The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1956
|
|
The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1956 |
24 A dispute also arose among them as
to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to
them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those
who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But
you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should
be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.
27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who
serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as
one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials.
29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on
me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and
sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 31 "Simon,
Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have
prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you
have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 33 But he replied,
"Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows
today, you will deny three times that you know me." 35 Then
Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or
sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they
answered. 36 He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take
it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak
and buy one. 37 It is written: 'And he was numbered with the
transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me.
Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment." 38
The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords."
"That's enough!" he replied. 39 Jesus went out as usual to
the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching
the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into
temptation." 41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them,
knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, take this
cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43 An angel
from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in
anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of
blood falling to the ground. 45 When he rose from prayer and went
back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and
pray so that you will not fall into temptation."
Luke
22:24-46
Father, You have been guiding a history of strenuous labor until today for the sake of the whole of humanity. You have been guiding the mission to dismantle the walls of grief and resentment that are deeply rooted in Heaven. Through the words of truth, we now understand that we are the ones who must bring down this wall of resentment erected in Heaven. We have come to realize that when that resentment is dissolved on earth, the link with Heaven will be created.
Please allow us to heed the fact that the Father is calling upon us, the people of this age. Since You have chosen us as Your representatives and have raised us as Your sons and daughters before the whole of humanity, please allow us to reveal only the glory of the Father through our bodies. Let our every deed manifest only the goodness and righteousness of the Father.
By doing so, please let us create harmony centering on love everywhere we have a gathering. Beloved Father, please allow the songs of victories offered to You fill the whole universe.
Heaven does not forget us even in this hour and is reaching out for us, commanding us to do the much-desired will that it seeks from us. Yet when we contemplate whether we respond readily to that calling and whether we have become the sacrifice of harmony before the Father, we are left to beg Your forgiveness for not having realized these ideals and for still stagnating in an inadequate, imperfect and unprepared state.
Please allow us now to open the gates to our hearts, and through new repentance, become the sanctified sacrifice so that the bitter resentment that permeates Heaven can be rooted out with our hands. Furthermore, Father, we hope from the depth of our hearts that You will allow us to become sons and daughters of Yours who can usher in the day of happiness.
The ultimate wall of tribulations of the last days blocks our path. Before us lies the course of conflict that we must travel through with our lives. Father, please do not let us become immature and base ones who become bitter toward Heaven and fall down in the middle of this course of conflict.
We are already firmly determined to offer our minds and bodies as sacrifices, so please accept them, though they are lacking. Beloved Father, it is our utmost wish that You will guide us to become Your sons and daughters, who, as the offered sacrifices, can entrust everything to the Father and await the Father's commandments.
Father, this is a sacred hour. Father, this day is a sacred day. Father, please let this whole year become a sacred year. Please bless these children of Yours, who have gathered here representing the people in every place they gather. Please raise the flames of the sacred spirit that is hidden deep in Heaven. Deliver the works of the sacred spirit that You have promised for the last days. Please pour it down as one would pour down water. Father, please let there be many sons and daughters who can bring down the wall of resentment. Father, based on this, please allow every place they gather to become both a hidden and a manifest altar from which they can bring victory in the universal battle. Please allow us to respond to the direct commandment of Heaven to become victorious in the universal fight and bring the beacon of victory to the Father.
Father, Your children have gathered here in this hour, so please reign over each of their minds and bodies. If there are those who still cannot transcend their own self-centered thoughts, then please allow them to discard them. Please guide them to become living sacrifices before the Father. Let this be an hour when they are humbly and meekly offered as the sacrifice. My Father, I humbly and earnestly ask that You allow them to have a share in the grace of joy and the grace of harmony.
There are many sons and daughters who are wounded and exhausted. Father, please counsel them with compassion, so that the inspirations of this hour can govern their lives. Please do not let them lose the standard in their life course. Let there arise from within them the powerful and shocking stimulation of life. Please allow them to feel and experience the Father's love and be immersed in it. Father, we pray from the depth our hearts that on account of this, You will allow all of us to offer gratitude and harmonize the many millions of faithful people on earth, so that we can persuade them to offer gratitude before Your holy throne and to build the altar of victory.
