Book Fifteen - The Life Of An Owner Of Cheon Il Guk
Chapter Four The Way of Becoming Citizens of Cheon Il Guk
Section 3. Qualifications for Becoming Citizens of Cheon Il Guk

God does not long for a people with just the external form of a people or a nation with just the external form of a nation. He longs for a people, nation and sovereignty that He can move -- in other words, linked to His heart. The chosen people should have clearly known the kind of being God was and for what purpose He had chosen them. They were supposed to push forward despite any tribulation or hardship they faced. This was the attitude and standard of heart the Israelites should have had towards God at that time. Yet they took pride in being the chosen ones and committed many sins before Him in the course of history. We of course should understand first and foremost that the crimes they committed against the heart of God, who was moving the age, was greater than those they committed against the age itself.

Then where should God begin in order to restore humankind? His desires of course should have been fulfilled along with His inner state and furthermore His heart should have been healed. That world of heart, which could never be severed or divided, should have been healed. Thus, God has gone through such troubles to this day in order to expand the foundation of heart in the background of each crucial moment in history with only that day in His sight. We today should be aware of these facts and out of indignation protest to our ancestors who were ignorant of these things.

Though we may live in complicated messy circumstances, those things will all pass away. People may sing of their prosperity and joy because of the happy lives they led on earth, but those things all pass away. However, there is something that remains for those who led their entire lives focused on a certain mission. What is it? It is not about circumstances but a heart that can dominate any circumstance. We cannot deny the fact that this heart has power over history and enhanced the spirit of the race and preserved its set of beliefs. (9-337, 1959.6.21)

God has worked until now to fulfill His will by saving humanity. His will is to establish His kingdom. Hence, there is no denying that He has been raising people on His side -- who could become the citizens and children of that kingdom. Where is He thinking of establishing that kingdom? He is not trying to establish it in the spirit world, but on earth. Then who are the ones qualified to become the citizens of His kingdom that is to be established on earth? It is all of you. You are the center that can build the heavenly nation. (87-106, 1976.5.16)

You all should be able to say, "So this is how the people in the past were like! Today we are like this and from now should become like that. God suffered so much in His inner state, will and heart that He became sorrowful Father. How should we enter His presence? He has been an offering till now in blood, sweat and tears. We should also shed our blood, sweat and tears in order to inherit that offering."

With tears of sorrow you should pledge, "Father, You have been in grief, shed blood and sweat to give that to us, and we have died, shed tears and suffered to receive that. How joyful the day would be on which we could have such give and take! We should bring about that day when we can begin with a cry and that cry of joy will be amplified to blind our sight, and the heartbreaking grief that gushes from our mouths will come forth exploding to become a triumphal song of joy and glory."

There the parent-child bond should be restored where God could say for the first time, "You are My children." He should be able to declare "You are My children and I am your Father," within a unified realm, sharing His heart and inner state in the presence of all the blessings of creation in the universe. You should understand that the center of the bond that we should seek is in realizing God's family and people and creating one world, sovereignty and cosmos after being called by Him. (151-336, 1963.2.5)

You face the destiny of entering the stage of becoming the citizens of heaven. As such you should renew your historic consciousness. Rather than living for yourselves, you should have the concept of living for the sake of your fellow citizens of God's Kingdom. Not only that, you should have the concept of living for the sake of heavenly siblings, spouses and parents and serving them. This is not a partial but a universal concept.

You who believe in Jesus should not blindly revere him, but rather become those who can harmonize the internal and external fortunes of heaven and earth. God is working to establish His ideal of restoring His kingdom based on a universal providence. We must become His children and people who can stand in that place. Furthermore we should be able to love our fellow citizens of His kingdom. If there are people who believe in Jesus around you, you should be able to treat them as your siblings and compatriots. You must also persuade others to do the same. In this light, your responsibility is enormous beyond words.

If you view the six thousand years of history vertically, you will see that God gathered heavenly citizens in the Old Testament Age and His children in the New Testament Age. In this way, history has been flowing in reverse. (1-336, 1956.12.30)

What should you do at this time when everyone on earth is saying with one voice that it is the Last Days? In other words, what should you do in this global era of the Last Days that portends the end of a secular view of history, science, ethics and religion?

You should become people who can fulfill your unchanging loyalty to God without any consideration of your entire self in order to seek His kingdom and His righteousness on earth just as Jesus had proclaimed, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness." In that way you should be able to take pride in yourselves before the entire universe and become people who can accomplish their mission in God's stead.

