have been impossible to do.</p>
|
||||
<p>Here on this earth. children have the human tendency to tong for their parents even when they are separated for only a few days. This human tendency comes from the original nature of men; we are longing for that one parent of mankind, God. This inseparable relationship must be re-established because men cannot bear the loneliness of being separated from God.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you consider this, man has something to be proud of. What would that be’? The supreme pride of man in the world of perfection is to have God as father. To be able to say, “God is my father; Almighty God is my father!” is the greatest pride of men. Man’s second most supreme source of pride is that he can say, “I can possess the love of God-, I can monopolize the love of God.” And man’s third source of pride in the world of perfection is that he can say, “I can inherit God’s kingdom. I can inherit everything that my father has.” Isn’t that truly something to be proud of? In our world, people are proud of so many social positions. They say, “You know, my father is a Ph.D., a doctor at Harvard, a prime minister: I come from the royal family.” These positions become a source of great pride. Think of it-you can say, “My father is God.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Many people in our society are proud of being a son of so and so, but in many cases they have no knowledge of a loving relationship. When you say, “God is my father,” however, you are already saying, “The love of God is mine.” Without having a relationship with the love of God, you are not His son. Let’s say you are a child of a lord and are living in his house. All the servants know that eventually you are going to be the master of the house, elevated to the throne of the house. Therefore all those servants have to pay respect to you. By the same token, in the entire kingdom of God, everybody knows that you are the son of God. Therefore, all creation, including the angels, must pay respect to you.</p>
|
||||
<p>God intended a history where He and man would dwell as father and son, and He would dwell together with His son’s family. The Kingdom of God is inhabited by the children of God. A God-centered culture and tradition would be born, so that the history of God would last through eternity. That was the original ideal of God.</p>
|
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<p>Today, where are mankind’s desire, ambition and hope concentrated” Mankind’s supreme desire is to become the sons and daughters of God. Secondly, men desire to possess the love of God, and thirdly, to inherit God’s kingdom, everything that God has. There is no greater hope for men than to fulfill these three desires.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to become sons and daughters of God, we must come into God’s own lineage. Our bloodline must become connected to God. What if there had been no fall of man? In the first place, we would automatically be born as children of God. The fall of man was the severing of man from God. Illicit love brought about the fallen lineage. Instead of Adam and Eve uniting under God, Eve and the archangel united. The archangel servant took God’s position and subjugated all mankind, and all mankind came under the servant instead of under God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ever since the fall, all mankind has been born, not into the direct lineage of God, but into the lineage of Satan. Mankind is part of the bloodline of Satan. Once the fall became a reality, no matter how much we called God “my father,” it was devoid of meaning. The fallen world is selfish, “myself” became the center of everything, disregarding God and everything else. No matter how hard people tried to concentrate on God, it was virtually impossible because the master of the world was not God but Satan.</p>
|
||||
<p>Contradiction, struggle and destruction have filled the chapters of the history of fallen mankind. Fallen humanity came under satanic culture which centers on struggle and division, contrary to God’s history which seeks for unity and harmony. Even in the fallen world, however, all men and women have innate, original human desire. The conscience always tries to lead one back to the original center, God. To return to God one must be saved from the satanic surroundings. That’s why those who are heading toward the original God-centered point have gone through tremendous struggles.</p>
|
||||
<p>The entire history of man can be described as a tug of war. Man has been pulled by both powers. It has been a struggle to determine which side to belong to. This is the agony of man. This struggle started with the individual, then the family and tribe, nation and world. All have been pulled from pole to pole, toward evil and toward goodness.</p>
|
||||
<p>History has been a war between good and evil. Each battle was a severe struggle, but eventually the ultimate winner was always good. God’s side won each level, expanding God’s territory, In war, there is so much killing and destruction on both sides. It is a chaotic and confusing situation. How can you tell which side is good and which side is evil? The sign of evil is the attack; the side which initiates the attack is the evil one. In a school classroom if two boys with bloody faces are fighting, the first question the teacher will ask is, “Who started it?” Which side will the teacher take? Not the side of the attacker, but of the defender. Is that not true’? Let’s say there is a classroom with dozens of students, and one boy is a rascal. He does not study and is always a trouble-maker, but one day he happened to be sitting quietly, and all of a sudden some other person attacked him. No matter how bad a rascal he may be, on that particular day he would get the sympathy of the teacher.</p>
|
||||
<p>Evil always takes the initiative; it always attacks first. Throughout history, God has been like a school teacher, looking down on the struggle, watching those being attacked. God is on the side of the defenders. Therefore, the history of war is such that the attacker initiates, but always loses in the end. The universal teacher, God, is on the side of the weaker ones being attacked.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why is the attacker evil? Think of human history. In the beginning evil took the initiative and brought about the fall. God and man, Adam and Eve, were infiltrated and attacked. That is the original characteristic of evil. The attacker may inflict certain harm or destruction, but it is a universal law that eventually that person will have to not only restore the damage but pay a penalty as well.</p>
|
||||
<p>God knows this universal principle. Do you think He is always initiating war? No, God does not initiate the attacks. What about the people who are on the side of God? Can they say, “God, you are too good. You sit up there, we will fight”? God’s true people will never initiate an attack. An aggressive action will never be taken by God’s people.</p>
|
||||
<p>God’s people are always being attacked, but they endure, persist, and move on. That’s the characteristic of God’s people. Always under attack, then take the beating but never give up. It is a universal law that you become a winner by being attacked. The aggressor has to pay the damage plus a penalty. So you must endure and survive the attack on the individual level, then on the family level, national level and the worldwide level. You must withstand, survive and persevere. In the end, you will receive the entire universe because Satan and evil have to pay you the damage plus the penalty. That’s how God’s side will win.</p>
|
||||
<p>The entire universe attacks you even though righteousness and justice are on your side. As tong as you withstand, you can survive and the entire universe will come to you. Beyond the universe there is no higher level. Satan is the forefather and the king of aggressors. God is the king of the defenders.</p>
|
||||
<p>The attacker may seem to annihilate the good, but God will raise up additional strength and power, and the attacker will eventually lose. On the individual level there are good and evil men. The evil man may attack the good, and that good man may be destroyed. But that is not the end of it. God will raise up another even stronger champion until He finds a person, tribe and nation to withstand the attack and survive. God will never give up.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let’s say that in a struggle of good and evil the good man was killed. The struggle does not end there. It will go on. After all, the ultimate defender is God. As tong a God is alive, good is never finished and never gives up. From God’s point of view the battle of good and evil has not even started. The start has always been delayed and extended. The Principle teaches that God can prolong restoration history if certain expectations do not occur right on schedule.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is the most important pattern of human history: Satan always attacks and loses, and God is always being attacked and gains. Look at the example of World War 1. Germany started that war but was not the winner. Why? This is the Principle. At that time the Germans thought they could win the war. If this were not so they would not have started it. Satan always thinks he can win; that is why his forces start wars. But no one can violate heavenly law. Germany and Japan attacked in World War 1, but they also lost. God, the supreme judge, was looking down and said, “You violated the universal law.’*</p>
|
||||
<p>Right now the communist world and the free world are confronting each other. Which side is more aggressive and destructive? Which side is taking the initiative? According to the universal law of the Principle, are the communists going to be the final victors ?</p>
|
||||
<p>How far can Satan advance’? This is of great interest to us. Communism cannot take over more than two thirds of the world. In both World Wars you can see that the attackers were successful until gaining two thirds of world domination. As they gained this ground, they thought they were winning completely. In World War II the German army just swept over most of Europe, and the Japanese forces took almost the entire Pacific area from Pearl Harbor west. But Satan could not take the final one third.</p>
|
||||
<p>This is because the fall of man came during the growth stage and therefore affected only the formation and growth levels, or two thirds. Satan could not infiltrate the perfection level. Therefore, Satan can claim only two thirds of anything, not the final one third. This is the formula through which human history has evolved. Therefore, throughout human history, there has always been one level that has remained intact. One incomprehensible group always emerged with a common set of goals-a religious group. Religious people are always a problem to those in power.</p>
|
||||
<p>God is always their goal. Therefore, they can go beyond national boundaries, racial boundaries and cultural boundaries. They are just impossible people to deal with because the accepted sense of judgment does not apply to them. Throughout history, sovereignties have always felt threatened by religious groups. They are such difficult people to deal with because they cannot be controlled. To say, “We will kill you!” is not a threat to them. They answer, “Go ahead; do it!”</p>
|
||||
<p>Therefore, as new religions emerged throughout history, governments usually opposed them. They always wanted to liquidate the religions before they got too big. A sovereign nation worries only about the integrity of its own territory, but religious people go beyond the boundary of the nation. Religious people don’t care if an enemy is next door. They might even open the door to the enemy camp. This worries the governing people.</p>
|
||||
<p>Rulers of the nation have always looked at religious people as a very sticky problem. They try to oppress them and accuse them of all kinds of sins, “You spied; you caused violence; you caused disorderly conduct.” Then which is the good side? Which one is the aggressor, the government or the religious people? Which is evil then, the rulers or the religious people?</p>
|
||||
<p>The religious people and religious crusades are constantly utilizing God’s principle. When Christians arrived in Rome they had no weapons. The Roman Empire had everything including a trained, disciplined army, and the Romans attacked the Christians over and over. The Christians just withstood the beating and pressed on. Though many were martyred, they continued, and after 400 years the Roman Empire finally surrendered.</p>
|
||||
<p>Without knowing this principle many people cry out, “Why did supreme, Almighty God let His people suffer?” Many people try to say there is no God, or if there is a God that He is helpless. But when you know the Principle, you know where God is.</p>
|
||||
<p>From the point of view of this Principle formula, we can determine which is the period of the last days. You can determine the last days by observing the world situation. First of all an adamant, new religious movement will spring up, and the entire world will try to suppress it. Not just one ruler, not just one government, but the entire world together will try to strike that particular religion and demolish it. When you see this sign, you can know for certain that these are the last days.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the last days there will be one lonely group of people with the highest possible goal, and they will be attacked not just by white people, but by black and yellow people, too. They will be accused not just by white governments, but by black and yellow governments. The entire universe will try to stop them. Even the established religions will try to suppress that group. Isn’t that exciting? To which side would you like to belong?</p>
|
||||
<p>History is not made at random. History is made according to a definite principle, and it never deviates from that principle. In light of this principle, we can so clearly see our position in this world as a lonely group, yet with the highest, most noble ideals. Nevertheless, the rest of the world is trying to condemn us. It is with pride and great honor that we belong to this group.</p>
|
||||
<p>You know the Principle. You know the entire knowledge of God, the secrets of God. If God sends one champion in the last days, that champion is going to organize a strategy so that he can emerge as a lightning rod with the rest of the world trying to strike him. He will not try to avoid such a task, but will work according to God’s strategy.</p>
|
||||
<p>In accordance with God’s principle, this is really the wisest, quickest strategy to take over the rest of the world. We must become good lightning rods so the rest of the world is inevitably drawn to come and strike us. To have that happen, we have to irritate the world. How should we do that? What’s the best way to irritate the rest of the world? To take their money? They don’t really care-, they can share some money with us. To take away their power? Again, they don’t care. But if you touch their loved ones, then everybody gets excited!</p>
|
||||
<p>Who are those loved ones? You are! You are their wives, husbands, daughters and sons. These relationships are very sensitive, so if anybody touches them the families react immediately. In all the history of religion, we have never seen anything like a parents’ movement organized to search for their own children. In history no such organization of parents has ever existed. This is the first time in history that parents have tried to kidnap their own children. Usually a child is kidnapped away from his parents, but this time your parents are coming to kidnap you.</p>
|
||||
<p>This unique, extraordinary situation is happening because God has initiated extraordinary things here on earth. The final showdown of good and evil is being waged. That’s why we see this extraordinary situation. Is this of my making, or of God’s making? God is fulfilling His Principle at this time. Today, even Judaism has come against us. Jews say we are anti-Semitic, and Christianity has come against us, as well as communism. The American government has not exactly put out a red carpet for us. This amazing situation is happening all over the world. To make the situation worse, I sent out missionaries to 120 nations, which created more upheavals and commotion everywhere.</p>
|
||||
<p>So we can see that wherever we are, the Unification Church is a very lonely group and the rest of the world, including every government and every kind of religion, is trying to liquidate us. Then where am I going? Am I so naive that I do not know about all the opposition outside? How can I sleep at night? Some People say, “Reverend Moon, your ideology is so superb, but why not be diplomatic? Why don’t you talk nicely to the New York Times and the Washington Post?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Should I be diplomatic, or should we go out and shake the world? Let’s get the attention of the world focused upon us. Let them hit me; let them hit us. Let them do it! By doing so, they owe us a debt. The important thing is this: Today I am indeed a focal point here in America, in Korea, Japan, Africa, South America everywhere, but while the rest of the world is banded together trying to stop me, what do I represent? Do I represent the ideal of God or the ideal of Satan? That’s the main question.</p>
|
||||
<p>You say I represent God, but maybe the rest of the world will say I represent Satan. In the democratic world majority rule stands. In my case only a minority is saying that I am on the side of God. The majority says, “No, he is on the side of Satan.” Which side can we trust? We must learn a new democratic rule: A minority plus God is the majority! We represent the supreme ideal given by God. As long as God is on our side, we are the majority.</p>
|
||||
<p>You must know my secret, the secret of the Unification Church. From the very beginning of my ministry I was attacked and attacked and attacked, but I never faltered, never completely gave up, and in the end I always won and prospered. This has been the history of God and the history of the Unification Church. The Bible says that the ones who are patient to the last shall be victorious. Not just one person came against me; not just one nation came against me, and not just this world came against me. In the course of my ministry, the entire spirit world has come against me, and at one point even God came against me and said, “I don’t know you.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Even God tested me, but I withstood to the last, surviving even the test of God. Then God surrendered and said, “This is my son to whom I can leave my entire kingdom.” God and I made a covenant. God said, “You are the son I have been seeking, the one who can begin my eternal history. Now you are here.” And I said, “I have been searching for you, and finally I can know that you are my father in heaven, and I am your own son.” Our covenant as father and son was made.</p>
|
||||
<p>God does not easily give the title: “Son of God.” First that person must become the victor over all human history. He must be in a position to pay all the debts of history. He is a rare individual. God took several thousand years to find that one man, and finally He has found him. I have nothing to be proud of, except that I know that God is my father, and I am His son. I am proud that I am entitled to receive the entire love of God, and that I have become a channel of that love. Finally I can be proud to be entitled to inherit God’s Kingdom.</p>
|
||||
<p>The first great human desires that Adam and Eve were supposed to fulfill in the garden of Eden were to become the son and daughter of God, to receive the love of God, and to inherit God’s entire kingdom. However, this was all lost by the fall of man. I can now proclaim to the world, however, that the original human desires and God’s original plan have been achieved by men through the law of indemnity and the process of restoration, and the attainment of the three blessings is now possible.</p>
|
||||
<p>The rest of the world came around trying to beat us during the momentous year of 1976. In 1976 the entire history of God was culminated in two major events: the Yankee Stadium Rally and the Washington Monument Rally. World attention toward our movement came to a peak that year. In the year of 1976 1 became known to the world. The events that we created, that God created, in the year of 1976 cannot be removed from the history of religion or from human history. I established myself as a super lightning rod in the year 1976. In my public ministry I drew the attention of the world; therefore, after the victory at Washington Monument, I declared that my public speaking had ended. Who won?</p>
|
||||
<p>Was I defeated or victorious? Those who wish us to fail miserably were watching very attentively for the outcome of the Washington Rally. By their own standard, was our accomplishment a success or a failure? Do our adversaries have to admit our success, or do they know we were a complete failure?</p>
|
||||
<p>I want you to know that the Washington Monument Rally was a decisive battle which became the turning point of human history. Until then I was just a person to be beaten upon over and over again, and I just persevered. The rest of the world came around me, trying to strike me. I’m sure, without knowing this formula of God’s dispensational history, even many Unification Church members thought, “Well, I don’t think God is working through Reverend Moon. If He is, why is Reverend Moon so lonely? Why does he have to go through so much hardship and hard work?” Actually many Unification Church members ask that question.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of it. If God is really mad at something, just exploding in wrath, and He sent His son down, could He crush one government or one nation’? America thinks it is a big country, but God’s son is much bigger than America. Sometimes Unification Church members are almost desperately praying, “God, please bring down your son on our opponents a little bit,” but I don’t pray that way. That will never be my prayer.</p>
|
||||
<p>God cannot do that. God cannot bring down His own son to crush an opponent because that will defeat His purpose. Rather. God is allowing the rest of the world to come against me, to hit me like this. By doing that they are just giving up their own blessing to me. Their action of hitting me creates a bridge for blessings to come to me. That’s how God harvests the blessings in the last days. God will harvest these blessings for one God-centered ideology.</p>
|
||||
<p>Some people might say, “Reverend Moon, I can now understand God’s principle. But why do you let the Unification Church members suffer? You are the lightning rod, so you should get attacked, take all the hardship and win, and let the rest of the members go easy. But I want you to be a bridge to give out the blessings to the rest of the world. I want you to receive part of the blessings by receiving some of the attack.</p>
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<p>This is why I let you suffer. If you go through similar hardships, then you can be recognized together with me, and the blessings I receive will also become yours. That is the only way you can receive them. Then you are going to distribute these blessings to the world. If people refuse to receive them, then they will become yours. God will say, “You just go ahead and keep it.” So you have no way to lose. Then would you like to receive some persecution?</p>
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||||
<p>So far we have been continuously beaten, and we have never even turned around to look at our attackers. But now the time has come for us to turn around and face them. Why? Since we have to distribute our blessings we have to talk to them. The time has come for a different kind of showdown; now we have to disseminate the blessing. Unless the Unification Church is attacked by the entire world at once, and unless we go over that hill, we cannot be liberated.</p>
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<p>I want you to know that this level of accomplishment was not achieved by random actions or on a whim. I have gone through God’s precise time. table, from the individual level to the family level, tribal level, national level, and worldwide level. As you know, if Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have been models or symbols of perfection for every level, but because of their fall, the model that God created was not established here on earth. No one has seen that model.</p>
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||||
<p>When you read the Old Testament history in the Bible, it is really a history of human failure. There is not much victorious history in the Old Testament. There is so much indemnity to pay for the three major ages: the Old Testament era, the New Testament era, and the Completed Testament era. I had to pay all the debts of the past, and then expand that vertical history onto the horizontal level of victory. Unless this is done, there can be no real day of victorious proclamation.</p>
|
||||
<p>So far the entire spirit world has been divided because there was no unity, and no dispensational indemnity had been paid here on earth. There is one realm for Judaism in spirit world, another realm for Christianity, another realm for Mormonism, Buddhism, and so forth. They all have different realms for themselves, so there is no unity in the spirit world.</p>
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||||
<p>If there had been no fall, Christianity would not have existed, nor Confucianism, nor Buddhism; there would only be Adamism, from one Adam. Starting from Adam and Eve as the true parents, everybody would have been joined together as their branches. But the true parents never emerged because of the fall; therefore, all the division was inevitable. Until the true parents emerged to make a new beginning, no unity could be seen in the spirit world.</p>
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||||
<p>God has been working for so many thousands of years to create this one base where He can install true parents. Starting from the ancient tribes, and continuing through the national history of Israel, then expanding Christianity into a worldwide religion, God created a base where this new dispensation could take place.</p>
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||||
<p>Throughout history the path of the dispensation followed one pattern through all the levels of family, tribe, nation and world. For example, Jacob reflects the pattern for the family, but Jacob’s blessing did not come easily. He went to the land of Haran and suffered hardship for 21 years. Finally he received the blessing after returning to Canaan. Look at Israel. The chosen people went to Egypt where they suffered untold tragedy and afterward were led through the exodus by Moses. Thus Jacob was victorious on the family level, and Moses was victorious on the tribal or national level. Then look at how much Christianity has suffered, going to the Egypt-like land of the Roman Empire to suffer for 400 years. Only after that suffering could liberation come to Christianity.</p>
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||||
<p>After the exodus, the Israelites were able to create their own kingdom, the kingdom of Israel. If Jesus Christ had not been crucified, he would have united the entire Arab territory with Israel, creating one united kingdom of God in his own time, Jesus would truly have been the king of kings, not just symbolically but also fulfilling the ideal of God on the physical level.</p>
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||||
