The Words of Sun Myung Moon From 1968
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon From 1968 |
At 3:00 a. m. on January 1, 1968, our Leader and his wife offered prayer in the presence of the blessed couples who assembled before them at Seoul Headquarters.
Father, this is the first day of 1968. 1967, the days filled with sadness and grief, has now passed. It has been a very complicated course of restoration.
During these past years, Parents’ Day, Children's Day, and World Day have been proclaimed. Therefore, this day, at this hour, I am proclaiming before all nations the Day of Victory, of Glory, of Consolation of the Father; namely, the Day of God.
May this Day be a day of blessing for generations to come. I dedicate this day in the Name of the True Parents.
People have celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and national holidays; but never have men in full attendance of God celebrated God's Day. How sorrowful this is that for so long there was no day to celebrate God, but only men celebrating themselves.
This day could not be declared so long as the satanic world blocked the way. To establish this day, enough indemnity had to be made to surpass the point of the fall in restoration. Parents' Day was not instituted at the point where everything was fulfilled completely, but at the very beginning of fulfillment, at the first level of the Perfection Stage. After Parents' Day was declared, Children's Day and World Day were established, while they were still in the process of being fulfilled.
On the other hand, during this time, through the blessings of 36, 72, and 124 couples, the primary foundation for God's Sabbath was laid. With the declaration of this Day both the seven-year course since the blessing and the entire 21-year course of my mission have come to a point of culmination.
Subsequent to the next seven years, God will hold direct sovereignty through His blessed families. Then God will have rest from His battle and will maintain victorious dominion. Because of this day, prophets and saints in spirit world will be able to act freely to promote God's work on earth. Up to this point, heaven also has been under the condition of Satan's accusation, and was required to compensate Satan.
From this time, however, Satan cannot demand a portion of the harvest. Rather, we will reap 100 percent of what we sow.
After the ceremony, our Leader came down to speak to the full congregation of Seoul church:
We are now entering into a new era, completely divorced from the preceding seven year course of battle. In the past seven years both the 6,000-year course and the 2,000-year course since Jesus' time were to be concluded. The saints and prophets eagerly awaited the close of the course of indemnity and restitution of this past seven years.
This historic mission was focused on one point, on one time. The masses of the world were unaware. The nation of Korea did not know.
This cosmic mission was carried on by a small group of people who were persecuted and ignored. These past seven years have been a most important period and required the dedication of each of us. It was our joy and privilege to embody this utmost dedication not in a glorious situation, but in circumstances of difficulty and suffering. The way we have come cannot be easily understood by many people.
We must realize, though, that the tears and suffering of heaven during these past seven years have been much greater than ours. Nevertheless, all the suffering in heaven and on earth has not brought this nation and world into God's domain. Hence, I must declare a second seven-year course. I feel sorry and somewhat indignant to have to do this, but I must.
You have participated in these last seven years, which concluded my 21-year course, not as individuals, but as representatives of all the people of the past. If you had fulfilled the seven-year course completely, all those of the past would have praised and honored you.
That opportunity, that time, is gone forever. It passed only a few hours ago, with the end of 1967. We must not stop here, but must make a new start toward the new world. In the past seven years I gave three mottoes.
In the first year it was: "To make this year the year of greatest achievement." The second year: "Let us be the ones whose achievement lets the Father say with pride, ‘He is my son. She is my daughter.'" The motto of the third year was: "Let us be victorious rulers." These three mottoes served not only for those years but for the entire seven years. What shall we do this year?
As the motto of the next seven years I say: “Let us mount a full-scale advance.” What is meant by a full-scale advance?
1. Study the Principle and live it with the greatest honesty and sincerity. In this way your personality will be guaranteed by heaven. Then, with the heart of the Father, accept responsibility for the spiritual life and growth of others. With constant activity, multiply your life in new followers.
2. You must have vivid consciousness of the goal. What is its whole value and how can it be achieved? We must win the recognition of the existing churches and turn the country into the heavenly sphere.
3. You must imagine the feeling of the loser. If you seriously feel the bitterness of his sadness, you will be a winner in our battle at all costs. Had Adam and Eve accurately envisioned the 6, 000 years of consequences of their act, how could they have fallen? Had the Israelites seen the future, could they have ever failed? If you can feel how sorrowful and miserable it is to be defeated, you will never yield.
We have a long way to go and so much to do. If each had 500 hands and 1,000 legs, we would still be short. In anticipation of great success, people often accept a great mission. Such acceptance must be accompanied by a sense of responsibility so strong that we can say, “If I fail in this mission, I will trade my life for my failure.”
This degree of concern must be ours. The secret of victory is nothing. It doesn't fly down from the sky. Victory depends on how much time you spend, how much effort you put forth. It is a struggle won by investment of time, brain and effort nothing more.
4. To win the battle, you must know your enemy. We have two kinds of enemies, one visible, the other invisible. They are working jointly. There is an enemy for every region, district, church, and every member. You can imagine how subtle and crafty he is, who has troubled God for so long. We must know this enemy, whose subjects are 30 billion people. To defeat this enemy, we must not work individually, but cooperatively.
Considering all this, I want you to mount a full-scale advance to make 1968, the first year of the second seven years, the year of victory, that God may rejoice with you.