Find the True Source of Your Pride

Acts 18

4 Every Sabbath, Paul went to the Jewish meeting place. He spoke to Jews and Gentiles[b] and tried to win them over. 5 But after Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, he spent all his time preaching to the Jews about Jesus the Messiah. 6 Finally, they turned against him and insulted him. So he shook the dust from his clothes[c] and told them, “Whatever happens to you will be your own fault! I am not to blame. From now on I am going to preach to the Gentiles.”

Richard:  We have to get out of our “holy huddlle” and mingle with others and provide the words of salvation.

Ezekiel 31

10 King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the Lord God, am saying about that tree:

The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky[c] and became very proud and arrogant. 11 So I, the Lord God, will reject the tree and hand it over to a foreign ruler, who will punish it for its wickedness. 12 Cruel foreigners will chop it down and leave it wherever it falls. Branches and broken limbs will be scattered over the mountains and in the valleys. The people living in the shade of those branches will go somewhere else. 13 Birds will then nest on the stump of the fallen tr

Let Us Understand God, Who Wanted to be Proud

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 8, 1959

Genesis 1: 24-31

We have not known the God who could never take pride in His creation. We did not know that He saw His pride turn into sorrow and manifest itself in tears.

Therefore, now we must find the original heavenly nature and original love of which God longs to be proud. Accordingly, as the people who possess the original heart of love that can relate with God, you must cultivate yourselves to become those in whom God can take pride. Although God has been yearning and searching for the one person who can bring shame to Satan and provide God with a source of pride, He has not been able to find such a person.

People want to boast. It is human nature to put one’s self forward and boast about oneself. We have the desire to boast about our parents, our children, and the whole of our family. Furthermore, we have the desire to be proud of our tribes, our nations, our world, and the whole of heaven and earth. Although you are fallen people, your original minds that seek to boast about things are controlling both your lives and history. You have to understand this. Continue reading “Find the True Source of Your Pride”

God Sought the Family that he Could Take Pride In

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1804

If we ask whether Adam and Eve
gave birth to sons and daughters before
or after the Fall, nobody would say they
gave birth before the Fall. Who took
responsibility for their marriage for the
sake of those sons and daughters? God
cannot take responsibility for people
whom He drove out. There is no doubt
the marriage was conducted by Satan
the devil.

Richard:  This is a clear explanation of the need for the Messiah; to bring God’s lineage as an unfallen Adam.  Jesus came for this purpose, and sough his bride.  The returning Jesus also seeks his bride and creates a true family.  That has been fulfilled in Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his bride.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 697

My accomplishments thus far exceed
those of anyone in the spirit world. I
have worked harder than anyone else.
That being the case, will the Unification
Church be at the tail end of the spirit
world, or will it rise to the top spot? It
will be at the top. This is not something
I have made up.

Let Us Understand God, Who Wanted to be Proud

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 8, 1959

Genesis 1: 24-31

This sermon is about something with which we are very familiar. God said that the creation He made in the six days was good. We must reflect upon how God’s deep desire to take infinite pride in His creation can be found in this word “good.”

God wanted to boast about the creation He had made in six days. When He was looking at all the created things, He was extremely delighted. To whom did He speak the words, “They are good”? He did not utter those words to the archangel. He spoke those words to all created things. We have to understand that God’s feelings toward all things were that intensely loving.

Nonetheless, all created things lost their value of being good, which God extolled in the Garden of Eden. God’s desire toward all things could not be substantially manifested. When we think about this sad situation, we can understand that God’s words, “They are good,” became words of grief. We have to remember this. The words extolling the goodness became sorrowful words. If someone had recognized the heart and situation of God, then God would have been more happy about the creation He had personally made. Continue reading “God Sought the Family that he Could Take Pride In”

Feel Indignation Toward the Crushing of God’s Ideal

Isaiah 47

The Lord said:

47 City of Babylon,
You are delicate
    and untouched,
    but that will change.
Surrender your royal power
    and sit in the dirt.
2 Start grinding grain!
    Take off your veil.
Strip off your fancy clothes
    and cross over rivers.[a]
3 You will suffer the shame
    of going naked,
because I will take revenge,
    and no one can escape.[b]
4 I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the holy God of Israel.
    I am their Savior.

