The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1957
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1957 |
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and
sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your true and proper
worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect
will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not
think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of
yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has
distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body
with many members, and these members do not all have the same
function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each
member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts,
according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is
prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is
serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to
encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give
generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show
mercy, do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil;
cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor
one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep
your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope,
patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:1-12
Please lead us not to forget that today is the time when the will of the dispensation, for which sake the Father has been toiling for 6,000 years, will put our entire lives on the scale. Father, we understand that now is the time when our minds and bodies must take after the Father completely, so please allow us to enter Your bosom and inherit Your heart, with which You have loved the many millions of humanity, to realize that one will. Moreover, please let this be the moment when we can comprehend that we must materialize such a heart of the Father.
We understand that this is that land on which the Father has been laboring strenuously and has shed blood. It is also the land through which the difficult path of the cross of humankind, the course of Golgotha on the worldwide level, passes. Therefore, Father, please guide us to understand on our own on what kind of situation we are in today.
Since we recognize the fact that we are following the footsteps of the thirty years of Jesus' life, please lead us to understand clearly what kind of environment we are living in and what kind of desires we must hold in our heart. In this moment, when the remaining portion of the conflict of crucifixion is lying right before us, we understand that we must possess the heart of self-consciousness that can enable us to cast aside all our anguish and resentment by ourselves. God in Heaven, please cast Your gaze of compassion upon us. Please lead us to sense our own lack. Please guide us to sense our own incompetence. We hope from the depth of our hearts that You will allow this to be an opportunity for us to lament over our own incompleteness and shed tears of grief before the Father.
Father! Please look down upon this people with pity. Please dispel the fear of these people. Purge the sins of these people. Remove the darkness of these people.
Please allow Your powerful hands that can guide the way to the garden of light to quickly emerge amid the crowd of thirty million. Moreover, please awaken all humanity who is fast asleep. Through us, please resolve the resentment of the millions of faithful believers who have helped advance the dispensation during the course of history.
Father, we have prostrated ourselves before You this hour, so please lead us not to assert any view centering on ourselves. Please allow us to only lie prostrate before the knees of the Father with the heart of a child, holding onto the compassionate hands of the Father and enter the bosom of the Father's love. Please allow us to make a full bow to the Father with a heart longing for such grace. Father, please guide us to offer everything and put forth everything so that there will not be any condition for Satan's accusation.
Father! We know that this day is a holy day, a day when the Father bestows the blessing, so please bless the countless religious groups who are gathering on behalf of the people. Please allow the same grace also to Your sons and daughters who are in charge of lonely altars. At this time of the last days, please allow all of them to testify to the will of the whole.
Hoping that You will reign over everything, I prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.
The title of the speech I am going to give today is "Let Us Step Beyond This World That Has Become a Sacrifice."
Human being's life of original creation is living the life with a tranquil mind. Yet, we do not find peace in the minds of people today. Moreover, in the minds of humankind who should be living within the eternal ideal centering on liberty, there are no freedom and ideal about which Heaven can also be happy.
Consequently, all human beings spread all across the world today hope for the fulfillment of complete freedom, ideal and peace based on a certain time. This is the heart's earnest desire for all the people who are living on this earth. Similarly, the world of perfect freedom, ideal and peace is the original ideal for which humankind long, and no matter what, you must fulfill this centering on your minds and bodies. Furthermore, you must achieve this also in the family centering on your individual self, and you must fulfill this in the society, the nation, and the world. Not only that, you must build the one world that can unite heaven and earth and sing the song of peace and freedom, and enjoy the ideal love.
If you cannot materialize this kind of world, then human beings cannot partake in the true happiness, true liberation and true glory. Then, how did humankind come to face such unfortunate fate? This is retribution of the fall. In this way, the humanity of the whole world today must cross over the pass of confrontation and conflict. They have the fate to cross over the pass of anguish, the Golgotha of tears. You must feel, throughout your daily life, that you are also living such grievous life.
