The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1956
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1956 |
2 My Father's house has many rooms; if
that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to
prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where
I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 5
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so
how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[a] my Father as well. From
now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said,
"Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have
been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the
Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe
that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I
say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the
Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe
on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you,
whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they
will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father.
John 14:2-12
These young children have come before the Father's knees seeking a way to gain new life, so Father, please receive them. We know that You have told us before that we are more precious than the whole universe. Since many people have gathered before this altar out of a desperate desire for life, Father, please allow those who have gathered here to represent the glory of the Father and to fathom the concerns and worries of the Father for the altar of happiness. I pray from the bottom of my heart that this hour can be the time when they can deeply feel Your heart.
We know that You have no choice but to believe in us, who are so unworthy and we know that You have no choice but to rely on us to bring on the new history. Please forgive us, we who have failed to be trustworthy even when we knew that Heaven had no choice but to trust us and put us in positions of responsibility
We could not even bear the responsibility to become those whom You could rely on, so Father, I pray from the bottom of my heart that You will forgive us in this hour. I pray most earnestly that You can accept us now as offerings who believe in the Father who, depending on the Father, will be able to forsake even our lives and to offer them to You sincerely. Father, from among so many people, You have called upon us who are so inadequate, so please be in charge and embrace us with Your love of compassion.
Please lead us to offer all of our minds and bodies to the Father in this hour and to understand the Father's heart of concern. I pray from the bottom of my heart, Father, that You will allow us to become the children who can take on and bring to fruition the one wish of Yours that You seek from us. When we see that Your heart breaking situation and grief of 6,000 years of human history are continuing even today we would like to beg Your forgiveness for the fact that we are the ones who are perpetuating the grief of our Father.
I pray from the bottom of my heart, beloved Father, that You will consider these people as the embodiment of the ideology and life of our Father and as the root of life in whom You can find joy. Please consider the children gathered here with sympathy. Father, I pray earnestly that You will lead them to pour out all of their hearts and to praise the love of the Father as exemplary children whom You have placed before the millions of saints, and to become the offering. Please govern over us, for we have entrusted everything to You. I pray in the name of the Lord. Amen.
Father! In this hour bowing down before Your knees, hoping for the blessings of Your lofty and great love, are children who have been bearing their own cross and have been walking the thorny path headed toward Heaven even when they found themselves in lonely environments. Father, please come to them personally and embrace them with love, comfort their fatigued hearts, and revive their desiccated spirits.
If Father does not personally grab hold of us, where else can we go? We are pitiful children, so Father, please dwell with us personally and guide our paths personally and help us to become children who can dash toward the cause You desire. Please personally govern over the bodies and minds of the children who have gathered here now and since they have offered their hearts to you, Father, please bring on a new history and come to us with a compassionate heart.
Father! A steep and rugged path lies before us, so we pray sincerely that You will hold onto us personally and grant us the strength that can carry us through the road of death. Please embrace the ignorant ones who are just watching from the sidelines now and please instill in them the audacity to dash forward to realize the will of Heaven. Please help them to march forward as the chosen children and brave soldiers of Heaven.
The apostles who bear the responsibility to awaken all the children who are fast asleep and to lead them to God have gathered here, so please help them so that they can fully carry out the missions they have taken on. I pray that You will help them become children who stand on a level higher than any other saints of the past and to love even Satan.
Help them to become children who respond to Your call and walk the right path. Lead them not to fall into the accusation and ridicule of Satan. Please help them not to become ignorant ones who interpret the heavenly laws centering on themselves. Please help them become children who can reveal the glory of the Father and increase the Father's blessings on the earth.
Grant special blessing upon all the children who have gathered here in this hour in Your name, and please ignite the fire of life everywhere the worship service is offered so that they can come to understand the new dispensation of the last days. I pray earnestly that You will gather children who can multiply the glory of the Father on this earth.
How many children are there who are calling out to You, Father, building a hidden altar and seeking desperately for the way of Heaven's will at this hour? The mission of finding these people also lies on the shoulders of the children who have gathered here, so Father, please give them the ability to fulfill that mission, and please gather all the children personally. Please let the day come quickly when we can raise high Your great and glorious will. We have the mission to find and raise before You the 2.4 billion people of this earth who are fast asleep. So, Father, please bring the fire of life and grant the miracle of resurrection to every place we confidently proceed with the words that You have given us, so that we can unveil the happiness and glory of the Father in this land.