<p>God’s plan was that Jesus unify the nation of Israel and absorb the Arab territory, and that power was to have absorbed India and China. Then, even though the Roman Empire was very strong on the European continent, it would have easily been absorbed to create one unified kingdom of God. At that time, the literal kingdom of God on earth was supposed to have been erected. If Jesus had not been crucified, instead of turning to the west and crossing the Atlantic to America, Christianity would have gone the other way to India, China, and the Orient, and then over to the western world.</p>
|
||||
<p>However, because of the crucifixion Christianity made a 180 degree turn, and moved toward Rome, England, America, and then back to the Orient. Today America is the model Christian nation; it is the fruit of the Christian culture of the entire Christian world. Today America is in the position of the second Israel. The first Israel was the Jews of 2000 years ago. The second Israel here in America is a cosmopolitan assemblage of all the people of the world, all the races together, united in one nation.</p>
|
||||
<p>However, even though all are symbolically gathered together in America, complete spiritual and physical unity has not been seen here; the love of God is not yet in full swing. The Unification Church movement will become the spirit of America and unite the heart of America,. We have come to bring together the hearts of all people and all races, We want to melt their hearts together in unity and harmony. According to the Principle, in order to indemnify the past we have to create the environment first. Today America is the environment for the new dispensation.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Messiah could not come to Israel again. This is obvious because it is God’s principle that God cannot use the same people or the same territory twice. God always chooses a new champion. The new Messianic mission will unfold in Asia because Asians are internal, like the “mind” of the universe. God will choose one homogeneous, united people, a single race which has a deep religious history and religious capability. That one nation will be chosen from Asia.</p>
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||||
<p>There is a parallel that can be seen between the Western world and the Oriental world. For example, in the dispensation of Christianity, in Europe Great Britain was in a position equivalent to Japan in the Orient now, and Italy was in a position equivalent to Korea today. A peninsula is the ideal environment because it serves as a bridge between islands and the continent. New cultural movements blossom on peninsulas. The Hellenic and Roman cultures developed on the Greek and Italian peninsulas. The peninsula is where the island and continental cultures can merge and mingle together to become one unified culture. In the final days, the Western culture and Oriental culture will merge and create a unified culture of the universe on the Korean peninsula.</p>
|
||||
<p>In history the peninsulas have always played critical roles. Vietnam is a peninsula where two cultures clashed and a war was fought. Before World War II Korea had been annexed to another nation, and had lost its sovereignty, but after the war its liberation came. Now Korea is one nation in Asia that America must not leave. America has given up so much in Asia, like Vietnam, for example, and now there is a lot of talk about the new Administration withdrawing armed forces from Korea. That will not bring fortune to America. For dispensational reasons, America must retain her position in Korea. Great blessing is coming by this link between the United States and Korea. If that link is broken, America will be deeply troubled.</p>
|
||||
<p>During World War II the ungodly forces of Japan and Italy were destroyed by the Allied forces. That victory was God’s gift to America. America holds stewardship as the servant of God, retaining custody over all of God’s property. It is God’s will to have America manage all the land of the world that is on the side of God. America must not give it away, particularly not to communism. That is certainly not the will of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The United Nations, a symbol of world government, was within the will of God. However, God wanted America to take the initiative in world leadership and to create a United Nations without the ungodly forces of communism. After World War II, America continually retreated from world responsibility. Furthermore, by allowing communism to come in, the United Nations has provided a forum for communist propaganda. The United Nations is now a tool for communist propaganda.</p>
|
||||
<p>American young people by the hundreds of thousands shed their blood during World War II. Through them God paid such a high price. We can never calculate the value of that blood, and yet America gave it up to enemy hands. America as a nation has failed in the sight of God. She harvested God’s gift and then gave it to Satan. Can that be forgiven? Satan, who is receiving all God’s beautiful harvest, is not going to be content at that point. His people are coming into the heart of the United Nations to choke the United States to death.</p>
|
||||
<p>After World War II, a drastic decline can be seen in all areas in America. There is a retreat in the political area, and there are great problems in the economic area. Furthermore, there is such a rapid decline spiritually and morally. For 2000 years Christianity has been evangelizing prosperously throughout the world. But in the last several decades, Christian culture, particularly in this country of America, is truly crumbling. The decline is so rapid; 2000 years of tradition and heritage have been crumbling in the last twenty years. Why is that? America has failed as a model Christian nation.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the 1960’s the tragic plane crash of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold, and the assassination of young President Kennedy were the dark for the free world. Ever since then, America has been declining and retreating. America will be deeply troubled. The Nixon Administration was deeply corrupted when the Watergate situation erupted. The administration has changed but this trend continues. In the sight of God, someone must step out to reverse the trend. We must wait and see what will happen.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am a religious leader. I spoke up at the Water. gate incident because I wanted to turn the national crisis around and unite the national conscience of America in a Christian spirit. I knew that the Watergate crisis would bring advantage only to the communists. When America was completely paralyzed by the Watergate situation, communist students were flooding the campuses. For example, at Columbia University, in broad daylight, communist posters and propaganda brochures were being given out.</p>
|
||||
<p>Communists participated extensively in the American presidential campaign. They were trying to influence the elections, to push for someone favorable to their own advance. Here in New York, in front of our own house, the New Yorker, there was a left-wing demonstration for Carter. Are the left-wingers interested in Carter as a man? Not at all. The Carter administration has to be very, very cautious and alert because there is an un-American group of people who looked at the situation and pushed for him, thinking he may be to their advantage,</p>
|
||||
<p>In the present administration human rights is a very important issue. This is very good, but how is the administration going to handle human rights? In North Korea, at least three million people were exterminated by the communist regime of Kim Il Sung. In China under Chairman Mao, up to 150 million lives were taken. During the Bolshevik revolution and the following communist rule in Russia, over 70 million people were exterminated. The New York Times reported that in Vietnam, about 600,000 people have already been exterminated. Then who is really violating human rights? Communists not only violate human rights, they violate human lives!</p>
|
||||
<p>Congress is talking about Korean bribery and the lobbying situation. But think of it, what Korea is doing is probably nothing compared to what the gigantic nations of the world are doing, trying to influence the American Congress. Even friendly nations are involved in some pressuring. like Israel, England. Germany and Japan.</p>
|
||||
<p>The problem of the KCIA here in America is made out to be extraordinary. Everybody thinks the whole city is flooded by KCIA agents but the Korean government probably dispatched ten or twelve people. On the other hand, Soviet Russia has over a thousand known KGB agents to maintain their own operatives. And that’s only to maintain their central, fanatic operatives. Behind them are thousands of students and professors, and different organizations to infiltrate every facet of American life.</p>
|
||||
<p>If anybody wants to talk about human rights, then he must become a strong anti-Communist because nothing in history has violated human rights more than communism. Around communists, “human fights” is a luxury word; communists are denying the right to live. To them human life is as worthless as the life of an insect. Human rights are important; we must preserve human rights. However, the right to live is even more important. We must secure the right to live for all men under communist regimes. This is why I am spearheading such an adamant stand against communism, and declining communism as the enemy of God and of mankind. I am not going to yield one inch from that position.</p>
|
||||
<p>The communists know very well that I am their archenemy, and they are trying to destroy us. Churches and government people collaborate with the communists. This is a sad situation. Newspapers try to paint a dark picture: “Reverend Moon is an agent of the KCIA.” It’s incredible, just nonsense. My life is not so small that I would act as a KCIA agent. My eyes and goal are not just for Korea. America is the goal; the world is my goal and target.</p>
|
||||
<p>No President ever spoke as I did at Yankee Stadium, saying that this nation has caught on fire and needs a fire fighter from the outside, that this nation is mortally ill and needs a doctor from the outside. I came as a fire fighter to this nation, as a doctor to this nation. At Washington Monument I said to leave the young people to me. I will rebuild the American youth so that they can go out to truly liberate the world. No religious leaders or political leaders in the history of America ever spoke like this. I did because I have reason to say such things.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually, I am deeply mistreated by America. Americans do not know me. But some day they will realize that I am truly the most noble and precious VIP that ever came to America. You must know that you are the people who must fight for this. No one can pull your loyalty and conviction in God and His kingdom out of your brain. No one can pull that ideology out of you. No atomic bomb, no military might, no weapon can do that. You are becoming invincible individuals now.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am not here to please the government or the politicians; I am a prophet, a messenger of God. Whenever I have something to say, I will say it, whatever it is. I know very well that certain government people will be irritated by my remarks because they do not like to hear these things. However, I must speak the truth; no one can stop me from speaking the truth. We cannot trust anyone. We can only trust ourselves because we have a mission ordained by God. We are not here for ourselves: we must create our own organization and influence the power of the nation because that’s the way God wants it to be. A long time ago, I committed my life to this mission. It does not matter that there is danger around me; I have already given up my life.</p>
|
||||
<p>Korea and America must not break apart. Once that link is broken, tragedy will come. From the trend of history God knows very well what will happen now that liberalism is rampant and communist infiltration so widespread. The situation is very pessimistic. That is why God sent me to America as His agent. God asked me to hold America, to keep America linked with Asia, to restore His blessing to all the Christian world, and then to liberate the communists.” That is God’s mandate.</p>
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||||
<p>When I declared that I will go to Moscow, I meant it. When they hear me say, “Moscow is our goal,” the communists will laugh, “How can you?” All right, they can laugh. Twenty years ago in Korea, in a small room only big enough for two or three people, with a roof that leaked, I talked about world unification. I predicted my world ministry and the sending of missionaries to 120 countries, and having this crusade in America. Twenty years ago in that small room everybody thought those were crazy ideas.</p>
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||||
<p>Today, compared to the size of the communists’ power, the New Yorker Hotel is like that small cubbyhole of twenty years ago. We have only a handful of people, yet we are talking about the liberation of the communists’, we are talking about Moscow. I am sure most people laugh. Let t hem laugh now. I know one thing: in the communist world, the children of the communist leaders are on the side of God. The next generation in Russia will be on my side.</p>
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||||
<p>Spirit world will take care of that world. Spirit world will manifest itself and show the truth to those children. Those children will fight against their own fathers; that’s God’s strategy, God has started that operation already. Even here in America, spiritual revelation is coming down to the leadership of this nation, even to Congressional members. Behind the scenes, truly astonishing spiritual phenomena are unfolding. The heavenly spiritual assault has begun.</p>
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||||
<p>What have I been doing in these last several decades? What I have done as a man in history, representing all of mankind, is to become able to really declare victory in the name of God. Before heaven and earth I truly stand now as a victor in the name of God. No one like that has ever existed in history.</p>
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||||
<p>I could have avoided suffering, but I knew the Principle. According to that Principle, I have to suffer more than any individual here on earth. Throughout thousands of years of history, men have committed innumerable dirty, impossible sins. In order to liberate the people of the world from the sins of history, I had to go down to the very bottom of the sinful world. Therefore I have gone through every decent occupation that a man can possibly have. There is only one thing that I have not experienced-army life , military life-because I did not want to shoot anyone.</p>
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||||
<p>Except for evil things like killing a person, I have experienced every situation in human life. I was a beggar one time, sleeping on the street. I know what a beggar feels like on a cold winter night, sleeping on the snow. I was a laborer, a farmer, a dock worker, a sportsman, a mountain man. I have been a miner, digging coal; there is nothing under the sun that a God-centered man can do that I have not tasted. Why? Because I wanted to drop a silk line of life everywhere so that those sinners in every corner, every walk of human life, could have a rope to climb to reach God.</p>
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||||
<p>I went through hardship not only because of the Korean people. Since coming to America, I have of Westerners. White faced many hardship.,; because black people, all together, people, yellow people and have been trying to tear me apart. Does the American movement only bring money to me, or do I bring money to the movement? I am a parent and even more than parents in the outside world, I am concerned about money for you. A Small nation like Korea has always been trying to win a little more military and economic aid from the United States, trying to squeeze out more money. But I am the opposite. From Korea I have come to this country, trying to pour and heart and soul, into everything I have, my zeal for America. So no matter what the American people say, my conscience is clear.</p>
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||||
<p>I want to set the condition that as a parent, I truly gave out everything for all the children of the world. I want to buy houses for them, for Americans, South Americans, Africans, and Europeans. I want to be a parent to all the races of every land in the world. I will earn that money. I am not depending on your economy; I want you to take care of yourself and do your mission. In the meantime, I will bring down the blessing from heaven, and part of it will go to you. For example, our World Mission Center was not bought with your fund raising money. Not at all.</p>
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||||
<p>The Tiffany Building and 43rd Street Headquarters, none of those great real estate investments came from American sources. The American church is always in the red and I have to subsidize you. You didn’t know that, did you? The newspapers do not say that I am bringing in my resources to help America. They know it, but they will not write about it.</p>
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||||
<p>I want to become a unique man. I will experience and fulfill everything that man is supposed to do. Truly I have done everything that a man can do, without limitation. Is my appearance acceptable to you? Normally men have small hips, but I am rather heavy through the middle. It is because I have guts and strength.</p>
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<p>In high school days I was a Korean-style wrestling champion. I am like a rock and no one can defeat me. I can certainly speak, and I can be very artistic in writing, completing a whole volume of literature overnight. When I was teaching Sunday School I was very popular among the children, and everybody else was crazy about my God-centered story-telling. They were fascinated and I could go on and on for hours and hours. I can also express much through my face.</p>
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||||
<p>In the world of literature, I can grasp the concepts of the great masterpieces and great writers so quickly. In the communist prison in North Korea everybody was my friend, like followers in a way. Everybody liked me because I understood the people and filled their needs. When we were together they forgot their fatigue, their suffering, and their anguish as though springtime had come. When I go to a farming area I am a great friend of farmers. Because I speak their language, I instantly become the master of the farmhouse, and everybody says, “Won’t you come in and stay for supper? Try our home-grown potatoes! ”</p>
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||||
<p>There is always a central flow in history, like the mainstream of a river, but in our history the side streams were all blocked. I am now clearing the blockage away so that the water of life can flow. I am the one bringing life back to all the tributaries of human history.</p>
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||||
<p>I have the conviction and determination that I can do anything that man is made to do. As a religious leader I set my criteria as high as possible. The spiritual leaders of history achieved a certain level but there were also many great failures. I wanted to go as high as possible, and restore all the failures of men. I have done that.</p>
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||||
<p>In spirit world there has been no free circulation. Everyone was blocked into compartments. I wanted to make every river flow from the spirit world to the physical world and from the physical world to the spirit world. Now all these barriers are broken down so everything can flow, like the circulation in the human body.</p>
|
||||
<p>Throughout history there were tributaries for the family level, the tribal level, the national and the worldwide level. I started out from the very top and took away the blockage between them so that the water could flow. So far, each religion has been only a single stream; Jews say, “Only Judaism is important.” Christians say, “Only Christians can come to the Father; everybody else is destined to hell.” Religious people have been so arrogant because they did not know how to link together with others. But somebody has to open the connecting streams so that the water of life can flow from one stream to another.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to unify all the religions of the world, a Person must know everything: Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and so forth. When unity is made in spirit world and all the rivers flow together, that unity can be brought down to be copied here on the earth. That is what my ministry is all about. Here on earth I am going to copy the work I have already done in the spirit world.</p>
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||||
<p>Then the spirit world and physical world can become united. So far, the spirit world and physical world have been separate, and because of this separation, our minds and bodies have also been separated. Unless we bring the spirit world down to the physical world. there is no way for our minds and bodies to unite. During the period of bringing unity there are tribulations, hardships and difficulties on each level: individual, family, tribal, national and worldwide. This is what I have already had to withstand while constantly pushing myself forward. Just listening to this perhaps you think it is easy. Talk is easy, but think of what an impossible task it is for one lifetime.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to become a victor as an individual, you must be able to withstand having the weight of the entire spirit world upon your shoulders. The burden of the entire physical world will also come upon your shoulders. To become an individual victor, you must be able to sustain yourself. Then you expand your own strength and dominion onto the family level.</p>
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||||
<p>As an individual, Jesus Christ withstood the weight of the spirit world and overcame all temptations, yet he was not quite able to move to the family level. He could not organize his own family to withstand the weight of the world. When I organized the family of God, starting with the 36 couple blessing in 196 1, there was tremendous commotion and persecution outside. We could not have a serene, peaceful ceremony. It was an emergency, so I divided the brides and bridegrooms into three different teams and had one ceremony early in the morning, one ceremony quickly in the middle of the day, and another ceremony at night.</p>
|
||||
<p>Everyone came to say, “Who is going to marry my daughter? Who is going to marry my son? No, you can’t do that! Give me my son! Give me my daughter!” The protest was extraordinary. But in the sight of God, the True Parents are the only parents who have the power to re-create fallen children as God’s children, and to give heavenly marriage to create heavenly homes. Physical parents do not have that authorization from God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Even on the very day of the 36 couple blessing, not only parents but the government too wanted to investigate our church. In order to not discourage the members, I had to go secretly to the police station to testify on the very day that I was to bless the couples.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually the entire world was so completely satanic that when I came to earth, there was not even a tiny spot for me to stand. I had to push the surroundings away to make room, little by little. Each battle is a risk and an adventure. The family of God is being organized, beginning with the installation of the True Parents in 1960. The first blessing of the family of God was given to the 36 couples, who represent the entire dispensational history and who will become the ancestors of mankind. The 72 couple blessing represents 36 Cains and 36 Abels on the family level.</p>
|
||||
<p>Since Jesus Christ had twelve disciples who are supposed to begin twelve tribes, the 120 couple blessing represented twelve tribes of ten couples each, making the worldwide foundation for God’s worldwide family. On the base of that victory, I had the right to set up holy grounds all over the world, thus claiming the land for God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The next blessing of 430 couples represented the entire Korean people as the chosen nation, whether they believed in God or not, thereby setting the condition for everyone to be restored. Actually Korea has a history of over 4300 years. Therefore, these 430 couples came out of Korean history, but their number is also equivalent to the 430 years which the Israelites suffered in Egypt. Their exodus began after 430 years of exile in Egypt. In the same way that they left Egypt, we began the journey to Canaan, the symbol God, had begun, God had to link the entire dispensation to the worldwide level and I gathered 43 couples from among the worldwide’ leaders. Blessing the 43 couples of world leaders at that time was the worldwide symbolic counterpart of blessing the 430 Korean couples. Through the 430 couples all the Korean people have conditional salvation in the sense that they can come to realize the truth. In the same way, through these 43 couples chosen from all around the world, all the nationalities and races of the world have a chance to be saved. The next blessing is commonly known as triple seven, 777. This represents spinning a silk thread to all mankind on a worldwide basis, making blessings possible all over the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Then I started my worldwide ministry, my public life. I came to America and from 1972 through 1975, for three and a half years, I swept through the Western world, declaring the message of God, That course was culminated at Madison Square Garden and the mammoth eight city tour which concluded successfully in Los Angeles.</p>
|
||||
<p>During this period of the Day of Hope tours, I received several hundred proclamations, honorary citizenships and letters of appreciation from mayors of cities, governors, and prominent people of the world. I don’t think any individual in America has ever received that many proclamations in praise of his work.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because America initially welcomed me, in that way the persecution given me in Korea could be restored. After Korea had persecuted me, I went out to the world and the world accepted me initially. Therefore I could return to Korea as a victor. At that time I brought a gift to Korea, not a material gift or a gift of money, but the most precious gift possible from the Western world: Western young people, the IOWC.</p>
|
||||
<p>I laid the victorious foundation in America, in the Western world. Then to bring about the real fruit of victory I returned to Korea with young people of the Western world as representatives of the Christian world. Spiritually the victorious foundation had been laid, and upon that foundation I returned to my own homeland. Why? Jesus Christ was crucified 2000 years ago by the oppression and persecution of the nation and government of that time. Together the nation of Israel and the Roman government crucified Jesus. In order to liberate that sorrow, that indemnity, I had to go back to Korea, this time for glory.</p>