There is a big gap between the world mankind seeks and the reality they face. Although their minds proceed toward that world, their bodies cannot escape the reality; therefore, humankind cannot avoid the fate of living a life of suffering. Even if someone can erect a logical and ethical body of laws, and even if someone can claim that he can materialize the ideal world that people long for by using the laws to induce them to repent and comprehend, it is no more than a theoretical and logical system, and it cannot actualize humankind's ideal world of happiness in the realm of real life. The courses of many prophets and sages prove this fact.
Accordingly, before us who are living in the last days is the path upon which we must embark and the pass we must cross. This is the road of sacrifice that can realize the eternal peace, freedom and ideal.
To cross such a pass, there must appear one center who can bring eternal freedom to the mind, who can represent the eternal hope of Heaven, and substitute for the eternal peace of Heaven. If such a central figure does not appear, then eternal peace, freedom and ideal can never be realized in heaven and on earth.
Then, how has the 6,000 years of deep-rooted bitterness progressed in a single strand? It was setting certain conditions centering on God, Satan and human beings. It is none other than the pass of sacrifice. When we reflect back on the 6,000 years of the history of dispensation, during the Old Testament era the pass of sacrifice was crossed through all things, and in the New Testament era the pass of sacrifice was crossed through the substantial body of Jesus Christ. Then, in the approaching Completed Testament era, what is the standard for our crossing over of the pass of sacrifice? It is the faithful people, in other words, it is to be crossed through you yourselves. During the Old Testament era the pass of sacrifice had to be crossed through all things, and during the New Testament era the pass of sacrifice had to be crossed through Jesus Christ, in other words, through the son of God. Nonetheless, now the pass of sacrifice has to be crossed by using you as the sacrifice, you who can assume the name of bride and bridegroom. Before you cross that pass of sacrifice, the world of true peace, freedom, and ideal cannot be realized on earth.
Then what is the history of humankind that passed through 6,000 years? Although its shape is large and its scope is broad, the 6,000 years of the history of dispensation is fundamentally the history of God's laborious work to find and raise one true person who can command the perfect freedom, perfect ideal and perfect peach. You must already be well aware of this through history.
Originally, human beings were supposed to live in the Garden of Eden, enjoying eternal freedom, ideal and peace centering on God, but because of the fall of Adam and Eve, the ancestors of humankind, that kind of original world crumbled. Although we are the descendants of Adam and Eve who fell, because we have the original mind which heads for the original world, we have been going toward the world that God wills, and that desire of ours has remained as the ideal that must be pursued and be carried out.
Then, what is the center of that which God is trying to find and erect through that toilsome dispensation? That is the original true Adam and Eve who have nothing to do with the fallen natures.
As you know through the Divine Principle, Adam and Eve, the children of God who should have become the true parents of humankind, could not become true parents because of the fall; by virtue of this, they became the ancestors of fallen men without even being able to establish any relationship with the original history. Because we have become the tribes of the fall due to fallen Adam and Eve like this, we must usher in the one day that can destroy that kind of lineage relationship and attend the true parents of original character.
If that one day is not established in Heaven and on earth, in other words, if the people who can move in synchronicity with the central figure do not appear to unite heaven and earth and advance the one purpose, then on earth true freedom, peace and ideal will never be materialized. If that happens then humankind can never be free from the fateful and universal course of the history of restoration through indemnity.
If you wish to receive the love of God, then you must understand that you have come on the foundation of the 6,000 years of the history of the dispensation as the history of struggle, and you must realize that you must also walk the same course of struggle. What is more, supposing that the entire history of dispensation was a course of history whose purpose was to cross over the pass of sacrifice, you must also use all things as the condition and cross the pass of making sacrifices in your life, just as in the Old Testament era all things were offered as the condition of sacrifice.
Next, Jesus Christ must come to this earth and cross the pass of blood that was shed by the sacrifice. After that, you must put yourself forward as the conditional being and cross that pass of sacrifice.
