Category: 1 Thessalonians

Benevolence, Propriety, Rectitude and Wisdom are the Only Four Principles

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1 Thessolonians 5

19 Don’t turn away God’s Spirit 20 or ignore prophecies. 21 Put everything to the test. Accept what is good 22 and don’t have anything to do with evil.

Matthew 27

 9 So the words of the prophet Jeremiah came true,

“They took
    the thirty silver coins,
the price of a person
    among the people of Israel.
10 They paid it
    for a potter’s field,
as the Lord
    had commanded me.”

Confucianism

Confucian ethics are at the core of the East Asian culture. today  With  the  rapid  Westernization of Asia  many  are  discarding Confucian  values  and  codes;  nevertheless  for  thousands  of  years  its  moral philosophy has guided family life and molded the conduct of kings with the values of benevolence, righteousness and propriety. Father Moon has high regard for Confucian moral teachings; he calls them “close to the laws of heaven.” the Confucian Five relations of parents and children, ruler and subject, husband and wife, elder and younger siblings, and among friends define what he believes is a superior ethic for all humanity.

 Father Moon holds that God inspired Confucianism. He affirms that in its concept of heaven, Confucianism presents a notion of God, however vague. Confucianism’s weakness, he explains, is its vague understanding of God (heaven) and as a consequence its inability to properly link heaven and earth in daily life. Then, with profound insight, he proceeds to offer a solution that utilizes the best of Confucianism: the relationship between God and human beings is a parent-child relationship, and its ethic is one of Confucian filial piety. In other words, we should attend God as we would our own parents, and the Confucian ethic supplies the best description as to what that attendance requires.

1. Confucian Ethics

Oh, how great is the divine moral law of the sage Confucius. Overflowing and illimitable, it gives birth and life to all created things and towers high up to the very heavens. How magnificent it is! How imposing the three hundred principles and three thousand rules of conduct! They await the man who can put the system into practice.
    Doctrine of the Mean 27
 
When one follows unswervingly on the path of virtue it is not to win advancement. When one invariably keeps one’s word it is not to establish the rectitude of one’s actions. A gentleman merely follows the norm and awaits his destiny.
    Mencius VII.B.33
 
From the Son of Heaven [the emperor] down to the common people, all must regard cultivation of the personal life as the root or foundation. There is never a case where the root is in disorder and yet the branches are in order. |
    Great Learning
 
Benevolence (jen), rectitude (i), propriety (li), and wisdom (chih)… There are only these four principles. There is nothing else.
    Chu Hsi

    What is the foundation of natural benevolence (jen)? The heart that sympathizes with pain. What is the foundation of a commitment to the common good (i)? The heart that is repelled by vice. What is the foundation of respect for social and religious forms (li)? The heart that is willing to defer. And what is the foundation for wisdom (chih)? The heart that can tell true from false.
    People have these four foundations like they have four limbs. A man who says he cannot practice them is calling himself a criminal. A man who says the ruler cannot practice them is calling the ruler a criminal.
    Everybody has these four foundations in himself. If these four foundations can be filled in on a broad scale, it will be like a fire starting up, it will be like a spring bursting through. If they can be filled in, it will be enough to create and preserve the world order. Leave them unfilled, it will be impossible for a man to take care of his father and mother.
    Mencius II.A.6
 
The gentleman works upon the trunk. When that is firmly set up, the Way grows. And surely proper behavior towards parents and elder brothers is the trunk of Goodness?
    Analects 1.2
 
Now filial piety is the root of all virtue, and the stem out of which grows all moral teaching… Our bodies—to every hair and bit of skin—are received by us from our parents, and we must not presume to injure or wound them: this is the beginning of filial piety. When we have established our character by the practice of the filial course, so as to make our name famous in future ages, and thereby glorify our parents: this is the end of filial piety. It commences with the service of parents; it proceeds to the service of the ruler; it is completed by the establishment of [good] character.
    Classic on Filial Piety 1
 
What are “the things which men consider right”? Kindness on the part of the father, and filial duty on that of the son; gentleness on the part of the elder brother, and obedience on that of the younger; righteousness on the part of the husband, and submission on that of the wife; kindness on the part of elders, and deference on that of juniors; with benevolence on the part of the ruler, and loyalty on that of the minister—these ten are the things which men consider to be right.
    Book of Ritual 7.2.19
 
 

We Should Clearly Distinguish Monotheism from Polytheism

1 Thessolonians 5

12 My friends, we ask you to be thoughtful of your leaders who work hard and tell you how to live for the Lord. 13 Show them great respect and love because of their work. Try to get along with each other. 14 My friends, we beg you to warn anyone who isn’t living right. Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone. 15 Don’t be hateful to people, just because they are hateful to you. Rather, be good to each other and to everyone else.

Obadiah 1

15 The day is coming
when I, the Lord,
    will judge the nations.
And, Edom, you will pay in full
    for what you have done.