|
||||
<p>Two thousand years ago Judaism was in the same position as Christianity is today and Jesus’ movement was in the same position as the Unification Church is today. Two thousand years ago the Roman government and Israel united together and crucified Jesus. I created the same set of circumstances in our time. In this environment, America was in the position of the Roman Empire. America gave initial success to me and welcomed me as one preaching the truth of Christianity. When I went back to Korea with hundreds of young people, the Korean government, in the position of Israel, welcomed me instead of opposing me. Indemnity and restitution were paid.</p>
|
||||
<p>Two thousand years ago Judaism united with the government to come against Jesus. But this time the government sided with the Unification Church, almost pushing the existing churches aside. In Korea there was a physical showdown between the Unification Church and the Christian churches. Starting from Pusan, I began a crusade of all the major cities. It was the first time I ever spoke publicly to the Korean people. In Pusan, Taegu, Taejun, Seoul, and in every city there was a showdown. The IOWC recalls it very well. But it was a landslide victory. The people came like clouds. Because there was no way to put all the people inside, many thousands of people always stood outside listening to me.</p>
|
||||
<p>Upon the foundation of the spiritual victory in the Western world, I could win a physical victory in Korea, which was culminated in the June 7 Rally for Korean Freedom. There were 1.2 million people gathered together as well as representatives from 60 nations all over the world. The government could not even dream of creating this kind of rally. This was a victorious stand on the national level.</p>
|
||||
<p>Instead of crucifying me, Koreans came and praised my success. They lifted me up in the greatest possible rally. When the 1.2 million people cheered me, it was a national cheer. The 60 national representatives that came from all over the world were links to bring the physical national victory of Korea back to their own nations. Because of that, I could come out of Korea again for a new crusade.</p>
|
||||
<p>After the spiritual victory in the Western world, I won the physical victory in Korea. Upon the foundation of these spiritual and physical victories, I came out to America again and I could give the final dispensational push in the year of 1976. It was a dramatic, historical year, the most extraordinary year in God’s history. From the victory at Yankee Stadium we moved right on to Washington Monument the same year. The Washington Monument Rally on September 18 lifted up God’s dispensation to its highest victory and fulfillment.</p>
|
||||
<p>The Washington Monument and Yankee Stadium campaigns were not conducted in a welcoming atmosphere. It was hostile. The press was hostile. By then they knew who I was, and because they could feel the threat, they were trying to block our work in any way possible. Since the Washington Monument victory was won under those adverse conditions, it was all the more valuable and victorious.</p>
|
||||
<p>The 40 days campaign in Washington was equivalent to Jesus Christ’s 40 days of ministry after the resurrection. Only after the victory of those 40 days could Jesus ascend into heaven. In the same way I could consummate my physical mission here on earth through the 40 days campaign in Washington, and through winning the victory at the Washington Monument Rally.</p>
|
||||
<p>The victory of the Washington Monument Rally was the most significant event in human history and God’s history. By that victory, the doors of heaven were open and all the barriers were broken down. An intermingling of the waters of life started between the spirit world and the physical world. All the separate compartments were opened up so that the water is circulating. That was the effect brought about by the Washington Monument victory.</p>
|
||||
<p>The spirit world was liberated, the barriers were broken and they no longer exist. Spirits can now freely come down to the physical world and participate in our physical crusades here on earth. Even if I pass away, the mission will not stop. My mission is consummated; the divine purpose of God has been fulfilled. With this victory, I declared October 4 as the Day of the Victory of Heaven. This was a very special day. On the Day of the Victory of Heaven God truly won His historical war; this is the joy of the earth. There is no question about it.</p>
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<p>It was therefore also a day of joy for Mother and me, a day of joy for the blessed families, a day of joy for the members of the entire Unification Church around the world. February 20 was January 3 by the lunar calendar. Therefore on February 20, the year of 1976 was completely gone by both the lunar and solar calendars. The year of victory had completely passed away, and the year of joy and victorious happiness had begun. But I knew that there were certain 777 couples and 1800 couples which had been broken by mates who had failed me and run away, and the other mate was still standing in obedience to me. These were personal tragedies suffered by the 777 and 1800 couples. Since they too should be happy, but couldn’t be under such circumstances, I made a special dispensation to gather them from around the world and re-bless them. This was the momentous blessing that took place on February 21, right here, in the New Yorker Hotel.</p>
|
||||
<p>Therefore I set all the conditions for everyone to be happy. Heaven is happy. Earth is happy. God is happy. True Parents are happy. All the blessed members are now happy, and all the members of the Unification Church are happy. All the happiness and joy can be enjoyed by everyone. Therefore, today, three days after that blessing, January 6 by the lunar calendar, is a day of joy. Celebrating True Parents’ birthday, we are celebration total universal joy and happiness together.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you know that Mother’s and my birthdays really are on the same day’? We did not arrange it that way-, it is the same day by birth. Furthermore, today Mother is going over her 33rd year; she is now 34. Jesus Christ could not go over the age of 33. He wanted to celebrate his 34th birthday with God, but he could not because of the crucifixion. Now that Mother’s age is going over 34 this year, she is going beyond the level of Jesus’ life of 33 years. Therefore today is an even more momentous day. From this time on, Satan has no right to bring accusation to the throne of God; heaven. will not allow it.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why could Satan ever have brought accusation to the throne of God? The universe that God originally intended was to have God at the center, with Adam, Eve, and the archangel all united into one. In that world, no one would have accused anybody. There would have been no opponents or adversaries in that world. If anybody had opposed such prefect harmony and unity, they would have been crushed. That is the Principle.</p>
|
||||
<p>However, instead of uniting with God, Adam, Eve, and the archangel kicked God away, separated themselves and created the fallen world. Mankind remained below the archangel, who was there like a barrier between man and God. Therefore Satan has always been in the closest position to God, and could speak to God. He could always accuse men before God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because Lucifer was the chief archangel, the good archangels, Michael and Gabriel, could not intervene. Even though he was fallen. Lucifer was still boss. The junior members could not speak out. Lucifer has been arrogant, directly confronting-God all throughout fallen history.</p>
|
||||
<p>During this fallen history, God could only deal with the fallen world because there was no alternative, there was no sinless or perfected world for Him to deal with. Therefore God had no choice but to deal with the fallen archangel and fallen mankind. The True Parents came to establish individual perfection and to expand the true Adam’s territory. True Adam had to create first his own small place on the earth and then expand his territory to a family level, to a tribal level, to a national and a worldwide level. By con fronting Satan he won territory, and then suddenly God had an alternative: there were two worlds He could choose from.</p>
|
||||
<p>When did this battle occur? The world-level confrontation between the satanic world and perfected Adam’s world occurred at the Washington Monument Rally. That is why it was so significant. Now God has a choice; He now has His son, Adam, here on earth. Furthermore, there is also a perfected Eve here on earth, and God’s family, tribe, nation and world. Symbolically they are all set up. Since Lucifer is fallen, the archangel position is now being filled by Jesus Christ. Taking the role of archangel in spirit world, Jesus has united with Adam and Eve here on earth and with God. Through that action all four parties have united for the first time in history.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus is reigning in spirit world as the spiritual head, and True Parents are heading the physical world. Therefore the spirit world and physical world are finally united with God, This is the one perfected realm that God has been seeking to build for 6000 years. It has finally been done.</p>
|
||||
<p>For 6000 years Satan has enjoyed a position of closeness to God. But the unity between the True Adam and Eve and Jesus Christ created a new world, pushing Satan aside. Therefore, the fallen archangel, Satan, cannot come to speak to God any more. When he tries to speak to God, God will say to him, “Go through the True Parents first; don’t come to me directly. Read the Divine Principle. According to the Principle of Creation, you are in the servant role, Adam is my son, and you are supposed to obey my son. Don’t come to me directly. I’m not going to see my servant any more.”</p>
|
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<p>If the archangel comes to Adam and Eve, then the True Parents say, “If you want to send a message to God, first you must obey us. You must come back to your original position before the fall.” Then the archangel would no longer be Satan.</p>
|
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<p>Since Satan knows that True Adam and Eve will never budge, he tries to go through Jesus in spirit world, but Jesus says, “What are you talking about’? I am the second Adam. You were victorious over the first Adam, but I am the second Adam, perfected Adam. I have lordship over you. You must obey me before you ask me to send a message to God.”</p>
|
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<p>According to the Principle, this victorious achievement completely blocks Satan’s route to God. Satan no longer has route or a way to accuse man before God. If you believe this 100$, you can talk to Satan in the same way: you can subjugate Satan. Mother and I are giving you the privilege, the authority, to speak to Satan that way. You have the power to subjugate Satan, you and the posterity of the Unification Church members.</p>
|
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<p>The topic of today’s message is: “Today in the Light of Dispensational History.” I am declaring to you that as of today, all the dispensational history of restoration has ended, has been completed; all the conditions of indemnity for history have been met and paid in full. From this moment on, the more opposition we face, the more victories we will win. We will not be harmed or take a beating. Any persecution, suffering, or pressure that the outside world gives us will be returned to us as an equal amount of blessing. It is not indemnity.</p>
|
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<p>We will win God’s territory back, inch by inch, until the year of 2000. We will win physically, substantially, and each day’s work will accumulate so that every effort will contribute, inch by inch, to the Kingdom of God from this time on up to the year 2000.</p>
|
||||
<p>Even though the satanic world is attacking, they are no longer advancing. We are the group, we are the power, we are the force that is advancing. Satan is shooting at us, but he is retreating. At least by the year 2000 we must complete the realization of the Kingdom of God here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>Today let us truly proclaim the day of liberation. I am going to lead three cheers, the most significant, victorious cheers of all history. Let’s make them that way. These three cheers include the victory of God, of True Parents, of the entire angelic world, of the human world, and even of the satanic world. They bring liberation to all five levels. These are three Satan no longer has a route or a way to accuse man cheers of victory to liberate the five most significant before God. If you believe this 100%, you can talk to levels. from God down to the satanic world. Satan in the same way; you can subjugate Satan. This is the new beginning of the new history. Mother and I are giving you the privilege, the author – God. Therefore, this is the first year of the Kingdom of God, year one of the Kingdom of God.</p>
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<div id="post-1140" class="post-1140 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">WHO AM I?</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:01:25+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/who-am-i.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:01:25+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/who-am-i.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">January 23, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>For each one of us our “self” is very important. From the Moment we come into existence our self becomes the central point of everything in our lives. Therefore we want the society, the nation, and the world to all center upon our individual selves. This is not only true for our individual lives but for all other levels too, for families, societies, nations, and even for God. We could say, “Who Am I?” And God could say the same thing. Therefore, the starting point for each one of us in this universal existence is “I’ll and we must be able to understand that “I.”</p>
|
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<p>In order to understand that “I” we must understand “I” in the context of history. History is presently approaching its consummation, the period of the end of the world. These are the Last Days. When people say “Last Days” they think of two opposite things. Some think the “Last Days” are the time when everything will be consummated in a fruitful harvest, and some consider the “Last Days” to be the time when everything will dissolve into nothing. These two conclusions are absolutely exclusive of each other; one implies hope and the other implies despair. Many people today are thinking that the Last Days are the end of the world when everything will be destroyed and there will only be despair.</p>
|
||||
<p>If we are living in the Last Days then we must ask, “Who Am I?” Each of us is encircled by the world around us. When we make the circle a little smaller we find we are living within the boundary of the United States. We are also members of the society, of the Unification Church, and also of our own families. When we lift all these circles away we are standing at the central point.</p>
|
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<p>Many people look upon the central position as a position of despair; they look upon tomorrow as having no hope and wonder where they will go then. People standing in the central position certainly should not go down, or to the left or the right. They should be able to go up. However, they do not have the energy, hope, or vision to go up. If we find ourselves in that central position in a world where hope is lost, then it is very serious for us all.</p>
|
||||
<p>We may ask the nation, “Please, America help us! Give us a direction for our lives and all the things that surround us!” But the nation cannot answer the fundamental problems of human life. When we shout out to the world, “World, come help us; save us,” the world does not respond. Our societies, our schools, our own families do not have the power to save our individual selves. Religion has been one hope; however, the religions existing today have also lost all vision. Then what shall we do? Where shall we go?</p>
|
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<p>We must discover this true “I” or true self, and try to save ourselves. However, no individual is capable of saving himself. In this situation of world despair, if someone can say, “I have the solution; I have someone who can lead me into eternal hope,” that person is indeed a fortunate person. At least that person can surround himself with happy circumstances. If someone in a family can lead the way to the ultimate hope, then any person within that family is fortunate and has found the solution also. If that circle can be extended and someone can bring the solutions to the problems on the level of society, the level of the nation and the world, then all the people in the world surrounding that person are fortunate.</p>
|
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<p>His solution for the world must correspond to the national solution, which must correspond to the societal solution and the family solution. If someone can do that, then that person will have unified the world through their solution. But history has never found a person who could bring hope by bringing a solution which could apply from the worldwide level all the way down to the individual level. This is why the world remains in despair. In the Last Days every individual is still searching; we are still on the road, searching for a solution.</p>
|
||||
<p>Through our experience we conclude that a per son living within our own environment could not bring the solution. Many philosophies have been born in history, with each thinker trying to solve human problems through different fields: for example, through science, through literature, medicine, or philosophy. But the one field that fundamentally deals with the value of human life is religion. Religion is one field where we can concentrate our search for the ultimate solution of human problems. However, the current religions are losing their vision so we have to search in a new, more elevated religious sphere to find new spiritual power.</p>
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||||
<p>The important thing is that God is already involved in these events. He has His own schedule, His own master plan. He knows of the circumstances in which we live in the world of despair; He knows of our searching. Therefore, God’s plan will emerge through a new religion and a new leader to let us reach the ultimate conclusion of our search. ‘Ibis particular solution has been manifested in the concept of the Messiah.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let us concentrate our thought on the Messiah. Why does the Messiah come? What is the content of his work? First of all, the Messiah tackles the problems of all humanity, not just one group. The Messiah brings to this world the fundamental solution for the problems of all mankind. The Messiah comes not only with the key to solve human problems, but also the key to solve heavenly problems, God’s problems.</p>
|
||||
<p>Since the source of every problem has been the separation between God and man, the Messiah comes for one single purpose: to bring God and man into unity. This will solve both man’s and God’s problems. Where will this unity between God and man begin? What is the starting point? An American President might say that this unity must start in the White House here in this country because, after all, America is the greatest nation. Maybe communists would want to possess God themselves, and their unity would probably begin in the Kremlin. But even if there is tranquillity in the White House, if the people of America are suffering and desperately unhappy, then this has not truly solved the problems of the nation. And even if the people in the Kremlin can enjoy a rich life, as long as the people of that nation are suffering, that certainly does not represent happiness.</p>
|
||||
<p>Unity between God and man does not begin in high places, in the office of the sovereign or bead of state. It begins with the individual at the very bottom of human life. Even within the family a father and mother may have reason to be jubilant, but at the same time their happiness may not be shared by their children; the children may be desperately unhappy.</p>
|
||||
<p>Happiness must begin at the starting point of “I.” Then where is this “I” standing? Maybe “I” is at the pinnacle of the entire world, the central point of the world situation. That person might be happy in his position relating to the world, or that person might desire to have nothing to do with his surroundings. These are two manifestations of “I.” Which kind of “I” would you want to be?</p>
|
||||
<p>Everybody has the desire and ambition to become identified with the rest of the world. You do not want t, just be isolated; you want to be someone special, recognized by the world. Why does everyone have that ambition? When you are standing on the pinnacle of the world, the earliest rays of the morning sun will touch you first. You will be the first recipient of the heavenly blessing. Human nature has the innate desire to be standing on high ground. That position is closer to God, and when the Messiah comes with ultimate hope, the person in that position can identify him first.</p>
|
||||
<p>Jesus came to Israel 2,000 years ago. Do you think he came to Israel just as the leader of that particular nation, or did he come with a dream and desire for the entire world? No doubt he came with an ideal for the world. Tragically, the chosen people refused to accept this universal leader as the Messiah; they were not ready. But innate human desire has not changed. Everybody is still looking for the pinnacle of the world because they know it is the place closest to the Messiah, closest to God.</p>
|
||||
<p>How about you? Are you looking for this position? It is a common human desire, regardless of your level of education. You may have just gone through elementary school or you may be a Harvard Ph.D. It does not make any difference. Human nature is always trying to be on higher ground, to be where the ray of hope hits first.</p>
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<p>Who am I? You should answer that question, “I am the one striving toward the high point of the world, trying to be on the pinnacle of the world; that is who I am.” That one central point is the position where the entire world is concentrated. The person who has arrived at this pinnacle is in a position to say, “Without me this world is empty and in despair. I am the one who relays the blessing from the top. Without me the rest of the world has no point to rally around.”</p>
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<p>The person who can say, “I am the center of the world,” can certainly say, “I am the center of the nation. I am indispensable for the nation; I am indispensable for the society and the family, and finally, I am indispensable for myself. Without me there is no ‘I’.”</p>
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<p>That is the ultimate hope of “I.” “I” wants to be the center of the entire world. That is the relationship in which “I” wants to exist. That “I” cannot isolate itself from the rest of the world. When that “I” moves forward then the rest of the world moves too, because that “I” is the center of the entire world and of society. That kind of “I” could not exist without being surrounded by the rest of the world. “I” cannot be the center of the world without a world, but today people are trying to exclude God and the whole world. They want to exist only for themselves. This cannot work. They disregard everything in existence around them, trying to be “I” by themselves; however, one cannot exist by oneself.</p>
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<p>When you say “center,” your meaning implies the existence of the rest of the world. A center does not come first; the world comes first. If you want to stand on the pinnacle of the world, the important thing is whether you want to become the center of the world. Each one of you must realize and say, “I am responsible for the world.” That awakening will bring you to the center.</p>
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<p>It is logical that blessing and responsibility come together. Most people say, “I want the honor of being the center of the world, but I do not desire to be responsible for the world.” Is that how you are thinking, or do you think, “I am going to be the center of the world because I want to take up the responsibility of the world”? Which one? Instead of putting themselves in the center of the world, most people are trying to move the world to their center. They stand fast and do not want to budge. They say, “Let the world come to me and make me the center.” Is that possible?</p>
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<p>In relation to the rest of the world the center is always an equal distance from any edge. You travel the same distance in any direction to reach the edge of the circle. A person might say, “I’m American so I’m close to America, but I’m a little distant from Asians, Europeans and Africans.” Then that person is not exactly at the center. That person is somewhat distorted, somewhat off center. The person at the exact center of the circle has an attitude and personality that is completely accommodating and embracing. If a person says, “I’m a white man so I don’t care about blacks or yellows or any other race,” then he is not perfectly in the center. That person could perhaps become the center of the white race, but certainly not of all the races of the world.</p>
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<p>Then what kind of person must the Messiah be? The Messiah is the first person to put himself on the pinnacle of the world, to perfectly position himself at the center. Who can have rapport with the Messiah when he comes to this world? In America some people think only of themselves and are very individualistic. Could these people possibly establish rapport with the coming Messiah? They have an entirely different outlook on life. Is the philosophy of that kind of individualistic and egoistic person parallel with the philosophy of the Messiah?</p>
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<p>Because the Messiah is coming with a universal concept and, therefore, universal equality, anyone who pursues individualism is the enemy of the Messiah. When someone says he wants to become the pinnacle of the world, the center of the world, what he means is that he wants to inherit the Messiah’s concept, the messianic ideal. The Messiah is looking for people of that philosophy and conviction. Ultimately speaking, such people are striving to become messiahs themselves. Simply said, people just want to follow the Messiah and imitate him, and finally they want to make themselves actual messiahs.</p>
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<p>The central position of the Messiah is the position of God. The Messiah and God hold one concept. Anyone who is following the mandate or teachings of the Messiah is initially a follower and disciple. But later that disciple will not even need instruction. He will automatically think the same as the Messiah; he will act and work and live by the same concept as the Messiah, elevating himself to the position of Messiah.</p>