That is to say, you should apply the fundamental principles of that nation to add actual value to your lives and bring about that day of hope that promises an eternal future. If you are unable to become such people, you will end up having nothing to do with God's dispensation through which He sent Jesus four thousand years after the Fall of Adam and Eve, and His will from the time of Jesus until now, working in trinity with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

From such a perspective, what should you now seek? You must root out the elements of unrighteousness that have prevented the establishment of God's Kingdom and His righteousness, in other words, His ideal for heaven and earth. By doing so you should gain victory through the struggles in your daily life to stand in the place of His son Jesus. In other words, if you wish to become the righteous citizens of His kingdom, you should not be foolish people who fight over what they are going to eat and wear. Rather, you should get beyond the issues of food, drink and clothing. If any of these are given to you at all, you should be able to share them with those who are naked or hungry. If you have a loaf of bread, God's heart inspires your heart to share that bread instead of eating it alone. Jesus displayed that heart but the people around him were unable to do so.

What about the causes of family discord and conflict today? They arise because each family member thinks that the family exists only for his or her own sake. If there is something to eat, there is conflict and discord because each member thinks that food is just for him or her alone. You should bear in mind that this is the very arrow of sin and Satan.

Hence, today you should resolve the issues of food and clothing. You should demolish the self-serving mindset that creates the conditions for family discord and rise above such conflicts, which have permeated history. Do not forget that you are placed in a position to transcend the issues of clothing, food and shelter to emerge as God's true victors. (3-125, 1957.10.13)

You all have to become those who live for God's Kingdom and righteousness. However difficult your circumstances, you must be people who can fight and overcome them, remembering that God has hope in you. Only then can you be called His true sons and daughters.

Then what kind of people can build God's Kingdom? They are those who can deny themselves out of a heart of concern for Him. Those who deny themselves for the sake of their society, people, nation and world are the very ones who can build His kingdom. Further, those who live for His sake even to the point of denying their nation and the world are the ones who can build His kingdom. Also, however sorrowful their circumstances may be, those who feel sorrow for their society, nation, world and even God rather than for themselves can build His kingdom.

Today you should not strive to satisfy your own desires, but rather must lead lives of faith and sacrifice in serving a higher purpose. Then you should attain the standard of the heart of Jesus who went through hardships for God's will and for humankind. You should advance to the position of God's true children who can comfort the broken heart of God who has gone through hardships to this day.

When you see unrighteousness you should feel indignant. Together with God's love that wants to give more and more, you should advance to the ends of this world and make effort to seek and establish His Kingdom and righteousness. Furthermore you should be able to comfort the heart of God who had gone through hardships until now to save humanity amidst such sorrow.

Not only that, by not being defeated and winning victory in the battle with Satan during the course of establishing God's Kingdom and righteousness, you have to unify the family, society, people, nation and world beginning with the individual. In other words, you have to be able to fight and win over Satan in whatever situation you find yourselves. If you go into society, you must do that in any circumstance that society presents you with. If you go out into the nation, you have to be able to step forward, take responsibility for its worst problems, then fight and win over the satanic forces behind them.

If such people were to appear, it might seem that they would perish initially, but you should know that they will prosper later on. They are also the heads of certain households, workplaces, organizations and nations. Those who can discharge their filial duties by devoting themselves to their parents, who can discharge their conjugal duties to their spouse within their families, and who can fulfill the obligations of loyal subjects to their sovereign, are the leaders of their families and nation. When such a spirit wells up from within your innermost self and harmonizes with your body so that even Satan comes to respect and follow you, then for the first time you can step forward as the people who seek and establish God's Kingdom and righteousness. (3-131, 1957.10.13)

A lot of people nowadays are proud of themselves and their nationalities. Americans boast of being citizens of a great nation. Yet that will not last forever. America lives only for itself. It does not know that it should exist for the sake of other nations, just as ancient Hellenic civilization was ignorant of the need to exist for the sake of Rome. Rome too did not know that its civilization existed for the sake of modern British civilization. Thus, Americans today should be aware of the need to serve their own country as well as to serve and live for the sake of other countries. Yet most of them are not aware of this. It is fortunate despite all this misfortune that there are a certain number of people who have the concept that they should not live selfishly but rather for the sake of God.

