The Way of the Spiritual Leader

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Section 4: Restoration Through Indemnity and the Formula Course [Part 3]

3. The Formula Course of Unification Church Members

True Father has emphasized the formula course in Belvedere. Therefore, I am now going to talk about what kind of relationship exists between your Blessing and the formula course.

1) Education

How is your past church life related to the formula course? According to the principle, someone who has just joined the church must follow the official course of workshop in the order of two days, seven days, twenty-one days, and forty days, totaling 70 days in all. We are trying to implement this workshop formula course in America.

2) The Second Stage is the Restoration of All Things

Three and half years are needed as the basic period to restore the all things. This course is related to the restoration of the external form, in other words the restoration of our physical body. God created the environment first. Moreover, the period of activity while in the fundraising team on the vertical side gives us the qualifications to recreate our physical bodies. During this period, you need to work hard physically.

Looking at it from the dispensation of God, restoration does not only signify the restoration on the individual level. The course of the restoration of the all things corresponds to the restoration of the Old Testament era. Without the restoration of the historical events, there cannot be a complete restoration of ourselves. The active and sacrificial effort made during the three and half years in a fundraising team is a way to offer the all things in order to be linked with the Old Testament era.

This period is the time when that type of indemnity condition is presented. Therefore, our toil and efforts automatically become connected with the central dispensation of God.

All of you have the experience of having done fundraising. However, within a short conditional time period, or for certain purposes earning money inside the department that you are in, cannot compare with the activities of the fundraising team. The intention and purpose behind fundraising is not at the level of the department or nation, but they are to be connected to the purpose of God's main dispensation, whose purpose is concerned with the whole.

As you know, a fundraising team normally works diligently from early in the morning until late at night. This course sets the indemnity condition to recreate the physical body and gives us the qualifications to indemnify the Old Testament.

3) The Second Stage is the Restoration of Man

In the formula course, the restoration of humanity can be divided into two periods. The first three and half year period is the time for the restoration of humanity and finding three spiritual children.

As everybody knows, originally man reaches perfection after passing through the growth period. However, since fallen man fell at the Completion Stage of the Growth Stage, they must be restored to that stage. All people are to reach the completion of the Growth Stage once more. So, when we talk about the three and half year course, it refers to the time before receiving the Blessing. We call this "the path of restoration." In the early days of the church only those members who have completed all the conditions of the formula course can receive the Blessing.

The second period of witnessing is another three and a half years after the Blessing, and through this the perfection is achieved. We call this period after the Blessing, "the path of the Principle."

I will elaborate on the important differences concerning this in detail. Before receiving the Blessing, we have to walk the seven years of the formula course. Ordinarily, everybody needs at least three years of life of faith and three spiritual children. However, in recent years True Father has also given the Blessing to those who have worked in the church for only two or three years.

According to the principles, 14 years are required to be able to receive the Blessing by paying indemnity for these conditions, but it has been reduced down to 7 years. Father wants to give Blessing earlier and permit us to complete the course after the Blessing. The most important thing that we have to understand is that we have been greatly blessed and benefited. In this historical moment, we are not worthy of receiving such great benefits. Accordingly, we have to take to heart the understanding that for the sake of the formula course, we in reality need a seven-year period.

4) The Path of the Principle

Originally, for Adam and Eve to perfect each stage of growth, they are each given a portion of responsibility. In one stage of the Growth Period, the portion of responsibility required for that stage -- in other words, in the Three Stages of Growth, one must complete the portion of responsibility required for all three stages. There is no exception for this. Everybody possesses the same conditions and can grow only by completing the responsibility.

If after the fall, God demanded that fallen man to fulfill the same amount of responsibility, then there would be no hope that we can restore ourselves to the original position before the fall. In exchange for the lost opportunity to complete the portion of responsibility, we must set the conditions of indemnity.

In the path to restoration by God's grace, just like a high jump, we can make a great leap. This is what we mean when we say that we are inheriting the Merits of the Age.

There are three eras: the era before Abraham, the era from Abraham to Jesus, and the era from Jesus to today. People received benefit simply by living in an era. The reason is that it was the time when the dispensational history made progress through the conditions of indemnity.

5) The Merit of the Age of True Parents

We need the seven-year period of the indemnity condition for the sake of our restoration. Three and a half years for fundraising activities and three and a half years for witnessing. Moreover, for the restoration of humanity, we need seven years, three and a half years before Blessing and three and a half years after Blessing. Father granted the permission at Belvedere that a husband and wife can complete the seven year period together. Accordingly, all Blessed Couples have the duty to complete the three and half years.


Please do not misunderstand. Your course after the Blessing is no longer the path of restoration through indemnity. Then what is it? Your course after the Blessing is the "Path of the Principle."