Father, we wish that through us, the unworthy, You will fulfill the will that You desire and seek to manifest. We have entrusted everything to You, so please reign over us. We prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.
Father, we have stepped forward with the utmost zeal representing Heaven, but we are too inadequate. Since we who have nothing wish to remain before You, please allow us to go forth and cry out aloud without any hesitation. Father, please look down with compassion upon our minds and bodies, which have been wounded in various ways during our attempt to take after the heart of God that no one knows about; wounded while we were following the path of the will that others falsify.
There were times when we shed tears in solitude and held grudges against Heaven. Although You have promised us the day of hope which is near, and although You have granted the ultimate fruit of the will to those who have been following with persistence, we worry that we cannot cope with it. We are overwhelmed with a great sense of awe before You.
Father, please govern Your sons and daughters who have gathered here. Please grant the Father's will of happiness to manifest itself within our minds and bodies. Please remove wrong thoughts, ideologies, and concepts with Your presence and reign. Father, based on this foundation, please allow us in this hour to bring about the works of inspiration that can completely eradicate the bitter resentment rooted deeply within Heaven.
Please grant the heart of repentance to spring forth from within us. Strike our bodies with might so that the evil elements can be liquidated and only the elements of goodness can be revealed before the Father who lives in eternal presence. Please bless us so that we can respond to the Father's goodness with our original nature and character, and creating harmony based on the Father's love, enable the Father to look upon our beauty with delight. At the same time, may the faithful believers of Heaven be caused also to unite in consonance and return the song of glory to the Father. Father, we make this wish from the depth of our hearts.
Even in this hour, the dark surge of sin is trying to invade each of our minds and bodies. Please grant us the strength and the capability. Please guide us to the realization that as the number of the sons and daughter who gather increases, the Cain and Abel relationship becomes more manifest. Lead us not to stand in the Cain-type position.
Please allow us to become Abel-type sacrifices and voluntarily fulfill all of our responsibility as substantial sacrifices. Please allow us to act for Abel to bring the Cain-type people to submit to the Father. Father, we earnestly hope and desire that Your works of might and ability will be unfolded before the whole in the hour.
Father! In this hour, please let us heed in our hearts that the mission You have entrusted us with now is not for our own salvation and liberation. Please let us understand that the fate of this people rests on us today. Please allow all of the 2.4 billion people of the world to set the condition of appeal to Heaven and earth through us.
Father, please hold us until the day when we who stand in this magnificent and serious path of life and death cling onto Heaven with our right hands and strike Satan with our left hands, until we can reap victory and raise our hands to return the glory of Hosanna to the Father. Please govern the whole of the sons and daughters who have gathered in this hour. Please let there be no one among these participating sons and daughters who hold the root of sin in their hearts and resist repentance. Appear with the power to eliminate and explode all the bitter roots of sins they harbor in their hearts.
Please let that which belongs to Satan and that which belongs to God be separated in this hour, so that we can be offered before the Father as the sanctified sacrifices of joy. Father, we make this appeal from the bottom of our hearts.
Your lonely sons and daughters, Your sons and daughters who have dispersed throughout the countryside with the words of the new gospel, I know that they must be kneeling alone and facing difficulties in their attempt to walk the path of sacrifice. Father, please be with them.
Your lonely sons and daughters who are coping with the will before the time is ripe, please do not let them become exhausted in their fight with Satan. Father, who has been providing protection until now, we wish for Your grace of protection to continue even after this hour, so that wherever we may be, please permit us to represent Your will and to resolve the resentment rooted deep within You. Please guide us so that even at the cost of offering our lives as a sacrifice, we can inherit the bitter heart of the Father and offer gratitude toward Heaven. Please, beloved Father, raise us as the embodiment of beauty in whom You can take delight and who can return the glory of Hosanna, so that we can quickly and fully accomplish the will of Heaven.
There are many altars who have gathered before the Father's presence on behalf of the people today. Be with them to lead them away from building the altar of evil out of their ignorance of the will. Let the works of the inspiration of Heavenly Father dawn upon this hour on the religious groups who have gathered representing the people so that every one of them can join their hearts and combine their altars to offer themselves as the one altar of victory to the Father.