Shamanism, Polytheism and Animism

2. Human Beings Who Achieve Mastery Rise above the Gods

It is people who make the gods important.
If a spirit [idol] becomes too troublesome, it will be shown the tree from which it was carved.
We shall continue to offer sacrifices so that the blame will lie with the deities.
African Proverbs (African Traditional Religions)

Fools misjudge me when I take a human form,
Because they do not know my supreme state as Lord of Beings.
Unconscious, they fall prey to a beguiling nature
such as belongs to ogres and demons,
For their hopes [ascribing to God human motives] are vain, and so
are their rituals and their search for wisdom.
Bhagavad-Gita 9.11-12 (Hinduism)

Whoever knows the self as “I am Brahman,” becomes all this [universe]. Even the gods can-not prevent his becoming this, for he has become their Self.

Now, if a man worships another deity, thinking, “He is one and I am another,” he does not know. He is like an animal to the gods. As many animals serve a man, so does each man serve the gods [with offerings]. Even if one animal is taken away, it causes anguish to the owner; how much more so when many are taken away! Therefore it is not pleasing to the gods that men should know the truth.

    Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 (Hinduism)

Even the devas are jealous of a yogi, striving as he does to surpass them by attaining Brahman. They therefore try to lead him astray, in various ways, if they find him off guard.
    Srimad Bhagavatam 11.20 (Hinduism)

What is Shinto? Not in the shrines
the worldly minded frequent for gifts in vain,
but in good deeds, pure of heart,
lies real religion.
    Genchi Kato (Shinto)

Look, you brothers, who bathe in the holy waters,
Look, you monks, who bathe in the stream.
Give up, give up, your unholy thoughts;
Give up lustful thoughts for another man’s
wife,
Give up coveting after another man’s wealth.
If you bathe in the waters without giving up these,
It is as if bathing in a stream that has run dry.
    Basavanna, Vacana 642 (Hinduism)

Truth is victorious, never untruth.
Truth is the way; truth is the goal of life,
Reached by the sages who are free from self-will.
    Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6 (Hinduism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

We should clearly distinguish monotheism from polytheism. Only God is the true deity; the other divine beings that founded the polytheistic religions are angels. Among those religions, some developed through good angels’ efforts to elevate human spirituality and heart—they are the higher religions. You should know that God has been cultivating people’s hearts through these good religions. (237:186, November 17, 1992)
 
Human history can be considered to span at least 850,000 years. Even during the most primitive times, the religious movements that sprang up received persecution. Who initiated such work? It is God. He developed religions to separate human beings from the servant. God separated us from Satan step by step, starting from the very bottom—the level of a servant of servants.
    Humans are created to be masters, but at the servant of servants’ level, the servant dominates the master. In order to take our rightful position in the Kingdom of Heaven as the masters of that servant, humanity must inevitably receive persecution from the entire servant world and triumph over it. (124:69, January 23, 1983)
 
Among shamans, especially the men, some had formerly led a promiscuous love life. Then as shamans they leave their former life and strive on the path of morality. This led to the development of a [higher] realm of religion. From that starting-point, they could recognize that people should live a straight way of life and form faithful families. At least they recognized that it was not good to live a loose lifestyle, and sought after a proper way of love. Such efforts at laying the right path developed into the world’s higher religions. (295:172, August 28, 1998)
 
 

360 Homes Represents the Entire World

1 Thessolonians 5

2 My friends, we ask you to be thoughtful of your leaders who work hard and tell you how to live for the Lord. 13 Show them great respect and love because of their work. Try to get along with each other. 14 My friends, we beg you to warn anyone who isn’t living right. Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone. 15 Don’t be hateful to people, just because they are hateful to you. Rather, be good to each other and to everyone else.

16 Always be joyful 17 and never stop praying. 18 Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.

19 Don’t turn away God’s Spirit 20 or ignore prophecies. 21 Put everything to the test. Accept what is good 22 and don’t have anything to do with evil.

Job 14

Our time on earth is brief;
the number of our days
    is already decided by you.
6 Why don’t you leave us alone
and let us find some happiness
    while we toil and labor?

Richard: Here Job is praying to God. This could also apply to people; ignore naysayers and focus on doing the ministry that God has called you to.

Selected Passages from the Words of Rev. Sun Myung Moon about Home Church

Today’s Word magazine, September 1981 p. 5 to p 6

Worldwide level

Your home church is one small world repre-
senting all mankind and the entire earth; it is a
microcosm of the whole world, and it makes no
difference where you live or travel. No matter
where you go on earth, still you must do your home
church mission. Even if you went to spirit world
now, you would have to return to finish that
mission, because unless you go through that gate,
you can never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
( 1/1/79)
Because the messiah has already made the
condition of sacrificing himself by giving his
life to restore the world, then his followers can
condense a lifetime into a mere seven years in
which they can follow the Principle and gain
success in their own home church area. That will
be considered the same as having fulfilled the
responsibility of restoring the whole world. The
whole world is represented in your home church
area. By restoring your home church area, God will
give you the same credit as if you had restored or
re-created the entire world. (3/29/79)

If you do well in home church, then during the
next seven years you can affect the events
throughout the entire world. Your area is your
world. If you win there, you can win the world.
(4/16/80)

