1 Kings 9
6“But if youa or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given youb and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
John 8
23But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
Let Us Become People Who Participate In the Glory of the Lord
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
June 16, 1957
You might not be aware of this, but we stand in a serious situation today. If the path we are walking is true, then we must make a serious resolution. This is because the results will change according to our determination.
When Adam and Eve fell, because God took the responsibility and carried on the salvation, there was some hope. Yet in the last days when the Lord of glory returns, if human beings do not fulfill their responsibility, the dispensation of salvation cannot be continued again. Therefore, if we cannot complete the dispensation of salvation, there will remain bitterness that is greater than that which was left at the time of the fall of Adam and Eve.
We who have come upon this kind of fearful time must understand the heart and the heavenly will of God and speak in defense of God’s heart from the position of having been recognized by God. If we do not understand or cannot achieve this, then we must seek a humble position on our own initiative. Jesus was humble even when he was aware of the will of God, so people who do not know the will of God must be humble. If there are such people, then they will surely fall into Satan’s abyss of death.
Peter, who followed Jesus 2,000 years ago, as well as the twelve apostles and countless multitudes below him did not understand the heart of Jesus. Therefore, today, you must be determined not to stand in the same kind of position. Ladies and gentlemen, please call out to the Father with that kind of heart. Because the Father is alive, He can give you an answer. If you give all of your heart for the sake of the earth with the same heart as He, then you will be brought to the side of God. Now you must understand that you have the two-fold or three-fold responsibility of alleviating all the bitterness that Jesus left behind on this land and establish yourself, not as a deceased offering, but as a live offering to build paradise on earth.
Yet, why did Jesus die? Jesus did not die because he did not feel any attachment to this world. Jesus loved this earth more than anyone else, and he was full of human kindness. However, because he knew the will of God that only he could bring to pass, he walked the path that differed from other human beings and eventually took the path of the cross. Jesus could not share in the joy when they were rejoicing and could not walk the same path together. He could not divulge his own sorrows. This is how the path that Jesus took was different from that of human beings.
If we want to behold the day of lasting glory and go before Heaven to demand, Please let me stand before all things and creations! then what kind of road should we take? In one word, we must go through the path of death. It is because this is the direct route to heaven. You must also walk this path that Jesus traveled.
Jesus did not walk the road of the cross of Golgotha only for one day. Jesus fixed his heart on the will of God, and for some thirty odd years of his life, he set the standard of the cross and fought on. Moreover, he did not make the determination to face death on the cross in several days. You have to understand that by offering some thirty odd years of his life and in the position of being in charge of the 4,000-year history of the dispensation, Jesus predicted, “If it goes well, then these things will happen. If it does not go well, then that will take place.” Meanwhile, there was not even a moment of his life that he was able to escape from the sorrowful heart of Golgotha.
Because there was such a prepared foundation, Jesus was able to place his beloved disciples, people, nation and religion behind him and walk the road that he was determined to go from his birth, the path of the cross on which he offered himself as the sacrifice.
Now you must feel in your life the victorious conditions of Golgotha that Jesus set throughout his life. Otherwise, you will become the same as the disciples who turned away while they were following Jesus, when Jesus was receiving many people’s rejections and reproaches and had to bear the cross on his shoulder to take the path of death. Moreover, you must reflect on the fact that although many multitudes had followed Jesus, there was no one who was following him with his life on the line.