Please give us the unshakable faith to believe that the responsibility lies with us to liberate the desperate heart of Jesus, who has been working strenuously for the sake of humanity for thousands of years, and to remove the grief of Jesus who appeals to the Father on our behalf. Please lead us not to abandon the standard of Heaven before we fulfill all of our responsibility as men. Allow us to become children with whom only Heaven relates. Father; please dwell in this place now and help us become children who complete their responsibility and receive the blessings of Heaven.
Please help us not to forsake the missions we have taken up and raise us as capable children whom the Father can love, children who can reveal the glory of the Father until the last day, so that there will not remain any surviving grudge. Personally embrace those children who build a lonely altar in difficult circumstances and call out to You in appeal. Father, please work with them so that there will come forward many children of Heaven who can support the Heavenly will.
Father, please grant miraculous works personally in this hour. Please bless us so that we can return to our missions after receiving the words of life with which we can walk the eternal course.
Please be with us until the last moment of this hour so that when the children who have gathered here go back, they can bring with them the beautiful spirit and great blessing of Heaven, so that as they go back they can offer praises to the Father. I pray all these things in the name of the most beloved Lord. Amen.
Father! Please allow us to understand Jesus, who had to leave the disciples he loved and go to the eternal world by passing through the cross. Let this hour be an opportunity when we can deeply feel the heart of Jesus Christ. He gathered his beloved disciples, who had followed him through all the happy as well as the sad moments for three years, and with a heart of concern, made a desperate request.
I pray from the bottom of my heart that we can become beloved children who cultivate a sensitive and responsive mind by fathoming with our minds and by experiencing with our bodies, so that we can move in oneness with His will and offer ourselves as humble sacrifices. Please allow us to feel the heart of Jesus, who knew that many who had followed had fallen away and that only the twelve disciples remained; who sensed that even in such circumstances, Judas was shortly going to betray him. I pray from the bottom of my heart that we can deeply experience with our minds and bodies the heart of Jesus when he found that the three years of his public ministry trusting and working with his followers, had come to such a tragic and lonesome ending.
Father! Please allow us to understand the anxious heart of Jesus who faced the road of death and was having a direct one-to-one conversation with Heaven. I sincerely hope that we can grow to become objects of comfort by offering ourselves as living sacrifices, bowing before the Father. Please do not leave us alone but be with us personally so that this hour of gathering will not add to the grief we had when we came here. I sincerely wish that Father will take charge of all aspects of our lives. Please let the beloved children understand that Satan is found everywhere around them, and please lead them not to possess a soft and complacent heart that can cause them to yield to Satan. Beloved Father; let us have the right attitude toward You in our minds and bodies. Let this hour be the time when we can possess a spirit of carrying out the mission and building the victorious altar with all of our hearts and souls. Please remove humanistic mentality and knowledge from our environment. Wishing that the speaker and the audience can join their hearts into one and become a source of happiness and glory for the Father, I pray in the name of the loving Lord. Amen.
The topic of the sermon today is "Jesus Who Went and Came and Who Will Go and Come for the Sake of Heaven and Earth." I will speak briefly on this topic.
It is an undisputed fact that the reason God created all things in heaven and earth is that He wanted to become glorious. Consequently, He first created the invisible, angelic world. Then as the symbol of the invisible, substantial world, He created the visible substantial world. After that, He created Adam and Eve as the center and representatives of the spirit world and the substantial world.
Adam and Eve should have shared the same fate as heaven and earth, as long as the universe remained unchanged. In other words, Adam and Eve had the fate to move according to the way that heaven and earth moved. Accordingly, if Adam and Eve would change, then heaven and earth would also change. If the center of Adam and Eve were shattered, then the center of the universe would also be undermined. Adam and Eve were created with the binding condition that if the center of the universe were destroyed, as the result, the center of the Creator would also be damaged.
Because Adam and Eve fell, the center of the universe was out of line, and as a result, the center of the Creator was also put out of line. Consequently, God had to set up another center of heaven and earth, and by having the created world become harmonized centering on that, He had to make the center of the Creator and the center of the created things become one and the same, not two. When this can be done, earth will rejoice as heaven is happy and heaven will rejoice when earth is happy. What is more, both heaven and earth will be eternal, and when heaven is intoxicated in unlimited love, the earth will also be intoxicated by boundless love.