Please take charge and reign over everything in this hour. Please operate only the will of happiness in this hour. Manifest only the will of happiness. Wishing for these things with the most sincere heart, I prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.
Father, these words of truth are the truth of re-creation. We know that You are grieving over the absence of the embodiment of truth on earth, about which You have proclaimed in the Garden of Eden, "It is good, it is good." We know that as long as there the condition remains unfulfilled to reclaim the words of goodness that were lost, we cannot find the embodiment of goodness.
Father, please divulge the words of goodness to this congregation. Father, I pray from the depth of my heart that You will renew Your commandments with the reclaimed words of goodness. Through their minds and bodies, I pray for the Father's special dispensation of re- creation, which can produce the embodiments of goodness amid the congregation.
I have stepped forward with the truth, so please let both the speaker and the listener become one in their hearts. Father, we know that when one secures the reciprocal base and becomes the source of pride, then the whole can be molded through that person. Please come seeking the sons and daughters of Yours here whom You have raised. By establishing the center of words and producing the works of conditions, allow them to overcome the power of Satan. Moreover, Father, we humbly and fervently desire that if our minds and bodies are enslaved inside the realm of Satan, then please allow us to divide ourselves with the truth to be able to receive the Father's seal of purification.
At such a time there is no need for many words. Until now we have heard and come to know many words of truth, but Father, we know that we need the power to give life to our minds. Please do Your works with power and ability.
Father, we sincerely hope that You will remove all evil concepts and manifest the words of truth that have the power to resurrect, and that You will give rise to the works of re-creation and resurrection. Please lead us to become those who fathom the heart of the Father, who wishes to see the perfection of one beauty in this hour. More than by any other means, through the heart of profound inner experience: the feelings, concepts, and repentance based on such inner experiences of the heart, we wish that in this hour we can be offered as one sacrifice. We prayed all things in the name of the Lord. Amen.
In the words I have recited today, there are words that Jesus spoke as he faced the ultimate cross and made the adventurous determination. Therefore, the title of the sermon that I want to reflect upon with you is "The Providence of God and the Nature of the Adventure that Transcends Reality." I will speak briefly on this topic.
We who follow the faith today are traveling through the course of ceaseless conflicts, with the day of universal judgment lying ahead of us. This path is not a smooth course. Therefore, if you cannot erect the adventurous center and secure the victorious center with which you can cast away the judgment of the universe's bitter grief, then you will become losers in the historical course and losers in the life course.
Therefore, you must keep in mind that the history of God's dispensation forecasts the providence that begins and concludes adventurously. The environment and the various conditions that enable us to freely lead a life of faith were not results of your efforts. The reason that we can call out to God and lead our life of faith in this kind of freedom is because our ancestors have crossed over countless hazardous passes. You must understand this. You must also realize that if you cannot feel this deep down in your bones either in your life or in your course of faith, then you cannot cross the ultimate pass of universal judgment.
Before doing that, you must first understand the reason Heaven has called upon us. We must be able to explain by ourselves our identity, we who are passing over the hill of grief and resentment of the 6,000- year history.
What is more, we must reflect on such questions as: Have we erected the center of freedom that will enable us to cross over the pass of universal bitterness blocked off due to the resentment of history and Satan? Have we come to possess the victorious center from which we can confidently step above the standard of the judgment of resentment that lies ahead of us in the future? Which state has your life of faith reached today? Until the day that the whole dispensation of Heaven is completed through the historical course by passing through the practical course and the course of the future, we must form the bond with Heaven and contemplate the various problems of the past, the present, and the future.
Now if we assume that Heaven wills to raise us up to rest the whole mission of the last days on us and manifest the glory of victory through us, then that will must be the representation of the will of the dispensation of the 6,000 years. What is more, the criterion by which Heaven is trying to seek and raise us up is crossing the pass of the ultimate judgment. In other words, it is the new standard of the new heaven and earth. Accordingly, if you cannot set the standard of the new heaven and earth and the victorious environment of freedom in which you can live for eternity without any constraints, then you cannot emerge as victors before the dispensation of God.
When we reflect on the past, Heaven elevated us today not just to save us. He raised us up as the culmination that can resolve the historical grief and bitterness. You must heed this and get rid of the resentment that has accumulated from the time of Adam. Moreover, you should resolve the adventurous resentment of Noah and unravel his adventurous life.