You who have gathered in the Unification Church today may be sitting in a small church, yet problems will be solved if you feel in your heart that you can represent the world by expanding this church, and that furthermore you can represent the heavenly character. You will be able to resolve anything. You are the children who take up God's will on His behalf. Therefore, you must become the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven who serve God as the Lord of this world. You should bear in mind that you can never deviate from the Father's will no matter where you are. (4-110, 1958.3.16)

In this historic time of the Last Days, we are not people who wear fancy clothes and eat to our fill. We must become people who can persevere and serve humanity on behalf of history. We must go the opposite way. Only then will it be fair. We must oppose any ideology that has used its sovereignty to take people's lives. Such a time must come. History must inevitably pass through this process. Otherwise its path will be blocked.

Then what kind of path do God, His children and His people walk? It should be a path of perseverance, service and sacrifice. You should not persevere in blind faith. You should persevere for the sake of the Savior, God and His will. That moment will come and thus you should persevere for it. Hence, all faiths have a teaching about the Second Coming.

It is said that such a time will come but what kind of time is that? It is the time when God, the Subject partner in the realm of the heart, fulfills the purpose He has in his heart. People are faced with a historic destiny in which they must model themselves after the will of God, the subject partner of heart, in their battles and to go forth in search of that time. They cannot avoid the course of struggle as they model themselves after God and move towards His goal. History has been a record of the accounts of this course.

What kind of battle was that? It was one in which those who persevered were struck first, where those who sacrificed were dominated, and where those who came forth with a new ideology and hope were killed. That was the historical course of such battles. Hence, all those who came forth crying for goodness on the earth, without exception, had to endure a course of suffering. They had to be sacrificed on behalf of the people and had to go forth into a position of death so that they did not compromise their beliefs. (10-230, 1960.10.16)

We must help the poor and suffering people of the world. The Japanese members have been helping the American movement, and America should help the starving Asians in unfortunate places like India. The people of this world belong to one nation. Americans may love their nation, but God's people must love this nation even more. I am aware of Korea's miserable plight. If we helped Korea with all the support we render to America, the Korean people would praise and love me, but because America is on a higher dimension representing the world, I am dedicating our movement at this time to help this country. (122-282, 1982.11.21)

If traces of prior eras in history remain in the background of your life and culture you cannot become the pure, original citizens of the heavenly nation. Traces of habits centered on the cultural background of the satanic world should not exist in the original world of the heavenly nation. If such elements of your life-long habits remain you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (197-286, 1990.1.20)

Once the people come back the land will automatically be recovered. Once sovereignty is established its citizenry and territory will be restored. That is why I am interested in the United States and the Soviet Union, nations that are closest to gaining global sovereignty. The Soviet Union and the United States have been polarized until now but even these two nations are coming together at the world summit. God wants to lead those heads of state. If I were to draw an analogy, I would liken myself to a locomotive that can lead those nations when that happens. As the Garden of Eden consists of one people, nation and cultural sphere under a single sovereignty, there is no language problem there because people who use the mother tongue of heaven (the True Parents' language) enter God's Kingdom. (216-30, 1991.3.3)

Nations, tribes and families have their representatives. You should know that because human beings have a relationship with such a world, they can become the citizens of heaven only when they serve the universal parents, parents of the religion, and parents of the family.

What is humanity seeking in today's world? Universal parents. Christians, in particular, are longing for the emergence of parents for their faith. The day of the emergence of those universal parents is none other than the Second Advent. Yet, the providence of bringing together the parents of the religion has not yet been fulfilled.

God has pursued His providential will for six millennia. Yet the mission of Christ at the Second Advent, who must come bearing high priestly responsibility within a body of believers, still remains. From that perspective, the providence of the Groom and Bride has been fulfilled within the realm of promise. Nevertheless, they have not yet proceeded to the position of the True Parents who could live within that body of believers.

A true family consisting of true children cannot be established before determining the position of true parents. Taking this a step further, the position of ecclesiastical parents cannot be determined before that of universal parents is determined. (5-122, 1959.1.4)

Those who constantly radiate bright light and burning heat twenty-four hours a day are the citizens of God's Kingdom. It is similar to the phenomena of bugs congregating around a source of light on a dark night. Hence, those who can permanently maintain God's life force, the power of love, burning brightly, are without doubt citizens of the heavenly nation. (86-302, 1976.4.11)

There is a nation of the true father, a nation of the true mother and a nation of the true eldest son. We become citizens of heaven by making connections with them. Thus, we can conclude that we are the citizens, children and owners of the Kingdom of Heaven. By starting out from the family you become the owners of heaven and enter the realm of God's imperial household. Filial children are the owners of their families, and patriots are the owners of their nation. These are all connected as one.