As long as the fate of the Creator is not off the line, the fate of the created world will remain unchanged. Everything was ruined because the center of this created world, Adam and Eve, fell and thus everything was not in harmony in their direction and center. The history of the dispensation purposes to restore all this. Six thousand years of the history of the dispensation of restoration have passed, and we have arrived at today. God's dispensation of love surfaced through many saints and sages. While love was revealed symbolically through them, the substantial dispensation of love was demonstrated internally and externally through Jesus, who came as the culmination of the love of the whole. Therefore, his heart represented the center of the invisible world, and his body represented the center of the visible, substantial world.
Because the Jewish people who should have recognized the identity of Jesus did not know him, God had to send him down the path of the cross. You have to understand that as a consequence, the whole of heaven and earth has sunken into darkness.
The only purpose for the coming of Jesus Christ was to establish the eternal, unchanging center of heaven and earth by cultivating the heart of the Father who created the universe. Jesus came to this earth to establish that center.
Jesus did not speak in order to set up some center for himself. He was not trying to establish the center for some district of Jerusalem or a village in Israel. He was trying to establish one center that could connect to the center of the whole spirit world and the center of the Creator. His acts were not merely the acts of an individual. His wishes were not an individual's wishes. The battles he engaged in were not fought on the individual level. The goal that he hoped for was to stand firm as the unchanging center that can embrace the whole universe and all things. Transcending all things and passing through the invisible world, he then purposed to reach all the way to the position in which he could represent the heart of God, the Creator. You must understand this.
You must understand the words, life and actions of Jesus who had such wishes. His actions were the embarkation points to build heaven and earth anew. The words he spoke had the power of recreation for the purpose of realizing that one will.
You must understand that in the thirty-year preparation period and the three-year course of practice, Jesus spoke words in order to re-establish the unchanging center of heaven and earth lost at the time of Adam and Eve. Because the Jewish people did not believe in those words, Jesus, who was supposed to become the center of the spiritual and physical worlds, succeeded only as the center of the spirit world and failed to become the substantial center of the physical world.
What did Jesus live for until the time he went over the pass of the cross? First, he toiled and suffered for thirty years after coming to the earth for the sake of the land but his purpose was not to reap the harvest of his accomplishment on the earth. The one center, supposed to be realized on the earth by joining the spiritual and physical worlds, should have been completed within one substantial being, Jesus. Because the spiritual and the physical were split, the body of Jesus, which was the center of the substantial being, was destroyed. You should know that as a consequence, because only the spirit of Jesus was consummated in perfection, the 2,000 years of history from the resurrection until today have been the time when the dispensation of restoration was carried out centering on the spirit world.
Jesus resurrected after he passed away on the cross. After his resurrection, he worked on the earth for forty days before he went back to the spirit world. Similarly the fact that Jesus passed away and then resurrected, and after that ascended again, symbolically demonstrates God's work of creation.
There is a verse in Genesis, "And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day" (Gen. 1:5) Then there must be a night. The three-day period that Jesus spent in the tomb corresponds to the night time. The thirty years of his life was the day time. Jesus worked hard for thirty years to find and raise his disciples. After this toilsome course, the resurrection was like ushering in a new morning.
The resurrected Jesus tried hard to erect a lantern on this earth, but he could not do it. Although it might seem that he was resurrected to set up a lantern on the earth, in actuality because he resurrected centering on the spirit world, he could not remain on the earth but went back to the spirit world. What this signifies is that Jesus, who had ushered in the day time after passing through the night, greeted the evening again and left for the eternal world.
Then what is left? Night time is what is left. The eternal morning should have come when Jesus came, but because he passed away a time period equivalent to the evening remained again. The responsibility for the night time was left unfulfilled by humankind. Because Jesus was forsaken, we have to take responsibility for that.
Just as Jesus completed the responsibility for the night time and established the standard of victory by winning over Satan on the cross, today countless Christians who remain on the earth have the fate to cross the pass of conflict in this night time. When you cross the pass of this night time, you will be resurrected by following the example of Jesus, and together with him will usher in the glorious new morning: the time of the Second Coming. Jesus Christ came to this earth and lived thirty years of his life for the sake of this earth. Because Jesus came for the sake of this earth and the people upon it, even if people on the earth oppose him and say that they do not know him, he has to recognize them.
When Jesus passed through the Garden of Gethsemane and went toward the hill of Calvary even the disciples left him. When Jesus was hung on the cross, there was not one who said that he knew him. None of the disciples said that he knew Jesus. Although there was no one who claimed to know Jesus, because he came for the sake of the earth, he recognized the people on the earth who said that they did not know him. This was done when he resurrected and went to the shores of the Sea of Galilee looking for the disciples. Likewise, Jesus left a path on the earth through which men can come to understand. After forty days, he ascended.