The meaning of the "Path of the Principle" after the Blessing is that rather than making leaps toward your perfection, you are to make advances toward it step by step. If you have not fulfilled the minimum required indemnity condition after your Blessing, then you must continue to set the indemnity condition.

Already many members have been walking their incorrect path and at times they have a superficial and faulted understanding of the direction that Father is heading towards.

If you have failed to set the indemnity condition that is required by the formula course, then you have to understand that you have not gotten rid of the debt yet. However, at the present moment when we are following Father, who has successfully completed the 21-year course, the merit of the age is enormous. Father has performed the mind-boggling ten thousand couple Blessing ceremony, and he did not strictly require three spiritual children, three and a half years of fundraising, or the three years of life of faith. The reason is that he wanted to share with you the merit of his victory. However, most of you owe this debt to him.

6) The Position of Father

Father talks as if all the members have already become qualified candidates for the Blessing who have already completed the formula course and have no debt left. Father talks from this perspective but members who have not reached this level do not understand. From what I hear, most of you have not completed your responsibility and at times you have been busy doing other kinds of witnessing. Also, I know that you can decide upon easier tasks. Those who complain say, "the policies of the church headquarters has a huge variety; they are not in line with the Principle, because the policies are always changing." Father can never change. The Principle can also never change. The only thing that constitutes a problem is the fact that we have not been able to reach the standard that God wants.

7) The Tradition of the Blessed Couple

In the sermon last Sunday evening, Father talked about the three and a half years minimum period of indemnity condition through which the husband and wife can fulfill the seven year course in total. Fulfilling this period is a tradition for the Blessed Couples.

I remember this to be an event before Father came to America in 1971. At that time, Father gave the direction that all the Blessed Couples of Korea establish a new tradition. Whether you have four or five children, or regardless of the fact that you have just received the Blessing, all these do not pose any problems. Wives were completely separated from their husbands and children to walk the path of pioneer for the sake of the nation. This is the three and a half years of sacrificial duty, and this has become the tradition among the Blessed Couples. After that, Blessed Couples have been split apart and in different places most of them focused on witnessing and toiled on for three and a half years.

8) The Blessing of the Environment

According to the Principle, Blessed Couples should have already been liberated of all the courses of indemnity. After that, they are supposed to enjoy the Principle life style. However, in reality, Blessed Couples could not receive the Blessing of the living environment. Looking at it from God's point of view, still Abel's sacrifice is required for the sake of the nation and the world.

With that much sacrifice and service, the efforts of the Blessed Couples can bring amazing results. This is completely different from the effort made during the period when the condition was being set. The reason is that our purpose and interest is the restoration of the world. For this reason, the blessed wives must walk through the three and half years of sacrificial course from 1971.

9) Working with the Old and New Testament

Why do we need the course that is related to the restoration of humanity after the Blessing? The three and a half years of witnessing activities before the Blessing are connected to the restoration of our own spiritual self or mind. In other words, it signifies not the resurrection of the physical body, but of the spirit. Historically, this is indemnifying the New Testament. In the Old Testament, all things were offered to God for restoration, and in the New Testament the internal restoration was undertaken mainly through faith.

The restoration before the Blessing is the restoration of each person's external aspect or environment. After restoring the internal aspects of man and the New Testament, the time will come when one can connect with all eras. This is just like how a child is not a parent yet.

According to the principles of the creation, man was supposed to grow up in the natural environment of God and as they become a perfect son and daughter, take the position of the parent. However, since we fell at the Completion Level of the Growth Stage, we must first restore the position of children. (At present, although we are in the bosom of God, it is not yet the stage of perfection.)

By receiving the Blessing, we stand in the position of perfect child, and having done so we stand in the position of parents. For us there are two types of duties toward restoration.

After receiving the Blessing, through our relationship with the True Parents we have to recreate the heart of parents to be linked to the Completed Testament. Sacrificial lifestyle nowadays is the same as life of attendance. Through our act of attendance, we are to restore our heart.

Now, we have to understand the two types of categories, one before the Blessing and the other after the Blessing. The former signifies the restoration up to a certain degree and the later signifies the perfection.

Our Blessing is not given so that we can simply lead a normal marriage life, and it is not just for the sake of the external family. The most important point is salvation. Just as Father said, one who spends more than three years after the matching will soon start the family life. This is considered to be the completion of the minimum condition of indemnity. In reality, your central leaders must examine each of your individual records in church life. The reason is that there one can find all kinds of situations.

As the formula course becomes shorter and as the dispensation of restoration gradually expands, difficulties will decrease. In the future, the three and a half years of sacrificial period of duty will also gradually become shorter.

4. Fundraising and Witnessing

1) What is Fundraising and Witnessing

Because Adam violated the creation that God created and trampled upon man and love, I must respect the creation and act properly before man and the love of God.

