The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1957
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1957 |
7 The end of all things is near.
Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above
all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of
sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each
of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as
faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone
speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If
anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so
that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be
the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 12 Dear friends, do
not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test
you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But
rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so
that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are
insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the
Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should
not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even
as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be
ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time
for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us,
what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
18 And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will
become of the ungodly and the sinner?" 19 So then, those who
suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their
faithful Creator and continue to do good.
1 Peter 4:7-19
Beloved Father! We understand that the sorrow of Adam who lost the Garden of Eden is our sorrow and the bitterness of heaven. Moreover, we also know that the fact that the human ancestors who should rejoice in the ideals of the Garden of Eden are not able to do so is the grief of Heaven.
Father, since the responsibility of us who are facing the adverse situation of the fall is heavy, if you do not put us in the position of having sanctified again and extend your hands of recreation, then there will be no one who is more miserable than we, so Father of love, please extend the hands of compassion! We wish to offer our minds and bodies to Father this hour, so please accept us. We earnestly hope that by molding us, according to Father's sung sang, you will allow us to take charge of your will.
Father! Lonely sons and daughters have bowed their heads and are calling your name, so please be with them. We know that nothing can be done with human power alone, so Father, please govern the minds and bodies of us who have gathered here today.
Please do not allow them to become stragglers in the course that demands that they dash forward at full speed. Please lead them not to be defeated during conflict, and please allow us to become the sons and daughters who can sing your glory for eternity and boast of your love. Even if the environment is difficult, please allow us to overcome that environment, and even if we are to fall down during the fight, please allow us to listen to the voice of Father calling out to us and stand up.
Father, please bless the many altars who have gathered here on behalf of the people today, and please allow us to prepare the Abel-type altar on this earth and to gather. By doing so, we wish from the depth of our hearts that you will guide us to become the children of the Abel- type altar who can take responsibility and pay indemnity for the sins of the ancestors who were in discord even when they entered the Holy of Holies. Father. We know that in this hour the children of lonely altars who have spread in countryside are having pledge service, so even for this one hour please be with them, and guide them so that they can become the elite troops of heaven who can hold the shield of victory to fight strongly and win even if they belong to a lonely altar. Father, we earnestly entreat that you will manifest the same grace and work, guide these who have received the calling in the last days to be loyal, and allow them to become the sons and daughters who live truthful lives during ordinary times. Beloved Father, we hope that you will unite the members who have gathered here into one, and guide them to obey your commandments and bow before Father, and that you will allow this to be the hour when we can repent and be offered as the sanctified living sacrifice.
Are there sons and daughters who have been wounded by Satan during the past week? Father, please rule over their minds and bodies this moment and allow new joy and glory of heaven. Moreover, beloved Father, we sincerely wish that you will allow this to be a moment when they can build the altar of joy before Father and return joy and glory to Father.
We have gathered here now, so allow us to put down all of our character, thoughts, and concepts before Father and free ourselves from Satan's conditions of accusation. Father! Millions of Satans are accusing us, so please protect them so that not even one of them will set the conditions for their accusations.
We only want to be give all of our bodies and minds as well as all of our sincere heart and be offered as the sacrifice of living livestock, so, hoping that you will rule over us and go visit all the members to manifest glory, we prayed all the words in the name of the Lord. Amen.
My sermon today will center on the words in the Bible verses, "But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed" (1 Peter 4:13). I will speak with the title, "We Who Are Searching for the Homeland, the Garden of Eden."
You probably know a lot about the original garden of creation, the Garden of Eden. Moreover, you also probably know well that before the fall, Adam and Eve related with God freely, consulting with each other. However, we also know that because of the fall of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden of hope, which the Creator God wanted to achieve through Adam, could not be realized at all. Consequently, the original Garden of Eden that we must pursue now has nothing to do with the fall, and that world is both our world of hope and the world of hope that God wanted and has sought since the creation of the world.
God, who tried to behold the glory of the ideal through human beings in the Garden of Eden, lost human beings, and as a result the hopeful will, the Garden of Eden, was also lost. Thus, even for God, that garden remains as the garden of hope until today.