Because of this background, God cannot come seeking us in glory. Moreover, He cannot come seeking us with peace, freedom and ideals. Instead, He has no choice but to come looking for us while presenting us with the pass of sacrifice. The believers of Jesus today are not aware of this fact.
Because the Jewish people did not believe when Jesus came on this earth, Jesus had to live a life on the level lower than any common person of that time or even an evil person. Jesus hoped that the Jewish people would believe in him instead of offering all things as the sacrifice and cross over to the side of God, but they could not understand the will of the dispensation, and by falling faithless to Jesus they deviated from the path of the dispensational fate, and such resentment has reached us.
To enable God to come seeking us, what kind of position should we be in? First, we must strike the material things that represent all things. This is the reason Jesus said that the gospel would disseminate to the poor people. Next, we must be able to strike even our beloved sons and daughters and, eventually, we must be able to even offer our bodies as the sacrifice. This is the pass of sacrifice that we must cross. Most faithful believers of today do not realize that when we advance through this pass of sacrifice, Heaven will come seeking us and forge a relationship with us. When God stands you on that path, you must be able to travel that path confidently.
The 6,000-year history is not a simple history, but a universal history of restoration. It is the history of individual restoration. For that reason, if you cannot cultivate an unchanging heart at the center, which can take responsibility for the history of the universe and stand firm as the representative of Heaven, then you cannot become one who has crossed the pass of history and you cannot stand in the position of having obeyed the laws of dispensation.
Please look at Abraham of the past. Abraham was in the position to abandon Ur of the Chaldeans, the land that he loved, and leave the living environment in which he felt at great ease and comfort, to follow the words of God. In other words, he was in the position to suffer pain, centering on the physical body. Nonetheless, Abraham did not despair. If Abraham despaired at that moment, then his descendent would not have been able to receive the blessing and grace of God.
In order for you to greet God, who has been leading the history of restoration for 6,000 years, you must have the wisdom to take charge of that condition of restoration and rise above it. Just as there has been the pass of the dispensation that God has crossed in the course of history until now, for us who live in the last days, there is also the pass of dispensation that we must cross. Therefore, in your life, by indemnifying all the conditions of sacrifice of the 6,000 years, you must pave the way for Heaven to freely descend and for the Lord to freely come. If you forget this point, then you cannot become the sons and daughters of God, and you cannot relate with God.
Because Abraham walked the course of many bitter and agonizing experiences and the course of sacrificial offering from the time he left Ur until he entered the land of hope, the blessed land of Canaan, he could cross over the pass of 400 years on behalf of the people. Abraham forsook all the material things that he owned. He even forsook his own wife and could offer the only son Isaac, whom he had when he was one hundred years old. Not only that, because he stood on the unified foundation of having walked the course of restoration through indemnity with faith strong enough to even offer himself, he could become the ancestor of faith of humanity.
In the Bible, there is a record concerning Job, another person who passed through the course of sacrifice. Because Job was within the realm of blessings in which he could receive the blessing of God, God blessed him with material affluence and children. However, Satan protested to God about Job receiving the blessings. So God allowed Satan to put Job through a test. As a result, Satan struck all the material things with which Job was blessed. Then, he struck his children. Next, he struck Job's own physical body. When these took place, all the friends and neighbors of Job ridiculed him, and even his beloved wife reproached him.
You must think about the position of Job, who lost his material wealth and children with which he could lead a happy life, and lost his position by being betrayed by his friends and being criticized by his wife. Although his whole body was wounded and so itchy that he had to scratch it with tiles, he never held a grudge against God, instead he was able to silently contemplate or overcome the pain, and experience the heart of a sick person from the side of God. Because Job was this kind of man, he could regain all things and the children he had lost, and he could receive a greater blessing from Heaven.
When Jesus Christ set out on his way to spread the gospel, he first abandoned his entire environment. In other words, he cast aside the family environment in which he had lived for thirty years. Next, he abandoned himself, who stood in the position of the only begotten son of God, who could have risen to the position of eternal True Parents of humanity.