The adventurous lives of those who came after him, from Abraham to Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets and sages of history, you must take charge of the works left unfulfilled by them and, using them as the one basis, establish the center that will empower you to confidently step above the standard of judgment in the future. Otherwise, you must remember that you will become a straggler in the historical battle with Satan.
Let us now reflect back on our ancestors of the past. When we look at the life of Noah first, we will find that it was not a smooth and even life. How do you think Noah must have felt when he received the commandment, "I will judge the world with water 120 years from now, so build an ark on the top of Mount Ararat"? It was not a feat that took twelve days, nor twelve years. It took 120 years. The commandment to build an ark on top of Mount Ararat was completely out of step with the reality of that time.
When you look at the actual situation of Noah, who carried out that kind of commandment, he might be considered a truly insane person, one who was fully out of touch with his time. Noah, who received such enormous directives from God, made a firm determination within himself. He persevered not for one day, but for a period of 120 years, wishing for that one day to come. You must understand that Noah was truly the adventurous champion, unprecedented in the 1,600 years of prior history. He was raised before Heaven representing that history.
Noah, who maintained absolute faith in the commandment as the will of the covenant, did not pay much attention to all those conditions. Once he decided, he did not care whether God intervened or whether the people of the world cursed at him. Since he had already embarked on the path for the sake of the will, putting his life on the line and having forsaken it, none of these matters posed any problem. Thus, he silently traveled through the course of ordeals that continued for such a long period of 120 years.
Noah must have faced criticisms in his family. Society must have greatly reproached him. Yet nobody could stop the footsteps of Noah, who began his journey to single-mindedly pioneer the heavenly path that humankind does not understand and has not traveled before, the path that no one in the course of sixteen hundred years had walked before. You must keep in mind that Noah was an adventurous person who could cast aside all opposition, even if the environment of society of that time obstructed him and all the people of the world pushed him back.
Noah made headway with dogged determination, regardless of what kinds of tests and tribulations he faced. After 120 years passed, he could erect the one restored family that Adam's family had lost. You must understand such a historical background.
The same thing was true for Abraham. When Abraham received the commandments from God to leave Ur of the Chaldeans, this was no easy matter for him. When God ordered him to abandon the mountains and rivers of the homeland dear to his heart as well as all of his relatives and neighbors, he was greatly distressed. From the humanistic perspective, it was an impossible deed.
Abraham, who received the commandment of God, transcended the environment in which he had lived up to that time. Transcending the family, he abandoned the life that he had led happily until then and went on his way. Such an action as Abraham's would never have taken place under the usual circumstances in that time. Even if there were those who centered their thoughts on the will and were concerned about the will, no one could have stood beside Abraham and proclaimed, "Yes. The path you are taking is true, so please guide me."
Abraham started his journey with an unwavering heart that disregarded whether the world understood him. He had the mind-set to leave Ur of the Chaldeans for eternity. When he thus took his steps according to the way that God led, he climbed over all the steep mountains and crossed the pass of death with great persistence.
God seized the first son of the idol seller, Terah, and put him in that position. Abraham, who had that calling, made the firm determination, "In the path that I am walking now, my center will never change, even if my beloved parents hold me back, even if my beloved friends dissuade me, and even if my beloved brothers and sisters pull me back." That was not all. Abraham even obeyed the order of God to offer as a burnt sacrifice his precious son, Isaac, who was born when Abraham was one hundred years old. That command constituted the one adventurous condition that was unprecedented in history. That event was the condition that represented heaven and earth and decided the fate of events in heaven, events on earth, and of many millions of matters. Although Abraham was ignorant of this, he made a sincere attempt to place his son on the altar and sacrifice him after he had received the order to offer Isaac.
Think about the heart of Abraham, who was trying to strike his beloved son with the knife. His mentality truly transcended the reality. In his time, who could have recognized that kind of faith? The adventurous deed of Abraham indicated that he belonged to Heaven and that his family belonged to Heaven. It showed that he as well as his family and all of their belongings would follow the commandment of God. He realized this fact while he was making a burnt offering of his only son.