You must follow a single path. The paths to becoming patriots from filial children, saints from patriots, and God's divine sons and daughters from saints all go in one direction. They don't go back the other way.

God wants you to follow one path. You should first become filial children whom God would like to be together with in both difficult and happy times, and whom He would want to stay with for a lifetime and for eternity. These are the people God can say that He absolutely needs. You must follow that path no matter who denies or persecutes you. There will be no indemnity once you become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Results once established last for eternity. (293-209, 1998.5.26)

You become true families only through being recognized by your nation and its citizens. Only when the tribes, families and individuals of your nation recognize your family -- only when your families transcend the realm of recognition for the individual, family, tribe, people and nation can they advance to the world. Without obtaining recognition at this place your paths would be blocked. You must realize that with recognition you can enter heaven as its citizens for the first time in history. (134-218, 1985.7.20)

You must endure, sacrifice for and serve your fiancée even if you do not like her. "If I hadn't met her I wouldn't have learned anything. Now I see that I was given this person so that I could go through more hardships in order to attain a spirit of service and sacrifice and thus go to heaven." Those who think like this can become great people and enter heaven.

God wants to have even sinners become His sons and daughters. Just because your fiancée might not have such a pretty face or is Japanese or is a little short, can you think, "Oh, I don't like her"? You men should be convinced that you would go to the highest place in heaven if you took the ugliest woman and sacrificed yourself for and served her more than anyone else. You should understand that you would then become the greatest husband and a saint of a husband. Unification Church members should be capable of having that level of thought. (116-95, 1981.12.20)

The happiest and most precious thing that could happen to a woman is to have a husband. The greatest joy for a couple is to have children. Your children do not belong to their father or mother, but to the world, to the heavenly nation. Their genealogy is in God's Kingdom. Though they are your children they all have a nationality. Having a nationality means being the citizen of a nation. By the same token, these children are those of the heavenly nation, and that couple consists of a husband and a wife who represent God's nation.

If you have such a heart, you can align yourselves to the standard of the heavenly nation when you are registered there. You will be able to resonate with that standard. Without having that kind of resonating experience on earth, you will have a hard time in the spirit world even if you have received the Blessing. The same goes for men. They are most happy to have a wife. Their second happiness is in having children resulting from their union in love. This nest of love should be passed on to the world. When that happens, you will be fully qualified as citizens of heaven. (233-212, 1992.8.1)

Your trinity teams are about the three great offerings. Abraham had to make three great offerings and Noah also had three decks on the Ark. They are all three great offerings. In this way, you should build an altar and have three people make sacrificial offerings to fulfill their loyalty and devotion to the people of that area. You should become people who know how to embrace that area with the same heart you would have in praying for blessings for your own children. If you are assigned to such an area and work there for three years you will qualify as the citizens of heaven. (150-26, 1958.8.17)

True people are those who sacrifice themselves and suffer for the greater good. They include true children, teachers, friends, parents, siblings, families, nations and a true Kingdom of Heaven. Then what kind of place is the true Kingdom of Heaven? It is the destination of those who sacrificed themselves and suffered for the greater good. (124-168, 1983.2.6)

Adam and Eve failed in their wrongful marriage as individuals. Therefore, in reverse now, second-generation members should take part in cross-cultural marriages between nations. They must now love each other, and, with that love, melt the enemy. In order to establish this standard, the second-generation members of the six former enemy nations starting with America and including Japan, Korea, Germany, France and Britain must establish national foundations of love by having loved the enemy. You should make this a tradition for bringing new life to the nation more than would its citizens or patriots. Heaven will take off on the foundation of that unity. (192-85, 1989.7.2)

Those who wish to go to heaven must love their enemies. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were centered on God and the archangels on them. Had Adam and Eve perfected themselves, they would have entered heaven, and the archangels would have followed them in. Heaven is where you go after practicing love. The archangels should be loved by God, Adam and Eve and then enter heaven with them. That is the principle of creation. (243-280, 1993.1.28)

You do not live for your own sakes. You should live, representing everyone. If you are a woman you should be born in this age representing all women and become a model for the women who are watching you. You should live as an example. If you do your descendants will surely follow that example. The heavenly world -- the eternal world -- is where you connect to as you follow that example.