Similarly, even when he was on the path of the crucifixion when he had to abandon his own body, his family, his tribe, his people and even his hopes, he did not become disheartened. Although he took the steps of one who was declining, he crossed over the path of Golgotha with hope, while he fixed his eyes only upon the will that was first established before God, the path that leads to the fulfillment of the dispensation that he pledged with God.
Because Abraham cast aside everything and moved forward hoping for the land of Canaan, his descendants could receive the blessing of God. Similarly, Jesus also abandoned the parents, relatives, people and nation he loved. Consequently, to the future generations, after a certain time has passed, will come a day when everything can be claimed back, and that day is none other than "the day of the Second Advent." Therefore, you must understand that the Lord who comes again with this day of the Second Advent as the pivotal point will restore everything.
Countless prophets of the history and Jesus traveled this kind of road, yet what should we do? First, we must become the symbolic embodiment of God who, as the people responsible for history, can represent history. What is more, in the last days of today, when we are seeking heaven, just like Jesus who traveled the road of sacrifice for the sake of the people, church, and the entire land and world, or just like Abraham and Job, we must take charge of history and walk the path of indemnity. Unless you do so, you will never become the victors who have crossed the pass of sacrifice.
For you then who live in the last days, what works of indemnity will take place? First, there will be works of material indemnity. If you actually receive the grace of the soul, there will take place the same amount of works of material indemnity. If you wish to find the place and the time when you can stand up and cope with the will, then you must strike all the material conditions that you desire on earth. If you who understand the will cannot take this kind of position, then you will never be able to enter the position of having passed through the Old Testament and the New Testament eras and rise to the level of the Completed Testament era.
In the future, there will come a time when the tide will surge in. There will come a time when it strikes centering on the individual, and strikes centering on the people and the nation. So, there will come a time on this earth when, on the level of the individual, people, nation and world, a period of material deprivation prevails.
At such a time, there will be people who are most severely deprived of material things. The sorrow that people will feel at that time is not a ramification of their own faults, it is grief that they are suffering on behalf of the 6,000-year history. Moreover, even when they go through the agony, that pain is not being imposed on them as a restitution of their past deeds but because they are suffering the historical pain of God on His behalf.
Nonetheless, if even in the midst of such extreme degree of pain and sorrow they fathom that it is not material things but people that save the world, then that people can cross over the pass of sacrifice. It is because material sacrifice does not bring completion to salvation, but Jesus Christ, the son of God, is the one who brings completion to salvation. Accordingly, you must understand that if you of today cling only to the material things and consider them more valuable than life, then you will never be able to cross the pass of sacrifice.
In the last days, there will come a time when the material things are struck, and the people who hold grudges against Heaven will then be judged. The individuals who become bitter will also receive the judgment of Heaven. God is guiding His dispensation centering on this kind of basic principle. Therefore, even if you experience pain and material difficulties, you should not feel any lingering attachments to the material things. Moreover, just as how Jesus Christ, the son of God, transcended the material things, you must also transcend them, otherwise, your path will be blocked.
Although you have believed in and relied upon the church leaders as Jesus' representative, this arrangement will not last forever. Although, in the course of restoration until the time of the Second Coming, you have centered your life of faith on the way of the crucifixion, in the course of restoration we must cross on the worldwide level. It will not be enough to just continue believing in and relying on the same things as you have until now.
Then, at such time, what are you to do? At that time, you must cultivate yourself who can be recognized through Jesus. Otherwise, you will never be able to cross over the pass of judgment that will confront you in the last days. Therefore, Jesus said, "In the last days, pour oil over your head and go into a secret chamber to pray."
For you who are seeking God, it is easy for material things to become your enemies. Next, it is easy for the beloved children and beloved husband or wife to become your enemies. This is the reason Jesus said, "Your family members are your enemies."
This is where the distressed and mournful heart of God is rooted, and this is where the sorrowful heart of our faithful believers of today is rooted. This is the critical moment that the believers of the last days must pass through in unison. You must understand this.