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<p>When the Messiah comes he is looking for such ready people. Why is that? There are people who are ready to be positioned in the center of the world in the Messiah’s position. God and the Messiah are seeking such people because it is easier. Such people do not need much training; they are already disciplined and educated to take the position of the Messiah. When the Messiah comes and actually mobilizes such people, he can make that family a messiah’s family; he can make that society a messiah’s society and that nation a messiah’s nation.</p>
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<p>Think of yourself, what kind of person are you? Do you need lots of training to become a messiah or are you disciplined and ready, just waiting to be touched and you will become a messiah? What kind of person are you? When the Messiah comes as the center of the universe and summons you to come to the center, are you a person who will say, “Yes, sir, I will be with you in a second,” or will you say, “No, sir, I don’t want to move. You come and stay with me”?</p>
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<p>If your original position is in one place but you are summoned to the center, should you take all your surroundings with you, and slowly but surely get there? Or should you be revolutionary, taking off the shackles of your old surroundings and dashing like a bullet? Will you keep all the old wires and ropes fastened to you so you can always be pulled back to your old position, or will you chop them all off. The important thing to realize is that you have to get rid of your old position and shackles to move to the position of the Messiah. You can plan to go back to your old surroundings some day, or you can completely get rid of them and stay in your new position for eternity. As a member of the Unification Church it is very important to establish the second attitude.</p>
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||||
<p>You are not moving anywhere else but to a higher central position. When you consummate your mission there you will not have to go back to influence your old place because you will already be the center of the world, and you can lift up your old surroundings. As you elevate yourself in the center of the world your direction is a one way street, and there is no reason for you to go back to the past position. This is history. When saints and holy men undertake a cause of righteousness and justice, there is no way to retreat.</p>
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<p>When you begin your march toward the higher central position then you must not go back. This is very important. For “ample, when you become a true patriot to save America, you need to sacrifice your individual surroundings. By the same token, when your cause is for the sake of the world, then an even greater sacrifice of your individual surroundings is needed.</p>
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<p>Even your closest loved ones, your wife or husband, could be an obstacle when you undertake this holy mission. But if you sacrifice them, even disregarding them at times and closing your eyes to all your individual circumstances, you can raise yourself up to fulfill the highest possible mission. By doing that you are inflicting sacrifice on your surroundings. Should this be regarded as sin?</p>
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<p>When a person is moving toward the center it might look like he is cruelly leaving his wife and children and all his circumstances to go to the higher position. However, by doing so, he is doing the most good for his own family. By reaching his destination he has a chance to bring them into that center, too.</p>
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<p>The view that the road of a saint is a one-way street upward and forward is part of Eastern philosophy. The loyal subject of a nation or king walks a one-way street of loyalty, never looking back. But this corresponds to your own understanding; it makes sense in Western philosophy, doesn’t it?</p>
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<p>Let’s look at my life from this standpoint. In spite of going through hardships for 30 years I still forged ahead toward the higher goal and came to America. Here too, I am receiving tremendous persecution and am being mistreated. But from this principle, should I go back to my comfortable place in Korea? Is that what the righteous person should do? Or should I follow the one-way street upward?</p>
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<p>Is your advice to go straight forward? When you say, “That is my advice, Father,” that means you are actually saying, “Father, we are willing to back you up. We are willing to follow you, or even beat you and go ahead of you.” Are you saying that? So far I am a lonely runner, running only by myself with nobody beside me or in front of me. After 30 years of running I would like to see someone running faster than I am, saying, “Father, just hold my hand, I will pull you.” Are you going to be that kind of person?</p>
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<p>There are many ways you can go. You can go slowly, taking all the time you want for relaxation, food, sleep and worldly enjoyment. But it might take you a millennium to get there. Would you go that way? Or would you forget everything else and go like a dashing bullet? That “dashing bullet” is a very important phrase this morning. Do you think this world needs a movement to push people and fire them up so they rush toward the center?</p>
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<p>Logically you can say yes, but are you reluctant to accept it? There are many ambitious people outside wanting to be recognized and to excel in the world. But when I ask what they would do to become famous, they do not have an answer. They do not even have a clear vision of their reason for wanting to become famous.</p>
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<p>In the world many scholars strive day in and day out to become famous. While they are working so hard they sacrifice many things and become old and pale, but then once they become famous they wonder, “What was my purpose? Why did I push myself so hard to become famous?” Even once they are recognized they feel such emptiness, even despair. Many people strive toward very ambitious goals in the political and the academic worlds, but once they attain them they realize that actually their dream was not fulfilled through those ambitions.</p>
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<p>Only when your dream is parallel to the dream of God and the dream of the Messiah will you be fulfilled. When you reach your pinnacle you have such a completely consummated feeling in your life that you feel utterly rich and full of hope and blessing.</p>
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<p>The person who truly recognizes God and recognizes the Messiah’s ideal, the ultimate purpose of this world, will never end up in despair. However, without that ideal, even though you go higher and higher, your despair will grow deeper and your life darker.</p>
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<p>America has another new President, Jimmy Carter. He has become an American hero, but what will history say about him? He must still prove himself. Is he living for his own ego and accomplishment, or can he be a hero for America and the world? More important, can he be a hero in history, a hero in the sight of God? I wonder what he thinks about his own mission. Is he thinking in terms of the heavenly dispensation for all of humanity, in terms of the entire world? What kind of president will he be? He is facing a very severe test. What kind of American president would God want? He wants a God-centered one, right?</p>
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<p>Communists have no hope because they deny the vertical, central position of God. When the communist world sinks down to the bottom of despair it has no hope to recover. But no matter how desperate the free world becomes, as long as it accepts God and keeps connected to the one vertical line to God, the spirit of God can come down and give revival and restoration. That has been the history of God. Humanity has fallen down to the dungeon of hell so many times throughout history, but with God there is always one vertical line of life and hope to bring mankind back. Why is there so much despair outside today? Simply because the people do not know God. The moment we know the existence of God, His purpose, His will and His love, then our despair turns into hope. Is that true? I am sure this concept is clear to you.</p>
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<p>Let us expound for a moment on who am I in the Unification Church? First of all, what is the Unification Church? This nation has been mistreating the Unification Church because the people do not understand our purpose. They wonder who I am, what kind of person I am. Am I someone who wants to become the 40th president of the United States, or who wants to become a billionaire and live with a thousand servants? What kind of person am I? The answer is very simple: I am the person who brought hope to this world of despair. What kind of hope? I am bringing the reality of God to man’s life, letting mankind see God.</p>
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<p>This world is in despair because it has no central figure and no center. Without a center this world has to be in confusion. Certainly none of you knows what your center is or America’s center, or the world’s center. Therefore, you cannot relate yourself to anything stable or of value, and there is confusion. There must be some central vertical line from heaven, plus a horizontal line at a 90 degree angle. There should be clear-cut vertical and horizontal lines, but instead people draw their own lines at many different angles. All over the world everyone is drawing his own lines. There are not many people who are confident that they can intersect with the vertical line and become one with the center. For the proper relationship there must be a 90 degree angle between God and the horizontal line.</p>
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<p>We are searching for the position where we can have this 90 degree angle. There is one central vertical line, and in relation to it there is only one horizontal line at a 90 degree angle. Your line may not have the same length as the worldwide or universal line; it may be very short. However, it is very important that your line on the family scale or societal scale be at a 90 degree angle to the vertical line.</p>
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<p>This world has not yet seen this central vertical line, and because the world has no model to align itself with, people continue to make all kinds of lines at random, thinking they are parallel with the horizontal line. They can think this only because they do not have a central point. Some philosophies have a person standing upside down and backwards, and still present him as the center of the world.</p>
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<p>Did you know we need such a clear-cut vertical line? In the Unification Church we are striving to know that vertical line. At the family level your line is not too high, but you are going to be absolutely straight and parallel to the central example. Then you have a guarantee of heaven. In English you say a person has a “clear” conscience, but in Korean we say his conscience is very “straight.”</p>
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<p>As we progress from the family level to the societal level, to the national level, and so forth, we make constant progress along the vertical line. Now most of you are pursuing your own individual course horizontally. This is the direction of achievement. As you progress more you will rise along the vertical line, moving toward higher development. This is the way of life of the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>Shall we stand still or go on? What men badly need today is an example, so they can see with their own eyes what is righteous. God is revealing that right direction or vertical line in the form of a new religion. Through it people can come to clearly see God with their own eyes. Even if I do not speak to you, are you still bubbling with enthusiasm every day to develop more? Has this been your goal?</p>
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<p>Where are we? Let us each determine what our true position is as an individual. How much territory have you covered? Where am I standing? How much am I ahead of you, or how much behind? Have I covered the entire territory, or am I somewhere along the way? Does the Unification Church have its own sovereignty, its own nation? Do we have our own heavenly world?</p>
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<p>We have not yet broken through the national boundaries, nor are we universally united yet. If I had a worldwide foundation large enough that I could really push upward beyond the national level, then do you think any more persecution would come? What I am saying is very important: we still have a higher goal to achieve. America has not been saved yet; the world is lying there, waiting for salvation. I have accomplished all the conditions that are needed for the spiritual victory. Therefore, even if I died today, this movement would still succeed; the day of glorious victory would come. However, our job is still ahead of us.</p>
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<p>Do not think that I am the one who will be the champion and leader. You must be the champions of this world and of God; you must lead this nation and this world into salvation. That work remains to be done. Shall we go? We must determine to go. Will you say, “Oh, Father, the weather is so cold, could you give us just a little bit of time to relax?” Or will you go regardless of the weather, regardless of the temperature, regardless of the time of day or night? When you are shivering in cold, will you go backward or forward? You have a tendency to stand still. Do you want to have me come push you forward, or say, ” You just stand there and rest” ? Actually I do not like pushing!</p>
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<p>There are three choices: to go forward, to stand still, or to retreat. Which is your choice? I want you to know one important thing: It is your destiny to go forward. Whether you like it or not, whether at your own will or someone else’s will, regardless, you must get there. As you go forward your achievement is greater, you are entitled to higher heaven.</p>
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<p>God is so willing to push you because this is your only opportunity. In His love God is ready to push you, even club you. If a person will accept it and persevere through such pushing, even crying but still striving to go forward, God will push. There is no mercy in this situation. The problem is that God hesitates to do it because if He pushes you too much, you might just collapse, and that would disappoint Him so much! He is inspired by the kind of person who can take a beating, saying, “Father, come after me; push me all of the way. “You men and women are dynamos; you must always have energy for thrusting yourself forward, for running within yourself.</p>
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<p>What is today’s topic? It is: “Who Am I?” The answer to that question should be, “I am going to be the one who can achieve heaven, the one who consummates the ultimate heaven.” Can you say that? You must know that you cannot go alone. You are the center of the world; you must bring your family with you, your society with you, your nation and world with you. That is your burden.</p>
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<p>In accordance with the Principle formula, if there is a person prepared to take this responsibility when the Messiah comes, then the Messiah cannot go anywhere else but to that person; there is no other way that God and the Messiah can fulfill the mission. The Unification Church is a religion needed by the Messiah, needed by God. The Unification Church is showing the world how we can become parallel to the central line, how we can make our own vertical line on the family level, societal level, national level, worldwide level, and cosmic level. The Unification Church has a blueprint so that each individual can achieve the ultimate destination.</p>
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<p>What the world will say about me does not matter. The important thing is whether we are on the right track. As long as we have the right principle, whether we have connected with the Messiah or God yet does not make any difference. We do not have to worry; the Messiah and God will come to us. If this is not the truth, then you do not have to worry further because that would mean there is no God, and if there is no God, we do not need to worry about anything. As long as God exists this must be the truth, and as long as this is the truth, it will be our way of life.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church is the new religion which is to achieve this ultimate goal. We have a highway of truth laid all the way to the top of the world. By achieving that pinnacle we are going to liberate humanity, and most important, liberate God. On that day I too will be liberated. A few moments ago I said this is your destiny, but this is also the destiny of the world, the destiny of humanity. But what a blessing! God has shown that destiny to us first! He has made us pioneers of the eternal heaven. We have been hand-picked by God as pioneers of that heaven.</p>
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<p>You are living as historic persons; you have an historic responsibility, an historical mission calling you. Shall we go? This is a war; it is a battle and regardless of the sacrifice we must go on. Some might falter and some casualties might be suffered, but we still must go. There is no other choice. Actually you have a very easy path simply because you have me as a pathfinder in front of you. Without my being in America it would be ten times, a hundred times more difficult; this is really your golden era.</p>
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<p>The important thing I want you to know is that I will not be here forever. If America fails to become the center of the world, if America fails to respond to the worldwide mission, then I must go somewhere to people who will rise to the worldwide mission. Historically we have never seen such a pattern. If the young people of America unite with me, if you and I become one, we can make a new history.</p>
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<p>Nowhere in the history of America, in the Western world, have there been young people calling an Oriental man “Father.” The word “Father” is abused. In the Catholic church they call priests “Father,” but in our Unification ideology “Father” has a different meaning. It is an historical event. Why should the brilliant young people of America try to follow me, giving up everything to take up a sacrificial way of life? It is because they see the truth; they see that there is no greater hope, no greater future than this one. You are these young people of vision; your vision conceives of the greatest hope and future, and you know you cannot find it anywhere else. The future of America, the future of the world lies only in the youth of this nation. The world shall bless you.</p>
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<p>“Who Am I?” That is my subject this morning. The answer is, “I am the one who conquers the despair of the world; I am the one who conquers the concept of the Last Days, which is not a time of despair but of the greatest hope. I am the one who can go over the hill. I am the one to meet the Messiah on prepared flat ground instead of on a rugged mountain. I am the one who is going to be the pathfinder, the pioneer, the one who will have the groundwork ready to welcome the Messiah.”</p>
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<p>Where would you like to meet him? On a small foothill, on the second hill or third hill, or beyond the hill of the universe? Where would you like to meet him? Where would you like to meet God, here or high above? Since God is staying over there if you say, “God, wait for me there,” it means you are going to go this way without God’s help. You are promising that to God, saying, “God, don’t worry about me; stay there. I’ll get there.” Are you confident of that? Do you desperately need the help of God, or are you going to desperately help God?</p>
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<p>This is not the time for long prayers but only short, terse prayers. That is all we need. What we need is action in faith. In our case, our search is over because we know the center of the family, the center of society, and the center of the world. All we have to do is get there and be with him and just live out our destiny.</p>
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<p>You already know the truth. Now if you do not act according to the truth and live the truth then the rest of the world will accuse you. You cannot excuse yourself saying that you did not know the truth. You knew the center, but still you lazed around and were idle. The entire world, all of humanity, even the spirit world, and your surroundings will accuse you. You will become the target of accusation.</p>
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<p>The destiny of the entire spirit world and humanity rests on your shoulders. If you become idle or weak, the consequences will affect not only you but the rest of the world and the entire spirit world. They will definitely look upon you as an enemy. You knew the truth and you did not act upon it. You will make yourself God’s and my adversary,</p>
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<p>The person who does not know the truth has one excuse, “God, I did not know.” But in the Unification Church no excuse will work. Those who say, “No, I still don’t know anything,” raise your hand. If you know, then you must go and act. Since I know the truth, I cannot just stand still; I have to be on the move. Regardless of what the world will say, I will still go. My responsibility is to let the world know in the shortest possible time. This proclamation came to a climax in the year 1976. It does not make any difference if they took it positively or negatively; in 1976 1 let the world know my declaration.</p>
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<p>Now the people of the world have no excuse in the sight of God. They will say to God, “Oh, I heard about Reverend Moon but I heard only bad things about him.” That excuse will not work in the sight of God. God will say, “Why didn’t you investigate? In history all the righteous men have been persecuted and misunderstood. Even though you heard negative things about Reverend Moon, why didn’t you go and find out who he was?” The people have no excuse.</p>
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<p>In 1975 1 sent out missionaries to 120 nations of the world. I knew that incredible suffering, tribulation and persecution would come to them. Why did I do it? I had to let the world know so that in the dark day of judgment the world would be without excuse. For the first time in mission history in the world of religion, missionaries from formerly enemy nations were sent out together: one Japanese, one American, and one German. Has history ever recorded that kind of mission work?</p>
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<p>Because of that our missionaries make even greater controversy and upheaval in those nations. My aim is for the representatives of these nations-Germany, Japan, and the United States-to be eye-catching. Because they are so very different from any other representatives in all of mission history, a nation has more reason to investigate why they came; therefore that nation will be without excuse later on.</p>
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<p>I have fulfilled my responsibility and am now free from accusation. I have done the work in goodness for the purpose of salvation. Only pure desire, sacrificial work, and genuine labor of blood and sweat are here. If people in the world respond only negatively, it is not our responsibility but their responsibility. I will have reason to accuse them.</p>
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<p>I sent missionaries to each nation to create a base to elevate the spirit world. Now people in the spirit world cannot say to me, “Why didn’t you send your missionary to my country?” No one can say that. They cannot accuse me that I did not do something for each nation.</p>
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<p>If I were elevated to the spirit world without having sent missionaries to Africa, the African people there would say, “You talked about world brotherhood under the fatherhood of God, but actually you didn’t accomplish that. Why didn’t you send missionaries to the African continent?” But now they can no longer say that.</p>
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||||
<p>In spirit world no person, including the heads of state of the 120 nations of the world, can say, “Reverend Moon, you have such a wonderful truth; why didn’t you come and tell our people?” Could the American young people say, “Why did you pay attention only to the Unification Church young people and not share with us outside?” I visited all 50 states of America, not leaving even one state out. Ten years ago, even before anybody knew of me, I established 120 holy grounds in different parts of the world, but more than 60 of them were here in America alone. I gave so much to this country. Nobody can accuse me of neglecting my responsibility.</p>
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||||
<p>Since 19601 have had the responsibility of going out to the world to proclaim the truth of God. Particularly in recent years I have been accomplishing a special dispensation to inform the world. Now at least they know about us-whether they have a good impression or bad. The Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument Rallies were not just national but worldwide events. Certainly the American people are left without the excuse that they did not hear about Reverend Moon. If someone has not heard about Reverend Moon by now, he is not American! Whether negatively or positively the people have heard about me. Therefore, I have accomplished my responsibility. I have done the work necessary to free myself from any accusation from the contemporary world and the spirit world.</p>
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||||
<p>Indeed, the year of 1976 is the year of Reverend Moon in history, the year of the Unification Church. In the January issues of some of the major magazines like Newsweek and People there were summaries of 1976 events and I was included, not because they liked me, but because they had to list me as an event of 1976. 1 have been personally proclaiming the truth for the sake of the American people, for the sake of the world and for the entire spirit world. There was much negativity directed at our movement, but the Washington Monument victory was one positive note. Because of that event people had to recognize me as a man of strength, a man of organization, a man of action, and a man of my word.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am sure you vividly recall Yankee Stadium. I addressed the American people, but actually I was speaking to the world. I said I came to America as a doctor to heal this wounded land. I came as a fire fighter because this house is on fire. Nobody else can make such statements; I do not think the American President can, nor can American youth or Norman Vincent Peale or Billy Graham. I also knew I was addressing history, not just contemporary America. History will establish this as truth.</p>
