Category: New Testament

Your Worst Enemies Will Be in Your Own Family

Exodus 32

5 When Aaron saw what was happening, he built an altar in front of the idol and said, “Tomorrow we will celebrate in honor of the Lord.” 6 The people got up early the next morning and killed some animals to be used for sacrifices and others to be eaten. Then everyone ate and drank so much that they began to carry on like wild people.

7 The Lord said to Moses:

Hurry back down! Those people you led out of Egypt are acting like fools. 8 They have already stopped obeying me and have made themselves an idol in the shape of a young bull. They have bowed down to it, offered sacrifices, and said that it is the god who brought them out of Egypt. 9 Moses, I have seen how stubborn these people are, 10 and I’m angry enough to destroy them, so don’t try to stop me. But I will make your descendants into a great nation.

Matthew 4

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went to Galilee. 13 But instead of staying in Nazareth, Jesus moved to Capernaum. This town was beside Lake Galilee in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.[b] 14 So God’s promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,

15 “Listen, lands of Zebulun
    and Naphtali,
lands along the road
to the sea
and east
    of the Jordan!
Listen Galilee,
    land of the Gentiles!
16 Although your people
    live in darkness,
they will see
    a bright light.
Although they live
    in the shadow of death,
a light will shine
    on them.”

17 Then Jesus started preaching, “Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here.”[c]

Let Us Fathom the Heart of Heaven

Sun Myung Moon
September 13, 1959

Matthew 10:24-39

24 Disciples are not better than their teacher, and slaves are not better than their master. 25 It is enough for disciples to be like their teacher and for slaves to be like their master. If people call the head of the family Satan, what will they say about the rest of the family?

26 Don’t be afraid of anyone! Everything that is hidden will be found out, and every secret will be known. 27 Whatever I say to you in the dark, you must tell in the light. And you must announce from the housetops whatever I have whispered to you. 28 Don’t be afraid of people. They can kill you, but they cannot harm your soul. Instead, you should fear God who can destroy both your body and your soul in hell. 29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. 30 Even the hairs on your head are counted. 31 So don’t be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows.

32 If you tell others that you belong to me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you are my followers. 33 But if you reject me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you don’t belong to me.

34 Don’t think that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came to bring trouble, not peace. 35 I came to turn sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law. 36 Your worst enemies will be in your own family.

37 If you love your father or mother or even your sons and daughters more than me, you are not fit to be my disciples. 38 And unless you are willing to take up your cross and come with me, you are not fit to be my disciples. 39 If you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give it up for me, you will surely find it.

Prayer

We know that the verses just read revealed the things that Jesus kept deep in his heart.

Father, Jesus was to bring an end to the four-thousand-year providential history. He was to lead the many Israelites, build the altar of victory before the Father, and restore everything on that altar of glory as the chief priest. Yet we know that he died without fulfilling this historic mission.

Father, although two thousand years have passed since Jesus, please allow us to picture Jesus’ situation at that time. It is said that these are the Last Days. We know through the phenomena unfolding in our lives that the time is near when we can eliminate all sinful elements.

Looking at this and at all the phenomena of the world, we conclude that these are the Last Days. At this moment, when all unfolding signs are foretelling the Last Days, what should we possess? What should we feel? What should we be proud of? We should not pursue any power of this world, anything material, nor anything that has to do with people’s character. The only thing is to resemble Jesus Christ who lived two thousand years ago. Please allow us to reflect upon how we have to make his heart, desires and situation our own and lay the foundation for the fulfillment of his wishes.

In his time, Jesus appeared to be a humble man. He appeared to be inferior to John the Baptist. John the Baptist came before the Israelite people who were gathering to be baptized in accordance with the new law and appeared to be a great personality. The Israelites honored him as a prophet.

When Jesus emerged as someone who seemed inferior to John the Baptist, the people could not believe him. He was opposed wherever he went. Those who followed Jesus were a lowly group of women and tax collectors. When we think about this, we can sense the most sorrowful historical reality, that there was no true son or daughter of Heaven who could honor Jesus as the Lord.

Heaven needed those who could believe in Jesus as God’s only begotten son and the Savior, lowly in social status and unpolished though he might be. Please allow us to be in tune with the heart of that time and bow our heads humbly before Jesus. Let us receive Heaven’s instructions in the midst of God’s love.

I am about to convey the truth of the Father. If there is a gap between the mind of the speaker and the minds of the listeners, that will be the basis for Satan’s action and a condition which will block the gates of our life. We know that if that is to be the outcome, it is better not to listen to the words at all.

Please allow us to open our hearts wide, to cleanse ourselves of our own thoughts and concepts, and to entrust our minds and bodies to the Father’s movement of life. Let us be in harmony with the Father’s will.

I sincerely pray that with the power of the words of re-creation You will let us experience the center of life and rise up as the life itself before the Father’s will during this hour.