Next, you must even reject yourself and step over it. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane with the crucifixion lying ahead of him, "Father, nothing is impossible for Father, so please let this cup pass from me. However, do not do as I will, but as You will." Through this kind of process, Jesus struck himself and passed through the position of having denied himself. Therefore, you can offer at once all the hopes, joy, faith, heart and everything that you have ever owned until now, and then climb over it.
In other words, in the Old Testament era, the believers climbed over the pass of sacrifice by using all things as the condition, and in the New Testament era they climbed over the pass of sacrifice based on their faith in Jesus, yet in the Completed Testament era, because it is the individuals who must cross the pass of sacrifice, you yourselves must be able to represent the 6,000-year history of sacrifice. In other words, if you want to stand before Father, then you must be able to offer as one combined sacrifice all the material things that you have, your beloved sons and daughters, wife and even your own self. You must understand clearly that only after passing through this kind of path will you be able to climb over the historical pass of sacrifice, and only after having done that can you finally build a relationship with God.
Even if others deny, oppose, and discredit this path, you who have embarked on it must never become disheartened. What is more, you will have an experience in which you will be deprived of the desire to possess your material things, your wish for your children and your love for your wife, and you will even be robbed of your attachment to yourself. At such a moment, you must not try to climb over the world while clinging to the lingering attachments. Only when you sever connections with all the humanistic conditions, which includes material things, love of children, and wishes centering on oneself, will you be able to climb over the pass of sacrifice on the worldwide level.
The reason you must walk that kind of path is that until now the history of restoration has been history of sacrifice, and the history of sacrifice has been history of dividing, and the history of dividing is the history of striking. Consequently, when you arrive at the time when you must cross over the last pass, then Jesus whom you have believed in and followed will strike you, and the Holy Spirit who has been guiding you will strike you. What is more, God whom you have believed in as your hope will hit you, and the world will also hit you. If you cannot remain unshaken till the end even if Heaven and the earth strike you like this, then you can never stand before God.
You must understand that only those who bring victory in this kind of situation can represent the ideals of the king of kings on earth and, even after going to the spirit world, command the glory of the sovereign. You can see that today, this people are in a pitiful and sorrowful position. When you look at it from the perspective of God's dispensation, this is the time that the individuals are being hit, and this is the time that people, nations and the world are being hit. Nonetheless, do not lament or hold grudges against Heaven even when you are being struck. Do not lament over the fact that people are being hit. Even when the time comes when the world is being struck, you must never become bitter toward Heaven.
The only heart you should have is the heart of relying only on Heaven no matter if you are to perish or die. With this kind of mind-set, you must climb over the individual cross, and be able to climb over the crosses on the level of the people, nation and the world. Only after stepping over this pass of the cross on the world level, will you be able to meet the Lord of the Second Advent who comes in glory. That is the moment that the ideals of the Second Coming that humankind longs for is realized.
Only after climbing over the pass of the cross on the world level, can you come to possess the love of God, the freedom of God, the peace of God and the ideal of God. The reason is that if you give the love, freedom and peace of God to someone who has not yet fully made his way over that pass, Satan will make accusations and that love, freedom, peace and ideal will be destroyed. Consequently, God does not grant His love, freedom, peace and ideals to those who could not climb over the pass of sacrifice on the world level.
Accordingly, you who have set out for the sake of the will must ask yourself whether you have climbed over this universal pass of sacrifice. When you examine the history of the dispensation of restoration, tithing one-tenth began in the time of Abraham. The Jewish people, who were organized into twelve tribes centering on the tribe of Levi, offered one-tenth tithe, and the Christians of the world today are also making this one-tenth tithe. Yet, the one in ten is the one that has been purified among them all. What is more, if we cannot stand in this kind of purified position in the religious world of Korea, then we will not be able to relate with Heaven from the same position as the central tribe of the Jewish people, the tribe of Levi.