2 Kings 8

9 Hazael left with forty camel loads of the best things made in Damascus as a gift for Elisha. He found the prophet and said, “Your servant, King Benhadad, wants to know if he will get well.”

10 “Tell him he will,” Elisha said to Hazael. “But the Lord has already told me that Benhadad will definitely die.” 11 Elisha stared at him until Hazael was embarrassed, then Elisha began crying.

Let Us Understand God, Who Wanted to be Proud

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 8, 1959

Genesis 1: 24-31

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Prayer

Father, please allow us to be awakened to the grieving heart You had when You lost the original garden and mourned over it. We have been ignorant of the fact that the sorrow of Adam and Eve is our sorrow. We have failed to experience through our minds and bodies that the Father’s sadness is greater than our sorrow. We sincerely wish to feel in our bodies and minds during this hour that, unbeknownst to us, the Father has shed many tears and has suffered endless and infinite sorrow and pain.

The sorrow of the Father caused by the fall of Adam and Eve was indeed great. Jesus’ unfinished mission in the will of the providence of restoration on the earth also caused You infinite grief, loneliness and suffering. Please allow us to experience the entirety of Your agonized heart during this hour. Continue reading “Feel Indignation Toward the Crushing of God’s Ideal”

Where Do God and Man Meet?

Cheong Seong Gyeong 199

There are many religions on earth,
but among them, only Christianity has
the concept of following God’s four basic
requirements: to become God’s child, to
become one body with God, to meet as
bride and bridegroom in accordance
with God’s will, and to form a new fam-
ily. Since Jesus came with this thinking,
Christianity, centering on Jesus, inevi-
tably became a global religion. (54-108,
1972.03.20)

Richard:  The place of unity of God and Man is through the sexual organs;
between Blessed husband and wife.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1735

What on earth does it mean to call
God our Father? You need to know the
origin of the ideal of creation. Who is
God? He is our Father, and you are His
children. Given that you are His chil-
dren, who do you take after? You resem-
ble Him. Would He have eyes? Would
He have a nose, a mouth and ears? He
would. Next, would He have a body?
Would God have sexual organs? All such
subjects pose questions, which must be
answered logically. (196-41, 1989.12.24)

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

Prayer

Father! We are awe-stricken to receive the mission that You have vested in us, and we are grateful for the grace You have given us by moving us to the depth of our hearts with Your call.

Now we have learned that our faith does not come from our hearts; it comes from the heart of Father, to which we cannot relate without shedding tears. We have also come to know the heart of Heaven, who has clung to these miserable ones and has struggled so fiercely for us. We have learned that we are sinful people who have bowed down before Your fearful grace, before which we shed endless tears. Continue reading “Where Do God and Man Meet?”

You Must Be Able to Say “It is Finished” While You Are Alive

1 Peter 1

22 You obeyed the truth,[d] and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart. 23 Do this because God has given you new birth by his message that lives on forever. 24 The Scriptures say,

“Humans wither like grass,
and their glory fades
    like wild flowers.
Grass dries up,
and flowers fall
    to the ground.
25 But what the Lord has said
    will stand forever.”

Our good news to you is what the Lord has said.

Richard:  The Word is powerful and brings the dead to life, so to speak.

Lamentations 3

Then I remember something
    that fills me with hope.
22 The Lord’s kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
    we would have been destroyed.[c]
23 The Lord can always be trusted
    to show mercy each morning.
24 Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
    I can depend on him!”

Richard:  What a great hymn of praise!

The Incarnation of Jesus, A Pioneer

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

In this age today, we have to pass through a period of preparation and a period of practice in our search for Heaven. We must seek for the original nature of Heaven. What kind of preparation must we make? In what kind of position must we stand? We have to stand in the same position as Jesus during his thirty- year preparation period. In doing so, we must prepare to represent the internal heart of Heaven and the human heart, represent all sovereignties, and determine to face conflicts by ourselves. Accordingly, a group of people certainly must appear who cross Golgotha on the world level with this kind of determination. You must understand this.