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||||
<p>At Washington Monument I proclaimed that I came to guide the young people into becoming the leaders of tomorrow’s America, tomorrow’s world. Can eminent professors or the religious leaders of America make such a statement? Even the Presidents have never claimed to guide the American young people into becoming the leaders of tomorrow. Perhaps some people are scornful of me. Never mind. History will tell the truth. Under opposition I have had the courage and dynamic strength and conviction to proclaim that I came to save the young people of America.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Washington Post and New York Times we were recorded in history. Nobody can say, “Well, I didn’t know about Reverend Moon; I didn’t hear about him.” The year 1976 was a year of history making events. Because of the victory I won in 1976 here in America, the entire spirit world has been liberated and united. They are in jubilant celebration. All the barriers and divisions of the different denominations and religions have been broken down. Spirit world is enthusiastic in welcoming my work. This is why I could proclaim the day of the victory of heaven on October 4, 1976.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because there have been great divisions in spirit world, and because it is the world of cause, my strategy focused on it. In spirit world there are Buddhists, Moslems, Christians, and people of every other religion, all in their own separate communities. Since my victory here on earth all these barriers have been broken down. This is why I can proclaim the victory of heaven. There are no more boundaries in spirit world, the subject world of cause. Therefore, sooner or later that will be reflected in the object world of the flesh. Then national and religious boundaries here on earth will be broken down. A wave of spiritual assault is now crashing onto the physical world. The entire spirit world is descending not only to the free world, but to the communist world as well.</p>
|
||||
<p>Spirit world is 100% with us. Therefore spirit world cannot leave anyone alone who comes to oppose my cause unrighteously, but will chastise them. You will see. I have a plan and God has a plan to fill the entire environment with spiritual power. Spirits will come in a first wave, second wave, and third wave. I have prepared wave after wave to assault the earth. This means that you are in Adam and Eve’s position, with the entire spirit world in the archangelic position. Are you, Adam, and you, Eve, going to fall behind the spirit world? Are you going to be led by the archangel? Are you fallen Adam and fallen Eve? Are you the one who brought sin to the world, binding God and bringing tragedy to the world, or are you the one to restore all things to God, bringing liberation to God and to me? Which one?</p>
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<p>Do you stand below the fallen level or above? Do you still have the possibility of falling, or did you get rid of the possibility? Will you mind if you have no chance to get married? To fulfill the will of God you must first become perfected Eve before you can be blessed and have a family. After you are perfected, will you bring great sorrow to God or only joy? In order to bring a life of joy to God you have to bring the entire world to Him. Then you can say, “Father, I want to be blessed.” Then God will say, “Certainly, you deserve it.” But you cannot be blessed even one inch before that. That is the Principle. Which one should come first, your marriage or the fulfillment of the will of God?</p>
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||||
<p>How about you, Adam? Dumb Adam, you were caught by cunning Eve. You lost your subject position. That is why the entire world has become like this. Dumb Adam! What will you do? Will you say, “Father, we don’t need that sly and cunning Eve. We will just do the will of God first”? When temptation comes from Eve, then will you just completely black out the will of God as your eyes go in her direction? No? If I say, “I want to bless this group of people here,” would you just sit there or would you move over here? What is your honest opinion?</p>
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<p>Once again we come back to the subject of the morning: “Who Am I?” You should answer, “I am not fallen Adam or fallen Eve. I am Adam or Eve who will restore God’s wishes and bring liberation to God and humanity. That is who I am.” When Adam is perfected as an individual he will automatically become the center of the family, the center of society, the center of the nation and of the world. That was God’s original plan and we must restore that tradition. We want to become Adam and Eve as the center of the universe. Then the entire universe will rest upon our shoulders. When you are perfected and fulfill your mission as Adam and Eve together, all heaven and earth will be united. We will indeed be the fulfillment of the will of God, the fulfillment of His joy, and the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Restored, fulfilled Adam is full of joy. He will be so jubilant that all heaven and earth will envy and respect him. Are you ready to become that kind of Adam and Eve?</p>
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<p>There are two ways to go in Unification Church. One way is to just go along passively and reluctantly, without any stamina or enthusiasm. The person going that way will never make it to the end. The other way is to go ahead of everybody with bubbling enthusiasm, burning with zeal and ambition, possessing a perfect understanding of the will of God. Would you go this way?</p>
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<p>It is a cold day and working outside witnessing and fund raising is not that easy. Even though your whole body is shivering and going backward, will you remember that I said you have to go willingly and with jubilance and bubbling enthusiasm? Is that attitude truly in your heart, or are you just trying to be that way? We are involved in serious business.</p>
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<p>Who are you? Who am I? We are the perfected, restored Adam and Eve. When we look outside the window we see a world dying, trembling in despair. Satan is holding the people, binding them and making them his prisoners. They are victims of Satan. Would you just look on as a bystander or spectator, or would you feel indignation and go out and do something about it? Do you feel that indignation and wrath of God? Do you feel like saying, “Satan, you brought misery to the garden of Eden; you brought misery to the heart of God. As God’s child I will not let you alone. I will not let you go. I will liquidate you; I will fight and win.” Do you feel that burning wrath of God toward Satan?</p>
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<p>You can be one of two kinds of people. One is the kind that Satan sees and says, “Yow! That is a giant coming; I must take over!” And Satan will run. The other kind of person Satan sees and says, “Oh, that Adam, what is he? I have nothing to fear from him.” What kind of Adam and Eve are you? The person who Satan laughs at or runs away from? Once again we come back to the subject, “Who Am I?” Can you answer, “I am the exterminator of Satan; that is who I am”? Are you? When you go down a street in New York and you see certain ungodly, immoral things going on, don’t you feel the indignation and wrath of God toward this, or are you apathetic, just passing by? Looking at the American youth corrupted by drugs, free sex, and immoral acts, dying every day, being victimized by Satan every day. Do you feel apathy towards them, or do you feel the responsibility and wrath of God to do something about it?</p>
|
||||
<p>We will create an America which God can love, from the common people all the way up to the President of the United States. Today, if you have pledged yourselves to such a responsibility shall we just go home, or shall we show in some public place that we will truly take up the responsibility?</p>
|
||||
<p>Then are you going to be Adam and Eve who will liberate God and liquidate Satan and bring America to be the God-favored nation of the world? America is dying and the world is dying. New York must be like a spiritual volcano, exploding with spiritual power and achievement. I am expecting it from you. Go out from today on; get down to work and bring the result. Everybody is in the same situation; you must get down to work.</p>
|
||||
<p>I set the rule: everybody must earn three meals a day. If you do not go out to witness that meal will accuse you. Are you doing that? Do you feel good when I scold you? Even if you do not want to hear this, you must accept it fully. If you try to reject it you will be accused permanently. You cannot say, “Oh, I don’t want to hear that; it makes me very sad and uncomfortable.”</p>
|
||||
<p>America is going into an era of turmoil. Carter is the 39th President and next is the 40th President, The number 40 is very significant in the history of the dispensation. Therefore this period of time in American history is going to be marked by great upheaval and difficulty. America is heading toward an unprecedented crisis. America is coming into an age of realization and awakening, and Americans must analyze the present government and the people involved in and surrounding it. Maybe President Carter has a brilliant mind and good heart, but perhaps the people surrounding him are deeply corrupted. So many communists are behind the scenes to take advantage of him.</p>
|
||||
<p>In my prayer I am deeply concerned for American much more so than at any previous time. The Carter administration has indicated that it will seek to withdraw armed forces from Korea. Carter already spoke about this shortly before his inauguration. This shows that America’s traditional foreign policy of standing up for freedom in the world is in danger. Americans have been willing to sacrifice for the sake of brothers who were the victims of communist aggression in other lands. That was the tradition since the time of Roosevelt and Truman, but it seems that America’s foreign policy is turning into a mockery and is retreating into a weak position.</p>
|
||||
<p>Already America has lost so much credibility in the opinions of most nations. Many nations no longer expect America to be a world leader; they have already given up hope in America. For America to safeguard even its own safety, Asia, more than Europe, is in a critical, pivotal position. Withdrawal from Asia will bring danger to the very shores of America. Russia is seeking to move into the Pacific Ocean, and Soviet Russia is much bolder than the United States. Alaska is situated side by side with Russia. Any turmoil in Asia will rapidly bring about an emergency situation there, and then within five years America will be fighting another formidable world war.</p>
|
||||
<p>In World War II Japan was hostile to America. But once the communists take it over, the Japan of the past will look like a peanut compared to the new, formidable enemy America will have to face. Look at Canada. Canada’s internal problem is severe; the French and British people of Canada are divided almost to the point of civil war. Canada is not just some far away land; if civil war breaks out in Canada, America’s adversaries will dedicate themselves to bringing about the same situation in this country, too.</p>
|
||||
<p>Underground communists are ultimately dedicated to breaking down this nation. My conviction is that America must be strong and again take up the responsibility of the world. America must be aggressive in its Asian policy, taking initiative in positive, strong, determined action. This alone can save Asia.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to stir up that kind of spirit here in America, a revival of Christianity is important. It has to come. This is why here in America I am starting a revolution to awaken a new spirit of sacrifice, love and service. From its leadership down to its grass roots, America must rearm itself with a new spiritual force. That alone can turn the tide in America but God cannot trust the established churches to do this.</p>
|
||||
<p>Recently I received a very secret letter from two young people who were planted as underground communist agents. They had a certain motivation to write me and expose their tactics. They are distributing money to communists who are sent out to churches on Sunday. They appear to be absolutely devout Christians and give lots of money to the church and through this they control the pastor, the church administration and sometimes actually infiltrate as pastors themselves. These young people revealed that many communist priests, pastors and ministers have already infiltrated into various church hierarchies.</p>
|
||||
<p>Communists are promoting Christianity because one day they want to utilize Christianity to set up a revolution. The churches have the kind of atmosphere that allows them to become instruments for an ultimate communist takeover. This is what is happening today. In Korea there are many Christians who oppose Korea, and maintain a hardline, pro-Communist policy. In the name of Christianity and human rights, they are trying to tear down the anti-Communist posture and discredit such leadership.</p>
|
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<p>We must deeply understand that another line is trying to infiltrate behind the Christian churches. One day they will use the Christian churches as their bases of operation. This is the reality happening right now in America. What can we do under these circumstances? A principal communist tactic is division. They set up division everywhere; when they infiltrate Christianity they will make division between Judaism and Christianity. Communists now are uniting Judaism and Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic, to oppose the Unification Church. This is their goal and cherished plan. When this plan has succeeded they will move to the next step, and after dividing Judaism and Christianity they will pit them against each other.</p>
|
||||
<p>Although we embrace all religions of the world they are trying to accuse us of being anti-Semitic. This is far from the truth, but they are using it as an instrument to bring about a confrontation between Judaism and the Unification Church. Under those circumstances the Unification Church must make , firm foundation in the next two years, 1977 and 1978. Unless we do that America is without hope and its future will be very, very dismal. This is our goal. With that understanding you must go and reach out.</p>
|
||||
<p>Do you think this handful of people is large enough and good enough to influence and move America? Realistically speaking, what we need in New York alone is 5,000 members. That is why I prepared a center with a 5,000 member capacity. You have that center in the New Yorker, but most of the rooms are empty. If the New Yorker is filled with enthusiastic members then I can clean up New York. Those who do not contribute to witnessing and evangelizing do not deserve to remain in New York.</p>
|
||||
<p>Mr. Kamiyama has been assigned as the head of an IOWC team, but I am now giving him an emergency mission. He must leave the IOWC mission in Boston under Aidan Barry or some other leader and together with Dr. Bergman come up with a most sound and exciting plan to evangelize New York. I want you to have a most spectacular achievement in the next few weeks and months. Dr. Bergman, you must become a complete object to Mr. Kamiyama; become completely one and come up with an aggressive evangelistic movement in New York.</p>
|
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<p>I want to give a special mandate to the Japanese members. You did not come here to America to be idle. Unless each of you fulfills the one person per month ratio in America, all of you must return to your own country. I will not stay in New York all of the time but will go around the entire nation from one place to the next each day. In the last couple of weeks I went to several places, and I felt so deeply touched by the members who were waiting, begging me to stay a little longer. They were waiting for my visit for so long that I almost felt guilty in front of them.</p>
|
||||
<p>American members, even though I gave a special mandate to the Japanese members, you are not going to be defeated by them, are you? The Japanese members are working with many handicaps in language and cultural background. After all, you are the hosts and hostesses in this city and nation. The Japanese are going out and trying to witness to the American people with such tremendous difficulty. I want you to know that. American brothers and sisters, you are the ones to really move ahead in the forefront and set the example.</p>
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<p>Now in wintertime is the best time for witnessing, not spring or summer when there are too many other attractions. I trust that you are going to fulfill and deliver the results as you pledged already before heaven and earth</p>
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<div id="post-1159" class="post-1159 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">WHO WAS I?</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T14:14:46+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/who-was-i.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T14:14:46+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/who-was-i.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">March 13, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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||||
<p>The topic of my message this morning is <i>“Who Was I?”</i> Throughout the entire history of mankind the problem has always been “I.” You are citizens of this nation but that category alone does not adequately describe who you are. You can trace your family tree, searching deeply into the root of your heritage to your grandfather, your great-grandfather, and continue all the way to the origin of human existence. When you say “ancestors,” you always think of your grandparents, and perhaps your great-great-grandparents, but beyond that you have little concept of your ancestry. It is not real to you.</p>
|
||||
<p>As we read about the thousands of years of human history we find that some people were evil and some good. As we took around at our society and nation we find that today also there are good people and evil people. It follows then that there were good and evil people both in history and in your ancestry. What kind of ancestors do you have? Can you be completely confident that you have no evil ancestors, or do you have a mixture of good and evil in your past? There are so many kinds of personalities; in your lineage there may even have been some traitors who betrayed the nation.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually you have two family trees: your father’s and your mother’s. These two entirely different family trees merge in you. In addition, your mother’s tree and father’s tree both have two lineages, and each of your grandparents also have two lineages. As we look far back in history your entire lineage can be seen to spread over a great area. You are the fruit of a vast family tree. Just to understand this tangled mixture of family trees is too tedious for us; we do not even want to bother. When we look at our present world we know that what is happening today on the horizontal level is a repetition of what has happened throughout history.</p>
|
||||
<p>Who are you and whom do you resemble? The simple answer is that you resemble your father and your mother. However, you are the product of both your father’s and mother’s entire lineage, and every cell in your body contains some component of your entire ancestry.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the back yard of East Garden there is an apple tree that is probably 20 or 30 years old. When it bears apples they represent 30 years of growth, not just the current year. We can say that the fruit is 30 years old. In the same way you are historical beings. Your “I” did not just pop out of heaven. “I” is linked to the past, the present and the future. When we dig deeper and deeper to find the ultimate cause of the universe, we will see that our lives are connected to the origin, which is God. Since God created mankind and the entire universe, then “I” must be in the image of that particular God.</p>
|
||||
<p>If there is a God then He must be good. Therefore we too, should be born good in the image of God. However, from the beginning to the present time there have been so many evil deeds and sins committed that we are now quite separated from God. There is a large gap between God and our present selves. We are the extension of God who is good, but our extension of Him is stained and dirty. When God looks down upon the posterity of His own family tree He wants to get rid of all the dirt. You do not even need to know the Bible to see that there is a gap between God and us and that we have been stained.</p>
|
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<h3 align="center">How did we become stained?</h3>
|
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<p>What has made us so dirty throughout these many years of history? Were we born as sinful people to begin with, or have we just slipped into filthy places and become stained? Certainly we have slipped into filthy places, but does anyone like dirty things? When we look into the past, have there been more people working to cleanse sin or to multiply it?</p>
|
||||
<p>What is the origin of this dirty situation? Actually it begins from “me,” and I can say that I received it from my parents, who received it from my grandparents, and they from my great-grandparents. Sin is inherited from our ancestors, who are contaminated by sin. Then what made our ancestors dirty?</p>
|
||||
<p>The essential truth is that our ancestors thought of themselves as being the center of everything; their own egos and selfishness are what stained them. If our ancestors had sought to make themselves clean, they would have emptied themselves and lived in sacrificial service to others. If they had found something more precious than themselves then they could not have become stained. But what could be more precious than themselves? They had to realize that they were resultant beings. Our ancestors should have recognized that there was an Original Being in the position of cause and subject, and that they were the reflection of that cause. They had to recognize first that there is a God who is the eternal subject of all humanity, that He is good, and that they had to live for Him. If anyone in history had consciously lived for God and for His purpose, that person could never have stained himself.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">God and nature are universal</h3>
|
||||
<p>God is the center of the entire universe. He is not a small, local God; He is universal, and the reflection of that God is the entire universe. God is the subjective cause and the entire universe of creation is His object. God is in the center of the entire spirit world, while we men are the center of this visible universe, the physical world. Man has inborn traits that qualify him for this position, for instance, the desire to excel others and to stand out in the world, to be respected by all mankind. Do we have that ambition?</p>
|
||||
<p>To become a person who is recognized worldwide you must become a person who lives and breathes the worldwide situation daily. Think of it, when you have bread in your mouth whose bread are you eating-your own bread or the bread of the world? If your food represents the entire world, which is more precious, you or that bread? If you are existing solely for your own selfish and egoistic purpose while your bread is representing the entire world, which is more precious? At every breakfast you should say, “Mr. Bread, sir, I salute you.” Why do you laugh? You laugh because you feel it is impossible for the bread to be more valuable than you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of the air that you breathe; it belongs to the universe and is in a universal position. Did you buy this air? Is it yours? When you breathe this air do you ever think about whether you are even qualified to breathe it? Have you ever thought of air in this way, “I’m breathing somebody else’s air. Do I have a right to breathe it?” Or do you assume you have a right to breathe it?</p>
|
||||
<p>Think of a glass of water; does it belong to you? Have you ever had the power to create one drop of water? The water belongs to the universe. The water and the air do not belong to evil or self-centered persons; they belong to the universe and to those of universal purpose. What about sunlight? Are the sun rays yours? They are in a universal position. If you are centered only upon yourself and you breathe this air and dominate nature for your own enjoyment, all these things will abhor being subjugated by you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sometimes we see people outside protesting against us. Have you ever thought of the water demonstrating, saying, “I belong to God and to the universe; I don’t want to go into the body of this self-centered, egoistic individual. I protest! I’m not going!” Do you think water has sufficient reason to protest against evil people? How about grains of wheat, sunshine, and air? Do they have cause to demonstrate?</p>
|
||||
<p>The most powerful things in existence in this universe are not the things that are man-made. The sun’s rays, water, air-these are some of the most powerful things in the universe because without them none of us can exist even for two minutes. Have you ever thought of this? This nation has the atomic bomb, but compared to the power of sunshine, air or water, the bomb is a peanut. Suppose the atoms of the air got together with a plan to change this evil world by having a revolution. Air has the power to change the world because within minutes everyone would have to surrender or suffocate.</p>
|
||||
<p>Are all of these natural things individualistic or universal? Even one bird or small animal belongs to the universe and is a universal being. Have you ever thought about things in this way, about whether you even deserve to have all these things? Do you serve as a subject of these things? Do you have the right to possess and enjoy them?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">You must become universal</h3>
|
||||
<p>All your surroundings belong to the universe. Unless you make yourself a universal being and become tied to the universal cause, God, you must realize that all nature around you will not want to be possessed by you or be of service to you. You must become their subject first by making yourself a universal being who is connected to the original cause. Then you are in a position to care for, love, and enjoy the universe. If you make yourself a universal being, connected to the fundamental origin of the universe, then the sunrays will want to come and warm your body. Water will want to get into your mouth and air will want to go into your lungs.</p>
|
||||