Moreover, we human beings who have received the lineage of the fall have been seeking this garden as the eternal hope while we were going through the historical course. Nonetheless, you know very well that if we human beings cannot find this garden, then the true joy, the true life, and the true love that they should enjoy, and the true ideology that they should possess cannot develop any relationship with the heavenly ideology.
Then, what is the purpose of the unity that God has been working toward by raising us? It is none other than building the Garden of Eden again centering on you. You must feel this. You have to understand that God has been fighting against Satan for the long 6,000 years longing not for the Garden of Eden in which only He can rejoice, but for the Garden of Eden where He can obtain joy through you.
Because we have lost this garden of hope due to the fall, we are at the fateful road of having to yearn for that garden of hope and go in search of it again. This fateful path is the fateful road of the heavenly principles and of humanity, which must be traveled.
All of you want all of your movements and manners to be manifested only in relations linked to your individual selves, but all that is manifested must not just remain with you but make relations with the whole. This must also form relations with the laws of human ethics or laws of heavenly ethics and become connected to the ideology of the Creator.
Today, each individual has the responsibility to represent history and the universe and return infinite joy and glory to Father. At the same time, we have the responsibility to return glory to Father with infinite life and love. If you do not know this responsibility, then you will not have any relationship with the original Garden of Eden, and you cannot build any relationship with God. Then, that original garden, what kind of garden is the original garden that should manifest itself through human beings as the ideal of creation?
That garden is the place where both God and man can rejoice, and all things can also be glad together. So, that garden was the garden of joy.
What every person seeks today is happiness. Then, what can that happiness guarantee us? That happiness should be able to guarantee both eternal felicity and eternal gratitude.
What kind of garden is the original Garden of Eden? That garden was the garden of life. It also was not just the garden of life that simply stagnates in one time sphere, but it is the garden of life that emerges centering on eternity. Similarly, if that garden of life had been realized on this earth, then as beings of life, human beings would have felt gratitude toward God's grace of life and toward the eternal joy. Moreover, next to the original Garden of Eden was the world where humans can stand in the position of the master of all lives and reveal the light of life. In other words, in that world, each individual's life can manifest itself as the embodiment of the eternal hope before God and at the same time manifest the light as the beings of immeasurable value. Furthermore, that original garden is both the garden of love and the world of peace, and it is the world of unity where everyone harmonized with each other centering on the love of God and become one.
Accordingly, we must realize this kind of original garden and return the glory to God through our happiness, life, and love. That glory can be received by God with delight only when we pour all of our heart and efforts to emerge as the embodiment of beauty that is better than any other person who lived during the 6,000-year course of history. Therefore, in order for all human beings to return that kind of glory to God, we must emerge as this kind of embodiment of beauty.
Then, what kind of beauty is that beauty? That is the beauty that can be expressed through our laughter, songs, and dances, and it is the beauty of eternal value that we can return to God as glory. The original Garden of Eden was this kind of world of beauty.
As you can see, the original garden that we seek is the garden of happiness and the world in which we must offer praise and gratitude toward God. And, that world is the world of hope centered on life, and the world where the value of peace and unity centering on life and love has been materialized.
That also is the world where all of man's values combine to appear as beauty, and it is the world where every individual offers praise for the life and eternal love of God through songs, laughter, and dances. Furthermore, it is the world of harmony where all created things will move according to every movement of human beings. God wanted to realize this original world of creation through human beings. This ideal world of God, this original garden, in which human beings should have lived, was blocked off and shattered into pieces because of the fall of the human ancestors.
Then, what kind of world do we who cannot escape from the yoke of the fall live in? We live not in the joyful world but in the miserable world, not in the world of delight but in the world of sorrow, and not in the world of living with gratitude but in the world of living in grudges. You must realize this now. If you cannot overcome this unfortunate world, then happiness will never find its way to you.
Then, how can you know that you are pitiful? You can understand this through your mind. In your mind, isn't there grieving heart that you cannot get rid of? This is the very proof that Satan is our ancestor. Moreover, do you not have hatred and resentment toward other people? This is like Satan wrapping our minds in steel nets so that we cannot go toward the original Garden of Eden.
What kind of world is the world in which human beings are living? It is the world of death where there is no life, and the world of despair and pitch darkness. Although human beings should have lived while singing of the preciousness of life and should have become harmonized with the eternal ideal of God centering on life, human beings today have been cut off from the hope of standing before the ideal of God and are living in despair.