If you want to enter that kind of position, then you must be able to abandon everything that you have. Moreover, if you wish to find the world and the heavenly kingdom, then you must undergo the adventure of throwing everything away. Such a pass lies before you. Therefore, God who is guiding us has brought upon us tribulations because He wants to help us cross that pass, and He is allowing us to climb over the pass of the cross. However, even if that kind of pass of the cross emerges before you as the condition of judgment, you must be able to fully climb over that pass.
This kind of person must grow in number and form one altar. The tribe of Levi has led the Jewish people organized into the twelve tribes. After Jesus, there came into being, centering on Jesus, a Christian group that carried out the same mission as the tribe of Levi, and expanded into a world level altar; likewise, there must be a religion of the chief priest on the worldwide level today that fulfills the same mission as the tribe of Levi.
If there are people who want to partake in that religion, they must climb over the pass of sacrifice in the way that I have described above. Just as the Jewish people could cross the pass of sacrifice by making sacrifices before Heaven with all of their heart and soul, if you wish to become the chosen people who can stand before the Lord in the last days, you must pour out all of your heart and soul to make a sacrifice and climb over the pass of sacrifice. Only after having done that can you substitute for the mission of the chief priest, receive the grace of God, and fulfill the glory, freedom, peace and ideal of God.
Therefore, you must become especially attentive and alert. When God strikes your material things, your heart of loyalty must not waver before God, and you must be able to sever yourself completely from the surrounding environment. If you understand this principle, then you can strike your own material things before God cuts you off from it. You should be able to sever yourself from the love of children and spouse before God does it. Furthermore, you should be able to hit yourself. If you can become this kind of person, then you can climb over the pass of sacrifice of the 6,000 years at once.
You must keep in mind that God earnestly hopes for those who have climbed over this pass of sacrifice to emerge on earth in great number, and you should be able to examine in what position you stand. If you can actually climb over the pass of sacrifice by purifying the material things and offering them, as well as yourself, to Heaven, then you will not be accused by Satan on earth but can enter the ideal garden which the Father allows you.
I wish that heeding this you can exert your uttermost for the accomplishment of the mission with which you are entrusted. Let us pray.
We who have received the calling first, since we, as the same element as the determining body for the creation of the one hyung sang, have been elevated before the will of the dispensation of the whole universe, please allow us to never forget that we must live for the sake of fulfilling the whole purpose. Today, although you have cut us off from our surroundings because we, having entered the public path of dispensation, have not been able to cross over the pass of sacrifice, we on our own accord have despaired, lamented and held grudges.
Beloved Father, when we climb over the pass of the material things and the pass of humanism, even if you are to strike them, please allow us to submit to it! Even if you take away all the things that we have, as long as life remains in us, we should be grateful. Even if you hit our loved ones in our surroundings, as long as there remains life in us, we should live with gratitude. Even if you strike our bodies, as long as we are still alive, we should be able to offer gratitude. Please lead us to be able to carry this out.
We hope to follow the footsteps of the prophets of the past and the ancestors of the past, so please guide us. We know that Abraham, Job and Jesus have also walked the same road. We know that we of today must also pass through this road, so please, Father, do not let it take a long time. Please allow us to make preparations to climb over the pass of resentment that is inescapably approaching us. Father, we pray from the depth of our hearts that you will allow us to become the loyal subjects of Heaven who, even when you scold and strike us, can overcome it with gratitude and build the altar of goodness to elevate the Lord of glory.
Father, please lead us, who have taken charge of the altar, not to despair. Please allow us to become the true sons and daughters who can universally break open the wall that is blocking our path to the holy and the most holy places. Please sanctify us so that we can confidently rise above the crises, even in face of being struck in the path, and so that we can stand before Heaven as valiant soldiers. Father, we hope and wish from the bottom of our hearts that you guide us to become sons and daughters who can climb over the pass of sacrifice that the enemies have placed before us, and lead the family to climb over the pass of family, lead the people to climb over the pass of the people, and, furthermore, lead the world to climb over the pass of the world, and even lead Heaven to climb over it, so that we can confidently appeal to Father to allow us the true life, true peace, true joy, and true glory for eternity.
I prayed all these words in the name of the Lord. Amen.