<p>When nature is willing to serve you, that air, water and sunshine are far better than any tonic or medicine. The person who deserves the honor of the service of all nature will not catch colds or be seriously ill; he will be healthy for his entire life. Would you like to be someone recognized by the world as a worldwide person? What if you are clumsy, tall and very ugly? Even then you still have the right to become a person respected worldwide by making yourself into a universal man and by connecting yourself to the original subject of the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let us say that among several friends you have one who is always giving you a hard time, continuously nagging you to pay more attention to him. When you look at that person his face is ugly, always trying to snap at you, complaining that you do not pay enough attention to him. Such a person would come to you and then turn around and kick you. Would you want to be around him?</p>
|
||||
<p>Compare that kind of relationship to your relationship with the universe. There are two kinds of people. Some continuously nag, “Why didn’t the sun come out today? Why is the world so dirty? Why couldn’t God make me happier?” Such people have only complaints toward God and nature. Will nature like them? Nature will turn around and kick them instead. Such people may try to make themselves happy by going to the health spa and exercising, but everywhere they go they will be surrounded by enemies; the air will shove them, the water slap them, and the sunshine bum them. That kind of person will never be healthy.</p>
|
||||
<p>The entire natural world has but one universal mind, and as a result the relationship between you and nature should be thought of as the relationship between you and your neighbor. What makes your friend happy or unhappy? Your answer directly applies to your relationship with nature.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why did our ancestors not leave us a clean, pure heritage? Why did they leave us an evil history? The answer can only be that they did not obey the universal law of service, that they violated the divine law of the universe, desiring to make everything serve them: “The world is mine and must come to serve me.” That basic attitude is the worst violation of universal law.</p>
|
||||
<p>In order to become lords of creation we must possess universal character and comply with universal law, meaning that we must become unselfish people, existing solely for service to others. We all want to become recognized as a center of the world, recognized by the universe. In order to do that we ourselves must recognize the value of the universe; we must live in the concept that we are here solely to serve the world. Unless you have that personality you certainly cannot become a central person of the world or the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>God is the center of the universe, the spirit world and physical world together, because He is perfect and exists solely for the sake of others. By living in that way God is making Himself the center of the universe. I am sure you understand.</p>
|
||||
<p>We come to the one absolute criterion: Those who serve themselves, trying to take everything for their own benefit, will produce only evil results. Those who willingly and lovingly give for the benefit of others will bring wholesome results, and add benefit to the side of good. What kind of persons were your ancestors? By only thinking about themselves and their own families, they did not expand their personality to the national or worldwide levels.</p>
|
||||
<p>No matter what you have previously learned, irregardless of how good or well-spoken a person may appear, if he seeks to use everything for his own benefit he is evil. The person who thinks of the difference between his own children and other children is not a universal person; if his children are universal beings then all other children are also universal beings. His wife is precious because she is a universal being; therefore all other women are also important and precious. In this respect we have not liberated the selfishness of our egos. That godly way of life has not been clear.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">What is a saint?</h3>
|
||||
<p>You want to become a good person who is respected worldwide, isn’t that true? A saint is a person of worldwide respect. What is a saint? First, saints recognize God as the first cause of the universe and are primarily religious leaders, like Jesus, Buddha or Mohammed. They recognize God and try to live in service to God; their aim is to serve the entire universe and mankind. This service is their outstanding trait. Actually, saints are the type of people who want to make themselves the subject of the whole universe, becoming respected on the worldwide level by serving the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>Which comes first, the universe or history? Does the universe come within history or history within the universe? Do you want to become an historical or universal person? Do you have confidence to become a universal person? What kind of God do we have, universal or historical? When you make yourself a universal person, are you making yourself a friend of God? All the saints of history were friends of God, the type of people who lived their lives thinking entirely of the well-being of the universe, the well-being of humanity and ultimately the well-being of God. Let me then ask: Who are you?</p>
|
||||
<p>Think about the question, “Who am I?” Compare your personality to the personality of a saint, who lives for the divine purpose of the universe and humanity and God. How small you are or how big you are depends on whether or not you live on that level. If there were a certain academic standard to meet to become a saint, then what level would you be? Kindergarten?</p>
|
||||
<p>Even to reach kindergarten at the university of saints is not easy. What kind of student are you? Are you well-groomed and behaving correctly, listening to the teacher, or are you a sloppy, inattentive student, dressed in smelly rags? What kind of standing do you have? Most of you have a very poor standing, even in the kindergarten of saints. You are so smelly that when the teacher comes to teach he just can’t stand to be in the classroom and runs away.</p>
|
||||
<p>With such a poor standing, can we come out and demand that God recognize us? Can we claim to be His son or daughter and ask for treats or some allowance? Do we deserve all His wonderful things? Do you think God will instantly respond to that kind of student? Actually you know what kind of God He is and what your standing is. The right thing for you to ask is, “God, please don’t come now because I am not quite ready. I want to wash myself and go to the laundry first and get myself prepared for you.”</p>
|
||||
<p>What kind of prayer do you offer? Have you been humbly praying, “God, I know the truth; I am striving but I am not quite ready to meet you. Give me a little time to grow. Let me perfect myself a little further and I will be ready for You some day.” Has that been your prayer, or have you been praying, “God, why don’t you come? I am a member of the Unification Church; I follow Reverend Moon and I deserve your love! Give me your power and let me conquer the world.” When we fully realize where we are, that kind of prayer is quite a joke.</p>
|
||||
<p>We come to the most important conclusion that we were not born for ourselves. God created us to be the center of the universe, the center of His whole creation. God bestowed upon us the responsibility of taking care of the world and truly becoming respected as the lords of creation.</p>
|
||||
<p>The more you serve, the more you become the central, subjective figure. Young people today simply think, “Why should I be foolish and worry about serving others; I’m going to live my own life.” That seems to be very clever thinking, but actually it is violating universal law and is not clever at all.</p>
|
||||
<p>If a wealthy father has many children and wants to write a will to divide his inheritance, which child will inherit the most? The child who really has the caliber and ability to use this material for the benefit of others and who has a sense of service deserves to receive more. By serving others you will become a central person, This principle is never going to change.</p>
|
||||
<p>America many decline but this law of the universe will not change. No matter how powerful the communists are, even if they have conquered most of the world, if they violate this law they will decline. By following this principle you will become a strong, powerful, influential person, and you will remain in that position as long as you adhere to this principle.</p>
|
||||
<p>Think about Hitler. He was arrogant, proclaiming that the German race was superior to all others and had the right to conquer the world. He felt that the entire universe should come under the German race. Joseph Stalin believed that communism was supreme and that the entire world should be subjugated by that ideology.</p>
|
||||
<p>What is my position? Some of our critics say that I am worse than Hitler or Stalin. They can only say such things because they do not see the real content of my ideal, my heart or my ideology. However, the content of my philosophy is entirely different from Hitler’s or Stalin’s. I teach that you must go and serve the world.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Love your opponents</h3>
|
||||
<p>The Washington Post, New York Times, and all the media have committed a tremendous crime by unjustly attacking me and reporting allegations that I am evil and corrupt. Even so, I have never responded to that by seeking retaliation of a tooth for a tooth or evil for evil. Not at all. I only have a prayerful mind to forgive them. I can foresee that some day all the media shall become the instruments of God. There is hope that in the future the media will become of service to God, however inadequate and evil they are now.</p>
|
||||
<p>Because the Unification Church has come under fire many parents have come against us, uniting with the deprogrammers and kidnappers. We are the focal point of much controversy, but if we turn around and fight back, there will be chaos in this country and all over the world. Revenge is not my way. Go ahead and take the beating. Love and embrace those who come against us and serve them. Eventually you will win because that is universal law. You are going to be victorious. The living proof of this is that under such extreme and continued persecution, our Church is growing and moving forward. Why is that? We are embracing the entire universe; the entire creation, and therefore universal law must defend us. No one can prevail against us. We are invincible.</p>
|
||||
<p>All the saints and great men of history have gone the same path that we go now. They were persecuted by their contemporaries and even killed; however, the universal law embraced them and lifted them up to become saints, respected by the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>My own conviction is this: As long as God and never perish. Do you members love me? What do you like about me? Your own fathers and mothers criticize me, saying, “Why did you take our sons and daughters to make them slaves?” Then why do you like me?</p>
|
||||
<p>I know one secret principle that others do not know: In order to serve the world, you take the servant’s position, but if you continue as a servant, then God will lift you up to become a master of the universe. I know this secret. American young people are bright and clever, and if they know this secret they can change within one week. That is happening in our church and you yourselves have experienced this.</p>
|
||||
<p>We are redirecting our individual purpose 180 degrees to the purpose of serving the universe; that is why people outside say that I am brainwashing you. Is this brainwashing good or bad? Is it true that I am worse than Hitler or Stalin? I do not care what I am labeled as long as I can turn you around to become universal people. As far as serving America and loving this nation are concerned, I am certainly not one inch behind the greatest American leaders. I am not indebted to America; rather America is now indebted to me. America eventually has to honor that debt, and if America does not pay, then you must pay as representatives of America. Do you mind? The way that you can re-pay that universal debt is to turn around and serve this nation so that you can change this nation around. If you continuously live this principle, then within the next ten years those people who are opposing us today will look very shabby.</p>
|
||||
<p>I am a strong man, but what makes me strong? I am not strong in terms of destruction or dictatorship, but rather I am strong in my conviction. My conviction is that I am living the universal law and working to bring young people under the same law. We serve and live together under the same divine law, and together we shall be victorious.</p>
|
||||
<p>By doing this I have become famous and controversial, but does that mean that I am an evil man? There is one criterion. The world may think of me as evil simply because they do not understand, but we are convinced about the most important thing: God knows me; God loves me, and God thinks that I am Serve the universe good. That comforts me and is all I need. My other comfort is that you young people know me.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you want to become the center of the universe, the center of the world, you have to have the desire and hope to serve the world and the universe with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Accomplishing that will make you the center.</p>
|
||||
<p>Actually I am asking you to become a slave of the universe. This is not easy, but if you do so, the universal law and God will elevate you to the master’s position. Parents who love their children in actual deed become servants to their children. No matter how dirty a child is, the parents just change his diapers.</p>
|
||||
<p>The true husband is like a servant to his wife; she may not even ask for anything, but he knows what she needs and voluntarily serves her with a loving heart. The true husband’s actual position is almost like a servant. The wife’s position toward her husband is also that of a servant. If you want to live a true life-as husband, wife, society, or nation-you must live the truth of service. By living and serving others you become true. In what kind of world do you want to live, a world where we serve each other or a world where we grab everything for ourselves?</p>
|
||||
<p>When people are trying to serve each other they create the power of unity and harmony. God Himself lives that way; God is pure and genuine, but something went wrong with human history and it became stained by sin. For 6,000 years God has been tirelessly working to cleanse man’s sin. He did not do this for just one year or for only one of you, but for thousands of years and thousands of generations, from your oldest ancestors down to the present generation.</p>
|
||||
<p>God has been working extremely hard for you and for your ancestors yet so many people in the world are insisting that there is no such things as God. How blasphemous! What heavy grief it brings to God! Imagine that one day you had an accident and an intimate friend took you to the hospital and saved your life. How would that friend feel if the next morning you woke up in the hospital and said, “Who are you? I don’t know you.” Your friend would feel lonely and rejected.</p>
|
||||
<p>The relationship between God and man is exactly the same. If you really knew what kind of God He is and what He has been doing for you, would you be happy or not? The mere fact that God exists is assurance that He cares for you and struggles to make you happy. We must realize that we are indebted to God and to the universe.</p>
|
||||
<p>That feeling must penetrate to your bones. If you want to become a godly person then you must first feel how greatly you are indebted to God. Next you must feel that you want to re-pay this debt in the shortest possible time. If you move in that direction then you will become a saint.</p>
|
||||
<p>You must live in repentance: “Mr. Air, Mr. Water, I am sorry; I have been unjust to you. Mr. Food, Mr. Sunshine, I repent to you.” Repent to your parents and above all, repent to God. Looking down on you God will say, “You’re crazy! You don’t have to repent.” But how God will be comforted! Which is better, the repentance coming only from your lips, or the repentance that wells up from your heart, accompanied by an escort of tears?</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">We are sinners</h3>
|
||||
<p>Let us now consider what kind of sinners we are. What kind of sin has all mankind committed? We have been destroying the ideal universe, the ideal society, the ideal home, and the ideal individual. Mankind has even been destroying the ideal of God. Even in our secular, satanic society you are called a gangster or a terrorist if you destroy one family. How much more is it a sin when we destroy the ideal individual, family, society, nation and world, and even God? The sin that Adam committed by the fall is that very sin; he not only became fallen himself, but he destroyed the ideal perfected individual, the ideal home, the ideal society, the ideal nation and the ideal world, and he even imprisoned God. Adam was supposed to be the king of kings, in the position of visible God. Since the fall God could no longer exercise His power; instead, His influence and work have been limited because of the rebellion of men who turned against Him.</p>
|
||||
<p>In dispensational history, who killed Abel? You killed Abel because your ancestor did. Who brought misery to Noah? You are the one because your ancestors did. Who brought suffering to Abraham, Moses and Jesus Christ? You, because your ancestors did and you are the fruit of your ancestors. Who put Jesus Christ on the cross? You.</p>
|
||||
<p>Who was Jesus Christ? He was to be the king of kings, and he was supposed to be the True Parent of mankind, the Savior and liberator of all men. Yet you nailed him to the cross. Can there be any greater sin than this one? You are part of that sin because your ancestors committed that crime. Is there any greater sin than killing the one man of God, the one king of kings, the one True Parent who was given by God? You murdered him. Is there any greater sin than this?</p>
|
||||
<p>Ever since that time mankind has been apathetic, claiming, “It’s none of my business; I didn’t do it.” That has been the world’s attitude for 2,000 years. However, when an arrow hits a tree branch, not only the branch but the entire tree is affected because the branch is a part of that tree. By hitting that branch you are hitting the whole body. If your ancestors killed Jesus, then are you a murderer or not?</p>
|
||||
<p>The king of kings was to appear only one time, yet you killed that person. God sent the True Parent of mankind only one time and you killed him. For that act everyone deserves to die and suffer in hell. You must feel this to the bone. When you look at your hand, you can say, “This hand has committed the most bloody murder.” You must feel that there is nothing that you can do to repay this sin, that you could give up anything, even chop off your arm or leg, or pull out your eyes. Even then your position is still unforgivable. You need to feel that this is the kind of sinner you are.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Feel repentance, shame and gratitude</h3>
|
||||
<p>Repentance must be accompanied by shame. You must feel the shame of your position before you can enjoy the sunlight, the trees, the grass, or the flowers, thinking, “Nature is so pure but I am so dirty.” This is not hypothetical thinking; in this fallen world the person who feels that shame to the bone is closest to God.</p>
|
||||
<p>A deep realization of this shame must be followed by a sense of gratitude; every little thing that God bestows upon you fills you with gratitude. Even when you see one bird in spring or the little spring flowers you should say, “God, thank you for this beauty. Thank you for this sound. I don’t deserve this or have a right to enjoy this but you are now freely giving it all to me. Thank you, God.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Finally, God will call your name and you will feel absolutely flabbergasted. “God? Did You call me? Can I be called by You?” You feel how inadequate you are but when your hear the voice of God calling, you are completely fascinated and inspired, and you respond to the fullest degree. With such a pure heart you have every right to respond to God. Since you are an historical being, the entire weight of history is upon your shoulders. You must be able to feel man’s history of sin and shame, and take the responsibility of it upon your own shoulders, for the sake of your entire ancestry living within you.</p>
|
||||
<p>The sense of shame is followed by gratitude, and then by volunteering before God, “You called me and there is nothing that I cannot do. Give me the worst kind of dirty mission and I will undertake it. All my life is for You; I will do anything You want, whatever Your will is.”</p>
|
||||
<p>You are entitled to heaven after you go through this course, but actually even after you are elevated to the highest possible heaven you will still have no power to lift up your head. Then God will command you, “My child, lift up your head and look straight at me.” On that day you can lift up your head. That is the way to become the ideal man and to achieve the ideal. Compare this ideal level to the present Unification Church members’ way of life. There is a great deal of difference. What I am teaching you this morning is not just my reasoning, theory, or logic. We are talking about actual day to day life.</p>
|
||||
<p>I love nature. I talk to the trees and waters and I have a freer communication with nature than anybody. Most of my life was not lived with smiles but in a vale of tears. There has never been any one who has cried more than I have. Even now, there is not too much to smile about in the course of each day. There is little laughter and much seriousness. Look at the world: The world is trying to tear me apart, but God is waiting. God is silent. How could I seek revenge? It is impossible; it is not my way. I understand precisely how God feels and I know that God embraces me, even though I do not ask Him to do so. I do not pray for such protection from God, but still I know that God is with me.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">“Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand”</h3>
|
||||
<p>Who are you? You are sinners and you must repent. When the Son of God appeared in Israel 2,000 years ago, his first words were, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” The Kingdom of God will never become a reality unless people repent. That is the first order of business.</p>
|
||||
<p>John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, shouted out first, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” This teaching is eternal; from my heart and soul I shout it out to you now, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” The difference between the Biblical teaching and what you are hearing today lies in the fact that you know why we should repent and you know precisely who you are.</p>
|
||||
<p>Where is the place for repentance? Where should we go to repent? This is something we have to think about. It cannot be a beautiful, comfortable place, but should be a lowly place of suffering. In such a place you can experience realistic repentance. This is why I went down to the slum areas to repent for the sake of all humanity. I went to laborers’ places, to the mines, to the docks, and even to prison. In those places I could realistically repent for the sins of the world. I never thought that I was too good to go to such places. I only thought, “Father, thank you for giving me this place where I can realistically repent. My repentance can become real because the suffering of the world comes with me.”</p>
|
||||
<p>When you are treated roughly by the world, please accept it with gratitude; remember that suffering is the ideal place for your repentance. When you go out selling peanuts and people curse you, shout at you, and even spit on you, thank God saying, “Father, you are giving me this place to repent because I am a sinner. I deserve to be spat upon to be hit, to be cursed.”</p>
|
||||
<p>If you live this way of life for three years you will be purified and accepted in God’s sight. Even in the Unification Church arrogance is the worst enemy. People think, “I am a member of the Unification Church. I know the truth. I belong to Reverend Moon. I will work for three years and then have a blessed family, and then the world should come and bow down to me. I should be seated on a throne.” If you think that way, how poor and miserable you are; what a poor standing you have as a member of the Unification Church!</p>
|
||||
<p>Right here in our church there are two ways of life. If you are an arrogant person, then regardless of how many years you are in the Unification Church you will end up in hell, while the humble person will end up in heaven. Are you saints or sinners? The sinner belongs to hell and only because of God’s special dispensation are you held back from going there. Only through His love is there a way for you to turn around and accept God and return to Him. This is His grace. Therefore we should be deeply repentful first and then thankful.</p>
|
||||
<p>You must feel the pain of God and of all history. Your repentance must come deeply from your own heart and soul, and the expression of your repentance should be in tears, crying out with water streaming from your nose and mouth. Repent first and then be thankful. Through that process you will be cleansed.</p>
|
||||
<p>You may feel that I am beyond all laws and that I can do anything, but that is not true at all. This same law is binding me right at this moment. I still have so much further to go and so much more to do. Can you understand? I want you to realize that you are anchored to sin. I am trying to lead you, but this anchor to the satanic world is holding you back. There is a line connecting you to the satanic world; you must be courageous and cut it.</p>
|
||||
<p>Historically speaking we are born of Satan and automatically belong to hell; we are the citizens of hell. But only because of the love of God and by His special dispensation do we have hope to turn around and go to heaven. Through repentance we can achieve that. We must know that each individual has to go through the process of repentance.</p>
|
||||
<p>Where do you repent? You must find your place of repentance. It is not in a holy or luxurious place; instead it is going to be in a place of suffering. Do you want me to go with you in repentance? Do you want everybody to get together and repent? Would that make you feel good? That is not God’s way. Repentance comes only through a lonely path. You must plunge yourself into the satanic world and there seek out your repentance by yourself.</p>
|
||||
<h3 align="center">Become heavenly princes</h3>
|
||||
<p>Do you really know who you were and who you are now? Do you know your position? First through repentance and then through gratitude you are elevated to become princes or princesses of heaven. Your goal is not just to become heavenly citizens, but to transform your sinners’ position into that of heavenly princes or princesses of God. That is the way you can be with God and with me all through eternity. Who are you? You are princes and princesses of Satan now. It is because of the love of God that through repentance and the process of rebirth you can become the heavenly princes and princesses of God. Do you think that task is easy?</p>
|
||||