The number 360 in your home church stands
for all of history; 360 represents time and space:
the lunar calendar has 360 days, a circle has 360
degrees. Furthermore, the number 360 is divisible
by all the significant providential numbers: 3, 4.
12. 72, 120, etc. Your 360 homes symbolize the
annual rings of history, your 360 closest ances-
tors. all the individuals scattered over all the globe,
and a living altar representing the entire world.
Ideally, you should find at least 12 different
nationalities living in your 360 homes; thus, your
home church becomes the cultural sphere which
can unite God’s providence, centering on
Christianity and synthesizing all races. Therefore,
home church is the final gathering place. (9/23/80)

The ideal world

When you accomplish home church, there will be
no more need for churches, for every home will
be a church. You won’t have to go to church or pray,
just live by the heavenly law, the law of the
heavenly country. When we finish home church,
God will have His own nation, and its citizens will
only have to observe its laws. When we love
everyone as an extension of our own family, that
in itself will be heaven. If this does not become
reality, then the Divine Principle is just another
ideology that does not work. (10/5/80)

Humankind Was Put In a Position to Deal With a World of Dual Purposes

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1 Thessolonians 1

 You became an example for all the Lord’s followers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 And because of you, the Lord’s message has spread everywhere in those regions. Now the news of your faith in God is known all over the world, and we don’t have to say a thing about it. 9 Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. 10 They also tell how you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God’s anger.

Job 33

Job, listen to me!
    Pay close attention.
2 Everything I will say
3     is true and sincere,
4 just as surely as the Spirit
of God All-Powerful[a]
    gave me the breath of life.
5 Now line up your arguments
    and prepare to face me.
6 We each were made from clay,
    and God has no favorites,
7 so don’t be afraid of me
    or what I might do.

Sun Myung Moon
May 17, 1959

John 14:1-24

The topic of the speech I want to share with you is “The Grieving Father, Son and Daughter as They Try to Establish the Kingdom of Heaven.” I will speak briefly upon this topic.

We know that ever since the human ancestors experienced the sadness of losing Paradise, there has been sadness of mind, sadness of body, and sadness of life. That sadness permeated the world and Heaven and is in every human being.

Because humankind was put in a position to deal with dual purposes instead of one, we have been in a position to relate with Satan rather than God. We experience the reality that fallen humankind was put in a position to deal with a world of dual purposes. No one can deny such a fact.

From the perspective of the will of God, the Creator of humankind, people were supposed to live centering on one purpose and one ideology, with one Master. Yet from the day they fell, they became people who served two masters and lived with dual purposes.

We know that the existence of both good and evil lies not only in my environment but throughout the world. Furthermore, we know that such a reality permeates not only in this world, but heaven as well.

Now our destiny is such that we have no choice but to walk toward the world of one purpose. We have no choice but to accept that our conscience aims and urges us in a certain direction. Therefore, when people today face society’s contradictions, their minds naturally seek the world of a new ideology that transcends the complex realities of this world. Continue reading “Humankind Was Put In a Position to Deal With a World of Dual Purposes”

Mary’s Heart was not to Strike and destroy the Enemy

1 Thessalonians 5

9 God doesn’t intend to punish us, but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 Christ died for us, so that we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11 That’s why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.

Jeremiah 39

39 1-3 In the tenth month[a] of the ninth year that Zedekiah[b] was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar[c] and the Babylonian army began their attack on Jerusalem. They kept the city surrounded for a year and a half. Then, on the ninth day of the fourth month[d] of the eleventh year that Zedekiah was king, they broke through the city walls.

Click below to listen to or download a recording of Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s speech “God’s Ideal Family Is the Model for World Peace”, the inaugural message of the Universal Peace Federation on September 23, 2005 at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington DC. Rev. Moon speaks extensively about the Peace Kingdom Corps.:
http://visionroot.org/assets/SMM%20UPF%2009-23-05-combined.mp3

The Heart of Heaven in Relation to Elijah

Sun Myung Moon
March 15, 1959

1 Kings 19: 1-21

Such was also the case with our ancestor, Noah. Noah proceeded to put the word of God into practice. God said, “Since I am surely going to judge the whole world with water 120 years from now, make yourself an ark.” There might have been many occasions when he could have doubted Heaven during the course of the internal fight. He must have felt his feebleness keenly many times. What permeated his mind was that the day was coming near when all the people of the earth would receive the judgment of being washed away in flood waters.

Let us look at Mary. She was a chaste maiden, a faithful Israelite woman who felt a deeper concern in her heart than anyone about the Israelites. She waited for the Messiah to come with a more eager heart than anyone among the Israelites, wondering when the Messiah, the leader whom Heaven had promised for several thousand years, would come.

Mary knew the heart of Heaven in sending the Messiah. The people of that time did not know the heart of Mary, who represented the Israelites. They were supposed to usher in the Messiah in this manner, but Heaven knew it was Mary alone who had such a heartistic standard. Continue reading “Mary’s Heart was not to Strike and destroy the Enemy”