Jesus said, “It is finished,” when he was passing away. Yet this is not the culminating point of the completion of the providence. For this reason, we must pioneer a course through which we can say, “It is finished,” while we are still alive. The heavenly soldiers and angels, spirits and all created things must be able to bow their heads and say, “Today is the day your wishes are fulfilled. Please receive the glory.” This is the time to prepare for the day we can say, “It is finished” in this way. Christians today remain faithful to go beyond the day of saying, “It is finished” as they pass away. They must be able to say the same while they are alive. Hence, you must take charge of the mission of a heavenly pioneer in this first completion stage we are in today. Continue reading “You Must Be Able to Say “It is Finished” While You Are Alive”

God’s Side Reclaims After Having Been Hit First

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1718

You must know that the villain who
destroyed the qualification of the prince
and princess that God had hoped for,
ruined their family love, and destroyed
their royal descendants and God’s ideal
family and heaven, was the devil, Satan.
(302-220, 1999.6.14)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1380

Kim Il-sung invited all the 30,000
Couples to North Korea. He said, “Rev.
Moon, if you want, this is the best chance
ever to open the thirty-eighth parallel.
We will welcome all the 30,000 Cou-
ples!” The people of South Korea did not
know of this. Such was the attitude of
the North Korean authorities. They said,
“We will welcome the 30,000 Couples!”
But how would we take them there? Let’s
say we would use buses, fifty people to
a bus, then how many would that be in
total? Since there are 30,000 couples, it
would mean we would need 1,200 buses.
If 1,200 buses carrying fifty people each
were to drive to North Korea in single
file, how many kilometers would that
line stretch, from the first to the last bus?
Think about if, if such an incident had
actually taken place, would that not have
started massive demonstrations for the
unification of North and South Korea?
However, that is all in the past now. I
know very well which people prevented
this event from ever taking place. My
sources in the United States informed
me about that. I am not a person just
passing through. In time, I plan to pub-
lish a book, a record of who did what.
(238-161, 1992.11.22)

Richard:  Evil Powers have often blocked God’s Providence.   But this blocking cannot continue forever.  With the Cheon Il Guk (Kingdom of God) revolution and the Trump revolution and the related movements around the world, the hegemony of Satan is crumbling.  This is an excellent book on the topic that I highly recommend The Killing of Uncle Sam  by Rodney Howard-Brown and Paul L. Williams:

The Incarnation of Jesus, A Pioneer

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

Just before Jesus passed away on the cross that was dripping with his blood, he said, “My Father, my Father, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) At the end of this prayer, he said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) He said, “It is finished,” not because he wanted to say that he had realized the ideal world. What he meant by this statement was that he had carried out the determination he had made during his thirty-year preparation period: “If my path becomes tragic, then I will do such and such.” This statement is not to be taken as something joyful; it was his expression of his sad heart to all of humanity. We have to understand that this was his last Will, which he spoke to the ignorant people out of his grieving heart. Continue reading “God’s Side Reclaims After Having Been Hit First”

The Heart of Jesus in his Everyday Life

1 Kings 8

1-42 Foreigners will hear about you and your mighty power, and some of them will come to live among your people Israel. If any of them pray toward this temple, 43 listen from your home in heaven and answer their prayers. Then everyone on earth will worship you, just like your people Israel, and they will know that I have built this temple to honor you.

John 20

17 Jesus told her, “Don’t hold on to me! I have not yet gone to the Father. But tell my disciples that I am going to the one who is my Father and my God, as well as your Father and your God.” 18 Mary Magdalene then went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord. She also told them what he had said to her.

Richard:  Jesus could not allow Mary Magdalene to embrace him, as he did not have the foundation on earth to be able to receive his bride.