When men are in despair, God also lives in despair, and when human beings on earth are shackled down by Satan, then even in Heaven, there will exist the world of darkness that he rules over. Therefore, if you are ones who are searching for the ideology of the heavenly city by following the Lord, then you must fight against and separate within yourself the elements that surface in the evil world, in other words, the elements that counter the ideal nature of God. Without separating these out from yourself, you will not have any connection to the original garden. This earth is the fallen land, pitiful land, the land of Satan, land without hope, land where the eternal ideals of Father cannot be sung, and land where there is no light of life.
Among you are there any who have been caught inside the abyss of despair? If there is such a person among you then that person will have no relationship whatsoever with the ideal world. Are there any who cannot distinguish front-back, left-right, up-down in the darkness, and who, forgetting the center, violate the laws of heavenly principles amidst this disorderly turbulence of confusion? Such persons will also not be able to create any tie with the ideal garden of heavenly nature.
This world that is contrary to the ideal garden of God's love is the world where substantial division and conflict never end. In other words, it is not the world of truth where the idea of peace centered on love is realized, but it is the world where Satan dwells and destroys the heavenly principles, and conflict and disunity are continually taking place due to jealousy and envy.
Are there jealousy and envy in your mind, you who are seeking the heavenly nature, in other words, pursuing the original ideal garden? Do you also have the heart of strife and division? If these things remain in you, then you will never be able to find the original ideal garden.
Next, what kind of world is this land? It is not the world where God's glory is manifested, but a world where sighs of despair and lamentations as well as tears of pain and sorrow are overflowing. Originally, human beings are meant to praise the glory of God and live in harmony in the eternal ideal garden of God, but they are leading a life of sighs, without being able to sing the glory of God, and are not able to dance, laugh and sing with each other, but interfere with and afflict each other and lead a life of tears.
You must bear in mind that in this way the world of Satan has taken a form diametrically opposed to the original ideal garden, and orientating towards the original ideal garden you must create bonds with the heavenly happiness, and going one step further you must build relationship with the heavenly life, love, and glory. Otherwise, even if the original garden were to come before you, you would have nothing to do with that garden.
The person that came to bridge the gap between these two worlds, in other words, between the world of Satan and the original world of creation is none other than Jesus Christ. Then, for what did Jesus come to the earth and carry on the fight? Rather than saying that Jesus fought for the realization of the heavenly happiness, ideology, love, life and glory, you must understand that he fought with the evil entities that blocked them, and in that fight he took the responsibility as the spearheading leader and exerted himself. Moreover, you must understand that before seeking for his own happiness, to attack the castle of Satan and destroy that power, and furthermore to drag the pitiful humanity chained in that world to the world of God's dominion of goodness, Jesus shouldered Heaven's responsibility and fought in a lonely place.
Accordingly, Jesus came seeking the people who are drenched in misfortune, sorrow and grudges, gave them more lofty God's heart of happiness, and set the condition so that, as long as they safeguard that heart of happiness, no matter how great misfortunes strike them, they can indemnify it and overcome it. Because this kind of condition could remain as the factor of heaven's happiness, you can indemnify the misfortune and set the condition of happiness while you are connected to Jesus, and you can establish the condition of life, love, and glory within the eternal sovereignty of God.
Then, many people who are living on this earth today are immersed in misfortune, grief and grudges, but why were these debts owed? This is the result of living only for the sake of oneself. The fundamental nature of the satanic world is living only for one's own sake rather than living for the sake of the people, nation, or world. So, every time fallen humans find themselves in unfortunate position, they grieve and blame others centering on themselves. However, when Jesus was in unfortunate position, he did not hold pity for himself, and by representing the heart of God and by worrying for this world, he overcame that unfortunate position. If Jesus had any grudge, then it is bitterness toward this evil world. Similarly, you must understand that the grudge of Jesus was fundamentally different from the grudges of human beings in its orientation. Accordingly, we, who must pass through the world of sorrow and bitterness and kick open the door of misfortune to go seeking the original garden of happiness, must first find Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In other words, since Jesus mourned on behalf of God, exerted himself on behalf of the will of God, and while holding grudges toward the satanic world he found himself in adverse situations, so if you truly understand this situation of Jesus, then you can be responsible for all of Jesus' will on behalf of all created things. Only when this can be achieved, you can enter the eternal, original garden of heaven of joy.