<p>Compared to the process of becoming President of the United States, your process of coming from the sinners’ position to that of princes and princesses of heaven is far more difficult. Those who come into our church are candidates for the position of princes and princesses of God. When you come in you will be given unprecedented discipline, training and testing to see whether you deserve to become princes and princesses of God. Can you accept this? I want you to pass that test with an A+ and thereby become the princes and princesses of God. Thank you.</p>
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<div id="post-1143" class="post-1143 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h1 class="entry-title">WORD AND DEED</h1>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-12T13:02:06+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/12/word-and-deed.html" rel="bookmark">June 12, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-12T13:02:06+01:00">June 12, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<div class="pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-bottom-left"><a href="/blog/2018/06/12/word-and-deed.html?print=pdf" class="pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-pdf" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" src="/assets/vendor/pdf/images/pdf.png" alt="image_pdf" title="Download PDF" /></a></div><h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">January 30, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>The topic of the message this morning is “Word and Deed.” In our daily lives our words are very important. Our words do many critical things: they can give inspiration, bring happiness, or cause heartache. People commonly compliment those who can speak well; however, in order to be successful in our lives words alone are not adequate. Words must be backed up by deeds.</p>
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<p>We have to determine the secret of success in human life. Which is better, to have more words and fewer deeds, or fewer words and more deeds? The combination of words and deeds that a person has determines his value and defines his personality and character. That criterion is the same, whether for man or for God. Let us think about God for a moment because God also speaks and acts.</p>
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||||
<p>Since God is omnipotent and omnipresent, nothing is impossible for Him. In that case, why does He even bother to speak? God, the Almighty Creator does not have to explain His actions to anyone or make excuses. Then why does God need to speak; why does He bother?</p>
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||||
<p>When there is happiness and joy in our lives on earth and also in spirit world, we laugh and dance and sing. However, we cannot communicate joy or happiness by ourselves. In order for God to express His joy, He needs something, too. We know God speaks and acts, but why? In order to create? The Bible says that God created the world by His Word. Does that mean God climbed up to the top of a mountain and shouted out for creation to appear?</p>
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<p>Is God really only interested in creating things? The creation must have some purpose; God is not creating just for the sake of creating. There must be a central reason why God speaks and acts, but what is it? We know God speaks and acts for the salvation of the world. However, in reality, the salvation of the world was never intended by God; it became necessary only after the fall. Let me ask you Unification Church members something. Do you want to have this emergency state requiring the restoration of the world to continue for eternity, or do you want to finish the restoration and have a new day dawn?</p>
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||||
<p>God wants to see the new day dawn, too. He is surely doing salvation work, but that is not His permanent job. He wants to finish it quickly. Restoration is a necessity right now only because the original concept of creation was not fulfilled. But beyond the salvation work and beyond the creation God still would have been speaking and acting. Why? For love, true love. If that is so, then what is true love?</p>
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<p>No one can really explain true love with the words of men. When true love comes, our very bones and organs, our five senses will all smile and burst into laughter at the same moment. Then what would our minds do? While our bodies are smiling and bursting with joy, would our minds be stone cold? When we contact true love, everything reacts. There is harmony and united action. Our whole mind and body react to it in harmony. This is an eternal and -universal principle.</p>
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<p>What is dancing? There are many different kinds of dance, but in all of them, before your arms and legs begin to move, your mind is already dancing. Why do we dance? To satisfy someone else? Dancing is truly an expression of love, an expression of joy. The heavenly world is a world of music, a world of dance, and a world of laughter. Think for a moment about beautiful songs. Are there many songs in praise of oneself, songs which say, “I am a hero,” or “I am a heroine”? That kind of song does not appeal to people; even one short song like that would bore them. That kind of song cannot be repeated twice, ten times, or a hundred times.</p>
|
||||
<p>But when you sing a song of love, there is still freshness, newness and excitement after repeating it a hundred times, a thousand times. A song of love can be repeated for a millennium, and there is still freshness and excitement. If the entire universe were completely packed with power, money and knowledge, there still would be room for a song of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Money, power, and knowledge do not last forever, but a song of love has eternal freshness, eternal awareness, and eternal joy. The ideal world and particularly the perfected spirit world is the world of love. Love is perpetually consummated there. Out of that world comes music, singing, dancing, and the joy of laughter. Everything centers around this one true love, the central quality of the ideal world and heaven. Do you take exception to this? Does anyone not want it?</p>
|
||||
<p>Everyone looks forward to the ideal. In the ideal world, nobody tries to claim that he is a hero or a heroine, demanding respect. It is not that kind of world. Instead, everyone wants to melt into the world of love, to have harmonious give and take with one another.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the world today there are many for whom money is everything. They think money brings the utmost happiness; they want to be rich and to show off; they want to have a mansion, to have everything. They think that wealth is the consummation of human life. With the exception of Unification Church members, American women look forward to having very rich husbands. Probably their next highest goal is to marry a man of infinite intelligence who has a Ph.D. from Harvard or Yale. Or perhaps their goal is much higher. Perhaps they want to be the First Lady, to enjoy power in the world so that everyone will come and pay respect to them. Is that your goal, too? These things may be fine, but they come and go. They will not remain; they will disappear like the morning dew.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let us think about words of love. When you express your love in words, do you give an explanation for it or put some condition on it? Do you say, “I love you because you have lots of money, or because you are the President of the United States”? There is no explanation for real love, it communicates directly. Would you prefer the kind of love which requires an explanation, or the kind which comes directly to your heart and which you feel in your very bones?</p>
|
||||
<p>We must realize that there are many, many kinds of love. There is the kind of love that is deceitful, the kind of love that tries to take advantage of others, the kind of love that manipulates others; there are so many false colors of love. Love not only builds with a most beautiful and supreme power, but it can destroy. When misused, love can be a deadly poison for you and can even destroy the world. Do you know what I mean?</p>
|
||||
<p>If we classify love, there are primarily two kinds: God-centered love and Satan-centered love. How are they different? First of all, God-centered one common goal; they act with one purpose, in one direction.</p>
|
||||
<p>True love is a uniting force, and therefore the common point of unity between the mind and body, between men and women, between families, and between friends. Then what is the standard and formula of unification? Love sets the standard. Love is the common place where the subject and object can meet, where the mind and body can meet, where men and women can meet, and where parents and children can meet. God is dwelling at that central point. Because love actually belongs to God, it comes from a place higher than yourself.</p>
|
||||
<p>Why does God place His throne at that particular position of love? God is seeking for an object. Being love, God is seeking that common place where love is responding to Him. We commonly say that the human body is the temple of God, but what is a holy temple? Is that a place to work for a living? Is it a factory, an office? When you think of a holy temple, you immediately visualize some permanent resting place where you can have peace and tranquillity.</p>
|
||||
<p>The dwelling place of love must be a place of tranquillity because without love there is no tranquillity or peace. If we are the temple of God, we are a resting place, a holy place, a dwelling place of God’s love. This is the only way we can restore peace and tranquillity. You can rest in yourself when you have God’s love. We want to elevate ourselves as holy temples of God and become dwelling places of God in which we can restore our peace and tranquillity forever. We call the world of people with those kinds of personalities the world of heart. When you invite God to dwell within you, within your own holy place, then His love is like spring water. No matter how much you consume, the fresh water will keep coming. It will never stagnate and never run out. Don’t you want to become that kind of person?</p>
|
||||
<p>If you become that kind of person, a temple of God, you can comfort those who are sad and crying. If you are becoming the consummation of the love of God, then you are becoming a perfected man, and those who come near to you will melt in the spring love alone can harmonize the body and mind. No human effort, no glue in the world can make two things come together the way love can.</p>
|
||||
<p>In the Unification Church we call each other brothers and sisters. How do we become brothers and sisters? People commonly say that we become brothers and sisters by the word of God, through the Divine Principle. But what would you want, just the Divine Principle itself or a personality that is already living the Divine Principle? When you really live and consummate the Divine Principle, your personality has a heart of love.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Word and Deed” is my topic today. To be a person of noble character means that one’s words and deeds are united by one common principle, that one speaks and acts in complete unity. Still, we can see many people who speak one way and act another. If you look at a noble or godly person from the standpoint of his words, however, you will find that they are united with his deeds; and if you look at him from the standpoint of his deeds, you will find they are united with his words. No matter which angle you look at a godly person from, you will not find contradictions, but rather harmony and unity. How about you? Are you completely one in word and deed? Anybody who can claim to his own wife, to his nation, and to God that his words never contradict his deeds is indeed a consummated, perfected man.</p>
|
||||
<p>We must also consider what those words and deeds are centered upon. Some people can say that their words and deeds never contradict each other as far as money is concerned. Where business is concerned, their word is gold. Many scholars are proud to say that while they are pursuing the knowledge of the universe, their words and deeds are just the same. Powerful rulers of the earth, presidents, kings and emperors of the world might say that their words are law, that their words bring about action, and consequently that there is complete oneness between their words and deeds. There are many who have lived with that kind of standard.</p>
|
||||
<p>Considering the true value of life, what kind of rating can we give such people? Their words and deeds are united, but with a certain emphasis: money, power, or knowledge. From God’s point of view, are they below the standard of His Word, or above? These different standards are real in human life, not hypotheses. We can witness them every day, both in the Unification Church and outside. Which is your emphasis? If you become a man of united word and deed, then with which emphasis, on what foundation do you want to live? If your emphasis and foundation are not clear, your direction will be unsteady and your course could be shaken or disturbed.</p>
|
||||
<p>What emphasis can bring you higher value? Nobody can deny that the most supreme way of life, the supreme unity between word and deed, begins with the emphasis of love. With this conclusion, now think for a moment. Would anybody say, “Something seems wrong; I do not completely agree. I want to bring revolution; I want to break love apart and rebuild it.” Is that possible, or is love such that the most evil person under the sun could not think of revolutionizing it?</p>
|
||||
<p>Love is universal. Everything under the sun can be united around it. If you emphasize money, you can control a certain segment of life; if you emphasize knowledge or power, you can unite or control other segments, but you cannot have universal success. There are so many people who claim to be wise, but God is the King of wisdom. If God and a man of wisdom both think deeply about something then they can come to the same conclusion, but for them to have any kind of a lasting, universal unity and peace, their relationship can only be centered on love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Emphasis on love alone can bring nobility to man’s way of life and make it sublime. Is God or love the center of heaven? It is very difficult to decide between them; we are torn apart. We finally have to say that the center of heaven is God with His love. None of us can dispute that, whether we are white or black or yellow. We are seeking, longing for God and that kind of universal love.</p>
|
||||
<p>Therefore both God and love are the center of the universe. Then in order to become a universal man, where should you stand-on the outskirts or right in the center? You should make your center with God and His love. The center with God and His love is already there, and you are making yourselves acceptable to that center. You are moving into that center.</p>
|
||||
<p>God does not stand still; He breathes and He acts. Because He is the universal center, when he breathes the entire universe breathes together with Him. There is nothing that does not come under His influence. You cannot say, “I have nothing to do with God’s breath or with His influence.” That is the same an expression of some sensation that you cannot help but express. This kind of dynamic, ideal life is what we have to accomplish.</p>
|
||||
<p>For a moment let us concentrate our thoughts on religion. Religion is one method in human life for searching after God. But is God actually the ultimate goal? No. We are trying to go into the realm of the love of God, trying to be intoxicated by or drowned in God’s love. That is the purpose of religion. But you know, the thrilling yet sad part is that if there had been no human fall, we would not have needed religion; we would have been born in the central position and would have grown up in it to enjoy and live in heaven for eternity.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are many facets of love and life that do not need explanation, that you do not have to learn in a classroom. Do you need to learn the theory of love between parents and children? It is natural; it should automatically become part of you. Love is like air. You don’t have to explain where air is to breathe it 24 hours a day. Man was born to breathe the love of God. If you had to go somewhere to get air to breathe, you would soon run into trouble because there would be a long waiting line for air. But air is everywhere and the love of God is also everywhere; it would have been our environment if we had not fallen.</p>
|
||||
<p>We should feel the love of God naturally, but we cannot because a great deal of blockage was brought about by the fall of man. Once this is removed, however, God’s love will become natural to you. Our individual center should be based in the center of God; there should be a common center.</p>
|
||||
<p>Fundamentally speaking, why are people born? You are not born for the accomplishment of power and money and knowledge, but for the accomplishment of love. You are born for love, also from love. God made love so great as to be the source of life. We are the result of love, not the result of life. We were all born, not by competition between our parents, but in the beauty of love. That is the cause of life for all humanity. No birth is the result of the mother and father sitting and counting money. No one was born as the result of discussing the most important scientific theory.</p>
|
||||
<p>From love, life emerged, you emerged. We are caused by love and our purpose is to result in love. The unity of love of the subject and object brings a new germination of life. Therefore, any married couple without children is somehow unstable. Even though the husband and wife become one, without children there is no common accomplishment which can vividly show that they are one. Even though there may be some squabbles between husband and wife, when they look at their own children their differences can usually be resolved. It was God’s ideal when He put men and women together that they produce a family; God intended to see their children.</p>
|
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<p>All human actions and our life of love are always submerged in the love of God. The atmosphere of God’s love embraces all life. The promise of love is the supreme force in this universe. When Adam and Eve are united in love, that event is really the most important happening in the universe. God, all the creation, and Adam and Eve will focus their entire attention on it.</p>
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<p>God represents the past, while Adam and Eve represent the present, and their children represent the future. The past, present and future are all united in the one embracing atmosphere of the love of God. Your individual position is a composite of the past, present and future. Because God took part in your creation, the past is represented in you. Because your parents were involved, the present is there, and you yourself represent the future. Through love one unified position was created, and through that position one life was born.</p>
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<p>When parents have a child, they always embrace the child; they want to touch and hug him. There is a mysterious force working here, the force of God’s love. Because the child is a manifestation of the parents’ love, the child participates in his parents’ love and they are all one.</p>
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<p>Of course God also participates in that position because His love created the environment. Once you are all united in love, nothing under the sun can separate you. That is the ideal. Once love is flowering in the environment of the love of God, everyone wants to stay there forever; everyone wants to make it eternal. Do you think God will say, “Well, in a little while I will change it”?</p>
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||||
<p>In God’s concept of the ideal, loving relationships are established on an eternal basis, Therefore, God wants to see men and women in love and to see that love perpetuated for eternity. Don’t you want to have your parents’ love last for eternity? Would you want to have them love you for ten years and then separate from you? Wouldn’t you mind? Whether it is the love between husband and wife, parents and children, or between God and men, we all anxiously desire that the love be perpetual.</p>
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<p>You are the representative of your parents’ love, the fruit of their love. Furthermore you are representative of the love of God; you are the living example of His love. God dwells where the warmth of love is and that is heaven. Whether here on earth or in spirit world, this one principle stands: The essence of heaven is God’s love. The repetition of love is the formula that creates history. There is a real history of love which is woven from generation to generation.</p>
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<p>In the Divine Principle we are concerned with the heavenly four position foundation. The four positions represent the various facets of human love centered on God. Therefore, once we create that heavenly four position foundation, nothing can disrupt it. Where is heaven then? Beyond the Pacific Ocean? No, heaven is within you, within the heart of a wife, the heart of a husband, the hearts of the children, the hearts of the grandparents. Heaven is not any kind of Disneyland; heaven is in the midst of you because the place where you are becomes God’s dwelling place and the dwelling place of your parents. All love is located right there where you are.</p>
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<p>Once the consequences of the fall are liquidated, you will not have to search after heaven. You are supposed to be born in heaven, to grow up there, and be perfected and consummated in heaven.</p>
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<p>To say “I,” means to be responsible. You cannot say, “I don’t care about anything,” because “I” is a representative of the parents, and a representative of the love of God, and they care. Your situation is not simple. You are a very heavenly burden in that respect. Today’s most important new awakening centers on “I.” Many people say, “I don’t care,” or “Why do you care about me? I don’t need you. I can do anything I want.” This kind of “I” is not the true one. When you understand God’s concept of the ideal, you become a very responsible “I.” When you say “I,” your parents are automatically involved and God is involved; your past, present and future are all involved in “I.”</p>
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<p>We must have three prides: First, pride in history; or our past; next, pride in our present, and finally pride in our future. Particularly in America there are people who are crazy about antiques. America is only 200 years young, not yet that old, but American people are still nostalgic about the past. They are even trying to create antiques. If they use brand-new wood to build a home or to make furniture, they try to make it look old. Sometimes they dent it with hammers, or use streaky paint and sprinkle it with spots; they even make holes here and there to make it look 100 years old.</p>
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<p>Why do men do such crazy things? Their actions express a human desire for history. People want to register themselves in history; they want to remain longer. Antiques are expensive because their value comes from their history. If you have something in your home that your great-great-grandfather used, then you have some personal link to history. No money can buy that kind of value. This trait reflects a desire of our original nature.</p>
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<p>If you hurt yourself, you are not hurting only yourself, you are hurting the fruit of parental love, and you are hurting the manifestation of God’s love. If parents see their child in a great deal of pain, they certainly feel that pain. God too, feels that pain. If there is something in which you take great delight, then your parents can also take great delight, as well as God. Your feelings are parallel.</p>
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||||
<p>In America, however, young people do not know much about their parents. They think, “My parents gave me life, so their job is finished. I’m independent; I have nothing to do with them.” This shows that American culture is losing the beauty of family life and sinking closer to the animal kingdom. This kind of thinking goes against the universal principle of God and is more dangerous than the hydrogen bomb. When God looks at American society and particularly at the American family system, He does not have too much hope for America; its future is dismal and unstable because the most important trunk line for His truth is being lost.</p>
|
||||
<p>Suppose that you sisters looked in the mirror and became convinced that the best feature of your face was your eyes. Then you would love your eyes, but as you say, “I have the two most beautiful, sparkling eyes in the world,” you should call your left eye your mother’s eye and your right eye your father’s eye. Identify parts of you as your mother’s and parts of you as your father’s. It is a beautiful thing to took at yourself as an expression of your parents. Everybody cares for himself or herself, but you must not do it for yourselves; do it for your parents and for God. That is beauty. Then you will love your parents and care for your own mother and father and God to the same degree that you love yourself and want to care for yourself.</p>
|
||||
<p>There is no selfishness in this way of life. Even though a person may love himself or herself, it would not be selfish love. When you have something at school to be joyful about, then your parents will be very happy too. At such a moment have you ever thought, “Oh, God must be happy.” If you are smiling, do you think, “Oh, God must be smiling too.” When you are really ecstatic and dancing around, then remember that this is not just your joy; this is also your parents’ joy and even God’s joy. He must be dancing upstairs.</p>
|
||||
<p>The entire universe will also be dancing around you. Your joy will echo throughout the universe and spread like a wave. This can be seen in nature. When springtime comes, Belvedere is a very beautiful place and many birds sing in the early morning. However, they all sing differently: cheep cheep, chirp chirp, tweet tweet, and soon they become a New Hope Singers International.</p>
|
||||
<p>When you express joy, it will be echoed by another, and then it will spread out in a wave through the entire universe, in a beautiful echo of life. But that echo of life, the echo of your singing and dancing, is not just for yourself. When you are fully aware that you are the representative of your parents and of God, then you will feel that God is dwelling in you, and that you are singing and dancing and joyful for Him and for your parents. Then would God come out and say, “You! Shut up! Why do you wake me up this early in the morning?” Will your parents say, “Stop shouting! Come and eat”?</p>
|
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<p>You are precious, so go ahead and praise yourself, but not out of your own ego or for self-aggrandizement. You are the result of history; you are the expression of thousands of years of history and tradition. Furthermore, God has been working behind all those accomplishments. To know that God has made His dwelling place in you is a beautiful realization. It is a beautiful ideal life. The person who stands in that center has the approval of God. He has passed the test of life. In so many cases, however, we flunk this course of life.</p>