The Incarnation of Jesus, A Pioneer

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

No matter how much the external circumstances changed, the heart of Jesus and the path he walked could not change. This path is the one that fallen humanity must inevitably walk. However, the Israelites, who should have followed Jesus, betrayed him. The crowd that had followed him betrayed him and the disciples, who should have believed in and attended him without any doubt, cherished different hopes and had different attitudes. You have to understand that Jesus looked at them with a gaze full of sorrow and grief.

Jesus knew that he had to be persecuted on the individual level, the family level, the church level, on the level of a people and on the national level. He also knew that he had to be persecuted on the level of the Roman Empire, which represented the world at that time. Knowing this, he silently walked his course. When he climbed over the Mount of Transfiguration and then headed toward the hill of Calgary, he made the determination: “Let any persecution and ordeal come to me. I will overcome all that I must in my time.” If he did not overcome them, all the preparations would have been more cause for grief, so he made his way toward the pass of death. To put this Will into practice, he made the determination that, as a sacrifice of death, he would share his flesh and blood with humanity before he left. Jesus was overwhelmed by the heart of Heaven on behalf of humanity and made a firm determination with every footstep he took. However, no one knew that he was taking those footsteps to carry out the determination that he had made during his preparation period. You have to understand this. Continue reading “The Heart of Jesus in his Everyday Life”

The Disciples Did Not Abide by the Teachings of Jesus

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2136

That being the case, where would
you most like to live? I think you would
like to live in your original hometown
where you were born. Broadly speak-
ing, ‘original hometown’ can refer to the
planet Earth within the cosmos, and our
homeland is wherever God dwells as its
founding Father. Our hometown is the
earth as God originally intended it to
be – a place where parents, siblings, and
children who have not fallen would live
together. This was to be a place where
black, yellow, and white people could
live together in harmony.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1631

Unless a religious person comes for-
ward with a logic that offers a clear sci-
entific explanation of cause, process,
and result, the religious world cannot
be saved. The Divine Principle of the
Unification Church has such logic as
described above. The conclusion sug-
gested by that fits everything: that God
exists with dual characteristics, that He
is the Subject partner and the universe
is His object partner, and that therefore
He is the Subject partner of love and
humankind was created as the object
partner of His love. This fundamen-
tal relationship continued through the
power of love which bound it to the eter-
nal world, transcending history. This
action of love continued through thou-
sands of years, and whereas other forms
of power became weaker as time passed,
this power of love remained strong.

The Incarnation of Jesus, A Pioneer

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

The disciples did not understand the heart of Jesus. They were trying to use him to elevate themselves. Jesus understood this and had no way to alleviate his aching heart, no matter how much he cried and lamented toward heaven and earth.

Because he had a mission that forced him to go on, he suppressed his sorrow and said to his disciples, “Those who try to elevate themselves will decline, and those who try to lower themselves will rise.” (Matthew 23:12) You have to understand that he repeatedly testified to his determination, inscribed deeply in his heart, flesh and blood.

Listening to him, the disciples thought that the words Jesus spoke had nothing to do with them. Ladies and gentlemen! Please imagine how frustrated Jesus must have felt when John’s mother asked Jesus to elevate her sons to a position of glory in the last days. Although Jesus had taught his disciples and instructed them so many times, they did not understand him. Continue reading “The Disciples Did Not Abide by the Teachings of Jesus”

There Was Not Even One Person Who Welcomed Jesus

1 John 4

4 Dear friends, don’t believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world, 2 and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body. 3 But when someone doesn’t say this about Jesus, you know that person has a spirit that doesn’t come from God and is the enemy of Christ. You knew that this enemy was coming into the world and now is already here.

4 Children, you belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God’s Spirit[a] is in you and is more powerful than the one that is in the world. 5 These enemies belong to this world, and the world listens to them, because they speak its language. 6 We belong to God, and everyone who knows God will listen to us. But the people who don’t know God won’t listen to us. That is how we can tell the Spirit that speaks the truth from the one that tells lies.