We entrust everything to You. Please govern us. Please let all the beloved members dwell in the same state of grace. We prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.

Stand Firmly Against the Flying Arrows and the Cross of Death

Colossians 4

18 I am signing this letter myself: PAUL.

Don’t forget that I am in jail.

I pray that God will be kind to you.

Richard: I think that Rev. Moon (in Spirit World) is in a type of heartistic jail. Unless we understand the Word that he brought, and carry it out, his heart is heavy

Mark 6

Jesus taught in all the neighboring villages. 7 Then he called together his twelve apostles and sent them out two by two with power over evil spirits. 8 He told them, “You may take along a walking stick. But don’t carry food or a traveling bag or any money. 9 It’s all right to wear sandals, but don’t take along a change of clothes. 10 When you are welcomed into a home, stay there until you leave that town. 11 If any place won’t welcome you or listen to your message, leave and shake the dust from your feet[c] as a warning to them.”

Richard: This Rheama supports the previous one about Tong Ban breakthrough. Actual ministry to families in the local area is the core ministry of God and Christ at His Second Coming.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 19, 1959

John 10: 1-18

What kind of person is that self? It is someone who is one with God and true parents all the time. It is someone who is also one with the true children, the true people, and the true loyal subjects. In front of that self, true Heaven and earth, a whole new world, will open up. To bring everything to fruition centered upon such an occasion is God’s way of governing.

Today many thoughts and ideals seem plausible, but they do have any valuable contents. Although mankind has been searching and searching for truth for six thousand long years of history, people who have fought as true individuals all faded away. The true family, the true people, the true nation, and the true ideal also faded away. It is up to us, living in the last days, to receive those things again.

What kind of time is it now, when we face the destiny to receive those things again? When we truly look with clear eyes, we see this is a time when the individual can unite with the family, the family can unite with the society, the society can unite with the nation, the nation can unite with the world, and Heaven can unite with the earth. The final destination that goodness longs for is in the state of being able to call God our father, and not just in name only. Please raise your hand if you think you are confident that you have reached this standard. If you look at the reality, things are serious. The age of the last days of the six thousand years are here, but we are six thousand years behind. We are six thousand years away from such a time. The external form of the providence has been structured, yet as far as content is concerned, it is empty. As time passes, you will feel more and more suffocated. There will come a day when you will lament how lonely and empty you are. Although you may possess wealth and much more, there will be a certain emptiness inside. There will also be a battle within you. That is because your mind strives to run back to six thousand years ago, whereas your body still remains here, entangled in the present.

Because such a reality exists, the Bible says, “Seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened.” In this time, when the new environment is about to emerge, you should at least have the conviction to push away the suffering arising from this battle buried deep in the human heart, although you may not know how to solve it. If not, then you cannot stand in the new world that will come. We have to realize this.

What kind of time is it now? This is a time to revolutionize the individual, revolutionize the family, revolutionize the society, revolutionize the nation, and revolutionize the world.

What will allow you to stand firmly against the flying arrows and the cross of death? It is the heart with a father and a son relationship with Heavenly Father. When we call out to Heavenly Father as our father with a desperate, deep heart, God and Satan will both bow their heads. If Jesus did not possess such a heart, he would not have been qualified to be the Messiah. You have to possess such a heart if you want to be the bride. To enter into such a state, you have to embark on an adventure.

Now is a busy time. It is time to go on an adventure. Jesus said that those who are willing to die will live, and those who want to live will die. Those who want to rise will go down and those willing to go down will rise. These words will be fulfilled in the last days.

Have a Wildly Adventurous Nature

Luke 4

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Richard: Today, the good news is being preached. Yet again, many will not listen because the messenger who brought it is Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

Psalm 27

One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 19, 1959

John 10: 1-18

Although he was living in the land of the Pharaoh, Moses’ heart was ready to sing a song of happiness in the land of Canaan. Moses had pioneered a solitary path of going forward with an indomitable heart.

He headed out to Canaan with the mass of 600,000 people. But during the forty years of the wilderness period, all was lost. If the Israelites knew how to take adventure like Moses did, they would not have failed. Had their desperate heart to seek the promised land been greater than the feelings and thoughts arising in their daily lives, the Israelites would have never fallen in the wilderness. Yet they cried out in panic, complaining how hungry they were and complaining of their hardships. So they died out in the wilderness, unable to enter the land of Canaan.

Any historic figure or pioneer has the natural tendencies of an explorer. He can overcome everything to reach a higher ideal or promised destination, not seeking worldly pleasures or satisfactions.

Moses was like that. What is the meaning behind the Red Sea incident and the attack of the tribesmen of Amalek in the wilderness in front of the Israelites? Men who had escaped the shackles of the Pharaoh all collapsed on the way as they wandered aimlessly for forty years.