This path is not the road toward business, and this path is not the road of witnessing, but it is the fateful path of indemnity. It must be traveled no matter what. I know all these things. You say this and that, but I understand how difficult it is. I even know how you are doing. No, when I tell you, "Concerning this issue, you should do this," then you should be able to say, "I have taken care of it like this." You should be able to even grab on to me and insist on your way. Then what would I do? Even God cannot do anything about it. What can He do when you grab onto Him with love? (94-271)


It would be terrible if you cannot accept and digest its true meaning and act upon it with a joyful heart, despite the invaluable training that I am providing you. How wonderful is the saying, "Doing the financial activities will make it possible to love the creation closely and witnessing is done to love men." Fundraising is designed to help you form good habits. If you can become like that while possessing love, when you go to the spirit world, you will enter it with the same habits. The ladder will be automatically be laid down. It is the same. Everything is for the purpose of climbing up. (Speaks while pointing to what he wrote on the board.)

When you do that, then you will surely become the incarnation of love in the spirit world. When you could not become the ideal perfected being in respect to love, through such a course of training, you have to eventually return and become a man who possess the divine qualities of God. For this reason, I begin from such divine qualities of love of God, and going through this course, to go from the earth to the spiritual world, I will return to the divine qualities of love. This is to say that I will become the son of God. Do you understand what I am saying? [Yes] This is where you must go. Don't you think about this? (118-117)


What is fundraising? It is the public evidence that one has loved material things. What is witnessing? It is the public proof that one has loved man. Only after having done them does one needs a bride or a husband. Who needs a husband or wife if they cannot even love the creation? Who wants them? Who? What kind of bride will come forward to accept such a man as a husband? They will not come. If there is such woman, then the husband will also not come to her.

What is love? You have to lead a frugal life style, saving material things. You must first love material things and then love man. While living the life in a society in which people come into conflict with one another, there can be fights and complaints at times, and if one is at disadvantage, one may conjure something up and so forth. You have to train yourself to endure through such a lifestyle telling yourself, "I will endure because I love." (111-178)

2) The Two Things that must be Restored Through Indemnity

When we walk the course of restoration, why do we emphasize fundraising and witnessing? Viewing from the perspective of the dispensation, because man wrecked all that God had created, I have to recreate them. In re-creating them, since God had exerted Himself when I exert myself, that condition is being restored. Can this be done while you are playing around? [No] When God was creating this universe, He did not do it while He was playing or dancing around. He poured out everything that He had. The path of restoration is recreating it in the same way that God had created it.

Viewing it historically, this (fundraising) is the means to go through the Old Testament. You have to understand this. In the Old Testament era, the material offering was made. In restoring it through indemnity, the material offering must be made, and through this, victory must be won. Did you do this or not? [We did]

We must bring it to perfection. Only after passing it, we can enter the New Testament era and begin witnessing. We can deal with the people. Do you understand? Only after passing the course of building the financial foundation that the church presents before you, can you go out witnessing. What is witnessing? It is creating man. It is going out to recreate man. Can one just casually do witnessing?

You have to reflect on this point. You must be thinking, "How difficult was it to restore the financial problems; I cannot let go of it because I have put so much effort in it." You have to understand it. This is how you should have done it. You must have the thought, "Because for its sake I have put in all the treasures and everything that I had and shed my sweat and tears, it is the most precious thing."

You must complete the restoration through indemnity in the world. What is the most precious thing once you go to the spirit world? It is not money, nor children, and it is not nation. The most important thing is the restoration through indemnity. If you suffer affliction while doing this, then you will come to realize that this is the most precious thing. You cannot go to the kingdom of heaven without passing through it. You will not have any relationship with God and me.

Therefore, you must cross over the restoration through indemnity, the financial foundation, and the Old Testament. After that, after passing that, where should you go? Then, you must go out witnessing. You have to witness to twelve people. What are you to do after that? You have to restore through indemnity the failure of Jesus to find twelve disciples in three years.

When Jesus died, all the disciple ran away, right? You have to raise disciples who will not run away when you die, who are better than the disciples of Jesus. You have to understand this. When you think about how difficult it is to raise one person, you will understand how difficult it was for God to raise one Adam and one Eve. Everything that you have must be poured out. Unless you exert yourself to the extent that your bone marrow melts, nothing will remain. Do you understand? [Yes]

By walking the three-year course, you have to witness to more than twelve people. Then, you will not die. You will become a part of the group that will not die but survive. This is how you can pass over the New Testament. The reason that the New Testament came into being was the death of Jesus. He died because he lost all of the twelve disciples. In order to cross over the New Testament era, you have to find people who can be better than the twelve disciples and become the representative of the messiah who can love God and humanity. (96-115)

3) The Course that you must go Through Before you Turn Thirty

What? You do not like fundraising? Why do we need training through fundraising? In order for you to carry on activities, you need funds. No one will just hand over money to you. You have to understand it. You have to make it with your own hands. I have laid the worldwide foundation of today with my own hands. I have done it with my own hands. No one did it for me.