He tried to offer Isaac with the attitude, "Although I have given birth to this son, because he is Your possession, I will offer him to You," and he tried to break away from the environment of practical reality. You must understand the center of the faith of these historical ancestors.
This holds true also for Jacob and Moses. When God raised them up, He did not allow them to travel a smooth and easy path. Jacob was engaged in the battle to seize the elder sonship from the time of his birth. Moses also faced conditions of conflict from the time of his birth.
God called upon Moses and raised him at the time the Jewish people were suffering 400 years of tribulation in the land of the enemy, Egypt. Moses was protected by his mother for three months under the fearsome tyranny of the Pharaoh. After that, he was taken in by the daughter of the Pharaoh and he lived in the palace for forty years.
You might have thought that Moses' life in the palace of Pharaoh was splendid and magnificent. However, Moses, who upheld the providence, was not an Egyptian citizen, though he was living in the palace of the Pharaoh. As each day passed by, the thought that he was a member of the chosen people of God and the thought that he represented Israel penetrated deeply into his heart. When Moses left the palace after adhering closely to the principles of Israel alone for forty years, he beat an Egyptian to death because he saw an Israelite suffer mistreatment at the hands of the Egyptian. Irrepressible indignation burst out from within him.
After that, he fled the palace. Cherishing the blessed providence of Israel in his heart, he began the life of a shepherd in the Midian wilderness. His life was in no way peaceful or comfortable. There was no one from any era who could understand why Moses would abandon such a splendid palace as the Pharaoh's and live as a shepherd. Nonetheless, Moses did not despair. He began building a hidden altar that others did not know about for the sake of Heaven and Israel. On this foundation, God chose him in the year that he turned eighty and groomed him as the hero who could remove the resentment of the people.
After that, all the footsteps Moses took were adventurous. Because he kept the transcendent center of the dispensation of God close to his heart, his whole life transcended reality. What he saw, as well as the battles that he engaged in, all transcended reality. When Moses went to the palace of the Pharaoh under the direction of God, God should have blessed and protected Moses, who was carrying out His commands. Instead, He blocked the path of Moses and tried to kill him. Why did God try to impede and kill Moses, who was carrying out His orders? This simply should not take place in actual reality. This is something that human beings cannot comprehend.
According to practical common sense, there is no way that this pass could be crossed. Nevertheless, since Moses was already determined, with a heart yearning to fulfill the one will even at the risk of his death, he passed through the condition of a test set up by God and Satan. In this way, Moses, who became convinced of the transcendent existence of God and performed more than ten miracles in the palace of the Pharaoh, was an unprecedented adventurous revolutionary on the universal scale. You must understand this. Similarly, Moses did not succumb to anyone's opposition. With transcendent faith toward the will, he led the 600 thousand Israelite people out of Egypt. When you look at this, you should realize that the whole life of Moses was a path of transcendent adventure.
Moses came as the representative of the restoration of a people. After Moses, Jesus came as the one with the mission to restore the world. Jesus knew that during the 4,000 years of history, countless prophets and sages had lived a lifestyle that transcended their practical reality for the sake of accomplishing the will of God. What is more, he felt to his bone marrow that he himself was indeed the one who was responsible for completing the will that the prophets and sages could not fulfill when they had participated in the dispensation of God.
After reflecting on history, Jesus realized that even up to his time, the countless prophets and sages had resentment and grief and that the dispensation of restoration had not been consummated. Therefore, he made a firm determination to bring this to pass.
He was truly determined to walk through the course of transcendent adventures for the sake of pioneering the course of 4,000 years. You must understand that Jesus was someone who had the determination to walk the course that summed up all the hazardous courses of the saints and sages.
Because Jesus was born with the mission to bring the hazardous history on the universal level to an end, from the moment of his birth, he walked a path of adventure. Indeed, his whole life was one of transcendent adventure. What is more, in the end, even the path of death that hung Jesus on the cross was a path of adventure that transcended reality.
Then what was the foundation of the life of Jesus? It was a life that was to bring to full consummation the 4,000-year history and bring to an end the danger-ridden course where God's resentment was deeply rooted. It was a transcendent, victorious life not found before in this world. It was a life that sought to lay a new, victorious foundation.