Moses had sent twelve people, representing the twelve tribes, to spy out the land of Canaan. When they came back to report what they had seen, ten of them said they would not be able to defeat the Canaanites, but Joshua and Caleb said otherwise. Joshua and Caleb were not particularly intelligent. You are more intelligent than they were. They were dull and stubborn. But they had a wildly adventurous nature.

Joshua and Caleb stood firmly against the opposing people, saying, “God, who has been leading us until now, is alive. God, who has defeated the magic of the Pharaoh, is alive. God, who divided the Red Sea and helped us cross it, is alive. God, who sent us quail and manna while we were starving and struggling, is alive.” You have to know that such was the key that opened the road for the Israelites, who were struggling to follow the course of restoration.

That is not all. All of history is such a course. After the age of the race came the age of the nation. Although they had entered Canaan, the Israelites had to fight to establish a nation. How heavy-hearted must God have been at this. They needed to acquire the form of a nation, the form of a family, and the form of an individual. Although they had acquired the form of a nation, they could not become the foundation of complete victory that God wanted. We have to realize God’s heart as He worked through history with such situations.

God has been struggling. He struggled to find an individual, but He lost that individual. He struggled to find a family, but He also lost that family. He lost everything, including the blessed nation and the people of Israel.

Jesus seems to have come as the prince of the defeated. He inherited all this. He was a representative who came to take on the pain of world restoration. He came to the land of Israel. He only went to a few places, a few temples near the wall of Jerusalem and the beaches of Galilee. Yet his words and actions represented the will of God and history.

Two thousand years of history have passed since Jesus died after struggling on such a path. Today a certain victorious base to restore the nation of Israel must be established. The history of the two thousand years after Jesus (which we may call the two thousand years of the history of the Holy Spirit) were the process of keeping the world in line with the standard of God’s will.

Today is the era of the last days. The last days are to perfect an individual, perfect a family, perfect a race, perfect a nation, a world, and furthermore, a cosmos. Humanity is not aware of the heart of God, who has been leading such a grand mission.

God is Searching for the Content of True Parents, True Couple, True Children

Matthew 15

3 Jesus answered:

Why do you disobey God and follow your own teaching? 4 Didn’t God command you to respect your father and mother? Didn’t he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? 5 But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they have has been offered to God.[b] 6 Is this any way to show respect to your parents? You ignore God’s commands in order to follow your own teaching. 7 And you are nothing but show-offs! Isaiah the prophet was right when he wrote that God had said,

8 “All of you praise me
    with your words,
but you never really
    think about me.
9 It is useless for you
    to worship me,
when you teach rules
    made up by humans.”

Richard:  Taking care of your parents is very important.

Amos 5

Now you will have to carry
    the two idols you made—
Sakkuth, the one you call king,
and Kaiwan,
the one you built
    in the shape of a star.[h]
27 I will force you to march
    as captives beyond Damascus.
I, the Lord God All-Powerful,
    have spoken![i]

Richard:  Don’t worship idols like money, power and knowledge that is not God-centered.

Man Is an Explorer in Search of Truth

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 19, 1959

John 10: 1-18

Although there are many adventurers who seek to explore the famous unknown spots, anyone can do that. But what is the highest standard that Jesus set as the mark of adventure? It is the problem of the heart.

What allows modern Christianity to contribute to the movements of the world? It is the historic background of martyrdom, which transcended death. There are people who are willing to seek truth with a desperate heart, even putting their lives at stake. God wants to take those people to establish the world of the purpose of the heart. Because of this, He sent Jesus. Yet when Jesus was dying pitifully on the mountain of Calvary, did people anticipate that someday he would be leading the world? Not even in their dreams.

We are people who have to seek. We have before us the path that we must take today and tomorrow, with all our lives and even our bodies at stake, in spite of any difficulty or danger.

Through the Principle, you know that the battles waged between God and Satan are propelling history. Where is the original son who can call on God after winning these battles? Mankind has not yet seen or found the world in which Heavenly Father responds when the son calls on Him as Father with a desperate heart.

Jesus came to this world and said that he was the only begotten son of God. The Bible records Jesus’ presence as the glory of the begotten son. Jesus called God “Father.” He said to attend him like the bridegroom, that the people were his bride and his brethren. This is something to be grateful for.

There is a God who guides the providence for mankind in this world from up in Heaven. God leads the history of goodness. Then what is His purpose? It is not the Bible. At the end, when the providence of restoration is completed, the Bible will disappear along with the fallen world.

Believing in the Bible is not the question here. What is more precious is a son who can go beyond just believing, one who knows the Father who has striven for six thousand years, who strives now, and who will strive in the future. With a burning heart toward Heavenly Father, he can call on Him. Such a daughter is this precious. Heavenly Father cannot be joyous in looking at humanity. The only one He feels joyous over is Jesus. Isn’t that so?