When you qualify for this place, you will gain free access to everything, but if you fail you will be in great trouble. The True Parents do not teach you about that place. People perfected through them go there. There is no such educational system in that world. You must go there after being educated here on earth. In other words, what is bound on earth is bound in heaven; what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven. (227-376, 1992.2.16)

The citizens of God's Kingdom are those who came forth hoisting the banner of serving all peoples. Hence, in order to save a certain race today we must distribute all our possessions for its sake. If that is not enough, we should be prepared to offer even our lives. Such people are indeed the citizens of heaven. You should think about God's inner state of having to gather such people in order to realize the ideal of His kingdom. (5-17, 1958.11.9)

There is no way to go to heaven without loving your enemy's children more than your own. Christians today ask God to bless them and to forgive all their sins and evil baggage. Their view of faith is not correct. Knowing that, I was unable to pray in that way to God. Before praying, you should feel ashamed even while offering actual accomplishments. With what shall we gain forgiveness for our ancestors' inexcusable sin before God?

Hitherto, the True Parents had not been able to hold their wedding. It means that they had not been able to settle down. Nevertheless, they have now ushered in the era of the "True Parents and the Safe Settlement of the Completed Testament Age." For the first time, they have now been able to return to their hometown. When doing so, they take along with them all their children who were dispersed. They went to their hometown and settled there as the True Parents and held their wedding. Thus their children can now be married.

The Unification Church has been going the opposite way of other religions until now. It is not a false religion but one that teaches the orthodox path through having the words "True Parents." It stood in the world opposing that which is taught by false parents. They have taught these things to lay the foundation and find the path of the True Parents out of the position of false parents. Therefore, the True Parents should naturally return to their hometown and have a family. Thus, it is logical to say that their children should also return to their hometowns and have families. (273-289, 1995.10.29)

In your hearts you should think "I have now crossed over into a new age" and without looking back you should say, "Good bye world! I'm gone." We conducted the Holy Burning Ceremony for the Peace, Unity and Liberation of Heaven and Earth. Consequently we have passed that critical moment. When Lot's wife was leaving Sodom she was warned not to look back. Yet feeling that her path ahead was dreary she looked back. When women do not know their destination or which direction to take, and when the suffering they feel at that time is greater than that of a refugee, and blinds them into thinking that the world is in darkness, they long for the place where they used to live. Hence they inevitably end up turning around and looking back. The Last Days will become such a time. Women who are expecting a baby will have great difficulty with this. (396-134, 2002.11.5)

Do you have a nation of your own? We must come to an overall conclusion about everything in relation to this country. Now what I mean to say is that the Pledge starts with "the owner of Cheon Il Guk"; you are the owner. "Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, ... centering on true love" is the core content. That is how it is to be done. Do you understand? The Pledge is changing. The concept of "the owner" has come into the Pledge. No one can just sell off the words of the Pledge! However, for eternity, the term "Cheon Il Guk" has come into existence through the True Parents.

Now we have established God's kingship and by establishing the Realm of Life of the Completed Settlement of the Parents of Heaven and Earth, we have held the Special Rallies for the Harmony and Unity of Heaven and Earth and have completed the Holy Burning Ceremony for the Peace, Unity and Liberation of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, we need a new nation. (2002.11.5)

If your mind and body are not harmonized as one, you cannot go to heaven however great your faith might be after joining the Unification Church. It is because there are shadows in places of conflict. When you were in the registration workshop and received the Blessing there, I talked about the "Settlement of Noon." There should be no shadow.

If your mind and body are disunited, then when the sun shines directly overhead and your mind and body are lopsided, a shadow will appear on your left. If your physical desires override your conscience, you will cast a shadow on the left. This should be turned into the "Settlement of Noon." Top, middle and bottom should stand in perfect vertical alignment to God.

Taking God as the first generation and Adam as the second, the realm of three generations was not vertically established. God did not have a third generation. People have not known that He was a miserable God who was unable to have grandchildren. Fallen humanity did not know the fact that God, the Ancestor of humankind, the Teacher of all teachers, the Lord of all lords, the King of all kings, and the Great Sovereign of the universe, was in such a pitiful plight. (400-197, 2003.1.1)