What you must understand now is that Jesus was born through the body of Mary. What fate would have befallen the providence of God if there had been no one like the holy mother Mary for Jesus, who had to come to live an adventurous life? If there had been no one like the holy mother Mary, in other words, had there been no woman of Heaven, Jesus could not have even been born. If there were no foundation of adventure-undertaking sacrifice like Mary's, then the birth of Jesus could not have taken place. Jesus had to pass through a hazardous course to be born with a new life.
When the angel appeared before the virgin Mary and told her, "You will be pregnant, and you will bear a son," Mary answered him, "I do not know any man, so how could this be?" The angel answered again, "God, who is omnipotent, has chosen you." At that time, Mary replied, "Lord, I am a humble servant, so do as You will." These words embodied the universal adventure.
Though Mary knew that according to the laws of her time, an unmarried woman with a baby would be stoned to death immediately upon discovery, she transcended the environment of practical reality and said, "Lord, do as You will. I am only a humble servant, so do as You will. I am Yours even if you kill me or even if I meet my doom. Please do as You will." Heaven gave birth to Jesus because there was a substantial, living sacrifice, Mary, on earth.
This is not all. Even in the life of faith that you are leading, there are many hazardous paths of which you are not aware. Joseph, who received a revelation about the pregnancy of his fiancée, Mary through a dream, tried to sever his relationship with her because of many humanistic difficulties. The news that his fiancé was pregnant caused him much humanistic pain and anxiety. Joseph tried to save Mary, taking responsibility for all the things that had happened. That was not an easy thing. It transcended reality.
Therefore, you today have the mission to walk the path that Jacob and Joseph walked, and to walk even the paths that Jesus and Mary walked. Accordingly, you must be aware of the fact that before you lies the transcendent scene, the hazardous pass that must be crossed by transcending practical reality.
People could not recognize Jesus, who contained within his heart the sorrow of the 4,000-year history, and who was determined to offer himself up as the sacrifice even at the risk of his life. People did not realize that he was the Messiah, the savior of all humankind. When we look at that, we can realize that the life of Jesus transcended reality beginning from his birth, that he lived a life of new, ideal adventure. You must understand that today this remains as the incomplete will that is being sought after in the time of the Lord of the Second Advent.
Looking at the life of Jesus, he was concerned about the providence from the time he was growing up in the family of Joseph and Mary. His younger brothers (and sisters) reproached and accused him. Joseph did not have the same heart toward Jesus in Jesus' thirty years of life as he did initially. Joseph loved his own children more than he loved Jesus. You must understand that this is the reason Jesus could not have a family environment that was socially acceptable at the time.
The life of Jesus, in which he lived as a stepson and eventually died on the cross, transcended reality in all of its aspects. As he encountered all kinds of troubles in his family environment, he quietly overcame them all. His last work, when he appeared with the providence and finally proved that he was the Messiah of all human beings, was also counter to reality.
Because Jesus surpassed the realm of laws, which had been established as the creed of Judaism through a long history, and superseded it with a new gospel of Heaven, wherever he went and wherever he resided, he was not welcomed. Driven out by his family, John the Baptist, and Judaism, he did not have any place upon which to rest. Nonetheless, though he had no place to rely on, he did not look for a source of comfort.
Jesus, who understood the will of God, proclaimed the gospel of the New Testament. Initially, when John the Baptist testified to Jesus, there came into being an environment in which all the Jewish priests and officials could have recognized him. Yet as Jesus walked the three-year course of his public ministry, Jesus' position gradually declined until eventually only fishermen and women of little importance followed him.
For Jesus, who had to manifest the ideals of God, the promise had to be eternal and the will had to be eternal, but in reality, he could not find them no matter how hard he tried. You must understand how incomparably miserable the heart of Jesus was at the time he gathered a crowd of five thousand on an empty hill and offered prayers of grace for them, and also when he was praying desperately in front of the tomb of Nazareth.
During the 4,000-year history, countless prophets and sages led adventurous lives with bold determination and swallowed internal agony for the sake of God's will. Yet none even came close to the sorrow of Jesus. Jesus had to penetrate through the bitter and grievous heart of the 4,000 year history and rise up to console God's heart of internal anguish.