To save the world that is about to perish and to bring to pass on earth the hope of God, he prayed in desperate earnestness, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me" (Matthew 26:39), "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) He expected blessing from God to be greater than to anyone else, but he was abandoned, and at the end of some thirty-odd years of his life when he held high hopes, he eventually confronted the hopeless circumstance of having to bear the cross. However, even in those hopeless circumstances, Jesus overcame that pain and ordeal by believing that it is not the result of his personal life, but ordeals and agony that he is receiving on behalf of the humanity of the world. Not only that, Jesus was concerned that God might lose hope because of him. Moreover, in order to pay indemnity for jealousy, envy, and other evil elements, in other words, to indemnify all the elements of Satan that run counter to the love which is the fundamental element of heaven, he prayed for the sake of the enemies while he became a boundless sacrificial offering. To put it another way, although Jesus felt the unimaginable urge at the corner of his heart to hold grudges against Satan and judge the enemies on the earth, he forgave them and stepped above and beyond the heart of grudges and judgment.
Because Jesus was trying to liberate human beings, who have lapsed into sin and are groaning, from pain and sorrow, even at the cost of his death, he could overcome the agony of the cross and the mocking of men, and he could remove the conditions for Satan's accusations toward the whole humanity. Not only that, you should understand that because Jesus overcame everything and triumphed with the heart of compassion that surpassed everyone in the satanic world, and because his heart of care for Heaven and universe was utmost, God resurrected Jesus who represented His own sorrow.
Now, if we are to follow the footsteps of this Jesus, and cross over the path of the hardship of the cross and go toward the original Garden of Eden, then you must shoulder responsibility not only for your own unfortunate environment, but also for the misfortune of the world. Therefore, even if you are offering yourself as sacrifice and are encountering a difficult path or adverse environment, you must never become constrained by sadness of that position or the interference of Satan.
Though you are to stand in unfortunate position, you must have the heart of happiness, joy, and gratitude. That heart of gratitude and joy must not be momentary or individual, but it must be eternal and of the whole. In other words, you must have the sacrificial mind-set that you will create the environment where you can be eternally be grateful and happy. In order for you to make God's garden of joy into that of the whole, you must heed this fact.
If there appears on this earth one person who comforts the heart of Father and brings smile, joy, and delight to Father, then Father will be happy. Therefore, even in the environment of despair and sigh, you must be able to manifest the value of the heavenly victory, heavenly hope and of the light of heavenly life. On this earth where conflicts and divisions caused by jealousy and envy are rampant, you must become the standard-bearer of peace and unity centered on the love of God.
On this earth where resentment, lamentation, sigh, interference, and tears are deep rooted, you must be able to recite a poem with smile and joy to praise the glory of God on behalf of all things. You must realize that, if you cannot do this, you will never make your way out of this satanic world.
Among you participants here, is there anyone who still possesses evil elements in the heart, the nature of evil Satan opposed to the ideology of the new Eden? When we appear before Father, we must do so in joyful spirit. God longs for us to appear in the highest spirit of joy that no one else in history could experience. Now, in regards to having hopes, or in regards to realizing life, love, and glory and manifesting their value, the time has come when you must stand in the highest historical place that the people on the side of Satan cannot even dare to catch up. Therefore, when you bear the cross, you must bear the highest cross.
Moreover, even if you stand in the most adverse and unfortunate position, only when you go through the course in which you can sing the glory of heaven, Satan will not dare to make false charges. Instead, when you boldly stride toward Satan and mock Satan's power and all the evil elements of this earth, you can be considered as a person who is linked to the love of God. Just like Peter who said, "Who will snatch me away from the love of God that dwells within Jesus Christ," you should be able to laugh at all the evil entities on the earth. Furthermore, there must appear on earth one person who can represent the past of ordeals, present, and the future, can sing the original happiness, love, and glory as the original man, and be able to say, "God! Please forget your sorrow of the 6,000 years through me." If such a person does not emerge, then Jesus' grief of the cross will never be uprooted from this earth, and there will be no way to liberate the heart of Jesus who came to the earth and mourned in grief.