Isaiah 51

You are in trouble and drunk,
    but not from wine.
So pay close attention
22 to the Lord your God,
    who defends you and says,
“I have taken from your hands
the cup filled with my anger
    that made you drunk.
You will never be forced
    to drink it again.
23 Instead I will give it
    to your brutal enemies,
who treated you like dirt
    and walked all over you.”

The Incarnation of Jesus, A Pioneer

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

What are God’s tactics? To reclaim one person, God must suffer a blow as hard as that person’s worth. This is the way Heaven works. To reclaim one family, Heaven must receive a blow as hard as that family’s worth. This is how that family can be reclaimed. Accordingly, to reclaim a people and raise them, God has to suffer the same amount as their worth. Jesus learned through his daily life that this is the tactic of God.

Because Jesus had to represent God, to claim a people, He had to become a sacrifice on the level of the individual, the family, the religious group, and the people. By receiving a blow, he pioneered the path of sacrifice.

Jesus came to live this way of life. Though he sought a comrade among the prepared Jewish sects, there was not even one person who welcomed him. Even in Korea today, fishermen are poor and lowly people and not well respected. You can imagine how Jesus must have felt when he had to seek out ignorant fishermen 2,000 years ago. Do you think that a person like Peter would become inspired and follow Jesus immediately after just hearing his words a few times? Although that is the way it is written in the Bible, the Bible does not elaborate upon the daily affairs in the background. You have to understand that people like Peter heard some rumors about Jesus that helped them believe in him. Continue reading “There Was Not Even One Person Who Welcomed Jesus”

The Public Life of Jesus Was Full of Tribulation and Ordeals

Cheon Seong Gyeong 645

In this sense, Jesus was teaching that
the Kingdom would come about when
we attain the self-governing character
to advance with mind-body unity while
ridding ourselves of the circumstances
that would cause us to veer to the right
or left.
The Kingdom does not come through
the efforts of others but by our own
efforts. Being fallen people, you must
deny yourselves. If I cannot bring about
the Kingdom by myself, it will then be
done by someone else. If that happens,
then I must unite with that person in
order to reach the Kingdom. I would
have to follow and keep in step with
him. If he were to go east, I would have
to follow. We should not think of going
west if he goes east, or judge his actions.
There should not be any criticism. (46-21,
1971.7.18)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1251

People get married to perfect their
individual love while at the same time
perfecting the love of their object part-
ner. Doesn’t it feel good to know you get
married to perfect your love as well as
the love of God?
Men and women have to get mar-
ried to prepare the foundation on earth
through which God can love. Only
when a man and woman come togeth-
er in union through love can the love of
God reside there. The foundation is set
by them.

The Incarnation of Jesus, A Pioneer

Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1959

Matthew 8: 18-22

Jesus who came 2,000 years ago, Jesus who led a sorrowful life during the thirty years of preparation, there was no one who understood this Jesus from the depth of his heart. No one bowed before him and was able to attend him. There was not even one ugly and crippled person who did that. This is truly a tragic story. Had there been such a person, humanity today would not feel so ashamed. When we consider this, we can understand that we owe an infinitely great debt to Heaven.

As Jesus observed John the Baptist during his thirty-year preparation period, he had many expectations. Jesus, who had been looking forward to the day when he could begin his course of public ministry, finally took the first concrete step toward fulfillment. He thought the people of the time and John the Baptist would welcome him. Yet both treated him coldly and even opposed him. The sects of Judaism opposed him. Jesus, who had made such a brave and firm determination during the preparation period, was supposed to use the Israelite people as his foundation to step forward and fight with the world, but they opposed him. Consequently, he was faced with the miserable fate of having to fight with the Israelite people. You have to understand this. This is why the Israelites, who had prepared for the coming of the Messiah with great toil for 4,000 years, had to begin their mission again from the bottom.

When God’s foundation of 4,000 years crumbled, Jesus had to appear before the people a second time with the same absoluteness of God’s dispensation just after the fall of Adam and Eve. We must understand how sad Jesus must have been. He sought them out because they were supposed to be the chosen people, yet they drove him out. Continue reading “The Public Life of Jesus Was Full of Tribulation and Ordeals”