The people who were following Jesus were not the kind that the Jewish people would welcome. They were not ones that the believers of Judaism recognized. Jesus had to walk a path that no one welcomed in the social and religious realms. Wherever he went, he could not find a free environment to stay in.
When Moses was leading the multitude of 600 thousand, he was blocked in front by the Red Sea. Behind him, the chariots of the Pharaoh were rushing toward them. On behalf of the 600 thousand people who were afraid of dying, Moses confronted the situation head on with the unwavering belief that he could prevail in that trial of death. You must understand that by persisting on that path, he could have sacrificed the multitude of 600 thousand.
The same thing is true when Jesus could feed the crowd of 5,000 with a handful of fish and bread. Looking down upon the countless crowd spread across the hill at sunset, Jesus' heart was, in practical terms, a heart that could not be found in anyone else on earth. Truly, it was a heart of great adventurous spirit that should be restored back to Heaven. Because Jesus cried out with this kind of heart, he could cause miraculous works of re-creation.
We must fathom Jesus who had an adventurous birth, Jesus who walked hazardous paths in his life, and Jesus who set the standard of an adventurous spirit even when he was at last nailed on the cross. When we look at that, Jesus did not lead an insignificant and bland life. It was not a polite and fashionable lifestyle.
You who have faith must re-examine yourself and match your life to the life course of Jesus. If you have the desire to become the bride of Jesus Christ, then you must understand his life from the moment of his birth through his thirty years of adventurous life to the hill of Golgotha. You must understand his life of humiliation and adversity to the fateful path of the cross, the hazardous path of death.
Indeed the life of Jesus began as an adventure and ended as an adventure. Every hour, we must feel deep within us the agonizing heart of Jesus who came as the bridegroom but had to walk the lonely path of death: Jesus who passed away for our sake; Jesus who died to save us.
If there were a gift that you could give to Jesus in these last days today, what would it be? It would be possessing the anxious heart of Jesus Christ who passed through the adventurous course at the risk of his life and becoming the most remarkable sacrifice that cannot be found any other place in the whole world and universe: the unique offering of universal adventure.
Accordingly, you must now understand the bitter heart of God, who has traveled through the historical course up to now and who has risen from the most lowly position. You must lead your life with the determination to die for the sake of the will. Think about it. If Jesus Christ, who died for the sake of earth condemns the earth, then there is no one who has the right to condemn it more severely.
However, Jesus did not come for his own sake. First, he came for the sake of history, for the sake of the Jewish faith and the Israelite people. He came for the sake of the disciples who were to follow him. On a larger scale, he came for the sake of the people, the nation, the world, and the universe. This is how he lived his life. Even his death was not for his own sake.
Yet who remained faithful to the path that Jesus walked? In the pass of death, he was betrayed by his beloved disciples. He was left alone to take responsibility for everything. Think about it! If he were going to become bitter and hold a grudge against the earth, then even if he were to weep ceaselessly, pounding the earth, he would not have been able to fully resolve the resentment of the thirty years. There was no way that he could be compensated for the ordeals that he suffered. On the contrary, Jesus was concerned that humanity would suffer under the yoke of Satan. With a heart of compassion, even in the moment of death on the cross, he prayed for the sake of the Jewish people who betrayed him, the disciples, and humanity who betrayed him. Because he was a man of sorrow, he could become their friend even when the ancestors of this earth appealed on the basis of the 4,000 year history and all of humankind. He could pray for the sake of the people who opposed him and the enemies who struck him. Such a thing had never even been heard of in the 4,000 years of human history. Moreover, you must understand that this was the work of universal adventure done to dismantle the wall of sin rooted deeply in heaven and earth.
If Jesus is the king of all kings, then for you to become the queen of this king, you must believe in his promise. Without fearing death, you must entrust everything to the will and lead your life.
Jesus walked this kind of path. The life of Jesus was this kind of life. The hope of Jesus was living for the sake of the will and dying for the sake of the will in that manner.
Then what is the task that lies before us? What is that which we must be aware of? We must understand Jesus, who solicited for blessing to fall upon humanity even at the moment of death, and who took away with him all the internal sorrows that penetrated deeply into his bitter heart.