What kind of life then should you who are seeking the original Eden live? You must follow the example of Jesus. You must follow the example of Jesus and discover the universal and heavenly elements of joy to emerge as the embodiment of glory before God. At the same time, everywhere you go, you must become a true person who can introduce the happiness, life, and glory of God, and you should educate many people to offer gratitude to God.
What do these appear as? They appear as the words. The fall came into being as the result of faithlessness, and the work of resurrection of life also manifested itself through the words. Therefore, you who are searching for the heavenly city, in other words, the original Garden of Eden, you must cherish the words that God gave at the time of the creation and with those words you can introduce heavenly joy and introduce heavenly love, life and glory.
As you live on this earth, there must have been many times when because you have said something wrongly you have made miserable people more miserable, made sad people more sad, and bitter people more bitter. Moreover, there must have been many times when you have driven people who were in despair into greater despair, and drive confused people into more confusion. Everyone in this world has many experiences of having played this role of Cain, and this is the evidence of Satan's existence.
Therefore, you must push this world aside and stand on the opposite direction. Furthermore, you must live a true life to rectify this world. No matter whom you are dealing with, you must wish the best for that person, and when that person feels heavenly joy and is delighted, you must also be glad together. Not only should you also have the heart of gratitude and new hope, but you must also have the heart that can see the glory of the light and produce the heart of peace. Moreover, you must manifest through your life the heart that seeks to unite everything into one.
If you cannot manifest all these through your daily life for the rest of your life, then after you go to the next world, you will not be able to sing the glory of God. Thus, if you want to go to Heaven and sing the glory of God, then first, when you are on the earth, you must spread the words and put them into practice for the sake of God's will.
Furthermore, you must love the people on the earth on behalf of God, and you must pull up into God's realm of life the people who are being dragged down into the realm of death, and you must proclaim the truth for Jesus, and you must cooperate to realize the will of God's hope. Otherwise, you will not be able to go to the next world and praise God's glory, and you will not be able to inherit the natural unfinished work as the eternal task.
Therefore, you must live to introduce the original garden of God and sing the life, love, and glory of Heaven; besides, you must make all people to live that kind of life. In other words, you must carry out the work of recreation on behalf of the creator, God.
You must also demonstrate utmost loyalty to God by offering your life on earth, and on behalf of all the created things you must be able to love not only the world of goodness but also the world of evil and sing the original ideal. When you achieve these things, you can become the true sons and daughters who are realizing the ideals of God's creation and live eternally with God in the realm of God's love and glory. You must understand this clearly.
Father of love! Please allow Your happiness to be implanted on the garden of our hearts! Please allow Your life to be implanted, allow Your love to be implanted, and allow Your glory to be implanted!
Please allow Father's joy, life, love and glory to be the eternal base of our minds, so that we can step over all the misfortunes of the earth, step over the world of darkness, and step over this world where divisions and conflicts are severe. We must become sons and daughters who can stand above sighs, interference and tears, and we must become people who can bring abundant joy to others, so please guide us who are deficient.
Father, we must stand before Father as true children today, and we must never indulge in happiness from the position of evil or centering on ourselves. Moreover, we know that Jesus came and led his life on earth also not for his own sake. This being the case, Father, please let the brothers be happy before we are happy, and guide us to bring joy to brothers before we rejoice.
Beloved Father, we hope with great sincerity that You will let us have the heart that can enable us to step beyond ourselves and walk the cosmic life course, and that You will allow us to follow the example of Jesus' life course and relate with true brothers only with goodness and love. Allow us to take possession of God's joy, life, love and glory, and that You will establish one center that will keep us undivided centering on the relationship of true brothers.
If there is someone who genuinely loves others, then the original garden will manifest its eternal value through that person, so the children who are participating here, please guide them to become sons and daughters of heaven that Father hoped for, inside the realm of God's love, and can sing Father's glory without any shame.
Entreating that You will allow us to reveal our individual value as the object of beauty before Father and bow to Father with gratitude and glory, and that you will allow us to become children of eternal victory, we entrust everything to You.
Offering gratitude for having governed over us this hour, we prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.