Financial problems will accompany you for the rest of you life. This is Satan. It follows you around always. You have to drag it. Financial problems are dragging you instead. No matter where I am chased out to, whether it is an island or any other place, I can live. Even if all of you die off, I will live on. I know all about what kind of mushrooms can be eaten and what plants can be used as medicine and what are poisonous. Moreover, as long as I have a needle and a string, I can make a fishing pole to catch fish. I can survive wherever I am. I have the wisdom to be independent whenever I want. My philosophy is to give this formula training in the Unification Church before people turn thirty.

After receiving financial training, you must undergo training of love for seven years. You have to train yourself by receiving persecution from people. Even those whom I meet for the first time, when I judge them in this and that way, it always turns out to be right. How did I attain such abilities? I have researched while receiving persecution from people and dealing with many people. You need this. When people ask, "You, Moonie, can you be responsible for solving the economic problem?" You should be able to answer, "Yes." As people ask, "You Moonie, in conducting your life in this world, can you handle people diplomatically?" You should be able to answer, "Yes."

Next, you should possess the ability to overcome all the trials related to the spirit world and ward off the attack of the spirit world. However, born as a man, how can I live my life being indebted to other people? Being indebted financially, being indebted because of lack of capability . . . You should die instead. Where can you not go? Why can't you go? (117-24)


For this reason, unless you do witnessing . . . Witnessing is loving the children of other people more than one's own children and people. You must love people just as if they are your brothers, just as if they are your children, you must love them more than anyone in the satanic world. Therefore, while Abel wins the victory centering on the standard of Cain and Abel, simultaneously he can take Cain along when entering the kingdom of heaven. By doing so, the blessing is received. Because Cain and Abel fought and failed to become one, the whole family of Adam was devastated, right? When they become one, the blessing is materialized. Isn't this the principle? It is the principle. (93-283)

4) You Must Shed Tears for the Sake of Fundraising and Witnessing

Shedding tears while doing fundraising and witnessing . . . When a captain of the fundraising team comes to the church and sheds tears, and when the leader of the witnessing activities shed tears, and after that Neil [Neil Salonen, President of UC USA], as the leader, comes to shed tears, and if in this way the three of them embrace each other and shed tears of encouragement, pledging that they will do more for the sake of the dispensation, and bear the cross for the sake of the humanity, then God will join them and cry together with them. There, the kingdom of heaven is completed. Because this is principle, fundraising teams and the church must become one. This is the fundamental principle. This is how I think. (97-224)


Therefore, you must cry while doing witnessing. You must cry. As you do witnessing, how much do you cry? One who weeps will receive the Blessing. Next, putting life on the line, for the sake of the world of heart, just . . . When you see the morning sunshine, you should be thinking, "where is God's love that gives out such fiery light." Even for one who does fundraising or for God, heaven cannot be entered without shedding tears. There the kingdom of heaven is restored. The restoration of man, the restoration of sovereignty, and the restoration of all things, all of these will be accomplished. Do you understand? [Yes]

For this reason, those who are in headquarters should worry about the people who are doing fundraising at times such as raining. When it rains, or is foggy and snow is pouring down, you must be concerned about them. You have to shed tears together. Those who are doing witnessing should also cry. You should be doing this. You must understand that at the place where even God weeps, the kingdom of heaven on earth will be built.

This is where it begins. Can you understand what this means? [Yes] Although you say that you have entered the Unification Church and believe in it, although you have received Blessing and you claim to be some leader of some sort, you have to understand how far off you are. (97-222)


Today, people in the world live and die because of the financial problems. However, we Unification Church members must believe that we are managing God's money, earning God's money, and spending God's money. In the act of loving, it is not selfish love and neither is it love for the sake of the nation. You must love centering on God and humanity. People and the nation do not take precedence. What takes precedence is the world that God can love. Do you understand what I am saying? [Yes] Unification Church members are those who are putting into practice in their environment the most difficult undertaking that are like dreams.

Next is witnessing. You have to shed tears, sweat and blood. You have to shed tears, blood, and sweat for the sake of the people, and then for the sake of that family, and then for the sake of the restoration of all things. Financial activities are nothing. Witnessing activities are nothing. There is nothing more difficult than making the family into one and building a heavenly family. When you form a family, there will be times when your hearts are at odds. At those moments, you must endure. You must endure saying, "When I was doing fundraising in the past it was like this, and even when I was doing witnessing, I persevered through it, so how can I be that way when it is my loving husband that I am dealing with." This is education. (94-271)

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