Now because Jesus recognized us even when we did not know him, even if we live in a land that does not acknowledge him, we must recognize him. Consequently during the 2,000 years after Jesus came and left, men have been seeking him in their hearts. Just as Jesus came to the seashore looking for the disciples, to recompense for the grace of Jesus, the believers in the faith had to seek the path to Heaven that Jesus went for 2,000 years. This kind of lifestyle has continued until today. Now then, for what purpose did Jesus go to the kingdom in Heaven? Because Jesus, who came for the sake of the earth, had to fulfill the will of Heaven even after he went to the spirit world, he has been working until now for the sake of Heaven's will.
If Jesus, who came for the sake of the earth, goes to the spirit world and does not establish the standard of having recognized men after he already set such a standard on the earth, people cannot dwell in the world where they are not recognized. So, for 2,000 years until today he has been praying before God in order to set the standard of acknowledgment in the place he was not recognized.
It is written that Jesus prays on the right side of God for the sake of men, yet what kind of prayer is he offering? He is offering a prayer of blood and sweat. If men on earth say that they know Jesus on the earth, then when Jesus goes to the spirit world, he will say that he knows them. Similarly unless Jesus changes the situation so that he can say before God that he knows them, the spirit world that men go to is not acknowledged by the Father. Therefore, ever since he went to the spirit world up to today Jesus has been praying before God that he knows us. You must understand this well.
When Jesus comes back after going through this, how will he come? When he comes, he will combine the work on the earth and the work in heaven and then come. He will come taking on the responsibility for the work on earth and the work in heaven. Therefore, today we must also walk the same course of suffering as Jesus until the day that Jesus, who resurrected from the death on the cross and ascended to Heaven, comes again. Moreover, in this time that corresponds to the morning of resurrection after 2,000 years of night, when Jesus comes back having established the one center that Heaven welcomes, then you should sense in your heart that Jesus is coming toward this earth.
Until now our mentality of faith has been such that we have been looking up to Heaven and admiring Jesus. This has been the motto and standard of our faith.
Now there remains one thing we must adore. What would this be? We must adore the Holy Spirit, who is working for the sake of the earth. You have to understand this. Many people have been loving Jesus spiritually for 2,000 years until now but today they must also love the Holy Spirit. We must reflect that we the believers of faith and all of humanity must do that. Similarly the time has come when we must love the Holy Spirit and perfect the body of the bride.
Since the Holy Spirit is the bride of God, we must make ourselves up as brides and prepare ourselves to be brides, and love (the Holy Spirit). When this takes place, Jesus can go to the spirit world and rest. What is more, we are to create the one center of heaven and earth, and, centering on the earth, we must enter in pursuit.
We who have been longing for the spirit world in our hearts must now love the Holy Spirit, who is working directly with us. Thus, by loving Jesus, who is the spiritual symbol, and by loving the Holy Spirit, who is the physical symbol, our mind that longs for spiritual Jesus and our body that yearns for the physical Holy Spirit can become one. Because of that unity the center of heaven and the center of earth can finally become one within the mind and body of each of us. When done, Jesus can stand forward representing us, and the Holy Spirit can also stand forward representing us. We can appear representing the will of Jesus and the Holy Spirit and humanity. You must understand this.
With what kind of purpose does the Lord then come to the earth? You must create the center of Jesus and the Holy Spirit within yourself. You who have a living, physical body must follow the example of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who symbolize the spirit world and the physical world, and become perfect as the substantial central being that combines the spiritual and the physical. This central mission is the mission of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is returning to build this one center.
What should we do then in this day and age to support the one providence? We should not merely think about how Jesus went to the shores of Galilee to look for the disciples he loved. Jesus Christ will not always come looking for you. Each of you is to become a bride and serve Jesus. Because Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the center of heaven, you must become the center of the earth by defining a center within you around which your mind and body can become one. Thereby you establish the one standard based upon which you can be dealt with as one entity. At this time, you are not just to long for Jesus. Now the Holy Spirit must find a body and we are to look for Jesus on the earth and serve him in her place. You must find and build one such center.