Among the people who believe in Jesus, there are many who pray to the Father that He will grant blessings to them. Before beseeching for blessings, you must first understand the grief that is immersed deep inside His heart. Not only that, you must even understand the life of Jesus and the course of crucifixion. You must understand today that there was deep sorrow behind the hazardous course, which humankind is not aware of and only Jesus and God understand. You must fathom Jesus' heart of internal sorrow that he could not speak about.
By doing so, you could say, "Lord! I will resolve all Your resentments and those of history. Please prod us on. Please guide us to fulfill the will that You hoped to realize through all the people of history. Let us not fall down but rise up as venturesome sacrifices who can supersede the universal history and eradicate the bitter grief that countless prophets and sages have left behind them."
The hope that we have now is in accomplishing the will that Jesus Christ left behind on the earth as the remaining task. It is our fate to bring new fulfillment to the will of Jesus Christ. History flowed down through the hazardous course of the individual, family, society, nation, and the world. Therefore, when an individual among Christians attempts to accomplish the will, hazardous elements are added to that individual's path. It is the same for the family, society, nation, and the world. You must understand that such an adventurous gateway lies before you. Accordingly, you must be able to offer yourself as a sacrifice of adventurous spirit on behalf of your venture and life, which stand in front of the forked road of life and death and the place of universal judgment. You must offer it on behalf of the life of the people and the humanity of the world.
What is more, you must be able to copy the life courses of the prophets and sages and Jesus Christ and apply them in whatever environment or time you might live in. Moreover, no matter who at what moment in time sets forth any condition, you must have the determination and audacity to step forward and appeal to the whole universe and proceed forward as the representative of the will of Heaven.
Today, when the day of the Second Advent is near, you must carry on the one venturesome, universal task that remains as the last remnant of the 6,000 year history. If that task is universal, then you must also become a universal being. You must understand that only when you step forward with adventurous internal determination will you be able to fulfill that task.
If the will of God is fulfilled apart from the life of faith that we live, then how would it be? Until now, the history of God has gone forward through the venturesome course that transcended practical reality.
Only when you pass through such a universal and venturesome gateway can you lift high the flag of ultimate victory and go before the Father to sing the victory song. Then you can represent the position of the universal bride. Moreover, you will not be subject to any condition when this takes place and only then. Even if there are persecutions and humiliations in some environment, you can still become the prince of Heaven who sets the standard of transcendent adventure. You must understand that only the ones who have the determination to become this kind of prince can bear the ultimate responsibility for the will of God's dispensation and become the bride of Christ who can manifest glory.
At this moment, when the last days of history are shedding light in various places of heaven and earth, even if we are experiencing grief, that one ray of light is shining upon our minds and bodies. Father, please be present with those who have the mark of life, the power of life. Please manifest Your mighty works so that the faithful Christians of today can walk that universal adventurous path that remains before them.
Father! The life of faith that we have led until now was centered on ourselves. When did we decide to live a venturesome life for the sake of Jesus and Heaven? When did we pray before the Father, "I will become an adventurous sacrifice"? If there are no such people among the sons and daughters who have gathered here today, Father, please lead them to repent. Please do not allow them to become abominable people who do not fear the awe-inspiring dispensation of Heaven. Father, we entreat from the depth of our hearts that You will allow us to pray earnestly before You to represent the universe and to walk a venturesome path.
Father, Your sons and daughters who have gathered here have been starving for the life that transcends reality. Their life has not been normal. If one were to use the word "fanatical," there cannot be a more fanatical life than theirs. However, when we evaluate it based on the past, the present, and the future, then that cannot be considered an untoward lifestyle.
Please lead us not to become cowardly ones who betray the Father on this path of universal agony and adventure. Father, please extend Your hands of power. Please allow us to understand that the path Jesus walked is the model course we must travel. Passing through the works of resurrection and rebirth, let us cultivate a new center of life. Father, we wish with utmost earnestness that You will let us secure a foundation for the new life and walk the course that heaven and earth can recognize, after gathering new strengths.
Please let the words spoken today become the words of truth that give life to the sons and daughters who have gathered here and penetrate deeply into their flesh and bone. Guide us to offer ourselves as the eternal sacrifices of victory. Through them, please set the conditions of appeal to resolve the resentment of Heaven. Soliciting with deep earnestness, I prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.