|
||||
<p>Where were your born? Where did you originate? You were born out of the love of parents and the love of God; don’t forget that. God’s intervention played an important part in your birth, and you are the result of your parents’ love; therefore, the world of men is an expansion of your father’s world, and the world of women is an expansion of your mother’s world. When you have your parents, you own the entire universe.</p>
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<p>Together they represent the entire world of men and the entire world of women, and both are manifested in you; you are the focal point of the microcosm of the universe. When you are centered and your deeds are righteous then your deeds will bring you tremendous joy, and certainly your father and mother would share your joy, and through them the rest of the world would share your joy.</p>
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||||
<p>Everyone respects the pious son and daughter who are faithful to their parents because that piety is approved by the universe. With that heart you become a catalyst or central point for your parents to relate to the rest of the world. Your parents are beside you from your birth on, and God is always involved; these same heavenly four positions will multiply into a society, nation and world. That is how the ideal life can be expanded into heaven here on earth.</p>
|
||||
<p>The heavenly four positions represent all the loving relationships of human life on a worldwide and universal scale, and ultimately the Kingdom of God here on earth. It starts on a small scale, with you in the center; then it expands to your family, your society, nation and world. The most important aspect here is the quality of love that you demonstrate. When you demonstrate unselfish love toward your parents, you will become a pious son; and when you demonstrate that unselfish, most beautiful love toward the nation, you will be regarded as a patriot. When you demonstrate this beautiful love toward humanity, you will be known as a saint or holy man. The quality of these loves is the same because they start from the same central point; they do not have separate centers. Those who possess the central position of love shall indeed be known as the sons and daughters of God. From the nation’s point of view, they are the most patriotic people in God’s kingdom, and from God’s universal point of view they are the most holy people. But they always begin as sons and daughters of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>The entire teaching of God’s truth can be summarized in one simple sentence: All mankind desires to become sons and daughters of God, even in the fallen world. We know that the fallen world resulted from the fallen ancestors of mankind. To restore the fallen world, someone has to bring a new, common center to the universe: God’s center. Therefore, we need new, God-centered parents, and the concept of True Parents came into being.</p>
|
||||
<p>The entire teaching of the Bible leads toward one simple truth: The fallen world was brought about by Satan through false parents; therefore, God will establish a new beginning point of a new human history, the True Parents. Through them all humanity can be grafted into the new history. We must be grafted into the true olive tree. From being wild olive trees representing the satanic world, we will begin a new life and new history. What is the ultimate goal? To become children of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>Let us come back to this morning’s topic. Words do not exist for their own sake, nor do deeds happen for their own sake. Words and deeds must serve some purpose. What is the qualification for speaking or acting? You must speak as a son or daughter of God, and you must act as a son or daughter of God.</p>
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||||
<p>What should you be in order to qualify as sons and daughters of God? You must realize that you are the manifestation of the True Parents’ position, their labor, and their love, and furthermore, of God’s love. With that realization you have already accomplished the heavenly four positions; God is definitely with you, and True Parents are definitely with you. By uniting with them you represent the four positions, and in heaven and earth you can be proclaimed as a son or daughter of God.</p>
|
||||
<p>No one can take that concept out of your mind. If people beat you up and throw you in jail, they still cannot remove the realization from your mind that you are one with Heavenly Father and the True Parents, and that you are the representative of the heavenly four positions. You don’t need to worry about where you will end up; if someone pushes you down to the dungeons of hell, you will never remain there. As though on a springboard, you will fly up to the highest position of heaven. Our salvation is guaranteed. You must become men and women of heart and realize these things through feeling and emotion, not just by logic. These feelings must be embedded in your bones, so deeply that even unconsciously they are always part of your life, and nothing could ever change them.</p>
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||||
<p>Individually you are related to the past, present, and future. Because your father represents the world of all men, you have a connecting point there. Your mother is represented in you, so you can love all women, and you can love the future because you represent the future of God, and the future of your parents.</p>
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<p>You are the manifestation of universal love from all directions. Ultimately we are all supposed to go to the throne of God, but you don’t go alone. You go together with the True Parents, and God will open His arms and welcome you. If you approach His throne with your True Father and Mother, you are actually coming with the entire universe. Father represents the world of all men, and Mother represents the world of all women. Together you approach as universal beings. Therefore, you are not alone; when you are with them you go with the whole world. If you are moving toward the throne of God with Father and Mother, God certainly cannot afford to reject you.</p>
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||||
<p>How can you win Father and Mother so they will embrace you and you can go together with them to the throne of God? You can win them by making yourself acceptable to Father’s heart and by making yourself acceptable to Mother’s heart. In a simple way of speaking, you must become a pious son or daughter. When you can move their hearts, then you can certainly move the heart of God.</p>
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||||
<p>This is the eternal formula. The ideal person or perfected person in the sight of God is the person who loves all men as he loves his father, who loves all women as he loves his mother, and who loves all mankind as God loves mankind. In other words, this person can look down on the world from the viewpoint of God. That person is truly a perfected person, who can pass any test of God.</p>
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<p>That person has a free pass to the Kingdom of God in heaven. Even if God is asleep in a kingsize bed, you can tumble in and disturb Him and God will accept you. With your words and deeds united, you can perfect yourself so that you automatically live, speak, and act in harmony. Such a person is perfected; there is no further goal beyond that.</p>
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<p>Words are so powerful that they can build or destroy the world. Isn’t that true? When your heart is established in the love of God, whatever language you speak is an expression of love. That language may sound very harsh or unkind, but since it is from the love of God, it will always build, never destroy. The word is also a judge. If I speak about a definite standard, those words become the judge. If a happy looking person is listening, he may immediately become very serious. Perhaps that person comes to me and says, “I did this and this; can you forgive me?” Then a simple word of forgiveness can lift that person’s morale instantly.</p>
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<p>Love is so powerful that when you are based on heavenly love, your words become powerful as well. As long as that word is based on love, it will only build and never destroy. When you act from that heart, your action will further harmonize the entire universe instead of taking anything away from the universe.</p>
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<p>What kind of place is the Unification Church? What is the fragrance of the Unification Church? When you go to the fish market there is a smell of fish, and when you go to a hog farm there is a smell of hogs. So what is the smell of the Unification Church? The Unification Church has a concrete logic, philosophy and conviction which you heard about this morning. You are speaking as sons and daughters of God, going out to the world, manifesting yourselves as representatives of God. We gather together here as a building force, a cleaning force of the universe, not as a destructive force. We are here with the smell and fragrance of God’s Kingdom, in the capacity of sons and daughters of God. If you go out to act with that commitment and realization, you can bring a beautiful result, But if that foundation is shaken, you will never build anything.</p>
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<p>Actually, neither your words nor your deeds are important, but rather what you are is all important. If you have absolute conviction and awareness as sons and daughters of God, you can go out and act as you wish, and everything you do shall become a manifestation of the love of God. Simply speaking, you are living not for yourself, but for your own parents, True Parents, and God, who is the ultimate parent. Your real parent is the God who embraces all humanity, so you also must live for humanity.</p>
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<p>When we talk about world humanity, we are actually talking about brothers and sisters. White and black together make the most exciting beauty because then we have more stimulation among ourselves. When whites love blacks, and blacks love whites, it is much more beautiful than just whites loving whites, and blacks loving blacks. When your words and deeds are words of love for your own parents, and your own brothers and sisters, then there is no way you can be hindered from moving in any direction.</p>
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<p>You could go on speaking 24 hours a day because everything you would do is the expression of the inmost nature of God’s love. If nobody is listening, then the floor will listen and the air will listen; all nature will listen to you. Creation will respond to anything that you do. That kind of world is our eternal world; the spirit world is already living that principle.</p>
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<p>Our ultimate destination is heaven. Here on earth we have the opportunity to discipline ourselves and to create our character which will be magnified in heaven. When you have become the personification of God’s love, people will accept and love whatever you say. People will accept and love whatever you do.</p>
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<p>Put yourself for a moment in the position of parents. How do your parents feel? They want you to love your brothers and sisters more than you love them because they represent God, and God feels that way. The hearts of parents and the heart of God have much in common. The greatest love in this universe is parental love. This love is most pure because it is absolutely unselfish. A true husband would want to have more benefit come to his own wife than to himself. He would always take more delight when his wife is honored and praised or given beautiful gifts than when he is.</p>
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<p>Any love that is close to parental love is noble and sacred, and the more unselfish love is, the closer it is to parental love. The entire universe is moving toward that ultimate, supreme form of love because that is the very love of God. God exists totally for the sake of His children. In the world of love, anyone who tries to raise himself up to the highest point receives the worst mark. In the world of love, that standard doesn’t work.</p>
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<p>In the world of love, sacrifice is the supreme value. Any religion that is close to God’s heart demonstrates a sacrificial, dedicated spirit. No parents calculate how much love they will give to their children, saying, “I’ll pay your tuition for college, but you’ll have to buy me a big house in the future.” Rather, they give without reservation, and they delight in their son or daughter growing up and accomplishing something important for the nation, the world, or for the sake of humanity. That reflects the very feeling and thinking of God.</p>
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<p>Anyone who violates this way will become the least in the world of God, and anyone who emphasizes it will become a giant. A true parent will teach you to become a sacrificial person. Forgetting about themselves, parents emphasize being sacrificial for others. They will say, “You go and love the world the way I loved you.” Such people are true parents.</p>
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<p>Let us examine the Unification Church from this criterion. Are we on the right track or the wrong track? Am I teaching you that you must love me today, and 24 hours a day every day, or am I teaching you that more than anything else you should go out and give yourselves in a sacrificial way to serve God and humanity? When we live that principle, are we destined to be destroyed or successful? Actually this is the real secret of heavenly conquest. Heavenly conquest is accomplished by love, by melting peoples’ hearts with the power of love. Your parents, humanity, the nation, even God, all their hearts can be melted by the power of love. You can conquer God and make Him helpless toward you. When this love just whispers, even just exists, God wants to be there. Just ask Him to come; He will dash to that place. You already command me in this respect.</p>
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<p>From this point of view, the harder the mission the better, because it gives us a better chance to test ourselves and to prove how worthy we are in the sight of God. Heroes are born only during emergency and crisis. Under the most adverse conditions we can prove ourselves to be sacrificial and truly unselfish. We have only the one limited period when we are living here on earth to demonstrate that spirit. Compared to eternity, our lives here on earth are like a spark of light.</p>
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<p>Our time here on earth with this physical body is our opportunity to perfect our love and our spirit. We need our bodies to demonstrate our love of God. That is why our bodies are important. There is a world of problems out there; that is good. This is our opportunity to apply the Principle and live it. This is where the deeds come in.</p>
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||||
<p>Therefore I have stirred up controversy and have become a problem to the world, but in a good way. I am not casting out poison. Rather, there is so much poison already that I became controversial by neutralizing the poison. I am the first one to come with the power to neutralize the poison that Satan has been spreading for 6000 years. By doing this I have created controversy.</p>
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||||
<p>People outside may think that I am the worst kind of devil. Let them think that way, but let them come to see me. Then they will realize that I am entirely different from their original understanding. In order to restore something, you normally have to make one full cycle and return, like making a U-turn in a street. But in order to make controversy and speed up the restoration, we have jumped around instead. I cannot afford to spend time going all the way around.</p>
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||||
<p>If people have a negative image of me, that is fine; at least they know me. Then all they have to do is one simple flip, and we can make that happen overnight. That is possible here on earth while we have a physical body. In the past, some of the worst sinners became saints overnight, but a miraculous transformation like that is possible only in the physical world. Once you take off your physical body and are elevated to the spirit world, you need millions of years to make one inch of spiritual advancement.</p>
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<p>While we have spirit and body together here, we can create a miracle because our bodies can demonstrate our hearts and extraordinary change can come about. But once you lose your physical body and become only a spirit, your opportunity is gone. Then in order to act, you have to come down and work with somebody on earth. If even your own body does not respond too well to your mind sometimes, what will happen with someone else’s body? It is very clumsy and awkward to accomplish anything. Once we clearly know the truth about God, the more we live a sacrificial way of life, the better it is for our own achievement.</p>
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||||
<p>Do not give lip service to your brothers and sisters by not speaking from your heart. Unless you have deep motivation to do something, do not do it. Doing something only to impress someone will become the worst kind of burden in the spirit world. Spiritual law does not provide any means to restore acts and words that are not truthful. Just being Unification Church members is not a guarantee of heaven; it depends on how much you live the truth. Now you know how to become sons and daughters of God, so all that remains is to speak the right words and do the right deeds.</p>
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||||
<p>It is so important to speak and act from your heart. Then wherever you go, you do not even have to prepare; your words are ready and your deeds are ready. When you go out with the right motive and the right heart, your actions are automatically there. Whatever you do, fund raise or witness, you have one central goal: you do it to become a pious son or daughter of God. You want to become a true patriot in the Kingdom of God. You want to become a saint and holy man in the sight of God. One central, common principle can accomplish all those with dignity.</p>
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||||
<p>I proudly send you out to fund raise; our members sell peanuts and flowers, but there is no shame in that because our purpose is far greater than working for Ford Motor Company, IBM, or anyone. There is no nobler heart or more sublime task. Our love for our parents, for our society, our nation, humanity, and God will get stronger, and our spiritual maturity and accomplishments in the sight of God will become gigantic by living this way. Since our motivation is right, why should we be ashamed?</p>
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||||
<p>We will become prosperous by leaps and bounds because this is the truth of God; it is the only path to follow. Unselfish deeds are bound to be successful because everyone’s innate nature longs for such accomplishments; eventually that is the only way to win the world. That is the way I have always wanted to live and the way I have always lived. In Korea and Japan, night after night I did not even look at the clock. Even at three or four o’clock in the morning, as long as someone was listening to me, I did not notice the time; I kept teaching.</p>
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||||
<p>The international leaders come and report to me at East Garden. I am always enthusiastic, talking with them and listening, but by twelve or one o’clock I can read their minds, “Father, why do you keep on like this; why don’t you tell us to go to bed and rest?” But I never tell them that because as a parent I always feel such excitement in my heart that I just do not want to quit. God, too, is always awake and enthusiastic and paying attention to every little thing His children do.</p>
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||||
<p>This is my advice to you: do not speak if your heart is silent, and do not act unless your heart is sincerely moved. We have so much to say and do in this world that once we know the value of it we can throw ourselves wholeheartedly into our task. Why do we have to go witnessing? If you can bring one person from the streets of New York into a realization of God, all of his ancestors can be elevated. Through earthly deeds many souls will be assisted in spirit world. When you distribute the truth of God, you are becoming a mediator of His love. Through you so many people can come to know the truth and raise up their eternal life; you are a mediator of love, pouring out the love of God to them. Your position is absolutely beautiful as spiritual mothers and fathers.</p>
|
||||
<p>You don’t know the impact of your witnessing. You may witness to someone who can affect an entire generation in England, or he may contact another person important and wealthy enough to do that. That person would be your spiritual grandchild. Through bringing one person to a realization of the truth, you are making an impact on his whole nation and his whole spirit world. You may think that you are just a trivial individual; never think that. You have within yourself power that can move the world. If you move one person perhaps that person could move many countries or even continents. By the truth you can move that one woman or man.</p>
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||||
<p>President Carter’s mother can go to the White House, but actually, what right does she have to be there? She can go to the White House because she is the mother of the President. If your spiritual child becomes the leader of some nation, would you, as their spiritual parent, have the right to see them? Physically these things are true, but of even greater significance is the unseen way that you are making an impact on the spirit world. Even if your spiritual child does not become a national leader, do not worry; that person may have a very important position in spirit world through his ancestry.</p>
|
||||
<p>There are many capable people outside who could be great leaders for God and change this world. By bringing the truth to such a person, everything that person has-education, experience, and money will be to your advantage. Many people outside are very critical of me, saying that I stole their children. Of course I never did that, but I understand how they feel. They gave you food, clothing and education, and then all of a sudden you became my follower and are now dedicated to serving something they do not understand. In a worldly way of speaking, those parents think that their children have been stolen.</p>
|
||||
<p>You are here to pursue the highest goal and achievement and you know that true values are intangible, but your parents feel that you have the most value. They put their hope in you, and then all of a sudden you started doing things that are crazy according to their standard. You are truly revolutionaries. You each had your individual goals and private ambitions, but when you heard the Divine Principle, an important revolution took place within one week’s time that changed the entire direction of your life.</p>
|
||||
<p>I want you to be proud that you changed yourselves that drastically. At the same time, I want you to honor the power of the truth of God. This means that when you go out to witness, you can ignite the same revolution in others; are you proud of that? Each individual represents the entire world, but each individual can change for the better with great speed. You can see it with your own eyes and be proud of your accomplishment.</p>
|
||||
<p>You can even compete with God. God has been trying to change men for 6000 years and He could not accomplish too much! But you can change a man within one week. It is an exciting task. How can your mouth stop preaching? How can your legs rest? Exciting things are happening; how can we stop? Think of it, you can change 1000 lives while you are here on earth. If you had 1000 spiritual children you would be the richest parent in the world; you would actually be building your own kingdom. It would take more than three years to visit your children around the world.</p>
|
||||
<p>You are the most important person to your spiritual child because you gave him the most precious thing under the sun: the hope to become a son or daughter of God. That person is totally indebted to you. He will not chase you away, but will welcome you.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ten and twenty years from now, a great journey will begin when I tell you to visit your spiritual children all over the world. One kind of person will have many people to visit; another kind will have no spiritual children, and another kind will not even know where their children are. Think of being by yourself with nobody to visit. But the person who visits his spiritual children in all four corners of the world will have limitless joy. Those who have no harvest will stand still in loneliness. Having an education is very important, but even more important is having children. Shall we go out to witness, speaking tirelessly around the clock? When you become a son of God, the words you speak are the words of God. Invest your words and your deeds, your whole body to the maximum. Do not let your body be idle because this is the only opportunity that God has given you. Do not let yourself be wasted.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you speak only for yourself and live only for yourself, what glory is there? But if you invest your body and your words for the sake of God, then every word you speak flies like a bullet, with purpose and result. Do not speak empty words. Do not complain. Complaints are words that waste your energy.</p>
|
||||
<p>If you use your body for your own sake, your work will not remain, but if you invest yourself for the sake of others witnessing-fund raising, doing things productively-your deeds will remain. Starting today, analyze how many empty words you have been speaking and how many words you could speak productively for God instead.</p>
|
||||
<p>Go out witnessing; go out fund raising; go out for whatever your mission may be, but do not do it passively; do it willingly. Gather your motivation first. Without motivation you will fall into a passive pattern, and it will not benefit you. You will not be happy. Your words and deeds must register in the memory of God. I want you to do something that God can remember. Volunteer; be the willing one, the one willing to participate with bubbling enthusiasm. A teacher cannot make you study; you are the one who must study. You must qualify for your own heaven. The way is open and everything is waiting, but unless you take advantage of it, it will not be yours.</p>
|
||||
<p>Those of you who will commit yourselves to those kinds of words and deeds as sons and daughters of God, please raise your hands. Thank you.</p>
|
||||
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