Jesus, who desires this one center, has put the Holy Spirit forward and toiled for 2,000 years for your sake. Now you are to return your debt to Jesus. Although Heaven sent Jesus Christ to the earth as the center who represented the spiritual and the physical and set the standard of completion spiritually you must seek and serve Jesus Christ in order to bring to conclusion the remaining physical dimension that is not yet complete. If you can accomplish this fully then in your heart you can attend Jesus, who has been working so strenuously until today.
Humanity must now go before Jesus and take after the mind and body of Jesus, as well as the mind and body of the Holy Spirit. They must then appear before heaven and earth and all things with confidence and become someone who can be proud before God for having raised up his or her individual self.
You must be able to take pride in yourself before Jesus and the Holy Spirit. What is more, you must be able to be proud of yourself before the apostles. By doing so, you can go before the Father and declare with pride, "Father, You who have worked arduously until now for 6,000 years! I am going to subjugate Satan, the enemy for 6,000 years, with my own hands. So Father, please trust in me and do not worry about Satan anymore."
Moreover, you should have the attitude, "I have eradicated the grief caused by sin and evil, which has soaked all the gardens of created beings. So Father, please let this extricate all the lamentations bound tightly in heaven and earth."
God could not rear and love His beloved children for 6,000 years. Although God wants to love us, He cannot sincerely elevate and love us. Although Jesus and the Holy Spirit can come to us and love us, God cannot love us until we believe in the words.
For this reason, we today must represent Jesus. Erecting the one center, we must confidently pronounce, "Dear Father! I will be responsible for all the sins and grievances of men on earth. Father, You who have longed for a chance to love humankind for 6,000 years, please love me with the original love at the time of the creation." You must go before the Father yourself and say courageously "Father! Please love me. Father! Please love me." God's will behind the creation of heaven and earth can be realized in you through Jesus Christ only when this is done.
Jesus came for the sake of the earth and labored for the sake of Heaven. You must represent the whole world of creation and the unlimited spirit world and stand confidently as their central figure before Jesus, who has toiled for the sake of heaven and appeared as the center of heaven and earth. Only after you do that can you take part in the world where Jesus will bring the bliss of heaven and earth. Then God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and you can come together and live in the world of happiness. You must not forget this.
Father of love! When we look at the 6,000 years of history broadly it was night time until now. We are at the threshold of the morning that is now appearing, admiring the sight of daybreak.
When we look at it from a broad perspective, we are now on the verge of leaving the night behind us and entering the morning hour. Today when we must greet the morning time, I have briefly spoken about how we must pass through the dark night to prepare for the blessing of resurrection; how we must focus our hearts on Jesus who dwells in Heaven, and be the substitute body for Jesus who is concerned about the earth. Then we must become one with the Holy Spirit who has come to establish the physical center. Having done these things, we must then attend Jesus in that center to establish the spiritual center. Only after that can we be elevated as the one center that embodies the original heart of the Father who created heaven and earth.
Are we living only for the sake of the earth? I know that such a life is only half of what it should be. Are we living only for the spirit? This, too, only constitutes a half.
Until now we have lived a life in which we followed Jesus in order to climb up. From now on, please allow us to come down together and love the Holy Spirit in order to realize the hope of Jesus for the perfection of the bride. Please lead us to love the Holy Spirit's spirit and nature as a bride and let her grace and virtue become a part of our minds and bodies. In place of Jesus being unable to consummate the physical plane, please allow us to stand as perfected beings with the help of the Holy Spirit and elevate us as the one central figure who can represent the whole ideology of creation. Based on this please allow us to boast before all things as the original center of heaven and the center of the heart that is connected to heaven, earth and the center of the Creator. Please raise us up as the center of the garden of creation so that we can attain the position of a son who can say "I have the confidence to move the heart of love hidden for 6,000 years, so Father, please love me."
The toilsome history has continued until today for the purpose of realizing this, so Father, I earnestly wish and desire that You will allow us to stand as the object of love who believes in the calling of the Father. I pray that You will put us in the position of children who can look down upon the creation from the same position as You and be Your pride before the creation. Let the words that these beloved children of Yours have participated in during this hour become a part of their minds and bodies so they can stand as the center of life. Let them represent the truth and the center of the created world and the Creator so that wherever they go, they can be flawless and not lose sight of the center. Father, I pray sincerely that even when the night falls upon them, let their hearts dwell in the day. No matter when or where the Lord, the Holy Spirit, or the Father appears before them, let them remain faultless and fully prepared.
I now conclude my speech, so please be with them forever in the course of their lives. I pray in the name of the Lord. Amen.