We are searching for truth. The individual, the family, the society, the world is searching for truth. Then who is the ultimate owner of the truth the universe is searching for? It is God.

What is the content of the truth God wants to establish? What He is searching for is the content of true parents, true couples, true children, true Heaven and earth, and the true cosmos that mankind has yet to possess. Isn’t that so?

Because People Are Fallen, they Want to Avoid Things they do not Like

Acts 17

17 After Paul and his friends had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went on to Thessalonica. A Jewish meeting place was in that city. 2 So as usual, Paul went there to worship, and on three Sabbaths he spoke to the people. He used the Scriptures 3 to show them that the Messiah had to suffer, but that he would rise from death. Paul also told them that Jesus is the Messiah he was preaching about. 4 Some of them believed what Paul had said, and they became followers with Paul and Silas. Some Gentiles[a] and many important women also believed the message.

Richard:  Paul traveled and went to places of worship (the temple).  He was not afraid to share the gospel of Jesus.  The new gospel is that of the True Parent, Rev. Sun Myung Moon.  Many will reject, especially those affiliated with established Christian Churches, but many will receive, as well.

Matthew 22

18 Jesus knew their evil thoughts and said, “Why are you trying to test me? You show-offs! 19 Let me see one of the coins used for paying taxes.” They brought him a silver coin, 20 and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”

21 “The Emperor’s,” they answered.

Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” 22 His answer surprised them so much that they walked away.

Richard:  Some Jewish leaders tried to ensnare Jesus, while others listened to what he was saying.  It is the same today, some Christian leaders disrespect Rev. Sun Myung Moon, while others are open to hear God’s message.  Of course, those who reject Rev. Moon out of hand are doing the same thing that the Pharisee in this scripture did to Jesus, trying to entrap and discredit him.

Man Is an Explorer in Search of Truth

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
July 19, 1959

John 10: 1-18

When we look at humanity bathed in the sorrow of the Fall, when we look at ourselves, unable to cut away from the fallen lineage, and when we acknowledge that we are all descendants of fallen ancestors, we may ask what the Fall is. It is to be fallen away. The Fall is a state of being in conflict with the ideal that our mind desires.

Because people are fallen, they want to avoid things they do not like, things that make them sad, and things that are difficult to do. Yet they cannot escape from sadness, pain and difficulty because they are fallen. Everything is intertwined and tangled up with history.

We surely have second selves that move according to the true heart, in contrast to our own selves which are in a miserable situation. The time will come when we have to call forth those selves to criticize ourselves harshly.

Many saints and sages who have come and gone in history have pled with history and its reality and looked to the future. They advised us to open our hearts wide, to seek for goodness, the rightful purpose of heart, and to possess a body that can respond to the original mind and act according to it.

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is in your heart.” He also said, “With that heart, connect to God’s heart. Possess the character that can connect to that heart, and the bridegroom who represents the center of Heaven will come.” But today we have to understand that this is where the problem lies.

We realize that there was no champion who could hold onto the clear standard of conscience and control his own body while facing these problems. There was no one who could unite with the laws of Heaven and the heavenly heart to have dominion over not only his own heart but the hearts of all men.

That is why Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is in your heart. He has said to love him in order to go to Heaven. Afterwards, he said to follow him, bearing your cross, and to throw away all the things you own. He said the ones trying to live will perish and the ones wanting to die will live. He also said that those desiring to possess will lose everything and those wanting to lose will gain. Those wanting to rise will go down and those wanting to go down will rise. The question is, then, what is the purpose behind these seemingly paradoxical sayings of the Savior?

You all have a mind and a body. Yet it is truly regrettable that the mind, the body, and the heart are not as they should be.

Our ancestors established the standard of conscience when they came to this land and taught us to conquer the physical body. Yet no one was able to establish the standard of victory of dominating the physical body centering on the mind, even after six thousand years of human history. Who will be responsible for this sorrow? What are we to do when no one has the certain center where the body is dominated by a mind that is one with the deep heart of Heaven? Heavenly Father possesses the deep, heavenly heart. How is the mind of mankind to be conquered so that it can stand forever in front of Heavenly Father’s heart? This is the important problem that must be solved.

Jesus said, “I am the bridegroom and you are the bride.” The standard of heart that qualifies us to be the bride is not the standard of conscience entrenched in human affairs; nor does the standard of conscience change as the times change. The standard of conscience does not compromise with human morality in this world. This world’s people do not know the bride. Who is the bride who can stand in front of the man who is the bridegroom? It should be someone who can yearn for the heart of the bridegroom. After having deeply felt it, the individual should head in the proper direction of establishing the eternal standard of conscience and body. Jesus is not able to stand as our true bridegroom if we do not meet such standards.