Romans 16
23-24 Gaius welcomes me and the whole church into his home, and he sends his greetings.
Richard: The home (husband, wife and children centered on God) is the center of the providence, not the church building.
Lamentations 2
The Lord was like an enemy!
He left Israel in ruins
with its palaces
and fortresses destroyed,
and with everyone in Judah
moaning and weeping.
6 He shattered his temple
like a hut in a garden;[d]
he completely wiped out
his meeting place,
and did away with festivals
and Sabbaths
in the city of Zion.
In his fierce anger he rejected
our king and priests.
The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 22, 1959
This world we live in is one in which sorrow and happiness are jumbled together. We know that all the happiness we enjoy will disappear with death and cannot remain beyond death.
If sorrow and happiness disappear with death, then would the mind of a person which seeks happiness, which wishes to have better things and longs for the eternal world, come to an end along with death? No, it would not. That our minds and hearts move in such a direction is proof that such a world really exists.
Because a person is a spiritual being, his life is eternal. The reason people rendered devoted service to Heaven, walked the path of death for the sake of Heaven, and even went the path that many others rejected, keeping hope in their bosom, was because they felt something other people could not feel. They knew of a value that common people could not know. That was why they could walk, even the path of death.
If your mind that longs is not stronger than any hardships, difficulties, sorrow or even death, then you will feel regret before death and will retreat before sorrow and pain. Today, we are destined to go over the hill of death one way or the other, because Jesus went to the eternal world, going over the hill of death, and established the world of resurrection.
What kind of person is he who lives cherishing the hope of Heaven? He is a person who can withstand with joy even the hill of death about which other people feel sad. You must know that such a person keeps the hope of Heaven in his bosom. Therefore, you must not become those who show resentment at everything in the world and lament before death. You must become those who can rejoice and brag about the value of their death in front of Heaven. We must realize that Heaven is looking for such sons and daughters of hope.
If there were a person who felt heavenly joy standing in such a place, it would be impossible for God not to love him. If there were a throng of people who wailed, facing Heaven in such a situation, then Heaven would have no choice other than to respond to the wailing.
Has there ever been a time when you appealed, wailing to Heaven, with a hope like no one could have until today, in such a grave situation? Has there been any time when you repulsed the influence of death, felt the joy of victory, and returned glory before Heaven? The one who does not experience such on this earth before his body dies cannot be considered to have an eternal hope, to be able to stand before Heaven.
Such feelings penetrated deeply into Jesus’ heart. Jesus was faced with rejection from people of all sorts and was to be killed by enemies. It was the most miserable situation in the world. Yet he could still pray for blessing upon his enemies, being deeply penetrated by hopeful heavenly sentiment, instead of anxiety over his own miserable situation. We must realize this.
Accordingly, you too must have an ardent passion that the hope you have is beyond price and cannot be exchanged with any valuable thing on this earth. It is so valuable that you have to realize it, even at the sacrifice of your life. You must know that unless you let such a mind securely settle within you, Heaven cannot have faith in you. Unless you have such a heart, Heaven cannot trust you.
Heaven has come forth for several thousand years, seeking the sons and daughters who try to keep hold of the hope of Heaven, going so far as to abandon everything in the world, those whom Heaven can trust and love forever. I want you to remember that you must become the people who awaken to this, who live with a hope from now on, who fight to establish a hope and step forth not even caring about death for the purpose of realizing that hope.